41 Best Budget Colorless Commander Staples Under $3 (Plus Upgrade Picks)
Budget colorless staples
colorless artifacts and lands fit in every Commander deck, and most of the best ones cost under a dollar.
- Sol Ring and Arcane Signet are the two best budget mana rocks and belong in nearly every deck.
- Swiftfoot Boots protects your commander from targeted removal for around $1.50.
- Lands like Command Tower, Exotic Orchard and Myriad Landscape add power without using spell slots.
- Every card was checked at the time of writing: Commander legal, not a Game Changer, and around $3 or less.
Colorless cards are the glue of Commander. Mana rocks, equipment and utility lands fit into any deck regardless of your commander’s colors, which makes them some of the best cards to buy first. A single Sol Ring or Arcane Signet improves every deck you will ever build.
Some of the most famous colorless cards are expensive or sit on the Game Changers list, like Mana Vault, Chrome Mox and The One Ring. You do not need any of them for a strong casual deck. The 41 staples below each cost around $3 or less at the time of writing, and we checked that every one is legal in Commander and not a Game Changer.
Strengths
Colorless cards fill the gaps that colored cards leave behind. They give blue, white and red decks ramp they cannot get otherwise, protect your commander, add card draw to colors that lack it and turn land slots into utility.Weak spots
Their limits are worth knowing too. Colorless cards are rarely as efficient as the best colored cards for the same job, and artifact-based ramp is vulnerable to artifact wipes. Many colorless cards are also on the Game Changers list, especially fast mana. That is why this list focuses on cheap, fair cards that help your deck run smoothly without raising its bracket.Mana rocks and ramp
Every deck needs ramp, and colorless artifacts are the one source every color can play. Most casual decks want at least three or four of these.
One mana for an artifact that taps for two. It is the single most played card in Commander, it comes in nearly every precon, and it is not a Game Changer. If your deck can play it, it should.
Two mana for a rock that taps for any color in your commander’s color identity. It is the cleanest way to ramp and fix colors in any multicolor deck.
A two-mana rock that taps for colorless mana. Later in the game, when you have plenty of mana, you can sacrifice it to draw a card. It never ends up as a dead draw.
Taps for any color that a land an opponent controls could produce. In four-player games, that usually covers most or all of your colors, which makes it a strong second signet.
A two-mana rock that also gives you no maximum hand size. Decks that draw a lot of cards will love not having to discard at the end of their turn.
Three mana for a rock that taps for any color in your commander’s identity, and you can sacrifice it later to draw a card. A little slow, but very reliable.
Pay two mana, tap and sacrifice it to put a basic land onto the battlefield tapped. Unlike mana rocks, it gives you a land that survives artifact wipes. It is the best way for non-green decks to ramp with real lands.
A four-mana 2/2 that puts a basic land onto the battlefield when it enters and draws you a card when it dies. Ramp, a blocker and card draw in one colorless package.
Worn Powerstone costs three, enters tapped, and then taps for two colorless mana every turn. That jump from three to five or six mana on the next turn is huge. It shines in decks with big colorless costs or hungry activated abilities.
Coldsteel Heart enters tapped, but it makes one color of your choice forever after. It is a cheap, steady rock for two-color decks that need a specific color. Pick the color your hand is missing and it quietly fixes your mana all game.
Star Compass costs two and enters tapped. It taps for any color a basic land you control could make. In a deck with mostly basics, it acts like a cheap Arcane Signet backup and keeps your colors flowing.
Prismatic Lens taps for colorless mana, or you can pay one extra to turn that into any color. It comes down on turn two and pushes you toward your commander early. The color filter helps a lot when your lands are all the same type.
Guardian Idol enters tapped and taps for one colorless mana. Late in the game, you can pay two to make it a 2/2 creature that can attack or block. It is a mana rock that never feels like a dead draw.
Darksteel Ingot costs three and taps for any color. It is indestructible, so artifact wipes that say destroy will not touch it. That makes it a safe pick in groups where people love to blow up mana rocks.
Card draw and protection
Whenever an opponent draws a card, you may pay one mana to draw a card. In a four-player game, that is up to three extra cards per turn cycle if you leave mana open. It gives any color a steady stream of cards.
An equipment that gives a creature hexproof and haste for an equip cost of one. Put your commander in Boots and opponents cannot target it with removal, and it can attack the turn it comes down.
Exiles a card from a graveyard when it enters, and you can sacrifice it later to exile every opponent’s graveyard, or to draw a card. Cheap graveyard hate that still does something when you do not need it.
Staff of Nin draws you an extra card at the start of every upkeep. It also pings any target for one damage each turn. It costs six, but few colorless cards give this much steady value once it lands.
Endless Atlas lets you pay two to draw a card, as long as you control three lands with the same name. Mono-color decks hit that easily, and most decks with basics will too. It turns spare mana into cards every single turn.
Idol of Oblivion taps to draw a card on any turn you created a token. Token decks get a free card almost every turn. Late in the game, you can sacrifice it to make a 10/10 Eldrazi that ends games.
Whispersilk Cloak gives the equipped creature shroud and makes it unblockable. Put it on your commander to keep removal off it and land hits every turn. It is great for voltron and commander damage plans.
