Commander Staples MTG Guide | Warlock Collectibles

Open any two Commander decks at the table and they’ll almost certainly share 8-10 cards before you even look at the themes. These are Commander staples — cards that solve fundamental problems so efficiently they go in everywhere. If you’re building your first custom deck or upgrading a Precon, start with these. You’ll use them in every deck you build from here on.

Important Note

This list does NOT include Game Changers — cards that Wizards considers powerful enough to raise a deck’s Bracket.

For the Game Changers list: magic.wizards.com/en/formats/commander

Also: Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus and Dockside Extortionist have been banned in Commander since 2024.

Ramp — Extra Mana Every Turn

Ramp in Commander means cards that give you more mana than your lands alone provide. Without ramp, you’re playing behind your opponents from turn 1.

Card	Colours	Cost	Why it’s worth it
Sol Ring	Colourless	€1–3	1 mana → 2 mana every turn. Appears in 84% of all Commander decks. Absolutely essential.
Arcane Signet	Colourless	€0.50–1.50	2 mana artifact → any colour your Commander uses. Included in every Precon — always useful.
Mind Stone	Colourless	€0.50–1	2 mana rock. Late game: sacrifice to draw. Dual purpose.
Commander’s Sphere	Colourless	€0.30–0.80	3 mana rock + sacrifice to draw. Good in 3+ colour decks.
Talismans	Colourless	€1–3	2 mana, fast colour fixing for 2-colour decks. 1 life per tap — worth it.
Cultivate / Kodama’s Reach	Green	€0.30–1	3 mana → fetches 2 lands. Replaces artifact ramp in green decks — lands survive board wipes.
Rampant Growth	Green	€0.30–1	2 mana → 1 basic land. Budget, reliable, always useful in green decks.

Tip: Start with Sol Ring + Arcane Signet in every deck. Add Mind Stone or Commander’s Sphere. If you’re playing green, Cultivate/Kodama’s Reach instead of more expensive rocks.

Card Draw — Keep Your Hand Full

In Commander, everyone starts with 7 cards and draws 1 per turn. Without draw you empty your hand quickly and run out of options. You need 8-10 draw pieces.

Card	Colours	Cost	Why it’s worth it
Skullclamp	Colourless	€5–8	Equip a 1/1 → it dies → draw 2 cards. In token decks: unstoppable draw engine.
Arcane Denial	Blue	€1–3	2 mana counterspell that gives the opponent 2 draws — but you save the game.
Phyrexian Arena	Black	€3–6	3 mana enchantment → 1 extra card per turn, -1 life. In a 40 life format, negligible cost.
Necropotence	Black	€5–10	Pay life for cards. Powerful but requires care — black decks only.
Mystic Remora	Blue	€4–8	Draw a card whenever an opponent plays a noncreature spell. Early game: 5–10 draws.
Beast Whisperer	Green	€1–3	Every creature you play → draw. In creature-heavy decks: literally free draws.
Sylvan Library	Green	€10–15	See top 3, keep up to 3 by paying 4 life each extra. Premium green draw.

Tip: Skullclamp if you have tokens. Phyrexian Arena for black decks. Mystic Remora for blue early game. Beast Whisperer for creature-heavy green.

Removal — Solve Problems

Every Commander deck needs at least 8-10 removal pieces: 6 single-target and 3-4 board wipes. The difference between good and bad removal is efficiency — you pay less mana for more effect.

Single Target Removal

Card	Colours	Cost	Why it’s worth it
Swords to Plowshares	White	€3–6	1 mana, exile creature. The best single-target removal in Commander.
Path to Exile	White	€3–5	1 mana exile — opponent gets a basic land. Equally powerful to Swords.
Beast Within	Green	€3–5	3 mana, destroys ANY permanent. Opponent gets a 3/3 token — still worth it.
Chaos Warp	Red	€0.30–1	3 mana, shuffles permanent into library. Universal removal for red decks.
Generous Gift	White	€2–5	3 mana instant, destroys anything → 3/3 Elephant. Ideal white removal.
Dreadbore	Black/Red	€0.50–1	2 mana instant, destroys creature or planeswalker. Essential in Grixis colours.
Bedevil	Black/Red	€0.30–1	3 mana instant, destroys creature, artifact or planeswalker. Universal for Grixis/Rakdos.
Terminate	Black/Red	€0.30–1	2 mana instant, destroys creature without regeneration. Most efficient black/red creature removal.

Board Wipe

Card	Colours	Cost	Why it’s worth it
Wrath of God / Day of Judgment	White	€3–5	4 mana, destroys ALL creatures. The classic board wipe.
Toxic Deluge	Black	€5–8	3 mana, pay life, everything gets -X/-X. Works against indestructible creatures.
Blasphemous Act	Red	€0.80–2	13 damage to ALL creatures. Costs 1 mana if enough creatures are on board.
Cyclonic Rift	Blue	€15–25	7 mana overload: returns ALL opponents’ non-lands to hand. Game Changer — check Bracket.

Protection — Keep Your Commander Safe

Your Commander will be targeted. Every time it dies, it costs +{2} more mana to recast. A few cards prevent this.

Card	Colours	Cost	Why it’s worth it
Lightning Greaves	Colourless	€3–6	0 mana equip, hexproof + haste. Play your Commander, instantly protected and ready to tap.
Swiftfoot Boots	Colourless	€1–3	1 mana equip, hexproof + haste. Slightly slower than Greaves but much cheaper.
Counterspell	Blue	€1–3	2 mana, counters any spell. The foundation of blue protection.
Swan Song	Blue	€5–8	1 mana, counters instant/sorcery/enchantment. Minimal cost, massive effect.
Heroic Intervention	Green	€4–8	2 mana instant — everything you control gets hexproof + indestructible until end of turn. Saves your whole board.

Lands — The Foundation of Every Deck

Beyond basic lands, these lands go in almost every deck regardless of colours.

Land	Colours	Cost	Why it’s worth it
Command Tower	Colourless	€0.30–1	Produces any colour your Commander uses. Absolutely essential in multicolour decks.
Exotic Orchard	Colourless	€0.30–1	Produces any colour that opponents’ lands produce. Almost always equivalent to Command Tower.
Evolving Wilds / Terramorphic Expanse	Colourless	€0.20–0.50	Sacrifice to fetch a basic land. Budget colour fixing — slightly slow but useful.
Path of Ancestry	Colourless	€0.25–1	Enters tapped, produces any colour + scry if you play a tribal card.

Quick Reference — By Budget

Budget	Recommendation
€0–30	Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Command Tower, Swiftfoot Boots, Chaos Warp, Blasphemous Act, Rampant Growth, Mind Stone, Evolving Wilds — add these first.
€30–60	Lightning Greaves, Counterspell, Swords to Plowshares, Beast Within, Skullclamp, Phyrexian Arena, Cultivate, Talismans — strong uplift.
€60–100	Toxic Deluge, Mystic Remora, Sylvan Library, Swan Song, Heroic Intervention — Bracket 3 territory.

Commander Staples — Cards That Go Into Almost Every Deck