Card Draw Tier List for Commander | Ranking the Most Popular Card Draw Spells in Commander
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- Let's draw some cards! Not all card draw is created equal, so we're ranking some of the most played card draw in Commander on this tier list!
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Elemental bond is good because it's etb not cast and it doesn't care if the creature is a token
Exactly! In decks that make large tokens like dragon decks or clones, this card can go off. Also see garruks uprising and kiora behemoth beckoner
@@slifer867 it's one of the best draw spells in my Kyler Sigardian Emissary deck because Kyler can easily make any human tokens big enough to trigger elemental bond.
Elemental bond with a Koma on the battlefield is bliss
It's criminal to see it on D tier, it's A at best and B at worst.
The only drawback I can see is that you don't have a choice when a creature enters, you *must* draw a card; but that's it, it's so easy to put 3 power creatures or 3/3 tokens.
Koma loves this def not d
>Sign in Blood & Night's Whisper in C
>Read the Bones in poop tier
I play Read the Bones in non-blue decks that are thousands of dollars, I play it along side Night's Whisper. The ability to see up to 4 deep is well worth one extra colorless, and I'm always happy to see it in my hand and cast it.
Agree 100%!
Their just haters, read the bones is a must have just because of adding scry
@@mistysowards7365 i dont know about must have, but it is solid. Scry is definitely a nice bonus, but scry 2 is almost a full card and wont always be worth the extra mana for me. Things get a little different if you have cards like Vilis though to take more advantage of the life-loss
I thought they were a little too hard on it too.
Foresee is honestly one of my favorite draw cards in U simply for this fact.
Also if you love scry, look up "Cryptic Annelid." Thank me later.
I don't play a lot of commander because I live in a small town and our playgroup is narrow, but I could listen to you guys talk about cards for days and days
I personally think read the bones isn't even that bad. It can help you smooth out your draws in the mid game, sometimes you just need to find your next land drop in time. Sure it might not be the best card draw in the format, but it gets the job done a lot of the time.
Cards like Elemental Bond and Kavu Lair are better for Token decks where you can reliably make larger tokens where beast whisperer and guardian project won’t work. Titania and Gruul Omnath come to mind.
Very fair if you are making bigger tokens
Thanks for writing that. I was litteraly screeming at the monitor when this was not mentioned. Also Elemental bond and Guardian project triger on ETB not only casts so for me as a player who plays a lot! off reanimator decks that is a huuuge upside towards beast whisperer.
This, and what santaclawsui said too about Beast Whisperer being a cast trigger. Probably should've been evaluated separately, but also probably sits around the same spot because it has the extra synergy of being a creature itself.
@@NitpickingNerds I just built a Jinnie Fae deck where i create bunch of Power 3 Dog tokens, i will consider Elemental Bond for my next order ;)
@@NitpickingNerds Also way better in Gishath.
Elemental bound and garruks uprising are best when you make big token imo, which is why I play both in my dragon token deck
The one aspect of elemental bond that you missed is that it triggers off of token creatures entering battlefield. So in the right deck, it can be better than both Beast Whisperer and Guardian Project. Not sure how much that would change the overall evaluation, but worth noting.
I love this point! It can be so much better!!!
Yeah, they missed the mark on many of these cards. /facepalm
You make a good point but not many tokens are over 3/3 but I would love it in a Jinnie Fay deck.
@@NitpickingNerds or in angry jellybean or Titania which both happen to be elementals. Now that I think about it, ELEMENTAL bond. What a time to be alive.
I have it in my sekkuar and prismatic bridge deck ^//^
I love read the bones
Small impact, but quick, healthy carddraw with some sweet scry 2
Early, mid or lategame, I'm always happy to see it
Never been a fan but it is an awesome card!
turn 5 or 6 i would rather draw read the bones than esper sentinel
While I do quite like read the bones, I pretty much never play it, I prefer both sign in blood and nights whisper. There is also the 3 mana one that draws a card for each color of mana spent to cast it, the name eludes me right now, which is also better, it just feels like there isn't any room in most decks for it.
@@dakodastevens8972 I believe you’re thinking of painful truths
@@dakodastevens8972 painful truths
I discovered your guys' channel recently and have been binge watching episodes. I used to think think I didn't really like Commander, but I've learned a lot about how to evaluate cards and more effectively construct decks for the format, to the point I actually love it now. Just wanted to let y'all know! ☺
They have great content
Great list as always, the only things I disagree on are Rhystic Study (definitely better than Jeska's Will and Bolas's Citadel), Archmage Emeritus (should be a tier higher, feels like a double standard to rate it down when you have stuff like Reconnaissance Mission which has the same issue of being a nonX type in your X type deck), and Toski (why are you rating this lower than Reconnaissance Mission when it's a creature in your creature deck, it's at least a net neutral at worst).
