The 28 Best Green Lands in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 26, 2026

Gaea's Cradle | Illustration by Filip Burburan

Greetings planeswalkers! Each color in Magic’s color pie has several things it’s best at. Green cards are commonly seen as the color of creatures and lands, since green's uniquely good at ramping and tends to get the fattest creatures to use all that extra mana on. Several of green’s ramp spells are notable for fetching any land too, letting you tutor powerful utility lands. To complement green’s emphasis on finding lands, the color has also been gifted with a number of great land cards themselves.

In keeping with green’s focus on creatures, many of these green lands synergize well with creatures, often rewarding you for either having many creatures or one large, powerful one. There are also some other utility lands that make it easier to cast creatures ahead of schedule, like Castle Garenbrig. Lastly, there are even a couple of unique green lands that work well with card types like artifacts.

When building a green Commander deck, many of these lands are sound inclusions, beyond just the usual basic Forests. I’ve prepared a list of some of the best green lands in MTG so you can decide how best to spice up your mana bases. Many of these excel in mono-green lists, but are not just limited to them.

What Are Green Lands in MTG?

Dryad Arbor | Illustration by Brad Rigney

The label “green lands” can be somewhat misleading, as all lands in Magic are technically considered colorless cards. When I talk about green lands, I simply mean lands that have the “Forest” land type or include a green mana pip somewhere in their rules text. Though these lands are still considered colorless in game, having a green mana pip (or the implied pip present on all Forests) gives them a green color identity. If you’re playing Commander, you’ll only be able to put these lands in a deck with a green commander.

Given this definition, I’ve focused on cards that are exclusive to x Commander decks; mono-green staples like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx don’t meet this criteria and aren’t listed.

#28. Sapseep Forest

Sapseep Forest is a narrow card that can be useful for green lifegain decks. I wouldn’t bother including it for anything else, but it seems worthy of inclusion for commanders like Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn or Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant. You can also tutor this land reliably with cards like Nature's Lore and Skyshroud Claim, as it has the forest subtype.

#27. Desert of the Indomitable

This is similar to cycling lands like Tranquil Thicket and Slippery Karst, but it has the added subtype “desert.” There’s no real drawback to this, and it can be essential upside for Hazezon, Shaper of Sand and Yuma, Proud Protector. It’s an absolute must-have for them, and a decent inclusion anywhere else if you want some extra flood insurance.

#26. Hidden Nursery

Speaking of insurance against mana flood, cards like Hidden Nursery offer another meaningful way to go about this. You won’t use this early on usually, but just having the option to get “something” that isn’t a land later can be valuable. It’s also quite effective with cards like Ramunap Excavator, since it bins itself for reuse.

#25. Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers

Despite the minimal opportunity cost here, Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers usually doesn’t do much. It’s best with commanders that like being pumped like Tana, the Bloodsower, or in decks that don’t get much out of any particular basic land type. If you have cards that care about forests though, this won’t do enough to merit not just playing another basic Forest.

#24. Pendelhaven

Another low opportunity cost pump land, Pendelhaven has some real pedigree in non-EDH formats, particularly in old Modern Infect builds. It works best in Commander with commanders that care about legendary status like Kethis, the Hidden Hand and Captain Sisay, since it offers a tutorable land in the latter case or fodder in the former. It’s not hard to include in many other decks but often won’t do much either.

#23. The Shire

The Shire frequently enters untapped and provides mild upside in the form of Food tokens. This is obviously best in decks that care about food, making this a flavorful staple for commanders like Samwise Gamgee and Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit + Sam, Loyal Attendant. It’s also excellent in a couple of non-LotR commanders like Camellia, the Seedmiser and The Goose Mother. If you aren’t getting much out of food/lifegain, don’t feel compelled to include it.

#22. Chocobo Camp

There is little drawback to using Chocobo Camp over a Forest. The pump on birds is a mini version of The Great Henge and the option to pop out chocobo tokens can get out of hand so much that you'll want to race an opponent.

#21. Kishla Village

Kishla Village is a bit overpriced for surveil, but a self-mill of two cards per turn is quite the fuel if your deck needs to get going. Sultai cards love this and will feast on the graveyard if you give them the opportunity.

#20. Yavimaya Hollow

This is a very strong utility land that can help protect important creatures from sweepers and combat. Unlike similar cards such as Swarmyard, Yavimaya Hollow isn’t restricted by creature types. My only caveats with it are that it’s a rather old card, which makes finding a copy difficult and expensive (it currently runs for $60+). Whether that kind of price is worth it for regeneration on a land is ultimately your call.

