The 50 Best Tutors in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 17, 2025

Diabolic Tutor | Illustration by Mark Winters

Tutors are a big deal in Magic. Whether you’re playing 60-card Constructed or 100-card singleton Commander, tutors add a layer of consistency to any deck. They’re considered some of the most powerful effects in Magic, to the point where some casual Commander players frown upon the inclusion of tutors in your deck. On the contrary, they’re an essential part of cEDH and Vintage, as well as other Constructed formats that support some of the cheaper versions.

Today I’ll be your tutor on tutors, and with 30 years of cards inspired by the original Alpha Demonic Tutor, we’ve got a lot to comb through. I’ll be defining a tutor as any card that searches your library and puts one or more cards in your hand, graveyard, on top of your library, or onto the battlefield.

Note that I won’t be tackling mana-fixing tutors much here. Fetch lands and Rampant Growth variants are technically tutors by definition, but that topic deserves its own time.

#50. Gifts Ungiven

Sometimes people ask if it’s time to unban Gifts Ungiven in Commander and my answer’s always: uh, no. Past its prime in Constructed, Gifts is a broken collusion card in Commander. Trust me, the format’s better off not having this around. Low ranking for being banned in the only format that would still care to play it.

#49. Transmute Cards

Transmute is an entire tutor mechanic that lets you exchange a card in hand for a card from your library with the same mana value. You’ll usually use these as tutors for a specific subset of cards, but you’ll also want the base card to be playable in some situations. Tolaria West, Muddle the Mixture, and Dimir House Guard tend to be some of the more common transmute cards.

#48. Steelshaper’s Gift

Steelshaper's Gift goes in exactly one type of deck, but it’s usually the best tutor in your deck when you’re playing equipment.

#47. Fabricate + Solve the Equation + Idyllic Tutor

Specialized tutors for specific kinds of decks. Solve the Equation is probably better for spellslinger decks than Idyllic Tutor is for enchantments or Fabricate for artifact decks, since it’s a sorcery for decks that care about sorceries. Not that you’re ever really comparing these directly for the same deck.

#46. Profane Tutor

Demonic Tutor on delay is still a D-Tutor if you have some time to kill. That or you can cascade into Profane Tutor and cast it without waiting. Either way this is more of a budget alternative to D-Tutor than a must-play.

#45. Sunforger

Sunforger is such an incredibly unique card, allowing you to pull instants out of your library from among a toolbox of cheap effects. That could be a Boros Charm or Teferi's Protection to save your board, or a simple Swords to Plowshares to get a problem out of the way.

#44. Wishclaw Talisman

There are two types of people in the world: those who want to pass a Wishclaw Talisman around a table and see what happens, and those who want to activate a Wishclaw Talisman and sacrifice it with the ability on the stack. The generous and the selfish. I’m infatuated with Wishy-T, which makes for great fun in any politically-slanted strategy.

#43. Arena Rector

Imitation and flattery and all that nonsense aside, Arena Rector’s a neat parallel to Academy Rector, without being nearly as broken. The best planeswalkers in Magic don’t come near the level of the best enchantments, making this much less of a groan card.

#42. Sterling Grove

The funny thing about Sterling Grove is that you often don’t even want to tutor with it. There are times when the shroud effect is just more valuable, but having the buyout of planting your best enchantment on top of your library is upside you’re never turning down, especially if an opponent’s forced to remove Grove to get to your other permanents.

#42. Beseech the Queen

In a mono-black deck, Beseech the Queen is essentially the halfway point between Diabolic Tutor, which isn’t a good card, and Demonic Tutor, which is an incredible card. It’s close to unplayable outside a mono-black shell, and there’s the occasional mana value restriction on what you can get, so it has its drawbacks.

#41. Gamble

I’ve never been a gambling man, but to each their own. Gamble incurs some risk (duh), which can be mitigated by playing a deck where you don’t mind if your cards end up in your graveyard. It’s also hilarious when someone immediately discards the card they Gambled for, but dem’s the odds.

#40. Diabolic Intent

Diabolic Intent is basically Demonic Tutor in decks with expendable creatures. It’s still strictly worse than the OG, but some decks can turn that sacrifice cost into a bonus, while other decks are just interested in D-Tutor #2.

