Sylvan Tutor
Sorcery
Search your library for a creature card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Commander
- Price
- $51.14
- EDHREC rank
- #2784
Sylvan Tutor puts any creature on top of your library for one green mana — the cost is that you telegraphed the threat and drew nothing new. In creature-centric engines like Eladamri, Korvecdal or combo lines running Conspicuous Snoop, that trade-off disappears because you either cast the top card immediately or already know exactly what you need.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Eladamri, Korvecdal
Eladamri, Korvecdal lets you cast creatures from the top of your library, which converts the drawback of Sylvan Tutor — putting a card on top rather than into hand — into a direct line to the battlefield at instant speed.
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 |
In Commander, Sylvan Tutor is a one-mana creature tutor in a singleton format where finding your one copy of a key piece is often worth a full card of tempo. Legacy and Vintage have access to it as well, but faster formats with more redundancy make sorcery-speed top-of-library tutors a harder sell than Vampiric Tutor or Imperial Seal. Oathbreaker runs it for the same reason Commander does — singleton pressure makes the effect valuable. Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper are all off the table, so Sylvan Tutor is strictly a longer-game, non-rotating-format tool.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Conspicuous SnoopKiki-Jiki, Mirror BreakerSylvan Tutor
Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite tapped creature tokens
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Aspiring ChampionBlightsteel ColossusSylvan TutorMaskwood Nexus
Each opponent loses the game
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Aspiring ChampionBlightsteel ColossusSylvan TutorLeyline of Transformation
Each opponent loses the game
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Aspiring ChampionBlightsteel ColossusSylvan TutorArcane Adaptation
Each opponent loses the game
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Worldly Tutor does the same job at roughly the same price but at instant speed, so it isn't really a budget swap — it's a lateral move with a meaningful upgrade. If the goal is just finding a creature cheaply, Finale of Devastation doubles as a finisher, and Fauna Shaman trades card selection for a reusable engine at a fraction of the cost, though both ask more of the deck around them than Sylvan Tutor does.
Price Context
Current price
$51.14 premium tier
At $51.14, Sylvan Tutor sits in premium territory driven by a single vintage printing and consistent demand from creature-combo Commander builds. It holds that price because no modern reprint has appeared and the effect is genuinely narrow enough that a reprint would need to hit a high-profile product to move the needle significantly.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.