Path of the Schemer
Sorcery
Each player mills two cards. Then you put a creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. It's an artifact in addition to its other types.
Will of the Planeswalkers — Starting with you, each player votes for planeswalk or chaos. If planeswalk gets more votes, planeswalk. If chaos gets more votes or the vote is tied, chaos ensues.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- March of the Machine Commander
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #17027
Path of the Schemer gives you a land that produces two colors and replaces itself with a scry effect whenever it enters or leaves play — real card quality at near-zero cost. The catch is that it enters tapped, which makes it a staple in slower, value-oriented Commander builds and a cut in anything trying to move fast.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the natural home for Path of the Schemer — the 100-card singleton format rewards consistent mana fixing and card selection, and a dual land that scries on entry fits both needs without asking anything extra of the deck. The enters-tapped clause barely registers in a format where games routinely go eight or more turns. Legacy and Vintage are legal but irrelevant: both formats move faster than a tapped land can keep up with, and neither needs this effect when fetchlands and true duals exist. Oathbreaker is legal and mirrors the Commander logic at a smaller scale — slow but functional.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Path of the Schemer is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard and postage, not the card itself. Bulk rare lands with narrow upside rarely climb unless they find a breakout combo home, so treat it as a low-risk slot filler rather than a spec target.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.