In the very first Magic: The Gathering set, there was a card called Demonic Tutor, which allowed players to pay to search their library for any card and put it into their hand. Its power level and popularity made it one of Magic's most iconic game pieces. To this day, any card that searches your library is referred to as a "tutor."

Many of these cards are some of the strongest in the game, but that power often comes with a high price tag. Today, I'd like to rank the twenty best budget tutors in Commander, Magic's premier casual format.

The Best Budget Tutors in Commander

Before we get to the ranking though, let's establish two criteria. First off, all these cards, as of writing, can be purchased for a dollar or less on CoolStuffInc.com. Second, cards that search for basic Lands and put them into play are disqualified, otherwise this list would be full of Rampant Growth and its kin. Now, without further ado, let's talk tutors.

#20: Signal the Clans ($0.75)

Signal the Clans perfectly captures the spirit of Gruul, the Red/Green guild on Ravnica. This Instant costs just two mana and allows you to search your library for three Creatures with different names and put one of them at random into your hand. That randomness puts it low on this list, but getting one of the three best Creatures in your deck for just two mana at Instant speed is still very good.

#19: Goblin Matron ($0.29)

Goblin Matron is the narrowest tutor on this list, but what it lacks in flexibility it makes up for with a strong niche. When this three-mana 1/1 Goblin enters, you search your library for a Goblin card and put it into your hand. It has a home in every Goblin deck that can play it as an extra copy of your best Goblins. It can also get a surprising number of pieces for infinite combos, like Conspicuous Snoop or Warren Soultrader.

#18: Moon-Blessed Cleric ($0.99)

Moon-Blessed Cleric is a three-mana 3/2 that, when it enters, searches for an Enchantment card and puts that card on top of your library. It's a little slow and telegraphs your intentions more than most tutors. Despite those downsides, it is still a powerful and popular card in enchantress decks. It is much stronger when paired with cards that let you play from the top of your library, and being a Creature means you can Flicker it or Reanimate it to search up more Enchantments.

#17: Behold the Beyond ($0.85)

Behold the Beyond has one of the highest mana values of all the cards on this list at a whopping seven mana, but if you can cast it you discard your hand and replace those cards with any three cards in your library. The downside of discarding your hand can be high, but for reanimation and combo decks, this card could just win the game on the spot or on your next turn. This card also gets better as the game progresses, especially in a topdeck war or a grindy game where you're out of cards anyway.

#16: Fervent Mastery ($0.49)

Strixhaven's Fervent Mastery asks the question: "If Gamble is so good, why don't we staple three of them together?" For five mana, you search your library for three cards, put them into your hand, then discard three cards at random. If you let an opponent discard any number of cards and draw that many, however, its mana cost is reduced by one. If you don't care about the cards you discard, this is a triple tutor that may also dump reanimation targets in your graveyard for you.

#15: Mythos of Brokkos ($0.49)

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths had a cycle of mono-colored Mythos cards that got better if you used multiple colors to cast them, and Mythos of Brokkos was the Black/Green/Blue member. If you just cast it with Green mana, it returns two permanent cards from your graveyard to your hand, which is not a bad effect at four mana. If you also pay Blue and Black mana to cast it, however, you can search your library for a card and put it into your graveyard first. There are many ways to play this card, as you can essentially staple a Regrowth and Demonic Tutor together or put a big reanimation target into your graveyard and get back two other cards instead.

#14: (Most of) The Mage Cycle ($0.29-$0.75)

2004's Fifth Dawn, saw the printing of Trinket Mage, a three-mana 2/2 that searched your library for an Artifact with mana value one or less and put it into your hand. This card would inspire a multi-decade cycle of cards that all had the same effect but for Artifacts with different mana values. Today, there is a Mage for every possible mana value, and all are incredibly strong. Unfortunately, one of these cards is ineligible for this list, as Tribute Mage, the one that searches up a two-drop, has not seen a major reprint since 2019 and currently sits at $1.99. Hopefully the Artifact you want to find on a budget doesn't cost two.

#13: Invasion of Arcavios ($0.49)

When Invasion of Arcavios // Invocation of the Founders enters, it allows you to search your library, graveyard, or sideboard for an Instant or Sorcery card and puts that card into your hand. Then, if you can deplete its seven defense counters, it flips into an Enchantment that copies the Instant or Sorcery spells you play from your hand.

Although it costs more mana, what puts it ahead of cards like Solve the Equation is that not only is there a second card stapled to it if you can attack it, but it can get spells out of your graveyard too if you've already cast a splashy spell or need to get back a piece of interaction. It's also a very fun card to blink or copy, especially when you combo it with a card like Doppelgang.

#12: Mausoleum Secrets ($0.99)

Mausoleum Secrets is a little restrictive, but in the right deck, this card is insane. This two-mana Instant allows you to search your library for a Black card with mana value less than or equal to the number of Creatures in your graveyard and put it into your hand. Only getting Black cards and requiring a stocked graveyard limits its playability, but any Black-based graveyard decks will love finding their key cards at Instant speed.

#11: Thalia's Lancers ($0.75)

Another White Creature with a powerful tutor ability, Thalia's Lancers costs five mana and is a 4/4 with First Strike that searches for a Legendary card and puts it into your hand. While it costs more mana than most tutors, not being limited to a specific card type makes it surprisingly flexible. It can grab anything Legendary, from an Ugin, the Spirit Dragon to a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. And, like Moon-Blessed Cleric, you can flicker or reanimate it for extra triggers and extra value.

