The 33 Best Black White (Orzhov) Lands in Magic Ranked

Last updated on February 6, 2026

Godless Shrine | Illustration by Cliff Childs

Having an efficient and supportive mana base is crucial to any deck regardless of format and power level, and failing to construct a proper mana base can be the quickest way to lose a game. You need to make sure to correctly evaluate what duals you need, how many of each color, and what lands work best with one another when trying to build your mana base. Especially for Commander decks.

That’s why today I come at you with a complete breakdown of Orzhov lands, including a full ranking, why each land is great or lackluster, and which ones you should consider for Commander versus other formats.

Let’s jump in!

What Are Black White Lands in Magic?

Shineshadow Snarl | Illustration by Sam Burley

Black/white lands, or Orzhov lands, are any card with the land card type and a black and white color identity. This includes lands that tap for black and white mana, or utility lands that use black and/or white in the cost of their activations. Either way, and mana symbols are represented on the land somewhere, even if it's on the back half of a transforming card.

#33. Sunlit Marsh

The land types on Sunlit Marsh make this the de facto tapland without upside. These lands are dirt cheap and have some interplay with cards that care about basic land types (think: Crypt Ghast), so Marsh should always take precedent over other 0-upside taplands like Forsaken Sanctuary or Orzhov Guildgate.

#32. Starlit Sanctum

Starlit Sanctum isn't a dual land, but it is an Orzhov utility land, which will be included in today’s rankings. This isn’t a bad card, don’t get me wrong, but it’s hyper specifically useful in cleric decks and doesn’t even tap for white or black.

#31. Ballroom

It's not clear how much time you have fiddling around with an expensive activated ability like this, but if you're desperate for card draw or need some artifact sacrifice fodder for things like Rite of Oblivion and Bartolomé del Presidio, you could do worse than this tapland with upside.

#30. Orzhova, the Church of Deals

Next up is Orzhova, the Church of Deals. This land taps for a colorless mana but can also drain a single opponent of 1 life for . That’s super expensive, and it doesn’t even tap for white or black like Starlit Sanctum.

#29. Snowfield Sinkhole

Snowfield Sinkhole is just the snow version of Forsaken Sanctuary, but that small difference can mean a lot in decks that require snow mana or snow permanents to get additional benefits or cast spells.

#28. Forlorn Flats

One damage is the tiniest of upsides in a format where you have to slog through 120 total life points to win. Still, if you can find any sort of payoff for dealing damage, or you simply want to upgrade a guildgate, Forlorn Flats is an easy desert to slot into your deck.

#27. Tomb of the Dusk Rose

Tomb of the Dusk Rose ranks low for two reasons: It's not really a BW land given that it can tap for any color of mana, and it's not always a land to begin with. The BW color identity puts it on this list, but the power of this card is using Profane Procession to scoop creatures off the battlefield, generally tokens so you can keep using it. The transformed Tomb isn't bad to have, but it's not like you can just slot this into the mana base of any BW deck and call it a day.

#26. Scoured Barrens

Scoured Barrens, like Snowfield Sinkhole, is a slightly improved version of Forsaken Sanctuary. It enters tapped, taps for both white and black, and has an extra small benefit of gaining you 1 life.

This is pretty great fixing in Limited. While it can see play in lifegain decks that use both colors, it’s pretty much D-tier fixing in the Constructed formats that it’s legal in.

#25. Misty Palms Oasis

Misty Palms Oasis counts as a low mana value permanent for white's reanimation, and a sacrifice for black's payoffs. This Avatar: The Last Airbender land makes for a good functional land that you're happy to upgrade a basic land to.

#24. Goldmire Bridge

Goldmire Bridge is the start of something more interesting. This is actually an artifact land, which helps contribute to affinity and metalcraft while also having indestructible. The indestructible is a neat part of this card since it means you can use it as a solid target for cards like Ensoul Artifact.

#23. Silverquill Campus

Silverquill Campus is the common dual land from Strixhaven that can tap for both white and black and enters tapped (boo!). You can tap this land and pay to scry 1, which helps filter your draws in stalemates and pass-go situations.

This land is particularly good fixing in Limited and playable in budget Commander decks, but it doesn’t have much of a home outside of that.

#22. Age-Graced Chapel

Glasswing Grace isn't the type of card that's going to steal games of Commander like it might in Limited, but this is still a sizeable boost as an alternative to just playing Age-Graced Chapel. Being an MDFC makes up for the moments where playing a 5-mana aura is inadvisable.

#21. Orzhov Basilica

Orzhov Basilica is the bounce land that taps for both white and black. But it does come into play tapped and requires you to return a land you control to your hand. This means you can’t actually play this land turn 1 and be ahead on mana because it’ll be the only legal target for you to return to your hand.

I think these lands are pretty good in casual and mid-power Commander, but not really in any other format.

#20. Vault of the Archangel

Vault of the Archangel is a utility land that only taps for colorless, no black or white, but has an interesting and powerful activated ability that gives your creatures deathtouch and lifelink.

This is great in Orzhov token decks that like to go wide early, making your creatures lethal threats that still grant extra value with lifelink if they go unblocked. Great utility land all around.

#19. Great Hall of Starnheim

Next up we have another utility land. Great Hall of Starnheim taps for black but has an activated ability that allows you to pay on top of sacrificing it and another creature you control to make a 4/4 flier with vigilance.

This is a great late-game threat generator that can still act as a black source. It’s begging to be played on turn 1.

#18. Tainted Field

Tainted Field is a very situational dual land. In the right deck (read: deck with a lot of swamps or swamp-cards), it can excel. It enters untapped, provides both colors of mana, and importantly, can tap for one colorless as well. That makes it playable on turn 1 if you're looking to drop something colorless such as Sol Ring.

