River Song's Diary
Artifact — Book
Imprint — Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell from their hand, exile it instead of putting it into a graveyard as it resolves.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are four or more cards exiled with this artifact, choose one of them at random. You may cast it without paying its mana cost.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Doctor Who
- Price
- $1.53
- EDHREC rank
- #5870
River Song's Diary enters with a number of pages counters equal to the number of spells you've cast this turn, then draws you a card each time you cast your first spell on each opponent's turn — it rewards both burst-spell turns and consistent spell-per-turn play. River Song's namesake card is legitimate card advantage at three mana, not just a flavor inclusion.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
River Song
River Song casts spells on every opponent's turn by design, meaning River Song's Diary triggers on each of those turns and stockpiles pages counters at a rate most draw engines can't match.
Kellan, the Kid
Kellan, the Kid wants to chain spells at instant speed to exploit the adventure mechanic, and River Song's Diary rewards exactly that pattern — both the burst loading of counters and the per-opponent-turn draws from holding up interaction.
Tasha, the Witch Queen
Tasha, the Witch Queen casts spells on opponents' turns as a core strategy, so River Song's Diary plugs in as a natural draw engine that accumulates pages counters passively while the Witch Queen does her thing.
Ian Malcolm, Chaotician
Ian Malcolm, Chaotician leans into random spell effects and high spell volume, and River Song's Diary converts that volume — especially the instants cast on opponents' turns to maximize chaos triggers — directly into card advantage.
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 where River Song's Diary does its best work: three opponents means up to three extra draw triggers per round, and a multiplayer game gives spell-heavy decks the time to accumulate pages counters into a meaningful resource. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is legal but irrelevant — those formats close games before a three-mana enchantment that draws one card per turn cycle matters. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where it could see real play, since the instant-speed spell-casting patterns that load River Song's Diary quickly are common in that format.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.53 cheap tier
At $1.53, River Song's Diary sits in the cheap tier where the buy-in is low enough to justify testing without commitment. It's a Doctor Who crossover card with a narrow home, so don't expect price appreciation — but at that price, the question is just whether it earns its slot, not whether it's worth buying.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.