Last updated on November 30, 2023

Everybody knows dual lands are helpful. They help you balance out your land count and fix your mana to be more consistent. It can be hard to strike a good balance with just basic lands, and you can sometimes find yourself not getting enough mana of one color or the other during games without the proper fixing.

In the past, we’ve gone over different types of helpful lands to help solve this problem, but today we’re taking a look at a bit of a niche land that truly shines in games that have more than the standard two players. Grab a friend and take a seat, because it’s time to learn about bond lands!

What Are They?

Bond lands, also known as Battlebond lands, are dual lands that can produce one of two colors of mana. They enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents.

That’s a pretty odd condition to meet considering Magic is usually played against one other person. Let’s dive further down the rabbit hole to figure this out, shall we?

Where They Came From

When we talk about the bond lands or crowd lands, or whatever you want to call them, the first thing to recognize is that there are ten of them.

The allied colored lands were all printed in the Battlebond set released in 2018 and received snazzy reprints as expeditions in the Zendikar Rising set, as well as regular reprints in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate. The enemy-colored lands were actually printed in the new Commander Legends set that released on November 20, 2020.

Ally-Colored Battlebond Lands

Enemy-Colored Battlebond Lands

What’s So Special About Them

We know now that the bond lands are dual lands with conditions to meet much like shocklands, check lands, and fast lands. The big difference here is how they don’t fit into a usual deck that one would play in Modern or Pioneer.

Because of their unique condition, they really only shine in the formats in which they were originally printed: Two-Headed Giant and Commander. In these game modes, you always have two or more opponents (unless you’re just playing 1v1 Commander). This means that these lands will always come in untapped and ready to go when you play them in these formats, acting pretty much like original dual lands like Volcanic Island, the only downside being that they can’t be grabbed with fetch lands like the original dual lands can.

This makes them insanely powerful free sources of whatever mana you need to cast your cards. That said, in Vintage or Legacy (the only other formats besides Commander where they’re legal), they’re as sluggish as basic tap lands like Coastal Tower.

Bountiful Promenade - Illustration by Jung Park

Bountiful Promenade | Illustration by Jung Park

Where to Find Them

By now, there’s a good chance you’re wondering where to find these neat little pieces of cardboard to put into your Commander or maybe even a Two-Headed Giant deck for an upcoming game night with your friends. Regardless of what you want them for, let’s dig into finding the best deal we can for them.

Finding the Right Seller

This shouldn’t take too long. My immediate recommendation is to check around some of the popular marketplace sites like TCG Player or eBay. There’s a lot of competing sellers trying to get your money, so naturally, there’s going to be some lower prices here and there. You’ll just have to find them as they tend to fluctuate.

Sea of Clouds - 084/254 - R - Battlebond
Morphic Pool - Foil - 083/254 - R - Battlebond
Luxury Suite - 082/254 - R - Battlebond
Spire Garden - 085/254 - R - Battlebond
Bountiful Promenade - 081/254 - R - Battlebond
Sea of Clouds - 084/254 - R - Battlebond
Morphic Pool - Foil - 083/254 - R - Battlebond
Luxury Suite - 082/254 - R - Battlebond
Spire Garden - 085/254 - R - Battlebond
Bountiful Promenade - 081/254 - R - Battlebond
$7.99
$24.99
$13.99
$15.19
$17.04
Sea of Clouds - 084/254 - R - Battlebond
Sea of Clouds - 084/254 - R - Battlebond
$7.99
Morphic Pool - Foil - 083/254 - R - Battlebond
Morphic Pool - Foil - 083/254 - R - Battlebond
$24.99
Luxury Suite - 082/254 - R - Battlebond
Luxury Suite - 082/254 - R - Battlebond
$13.99
Spire Garden - 085/254 - R - Battlebond
Spire Garden - 085/254 - R - Battlebond
$15.19
Bountiful Promenade - 081/254 - R - Battlebond
Bountiful Promenade - 081/254 - R - Battlebond
$17.04

The ally-colored lands can typically go anywhere from $15 to $25 on your average day. The enemy colors, however, go for much less and typically stay under the $10 threshold.

Vault of Champions
Training Center
Undergrowth Stadium
Spectator Seating
Magic: The Gathering - Rejuvenating Springs - Commander Legends
Vault of Champions
Training Center
Undergrowth Stadium
Spectator Seating
Magic: The Gathering - Rejuvenating Springs - Commander Legends
$9.99
$11.80
$5.99
$9.99
$4.49
Vault of Champions
Vault of Champions
$9.99
Training Center
Training Center
$11.80
Undergrowth Stadium
Undergrowth Stadium
$5.99
Spectator Seating
Spectator Seating
$9.99
Magic: The Gathering - Rejuvenating Springs - Commander Legends
Magic: The Gathering - Rejuvenating Springs - Commander Legends
$4.49

In the end, it’ll just be a matter of digging around the marketplaces until you find the right price and condition for you.

Don’t Wanna Pay Full Price?

Aye, fair enough, chief. That’s a completely understandable opinion considering they can get a little expensive compared to some other cards. If you can’t pay full price but still want the cards, you can probably find some sick deals on Facebook buy and sell groups designated for MTG cards. I actually put together a couple of Commander decks from Facebook recently for a really good price compared to what I would’ve had to pay.

If you can’t be bothered to pay the discounted price and are looking for something else to fill the dual-land-sized hole in your heart, you could always check into other types of duals. Off the top of my head, check lands like Woodland Cemetery are pretty cheap at only a few bucks apiece, and the scry lands from both Theros blocks like Temple of Enlightenment can be found for less than a dollar.

Sealing the Deal

So, now you understand the bond lands and how they fit into your multiplayer games. What’s your opinion on these multicolored cardboard slabs? Have you found any other interesting uses for them outside of Commander or Two-Headed Giant? Let us know about anything like that down in the comments below!

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