#19. Bala Ged Recovery / Bala Ged Sanctuary

MDFCs (modal double-faced cards) make this list by virtue of being green lands with spells on their other side. Bala Ged Sanctuary isn’t just a green land that enters tapped. You can also use it to get any card back from your graveyard by casting it on its Bala Ged Recovery side. This increases the chances that this card will be helpful to you whether you draw it earlier in the game or later when you already have enough land.

#18. Lair of the Hydra

Lair of the Hydra is a solid, scalable creature land that can go in just about any green deck. It often enters tapped (as it’s only untapped very early in the game), but it’s a valuable mana dump either way. There’s also a cheeky infinite mana combo with it featuring Devoted Druid and Exchange of Words.

#17. Wirewood Lodge

Wirewood Lodge is a must-have inclusion for any elves deck! When combined with cards like Elvish Archdruid and Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, Wirewood Lodge can make considerable amounts of mana. Most elves decks won’t want too many colorless lands, but Wirewood Lodge is pretty much a lock.

#16. Argoth, Sanctum of Nature

If you’re playing this, you are likely playing Titania, Voice of Gaea, as the meld ability is pretty cool and powerful. It’s also not a bad land on its own though, as it has an easier time entering untapped in EDH than it does in other Magic formats like Standard. Argoth, Sanctum of Nature also gives you at least something to do with your mana, and the self-mill can even be upside for certain commanders like Lord Windgrace.

#15. Turntimber Symbiosis / Turntimber, Serpentine Wood

Being able to play this untapped if you need to is a big deal, and really lowers the opportunity cost for including this in your deck. Though Turntimber Symbiosis is hardly the most powerful sorcery, it can be vastly superior to another land later in the game. It works particularly well in decks with lots of powerful creatures to cheat into play off it. I also appreciate the failsafe function, as you’ll at least get some counters when you brick. Try combining it with Sylvan Library if you can, as you’ll have greater control over what you hit with this.

#14. Dryad Arbor

Among the most unique lands in the game, Dryad Arbor is notable for being the game’s only true land creature hybrid. Playing Dryad Arbor gives you a 1/1 forest at the cost of your land for that turn. Most notably, this means that Dryad Arbor is tutorable off of fetch lands. Its fragility means that it often excels in decks looking for disposable, tutorable creatures like Rendmaw, Creaking Nest and Baba Lysaga, Night Witch. Dryad Arbor can also be a cheeky infinite combo piece if you combine it with Springheart Nantuko, Tireless Provisioner, and Lotus Cobra.

#13. Tranquil Thicket

Easy, no-frills cycling on a simple tap land is pretty appealing for many decks, so I’ve rated this a fair bit higher than Desert of the Indomitable. Tranquil Thicket is at its best in something like Slogurk, the Overslime or The Gitrog Monster (i.e., commanders that care about lands going to the ‘yard), but is hardly limited to those. If you want some extra flood protection and don’t mind another tapped land, give Tranquil Thicket a try. Don’t forget about Slippery Karst and Desert of the Indomitable too, as some decks want more of this effect.

#12. Disciple of Freyalise / Garden of Freyalise

Disciple of Freyalise / Garden of Freyalise is my pick for the best green MDFC out there. This is a powerful Disciple of Bolas spinoff that can also be played as a simple Forest. You aren’t even forced to play this one tapped either, as it has the same “pay 3 or tapped” setup as other bolt lands. Disciple of Freyalise is a must-have inclusion, particularly if your deck is based around elves or sacrificing creatures!

#11. Blighted Woodland

The green pip in the activated ability makes this a green land, despite it only adding colorless mana. Though hardly the most efficient source of ramp, Blighted Woodland is a great piece for redundancy. Most decks can afford a couple of colorless sources, and Blighted Woodland is among the most common inclusions.

#10. Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

There are a couple of uses for this nifty green Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. For starters, this is mana fixing for colorful decks that can’t afford too many basic Forests. Having access to more forests also powers up cards like Nissa, Ascended Animist and Nissa, Worldwaker. You can also benefit from giving your opponents’ forests by using forestwalk creatures, particularly ones like Elvish Champion and Jedit Ojanen of Efrava.

Yavimaya is here on technicality, since it doesn't actually have a green color identity and can be played in any Commander deck.

#9. Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis

Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis either provides a cool land drop from exile after the adventure, and creating a massive creature that inherently gets +1/+1 counters is excellent late game use that green never gets tired of.

#8. Ba Sing Se

Ba Sing Se is the perfect place to learn an Earthbending Lesson. Because this land would provide a , I think of this as a repeatable Earthbending Lesson for one less +1/+1 counter. Earthbending every turn like this is enough to shut down a lot of attacks. No wonder this city withstood warfare and was besieged for 100 years.

