38 Best Budget Green Commander Staples Under $3 (Plus Upgrade Picks)
Budget green staples
green ramps better than any other color, and its best ramp spells are almost all under a dollar. Add draw that rewards big creatures and flexible removal.
- Cultivate, Kodama’s Reach and Rampant Growth are classic ramp spells at around 50 cents to $1.50.
- Beast Within answers any permanent and is green’s best budget removal.
- Green card draw works best with big creatures, so pair Garruk’s Uprising with a creature-heavy deck.
- Every card was checked at the time of writing: Commander legal, not a Game Changer, and around $3 or less.
Green is the color of nature, growth and big creatures. In Commander it is the undisputed king of ramp. Green decks routinely have six or seven lands on the battlefield by turn five, which lets them cast huge threats long before anyone else.
That makes green one of the best colors for budget players. Its core ramp spells are printed in nearly every precon, so they cost very little. The 38 staples below each cost around $3 or less at the time of writing, and we checked that all of them are legal in Commander and not on the Game Changers list.
Strengths
Green’s strengths are ramp, large creatures, artifact and enchantment removal, and getting cards back from the graveyard. Elves, landfall, +1/+1 counters, Hydras and big-creature stompy decks all live here.Weak spots
Its weaknesses are just as clear. Green has trouble removing opposing creatures, has almost no board wipes, and cannot easily stop flying threats. Its card draw mostly depends on having big creatures, so decks with small creatures can run out of gas. Most green decks solve this by pairing with another color for removal, or by running flexible answers like Beast Within that hit anything.Mana creatures
Cheap creatures that make mana or fetch lands let you skip ahead a turn. They are fragile, but the head start is often worth it.
A one-mana creature that taps for green. Played on turn one, it lets you cast three-drops on turn two. It is also an Elf, which matters in tribal decks.
A 1/1 that you can sacrifice at any time to put a basic land onto the battlefield tapped. It blocks an attacker first and then turns into a land, so even a board wipe does not take away your ramp.
Three mana for a 1/1 that puts a Forest card from your library onto the battlefield untapped. Because it says Forest card rather than basic land, it can grab dual lands with the Forest type in multicolor decks.
A one-mana elf that taps for green, just like the classics. Playing it on turn one lets you cast a three-drop on turn two. Green decks want as many of these early accelerants as they can get, and this one costs next to nothing.
Arbor Elf untaps a Forest instead of adding mana itself. In a deck full of basic Forests, that works the same as a normal mana elf. If your Forest is a dual land or is enchanted with an aura like Utopia Sprawl, it can make even more.
This two-drop taps for any color, which helps green fix mana in multicolor decks. It also has hexproof while untapped, so it dodges most targeted removal. That makes it a sturdy ramp piece that survives longer than a fragile one-mana elf.
Land ramp spells
Putting extra lands onto the battlefield is the safest kind of ramp, because lands rarely get destroyed. Most green decks play several of these.
Two mana to put a basic land onto the battlefield tapped. It is simple and it fixes your colors too, since you can grab any basic type your deck needs.
Two mana to put any Forest card onto the battlefield, and it enters untapped. That means you can use the new land right away, and in multicolor decks it can fetch a dual land with the Forest type.
Two mana to fetch a Plains, Island, Swamp or Mountain card. It cannot grab a Forest, but it can find dual lands with those types, which makes it excellent color fixing in two- and three-color green decks.
Three mana for two basic lands: one onto the battlefield tapped and one into your hand. It ramps you and guarantees your next land drop, and it is one of the most played green cards for a reason.
The exact same effect as Cultivate. Running both gives your deck redundancy, so you hit your important ramp turn more often.
Four mana for two Forest cards that enter untapped is a strong deal. You get your mana back on the same turn and can often cast another spell. In decks with typed dual lands, it fixes your colors while it ramps you.
You sacrifice a land to search for two basics that enter untapped. Since it’s an instant, you can cast it at the end of an opponent’s turn. It also triggers landfall twice, which makes it a favorite in decks that reward lands entering.
