In Magic: The Gathering, tutors are a special type of card that let you fetch up another card of your choice out of your deck. Some will pop that card right into your hand, others will stick it on top of your deck. Either way, MTG tutors ensure that, unless disaster (or Thoughtseize) strikes, you’ll very soon get to play a card you really need.
MTG tutors are particularly popular in EDH. They’re more useful in this format than most, simply because Commander decks are so large, and each of their 99 cards (excepting basic lands) must be different. That means the chance of having the perfect card in hand at a crucial moment is normally pretty slim. MTG tutors make it much more likely you’ll have the answers you need, right when you need them and can therefore really boost the power of a Commander deck.
Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, MTG tutors in EDH are here to stay, and if you want to play in high-power games, squaring off against the best MTG commanders in the format, you’re probably going to need a tutor or two. So, here are…
The best MTG tutors for Commander
Imperial Recruiter
There really aren’t many red tutors in Magic: The Gathering, which makes sense, since the colour is all about spontaneity, not careful planning. Imperial Recruiter may not have ‘tutor’ in its name, but with its ETB effect of grabbing a low-power creature card and popping it into your hand, that’s clearly what it is. It’s probably the best EDH tutor card that red can muster, unless you’re willing to Gamble.
Enlightened Tutor
The obvious drawbacks to this MTG Tutor are that you can only fetch an artifact or enchantment card, and it doesn’t go into your hand right away. The upside is it only costs one mana, and can be used at instant speed right before your turn. If you’re in white, and playing with artifacts or using an Enchantress strategy, Enlightened Tutor is a must-have tutor card.
Green Sun’s Zenith
It’s hard to know if Green Sun’s Zenith or Worldly Tutor should take the spot of best green tutor card – both are fab. We’re narrowly awarding the prize to zenith, however, since putting the creature you tutor up straight onto the battlefield is such a strong play. It also means you can tutor a multicoloured card without worrying about fixing.
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Yes, if you’re grabbing a big boy like Craterhoof Behemoth, then this is far more expensive than the rest of the best tutors, but if you’re playing green, you should have more mana than your opponents anyhow.
Mystical Tutor
The pros and cons list for Mystical Tutor looks almost exactly the same as the one for Enlightened Tutor. This tutor card is in blue and gets instants and sorceries, which perhaps gives it an edge in terms of ranking. There are plenty of blue spells that can turn the tide of a Commander game (think Cyclonic Rift) making this a very useful tutor in a pinch.
Vampiric Tutor
Black gets all the best tutors. Unlike the other one mana tutor cards in Magic, there’s no limitations on Vampiric Tutor. You can grab /any/ card in the game with it, and stick it on top of your library.
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The only drawback is you’ve got to pay two life – presumably to the vampire you send to fetch your top-notch card for you. In Commander games, where you’ve got 40 life to play with, that’s seriously not a major downside.
Demonic Tutor
Perhaps the best tutor card in all of Magic: The Gathering, Demonic Tutor is a sorcery and costs two mana, but it lets you fetch any card you need and use it right away. There’s no life loss, and the card you tutor for goes straight to your hand – what more could you need?