Champion’s Helm gives the equipped creature +2/+2. If that creature is legendary, it also gains hexproof. Since your commander is legendary, this is a cheap way to shield it with an equip cost of just one.
Utility lands
Lands are the easiest place to add power without giving up spell slots. These colorless options work in almost every deck.
Taps for any color in your commander’s color identity and enters untapped. In any deck with two or more colors, it is an automatic include.
Enters tapped and taps for any color in your commander’s identity. When you spend its mana on a creature that shares a type with your commander, you scry 1. A great second Command Tower for tribal decks.
Taps for any color an opponent’s land could produce, and it enters untapped. In multiplayer, it reliably fixes multicolor mana bases.
Enters tapped, then later you can sacrifice it to put two basic lands of the same type onto the battlefield. It is ramp hiding in your land slot, and it is especially good in mono-colored decks.
Taps for colorless, or pay four mana to make a creature unblockable for the turn. It is perfect for commander damage decks and for pushing through the final points of damage.
A Desert that taps for colorless and can be sacrificed to exile all graveyards. Graveyard hate on a land costs you no spell slot, and it can stop a reanimator player in its tracks.
Evolving Wilds sacrifices itself to fetch a basic land, tapped. It fixes colors in any deck and thins a basic out of your library. It also triggers landfall twice, which some commanders love.
Terramorphic Expanse works just like Evolving Wilds. You sacrifice it to grab a basic land that enters tapped. Run both in landfall or graveyard decks, or just to smooth out your colors on a budget.
War Room taps for colorless mana. Late in the game, you can pay three and some life to draw a card. Mono-color and two-color decks pay very little life, so it turns flood into fresh cards.
Bonders’ Enclave taps for colorless mana. You can also pay three and tap it to draw a card if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. Big creature decks get a free source of card draw from a land slot.
Buried Ruin taps for colorless mana. When you need it, pay two and sacrifice it to return an artifact card from your graveyard to your hand. It brings back a key mana rock or combo piece without costing a spell slot.
Colorless removal
Every deck needs answers, and these colorless cards can deal with almost any permanent. They are slower than colored removal, but any commander can run them.
Meteor Golem destroys target nonland permanent an opponent controls when it enters. That covers creatures, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers. It costs seven, but it leaves a 3/3 body behind and works great with blink and reanimation.
Unstable Obelisk taps for colorless mana early on. Later, you can pay seven, tap it, and sacrifice it to destroy target permanent. It ramps you first and then answers a problem card when you need it most.
Spine of Ish Sah destroys target permanent when it enters. When it goes to the graveyard from the battlefield, it returns to your hand. In decks that sacrifice or bounce artifacts, it becomes repeatable removal.
Ratchet Bomb gains a charge counter each turn. Sacrifice it to destroy every nontoken permanent with mana value equal to its counters. At zero, it wipes out every token on the board, which is a great answer to token swarms.
Overperformers: strong cards that still cost pocket change
These cards look like upgrades on paper, yet they sell for less than a few dollars. Grab them before you spend money anywhere else.
Thran Dynamo costs four and taps for three colorless mana. That gets you from four mana to eight in a single turn. It is one of the best ways to slam big spells and expensive commanders early.
Mystic Forge lets you look at the top card of your library any time. You can cast artifact and colorless spells from the top. It turns artifact-heavy decks into card advantage engines and also lets you exile the top card to dig deeper.
Expedition Map searches your library for any land card and puts it into your hand. Use it to find a utility land, a combo land, or the missing color you need. It is a cheap and flexible tutor any deck can run.
Sculpting Steel enters as a copy of any artifact on the battlefield. Copy your best mana rock, equipment, or an opponent’s bomb artifact. It is a flexible second copy of whatever is strongest at the table.
Worth the upgrade: colorless staples from $3 to $15
These cards cost a bit more, but each one pulls real weight. They are the first upgrades most players make once a deck is working.
Basalt Monolith costs three and taps for three colorless mana. It does not untap on its own, but you can pay three to untap it. It is a fast burst of mana and a known piece in several infinite combos.
Lightning Greaves gives the equipped creature haste and shroud. It equips for zero, so you can move it to a new creature right away. Your commander can attack the turn it lands and dodge removal at the same time.
Reliquary Tower taps for colorless mana and removes your maximum hand size. Card draw decks never have to discard at end of turn again. It costs you almost nothing to slot in where a basic would go.
Skullclamp gives a creature +1/-1 and draws you two cards when it dies. Put it on a creature with one toughness and it dies right away for two cards. Token decks can draw huge piles of cards with it.
Wurmcoil Engine is a 6/6 with deathtouch and lifelink. When it dies, it splits into two 3/3 tokens, one with deathtouch and one with lifelink. Removal barely slows it down, so it fits any deck that needs a big threat.
Splurge picks: premium colorless cards
These are premium colorless cards for players who want maximum speed and power. Several are Game Changers, which push a deck into a higher bracket, so check with your group before sleeving them up. Here, 3 are Game Changers (marked in red): one in your list puts the deck in bracket 3 or higher.
