Last updated on July 27, 2026
Bring to Light | Illustration by Jonas De Ro
Sure, we’d all love to run Demonic Tutor in every black deck, but not everyone has the money to drop on the literal best tutor in Magic. That’s why I put together this list of budget tutors under $5, covering a variety of formats (but especially Commander), to help you get similar effects without breaking the bank.
Let’s dive into the ones I found!
What Are Budget Tutors in MTG?
Final Parting | Illustration by Eric Deschamps
Budget tutors are cards that let you search your library for another card, but they cost significantly less than premium options like Demonic Tutor or Vampiric Tutor. These budget-friendly alternatives often have small restrictions, higher mana values, or exist as enter-the-battlefield triggers to keep them balanced and affordable.
For this list, I’ll cover some of the best tutor cards available at or under $5 that offer powerful effects without breaking your wallet. Prices were last updated using TCGplayer in July, 2026.
#42. Summoner's Pact – $5.00
Don’t let the 0-mana cost fool you—Summoner's Pact is no free lunch. This green instant lets you immediately tutor for any green creature card and put it into your hand, but there’s a catch: You need to pay at the start of your next upkeep, or you lose the game. That said, it’s perfect for explosive combo turns when you only need one more creature to go off.
#41. Beseech the Queen – $5.00
Beseech the Queen is a flexible black tutor that scales with your land count. It lets you dig up any card with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control, making it perfect for mid-to-late game setups. The hybrid mana cost is also neat—you can cast it entirely with black or splash it using generic mana in a multicolor build.
#40. Woodland Bellower – $4.63
Woodland Bellower is a small creature tutor attached to a big 6/5 body. It’s good at finding cheap green creatures, like Reclamation Sage or Eternal Witness, and it's a nice card to bring back from the graveyard, too.
#39. Profane Tutor – $4.22
Like many cards in MTG that have no mana value and only a suspend cost, Profane Tutor is a tutor card that works very well with cascade, or with cards like Codie, Vociferous Codex. Suspending a tutor is pretty fair because it takes time and people can prepare for that, either countering your tutor when the time comes or attacking you first, but it’s also a pretty cheap mana investment, too.
#38. Time of Need – $3.98
Green decks with legendary creatures will love Time of Need. For just 2 mana, you can search your library for any legendary creature and add it to your hand. It’s a great inclusion in Commander, where almost every deck has a selection of legendary creatures for different situations.
#37. Long-Term Plans – $3.92
This aptly-named instant has one of the most unique tutor effects out there. Long-Term Plans lets you find any card in your library and place it third from the top. It’s slower than other tutors, sure, but for blue decks that can manipulate the top of their library or just plan ahead, it’s a sneaky way to guarantee a key card a few turns down the line.
#36. Wargate – $3.75
Versatility is the name of the game with Wargate. For , you can tutor up any permanent card with mana value X or less and slam it directly onto the battlefield. And X can always be 0 to put a land directly into play.
#35. Solve the Equation – $3.72
This blue sorcery tutors up any instant or sorcery from your deck and adds it to your hand. Whether it’s a counterspell, removal, or the centerpiece of your combo, Solve the Equation is a clean and efficient way to grab exactly what you need in a spell-heavy build.
#34. Congregation at Dawn – $3.70
Congregation at Dawn is the kind of sneaky setup card that can turn an ordinary draw step into a win condition. For just 3 mana, you search your library for up to three creature cards and stack them on top of your deck in any order. It’s an instant, which means you can cast it right before your draw step or set up a surprise combo during your opponent’s turn.
#33. Dark Petition – $3.64
Dark Petition is a solid budget replacement for more expensive black tutors, with a great upside if you’re casting it in a spell-heavy deck. It's a classic tutor, but if you have spell mastery (two instants or sorceries in your graveyard), you also get a rebate of 3 black mana. That makes it an ideal setup card for big combo turns or just refueling your hand mid-game.
#32. Citanul Flute – $3.45
If you’ve ever dreamed of building your own creature-based tutor engine, Citanul Flute makes that dream real. This 5-mana artifact lets you pay X and tap it to tutor up a creature with mana value X or less. It’s not a one-shot effect either—this thing sticks around and keeps delivering more threats or combo pieces every turn. Great for toolbox decks or anyone who wants consistent access to creatures.
#31. Fauna Shaman – $3.29
Creature-based decks get a serious consistency boost from Fauna Shaman. This little elf lets you discard a creature card to tutor up any other creature in your deck. It’s a repeatable effect, too, which makes it perfect for toolbox builds, graveyard synergy decks, or combo strategies that want specific creatures in hand or yard.
#30. Eldritch Evolution – $2.88
Eldritch Evolution turns your creatures into upgraded threats. You sacrifice one creature and go digging through your deck for something with a mana value up to 2 more than the one you gave up, then drop it directly onto the battlefield. It’s an important play in green decks that can quickly convert value creatures into game-ending bombs. Just keep in mind that Eldrich Evolution exiles itself after use, so make it count!
