Badlands
Land — Swamp Mountain
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- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Collectors' Edition
- Price
- $227.99
- EDHREC rank
- #386
Badlands enters untapped and taps for either black or red — that's the whole deal, and it's exactly what every Rakdos deck wants from land slot one. The price is real, but for high-powered builds like Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver where mana consistency on turn one determines whether you win, it earns its place without argument.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver runs a fast, two-card combo gameplan where the difference between casting your commander on turn one and turn two can be the game — Badlands guarantees the red or black you need without any enters-tapped tax.
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept wants zero-cost red creatures on the very first turn, and Badlands is one of the cleanest ways to produce that red mana with no delay and no drawback.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce operates in a three-color shell that still leans heavily on its Rakdos base, and Badlands fills the dual-land slot that keeps the engine moving without a tempo loss.
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin is a black-red deck that needs to be doing things early and consistently — Badlands is simply the best untapped source of both colors in the format.
Rakdos, the Muscle
Rakdos, the Muscle asks for reliable black and red mana across every phase of the game, and Badlands delivers both from a single land slot without ever slowing you down.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Badlands is one of the ten original dual lands and the gold standard for Rakdos mana fixing — it enters untapped, taps for either color, and has no conditions attached. Legacy is the other home where it sees real play, primarily in black-red shells that need every land to pull double duty without tempo loss. Vintage permits it as well, though the format's density of fast mana means it competes for slots rather than being auto-include material. Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper have never had access to the original duals, so Badlands simply doesn't exist there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Blood Crypt does almost everything Badlands does — it taps for black or red without entering tapped if you pay two life, and at roughly $10 it's the cleanest functional replacement for the vast majority of Commander games. Blightstep Pathway and Sulfurous Springs are meaningful steps down in flexibility but still enter untapped and cover the color pair at a fraction of the price, with the caveat that neither taps for both colors from a single card the way Badlands does.
Price Context
Current price
$227.99 premium tier
At $227.99, Badlands sits firmly in the premium tier — this is Reserved List pricing, which means the supply ceiling is fixed and the card has held value for decades without a reprint path in sight. It's a real purchase for a real mana base, not a budget consideration, and the decision comes down to whether your Commander pod justifies the investment.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
- Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
- Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce
- Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
- Rakdos, the Muscle
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.