The creature lands most Commander decks want first are Mutavault and Mishra's Factory, one-mana 2/2s that fit any deck, Inkmoth Nexus for a poison finish, and two-colour lands like Celestial Colonnade and Restless Vinestalk that tap for your commander's colours and attack when you need them to. A creature land is a land that can become a creature, usually for a mana cost and until end of turn. Find yours below by colour, with the activation cost, the creature it becomes and the mana it taps for.
Colourless creature lands: they fit any deck
| Card | Activation | Becomes | Taps for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mutavault | {1} | 2/2 with all creature types | {C} |
| Mishra's Factory | {1} | 2/2 Assembly-Worker artifact creature. Tap it to give an Assembly-Worker +1/+1. | {C} |
| Mishra's Foundry | {2} | 2/2 Assembly-Worker artifact creature. {1} and tap it to give an attacking Assembly-Worker +2/+2. | {C} |
| Blinkmoth Nexus | {1} | 1/1 Blinkmoth artifact creature with flying. {1} and tap it to give a Blinkmoth +1/+1. | {C} |
| Inkmoth Nexus | {1} | 1/1 Phyrexian Blinkmoth artifact creature with flying and infect | {C} |
| Dread Statuary | {4} | 4/2 Golem artifact creature | {C} |
| Mobilized District | {4}, minus {1} for each legendary creature and planeswalker you control | 3/3 Citizen with vigilance | {C} |
| Soulstone Sanctuary | {4} | 3/3 with vigilance and all creature types, and it stays a creature | {C} |
| Stalking Stones | {6} | 3/3 Elemental artifact creature, and it stays a creature | {C} |
Mutavault is the one to start with: one mana, a 2/2 body, and every creature type, so it's an Elf in your Elf deck and a Sliver in your Sliver deck. Mishra's Factory pumps an animated Foundry, Blinkmoth Nexus pumps an animated Inkmoth, and both can pump an animated Mutavault, since it has every creature type. Inkmoth is the real threat: ten poison counters still kill a player in Commander. Mobilized District usually costs {3} or less once your commander is out. Soulstone Sanctuary and Stalking Stones never stop: once you pay, they stay creatures.
One-colour creature lands
| Card | Activation | Becomes | Taps for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forbidding Watchtower | {1}{W} | 1/5 Soldier | {W} |
| Cave of the Frost Dragon | {4}{W} | 3/4 Dragon with flying | {W} |
| Faerie Conclave | {1}{U} | 2/1 Faerie with flying | {U} |
| Hall of Storm Giants | {5}{U} | 7/7 Giant with ward {3} | {U} |
| Spawning Pool | {1}{B} | 1/1 Skeleton that can regenerate for {B} | {B} |
| Hive of the Eye Tyrant | {3}{B} | 3/3 Beholder with menace. Exiles a card from the defending player's graveyard when it attacks. | {B} |
| Ghitu Encampment | {1}{R} | 2/1 Warrior with first strike | {R} |
| Den of the Bugbear | {3}{R} | 3/2 Goblin. Makes a 1/1 Goblin token tapped and attacking when it attacks. | {R} |
| Treetop Village | {1}{G} | 3/3 Ape with trample | {G} |
| Lair of the Hydra | {X}{G}, X at least 1 | X/X Hydra | {G} |
The cheap five (Watchtower, Conclave, Spawning Pool, Encampment, Treetop Village) always enter tapped; the other five enter tapped only if you control two or more other lands. Treetop Village is still the best rate here, a 3/3 trampler for two. Hall of Storm Giants is a 7/7 that taxes removal, Lair of the Hydra soaks up spare mana late, and Den of the Bugbear brings a friend every time it swings.
