Sylvan Library card art

Sylvan Library

Enchantment MV 2

Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.

What it does

At the beginning of your draw step, you may draw two additional cards. If you do, choose two cards in your hand drawn this turn. For each of those cards, pay 4 life or put the card on top of your library.

Rulings

7 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.

  • 2022-12-08

    Any cards drawn prior to Sylvan Library’s ability resolving, including in your upkeep or in response to Sylvan Library’s triggered ability, can be chosen to be put back using this effect. Sylvan Library’s controller is responsible for keeping these cards distinguishable in hand, such as by keeping them separate from cards that began the turn in hand.

  • 2022-12-08

    If you choose to draw two cards, then replace one or more of those draws with some other effect, the rest of Sylvan Library’s ability still happens. If you’ve actually drawn only one card that turn, you must choose that card and either pay 4 life or put it on top of your library. If you haven’t actually drawn any cards that turn, the rest of the ability has no effect.

  • 2022-12-08

    If you control other triggered abilities that allow you to draw cards during your draw step, you can choose to order Sylvan Library’s ability before or after those abilities. Triggered abilities controlled by other players will resolve before triggered abilities you control.

  • 2022-12-08

    If you control more than one Sylvan Library, the triggered ability of each will resolve in sequence. You don’t get to draw all the cards at once and then put them all back at once.

  • 2022-12-08

    You always perform your normal draw before this ability. The normal draw occurs before anything can be placed on the stack during a player’s draw step.

  • 2022-12-08

    You can put back zero, one, or two cards.

  • 2022-12-08

    It’s not possible to take any actions between drawing the cards and choosing two cards. You can’t cast the cards you drew to avoid having two cards to choose.

Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.

In the 99

Every deck whose current list includes Sylvan Library, whatever its commander.

Decks running it 14
Games played 5
Win rate 20%
Confirmed on board 0 Games where a board photo caught it actually in play.

Most played under

Colors it shows up in

  • Golgari 3 decks
  • Gruul 3 decks
  • Temur 1 deck
  • Abzan 1 deck
  • Selesnya 1 deck
  • Five-Color 1 deck

Every version of Sylvan Library

16 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly — a printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall genuinely publishes none for some of them.

Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Sylvan Library — a name search across every version, for the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.

Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only — no individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.