#29. Lim-Dûl's Vault
Not quite Vampiric Tutor, Lim-Dûl's Vault still does a fine job of setting up your next few cards. You might have to pay life a few times, but doing so will always net you the card you want next, plus stack a couple other cards behind it.
#28. Open the Armory – $2.35
This 2-mana sorcery is a dream for aura and equipment lovers. Open the Armory lets you search your library for either type, whether you’re hunting down a Voltron piece, a toolbox equipment, or just a spicy aura like Rancor or Darksteel Mutation
#27. Wishclaw Talisman – $2.11
In many cases, you just need one tutor to finish the game if you’re getting a combo piece, and Wishclaw Talisman does exactly that. It’s common to use this artifact to get another card you need and win straight away, but even if you give this card to your opponent, it’s very plausible that you’ll get it back, or that they won’t use it at all.
#26. Planar Portal – $2.00
When you cast Planar Portal, you're going big. This 6-mana artifact comes with a steep price tag of another 6 mana to activate it once, but it searches for any card and puts it right into your hand. It’s ideal for long, grindy Commander games where you can afford to set up a slow win condition. Once you’re online, it turns every activation into a potential game-ender.
#25. Sarkhan's Triumph – $1.96
Dragons fans, rejoice! Sarkhan's Triumph is a 3-mana tutor for any dragon creature. It’s fast, it’s clean, and it doesn’t telegraph your play until the last moment. Whether you’re building dragon typal or just running a few powerful fliers, this is one of the best ways to make sure you find your top-end threat.
#24. Mastermind's Acquisition – $1.74
Here’s a tutor with options. Mastermind's Acquisition lets you either search your library for any card, or in formats where wishes work as intended, grab something from outside the game. That second mode is only useful in formats where sideboards exist, but even just being a 4-mana black tutor is serviceable. The flexibility bumps it up a notch in Constructed, especially in decks with deep toolboxes.
#23. Weathered Wayfarer – $1.37
This 1-mana white creature can search up any land if an opponent controls more lands than you, the definition of a catch-up card. Weathered Wayfarer’s restriction might seem restrictive, but in multiplayer Commander it’s incredibly easy to turn on, and this is good, clean card draw for white.
#22. Diabolic Tutor – $1.25
If you're looking for a straightforward, no-nonsense tutor, Diabolic Tutor does exactly what you'd expect. It's the quintessential, no-frills budget tutor. Not efficient, but not expensive either.
#21. Jarad's Orders – $1.21
With Jarad's Orders, you get to double up on value for graveyard-focused builds. This green-black sorcery lets you search for two creatures, one for your hand and one for the ‘yard. That could easily be a reanimation spell plus the target you plan on reanimating, or just a value play you plan to use from the graveyard later on.
You get serious value out of Shared Summons in any creature-heavy deck. This 5-mana instant allows you to search for two creature cards with different names, which could easily be a combo pair or just a couple threats, and the ability to do it at instant speed means you don't have to telegraph what's coming next if the tutor targets are something your opponents should be scared of.
#19. Expedition Map – $0.97
Need to find that key land? Expedition Map is your go-to artifact to use for fixing, to search for utility lands, or to set up big mana. It’s incredibly cheap to cast and use, and while you do have to sacrifice it, it grabs any land, even nonbasics like Cabal Coffers or Urza's Tower. This little artifact does a lot of heavy lifting in decks that rely on specific land setups.
#18. Ranger of Eos – $0.88
Brightglass Gearhulk just barely exceeds the budget for this list, but it was inspired by Ranger of Eos. When Ranger enters the battlefield, it searches your library for up to two creature cards with mana value 1 or less. That's great value and flexibility for an otherwise simple card, and an easy 3-for-1.
#17. Godo, Bandit Warlord – $0.83
If you’re playing equipment-heavy strategies, Godo, Bandit Warlord is your guy. When it enters the battlefield, you can search your library for an equipment card and put it directly onto the battlefield. As a bonus, Godo gives you an extra combat phase when it attacks for the first time each turn, which can lead to some truly explosive turns when paired with the right gear, or an easy win with Helm of the Host.
#16. Rune-Scarred Demon – $0.75
Rune-Scarred Demon offers a large flying body with a built-in tutor. Quite literally a demonic tutor. It’s a big splashy play that feels right at home in reanimator decks, where you can cheat it out early and grab your win condition with ease.
#15. Plea for Guidance – $0.71
If enchantments are your thing, Plea for Guidance is an excellent tutor. It lets you search for up to two enchantment cards, great for finding combo pieces, pillow fort cards, or even just value enchantments in white-heavy decks. The 6-mana cost is steep, but it’s worth it in dedicated builds.
#14. Signal the Clans – $0.52
Signal the Clans has you search for three different creature cards, then it randomly puts one into your hand while the others go back into the deck. It’s a gamble, but that’s often worth it when you’re happy with any of the three. Great for decks with lots of redundant threats or value creatures.
