How Many Lands in an MTG Cube? A Practical Guide

TLDR

• Most cubes want more fixing than a normal retail draft environment.
• Your first land slots should make decks cast spells on time. Utility lands come after that.
• For many traditional cubes, a solid version-one plan is to start with fixing first, test the draft, then add or trim utility lands based on real games.
• Commander cubes usually need more mana help than regular 40-card cubes.

How many lands in an MTG cube is one of those questions that looks like math until you actually draft the thing. Then it turns into a gameplay problem. Too few lands, and people lose with good cards stuck in hand. Too many lands, and packs start feeling soft, with drafters taking mana over action more often than they wanted.

And that is why this question matters. Mana does not just support your cube. It shapes the whole experience. It changes whether aggro can curve out, whether midrange can splash, whether control can survive greedy keeps, and whether your cool archetypes actually get to cast their spells.

Why Land Count Matters More Than People Think

A lot of players come into cube with retail draft instincts. That makes sense. Retail Limited is the default thing most of us learned first.

But retail mana is often bad on purpose, or at least limited by set design reality. Cube does not have to live there. In cube, you can decide how smooth or clunky the format feels. That means your land section is not a side category. It is one of the biggest knobs you have.

I think this is where people get tripped up. They treat lands like seasoning. A dual cycle here, a few utility lands there, maybe some fetches if the budget or proxy philosophy allows it. Then they wonder why the draft feels awkward. Usually the answer is simple: the mana was underbuilt.

Good fixing also does not only help greedy decks. It helps the fair decks too. Your aggressive Boros player wants to cast their one-drop into two-drop. Your blue-black control player wants double blue and double black to show up when it matters. Smooth mana helps real decks feel like real decks.

How Many Lands In an MTG Cube Depends on the Draft You Want

How many lands in an MTG cube depends a lot on what kind of cube you are building and how much of it gets seen each draft.

A tight 360-card list is one thing. A 540-card cube with eight players is another. A Commander cube is a whole different problem, because bigger decks and color identity put more pressure on the mana. Print A Cube’s own guides on Choosing an MTG Cube and How Many Players Can a 540-Card MTG Cube Support? are worth reading here because they frame the real issue: cube size and drafted size are not the same thing.

That matters a lot.

In a classic 8-player draft, 360 cards get drafted. In a 540-card cube, that means a full third of the cube stays in the box. So when people talk about land counts, you have to ask a follow-up question: how many of those lands will actually show up on a normal night?

That is one reason bigger cubes often need more fixing than people first assume. Not because bigger is automatically greedier, but because more of the box is missing from the draft each time.

Start With Fixing, Then Add Utility

This is my strongest recommendation: your first land slots should almost always be fixing lands, not cute utility lands.

Utility lands are fun. Manlands are fun. Strip Mine effects, creature-lands, card draw lands, graveyard lands, all of that stuff can be great. But those cards should come after your mana foundation works.

In practice, that means I would ask these questions in order:

• Can my two-color decks cast their spells on time?
• Can my light splash decks function without feeling like a prank?
• Do aggressive decks get enough untapped help?
• Do slower decks get enough payoff for drafting lands early?

Once those are working, then start adding more utility.

This is also why I usually prefer a basics station instead of stuffing basics into the cube itself, unless the cube has a specific self-contained gimmick. A separate basics setup is cleaner, easier, and less likely to waste cube slots that could do real design work.

My Practical Starting Point

There is no universal number. Still, people need a place to start, so here is the practical version I would actually use.

For a traditional 360-card cube, I like to start around 40 to 60 nonbasic lands.

For a traditional 540-card cube, I would usually start around 60 to 90 nonbasic lands.

For Commander cube, I would start higher than that instinctively suggests, because bigger decks and color identity punish shaky mana fast.

These are not sacred numbers. They are starting bands. Version one. A place to begin so you can test with purpose instead of guessing in the dark.

Also, do not confuse total lands with total fixing. A utility-heavy land section can look large while still leaving decks short on actual mana help. I would rather see a boring, functional mana base first. Then you can decorate it.

Signs You Need More Lands

Sometimes the draft tells you the answer pretty quickly.

You probably need more fixing when:

• two-color decks still miss colors too often
• three-color decks are technically possible but almost never correct
• aggressive decks avoid splashes because their mana falls apart
• people lose more to color screw than to gameplay
• drafters keep taking medium fixing lands over cards they actually wanted, because they feel forced to

That last point matters. Some tension is good. Total desperation is not.

When your drafters feel like they have to spend early picks just surviving their mana, the cube usually needs help.

Signs You Might Have Enough, Or Maybe Too Many

A good land section usually feels almost invisible. Decks cast their spells. Splashes happen, but not for free. Utility lands show up and matter, but they do not crowd out the game.

You might have enough when:

• two-color decks curve normally
• splashes feel earned, not automatic
• aggressive decks can still punish slow starts
• drafters take lands because they fit a plan, not because they are panicking

Too many lands is a little harder to diagnose. I do not think the mere existence of strong fixing automatically creates five-color soup. That problem usually comes from several things at once: great fixing, weak aggro pressure, broadly powerful cards, and not enough cost to taking everything.

So before you cut lands, check the rest of the environment too.

My Recommendation for Most Cube Builders

For most people building a first or second pass cube, I would keep it simple.

Start with enough fixing to make your two-color decks feel good. Let splashes exist, but make them cost something. Add utility lands with restraint. Then watch what actually happens in drafts.

Do not solve mana problems by writing longer archetype notes. Do not solve them by hoping people draft better. Solve them by improving the mana.

That sounds obvious, but cube design has a way of making obvious things feel optional. They are not.

FAQs

Should I Include Basic Lands in the Cube Itself?

Usually no. A separate basics station is cleaner and gives you more room for lands that actually shape the draft.

How Many Utility Lands Should I Run?

Fewer than your fixing lands in most builds. Fixing keeps decks functional. Utility lands are the extra layer after that.

Do Aggro Decks Need Cube Fixing Too?

Yes. Maybe more than people think. Aggro especially hates stumbling on mana.

Does Commander Cube Need More Lands?

Usually yes. Bigger decks, color identity, and multiplayer pacing all put more pressure on the mana base.