Reviewing lands: 5 color lands

Lands are quite possibly be the most under looked aspect of any commander deck that is built. There are 455 land according to a current gatherer search, and choosing from among them can be tricky. So, I'm going to go through each and every land and give it a review. This will be a series covering 5 color, dual cycles, colorless lands, and others. Today I will talk about the backbone of any 5 color deck: 5 color lands.




Abandoned Outpost-  and the Odyssey outpost cycle. While each taps for a specific mana with no drawback, the cost of sacrificing the land when you want another color is simply unreasonable. Along with the extra drawback of coming into play tapped, I simply would never use these lands. If someone was to use these lands I would suggest a large landfall theme along with crucible of worlds.

Ancient Ziggurat- If you are playing nothing but creatures in your deck you may want to think about using this card. It can not provide even colorless mana for anything else, nor can it provide mana to use on creature's abilities. Even in my all creature decks I would think long and hard before playing this card.

Archaeological Dig- Slightly better than the outposts as it does not come into play tapped. The downside from them is that it can not tap for a colored mana of any color without sacrificing itself. I would still suggest staying clear of this land.

Cavern of Souls- A fairly hyped card from Avacan Restored, for good reason. This card does not come into play tapped and can always be tapped for a colorless mana with no drawback. Next in a tribal deck it lets you tap it to play any of the chosen creature without the threat of being countered. I would honestly play this in any tribal deck I play. Even if not building a tribal deck it lets us choose our general's creature type and play said general all day long without worrying about it getting countered. The more I look at this card the more I like it.

City of Brass- This used to be the old staple for 5 color. Not so much anymore, losing 1 life every time it's tapped really starts to add up over time. Also the fact that it doesn't matter why it gets tapped, or who tapped it make it loose a bit of value as well. I would play this only in decks that fit with the theme of me taking damage, otherwise there are just better options.

Command Tower- Simple addition to any 3-5 colored deck. 1 and 2 color decks don't usually need more mana fixing. But any 3-5 color deck should be running one of these.

Crystal Quarry- Seems strange tap 6 land to give you one of each color. Usually this isn't nessisary, but if the deck is built around Fist of Suns, the bringers, or possibly Horde of Notions I could use running this. More often you just need one or 2 of the specific colors and other fixers work better.

Exotic Orchard- This is a great card, in many games it will tap for any color mana. When it doesn't it will still likely tap for 3 colors or more. I would never feel bad running this card.

Forbidden Orchard- Here is a card that people love or hate. While normally you don't want to give an opponent a creature, there are times where it is the right answer. Since you get to choose when and who gets a creature I would not hesitate to run this card. If nothing else it's a great political card.

Forsaken City- I've never run this card, and it looks pretty terrible to me. At least it comes into play untapped so you can tap it once before you have to exile a card. The fact that you can only untap it once and you have to choose before you draw seems to really kill any value this card could have had.

Gemstone Caverns- heh, I should probably put this in the colorless section, since it should be colorless most of the time. In commander it is not as important to get a 1 turn jump on land compaired to 1 on 1. The card disadvantage when you do have it in your opening hand is really not worth it in my opinion.

Gemstone Mine- I like this card and find it to be fairly under rated. You can tap in 3 times before it dies. After using it twice you can often bounce it to play again. Or, if you have the ability to play lands from your graveyard it seems quite the viable card to play.

Glimmervoid- This card has always been a maybe card in heavy artifact themed decks. The idea that you may loose it due to an opponents actions (like akroma's vengeance) means it's a scary land to play. Then again if you only count on being able to use it once, or you have a way to replay it, it becomes much less scary. I would still think twice about playing it over better options that are out there.

Glimmervoid- A somewhat fixed city of brass. It comes into play tapped, which is a downer but you have the option of tapping it for colorless without costing anything and it doesn't hurt you when you opponents tap it. In my opinion play this over city of brass, but there are still better choices.

Henge of Ramos- Tapping 3 lands for 1 mana of any color seems questionable at best to me.

Lotus Vale- I started playing when tempest came out and this was my favorite card at one point. I think I comboed it with a creature that untapped a land. If you have a way to tap lands repeatedly this card is amazing. Also if you benifite from lands in your yard this is a viable card.

Meteor Crater- This card seems a little off to me. I may still play it, but it really feels like a bad reflecting pool. If I have a red creature in play already it probably isn't going to fix my mana any. I could see it being good with hybrid mana. Also reflecting pool is really good, so maybe this is to. I've honestly never played it, and it looks like a maybe card to me.

Mirrodin's Core- Entering battlefield untapped is a plus, tapping for mana with no draw back is always a bonus. But taking 2 turns to tap for colored mana seems pretty iffy to me. I would play it as a strong 5 color land if I was playing a heavy proliferate theme. otherwise it seems pretty meh.

Pillar of the Paruns- I would love this card if I could tap it for colorless mana. As is it fails the same way Ancient Ziggurat does. But, I don't see ever building a deck that is only multicolored. Too narrow.

Primal Beyond- If there are a fair amount of elementals in the deck this is worth running. It taps for colorless mana, so it doesn't become completely useless when it isn't filling its niche. I'm happy that wizards has started printing otherwise narrow land with the line tap for 1 mana. Also this is a must in a tribal elemental deck. Duh, I know, but I had to say it.

Rainbow Vale- This card can be quite fun. It adds a little politics to the table. You can help out someone who has fallen back a little or bribe someone else. Political tools are hard to put a price on in commander. The only reason not to play this card (assuming you have one) is if you are "that guy" which you can find out by playing this card. If you are "that guy" they wont give it back.

Reflecting Pool- This is a staple in any 5 color deck. I also put high value on it for 3 color decks. With any of the other lands on this list in play it taps for any color with no drawback.

Rhystic Cave- I wouldn't suggest playing this. there is likely to be at least 1 person at the table that will not want you to have a chosen mana at some point during a game.

Rupture Spire- While it enters the battlefield tapped and even forces you to tap another land to pay for it, I strongly suggest this card. Once it is in play there is simply no downside to tapping it for any color of mana.

School of the Unseen- I feel like I've already reviewed this card, and said pass. See Henge of Ramos for more.

Shimmering Grotto- I still don't want to tap 2 land for 1 mana... but if you on a budget and need another 5 color this is ok.

Springjack Pasture- Strange card, it's like a storage land for any color, but stores the mana as goats? also costs 4 to store...  I think there are better options, but it could be a fun choice.

Tarnished Citadel- OUCH 3 damage? I thought city of brass was harsh. I'd stay away from this choice, even though it does tap for colorless. Unless you had some sadomasochistic deck idea....

Tendo Ice Bridge- Slightly better than the Ancient Ziggurat, but I would still rather play a land that does what I want it to multiple times.

Thran Quarry- Watch out for playing opposing wrath effects. I would probably avoid playing it for more reliable options.

Undiscovered Paradise- I like this card, esp when used in conjunction with landfall triggers. Otherwise it's still a faily simple way to get any color mana that you need. In most cases it will be the last land played from your hand so returning it never really has a downside.

Unstable Frontier- a more creative way to say tap 2 land for a mana of any color. works well with landwalk and domain cards too.

Vivid Crag- and friends. some of the better 5 color lands. You only need to remove a counter for 4 of the 5 colors and it's still useful after all the counters are removed. the only downside is that they enter the battlefield tapped, which is fair.

For 5 color decks my go to lands have been Command tower, the 5 vivid lands, reflecting pool, rupture spire, and undiscovered paradise. After that I look at the theme of the deck before deciding if I want to run more. Let me know what you think, esp if your opinion of one of these 5 color lands is different from mine.