#39. Trinket Mage

Trinket Mage is basically Sol Ring in a trench coat, though sometimes it’s Sensei's Divining Top instead! I’m sure there are other options out there, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Trinket Mage tutor up anything besides those two artifacts.

#38. Spellseeker

Spellseeker gets a cheap instant or sorcery from your deck, kind of like a Tribute Mage for spells. You know what costs 2 mana? Cyclonic Rift. Ephemerate’s another one of my go-to Spellseeker targets.

#37. Burning-Rune Demon + Rune-Scarred Demon

There’s some push and pull between Burning-Rune Demon and Rune-Scarred Demon, though the 6-mana creature usually gets the nod these days. Either way, it’s hard to go wrong with big dumb fliers that put more powerful cards in your hand.

#36. Hoarding Broodlord

I like everything I see on Hoarding Broodlord. This March of the Machine Limited bomb works in Commander too, kind of like a better Rune-Scarred Demon if you can convoke it with even one creature. It also hides your tutored card in exile where players can’t mess with it, and killing the dragon doesn’t remove your access to the card.

#35. Imperial Recruiter + Recruiter of the Guard

Both Imperial Recruiter and Recruiter of the Guard are victims of the “Shifted Up to Mythic Rare for No Real Reason” Club, a club full of only the most prestigious Magic cards (looking at you, Guardian Project). Rarity aside, they’re great 2-for-1 dorks that find the creature you need while putting a great blink or sacrifice body on board.

#34. Tezzeret the Seeker

I remember Tezzeret the Seeker being a much more ubiquitous card than it is now, but I don’t think it’s ever stopped being good. The goal is to either +1 and untap enough mana from mana rocks that you’re basically getting Tezzeret for free, or -3 to tutor up a good artifact and leave Tezzeret in play. It’s also a self-contained engine with The Chain Veil, provided you can -4 and still keep Tezzeret in play.

#33. Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard doesn’t get quite the same buzz it used to, but I still find it a highly effective Birthing Pod-inspired commander. I think colleague Ignacio said it best when exploring of green’s favorite bard.

#32. Zur the Enchanter

I’m not even sure how good Zur the Enchanter is these days, but people have been scorned by this commander so hard in the past that their grudge lives on to this day. I get it, a tutor a day keeps your opponents at bay, and the stax effects can stack up pretty quickly with an unimpeded Zur attacking each turn.

#31. Captain Sisay

As much as I hate to admit it, Captain Sisay is the lesser of the two Sisays. Still capable of doing pretty powerful stuff, if your opponents give you a turn to untap with your 4-mana 2/2. Yikes. For what it’s worth, Captain Sisay’s International Women’s Day alt art is way cooler than Sisay, Weatherlight Captain’s left-handed Secret Lair art.

#30. Neoform

There are a number of Birthing Pod imitators out there, including cards like Eldritch Evolution, Prime Speaker Vannifar, and Birthing Ritual. Lump them all in here with Neoform, which is basically a one-shot Birthing Pod activation in the form of a cheap sorcery.

#29. Razaketh, the Foulblooded

We all know 8 mana is a fortune, but we also know you’re never really supposed to pay 8 mana for an 8-drop. No, we’re cheating Razaketh, the Foulblooded in with a reanimation effect, then tutoring up as many cards as we have life and expendable fodder for.

#28. Scheming Symmetry

I adore Scheming Symmetry, but it requires some finesse. Either make a friend at the table and use this as a beneficial double-Vampiric Tutor for two players or get to scheming and try to break the symmetry. Mill decks can dump the card your opponent just tutored into the graveyard, or theft decks with cards like Gonti, Lord of Luxury can snag the card you just generously offered your opponent.

#27. Sidisi, Undead Vizier

If Rune-Scarred Demon still makes the list, surely that effect for 2 less mana makes the cut, right? Sidisi, Undead Vizier demands a sacrifice, which can be itself or another lowly creature you have floating around. A 4/6 that turns your worst creature into the best card in your deck should get your attention.

#26. Tooth and Nail

Tooth and Nail has had a few impostors lately with cards like Smuggler's Surprise and Thunderous Debut, but I like the original entwine spell here. 9 mana is achievable for green decks, and T&N is just a reliable way to shut the door on a game if you get to cast both modes.

