Arbiter of the Ideal
Creature — Sphinx
Flying
Inspired — Whenever this creature becomes untapped, reveal the top card of your library. If it's an artifact, creature, or land card, you may put it onto the battlefield with a manifestation counter on it. That permanent is an enchantment in addition to its other types.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Magic Online Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #14213
Arbiter of the Ideal puts a free permanent into play every combat — artifact, creature, or land — with a Manifest counter that doubles as a subtle bluff until opponents figure out what just landed. The cost is real: six mana and no evasion means it needs haste or protection to fire even once, and if it dies before your next attack step you've paid full price for a 4/4.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Arbiter of the Ideal is a Commander card through and through — the format's slower clock gives it room to attack at least once before dying, and multiplayer tables mean opponents are often pointing removal elsewhere. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it is functionally unplayable: six mana does nothing competitive in those formats, and there is no shell that wants a slow Manifest engine when faster, cheaper threats exist. Vintage has the raw mana to cast it but still no reason to, given the format's density of broken alternatives. Commander is the one context where Arbiter of the Ideal earns its slot, specifically in blue-heavy decks that can protect it through a combat step and profit from the top-of-library manipulation.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Arbiter of the Ideal isn't available in the current feed, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Historically it has sat in the bulk-rare range — expect under a dollar — which makes it a low-risk pickup for any Commander build that can use it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.