The 38 Best Catch-Up Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 8, 2026

Land Tax | Illustration by Jintetsu

Last one there’s a rotten egg! If that phrase strikes a chord in you the way it does in me, you’ve probably lived a life outside the scope of first place. I rarely get the gold, but just a little word of advice: Second place ain’t too bad. Being the underdog just means you always have something left to aspire to.

That’s how I feel playing Magic sometimes, especially Commander. Rarely ahead, clawing for victory. But WotC has always had my back, printing wave after wave of catch-up cards to help even out the playing field. These usually take the form of slow white ramp spells, but there are other ways to make up for a lackluster start.

Let’s explore some of those options and see if we can secure a clear second place victory.

What Are Catch-Up Cards in MTG?

Gift of Estates | Illustration by Justin Hernandez & Alexis Hernandez

I’m defining a catch-up card as an effect that gives you a resource of some sort, but only if an opponent has more of that resource already. That resource can be life, cards in hand, permanents on the battlefield, or as we see in white quite often, more lands in play.

Catch-up cards usually follow a blueprint of: “If someone else is ahead on X, I get Y.” Sometimes X and Y are the same thing, and sometimes you get a completely different resource altogether.

Honorable Mention: Dethrone Cards

Dethrone from Conspiracy is an inherent catch-up mechanic, giving your creatures a +1/+1 counter when you attack the player with the highest life total. The cards worth mentioning are kind of just generically strong though, with dethrone being more of a throw-in than anything. The best dethrone creatures are Scourge of the Throne, Marchesa, the Black Rose, and Park Heights Maverick. Technically Treasonous Ogre too, but dethrone just doesn’t matter on that card.

Honorable Mention: Balance

I’m weighting my list towards Commander, so it doesn’t make sense to include a banlist card here, but Balance is surely the greatest catch-up card of all time, and probably the best white sorcery. It evens out resources, which means you’ll occasionally take a hit on something, but you can warp your gameplan around this to turn it into Wrath of God, Armageddon, and Mind Twist all at once. Anything but balanced, if you ask me.

#38. Pulse of the Tangle

There’s a cycle of Pulse spells from Darksteel that all share the gimmick of giving you a minor effect, but returning to your hand if you’re still down on the particular resource they help with. They’re… not great, but they’re essentially cantrips if you get them back. Pulse of the Tangle is reasonable as a 3/3 for 3 that can basically draw a card, though that card is always another 3/3 for 3.

#37. Sunstar Expansionist

Two for a white creature that can pull a land from your library into play? Sounds good right? Well lander tokens are great, but the extra you need to spend with Sunstar Expansionist to get the land is significant.

#36. Ticket Tortoise

Ticket Tortoise is flexible even if it's impact is small. Lots of decks like it when artifacts come down under your control and this is an easy way to make two.

#35. Scholarship Sponsor

Scholarship Sponsor is the type of card I’d consider if I really wanted to lean in on Archenemy, but as it stands it’s offering my opponents a lot of mana, and I’m not that benevolent of a human being. Fun design, but I’m just not into this style of group hug.

#34. Robber of the Rich

Robber of the Rich had its stint in Standard, but you don’t see it much anymore on account of red not being one of the main rogue colors in Commander. It’s just fine as a theft card, but exiling a land is a complete whiff. I know the inclusion of reach here is due to the archer creature typing, but I always thought it was a fun spin on Robin Hood reaching into rich peoples’ pockets.

#33. Surveyor’s Scope

Any lands you find with Surveyor's Scope will be put directly into play. You’re happy if you get at least one, and anything beyond that seems pretty strong. The fail case is a 2-mana artifact that does absolutely nothing. High highs and low lows, but I see some potential in this Commander 2013 relic.

#32. Gift of Estates

Gift of Estates is a one-shot Land Tax for plains cards, though that includes non-basics. That’s a 2-mana draw-3, though it’s debatable how good that is when it only ever draws lands.

#31. Tithe

No, not that Tithe. No, not that Tithe either. Calm down.

Just plain old Tithe here. Half the cost and the baseline consistency of always getting at least one land makes this a decent amount better than Gift of Estates, though it’s also a $20+ card, while Gift is sub $1, so I’ll let you decide with your wallet.

