Tutor

A Tutor is a spell which searches your library for another card.

Description

Tutoring is primary in black, but other colors can be better at searching for specific card types (and subtypes).

Enchantments, Planeswalker, Equipment, and Vehicles
Instants, Sorceries, and Artifacts
Creatures and Lands

You do not have to find the card and put it in your library. If you do choose to find cards, you must reveal those cards to all players if it searches for a specific card type.

R&D has stopped creating tutoring keywords like transmute and transfigure.^[1] They don’t like to do too much tutoring, as it can lead to repetition of play, where games play out too similarly.^[2]^[3]

A special kind of tutor are the wishes, which may search for cards outside of the game.

Search from top N cards of library

To cut down on shuffling, R&D has started to do more effects where you "tutor" just from a handful of cards from the top of your library, usually four or five. Anything else that colors can do is what they can do here.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Types

Search for any card

Alpha had the card Demonic Tutor, which locked black in as the primary color to tutor for any type of card. Philosophically, blue is the better color to have this ability, but so far no changes have been made.^[4]

Behold the Beyond
Bringer of the Black Dawn (allows you to Vampiric Tutor each upkeep)
Cruel Tutor
Dark Petition
Demonic Collusion - the only tutor with buyback
Demonic Tutor
Diabolic Intent (requires the sacrifice of a creature as an additional cost)
Diabolic Tutor
Diabolic Revelation
Entomb (puts the card in your graveyard rather than your hand)
Final Parting (search for two cards and one of them goes in the graveyard)
Gamble (may discard the card you tutored)
Grim Tutor
Imperial Seal
Increasing Ambition
Infernal Tutor (Hellbent only)
Insidious Dreams (requires the discard of cards as an additional cost)
Intuition (choose 3 cards, opponent chooses which you get - can be 3 copies of the same card)
Johnny, Combo Player (only un-card tutor)
Liliana Vess
Long-Term Plans
Maralen of the Mornsong (forces everyone to Grim Tutor every turn rather than draw)
Mastermind's Acquisition
Planar Portal
Razaketh's Rite
Razaketh, The Foulblooded
Rhystic Tutor
Ring of Three Wishes
Rune-Scarred Demon
Tamiyo's Journal
Vampiric Tutor

Searching for cards with specific mana costs

See also: Transmute.

Beseech the Queen (with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of lands you control)
Birthing Pod (with converted mana cost X, where X is 1 plus a sacrificed creature's converted mana cost)
Brainspoil
Clutch of the Undercity
Disciple of Deceit (with the same converted mana cost as the card discarded when untapped)
Dimir House Guard
Dimir Infiltrator
Dimir Machinations
Dizzy Spell
Drift of Phantasms
Eldritch Evolution (with converted mana cost X or less, where X is 2 plus a sacrificed creature's converted mana cost)^[7]
Ethereal Usher
Grozoth
Mausoleum Secrets (black card with converted mana cost less than or equal number of creature cards in your graveyard)
Muddle the Mixture
Netherborn Phalanx
Night Dealings
Perplex
Prime Speaker Vannifar (with converted mana cost X, where X is 1 plus a sacrificed creature's converted mana cost)
Shred Memory
Tolaria West
Woodland Bellower

Search for any colored card

Conflux (a white card, a blue card, a black card, a red card, and a green card)

Search for a multicolored card

Demand

Search for a card with the same name as a card in your hand

Infernal Tutor (without Hellbent)

Search for Artifacts

Blue is the primary color to get any type of artifact. White tends to focus on certain subsets such as Equipment and Vehicles.^[4]

Arcum Dagsson (searches for only noncreature artifacts)
Artificer's Intuition (With mana cost 1 or less)
Enlightened Tutor
Fabricate
Hoarding Dragon
Kuldotha Forgemaster (Requires the sacrifice of three artifacts as an additional cost)
Nahiri, the Harbinger
Reshape (Requires the sacrifice of an artifact as an additional cost)
Tezzeret the Seeker
Tinker (Requires the sacrifice of an artifact as an additional cost)
Transmute Artifact (Requires the sacrifice of an artifact but not as an additional cost)
Treasure Mage (With mana cost 6 or more)
Tribute Mage (With mana cost 2)
Trinket Mage (With mana cost 1 or less)
Trophy Mage (With mana cost 3)
Whir of Invention

