More often than not, particularly powerful Commander decks will require specific answers to keep them under control. Sadly, especially when the counter tech is specific, running these cards comes with its own risks. While they can slow down problematic strategies, they’ll prove useless at most Commander tables.
Utility lands can fix this problem without taking up the much-needed space of your important permanents. At worst, you’ll just be making your land drop for the turn, making the potential to blow your opponents out free real estate.
MTG Tower of the Magistrate
If you’re looking for a utility land that can completely shut down artifact decks, Tower of the Magistrate has you covered. This land both stops gigantic Constructs and targeted removal effects from artifact creatures, like Duplicant, in their tracks. This, alone, can spell trouble for common artifact-based Commanders like Daretti, Scrap Savant and Urza, Lord High Artificer.
An underrated, but extremely powerful application with the Tower, however, is giving your opponent’s creatures Protection from Artifacts. This can absolutely cripple Voltron decks thanks to forcing all of a player’s equipment off their Commander. Tower of Magistrate even dodges Protection clauses on the various Swords, since the land is a colorless permanent. In the event that an opponent has Swiftfoot Boots or Lighting Greaves among their attached equipment, Arcane Lighthouse, another utility land, can give you a window.
While Tower of the Magistrate is one of the best lands for stopping artifacts, the card is, sadly, not a budget addition. Thanks to a recent reprinting in Mystery Booster 2, Tower of the Magistrate is available for only $3, which is more than worth a land as flexible as this one.
MTG Homeward Path
Thanks to the nature of the Command Zone, removing any Commander the old-fashioned way only provides a temporary reprieve. This makes getting your Commander stolen even more annoying, since the Command Zone can’t get it back for you.
That’s why Homeward Path is so incredible in MTG Commander. Not only does this prevent opponents from stealing your Commander, but it can also shut down entire Commander strategies. Decks that want to steal cards from other players, like Gonti, Canny Acquisitor, won’t be able to use any creatures it steals with Homeward Path in play. You can also blank attacks from creatures like Slicer, Hired Muscle by forcing them to return to their owner temporarily.
Considering that you get all of this on a land, it’s no surprise that Homeward Path is quite popular in Commander. Played in over 115,000 decks according to EDHREC, Homeward Path does ask $11 for those who want to use it. Considering the card is a direct upgrade to any bracket 3 Commander deck, it’s easily worth the investment.
Arena MTG
As far as lands go, Arena is quite a strange one. Unlike the majority of utility lands, Arena doesn’t tap for mana, meaning it functions more as a nonland inclusion. Even with this in mind, you’re essentially getting a repeatable fight spell every turn. This can be devastating for opponents who need their creatures to stick around to establish value engines.
This makes Arena an auto-include with Commanders that already want to brawl. Maarika, Brutal Gladiator, Wolverine, Best There Is, and Shelob, Child of Ungoliant can get a massive advantage with Arena, regardless of what they fight.
Similar to Tower of the Magistrate, Arena became a lot more valuable recently thanks to a Mystery Booster 2 reprint. So long as you don’t mind the Future Sight border, you can pick this card up for as little as $1.30.
MTG Ice Floe
Thanks to many recent Commander releases, running into Voltron decks is becoming more and more common. Commanders like Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER can commonly crack in for lethal damage early in the game when partnered with the best equipment tools MTG has to offer. Should an opponent try to take you out with one creature, Ice Floe can tap the creature down permanently. Your opponents can prevent this by not attacking you, but Voltron decks typically succeed due to their speed. The more time you buy, the easier it becomes to dismantle a Voltron player’s board.
In specific decks, Ice Floe can do even more than just tap a stray creature down. Hylda of the Icy Crown can draw cards off of Ice Floe, while Horobi, Death’s Wail just kills what Ice Floe targets.
Interestingly, even with these Commanders, Ice Floe is a relatively unknown MTG card, too. Only seeing play in 3000 decks according to EDHREC, Ice Floe is one of the least-played lands in all of Commander. Thanks to this, the card can fit into any Commander deck on a budget, costing less than $0.50.
Notably, if you’d prefer a land that can stop opponents’ attackers that can tap for mana, Mystifying Maze is a decent alternative. You will need to pay four mana to blink an attacking creature, however. If budget is not a concern, Maze of Ith is also adept at stopping opposing attackers.
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