EDH Staples by Color: What They Are and Why They're Played
The most-played cards in Commander, split by color plus colorless, artifacts and lands, each ranked by real EDHREC play rates and explained: not just what is a staple but why it earns a slot in thousands of decks. Refreshed every day with live prices.
Updated 2026-07-08 · refreshes automatically every day
A staple is a card so efficient at its job that cutting it needs a reason. The jobs repeat in every deck: cheap removal that answers anything, ramp that hits on curve, card draw that keeps hands full, free or near free interaction, and lands that fix colors without costing tempo. The pages below rank the most-played options for each color and explain, card by card, what that job is.
White staples
The best removal, taxes and protection in the format. See all 50 with explanations
#1One mana exiles any creature; the cleanest removal spell ever printed.
#2Instant exile for one mana; the land you hand over is almost never worth a creature.
#3White finally kills anything: any permanent becomes a 3/3 Elephant.
#4Every opponent draw pays you a Treasure; with three opponents the mana piles up fast.
Blue staples
Counterspells, card draw engines and tempo. See all 50 with explanations
#1Two mana answers any spell in the game; the baseline blue is measured against.
#2One mana counter with a bribe attached; the Treasures rarely matter, the tempo always does.
#3Pay 1 or I draw: across three opponents it draws absurd numbers of cards.
#4One sided instant speed board reset for seven mana; wins stalled games outright.
Black staples
Tutors, reanimation and draw that costs life, not mana. See all 50 with explanations
#1
#2One mana returns any creature from any graveyard; pay some life, get a giant.
#3Two mana, any card from your library to your hand; still the gold standard.
#4Pays life instead of mana to scale, so it wipes indestructible boards for three.
Red staples
Treasure, wheels, free interaction and table wide damage. See all 50 with explanations
#1Red's universal answer: shuffle any permanent away at instant speed.
#2Free with your commander out: redirect their removal, or anything else, wherever you like.
#3Draw two, discard two, then do it again from the graveyard; fuels every red engine.
#4Overloaded it destroys every artifact your opponents control and keeps yours.
Green staples
Ramp, big finishers and creature driven card draw. See all 50 with explanations
#1Two lands out of your library, one onto the battlefield; green's signature ramp.
#2Two mana that fetches any non Forest dual type; fixes and ramps at once.
#3Green's answer to anything: destroy any permanent, concede a 3/3.
#4Two mana, any basic onto the battlefield; simple, reliable, everywhere.
Colorless staples
The rocks and utility every deck can run. See all 50 with explanations
#1One mana in, two out, every turn, in any deck; the most played card in Commander.
#2A two mana rock that always makes your colors; zero decisions, pure speed.
#3Haste and hexproof for your commander, and you can still target it yourself.
#4Equips free: haste plus shroud keeps your commander alive and swinging immediately.
Artifact staples
Mana rocks, equipment and engines across all colors. See all 50 with explanations
#1One mana in, two out, every turn, in any deck; the most played card in Commander.
#2A two mana rock that always makes your colors; zero decisions, pure speed.
#3Haste and hexproof for your commander, and you can still target it yourself.
#4Equips free: haste plus shroud keeps your commander alive and swinging immediately.
Land staples
The nonbasics that fix, ramp and win games from the manabase. See all 50 with explanations
#1Taps for your commander's colors, enters untapped, costs nothing; the auto include.
#2Usually taps for your colors, because it borrows your opponents' lands.
#3
#4Commander colors plus a scry every time you cast a creature that shares its type.
Paste your decklist into the free optimizer and it swaps expensive staples for cheaper cards that do the same job.
What are EDH staples?
EDH staples are the cards that appear in a huge share of Commander decks because they do a universal job at an efficient rate: think Sol Ring for ramp, Swords to Plowshares for removal, Rhystic Study for card draw and Command Tower for mana fixing.
Which staples should every Commander deck run?
Nearly every deck wants Sol Ring, Arcane Signet and Command Tower, then the best cheap removal, ramp and draw in its colors. The per-color pages here list the top 50 for each, updated daily.
Are staples worth the money?
Most staples are cheap because of constant reprints, and this site's free Deck Cost Optimizer finds budget stand-ins for the expensive ones.
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