Card Guides
Best Tutors in Commander
Demonic Tutor for the unconditional gold standard, Vampiric Tutor for the cheap instant-speed version. The staples for finding exactly the card you need.
What makes a tutor good
- Unconditional versus narrow. A tutor for any card is more valuable, but a narrow tutor (creatures only, for example) is usually cheaper.
- To hand versus on top of the library. Straight to hand is faster; on top costs a turn but is usually cheaper mana-wise.
- Speed. An instant-speed tutor can find an answer in response to something, which a sorcery-speed one can't.
Unconditional tutors
Find any card in your deck, at a real mana or timing cost.
Demonic Tutor ↗
Two mana, any card, straight to hand. The best unconditional tutor available, and the standard the rest of the category is measured against.
Vampiric Tutor ↗
One mana at instant speed, but the card goes on top of your library instead of your hand. Cheaper and faster than Demonic Tutor at the cost of a turn's delay.
Narrow tutors that earn the discount
Restricted to one card type, priced accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best tutor in Commander?
Demonic Tutor: two mana, any card in your deck, straight to your hand. It's the standard every other tutor in the format gets compared to, and the reason 'Demonic Tutor effect' is the shorthand for an unconditional search spell.
Is Vampiric Tutor better than Demonic Tutor?
They trade off differently. Vampiric Tutor is one mana and instant speed, which is cheaper and faster, but the card lands on top of your library rather than in your hand, so you still have to draw it. Many decks run both.
How many tutors should a Commander deck run?
2 to 5 for most decks, see how many tutors to run for the full breakdown and when a combo deck wants more.
Do tutors hurt card advantage?
Yes, and it's worth knowing going in. A tutor spends a card to get a card, so it's card-neutral at best. What you're paying for is precision, not raw card count, which is why a deck leaning on several tutors also wants a healthy card draw suite.
See how often your tutors actually find the right card.
TurnZero HQ's game history lets you review past games, so you can tell whether a tutor slot is earning its place.
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