Two-colour creature lands: every pair, side by side
Each pair has an older land and a Restless land; all of them tap for either colour and enter tapped.
| Colours | Older land | Restless land |
|---|---|---|
| White-blue ({W} or {U}) | Celestial Colonnade: {3}{W}{U}, 4/4 Elemental with flying and vigilance | Restless Anchorage: {1}{W}{U}, 2/3 Bird with flying, makes a Map token when it attacks |
| Blue-black ({U} or {B}) | Creeping Tar Pit: {1}{U}{B}, 3/2 Elemental that can't be blocked this turn | Restless Reef: {2}{U}{B}, 4/4 Shark with deathtouch, target player mills four when it attacks |
| Black-red ({B} or {R}) | Lavaclaw Reaches: {1}{B}{R}, 2/2 Elemental with "{X}: +X/+0 until end of turn" | Restless Vents: {1}{B}{R}, 2/3 Insect with menace, may discard a card to draw a card when it attacks |
| Red-green ({R} or {G}) | Raging Ravine: {2}{R}{G}, 3/3 Elemental that puts a +1/+1 counter on itself whenever it attacks | Restless Ridgeline: {2}{R}{G}, 3/4 Dinosaur, gives another attacker +2/+0 and untaps it when it attacks |
| Green-white ({G} or {W}) | Stirring Wildwood: {1}{G}{W}, 3/4 Elemental with reach | Restless Prairie: {2}{G}{W}, 3/3 Llama, your other creatures get +1/+1 when it attacks |
| White-black ({W} or {B}) | Shambling Vent: {1}{W}{B}, 2/3 Elemental with lifelink | Restless Fortress: {2}{W}{B}, 1/4 Nightmare, the defending player loses 2 life and you gain 2 when it attacks |
| Blue-red ({U} or {R}) | Wandering Fumarole: {2}{U}{R}, 1/4 Elemental that can switch its power and toughness for {0} | Restless Spire: {U}{R}, 2/1 Elemental with first strike during your turn, scry 1 when it attacks |
| Black-green ({B} or {G}) | Hissing Quagmire: {1}{B}{G}, 2/2 Elemental with deathtouch | Restless Cottage: {2}{B}{G}, 4/4 Horror, makes a Food and exiles up to one card from a graveyard when it attacks |
| Red-white ({R} or {W}) | Needle Spires: {2}{R}{W}, 2/1 Elemental with double strike | Restless Bivouac: {1}{R}{W}, 2/2 Ox, puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control when it attacks |
| Green-blue ({G} or {U}) | Lumbering Falls: {2}{G}{U}, 3/3 Elemental with hexproof | Restless Vinestalk: {3}{G}{U}, 5/5 Plant with trample, can make another creature a base 3/3 until end of turn when it attacks |
The older lands carry the stronger keyword; the Restless lands add an attack trigger. In a two-colour deck, run both. Colonnade's vigilance means it attacks and can still tap for mana after combat, Raging Ravine keeps every counter it earns, and Restless Vinestalk can shrink the biggest blocker on the table to a base 3/3.
The odd ones: unusual costs, bodies and abilities
| Card | Activation | Becomes | Taps for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ba Sing Se | {2}{G}, {T}, only as a sorcery | Earthbend 2: target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste and two +1/+1 counters, for good. It comes back tapped if it dies or is exiled. | {G} |
| Crawling Barrens | {4} | Puts two +1/+1 counters on itself, then may become a 0/0 Elemental until end of turn | {C} |
| Svogthos, the Restless Tomb | {3}{B}{G} | Plant Zombie whose power and toughness equal the creature cards in your graveyard | {C} |
| Nantuko Monastery | {G}{W}, only with seven or more cards in your graveyard | 4/4 Insect Monk with first strike | {C} |
| Cactus Preserve | {3} | X/X green Plant with reach, where X is the greatest mana value among your commanders | Any type of mana one of your lands could make |
| Hostile Desert | {2} and exile a land card from your graveyard | 3/4 Elemental | {C} |
| Cavernous Maw | {2}, only if your other Caves plus the Cave cards in your graveyard number three or more | 3/3 Elemental | {C} |
| Faceless Haven | {S}{S}{S} | 4/3 with vigilance and all creature types | {C} |
| Frostwalk Bastion | {1}{S} | 2/3 Construct artifact creature. A creature it deals combat damage to is tapped and skips its next untap. | {C} |
Svogthos and Nantuko Monastery tap for colourless, but the symbols in their activation costs give them a two-colour identity, so they need a commander whose identity includes black and green, or green and white. Cactus Preserve goes the other way: it becomes a green creature yet has a colourless identity, and under a six-drop commander it's a 6/6 with reach for three. Faceless Haven and Frostwalk Bastion want snow mana, which usually means snow-covered basics. With Ba Sing Se, earthbend another land: Ba Sing Se taps to activate, while the target gets haste and can attack right away.
