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Commander Staples Prices: What the Cards Every Deck Plays Cost (October 2026)

MTG Compare · 14 October 2026 · 6 min read · Prices updated 18 Oct 2026 · How we research this

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Sol Ring 286Deflecting Swat 214Rhystic Study 114

The short version

  • Buying one of each of the 35 priced staples at its cheapest ordinary printing costs US$567.34 at TCGplayer market prices.
  • 10 of them cost under US$1.00 and 22 under US$5.00; the dearest is Deflecting Swat at US$71.70.
  • 8 of them are on Wizards' Game Changers list, which the lower Commander brackets limit.
  • Each card is priced at one printing, named in its row with its finish; every card page lists the others and compares the stores in your market.

Some cards turn up in almost every Commander deck: the mana rocks, the removal and the card draw that work whatever the commander. We picked 35 of the most widely played (how, and when, is below) and priced each at its cheapest ordinary printing: the plain printing from a main set or a Commander deck with the lowest TCGplayer market price. They are grouped by colour identity, colourless first, since those fit every deck. Prices are rebuilt from the newest import each time the page is generated.

Colorless staples

#CardSet · No.TCGplayer marketRoleCheapest in US
1Sol RingNon-foilFDC · 286US$1.15RampUS$0.99
2Arcane SignetNon-foilMSC · 194US$0.38RampUS$0.10
3Fellwar StoneNon-foilFRC · 57US$0.73RampUS$0.50
4Thought VesselNon-foilMSC · 222US$2.28RampUS$2.17
5Lightning GreavesNon-foilDRC · 55US$3.53ProtectionUS$3.40
6Swiftfoot BootsNon-foilM12 · 219US$1.78ProtectionUS$1.22
7Command TowerNon-foilDRC · 60US$0.26Land≈ US$0.26
8Exotic OrchardNon-foilECC · 148US$0.22LandUS$0.01

White staples

#CardSet · No.TCGplayer marketRoleCheapest in US
1Swords to PlowsharesNon-foilFRC · 37US$1.07RemovalUS$0.88
2Path to ExileNon-foilFRC · 30US$1.03RemovalUS$0.65
3Generous GiftNon-foilCMR · 375US$0.96RemovalUS$0.90
4Smothering TitheNon-foilRNA · 22US$55.01RampUS$49.99
5Teferi's ProtectionNon-foil2X2 · 32US$44.59ProtectionUS$39.99

Blue staples

#CardSet · No.TCGplayer marketRoleCheapest in US
1Rhystic StudyNon-foilJ22 · 114US$68.13Card drawUS$64.50
2Cyclonic RiftNon-foil2XM · 47US$28.87Board wipeUS$24.00
3CounterspellNon-foilFDC · 61US$2.25CounterspellUS$1.25
4Swan SongNon-foilEOC · 46US$10.59CounterspellUS$9.21
5Fierce GuardianshipNon-foilC20 · 35US$60.56CounterspellUS$54.90

Black staples

#CardSet · No.TCGplayer marketRoleCheapest in US
1Demonic TutorNon-foil3ED · 105US$62.81TutorUS$38.00
2Vampiric TutorNon-foilCMR · 156US$50.81TutorUS$45.00
3Toxic DelugeNon-foilSOC · 120US$5.04Board wipeUS$3.55
4Feed the SwarmNon-foilTLE · 257US$0.22Removal≈ US$0.22
5Deadly RollickNon-foilC20 · 42US$26.06RemovalUS$23.40

Red staples

#CardSet · No.TCGplayer marketRoleCheapest in US
1Jeska's WillNon-foilCMR · 187US$38.55RampUS$33.10
2Chaos WarpNon-foilEOC · 49US$0.33RemovalUS$0.11
3Deflecting SwatNon-foilCMM · 214US$71.70ProtectionUS$67.00
4Blasphemous ActNon-foilDRC · 101US$0.78Board wipeUS$0.73
5VandalblastNon-foilFIC · 298US$1.87RemovalUS$1.10

Green staples

#CardSet · No.TCGplayer marketRoleCheapest in US
1CultivateNon-foilTMC · 50US$0.40Ramp≈ US$0.40
2Kodama's ReachNon-foilC16 · 155US$1.55RampUS$1.55
3Nature's LoreNon-foilFIC · 311US$2.21RampUS$1.90
4Three VisitsNon-foilFIC · 315US$4.68RampUS$3.49
5Beast WithinNon-foilFDC · 190US$0.64RemovalUS$0.35
6Heroic InterventionNon-foilAER · 109US$14.83ProtectionUS$12.40
7Eternal WitnessNon-foilC15 · 183US$1.47RecursionUS$1.17