I actually agree as a spellslinger player, i know Archmage emeritus could go in any blue deck 🤣 hes so good
Toski is also an indestructible blocker for one turn which is neat
Rhystic study will always be tier I draw.
@@EnemyToad any time i see toski, i make them sacrifice him. He’s annoying as hell
@@mibbzx1493 I know I love archmage emeritus
I absolutely love Harmonize. Lower ceiling than Beast Whisperer and such, but Harmonize is never dead. Unconditional draw, underrated.
So too with Read the Bones. They're both examples of cards that tie the deck together (like The Dude's rug). Both are C tier for me, but they end up in a lot of my decks. At the works, they're place-holders in decks that need more on-theme draw options. Harmonize is in Trelassara, for example.
Yeah this is a massive underrating of Harmonize right here. In a green deck without access to blue or black, harmonize always goes in (ok maybe not sythis buy you get the drift). The reason being that the rest of green card draw is reliant on you having cards in hand. If I spend early game on removal and wipes and end up empty handed on turn 6, this is the card I want, even over Great Henge (which of course is a better card but just run both).
Unconditional draw is true, but I feel like it’s one of those situations where 99% of the time there are better options. Like in Trelasarra, if you can gain 2 life then Rishkar’s Expertise and Return of the Wildspeaker both will draw you more cards because of her power. I’ll take the high upside every time
@@BobbyBev95 Honestly, I run those as well, in a few decks. It's not either/or for me.
@@BobbyBev95 Yeah i definitely still run those first, but I also think its worth throwing this into a list as a safety valve
The only other good, usually unconditional piece I can think of in green is sylvan library but its $50 so...
Love the new format of leaving the card up while you're talking about it. Solid work, gentlemen. 😉
Loved this video and would really want to see a part 2! Card Draw and which ones you include in your deck are one of the more interesting parts of deck building for me
DEFINITELY want part 2! I'd love to see more Tier lists or other video formats revisiting with what you both suggest rather than top of EDHREC.
Putting Beast Whisperer and Guardian Project as the same card is a bit problematic.
The cast vs enter the battlefield matters a lot, I’ve found myself choosing between the two depending on what the deck is trying to do. Besides playing creatures how they get to the battlefield matters, which in my assessment makes guardian project an A while Whisperer remains a B.
Beat me to it. ETB is leagues better than On Cast
Project is better, but I always end up with both anyway
100% agree, they arent in same league and Project is much better.
I think that people underestimate Vilis. He's insane on his own if you get him out normally, but if you can cast a reanimate on him, it's 1 mana, draw 8, and get a huge flyer that's gonna draw more cards than you can use.
LITERALLY last night I was asking myself how to upgrade draw spells in my Veyran deck... and here you guys are right on time!! Wonderful vids as always
What cards do you have to draw on veyran?
Imperial Recruiter getting Azami. Easy life
26:20 “There’s too much S tier. Speaking of which, here’s skull clamp” actually made me laugh
Huh, weird. I wast adjusting my deck to include more card draw just now and was about to look for a video on the topic. The nerds never fail to amaze me with their timing as I see this droped minutes ago. This is like the 3rd time that something like this has happend to me with their videos.
They can also see that blue shirt you're wearing right now. They live in your phone.
Lol loved the intro “Card draw!!! 🥳 For commander!😆”
I love your content so much! Your rankings are always *chef's kiss*. I would love to see a video in the future where you rank the most fun new commanders that have come out this year!
I play read the bones on my lathril elf tribal. Mana cost isn't too big a deal with typical green ramp and elves fairly low mana cost. If the mana is going to be spent to draw, it's a waste if you get 2 cards you don't need in the situation. So being able to scry and improve my odds of getting my gaming winning tutor, mana dork (priest/archdruid etc), or artifact (umbral Mantle/ staff of Dom) is worth it. Low b tier for me.
Loved the video!! Would definitely appreciate a part 2
I would love to see a list of your top card draws, because decks on sites typically go for the mid level pricing choice of less than $20 for anything that isn’t just famously busted S-Tier. Especially on utility spells where there is always a cheaper alternative
would love to have part two of this. for example, what is Damnable pact, ancient craving, notion thief or deep analysis for you? there are so much card draws...
