Summary
Deserts came toMagic: The Gatheringas part of the Egyptian-theme Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation sets. Technically they existed all the way back in Arabian Nights, on the titular Desert land, but it was a full 24 years before the sandy wastelands were revisited as a fleshed-out card type.
Their return inOutlaws of Thunder Junctionheralded a new use for Deserts, not only because there were just more of them to work with, but also because that set included Desert Bloom, aCommander preconusing Deserts as a backdrop toa landfall deck. That deck single-handedly gave players a reason to assemble a bunch of Deserts all in the same deck.
10Survivors' Encampment
A Synergy Land For Tappers
Survivors' Encampment is a duplicate Desert version of another land named Holdout Settlement. That doesn’t mean anything for decks that don’t specifically interact with Deserts, but the key here is the second ability to essentiallytap a creature for mana.
Tapping a land and a creature for a single mana is quite bad, but lands like this have a home in decks that actively want to tap their own creatures. Commanders like Emmara, Soul of the Accord and Annie Flash, the Veteran want as many ways as possible to tap them outside combat, even if the mana isn’t necessary.
9Sandstorm Verge
Verging On A Commander Classic
Sandstorm Verge is like a reverse Rogue’s Passage; instead of making a creature unblockable, it makes something unable to block. That’s significantly worse, since it only takes one creature out of combat, whereas Rogue’s Passage eliminates the ability to block altogether.
Still, Verge is a Desert, which means it’s a synergy piece in decks that care about the subtype. Two, it has a cheaper activation cost than Rogue’s Passage, if even by just one mana. And three, it has a cool cowboy hat as a set symbol, which is almost enough to kill the comparison on its own.
8Ipnu Rivulet
The Mill Player’s Desert
Who doesn’t love a goodmill deck? Everyone. The answer’s everyone. Still, mill’s a perfectly viable win condition. In fact, outside some infinite combos that instantaneously mill libraries, it’s actually quite hard to win in Commander via mill.
Ipnu Rivulet is just one piece of the mill puzzle for Commander decks looking to chew through opposing libraries. The life loss is worth running a card that can eke out the last 12 or 16 cards of someone’s library. It also incentivizes you to find room for a few extra Deserts in your deck, Scavenger Grounds being a key include.
7Ramunap Ruins
Pushing Through Those Last Two Points Of Damage
Ramunap Ruins used to be a household name while it was legal in Standard. Red decks were in their prime, and being able to convert some amount of your manabase into damage was a huge boon when it came to getting those last few points of damage in.
Unfortunately, Ramunap’s success doesn’t translate to Commander that well. It’s a card you’ll definitely slot into your Desert decks, and maybe it becomes a backup win condition in a stalled out game, but two damage at this cost is usually negligible in a 40-life format.
6Mirage Mesa
A Formulaic Land For Budget Players
Mirage Mesa’s design has been used multiple times before on common taplands, the only difference being that Mesa is a Desert. That makes all the difference for decks that care about Deserts, the same way Shimmerdrift Vale is desirable forSnow decks.
Lands like this also function as effective budget pieces. The effect of the card has the same end result as an Evolving Wilds or Terramorphic Expanse, two of the most common budgetfetch landsplayed in Commander. If you’re scrapping for the cheapest but most effective mana base you’re able to get, this will do nicely.
5Cactus Preserve
Reserve The Preserve For High-Mana Commanders
Cactus Preserve is the only unique Desert from the Deserts Bloom Commander precon, and it fits well with Yuma, Proud Protector as an eight-mana commander that usually costs significantly less, but always counts as an eight-drop for the purposes of Cactus Preserve.
‘Creature lands’ like this always have a significant amount of risk involved. Having Cactus Preserve killed while it’s a creature sets you back on lands and a decent chunk of mana for the turn. Yuma recognizes this, replacing your Preserve with a 4/2 in case it does bite the dust. Or sand, as it were.
4Ifnir Deadlands
Removal In Your Manabase
Ifnir Deadlands is the perfect utility land for -1/-1 counter strategies. That’s a small scope of decks, especially compared to+1/+1 counter decks, but cards like Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons and Volrath, the Shapestealer make good use of a land like this.
Even without inherent -1/-1 counter synergies, Ifnir Deadlands can be used as small-ball creature removal. That’s even repeatable if you have other Deserts or a way to recur this from the graveyard. That alone isn’t enough to accept the damage from tapping this for mana, but a few minor synergies can push it over the edge.
3Cycling Deserts
Not Optimal, But Synergistic
Cycling’s an all-time great Magic mechanic. It makes games run smoothly, giving you the means to find action at any point during the game. It’s especially useful on lands, since it helps fight flooding by cashing in excess lands for different cards later in the game.
The set of cycling Deserts from Amonkhet are outclassed, in the sense that there are older, strictly better versions you could be playing instead. However, the Desert typing is crucial for some decks, and there exist Commander decks that don’t mind a critical mass of cyclers, even if some are worse than others.
2Two-Color Deserts
Colloquially Known As Crime Lands
Outlaws of Thunder Junction released a full ten-card cycle of dual-colored Deserts, each of which enters the battlefield tapped and deals a point of damage to target opponent upon entering. One damage doesn’t usually make or break a game, but multiple small pings add up.
These lands were designed with the ‘crime’ mechanic in mind, since targeting with one of these Deserts counts ascommitting a crime. At the very worst, they’re a tiny upgrade to a Guildgate or equivalent tapland, and therefore have a home in certain budget Commander manabases.
1Scavenger Grounds
Commitment-Free Graveyard Hate
Graveyard hateis essential in Commander, no matter what you’re playing or expect to play against. Nearly every deck has some way to use its graveyard, and the decks built around doing so are capable of explosive plays.
Scavenger Grounds is a freebie in any deck that can support a few colorless lands. You’ll want to look elsewhere for graveyard hate in afive-color deck, but it’s a great addition to any mono-colored or two-colored deck. You just have to be diligent about leaving the activation open, and be careful not to cut yourself off valuable graveyard pieces.