For two mana, you get to play an extra land this turn and draw a card. It smooths out early turns and replaces itself, so it never feels wasted. It shines in decks that care about landfall or play lots of lands.
Card draw
Green draws cards by having big creatures. If your deck has plenty of four-power bodies, these are excellent.
Four mana to draw three cards, with no conditions at all. It is one of the few green draw spells that works in any deck.
An enchantment that gives your creatures trample and draws a card whenever a creature with power 4 or more enters under your control. In a deck full of big creatures, it pays you back many times over.
At instant speed, draw cards equal to the greatest power among your non-Human creatures, or give them +3/+3. It is a refill when you need cards and a finisher when you need damage.
Whenever a creature with power 3 or greater enters under your control, you draw a card. Green is full of big creatures, so this enchantment keeps refilling your hand. It’s a cheap, steady engine that pays off over a long Commander game.
You draw cards equal to the greatest power among your creatures. Then you can cast a spell with mana value 5 or less for free. With a big creature out, it often draws five or more cards and casts one of them at no cost.
Draw a card for each creature you control, and gain 4 life for each one with power 4 or more. Go-wide token decks can reload a whole hand with this. The life gain is a nice bonus against aggressive tables.
Removal
Green is weak at killing creatures, but it is very good at destroying artifacts and enchantments.
Three mana at instant speed to destroy any permanent. The controller gets a 3/3 Beast, but that is a fine trade for removing a commander, a combo piece or a game-winning enchantment.
Destroys an artifact or enchantment with split second, so nobody can respond to save it. That makes it the safest way to take out an equipment or aura before it gets used.
One mana at instant speed to destroy an artifact or enchantment. The controller gains four life, which almost never matters. It is cheap enough to hold up every turn.
Your creature deals damage equal to its power to a target creature you don’t control. If your creature has trample, the extra damage hits that player too. At two mana, it’s a cheap instant-speed answer that green decks love.
This fight spell gives your creature +X/+X before it fights a creature you don’t control. You can scale it up to make sure your creature wins and survives. It’s flexible removal that also leaves you with a bigger attacker.
Your creature deals damage equal to its power to a target creature. Unlike a true fight, the enemy creature doesn’t hit back. It’s a clean, cheap way for green to remove a threat without risking its own creature.
Protection, recursion and finishers
One mana to give your creature a +1/+1 counter and hexproof until end of turn. It saves your commander from targeted removal at the lowest possible cost.
A 2/1 that returns any card from your graveyard to your hand when it enters. Get back your best removal spell, a key creature or a used ramp spell. It is even better with blink effects.
Your creatures gain trample and get +X/+X, where X is the greatest power among them. With one big creature on board, every attacker turns huge. It is a budget-friendly way to end the game in one swing.
When this elf enters, you may destroy an artifact or enchantment. It’s removal stapled onto a body, which makes it great to recur or copy. Commander tables are packed with mana rocks and auras, so it rarely lacks a target.
Acidic Slime destroys an artifact, enchantment, or land when it enters. It also has deathtouch, so it blocks well afterward. Pair it with flicker or recursion effects and it can keep picking apart an opponent’s best permanents.
Each land you play gives you a Clue token. You can pay two to sacrifice a Clue and draw a card, and the Tracker grows each time. It turns every land drop into future cards, which fits right into green’s ramp plans.
Tutors
Green has some of the best creature tutors in the game, and several of them are cheap. These let you find your commander’s best partner or a key combo piece when you need it.
When this creature enters, you search your library for a creature with mana value 6 or greater. It puts your biggest finisher right into your hand. In a ramp deck, that means you can find and cast your top threat a turn later.
For two mana, you search for any land and put it into your hand. Green decks use it to find a utility land or a land your combo needs. It’s a quiet, cheap tutor that fixes your mana at the same time.
Protection & fogs
Green is great at keeping its board alive. These cheap spells save your creatures from removal and wipes, or stop a big attack cold.
A one-mana instant that gives a permanent hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. It also regenerates it. Use it to protect your commander or a key engine from removal, and it costs so little you can hold it up nearly anytime.