#30. Spiteful Repossession

How ahead do your opponents have to be before Spiteful Repossession starts to look appealing? I’d want to be coming at least close to netting even on mana with the Treasure tokens I create, so we’re talking being down a collective 5+ lands? The burn damage doesn’t excite me too much either, since we’re probably dealing 2-3 damage on average to each opponent. There’s a dream here, but I’m wide awake.

#29. Sandstone Oracle

If “artifact,” “flying,” or “sphinx” are buzzwords that matter for your casual Commander deck, maybe you can get something out of Sandstone Oracle. I’m thinking Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, but that deck doesn’t need much help with card advantage. Maybe Daretti, Scrap Savant?

#28. Sunset Revelry + Timely Reinforcements

Constructed plants like Sunset Revelry and Timely Reinforcements don’t quite get there in Commander. It’s fairly easy to get the full effects of these cards when you have three opponents, but the totality of the effects is still pretty smallball in most Commander games.

#27. Isolated Watchtower

Magic didn’t get white ramp right until around 2020 and beyond. There was a concerted effort at this time to bolster white in Commander, where it was the clear worst color in the format. We got non-stop prints of catch-up ramp spells that were meant to bring white up to speed with ramp from other colors, though this tinkering resulted in a pile of underwhelming cards.

Colorless cards like Isolated Watchtower were designed as “secret white cards,” though this utility land missed the mark. The land count restriction made it unusable in many games, though the scry ability means it’s not completely forgettable in today’s Commander meta. Cards like River Song and Eligeth, Crossroads Augur might get some value from it.

#26. Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist

“Protection from salamanders” is definitely an interesting one for your Rayami, First of the Fallen bingo card. Gor Muldrak, Amphinologist is just weird, and the group hug sensibilities backfire when you end up controlling the most creatures. I like the overall wacky design, but it feels a little directionless to me.

#25. Tales of the Ancestors

Blue is the color that least needs catch-up cards that refill your hand, but some styles of Izzet and Simic can play out their hand quickly, after which Tales of the Ancestors can be used to refuel. It’s kind of like Windfall without all the discarding.

#24. Boreas Charger

Boreas Charger released in Commander 2018 alongside Isolated Watchtower and similarly failed to impress as a new white ramp option. It highlights the issue with forcing white to be the “catch-up” color in Magic; with designs like this, white could never get ahead on mana, it could only ever get to parity at best.

I do like that Charger has a “leaves the battlefield” ability, not a death trigger, which means you can get some value out of blink effects.

#23. Cartographer’s Hawk

Cartographer's Hawk is ostensibly doing the same thing as Boreas Charger for 1 less mana. That’s a big deal and a great improvement, even if it returns itself to your hand when it triggers. Bird is also a significantly more supported creature type than pegasus.

#22. Space Marine Scout

Space Marine Scout comes from the treasure trove that is Warhammer 40,000 Commander. It’s just a bunch of combat keywords and the potential to cleanly ramp in white, and that’s enough for me.

#21. Stoic Farmer

Alotta hoops for the same-old, same-old. You could run a Kor Cartographer or Solemn Simulacrum and get a more consistent effect. Where Stoic Farmer gets interesting is in cast-from-exile decks like Vega, the Watcher or Rocco, Street Chef, who thrive off mechanics like foretell.

#20. Oreskos Explorer

It’s always been somewhat overshadowed by Knight of the White Orchid, but I was fond of Oreskos Explorer for quite some time. As long as you don’t win the die roll (and sometimes even if you do), this cat scout can draw plenty of cards in a game, making your land drops very consistent. It can also fetch up nonbasic lands, which makes it an unexpected form of mana fixing, too.

#19. Discerning Financier

I see the vision here, but Discerning Financier triggering on upkeep is a bummer. Trading Treasure for card draw is cool, but the activated ability costs a good chunk of mana, and even gives up more mana than it advertises since you have to gift an unused Treasure. There’s probably something here with Smothering Tithe, but that enchantment doesn’t really need extra help to be good.

#18. Priest of the Blessed Graf

Sometimes I’m blindsided by cards I’ve never seen before, but those usually come from the ‘90s. This nugget snuck into Crimson Vow Commander. I’m not sure I love the idea behind Priest of the Blessed Graf. It pays you off with creature tokens if you’re behind on lands, which incentivizes you to stay behind on mana to make this card do anything. It has potential, sure, creating up to three 1/1 flying Spirit tokens every turn, but if it’s doing that, you’re not in a great spot as it is.

