Top 25 Commander Staples Under $10

Commander staples are the cards that show up everywhere regardless of archetype. Most Commander staples also cost a lot — original printings of Sol Ring aside, you’re looking at $20–$200 for the real workhorses.

These 25 cards all slot into almost any deck, and all of them currently cost under $10. If you’re building your first serious Commander deck or rebuilding after a cycle out of the hobby, this is the shopping list.

Mana rocks and ramp

1. Sol Ring ($2–$8 reprinted, $1 precon) Every Commander precon comes with a copy. A one-mana artifact that taps for two is the single best mana acceleration in the format. Legality note: Sol Ring is banned in 1v1 formats but legal in multiplayer Commander.

2. Arcane Signet ($1) Every Commander precon after 2020 comes with one. Two-mana rock that taps for any color in your commander’s identity. Not flashy; just correct.

3. Mind Stone ($1) Two-mana rock that can be sacrificed for a card later when you’re flooded. The sacrifice clause is what makes it beat Commander’s Sphere and similar 2-mana rocks.

4. Commander’s Sphere ($1) Three mana is slow for a rock, but the “sacrifice, draw a card” clause means it never becomes a dead topdeck. Runs in ~300k decks on EDHREC.

5. Cultivate ($2) Three-mana sorcery: search your library for up to two basic lands, put one onto the battlefield tapped, put the other into your hand. Green’s best ramp spell under $10.

6. Kodama’s Reach ($2) Functional reprint of Cultivate. If you need both, run both. Ramp is the most important resource in Commander.

Removal

7. Swords to Plowshares ($3) One-mana exile target creature. Opponent gains life equal to its power. The best removal spell in white for 30+ years.

8. Path to Exile ($3) Functional twin of Swords, but gives your opponent a basic land instead of life. Worse than Swords in the vast majority of situations; still worth having.

9. Generous Gift ($7) Three-mana instant that destroys any permanent, giving the opponent a 3/3 elephant. In a format where you can’t run Swords on a planeswalker, Generous Gift fills the gap.

10. Beast Within ($2) Green’s version of Generous Gift. Destroys any permanent, creates a 3/3 beast token. Green normally can’t kill non-creature permanents; Beast Within fixes that.

11. Chaos Warp ($3) Red’s version of “kill anything.” Puts target permanent on top of its owner’s library, then shuffles. Sometimes the opponent just plays it again next turn, but the exile-equivalent effect on an indestructible permanent is often game-winning.

12. Anguished Unmaking ($4) Three-mana instant (WB), exile target nonland permanent, lose 3 life. Best single-target removal in Orzhov colors.

Card draw

13. Rhystic Study — wait, this is over $10 on most printings. Skipping.

13. Harmonize ($2) Four-mana sorcery: draw three cards. Green doesn’t get much card draw; Harmonize is one of the few repeatable options at a reasonable cost.

14. Brainstorm ($1) One-mana instant: draw three, put two back on top. Modern Commander has shuffle effects everywhere, which turns Brainstorm’s downside into an upside.

15. Night’s Whisper ($2) Two-mana sorcery: draw two, lose 2 life. Black’s cheapest reliable draw spell.

16. Read the Bones ($1) Three-mana sorcery: scry 2, draw two, lose 2 life. One more mana than Night’s Whisper but with scry upside.

17. Sign in Blood ($1) Two-mana sorcery: target player draws two cards, loses 2 life. Usually you target yourself, but you can finish off a wounded opponent with it too.

18. Divination ($0.50) Three-mana sorcery: draw two cards. Simple, reliable, cheap.

Utility

19. Counterspell ($3 — was over $10 pre-Commander Masters 2023) Two-mana instant counter target spell. The best counter in Commander by a wide margin.

20. Negate ($1) Two-mana instant: counter target noncreature spell. Narrower than Counterspell but sometimes you want to leave UU up specifically against threats.

21. Eerie Interlude ($2) Two-mana instant: exile any number of your creatures, return them at end of turn. Dodges a board wipe, triggers enter-the-battlefield effects twice — very versatile.

22. Deflecting Swat ($3 after Double Masters 2022) Zero-mana if you control the commander: redirect a spell or ability’s target. Game-winning in blue-heavy metas where Cyclonic Rift is everywhere.

23. Solemn Simulacrum ($3) Four-mana artifact creature: fetches a land when it ETBs, draws a card when it dies. The textbook “value creature” — runs in ~200k decks.

24. Skullclamp ($1) One-mana equipment: equipped creature gets +1/-1 and when it dies, draw two. In any deck running small creatures or token generation, Skullclamp is busted for a dollar.

25. Lightning Greaves ($3) Two-mana equipment: gives equipped creature haste and shroud for free. Protects your commander the turn it enters; the “equip 0” is why it beats the (otherwise similar) Swiftfoot Boots.

The actual shopping list

If you’re starting a new Commander deck and only have $100 to spend on staples:

1. Arcane Signet, Sol Ring (precon source, ~$3 total)
2. 2× ramp spells in your colors ($4)
3. 3× card draw in your colors ($4–$8)
4. 2× removal in your colors ($5–$10)
5. 1× Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots ($3)
6. Solemn Simulacrum ($3)

Total: around $35. The remaining $65 goes to lands, your commander, and archetype-specific cards.

The biggest budget mistake new Commander players make: overpaying on flashy rares while skimping on ramp and removal. These 25 cards, in aggregate, are worth more than any $40 mythic you’ll ever open.