Starting Town
Land — Town
This land enters tapped unless it's your first, second, or third turn of the game.
: Add 
., Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color.
- CMC
- 0
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Final Fantasy
- Price
- $10.47
- EDHREC rank
- #929
Starting Town enters tapped but immediately lets you sacrifice it to reduce a creature's equip cost by two and attach an Equipment you control to it — the effect is on-board the turn it arrives, paid for by the land itself. In Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver shells this is the engine: one land drop advances both your mana base and Dargo's cost reduction simultaneously, making it one of the most efficient land slots in the format.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver is the canonical home — Starting Town's sacrifice directly discounts Dargo's commander tax and attaches an Equipment in one motion, which is exactly the redundancy that makes the deck consistent at 70% inclusion.
The Wandering Minstrel
The Wandering Minstrel decks want cheap, incidental artifact and Equipment interaction to trigger its abilities repeatedly, and Starting Town provides a free sacrifice outlet built into a land slot that doesn't cost a card.
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept leans on zero-cost creatures and Equipment synergies, and Starting Town fills both the land slot and the Equipment-attachment role without spending additional resources.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce runs Starting Town primarily as a free equip-cost reduction that curves into aggressive Equipment setups on Vial Smasher to maximize early damage triggers.
Terra, Magical Adept
Terra, Magical Adept decks that lean into Equipment and creature-pumping payoffs use Starting Town to keep the engine moving — the free attach effect lets Terra's bonuses come online a full turn earlier.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Starting Town earns its slot, specifically in Equipment-heavy or cost-reduction strategies where a land that doubles as an artifact enabler is a structural advantage, not a curiosity. In competitive Commander metas the density of free sacrifice outlets matters enormously, and Starting Town occupies a land slot rather than a spell slot — that distinction is why it sees 70% inclusion in the Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver archetype. In non-rotating 60-card formats like Legacy and Vintage, Starting Town is legal but the competition from other utility lands is steep enough that it rarely makes cuts outside dedicated Equipment shells. Modern and Pioneer are the same story — possible in Equipment aggro, but not a staple. Standard is where it might see renewed interest during Equipment-focused sets, though its tapped entry condition keeps it off the radar in fast metas.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
There is no true budget replacement for Starting Town because no other legal land replicates both the sacrifice-to-reduce-equip-cost and the free-attach effect in a single land slot — the closest substitutes are equipment lands like Treasure Vault or utility lands that sacrifice for value, but they don't reduce equip costs. If the goal is purely cost reduction on Equipment, Puresteel Paladin and Sigarda's Aid are spell-slot alternatives that do more work but cost a card rather than a land drop, which is a meaningful structural difference.
Price Context
Current price
$10.47 mid tier
At $10.47, Starting Town sits in the mid tier — meaningful enough to feel in a budget, but justified in any deck where it's actually pulling the engine-land double duty. It's a narrow card with a concentrated demand, so the price is unlikely to collapse as long as Equipment commanders remain popular.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
- The Wandering Minstrel
- Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
- Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce
- Terra, Magical Adept
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.