#17. Temple of Silence

Temple of Silence is another tapped land, but this one doesn’t require that pesky 1-life tax and it lets you scry 1 when it enters. This is a great turn 1 or 2 land for midrange decks to help round out their curve, fixing their mana and ensuring they hit their land drops.

It’s great in Standard when it’s legal, and it’s sub-optimal fixing in Commander, but not much else.

#16. Fetid Heath

Fetid Heath is the filter land for Orzhov, which means it costs 1 mana to activate if you want colored mana, popping out two in any combination of white and black. It’s saving grace is that it can also be tapped for a colorless, which makes it effective in scenarios where you don’t need white or black, like in 3-color decks.

#15. Shambling Vent

Next is the first Orzhov creature land, Shambling Vent. This is one of the weaker manlands overall but it’s still decent fixing with the ability to gain some life for you later in the game.

The Vent’s activation cost is only , which is pretty cheap for a creature land. It’s one of the better duals overall, but we still have some much better ones to cover.

#14. Restless Fortress

Restless Fortress is BW's other creature land, just barely edging out Shambling Vent. It's expensive to animate this land and has a cap on how much damage it deals, but it does represent a small amount of inevitability that can't be ignored in the lategame.

#13. Isolated Chapel

Isolated Chapel is a check land that taps for both white and black and has the ability to enter untapped if you control a plains or swamp. This makes it a superb land at any point in the game since you can play it tapped without a 1-drop on turn 1, or wait for turn 2 and have it act as a pseudo-Scrubland.

These are always strong in formats like Standard and Pioneer that don’t have access to fetches.

#12. Shattered Sanctum

Like Isolated Chapel, Shattered Sanctum is a non-fetchable white and black dual land that has a simple clause for entering untapped: having two or more other lands in play. This makes it a great land after turn 2, and still somewhat decent on turn 1 if you don’t have a 1-drop.

#11. Concealed Courtyard

Concealed Courtyard is where these lands go up a tier. This dual land enters untapped as long as you control two or fewer other lands, meaning it’s untapped on turns 1 through 3.

But that makes it a poorer draw afterwards. Having untapped mana in the first three turns is still incredibly crucial to setting the pace of the game and interacting with your opponent when it means the most.

#10. Brightclimb Pathway / Grimclimb Pathway

Next up we have one of the more unique dual lands in Magic, the double-faced Pathway lands from Zendikar Rising. I’m a big fan of these lands because they come in untapped and can very easily work around draws and the rest of your opening hand.

The Pathways' only real downsides are that they can’t be fetched and you don’t get access to both colors at once. But this isn’t that big of a problem in 2-color Pioneer or Commander decks.

#9. Shineshadow Snarl

Next up is the Strixhaven dual land, Shineshadow Snarl. This is a tapped land that cap tap for both white and black but can also come in untapped if you reveal a plains or swamp from your hand.

Keep in mind that you can actually reveal dual lands that have either of these types, so you can technically reveal an Overgrown Tomb to have this enter untapped.

#8. Caves of Koilos

Caves of Koilos is your run-of-the-mill 2-color pain land. It can also tap for colorless without requiring you pay the life tax, which can be significantly important in aggro matchups where you want to preserve your life as much as possible.

#7. Bleachbone Verge

Bleachbone Verge is often a land subtype away from a Scrubland, and black and white decks often have no trouble putting plains or swamps into play, so the main drawback is the lack of searchability for this verge.

#6. Silent Clearing

Next up we have Silent Clearing, which is essentially a power-crept pain land. It taps for both white and black as long as you pay 1 life, but it can also be cashed in later in the game for a card.

That card draw is significant to its power level and is why it ended up in the top 10. While Orzhov doesn’t necessarily need or benefit from the extra card like Izzet () would, it’s still a great mechanic that really makes this land worth playing.

#5. Shadowy Backstreet

Surveil lands are excellent, especially in colors that care about their graveyard, which happens in some flavors of Orzhov. Just having access to Shadowy Backstreet with a fetch land when you don't need to grab an untapped source of mana is a great alternative that nets you a little bit of extra value.

#4. Vault of Champions

Vault of Champions was specifically designed for multiplayer formats, which is basically code for Commander.

This is a non-fetchable dual that enters untapped if you have two or more opponents. This makes it exceptional in Commander but pretty much F-tier in anything else.

#3. Marsh Flats

Marsh Flats is the Orzhov fetch land. This is actually one of the cheapest fetch lands thanks to the color combination, which makes it both powerful and affordable!

This of course pairs well with both Godless Shrine and Scrubland, but it’s still strong at grabbing specific basics.

#2. Godless Shrine

In the runner up spot today for black and white dual lands is none other than Godless Shrine. Nearly a perfect dual land, the Shrine can be fetched by both black and white sources, can enter untapped on the turn it enters the battlefield (for a small life payment), and taps for both white and black.

There isn’t much more you can ask for, and that’s why this shock land was awarded the #2 spot.

#1. Scrubland

We all knew it was coming, and now that we’re looking at the #1 spot, we can finally acknowledge that Scrubland is without a doubt the best black and white dual land. This OG dual land enters untapped, can be fetched by both white and black sources, and has absolutely no downside other than being exposed to Wasteland.

This is the ultimate dual land for your Commander, Legacy, and Vintage deck. And you should hold onto it for dear life if you can manage to get your hand on one of these (from any set) since it’s a Reserved List card.

Wrap Up

Orzhova, the Church of Deals | Illustration by Martina Pilcerova

That wraps up the top Orzhov dual lands in Magic! Orzhov is one of the lesser-played color combos, which means that its powerful dual lands are cheaper than their other color duo counterparts.

Did you enjoy the list? Are there any lands I left out or swaps you’d make in the rankings? Let me know in the comments below or over in the official Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!