Magistrate's Scepter
Artifact
, 
: Put a charge counter on this artifact., Remove three charge counters from this artifact: Take an extra turn after this one.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Mercadian Masques
- Price
- $11.82
- EDHREC rank
- #5711
Magistrate's Scepter wins games by granting extra turns, and in proliferate decks that cost compounds fast — Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus doubles every proliferate trigger, meaning three charge counters arrive at roughly half the expected effort. The setup cost is real at three mana to cast plus four to activate, but once the counter engine is running, Inspirit, Flagship Vessel and similar proliferate commanders can loop it into consecutive extra turns.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus
Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus doubles every proliferate trigger, so Magistrate's Scepter reaches three counters in roughly half the activations a normal deck needs — that's the entire engine in two cards.
Kilo, Apogee Mind
Kilo, Apogee Mind generates repeated proliferate effects as a core part of its game plan, making Magistrate's Scepter a reliable extra-turn payoff that scales directly with how often the commander fires.
Inspirit, Flagship Vessel
Inspirit, Flagship Vessel's proliferate throughput turns Magistrate's Scepter from a slow inevitability into a near-repeatable extra-turn source, and the Scepter shows up in nearly 30% of Inspirit lists for exactly that reason.
Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres
Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres proliferates on drawing cards, which means each cantrip nudges Magistrate's Scepter closer to activation without spending additional mana.
Zimone, Paradox Sculptor
Zimone, Paradox Sculptor's counter-manipulation gameplan gives Magistrate's Scepter a natural home — both cards want a high density of proliferate and counter-adding effects to function at their ceiling.
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 |
Magistrate's Scepter is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's a Commander card in practice. The activation cost and slow counter accumulation are a non-issue in a 100-card singleton format built around proliferate synergies, but in faster 60-card formats the floor is brutal — spending three mana to set it up and four more to take an extra turn on turn six or later is not competitive. In Oathbreaker, the compressed game length tightens the window but proliferate signatures can still make it functional. Play Magistrate's Scepter in Commander, and specifically in a deck that proliferates multiple times per turn cycle.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Inspirit, Flagship VesselKilo, Apogee MindMagistrate's Scepter
Infinite turns; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Inspirit, Flagship VesselMagistrate's ScepterCoretapper
Infinite turns; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
There's no direct budget equivalent — extra-turn effects on artifacts are rare, and Magistrate's Scepter's specific interaction with proliferate is nearly unique. Savor the Moment is the closest cheap substitute at under a dollar, granting an extra turn without untapping permanents, though it's a one-shot sorcery rather than a repeatable artifact engine.
Price Context
Current price
$11.82 mid tier
At $11.82, Magistrate's Scepter sits in the mid tier — justified by its combo ceiling in proliferate decks but steep for a card that's nearly unplayable outside that niche. It's held this price largely because the proliferate archetype is popular in Commander and the card has no functional reprint at a lower price point.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.