Where the money goes

Most of the list is cheap: 10 of the 35 priced staples cost under US$1.00 at their cheapest ordinary printing, and 22 under US$5.00. The 5 dearest add up to US$318.21, which is 56% of the US$567.34 the whole list costs:

If you are building on a budget, these are the cards to look at last: most of them have cheaper cards that do a similar job.

Which of these are Game Changers

Scryfall marks 8 cards on this list as Game Changers: Smothering Tithe, Teferi's Protection, Rhystic Study, Cyclonic Rift, Fierce Guardianship, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Jeska's Will. Wizards of the Coast keeps that list for the Commander brackets, which limit how many Game Changers a deck in the lower brackets may play, so check your playgroup's bracket before adding them.

How we chose the list

The list was chosen by hand on 14 October 2026 from the cards Commander players meet in deck after deck, spread over the five colours and colourless and over the jobs every deck has to do: ramp, card draw, removal, board wipes, counterspells, protection, tutors and lands. They are names a Commander player recognises on sight; Reserved List cards and collectibles priced in the hundreds are left out, because a staple is a card people actually buy for their decks. The cards banned in Commander in September 2024 (Dockside Extortionist, Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt and Nadu, Winged Wisdom) are left out on purpose, and the list does not rely on a check made once: each card's Commander legality is read from Scryfall with every import, and a card that is banned drops out of the tables.

Scryfall marks none of the cards on the list as banned in Commander today.

Each card is priced at its cheapest ordinary printing: the plain-frame printing from a main set or a Commander deck with the lowest TCGplayer market price, the one our search opens when you type the card's name. Promos, The List, Secret Lair and the special frames are left out of the price, and each card's page lists them.

Saving money on staples

  • Recent preconstructed Commander decks include several of these cards, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet and Command Tower above all, so check what a precon already gives you before buying singles.
  • A reprint lowers the price of every printing of a card. A staple that has just been reprinted is usually at its cheapest for a while.
  • Postage can cost more than a cheap card: buy several from one store, and compare the stores on each card's page.
  • Watch the dearer cards rather than buying in a week they spike: the weekly price movers show which cards are moving.

Price your own list

Paste a deck list into the deck pricer to price every card in your market; a line with no set is priced at the card's cheapest regular printing. For cheap cards from the newest sets, see the cheapest mythic rares by colour.
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Frequently asked questions

What is a Commander staple?

A card that suits almost any Commander deck of its colours, so it turns up in a large share of decks: mana rocks such as Sol Ring, removal such as Swords to Plowshares and card draw such as Rhystic Study. The list in this post is a hand-picked set of the most widely played.

Are any of these cards banned in Commander?

The post checks rather than assumes: each card's Commander legality is read from Scryfall with every import, and a card that is banned or not legal drops out of the tables and is named under "How we chose the list". The cards banned in September 2024, such as Dockside Extortionist and Mana Crypt, were left off the list when it was chosen in October 2026.

Why is the printing shown not the cheapest copy I can find?

Each card is priced at its cheapest ordinary printing by TCGplayer market price: the plain version from a main set or a Commander deck. A promo, The List or Secret Lair copy can occasionally sell for less, and a store in your market may undercut the market price; each card's page compares every printing and every store we track.

How much does it cost to buy every staple on the list?

The first point of the short version adds up the market price of each card's cheapest ordinary printing, and it changes with every daily import. Postage and tax are extra; buying several cards from one store usually saves more than chasing the cheapest copy of each. The deck pricer prices a whole list in your market.

What are Game Changers?

Game Changers are cards Wizards of the Coast lists as having an outsized effect on a Commander game; the Commander brackets limit how many of them a deck in the lower brackets may play. We read the list from Scryfall's card data, so it follows Wizards' updates.

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Prices in USD

Prices are the cheapest in-stock listing we track in the United States (item price, before postage), or TCGplayer's market price (≈) where no US store has it. The eBay buttons are paid links that search eBay; we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Check seller ratings before buying.

The data behind this post:CommandersDeck pricerDeck library

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