I would say mystic rhemora and esper sentinel are A tier for you guys, S tier for cedh, but worse as the power level decreases.
Yup. Lower level tables play less spells a turn. And are more likely to lean monster heavy. In my experience, at least.
Ya they are casual players and watching them build these lists is pretty funny cause they think they are top tier players.
@@SnuggyDabbins when have they ever said or implied they were experts on cEDH? They must be doing something right as you watch and comment on their content lol
I run garruk's uprising in my Omnath, Locus of Rage deck and it basically translates to drawing a card whenever I play a land as long as I have omnath out, also helps a ton to give all those elementals trample
Wizards definitely did not play test with delve. Ancestral recall as a common is hilarious
Read the bones is really great in a combo deck. It's awesome when you are digging for something specific.
Elemental Bond is crazy because it doesn’t have the nontoken restriction that guardian project has and obviously beast whisperer being a cast trigger means elemental bond can be nasty in specific decks. Particularly its been INSANE in Miirym but that commander is nutty in general
I play Rishkar's expertise in my mono green omnath deck where it is so good I often forget I can cast a 5 cmc for free and still win. Huge on it in the right deck.
Elemental Bond is CRAZY in Ghired style decks; you draw too many cards but it's specific. I would rate Esper Sentinel and Sea Gate restoration in A.
Esper sentinel is easy to remove, hard to pump for many decks so you can afford a pay 1 because it only affects the 1st casted non-creature spell each turn.
I do like Sea Gate restoration, but that's so far behind the fish I don't see why it is rated this high. It's not a good card at top deck either.
11:45 yes, it's a green Concentrate. I've used this in an Elf tribal until Beast Whisperer came out
I'd just like to recommend "Recurring Insight", as a potential card advantage option for blue.
I play read the bones not due to budget but mostly for power level reasons. My play group had a high level competitive phase and now we're kinda over it so read the bones is just kinda fun and decent
These tier lists are always my favorites. However I’m ready for next shuffle/scuffle.
So are we 😂
I'm surprised you didn't include Phyrexian Arena and Black Market Connections to rate on this list. I think I'd have Phyrexian Arena as D tier and Black Market Connections as B tier.
Love your videos ❤! Stinging Study with 5+ converted mana cost commanders could be B+ to A+. Personally I use it in my Karador Ghost Chieftain deck to draw 8 card for 5 mana/-8 life at instant speed.
We love stinging study!
I use it in my instants matter non blue 4c deck. Dune brood? (Cmd is 4mv)
Beezy and Joe always deliver great content. Love you nerds
I can't tell if Weatherlight Compleated is good in Ghave (without infinite combos) or if it takes too long to turn on
Do you think I should use necropotance in my Yuriko deck?
what do you think about Inspired Tinkering as a budget Jeska's will? I like that you can play the cards EOT for next turn compared to jeskai's.
Rishkar and Wildspeaker are S-tier in my buddy's Omnath, Locus of Mana deck. He doesn't draw 6 or 7 off them. He usually draws anywhere between 20 and 50 XD
also runs greater good/life's legacy/momentous fall/soul's majesty/garruk, primal hunter for more of the same type of draw. it's gross
deck ramps out of control and gets a huge body in the process so they're basically auto-include.
This was great!
I don’t typically comment, but I almost fell out of my seat when you poop teir’d read the bones. That card is awesome on any budget!
Played a game yesterday and a rhystic study drew like three cards through an entire game. Never been so proud of my table
Haven't watched you guys for a while now, (been out of magic since like March) but your hair and beard look great Joe!
I really like Read the Bones because it can get you 4 cards deep which can be good in a pinch. Tons of cEDH decks are running Night's Whisper and Sign in Blood which are both two mana draw 2, and I think bones fills a similar space. You tend to get much higher draw quality which is often times better than an extra card.
The thing I think being missed about how good Esper Sentinel is comes from the fact that it is playable in mono white. It was the only white card listed for a reason. Esper Sentinel is an amazing card for it's color set even if it is not even 1/3rd as good as Rhystic Study.
If you are including bolas' citadel, I would have included mystic forge
18:18 I used to play Read the Bones in my non-buget Ghave deck, before watching this channel
This couldn’t come at a better time. Thanks nerds.
I believe the idea behind Biden of thassa was because mono blue was a very aggressive deck in that standard format, so forcing your opponent to attack you and then bashing on the crack back with a bunch of elemental tokens from a master of waves was probably the thought process.
