Best Budget Tutors for Commander Under $2 (2026)

Tutors make commander decks consistent. Instead of hoping you draw the right card, you go find it. The problem is that the best tutors in the format cost serious money. Demonic Tutor runs $40 or more. Vampiric Tutor is pushing $30. Enlightened Tutor hovers around $25. You don't need any of them.

Budget tutors get the job done. They cost a mana or two more, sometimes with a restriction, but they still find the card you need when you need it.

Black tutors

Black has more tutors than any other color, and the budget options are strong.

Diabolic Tutor searches your library for any card and puts it into your hand.

. Four mana is a lot compared to Demonic Tutor's two, but the effect is identical. Any card, no restrictions, to your hand. This is the gold standard for budget tutoring. Thirty cents.

Mastermind's Acquisition does the same thing for

but also lets you grab a card you own from outside the game. In casual commander where groups allow wish boards, this adds flexibility. Even without that, it's a second copy of Diabolic Tutor. Fifty cents.

Razaketh's Rite costs

to search for any card. Five mana is steep, but it has cycling , which means it's never dead. Late game you tutor, early game you cycle it away. Twenty cents.

Final Parting searches for two cards. One goes to your hand, one goes to your graveyard.

. In any deck with graveyard recursion, both cards end up available. Put your reanimation target in the graveyard and your reanimation spell in your hand. That's a combo assembled off one card. Thirty cents.

Demonic Counsel lets you look at the top cards of your library equal to your life total and put one into your hand. In commander where you start at 40 life, this is effectively a tutor that searches 40 deep. One dollar.

Unmarked Grave searches for a nonlegendary card and puts it directly into your graveyard.

. Two mana to set up a reanimation target, flashback spell, or any graveyard synergy. A dollar fifty.

Red tutors

Red has fewer tutors but they're aggressive and memorable.

Gamble searches your library for any card for

. One mana. Then you discard a card at random. There's a chance you discard what you just tutored. That's the gamble. But one mana for an unconditional tutor is staggeringly efficient, and in a deck with graveyard recursion, discarding the tutored card isn't even a downside. A dollar fifty.

Goblin Matron fetches any goblin card from your library.

. In goblin tribal, this finds your combo piece, your lord, or your finisher every time. Fifty cents.

Imperial Recruiter fetches a creature with power 2 or less. That restriction sounds narrow until you realize it hits Dockside Extortionist, Thassa's Oracle, most combo creatures, and hundreds of utility creatures. A dollar ninety.

White tutors

White tutors usually find enchantments or small creatures.

Open the Armory searches for an aura or equipment card.

. Two mana to find your best equipment or aura is excellent in any Voltron or enchantress strategy. Twenty-five cents.

Moon-Blessed Cleric is a 3/2 that searches for an enchantment when it enters the battlefield.

. It puts the enchantment on top of your library instead of your hand, so you draw it next turn. A tutor attached to a body. Twenty cents.

Recruiter of the Guard fetches a creature with toughness 2 or less to your hand.

. Similar range to Imperial Recruiter but keying off toughness. Hits different cards, similarly powerful. A dollar eighty.

Green tutors

Green is the second-best tutor color after black, and its options are dirt cheap.

Commune with Nature looks at the top five cards and lets you put a creature into your hand.

. Not a true tutor since you only see five cards, but at one mana it's solid fixing. Five cents.

Time of Need searches for a legendary creature for

. In commander, your best creature is almost always legendary. This finds your commander alternatives and backup plans. Fifty cents.

Fauna Shaman lets you discard a creature to search for a creature.

, then activate for and a tap. Repeatable tutoring that also fills your graveyard. A dollar sixty.

Shared Summons finds two creature cards from your library for

. Five mana for two creatures to hand. In any creature combo deck, this assembles the pair in one card. A dollar.

Multicolor tutors

Eladamri's Call searches for a creature card and puts it into your hand for

. Two mana, no restrictions beyond creature type. One of the most efficient creature tutors ever printed. A dollar fifty.

Bring to Light searches for a creature, instant, or sorcery with mana value X or less, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast it.

base cost, converge for up to five. In a five-color deck, this finds anything with mana value 5 or less and casts it for free. Sixty cents.

Artifact and colorless tutors

Fabricate searches for an artifact card for

. In any artifact-heavy deck, this finds your combo piece, your mana rock, or your equipment. Seventy cents.

Trinket Mage fetches an artifact with mana value 1 or less.

. Finds Sol Ring, Skullclamp, Sensei's Divining Top, and dozens of other cheap artifacts. Fifteen cents.

Trophy Mage fetches an artifact with mana value exactly 3.

. Finds specific combo pieces like Basalt Monolith, Sword of the Animist, and Chromatic Lantern. Fifteen cents.

Tribute Mage fetches an artifact with mana value exactly 2.

. The mage cycle covers 1, 2, and 3 mana artifacts between the three of them. Mix and match based on what your deck needs. Twenty cents.

How many tutors should you run?

In most decks, two to four tutors is the right number. Enough to find your key card when you need it, not so many that your deck becomes "find one combo and execute it" every game. Commander is more fun when games play out differently, and running eight tutors turns every game into the same sequence.

If you're building a combo deck, lean toward four. If you're playing a value or battlecruiser strategy, two is plenty. One unconditional tutor like Diabolic Tutor and one that fits your theme, like Fabricate in artifacts or Open the Armory in equipment.

Budget tutors don't make your deck worse. They make it slightly slower. In a format where games regularly go 10 or more turns, one extra mana on your tutor is barely noticeable.