Shadowspear costs one and gives the equipped creature +1/+1, trample, and lifelink. You can also pay to strip hexproof and indestructible from your opponents’ permanents until end of turn. It helps your removal hit protected threats.
Sensei’s Divining Top lets you pay one to look at and reorder the top three cards of your library. You can also tap it to draw a card and put Top back on top. It fixes every draw and powers many combo and shuffle decks.
Urza’s Saga is a land that turns into a factory for Construct tokens that grow with your artifacts. On its final chapter, it fetches an artifact with mana cost zero or one, like Sol Ring. Then it is sacrificed, so plan around losing the land.
Mana Vault costs one and taps for three colorless mana. It does not untap on its own and can ping you while tapped.
The One Ring gives you protection from everything until your next turn when you cast it. After that, it draws more cards each turn as burden counters pile up.
Ancient Tomb taps for two colorless mana and deals two damage to you. That means a turn-two play of four mana or more.
Honorable mentions
These are solid choices if you want more of what the main list offers.
Everflowing Chalice (around $0.25): a flexible rock that taps for more mana the more you pay for it.
Hedron Archive (around $0.25): a four-mana rock that taps for two and can be sacrificed to draw two cards.
Burnished Hart (around $0.25): pay three and sacrifice it to fetch two basic lands. Great in mono-colored decks.
Ash Barrens (around $0.25): a colorless land that can cycle for a basic land of any type early on.A few colorless favorites are just above our budget line. Lightning Greaves and Skullclamp were both over $3 at the time of writing, and Reliquary Tower often hovers around that mark too. They are worth adding when you see a good price.
Show all 52 picks as a table
| Card | Role | Tier | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sol Ring | Ramp | Budget | ~$1 |
| Arcane Signet | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Mind Stone | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Fellwar Stone | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Thought Vessel | Ramp | Budget | ~$2 |
| Commander’s Sphere | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Wayfarer’s Bauble | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Solemn Simulacrum | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Worn Powerstone | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Coldsteel Heart | Ramp | Budget | ~$1 |
| Star Compass | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Prismatic Lens | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Guardian Idol | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Darksteel Ingot | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Mind’s Eye | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Swiftfoot Boots | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$1.50 |
| Soul-Guide Lantern | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Staff of Nin | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$0.75 |
| Endless Atlas | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Idol of Oblivion | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$2.5 |
| Whispersilk Cloak | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$2.25 |
| Champion’s Helm | Card draw / Protection | Budget | ~$1 |
| Command Tower | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Path of Ancestry | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Exotic Orchard | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Myriad Landscape | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Rogue’s Passage | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Scavenger Grounds | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Evolving Wilds | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Terramorphic Expanse | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| War Room | Land | Budget | ~$0.75 |
| Bonders’ Enclave | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Buried Ruin | Land | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Meteor Golem | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Unstable Obelisk | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Spine of Ish Sah | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Ratchet Bomb | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Thran Dynamo | Ramp | Budget | ~$2.25 |
| Mystic Forge | Card advantage | Budget | ~$2.75 |
| Expedition Map | Tutor | Budget | ~$1.25 |
| Sculpting Steel | Utility | Budget | ~$1.75 |
| Basalt Monolith | Ramp | Upgrade | ~$3.5 |
| Lightning Greaves | Protection | Upgrade | ~$3.75 |
| Reliquary Tower | Land | Upgrade | ~$4.25 |
| Skullclamp | Card draw | Upgrade | ~$4.75 |
| Wurmcoil Engine | Finisher | Upgrade | ~$9.25 |
| Shadowspear | Equipment | Splurge | ~$21 |
| Sensei’s Divining Top | Card selection | Splurge | ~$31 |
| Urza’s Saga | Land | Splurge | ~$35 |
| Mana Vault | Ramp | Splurge | ~$92 |
| The One Ring | Card draw | Splurge | ~$109 |
| Ancient Tomb | Land | Splurge | ~$122 |
When to upgrade
Once your deck runs smoothly with these cards, the next upgrades are usually better lands and stronger card draw engines. Before buying any expensive artifact, check our Game Changers list. Many colorless cards, especially fast mana like Mana Vault and Grim Monolith, are Game Changers and will raise your deck’s bracket.
When you are ready to see where your list stands, paste it into our free Deck Checker. It highlights any Game Changers and estimates your bracket in a few seconds, so you can upgrade without accidentally pushing the deck into a higher bracket than your table enjoys.
Starting from a preconstructed deck? Our precon upgrade guides show which cards to cut first and where cheap staples like these make the biggest difference.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sol Ring a Game Changer?
No. Sol Ring is not on the Game Changers list at the time of writing, so it is allowed in every bracket. It is legal in Commander and comes in nearly every precon.
How many mana rocks should a Commander deck run?
Most casual decks want about three to five. Green decks with land ramp can play fewer, while white, blue and red decks often play more.
What is the best budget commander protection?
Swiftfoot Boots. It gives hexproof and haste for an equip cost of one and costs around $1.50.
Do I need Command Tower in a mono-colored deck?
No. Command Tower only matters in decks with two or more colors. In a mono-colored deck, a basic land works just as well.