Does Biden of Thassa tap to creepily touch people?
I run 3 to 5 of the enchantment cards in what decks can use them
Just what i was looking for
Honorable mentions runic arm… shapers sanctuary and viridian revel as well as compost
How is mystic remora S when cumulative upkeep gets expensive after like 3-4 turns
I've got beast whisperer in a Miirym deck, I'm wondering if Elemental bond might be an upgrade in that deck. Whisperer is off type, and everyone wants to wipe my creatures. Am I wrong in thinking that it may be more robust and for 1 less mana?
no you're totally right if the majority of your creatures are 3+ power. if they are 4+ you can even play garruks uprising too, which cantrips on etb
Very nice list ...
As a request... maybe a tutorial video 9n how to use the Ss of S tier... Moxfield... would be a good idea 👍🏻
Garruks uprising is a staple in dragon decks. It is awesome in my ur dragon deck. Same with temur ascendancy. When you have big dumb dragons, those cards work really well.
I'd love to see part 2 of this video
One of the things about cards like Read the Bones and Harmonize is they don't draw hate or counters because of their power level. Its nice to be able to let something resolve early, before your bomb spells, or after your bomb spell gets countered. Also, they aren't bad cards, but if you compare them to the best cards of course they're gonna suck. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Why didn't get Windfall a mentioning? It's 3 mana for often 5cards or more.I want to put it in my 5c Deck, because often i ramp out and are left with max. 3 cards in hand. Additionally i have a Smothering Tithe in my deck which is bonkers with Windfall
Elemental Bond also triggers when someone uses Generous Gift/Beast Within on one of your things
Hey! Where would you rank greater good?
Elemental Bond would be Amazing in my upgraded Draconic Rage deck I’m building. With the commanders ability it would make for a lot of card draw. Will definitely have to add this card.
It’s cool with Dragon Broodmother
@@Malverde888 I picked up that card while I was at a LGS, I was new to magic at the time but I thought it looked cool and would be good in my Draconic Rage deck 😂
@@dreamtoast1553 yeah i had Vrondiss dragons/combo built and with the Devour tokens she would draw a lot with Bond.
Bolas's citadel is so good. I think I've won twice by using its tap ability. If you have sensei's divining top you can draw a card for one life, add an aetherflux reservoir and you can gain massive life.
Read the Bones is godly, it's basically 3 mana draw 3 with the scry and unlike cards like Study (which don't get me wrong, is still better) is immediate, you don't have to wait to get the value out of it. No nonsense draw=to the mana you paid is amazing.
No hunters insight? What is a wolf tribal player supposed to run? Easily S tier
List is missing (from what I own at least): Yawgmoth, mono green Selvala, Twilight Prophet, Grim Haruspex/Midnight Reaper, Erebos, Plumb the Forbidden, Fecundity, Glimpse of Nature, Primordial Sage/Soul of the Harvest, Greater Good, Secrets of the Dead, Monastery Siege, Verity Circle, Greed, all of the Monarch/Parley Mechanics and everything in white besides Esper Sentinel. I hope they (or you 2 if you see this) cover a few newer draw spells like Lethal Scheme, Seize the Spotlight, and a bunch of new white card draw too (like Aerial Extortionist/Smugglers Share).
A big fan of Archmage Emeritus in Veyran. If i have Archmage + storm-kiln artist out, it can get out of hand quick.
I agree with most of this list, but Great Henge being a tier above Sylvan Library is super sus 🤔
Love the videos! Don’t agree with most of your opinions but I enjoy seeing what casual players use these days. Guardian project is draw on etb beast whisperer is on cast. Project is better. Some of these choices are kinda goofy to me jeskas will is good but under preforms the better your deck gets. Rhystic study is arguably the best card draw in the format. sea gate restoration is just a land that lightning bolts you. Mdfc cards have their places and it isn’t in higher tier decks. Also dig through time and treasure cruise are kinda bad in commander. XD
Elemental bond triggers off of tokens. It’s great in Koma or Omnath, Locus of rage.
I feel like throwing guardian project and beast whisperer together kinda overlooks the clear advantage/risk of Guardian Project caring about etb instead of cast. Guardian project becomes insane once you care about flicker or doubling ETB with panharmonicon effects. However it’s riskier because counters blow you out and you never get the cards
The only time i would play read the bones is if I already have both night's whisper and sign in blood and I still feel as though my card draw is lacking. Also can be fun in the new Sheoldred.