Search for an artifact creature

Sphinx Summoner

Search for equipment

Search for a vehicle

Deadeye Quartermaster

Search for Enchantments

White is the color that searches the library for enchantments.^[4]

Academy Rector
Enduring Ideal
Enlightened Tutor
Idyllic Tutor
Lost Auramancers
Plea for Guidance
Sterling Grove
Wild Research
Zur the Enchanter (converted mana cost or less)

Search for an Aura

Search for a Curse

Search for Planeswalkers

Arena Rector
Call the Gatewatch
Djeru, With Eyes Open
Samut, the Tested (Put the planeswalker onto the battlefield)

Search for Creatures

Green is the primary color to tutor for creatures.^[4]^[8]^[9] Sometimes it will even put them directly onto the battlefield. All colors have access to tutoring for specific creature types that are in their color. Red, for example, can tutor for Dragons.

“Ach! Hans, Run!”
Altar of Bone (Requires the sacrifice of a creature as an additional cost)
Birthing Pod
Brutalizer Exarch
Buried Alive (Puts the creatures into the graveyard)
Chord of Calling
Citanul Flute
Congregation at Dawn
Corpse Connoisseur (Put the creature into the graveyard)
Eladamri's Call
Eye of Ugin
Fauna Shaman (Requires the discard of a creature card as an additional cost)
Fleshwrither
Fierce Empath
Garruk, the Veil-Cursed
Hibernation's End
Imperial Recruiter
Jarad's Orders
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Nahiri, the Harbinger
Pattern of Rebirth
Primal Command
Protean Hulk
Ranger of Eos
Recruiter of the Guard
Samut, the Tested (Put the creature onto the battlefield)
Signal the Clans
Survival of the Fittest (Requires the discard of a creature card as an additional cost)
Sylvan Tutor
Tooth and Nail
Traverse the Ulvenwald (Requires Delirium)
Weird Harvest
Wild Pair
Woodland Bellower
Worldly Tutor (Put the creature onto the top of the library)

Green creature

Green Sun's Zenith
Natural Order (Requires the sacrifice of a green creature as an additional cost)
Summoner's Pact

Dinosaur

Forerunner of the Empire (Dinosaur) (puts the searched card on top of its owner's library)
Priest of the Wakening Sun (Dinosaur)

Dragon

Elf

Goblin

Mercenary

Merfolk

Seahunter
Merrow Harbinger
Forerunner of the Heralds (puts the searched card on top of its owner's library)

Rebel

Sliver

Miscellaneous

Dwarven Recruiter (Dwarf)
Flamekin Harbinger (Elemental)
Faerie Harbinger (Faerie)
Forerunner of the Coalition (Pirate) (puts the searched card on top of its owner's library)
Forerunner of the Legion (Vampire) (puts the searched card on top of its owner's library)
Giant Harbinger (Giant)
Kithkin Harbinger (Kithkin)
Myr Turbine (Myr)
Higure, the Still Wind (Ninja)
Lifespinner (Legendary Spirit)
Ratcatcher (Rat)
Shadowborn Apostle (Demon)
Treefolk Harbinger (Treefolk)
Vedalken Æthermage (Wizard)
Corpse Harvester (Zombie)

Search for creatures with specific abilities

Mwonvuli Beast Tracker (deathtouch, hexproof, reach, or trample)
Isperia the Inscrutable (flying)

Search for Instants

When tutoring, the two Instants and Sorceries are often put together and blue seeks them out.^[4]

Search for a Trap

Trapmaker's Snare

Search for a sorcery

Personal Tutor

Search for an instant or sorcery

Search for Legendary cards

Search for a legendary creature

Lifespinner (Spirit)
Time of Need

Search for named cards

Search for named cards (Planeswalker Decks)

These cards are all from Planeswalker Decks and search in the library or in the graveyard for the related planeswalker.

Search for noted cards

Search for a copy

These cards let you search for a card with the same name as another one. (These old cards have had errata removing the word "copy" since they're not copies in the usual sense.)