#10: Bring to Light ($0.75)

For five mana, Bring to Light can search your library for an Instant, Sorcery, or Creature with mana value less than or equal to the number of colors of mana you spent on it and cast that spell for free. It becomes more powerful in deck with more colors, but you can play it in two- or three-color decks to get key cards that don't cost too much mana. And, unlike other tutors, you cast the spell for free instead of putting it into your hand, which is a big upside.

#9: Vile Entomber ($0.49)

Entomb is one of the most-commonly played tutors in Commander, as putting any card from your library into your graveyard for one mana is very powerful. Unfortunately for budget players, the card typically hovers between $10-$20. Instead, we can run Vile Entomber, which has the same effect on a four-mana 2/2 Creature at a fraction of the price.

It loses the flexibility of being an Instant and costs a lot more mana, but the effect is strong enough that Vile Entomber is still worth playing in graveyard or reanimator decks.

#8: Fierce Empath ($0.29)

Fierce Empath may not be as flexible as some of the other tutors in the top ten, but it places highly because it is specifically built to help end games. This three-mana Elf searches your library for a Creature card with mana value six or greater when it enters. Like the other Creatures on this list it can be reused through Flicker or Reanimation, but what makes it most powerful are the targets it can find for just three mana.

Need an Overrun to close the game? Go grab Decimator of the Provinces or End-Raze Forerunner. Do you need to draw cards? Grab a Soul of the Harvest or a Regal Force. This card is a Green player's best friend, and it also happens to be the cheapest card on this list.

#7: Dig Up ($0.99)

Innistrad: Crimson Vow's Cleave mechanic was a little clunky, but it managed to produce some pretty good cards. For just one Green mana, Dig Up searches your library for a basic Land and puts it into your hand, but if you pay four mana instead, you can search for any card instead. Both modes can be very helpful, either preventing you from missing Land drops in the early game or finding what you need to win later in the game.

#6: Case of the Stashed Skeleton ($0.75)

Like many of the cases in Murders at Karlov Manor, Case of the Stashed Skeleton gives you a powerful effect if you can jump through its hoops. When this two-mana Enchantment enters, it creates a 2/1 Skeleton token and Suspects it, meaning it has Menace and can't block.

At your end step, if you control no Suspected Skeletons, it becomes Solved, which allows you to pay two mana and sacrifice it to search your library for a card and put it into your hand. All you need to do is find a way to sacrifice or destroy your Skeleton, an easy task in EDH, and in return you get a Demonic Tutor.

#5: Rune-Scarred Demon ($0.99)

Rune-Scarred Demon is a seven-mana 6/6 with Flying that searches your library for a card and puts it into your hand when it enters. It is simple and powerful, and while it may cost a lot of mana, it can be flickered, reanimated, or doubled up on with effects like Panharmonicon. This is a classic EDH card and is now much cheaper thanks to a Foundations reprint.

#4: The Huntsman's Redemption ($0.49)

One of my personal favorite cards on this list, The Huntsman's Redemption is a three-mana saga with three chapters. The first creates a 3/3 Beast token, the second allows you to sacrifice a Creature to put another Creature from your library into your hand, and the last ability gives two Creatures +2/+2 and Trample until the end of the turn.

If you have an expendable Creature lying around you can exchange it for a better Creature, or at the worst you can get rid of the Beast token it created in the first chapter. Also, since you tapped mana for it the turn before the tutor chapter, you can usually play the Creature you searched for right away.

#3: Scour for Scrap ($0.49)

The newest card on this list, Scour for Scrap is very powerful for an uncommon. This four-mana Instant searches your library for an Artifact and puts it into your hand, returns an Artifact from your graveyard to your hand, or both. Getting both the best Artifact in your library and the best Artifact in your graveyard for just four mana at Instant speed is insane, giving this card a home in just about any Artifact deck or even just decks looking to find and recur a single good Artifact.

#2: Ringsight ($0.49)

Of all the tutors on this list, Ringsight may be one of the best. Unlike many budget tutors, which are limited by high mana costs or require you to jump through hoops for maximum value, Ringsight simply asks for you to have a Creature in play.

For three mana, Ringsight makes the Ring tempt you and searches your library for a card that shares a color with a Legendary Creature you control and puts that card into your hand. This card works best with your Commander in play and can get pretty much any card, but because it makes the Ring tempt you, any Creature you choose as your Ring-bearer will become Legendary too.

#1: Final Parting ($0.59)

When I built my first combo deck, it won many games off the back of Final Parting. This five mana Sorcery searches your library for two cards, putting one into your hand and one into your graveyard. My line was putting Animate Dead in my hand and Worldgorger Dragon in my graveyard to set up an infinite loop, but you can also grab any other big reanimator target and any spell to bring it back.

The possibilities with this card are endless. With no hoops to jump through this card will always do exactly what you need it to do, and at a reasonable cost of five mana.

Conclusion

It turns out you don't need to spend a lot of money to get your hands on powerful Tutor effects in Magic: The Gathering. Hopefully this list has given you some great ideas about how to include Tutors in your next Commander deck on the cheap.

Until next time!