#25. Beseech the Mirror

So much beseeching, so little time. Bargaining is almost necessary with Beseech the Mirror, because without it this is just a harder-to-cast Diabolic Tutor, which you’ll note is absent here. Offer something to bargain and it’s actually quite strong, turning into just about any other card in your library, be that Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Tendrils of Agony after a huge storm chain.

#24. Academy Rector

The presence of Academy Rector in someone’s deck usually means bad news, like an impending Omniscience. You basically can’t attack into it, for risk of flipping your opponent into what’s likely to be their best card, though you can’t always stop them from feeding the Rector to a sacrifice effect.

#23. The Cruelty of Gix

Read ahead changes the structure of The Cruelty of Gix, but unless you’re in dire straits, you’ll probably want to start on chapter one for full value. Despise, Grim Tutor, and Rise from the Grave is a sweet combination of effects bundled up into one saga.

#22. Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer

Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer is the shish kebab of Magic, a Green Sun's Zenith on a stick, if you will. Rocco basically is every creature in your library, all jammed into one Naya card in your command zone. You just have to pay the price, which is the tutor target’s mana value plus a chunk of Naya mana ().

#21. Oswald Fiddlebender

Oswald just came in playin’, and playing that fiddle hot. Oswald Fiddlebender’s a Birthing Pod variant for artifacts, and to the best of my knowledge the only card that currently works in this space. Working your way up to a Portal to Phyrexia sounds great, but turning a Treasure token into a Sol Ring ain’t too shabby either.

#20. Emergent Ultimatum

My least favorite part about Emergent Ultimatum is that you don’t really need to see what cards the player gets when it resolves. It’s gonna be some combination of cards where your choice doesn’t matter anyway. It’s held back by an expensive and restrictive mana cost, but it’s usually game over when it resolves.

Fun fact: Did you know Teferi, Time Raveler stops Emergent Ultimatum? Your opponent can’t put the cards they search for on the stack because Ultimatum’s still on the stack at that point, and Teferi prevents your opponent from casting cards while there’s something on the stack.

#19. Stoneforge Mystic

I stand corrected about Steelshaper's Gift. You’d happily pay the extra mana to tack on all of Stoneforge Mystic’s benefits: this Kor artificer is a body on board, and an activated ability that can cheat equipment into play.

#18. Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

The superior Sisay is a mess of legendary-matters slop, and you can build it in so many different ways. You can tutor up combo pieces like Helm of the Host or run it as an alternative to Go-Shintai of Life's Origin (all the shrines are legendary). Also, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain’s occasionally a 7/7 for 3?

#17. Birthing Pod

Good enough to spawn an entire archetype named after it and 25 different Wish.com versions, Birthing Pod spawned, er, birthed a whole subset of decks focused on working up a chain of creatures. Sac a creature, tutor a slightly stronger one into play. Many have tried to mimic the Pod, but few have been successful.

#16. Defense of the Heart

If you assume Defense of the Heart always works the way you want it to, it’s pretty much the best tutor you can ask for. However, it gives your opponents control over whether it actually works. Still, you can land it when players have already built out a board or floodgate the number of creatures they can put into play, and if they ever overstep you get to free-role your two best creatures into play.

#15. Protean Hulk

Once a [wrongful] victim of the Commander banlist, Protean Hulk was freed in 2017, which paved the way for the later [rightful] banning of Flash. A death trigger on a 7-drop is a hoop big enough to allow this beast to roam free, though as one of the best green tutors it can pull off some instant wins when it eventually dies. I like to stack up a combination of cheap Blood Artists, but we all know the real appeal of the card is when people unironically call it “Protein Hulk.”

#14. Survival of the Fittest

Fauna Shaman was going to make an appearance on this list, then I remembered: Survival of the Fittest exists! Shaman still gets a nod for not being a wretched overpriced Reserved List card, but Survival’s the clear winner. It’s a creature tutor, a graveyard enabler, and a discard outlet all in one. And that art is gnarly.

#13. Finale of Devastation

It’s nice when your creature tutor can find a Craterhoof Behemoth and be a Craterhoof Behemoth at the same time! That’s Finale of Devastation, Magic's best green sorcery, which is also a green reanimator card if you need it to be.

#12. Green Sun’s Zenith

Green Sun's Zenith can tutor any creature into play for the low investment of that creature’s mana value plus . Never mind that it also shuffles itself back into the library; Sunny Z’s just a flexible creature tutor.

