The Complete Guide to Tutors in Commander: Every Tutor Ranked

Tutors are the most powerful card type in Commander. While fast mana gives you a temporary advantage, tutors give you exactly what you need, when you need it. A deck with tutors doesn't rely on top-decking the right card. It searches its library for the exact answer, combo piece, or win condition. This consistency is what separates good decks from great decks, and it's why tutors push your bracket higher in the official system.

Why Tutors Are So Powerful

In a 100-card singleton format, finding the right card at the right time is the biggest challenge. You might have the perfect answer in your deck, but if it's buried at the bottom of your library, it's useless. Tutors solve this problem by letting you search for exactly what you need. This means you can run fewer copies of niche cards and still find them when you need them. It also means you can assemble combos consistently, even if the pieces are scattered throughout your deck.

The Best Tutors by Color

Not all tutors are created equal. Some search for any card, while others are restricted to specific card types or colors. Here's a breakdown of the best tutors in each color:

White Tutors

• Worldly Tutor: 1G, search for a creature card. One of the cheapest and most efficient tutors in the game.
• Stonehewer Giant: A creature that can equip any equipment from your deck. Infinite combo with certain equipment.
• Finale of Devastation: 4GGG, search for a creature with MV 4 or less and put it onto the battlefield. Expensive but game-ending.
• Weathered Wayfarer: A creature that can search for a basic land. Not a traditional tutor, but useful for fixing.

Blue Tutors

• Intuition: 2U, reveal 3 cards from your library and put one into your hand. The best blue tutor because it's instant speed and cheap.
• Merchant Scroll: 2U, search for an artifact. Essential for combo decks that need specific pieces.
• Personal Tutor: 1U, search for a sorcery. Narrow but cheap.
• Research / Research & Development: Expensive but can find any card.

Black Tutors

• Demonic Tutor: 1B, search for any card. The gold standard of tutors. Every black deck should run this.
• Vampiric Tutor: B, search for any card and put it on top of your library. The cheapest tutor in the game, but you draw it next turn.
• Mystical Tutor: 1U, search for an instant or sorcery. Essential for spellslinger decks.
• Diabolic Intent: 3BBB, sacrifice a creature and search for any card. Expensive but flexible.

Red Tutors

• Gamble: R, search for any card but put a random card from your hand on the bottom. High risk, high reward.
• Worldly Tutor (in Gruul): Red doesn't have many tutors of its own, but it can access green's creature tutors.
• Battle Hymn: Not a tutor, but generates mana based on the number of artifacts you've sacrificed. Useful for combo decks.

Green Tutors

• Worldly Tutor: The best green tutor. Cheap and finds any creature.
• Nature's Lore / Three Visits: Not tutors in the traditional sense, but they search for lands and put them onto the battlefield. Essential for mana fixing.
• Green Sun's Zenith: Search for a creature with a specific MV and put it onto the battlefield. Expensive but can find any creature if you have enough mana.
• Survival of the Fittest: 1G, discard a creature and search for a creature. One of the most powerful tutors in the game because it also filters your hand.

How Many Tutors Should You Run?

The number of tutors you should run depends on your deck's strategy and your target bracket. Here's a general guide:

• Bracket 1-2: 0-2 tutors. Tutors are expensive and powerful. Casual decks can function without them.
• Bracket 3: 2-4 tutors. This is the sweet spot for most optimized casual decks. You have enough tutors to find your key pieces without being overly consistent.
• Bracket 4: 4-6 tutors. You're running the full suite of tutors. Your deck can find exactly what it needs, when it needs it.
• Bracket 5 (cEDH): 6+ tutors. Every tutor is a slot taken from a less powerful card. You run the maximum amount your deck can support.

Tutors and the Bracket System

In Rate My Decks, each tutor adds 0.30 to your power score, up to a maximum of 1.5. This means that running 5 tutors gives you the maximum benefit. Tutors are one of the strongest signals of a high-power deck because they provide consistency that regular card draw can't match. A deck with tutors can find its combo pieces, its answers, and its win conditions on demand.

In the official bracket system, tutors are a key indicator of deck power. Bracket 1 decks typically have no tutors. Bracket 2 decks might run 1-2 tutors. Bracket 3 decks run 2-4 tutors. Bracket 4-5 decks run 4+ tutors. If your deck is running more tutors than your target bracket suggests, consider cutting some to bring your deck in line with your playgroup's expectations.

Tutors vs. Card Draw

Tutors and card draw serve different purposes. Card draw gives you more options but doesn't guarantee you'll find the right card. Tutors give you exactly what you need but don't increase your overall card advantage. Most decks should run a mix of both: tutors for consistency and card draw for resilience.

A good rule of thumb is to run 2-4 tutors and 10-12 pieces of card draw. This gives you the ability to find your key pieces while also maintaining card advantage throughout the game. If your deck is combo-heavy, prioritize tutors. If your deck is midrange or control, prioritize card draw.

Checking Your Tutors with Rate My Decks

When you analyze your deck with Rate My Decks, we categorize every tutor in your deck and calculate its impact on your power score. We also compare your tutor count to the optimal range for your target bracket. If you're running too many tutors for a casual deck, we'll flag it as a weakness. If you're running too few for a competitive deck, we'll recommend additions.