Assembly Hall - creature card
Bifurcate - creature card
Clarion Ultimatum - permanent cards
Doubling Chant - creature card
Mask of the Mimic - creature card
Mishra, Artificer Prodigy - artifact card
Pack Hunt - creature cards
Remembrance - creature card
Verdant Succession - green creature card

Search an opponent's Library

Acquire - artifact card
Bribery - creature card
Dichotomancy - copy of nonland permanent card
Eternal Dominion - permanent card
Grinning Totem - any card
Knowledge Exploitation - instant or sorcery card
Mimeofacture - copy of permanent card
Praetor's Grasp - any card
Sphinx Ambassador - creature card
Thada Adel, Acquisitor - artifact card

Searching for Lands

Green, being one of the colors most closely associated with land and mana, is the best at tutoring for land.^[9] It occasionally will put them directly onto the battlefield. The other four colors are allowed to occasionally tutor for their own basic land type.^[4] See also Fetch lands

Crop Rotation (Requires the sacrifice of a land as an additional cost)
Expedition map
Knight of the Reliquary (Requires the sacrifice of a Forest or Plains as an additional cost)
Primeval Titan
Realm Seekers
Reap And Sow
Scapeshift (Requires the sacrifice of lands but not as an additional cost)
Tempt with Discovery
Sylvan Scrying
Tempt with Discovery
Tolaria West
Traverse the Ulvenwald (Requires Delirium)
Ulvenwald Hydra
Wargate
Weathered Wayfarer

Search for Plains

Search for Island

Search for Swamp

Search for Mountain

Search for Forest

Elvish Aberration
Everbark Shaman
Gaea's Bounty
Hunting Cheetah
Hunting Wilds
Karametra, God of Harvests
Land Grant
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
Nissa's Encouragement (search for a card named Forest and not for a Forest card)
Nature's Lore
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Pale Recluse
Ranger's Path
Safewright Quest
Seedguide Ash
Silverglade Elemental
Skyshroud Claim
Spoils of Victory
Sylvan Primordial
Three Visits
Treefolk Harbinger
Valley Rannet
Wirewood Guardian
Wood Elves
Yavimaya Dryad

Any land with a basic land type

Perilous Forays

Search for a Snow land

Into the North

Search for Gate

Search for any basic land

References

↑ Mark Rosewater (June 26, 2016). "Are there any chances for transfigure making a comeback?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
↑ Mark Rosewater (January 27, 2017). "Could we please get more cards that search things, even very specific things?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
↑ Mark Rosewater (February 02, 2018). "With the downshift of full tutoring (particularly for lands) is the primary reason because it takes so much time to shuffle?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Mark Rosewater (June 5, 2017). "Mechanical Color Pie 2017". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
↑ Mark Rosewater (August 20, 2017). "Is there a nickname anyone in R&D uses for the cards with mechanics like on Commune with the Gods or Vessel of Nascency?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
↑ Mark Rosewater (December 03, 2017). "You say cards that "look at the top N cards of the library rather than tutoring" are a trend.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
↑ Gavin Verhey (June 30, 2016). "Pandora's Toolbox". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
↑ Mark Rosewater (May 17, 2017). "Is there a conscious effort in R&D to make green the best tutor color?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
↑ ^a ^b Mark Rosewater (May 19, 2017). "Isn't green also the best land tutoring color?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[1] Mark Rosewater (June 26, 2016). "Are there any chances for transfigure making a comeback?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[2] Mark Rosewater (January 27, 2017). "Could we please get more cards that search things, even very specific things?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[3] Mark Rosewater (February 02, 2018). "With the downshift of full tutoring (particularly for lands) is the primary reason because it takes so much time to shuffle?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[Color_Pie_2017-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Mark Rosewater (June 5, 2017). "Mechanical Color Pie 2017". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

[5] Mark Rosewater (August 20, 2017). "Is there a nickname anyone in R&D uses for the cards with mechanics like on Commune with the Gods or Vessel of Nascency?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[6] Mark Rosewater (December 03, 2017). "You say cards that "look at the top N cards of the library rather than tutoring" are a trend.". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[7] Gavin Verhey (June 30, 2016). "Pandora's Toolbox". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

[8] Mark Rosewater (May 17, 2017). "Is there a conscious effort in R&D to make green the best tutor color?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

[Green-9] Mark Rosewater (May 19, 2017). "Isn't green also the best land tutoring color?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

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