Goblin’s Guide to Commander Deck Ratios
Listen up, meat-hands! I’m the Deck Goblin, and I’ve got tips for you—just the tips. Don’t get greedy.
Commander deckbuilding can feel like stuffing a dragon into a shoebox: 100 cards, no duplicates (usually), and a burning desire to make something both powerful and obnoxious enough to make your friends sigh every time you shuffle up. Lucky for you, I’ve boiled it down into tasty morsels—ideal ratios that’ll keep your deck running smoother than a greased goblin on roller skates.
1. Lands (35–38)*
Yes, yes, I hear you: “But Goblin, I wanna play MORE SPELLS!” Tough toenails. You can’t sling spells without mana. Unless you enjoy mulliganing into oblivion, pack 35–38 lands. Fancier folk with green ramp can skate by on the lower end, while mana-hungry degenerates in five colors need to climb higher.
Hot Tip (just the tip!): Don’t forget utility lands. Strip Mine, Field of the Dead, and that one that makes goats. You’ll thank me when your buddy’s combo piece goes kablooey.
*Note: If you’re running a high-powered Bracket 4 or 5 (cEDH) deck, your land count can routinely be as low as 20-30 lands, but this guide is meant generally for Bracket 1 through 4 decks that are not running a bunch of free spells and fast mana.
2. Ramp (9–12)
A true goblin knows the value of shinies and speed. You want to get ahead fast, so load up on 9–12 mana rocks, mana dorks, or ramp spells. Sol Ring, Cultivate, Arcane Signet—yeah, yeah, they’re boring. But boring gets the job done while you’re waiting to cast that eight-mana monstrosity you swore would be “fun.”
This is also where you can really differentiate in which bracket your deck is designed to stomp by picking which mana sources to use for your ramp package:
Bracket 5 (cEDH): Use mostly cheerios (i.e., 0-CMC artifact mana sources like Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Mox Opal, Lotus Petal, etc.) combined with free mana and mana positive spells (Simian Spirit Guide, Dark Ritual, Jeska’s Will).
Bracket 4 (Optimized): Use 1-2 fast mana cheerios with a few 2-CMC mana rocks like Talismans or Signets.
Bracket 3 (Upgraded): Skip the fast mana cheerios and play mostly 2-CMC mana rocks like Talismans or Signets.
Bracket 2 (Core): Skip the Commander Staples like Sol Ring and Arcane Signet/Fellwar Stone and use thematically appropriate 3-CMC mana rocks instead like Commander’s Sphere.
Bracket 1 (Exhibition): Play like Bracket 2 unless your exhibition theme aligns with some specific faster mana rocks.
REMINDER: While almost every Commander deck should be playing Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and/or Fellwar Stone, remember that you can’t play multiple copies of any of those. So don’t get any ideas about multiple Sol Rings in your deck.
3. Card Advantage (8–10)
No cards = no fun = sad goblin. Keep your grubby hands full and see more cards with 8–10 sources of card advantage. These can be true draw spells like Careful Study or Deep Analysis, “Tax” spells like Esper Sentinel and Rhystic Study, ongoing draw effects like Phyrexian Arena or Bident of Thassa, scry and surveil effects like Deliberate and Consider to filter your deck, rummage and wheel effects like Faithless Looting or Wheel of Fortune to sift through your deck faster, and tutors like Demonic Tutor or Enlightened Tutor to find the exact card you need. Just don’t be the fool who plays one Harmonize and calls it a day. Draw spells are the grease in your goblin machine.
Pro Goblin Move: Use draw that doubles as pain for your enemies. Cards that punish the table while providing card advantage can be extra spicy and lead to wins.
4. Removal (7–9)
Things will get out of hand. Someone will drop a Smothering Tithe, or worse—a Blightsteel Colossus—and then everyone looks at you like “Hey, you got removal?” Don’t be the clown with nothing. Pack 7–9 answers: creature removal, artifact hate, enchantment nukes, and counterspells. Flexibility is king. Unless your deck needs “destroy” effects or to send creatures to graveyards, you should focus on "exile” effects like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile or Farewell.
Goblin Bonus: Board wipes count here. Sometimes the best answer is “burn everything to the ground and start over.” Just be sure not to include too many, or you’ll end up with dead cards in your hand.
5. Win Conditions (10–15)
The fun stuff! Don’t just pack random jank; make sure you’ve got 10–15 consistent ways to close out a game along with synergistic cards. These cards should make up “The Plan.” It could be combo pieces with the appropriate combo assemblers, a big stompy creature (or 12), or some endless token swarm that will break through with an Overrun or Craterhoof Behemoth. Just don’t rely on one shiny piece to get the job done. Goblins respect redundancy.
6. The Rest = Spice
After you’ve covered the basics, the leftover 15-30 cards are your spice rack. Theme cards, pet cards, flavor wins, or that one copy of Goblin Game you insist on sneaking in “just for laughs.” This is where your deck gets personality.
It’s also where you can adjust your CRISPI score (CRISPI stands for Consistency Resilience Interaction Speed Performance Index as explained on the DeckCheck site).
Need your deck to be more consistent? Add tutors and card advantage.
Need your deck to be more resilient? Add some protection spells like Lightning Greaves.
Need your deck to be more interactive? Add some direct damage, exile, and destroy effects.
Need your deck to be more speedy? Add some fast mana and ritual effects.
Closing Cackle
That’s it—your tasty ratios for a solid Commander deck. Lands, ramp, card advantage, interaction, win cons, and spice. Follow the math, and you’ll at least look competent while the table burns. Ignore it, and you’ll end up a sad little gremlin with four lands, no gas, and everyone laughing while you scoop.
Now get out there and brew, you shiny-hungry nerds. And remember: I give Just the Tips!—it’s up to you to stab with the pointy end.