#7. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood is a strong land for creature-heavy builds, especially if your deck is focused on tokens or +1/+1 counters. This goes off with cards like Rhys the Redeemed or March of the Multitudes, as you’ll be making many 2/2s rather than 1/1s. It’s also an easy way to draw cards off of something like Dusk Legion Duelist, Armorcraft Judge, or Generous Patron. Overall, this does enough that many decks will find it well worth playing (even though it enters tapped).

#6. Shifting Woodland

Shifting Woodland is an awesome, fairly new land from Modern Horizons 3 that excels in graveyard-focused decks. It’s remarkably flexible in the late game, as it can temporarily become any permanent that’s in your graveyard. The ceiling for this is ideally cards like Omniscience and Archon of Cruelty, but you can also copy simple value cards like Evolution Witness too. And considering how often Shifting Woodland enters untapped (just takes one forest), this is an easy inclusion for just about any green deck.

#5. Mosswort Bridge

Everyone likes free stuff, and Mosswort Bridge offers you the opportunity to get a free spell later in the game. You can go about getting this free spell either by controlling one big guy, a few medium guys, or lots of small creatures. But rest assured, most green decks eventually get it. Ideally you’ll hit something massive from your top four cards with hideaway, but even if you don’t, this is pure card advantage. The only drawback is that it enters tapped, but having a couple of lands do so in a game is perfectly manageable.

#4. Castle Garenbrig

Extra mana doesn’t really get any easier than Castle Garenbrig. Once you can afford its activated ability, you’re now up +1 mana for the rest of the game. While that might not seem such a big deal, this can mean a 6-drop ahead of schedule, a double spell turn that might not have otherwise been possible, a Genesis Hydra for one bigger X, etc. These little advantages add up, and moreover, the opportunity cost for including Castle Garenbrig is nearly nonexistent. At worst this enters tapped early on, but it only takes a single forest for you to be able to freeroll this. There’s a reason it’s one of the most played lands in any green deck!

#3. Evendo, Waking Haven

Spoiler Alert! If you can create mana equal to the number of creatures you control: you got a powerful card on your hands.

Evendo, Waking Haven is that card and having lots of creatures happens to go right along with stationing this planet to super-power your biggest creatures.

#2. Boseiju, Who Endures

Boseiju, Who Endures is an elite utility land thanks to its powerful channel ability. Getting extra artifact removal, enchantment destruction, and killing nonbasic lands all in one legendary land is remarkable, as there’s basically zero opportunity cost for including this in your deck! Moreover, channeling Boseiju involves using an ability, not a spell, meaning that Boseiju can often remove key game pieces without running into Counterspells.

Boseiju also synergizes very well with cards like Wrenn and Six, which can recur Boseiju over and over if you desire. I also appreciate that Boseiju ramps your opponent; while this would normally be considered a drawback, this minimizes the “sting” of it in EDH, making it easier for you to play politics while keeping the table in check.

#1. Gaea’s Cradle

Long-time players should be totally unsurprised to see Gaea's Cradle at the top of this list! Gaea's Cradle is just an absolutely busted card that can add insane amounts of mana. Though technically useless with zero creatures in play, it becomes a forest with just one and quickly becomes egregious. It’s especially filthy with cards that make lots of creature tokens for X mana (like Awaken the Woods), since it works perfectly before/after. The card’s only real drawbacks are finances (a single copy runs for $800+, with no sign of dropping soon) and its raw power level, so consult with your playgroup whether Gaea's Cradle is appropriate. If you’re allowed to play it, this is a must-have for just about any green deck and a common tutor target for those that do.

Best Green Land Payoffs and Synergies

Most of these green lands we’ve covered synergize best with creatures. Whether it’s buffing them up or gaining benefits for having them, try including these lands in a creature-heavy deck for the best results. Extra mana creating lands like Gaea's Cradle and Castle Garenbrig also love big green spells like Avenger of Zendikar, Rampaging Baloths, and Hydroid Krasis.

Sure those landfall payoffs are good, but controlling a certain number of lands has benefits too, Sylvan Advocate, Fecund Greenshell, and Crash of Rhino Beetles get better if you control a certain number of lands. Come to think of it, the city's blessing found on Wayward Swordtooth, Tendershoot Dryad, and Andúril, Narsil Reforged are also good payoffs while you establish a foundation of ramp for your cards.

Wrap Up

Boseiju, Who Endures | Illustration by Chris Ostrowski

It certainly makes sense that a color with so much support for lands would have some powerful lands itself! I hope that this list helps you choose the best one(s) for whichever decks you’re looking to build.

Are there any green lands you think deserved a spot on this list? Which of these lands do you run in your decks? Let me know in the comments or on Draftsim’s Twitter.

Thank you for reading and see you next time!