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Chromatic Orrery

Legendary Artifact

You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color.
{T}: Add {C}{C}{C}{C}{C}.
{5}, {T}: Draw a card for each color among permanents you control.

CMC
7
Mana cost
{7}
Color identity
C
Rarity
mythic
Set
Core Set 2021
Price
$38.47
EDHREC rank
#1218
Buy on TCGplayer
Chromatic Orrery card art
Chromatic Orrery hits the table and immediately lets you spend mana of any color from any source, then draws you a card for each color you can produce — the kind of on-board impact that justifies a seven-mana ask in the right shell. Commanders like Arcum Dagsson can tutor it up for free, and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician can untap it repeatedly to turn the draw trigger into a repeating engine.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Arcum Dagsson

Arcum Dagsson

52.9% of decks · synergy 0.51

Arcum Dagsson tutors Chromatic Orrery directly onto the battlefield by sacrificing any artifact creature, bypassing the seven-mana cost entirely and making it one of the most consistent payoffs in the deck.

02

Heliod, the Radiant Dawn

23.9% of decks · synergy 0.23

Heliod, the Radiant Dawn runs a wide color identity and benefits from Chromatic Orrery's mana-fixing to fuel off-color activated abilities, while the draw trigger helps refill after committing resources to enchantments.

03
Trazyn the Infinite

Trazyn the Infinite

22.0% of decks · synergy 0.22

Trazyn the Infinite imprints Chromatic Orrery in the graveyard and can use its activated ability as if it were on the battlefield, making it a high-value artifact target to mill or sacrifice deliberately.

05
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

29.1% of decks · synergy 0.20

Sisay, Weatherlight Captain can search up Chromatic Orrery as a high-power artifact with a converted mana cost that fuels her own activated ability, while its color-fixing lets Sisay cast whatever legendary permanent she finds next.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Chromatic Orrery actually belongs — the format's longer games, artifact synergies, and multicolor commanders create exactly the conditions where a seven-mana rock that draws three-to-five cards on entry is worth the investment. In competitive EDH, it earns its slot specifically in artifact-combo decks that can cheat it into play; in casual tables, it's a late-game engine that takes over if unanswered. Every other format it's legal in — Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, Vintage — has no real use for it, since those formats demand faster, cheaper interaction and Chromatic Orrery will sit in hand until the game is already decided. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home if the planeswalker and signature spell can support a seven-drop, but it's a narrow fit.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

1,471 decks
Mind Over MatterChromatic Orrery

Mind Over MatterChromatic Orrery

Infinite self-discard triggers; Infinite draw triggers; Infinite looting; Near-infinite colorless mana; Near-infinite colored mana; Near-infinite card draw; Near-infinite untap of permanents you control; Near-infinite mana permanents you control can produce

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

Coveted Jewel offers a similar draw-a-fistful effect stapled to a mana rock at a much lower price point, though it invites attacks and changes hands, making it unreliable. Commander's Sphere and Gilded Lotus each replace a piece of what Chromatic Orrery does — fixing or raw mana output — but neither replicates the draw trigger, so you're trading one card that does two things for two cards that each do one.

Price Context

Current price

$38.47 premium tier

At $38.47, Chromatic Orrery sits in premium artifact territory — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate inclusion, not an impulse buy. It has been reprinted and the price has stayed elevated because demand from artifact commanders is consistent, so it's unlikely to crater, but don't expect it to appreciate either.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.