I think the read the bones and nights whisper effects are way better than given credit for. They aren't board dependant which is super important. Rishkars expertise and similar cards have a very very high ceiling but can be blown out by removal and are dead cards early game. Having consistant resources to me is better than having a few big dumb draw spells
Where would you put Up The Bean Stalk?
Just want to chime in like others, seems a bit too hard on Harmonize and Read the Bones. I always feel underwhelmed when I slot them in a deck, but then when I play with them I tend to be pretty happy they're there. Even if I am running much more powerful draw.
I only play read the bones in Vilis since it turns into scry 2 draw 4. But sign in blood and nights whisper are first on the priority list
Elemental Bond puts in the work in token/ETB decks like Miirym or Ghired. The ETB can have a high ceiling in the right deck
I run it in my Omnath, Locus of Rage deck
@@jacobharris7414 yesss such a good deck for it
You forgot amber is card draw. When she walks all over the table, and spills drinks and cards, you'll have cards on the field you didn't have before, boom, card draw :D
She wiped my board the other day when she laid down on everything I controlled!
The reason we have so many S Tier cards is because cars draw is so powerful in a multiplayer 100 card singleton format. How nice is it when you have a full grip constantly?
interesting takes on pure card draw (harmonize, read the bones). i feel sometimes you just need card draw at decent rate. these two are like veggies - id put them in low C or D…poop tier seems harsh
Can you guys please make a deck teck for Minn, wily illusionist?
Esper Sentinel > Mystic Remora. It has no cumulative upkeep & Blue has tons of card draw options. Plus as both an artifact & creature it an easy target for search & reanimation.
If you build a spell-slinger deck do you only run instant and sorcery spells? If not that rating makes no sense should be at least with guardian
Harmonize is good in wort. Gruul spellslinger. Tho, if they keep printing the "discard card, draw some cards make some treasures" cards, itll probably get power crept in that deck as well. They've already made 5 and like 3 of those were printed in the last few standard sets.
Edit: You guys brought up wort right after the part where I paused the video to write this comment lol. I still think it's good in wort, it's a way to generate card advantage without needing wort in play. a lot of the discard to draw effects go even in card advantage.
That sweet SL art on Mystic Remora tho.
I play read the bones in mono black combos decks because it digs for tutors. Black doesn’t have a ton of early game card draw
There's a few Phyrexian Rager effects that can also apply pressure or chump. But, by far the best way to see a lot of cards for cheap is to DREDGE my man. Then drop a big Yawg Will and chain some rituals. Cheers
Omg Read the Bones is awesome
While it doesn't beat Night's Whisper for rate, when you put both of those scries to the bottom, it feels insanely good.
The new 4 mana instant one is a bit overkill, but you do see up to 4 cards for 3 mana with Read the Bones :)
Where’s is garruk's packleader?
All of the instant 4 cmc blue draw spells are soooo underrated
6:31 beast whisperer only draws on cast elemental bond is an etb trigger, you can draw way more cards from elemental bond than beast whisperer.
Yeah i feel the same about Garruk's Uprising. Being able to trigger off tokens is too good to overlook. Run Uprising in Kyler. Uprising + Adeline is pretty ridiculous since the tokens she makes will almost be 4 power when they enter. Trample is also such a nice added bonus, but it would still be good without it.
That’s amazing thank you 🙏
I just built a $1.4k Braids, Arisen Nightmare deck, it has Read the Bones. It's a good card.
I play read the bones in theme decks like worth boggart auntie. It feels goblinesque. Or a black inclusive theros deck.
"Theft of Dreams" and "Necrologia" are my personal commander staples that always perform super well. Necropotence sucks ass in reanimation decks and Necrologia just reads "Set up your best possible hand and fill up your yard" for 5 mana.
Yes necrologia is a hidden gem.
For sure! I love Necrologia! You nailed it with the graveyard point. I've been saying the same thing to my friends for years. It's like the Ad Nauseum for casual decks. If I'm casting it, I'm usually going to go off with a huge play using my graveyard the next turn.
Honorable mention to Moonlight Bargain as well IMO. The lack of timing restrictions is way less all-in and you get to pick and choose very freely, throw your graveyard stuff in the bin and draw everything else that you need.
@@theroxenes That's not bad. Didn't see that one, nice.
You two should make a video on your most fun cards/pet cards :)
I've consistently gotten incredible value out of rhystic study. Either I'm creating advantage by adding cost, or I'm creating advantage with cards. It pays off better than esper sentinel from my experience.