Your creature gets +2/+2 and hexproof until end of turn. It can stop removal or win a combat out of nowhere. Since it’s just one mana, it fits easily into any green deck that leans on one important creature.
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.
When it enters, you make a 0/1 Plant for each land you control. Every landfall after that gives all your Plants a +1/+1 counter. In a ramp deck, it turns into a huge army in just a turn or two.
Hornet Queen brings four 1/1 flying, deathtouch Insects with her. That’s a wall of blockers that stops almost any attacker. Copy or recur her and you build an air force that opponents struggle to get past.
Worth the upgrade: green staples from $3 to $15
These cards cost a bit more but bring real power. Each one is a common pick in strong green Commander decks.
You sacrifice a creature and search for one with mana value up to two more, putting it onto the battlefield. Trading a used-up elf for a strong three-drop is a great deal. It’s a fast tutor that also cheats creatures into play.
This six-drop fetches a nonlegendary green creature with mana value 3 or less and puts it straight onto the battlefield. It finds utility creatures like Eternal Witness or a mana elf. You get two bodies and a free effect from one card.
Whenever you cast a creature spell, you draw a card. In creature-heavy green decks, this turns every play into a fresh card. It’s a simple, strong engine that helps you keep deploying threats.
Moment’s Peace prevents all combat damage for a turn. Then you can cast it again from your graveyard with flashback. That’s two full turns of safety from one card, which buys time to set up your big plays.
For two mana, you fetch a Forest card and put it onto the battlefield untapped. That means you can use the new land right away. Since it finds Forest types, it can grab dual lands like Breeding Pool in multicolor decks, which makes it great fixing too.
Each time a land enters under your control, you add one mana of any color. With fetch lands or land ramp spells, it can make several extra mana each turn. In landfall decks, it often lets you double up on spells early.
This little squirrel can’t be countered and is indestructible. Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card. It makes go-wide decks draw a pile of cards every attack.
This instant puts a creature with mana value X or less from your library right onto the battlefield. Convoke lets your creatures help pay for it. You can find the perfect answer at the end of an opponent’s turn.
A one-mana flyer that taps for any color. It’s the best early fixer green has. It accelerates you on turn one and also helps cast spells of other colors in multicolor decks.
For two mana, your permanents gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. It answers most board wipes and targeted removal in one instant. Holding it up keeps your board safe when an opponent tries to reset the game.
Whenever a nontoken creature enters under your control, you draw a card if it has a different name from your other creatures. Most Commander decks are singleton, so nearly every creature counts. It’s a steady engine that keeps your hand full.
Splurge picks: premium green cards
These are the premium green cards you see in the most tuned decks. Some are Game Changers, which push your deck into a higher bracket, so check your table’s expectations first. Here, 2 are Game Changers (marked in red): one in your list puts the deck in bracket 3 or higher.
Sacrifice a green creature to put any green creature card from your library onto the battlefield. It can turn a mana elf into your biggest threat on turn four.
When it enters, your creatures gain trample and get +X/+X, where X is how many creatures you control. With a wide board, it usually ends the game on the spot. It’s the classic green finisher for creature-heavy decks.
For one mana at instant speed, you put any creature card from your library on top. It finds your best threat or combo piece right away.
Each draw step, you look at two extra cards and choose what to keep. You can pay 4 life per card to keep the extras. It gives you control over every draw, which is huge for finding what you need.
Any tokens or counters you would get are doubled. Token, planeswalker, and +1/+1 counter decks get huge value from it. It turns every small effect into a big one, which makes it a dream card for many green commanders.
You search for a green creature with mana value X or less and put it onto the battlefield. Then it shuffles back into your library, so you can find it again later. It works as a flexible tutor at any point in the game.
You search your library or graveyard for a creature with mana value X or less and put it onto the battlefield. At a high X, it also gives your creatures a huge pump and haste. It’s a tutor early and a game-ending spell late.
Honorable mentions
These cheap cards are worth slotting in if you have room.
Elvish Mystic (around $0.50): a second copy of Llanowar Elves under a different name.