Why creature lands earn their slot in Commander
Most of the time they're just lands, so the sorcery-speed wipe an opponent casts on their turn misses them and you still have attackers afterward. They turn late flood into threats. The land for your commander's colour pair fixes your mana, attacks and survives the wipe, all from one slot. They carry Equipment, too, best on the ones that stay creatures.
Count them as lands, never as creatures: if your deck wants 37 lands, a creature land is one of the 37. Watch how many enter tapped. Each colourless one costs you a coloured source, which a mono-colour deck shrugs off and a three-colour deck feels. And budget the mana: an attack takes the activation from your other lands plus the creature land itself, so a Colonnade attack ties up six lands.
The rules that bite
- Summoning sickness follows control, not creature status. A creature can't attack or use a {T} ability, mana abilities included, unless you've controlled it continuously since your most recent turn began (Comprehensive Rules 302.6). A land you've had since last turn can animate and attack at once.
- It's still a land. While animated it's a land creature, so creature removal and land removal both hit it, and opponents can respond to the activation.
- "Until end of turn" ends in the cleanup step (Comprehensive Rules 514.2), and damage goes with it. Counters stay, which is why Raging Ravine and Crawling Barrens keep growing.
- Blocking has a price. Animate a land to block and it stays a creature for the rest of that turn, so a wipe in your opponent's second main phase takes it.
Which creature lands does your deck want?
- Two colours: both lands for your pair, plus Mutavault.
- One colour: your colour's two lands and several colourless ones.
- Three or more colours: the matching two-colour lands, and few colourless ones.
- Creature-type decks: Mutavault, Soulstone Sanctuary, and Faceless Haven with snow lands.
- Graveyard decks: Svogthos, Nantuko Monastery, Restless Reef and Hostile Desert.
- Equipment decks: Inkmoth Nexus, Stalking Stones and Soulstone Sanctuary.
- Legends or a big commander: Mobilized District and Cactus Preserve.
Ask Scry: lands that turn into creatures
Results on . Scry ranks cards by what they do, not by their names.
- Spawning Pool: This land enters tapped.
- Restless Ridgeline: This land enters tapped.
- Restless Prairie: This land enters tapped.
- Restless Spire: This land enters tapped.
- Frostwalk Bastion: {T}: Add {C}.
- Den of the Bugbear: If you control two or more other lands, this land enters tapped.
To narrow the list to your deck, open the filter sidebar on the card catalog and set your commander's colour identity. Getting Better Search Results covers the search and the filters; for the whole build, from brief to legality check, see how to build a Commander deck with an AI assistant.
Frequently asked questions
Can a creature land attack the turn I play it?
No, unless something gives it haste. You haven't controlled it since your turn began, so as a creature it can't attack or even tap for mana that turn (Comprehensive Rules 302.6). Next turn it's fine. Ba Sing Se's earthbend is the exception here: it grants haste, so a land you played this turn can attack.
Does a creature land die to a board wipe?
Only if it's a creature when the wipe resolves. Most creature lands are animated until end of turn, so on your opponents' turns they're lands and a sorcery-speed wipe misses them. If it is a creature then, it's destroyed and you're a land down. Stalking Stones and Soulstone Sanctuary stay creatures and die to every creature wipe, while a land you earthbend with Ba Sing Se comes back tapped.
Do creature lands count toward my land count?
Yes. They're lands in your deck and lands on the battlefield, animated or not, and playing one uses your land drop for the turn. Count them in your land total, not your creature count.
Can I equip or enchant a creature land?
You can equip one while it's a creature, at sorcery speed (Comprehensive Rules 702.6a). When it stops being a creature at end of turn, the Equipment becomes unattached but stays on the battlefield, so you pay to equip again next time. An Aura that enchants a creature goes to the graveyard once the land stops being one, while an Aura that enchants a land stays. Equipment fits best on Stalking Stones, Soulstone Sanctuary or an earthbent land.
Build the deck around them
Put your creature lands into a Commander deck in the Mana Grove deck builder, and the Validation tab checks each one against your commander's colour identity. Create a free account to start; every plan includes the full deck builder, and plans and pricing shows what the paid plans add.