#17. Slithermuse

The best Slithermuse is the one you never have to cast. But if you do find your options dwindling, you can evoke this elemental out for a nice burst of cards. Better yet, this is a leaves-the-battlefield effect, so you can blink it to set up the draw multiple times.

#16. Aerial Surveyor

Aerial Surveyor revisited the old Boreas Charger design and turned some knobs to make it better. Having to crew it is a downside (usually), but it boasts respectable stats and poses a threat in combat while also providing a ramp effect. This one is locked to basic Plains cards, though.

#15. Linvala, the Preserver

At best, Linvala, the Preserver represents 8 points of flying power and 5 life, which made it an unstoppable force in Oath of the Gatewatch Limited. Commander’s a different story, where 6-drops like this just aren’t premium cards anymore. It does become easier to get full value from the card once you make the switch to a multiplayer format, though.

#14. Claim Jumper

Claim Jumper represents a pretty big jump in mana if you get the full effect, but how often will that happen? You really only need one land before it justifies itself, but you’re rarely two lands behind in most games. And if you are, that means some green deck’s ramping pretty far ahead, and you’ll at best match their mana without ever exceeding it. Maybe a few blink effects can keep you at parity.

#13. Wojek Investigator

Wojek Investigator can pile on a bunch of Clue tokens if your deck cares about them, and it’s a relatively cheap angel for Giada, Font of Hope decks. If neither of those factors appeals to you, instead consider Welcoming Vampire or Enduring Innocence as your white card advantage engines of choice.

#12. Knight of the White Orchid + Loyal Warhound

Might as well talk about these two together. Despite being the newer card, Loyal Warhound doesn’t quite live up to Knight of the White Orchid’s legacy, unless you’re a dog lover. The easier casting cost doesn’t make up for the more restricted land search ability, and the jostling of power/toughness doesn’t sway me either way.

Orchid’s somewhat responsible for keeping white relevant in Commander for most of the 2010s, before the color really caught up on ramp and card draw options. It’s dropped in popularity, but it’s still “Ol’ Reliable” as far as I’m concerned.

#11. Scholar of New Horizons

Another one that I know I’ve seen in passing but never really thought about, Scholar of New Horizons actually seems quite good to me. It’s got less restrictive Soul Diviner vibes, and you can get fancy by removing lore counters from sagas, ice counters from Dark Depths, and so on.

#10. Verge Rangers

Courser of Kruphix-ish if you’re not leading the race on mana. Verge Rangers is nice, in that you don’t have to be in dead-last on land counts, you just can’t be in first. It also lets you peek at any time, and that information can be valuable.

#9. Beza, the Bounding Spring

Beza, the Bounding Spring either does its best impression of a Magic charcuterie board or does nothing at all, in which case you’re surely already in a winning position. My only issue with Beza is that running it as a commander seems sketch, since it doesn’t offer any utility beyond its ETB. But that’s what flicker spells are for, right?

#8. Weathered Wayfarer

Digging all the way back to Onslaught here. Weathered Wayfarer has the distinction of tutoring up any land, which makes it uniquely distinct from other white land searchers. Probably a color pie break, eh?

#7. Preacher of the Schism

I love the pendulum-like design of Preacher of the Schism. If you’re already ahead on life, you get rewarded with card draw. If you’re behind, it creates 1/1 lifelinking tokens that can help you catch up on life. The sweet spot is when you’re tied with the highest life total opponent; in this case, you get both effects at once, each of which is intentionally designed to toggle your life total so you end up in that situation.

#6. Windfall

Windfall’s kind of a cheat on this list because it still works fine in situations where you’re ahead. However, it’s such a good way to piggyback off some other player’s rampant card draw. Either even out cards in hand with the player who’s been drawing non-stop or dump your hand into play as fast as possible and use it to reload.

#5. Oath of Druids

Oath of Druids is a huge departure from the types of effects we’ve been seeing on this list. This is a pivotal “cheat creatures into play” card, and the namesake enchantment of Oath decks in Vintage. It’ll occasionally give your opponents some creatures for free, but the goal is to keep your board clear so that you always benefit from it on your turn. It’s leagues better than the other Oath enchantments from Exodus.