#11. Entomb

Tutoring to the graveyard is sometimes better than tutoring to your hand, especially when you’re only paying 1 mana for a card like Entomb. Entomb sets up reanimation shenanigans for dirt cheap, enabling some of the most broken early plays in Magic.

#10. Imperial Seal

As a sorcery, Imperial Seal is a strictly worse Vampiric Tutor, but even a slightly worse Vamp Tutor still gets there. The card was unreasonably expensive until being reprinted in Double Masters 2022, and it’s still twice as expensive as Vamp.

#9. Worldly Tutor

All three of the Mirage tutors are great, but I find Worldly Tutor to be the least necessary. Green just has so many ways to find the creatures it’s looking for, so Worldly Tutor’s just a touch less important than the other two. There’s also Sylvan Tutor if you’re looking for a weaker backup copy.

#8. Eladamri’s Call

Hey, Ted? It’s Eladamri again. He’s on line 5.

Eladamri's Call is a top-tier creature tutor, but the color restriction means it shows up less than Worldly Tutor. If you’re GW+ this is probably one of the first tutors you’d consider for your deck.

#7. Enlightened Tutor

It might seem strange to lump Idyllic Tutor and Solve the Equation together, but separate Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor. However, Mystical Tutor’s so efficient at finding game-ending spells that every deck can use, so I’m putting Enlightened Tutor a notch below. Still great in artifact/enchantment decks, but those are narrower than “decks that play instants and sorceries.”

#6. Mystical Tutor

See above. Enlightened Tutor is usually reserved for specific decks, whereas Mystical Tutor can always find your Cyclonic Rift or Teferi's Protection. Check out Merchant Scroll and Personal Tutor for similar effects.

#5. Urza’s Saga

Thanks to Urza's Saga, we now have to consider literally every new artifact with a mana value of or that’s printed. Cards like Lavaspur Boots and Lost Jitte are right on the cusp, but they’ll always have a home wherever Urza’s Saga can be found. “Even me?” said Sparring Construct. “No, not you. Not ever.”

Saga isn’t as meta-defining in Commander as it is in some Constructed formats, but those Karnstructs pull their weight in 100-card artifact decks, too.

#4. Natural Order

Here’s a card for those among you who have ever looked at an Elvish Mystic and thought: “Hmm, that sure would look good if it were an Atraxa, Grand Unifier instead.” Natural Order is a cheatyface tutor that tags out your worst green creature on board for the best green creature in your deck, which includes gold cards like Koma, Cosmos Serpent and Progenitus. You just gotta dodge counterspells with this one!

#3. Tinker

Stupid card is stupid. Tinker is a mainstay of Vintage Cubes, restricted in 60-card Vintage, and basically unusable anywhere else. Probably for the best, unless you’re interested in turn-1 Blightsteel Colossus or Bolas's Citadel on the reg.

#2. Vampiric Tutor

The big two, eh? There’s plenty of reason to think Vampiric Tutor deserves the top slot, and I wouldn’t fight you too hard if you thought that; it's indeed among the best black instants in the game. Tutor to the top is worse than tutor to hand, but instant-speed is huge. 2 life factors in too, but not enough to sway the decision. To be honest, I value the top two about equally and recognize that there are advantages and disadvantages to both.

#1. Demonic Tutor

And the original reigns supreme! Whatever you think the third best tutor and beyond are, we can all agree Vamp and Demonic Tutor are the top two. I mean, this is why we call them tutors! I once had this black sorcery explained to me as a kicker card with a kicker cost of every other card in your library, and it just clicked. Kicked and clicked. And let’s be honest: Who among us hasn’t been bailed out by using D-Tutor as a Sylvan Scrying to hit our third land drop?

Wrap Up

Demonic Tutor | Illustration by Scott Chou

Lesson over! I knew there were tons of tutors in Magic, but I was surprised by just how many felt like necessary additions to this list. Tutors are just great Magic cards, and I could’ve gone even further down the rabbit hole with some more niche and techy tutors like Wargate and Conflux. We had to call it at some point though, so if I missed your favorite tutor let me know!

I’m also curious where people stand on the Vampiric Tutor versus Demonic Tutor debate, or if anyone thinks something else deserves one of those top slots. Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord or on Twitter/X.

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