#13. Thalia's Lancers – $0.50
This legendary hunter brings some serious tutor power to the table. When Thalia's Lancers enters the battlefield, you get to search your library for any legendary card, which isn't restricted to creatures. Whether you’re hunting for a key planeswalker or a legendary land, this 4/4 first striker helps glue your mid-to-late game together.
#12. Final Parting – $0.42
Final Parting charges an extra mana for the effect we saw on Jarad's Orders, but focused in one color and not restricted to creatures. Ditto everything already mentioned about the Golgari alternative, but with more flexibility here.
#11. Trinket Mage – $0.40
You’ll love Trinket Mage if your deck runs key 1-mana artifacts. That means Sol Ring for a lot of Magic players, but this can just as easily tutor up a Skullclamp, Sensei's Divining Top, or even an artifact land if you need a land drop.
#10. Bring to Light – $0.40
Thanks to the converge mechanic, Bring to Light rewards multicolor decks by letting you tutor up a creature, instant, or sorcery with mana value equal to the number of colors you used to cast it. This can become a one-card combo piece or a silver bullet answer to whatever’s on the board, and it's been the backbone of decks using Niv-Mizzet Reborn in Constructed.
#9. Slow Fetches – $0.40~
Here's a lesser-known but useful cycle of “slow fetch” lands originally printed in Mirage. These enter the battlefield tapped, but once you sacrifice it, you can search your library for a forest or plains card and drop it straight onto the battlefield. They're not as quick as the modern fetches, but they get the job done for fixing your colors, especially in budget decks.
#8. Vision Quest – $0.36
Vision Quest is very specific in that you’ll tutor only for an artifact creature. It scales based on the mana value, but you’ll get more +1/+1 counters depending on how high X is. Unfortunately, if you want to get your big creatures, you’ll need to spend a lot of mana, but getting a good, cheap creature for your artifact deck like an Enthusiastic Mechanaut and putting a couple +1/+1 counters on it is a strong play.
#7. Drift of Phantasms – $0.30
Drift of Phantasms might look like a simple 0/5 flying defender, but its real power is in its transmute ability. For 3 mana, you can discard it to tutor for any card with a mana value of 3—perfect for combo pieces, support cards, or even a key lock piece. Transmute cards are rarely played for anything other than their tutor ability.
#6. Lotuslight Dancers – $0.29
Lotuslight Dancers is all about precision graveyard setup. It’s like a focused self-mill card with a tutor's accuracy. Add in the 3/6 body with lifelink, and you’ve got a creature that stabilizes the board while putting your win conditions exactly where you want them.
#5. Goblin Matron – $0.28
This iconic little goblin is a must-have in any red deck featuring the creature type. Whether you’re looking for one of many goblin lords, a finisher, or just a sneaky utility piece, Goblin Matron makes sure you’ve always got the right tool for the job.
#4. Binding the Old Gods – $0.26
Binding the Old Gods kicks off with a powerful ETB removal effect, letting you destroy any nonland permanent an opponent controls. On chapter II, it ramps you by fetching a forest card and putting it onto the battlefield tapped—not just basics, either, so go wild with duals or triomes. Then chapter III gives all your creatures deathtouch for a turn, which rarely matters but is just icing on top of the other two abilities. It’s not a traditional tutor, but that land-fetching mode pulls the whole package togerher in any black-green midrange or control deck.
#3. Heliod's Pilgrim – $0.25
Simple but effective, Heliod's Pilgrim is a white creature that searches your deck for any aura card when it hits the field. It’s a budget all-star in enchantress decks, Voltron builds, or anything that needs to fetch a removal aura or combat trick. The 1/2 body isn’t impressive, but the tutoring power makes it well worth the 3-mana cost.
#2. Fierce Empath – $0.23
When Fierce Empath enters the battlefield, it gives you a free pass to search up something massive, often Craterhoof Behemoth in many mono-green and elf decks.
#1. Micromancer – $0.20
It may not look like much, but Micromancer pulls a ton of weight in spell-based decks. For 4 mana, this 3/3 enters the battlefield and lets you search for an instant or sorcery card with mana value 1. That might sound restrictive, but in blue decks filled with cheap interaction or combo tools, it’s the perfect way to find your best spells. X-spells with a single mana pip also qualify, like a Banefire or Erebos's Intervention.
Wrap Up
Nature's Rhythm | Illustration by Liiga Smilshkalne
There are probably plenty more budget-friendly tutors out there, but these are the ones that have really stood out to me over the years. And honestly, reprints play a huge role; cards that used to be way out of budget are now much more accessible thanks to recent sets and special products. If you’ve been sleeping on some of these options, it might be time to give them another look.
But hey, maybe I missed one of your go-to cheap tutors. Got a hidden gem I should’ve included? Let us know in the comments! Thanks for reading today, and if you want to always stay up to date with the latest MTG content, check out the Draftsim Discord or our newsletter, The Daily Upkeep.
As always, take care, and see you next time!
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