#4. Battle Angels of Tyr

Myriad takes good creatures and makes them about three times better. Battle Angels of Tyr is an excellent threat that ensures you’re catching up on all the pivotal resources, and it has relevant angel and knight creature types. The main downside here is that myriad threatens all your opponents at once, so even if you aren’t likely to leech a resource from someone, they’ll still want this dead so they’re not getting hit for 4 in the air every turn.

#3. Keeper of the Accord

Keeper of the Accord was previewed as an early selling point for Commander Legends. And now with Jeweled Lotus out of the way maybe it can have the spotlight. I’d say this 4-drop never really took off with the Commander community at large, but it’s pretty effective when you see it in play. It slowly builds up an army and offers realistic ramp, and it can catch you up very fast if your opponents have accelerated way ahead of you.

#2. Archaeomancer’s Map

Commander 2021 gave us Archaeomancer's Map, an excellent piece of card advantage and ramp rolled into a reasonably costed artifact. Once you’ve put a single land into play off the trigger, this effectively becomes a Kodama's Reach that leaves a Burgeoning in play. It “shuts off” if you end up with the most lands, but by then you’ve probably gotten your value’s worth, and you can still blink this permanent to find more Plains.

#1. Land Tax

Land Tax has proven itself as one of the all-time Commander greats. As long as you don’t lead the charge on land drops, Land Tax usually accounts for drawing somewhere around 9-15 cards a game. They’re always basics, but you’re never missing a land drop that game, you’ll always have the colors you need, and deck-thinning becomes a real advantage at that point. It’s not often you want to lose the die roll, but a Land Tax in your opener means you certainly don’t want to go first, either.

Best Catchup Enablers

Even green decks can naturally find themselves behind in a given game, but since you plan to play from behind, there are some cards that can help this along and ensure opponents look like they're ahead. A bounce land like Simic Growth Chamber can help reduce your land count without sacrificing any mana development. Zuran Orb and Phyrexian Altar are free sacrifice outlets that have numerous uses including helping ensure today's list of cards works. Then there are cards that temporarily pull your cards off the battlefield like Eerie Interlude and Appa, Steadfast Guardian.

Are Catch-Up Cards a Good Way to Ramp in White?

The short answer is that catch-up cards are effective, but not amazing, especially compared to ramp options in other colors like black and green. The fact that most catch-up cards only allow you to match parity with someone else instead of letting you get ahead means that there’s a limitation to how good they are.

That said, second-rate ramp is baked into white’s portion of the color pie, and if cards like Keeper of the Accord and Knight of the White Orchid are the only ramp tools white has available to it, then sure, you’ll work with what you’ve got. You could always lean on colorless artifact ramp in white as well.

Note that cards like Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer are great card advantage tools, but they’re not ramp cards, since they never actually put any lands into play.

Is Land Tax Good?

Sure. I put it at #1, didn’t I?

To elaborate, a turn-1 Land Tax just ensures you get to play Magic, usually guaranteeing your land drops and fixing your mana as needed. It’s possible that you end up playing first and Land Tax is a dead card for a while, but even then it just takes one opponent sneaking ahead on lands for this to start working its Magic.

I’ll note that Land Tax is quite poor outside of multiplayer matches. In 1v1 formats, there’s too much of a risk that it’s just useless if you win the die-roll, and it’s usually not impactful enough to warrant a sideboard slot. I found it to be quite poor in Wilds of Eldraine Limited, though you could always spike it on turn 1 on the draw and out-card your opponents easily.

Let’s Catch Up Soon

Preacher of the Schism | Illustration by Donato Giancola

All caught up? Good! The cards listed here are great for those among us who play the role of the underdog in life. Never lucky, but always in it to win it. Catch-up cards in Magic won’t ever hand you the win, but they can pull you out of a rut, or at least even out the playing field against the would-be winners of the Commander world.

“Catch-up cards” as a concept isn’t something that’s defined by Magic rules, which means it was hard to pinpoint cards for this list. There might be some other cards that fit into this category that never came up during my searches, so let me know if that’s a case. Remember, I’m looking for effects that work when you’re behind, so something like a Deep Gnome Terramancer doesn’t count! If you’ve got a suggestion, let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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