The Kamigawa Block of Magic the Gathering had many very interesting Legendary Land cards. While many weren’t incredible in Standard competition back in the day, some would later become extremely good in Modern and Legacy. Most of the Legendary Kamigawa lands are extremely good in EDH / Commander. One of these Legendary utility lands with widespread use is Hall of the Bandit Lord.
Playable in any deck, Hall of the Bandit Lord taps for one colorless mana at the cost of three life. At first, that trade-off sounds pretty awful. However, if that colorless mana is used to summon a creature, that creature gains haste.
Why is it Important to Have a Colorless Land That Gives a Creature Haste?
Haste is an extremely important thing for some creatures to have in Magic. This is especially true in Commander, a format in which there are many tap abilities that can essentially win you the game straight-away. Therefore, in decks that rely heavily on being able to attack right away or use tap effects to win the game for them, Hall of the Bandit Lord’s effect is super useful, even at the cost of 3 life. Also, giving your Commander itself haste on a regular basis isn’t a bad thing, either.
Hall of the Bandit Lord does have the drawback of having to come into play tapped. Then again, there are plenty of ways in Commander to untap lands anyway. Also, in Commander, that Hall of the Bandit Lord will probably be sitting on the board for a long time before you need it. Yes, life is a bit less of a precious resource in Commander, as you start with 40 instead of the traditional 20. But, you still only want to use it for your biggest and best tap abilities, most often those on your Commander.
What Commander Decks Most Use Hall of the Bandit Lord?
The Commander who uses Hall of the Bandit Lord the most is probably Kaalia of the Vast, who doesn’t have Haste herself. Paying three life to use her ability to put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon into play when attacking right away is well worth the cost. Kaalia is already a powerful commander, and this land makes her even more deadly.
Narset, Enlightened Master is another Commander who also benefits greatly from Hall of the Bandit Lord. Her ability to potentially cast four noncreature spells for free every time she attacks is made a lot better if she has haste. Narset decks can win without this land, but any extra chance to use this ability is extremely valuable.
Bruna, Light of Alabaster, Captain Sisay, Heartless Hidetsugu, Krenko, Mob Boss, and Zur the Enchanter are other Commanders who often take advantage of the Hall of the Bandit Lord’s haste granting ability.
Does Hall of the Bandit Lord See Play in Modern or Legacy?
Hall of the Bandit Lord has found a home in some Modern decks, including this three-color deck based around Devoted Druid, Vizier of Remedies, and Walking Ballista from May 2018. It has also seen occasional play in Collected Company decks recently as 2019. Even Eldrazi Tron has shoehorned in a copy of the Hall recently as February 2021.
While it hasn’t been since 2018 on a high-level tournament scale, Hall of the Bandit Lord has appeared in deck lists such as 12 Post or MUD.