Regrowth (around $0.50): two mana to return any card from your graveyard to your hand.Some favorite green staples have crept above our budget line. Three Visits and Heroic Intervention were both well over $3 at the time of writing. They are great cards, but the picks above do similar jobs for less.
Show all 56 picks as a table
| Card | Role | Tier | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llanowar Elves | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Sakura-Tribe Elder | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Wood Elves | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Fyndhorn Elves | Ramp | Budget | ~$1 |
| Arbor Elf | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Paradise Druid | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Rampant Growth | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Nature’s Lore | Ramp | Budget | ~$1.75 |
| Farseek | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Cultivate | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Kodama’s Reach | Ramp | Budget | ~$1.50 |
| Skyshroud Claim | Ramp | Budget | ~$1.00 |
| Harrow | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Explore | Ramp | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Harmonize | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Garruk’s Uprising | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Return of the Wildspeaker | Card draw | Budget | ~$1.50 |
| Elemental Bond | Card draw | Budget | ~$1.5 |
| Rishkar’s Expertise | Card draw | Budget | ~$1.75 |
| Shamanic Revelation | Card draw | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Beast Within | Removal | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Krosan Grip | Removal | Budget | ~$0.75 |
| Nature’s Claim | Removal | Budget | ~$0.75 |
| Ram Through | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Primal Might | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Rabid Bite | Removal | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Snakeskin Veil | Value | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Eternal Witness | Value | Budget | ~$1.25 |
| Overwhelming Stampede | Value | Budget | ~$1.25 |
| Reclamation Sage | Value | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Acidic Slime | Value | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Tireless Tracker | Value | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Fierce Empath | Tutor | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Sylvan Scrying | Tutor | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Tamiyo’s Safekeeping | Protection | Budget | ~$2.75 |
| Blossoming Defense | Protection | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Avenger of Zendikar | Finisher | Budget | ~$0.50 |
| Hornet Queen | Finisher | Budget | ~$0.25 |
| Eldritch Evolution | Tutor | Upgrade | ~$3.5 |
| Woodland Bellower | Tutor | Upgrade | ~$4.75 |
| Beast Whisperer | Card draw | Upgrade | ~$4.75 |
| Moment’s Peace | Protection | Upgrade | ~$5 |
| Three Visits | Ramp | Upgrade | ~$5.5 |
| Lotus Cobra | Ramp | Upgrade | ~$6 |
| Toski, Bearer of Secrets | Card draw | Upgrade | ~$6.5 |
| Chord of Calling | Tutor | Upgrade | ~$7.25 |
| Birds of Paradise | Mana creature | Upgrade | ~$8.25 |
| Heroic Intervention | Protection | Upgrade | ~$9.25 |
| Guardian Project | Card draw | Upgrade | ~$13 |
| Natural Order | Tutor | Splurge | ~$14 |
| Craterhoof Behemoth | Finisher | Splurge | ~$23 |
| Worldly Tutor | Tutor | Splurge | ~$26 |
| Sylvan Library | Card selection | Splurge | ~$27 |
| Doubling Season | Value | Splurge | ~$29 |
| Green Sun’s Zenith | Tutor | Splurge | ~$31 |
| Finale of Devastation | Tutor | Splurge | ~$33 |
When to upgrade
Once your green deck has these essentials, the usual next step is stronger repeatable card draw and more powerful ramp. Several of the strongest green cards, including Natural Order, Worldly Tutor, Survival of the Fittest and Seedborn Muse, are Game Changers. Check our Game Changers list before adding them so you know how they affect your 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
How much ramp should a green Commander deck run?
Ten to twelve ramp pieces is a good target for most green decks. That includes mana creatures like Llanowar Elves and spells like Cultivate.
What is the best budget green removal?
Beast Within. It destroys any permanent at instant speed for three mana and costs about 50 cents.
How does green deal with flying creatures?
With flexible removal like Beast Within, or by pairing with another color. Some green creatures have reach, which lets them block fliers.
Is Cultivate or Kodama's Reach better?
They do the same thing. Cultivate is usually a bit cheaper, but most green decks play both.