TLDR
- If you are buying proxy singles for Commander, start with the boring glue first. Lands, rocks, cheap interaction, and draw engines get reused far more than flashy finishers.
- MTG proxy staples save you money because they move from deck to deck. You are building a reusable pool, not solving one decklist for one weekend.
- My first buys would be universal colorless cards, then staple lands, then the color packages you play most.
- You do not need all 50 at once. But if you build from this list, you will waste a lot less time buying cards that only fit one commander and then sit in a box judging you.
MTG proxy staples are the cards i would buy first if i were building a Commander collection from scratch. Not the splashy haymakers that look amazing in one deck and then never leave that deck. I mean the cards you keep pulling out of one list, sliding into the next, and quietly admitting were the correct purchase all along.
That is the practical answer to the usual question, “what should i buy first so i don’t waste money?” Start with cards that solve universal problems. Ramp. Fixing. Removal. Protection. Card draw. The stuff that holds decks together. It is less glamorous, sure. But the boring glue wins a shocking number of games, which is rude but true.
If you like the idea of building a reusable pool instead of buying one isolated deck at a time, Nerdventure already has a couple related reads worth bookmarking: Building Your First MTG Cube and The Cheapest Way to Get Started with MTG Cube. Cube and Commander are different, but the underlying logic is similar. Reusable cardboard is good cardboard.
How to Buy MTG Proxy Staples Without Wasting Money
Before the full list, here is the simple framework i use.
| Priority | What to Buy | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universal colorless staples | These go in a huge number of decks and move easily between lists |
| 2 | Staple lands | Lands are the least exciting purchases and often the smartest |
| 3 | Your main color packages | Buy the staples for the colors you actually build the most |
| 4 | Premium engines | Strong cards, but they matter more after your deck has a stable shell |
A lot of players do the opposite. They start with the flashy stuff. One Rhystic Study here, one Doubling Season there, one giant dragon that costs half your food budget. Then they realize they still need lands, removal, and mana rocks to make the deck function like a normal adult deck.
So this list is built around reuse. Some of these cards are nearly universal. Others are “if you play this color, you will keep reusing it forever” cards. That still counts.
The 10 Universal Colorless Staples
These are the easiest wins for proxy singles because they slot into a ton of Commander decks.
- Sol Ring
Still the king. If a deck can run it, it usually does. - Arcane Signet
Clean fixing, easy include, rarely wrong. - Fellwar Stone
Better than it looks, especially in multiplayer. - Mind Stone
Ramp early, card later. Commander loves that kind of flexibility. - Thought Vessel
Two mana rock plus “no maximum hand size” is a classic Commander sentence. - Wayfarer’s Bauble
Excellent for colors that do not ramp well on their own. - Lightning Greaves
Cheap protection and haste win games fast. - Swiftfoot Boots
A little slower than Greaves, but easier to use with targeted buffs and equips. - Skullclamp
One of the best draw engines ever printed if your deck makes small creatures. - Solemn Simulacrum
Not as automatic as it used to be, but still one of the cleanest role players in slower casual pods.
The 10 Lands You Will Keep Reusing
Lands are not sexy. Lands are also the difference between “my deck feels smooth” and “i kept a bad hand and now i live here.”
- Command Tower
If you are in more than one color, start here. - Exotic Orchard
Usually fixes better than people expect. - Path of Ancestry
Excellent in tribal and still perfectly respectable in many commander lists. - Reflecting Pool
Gets better the stronger your mana base gets. - City of Brass
Pain is temporary. Perfect fixing is forever. - Mana Confluence
Same logic, same job, still worth having in the pool. - Fabled Passage
A clean fixer that shows up across a lot of multicolor builds. - Prismatic Vista
Less budget-friendly in original form, very reusable as a proxy. - Ancient Tomb
Not for every table, but if you play faster decks, you will reuse it constantly. - War Room
Very nice in mono-color and lower color-count decks that want extra gas.
The 10 Green Ramp Staples
If you build green decks, these cards start following you around. You proxy them once, and suddenly they are in half your deck boxes.
- Cultivate
Still one of the default Commander ramp spells for a reason. - Kodama’s Reach
Basically Cultivate’s twin. Green players know the drill. - Nature’s Lore
Two mana ramp that can grab typed Forest duals is just clean Magic. - Three Visits
Same family, same job, very reusable. - Farseek
Great when your mana base has real targets. - Rampant Growth
Not flashy, just reliable. - Sakura-Tribe Elder
Ramp plus a body plus sacrifice synergy. It keeps aging well. - Birds of Paradise
One mana fixing is one mana fixing. Still great. - Llanowar Elves
Simple, fast, always welcome in creature-based green decks. - Skyshroud Claim
A very real upgrade once your deck wants bigger mana jumps.
The 10 Interaction Staples
This is the category people keep skimping on, and then they wonder why their deck folds to one problem permanent. Do not be that person.
- Swords to Plowshares
Still one of the most efficient removal spells in Commander. - Path to Exile
Another white all-timer. Easy reuse. - Generous Gift
Versatile answers age well. This one hits almost anything. - Beast Within
Green’s version of “fine, i’ll fix the problem myself.” - Chaos Warp
Red loves flexible answers because it does not get them all that often. - Counterspell
Sometimes the classic is still the classic. - Arcane Denial
Cheap, easy to cast, and Commander players keep coming back to it. - Swan Song
Protect your stuff, stop their combo, pay one mana. Hard to argue with that. - Blasphemous Act
If you play red, this keeps finding its way into decks for a reason. - Farewell
Expensive, yes. Also one of the cleanest reset buttons white has.
The 10 Premium Engines and Power Staples
These are the cards i would buy after the shell is stable. They are powerful, reusable, and often the exact kind of single people regret not proxying sooner.
- Rhystic Study
Yes, your table will sigh. Yes, it is still one of the best blue engines. - Mystic Remora
Less splashy, often just as gross. - Smothering Tithe
White mana explosion in enchantment form. - Esper Sentinel
A strong white one-drop that scales well across a lot of deck styles. - Teferi’s Protection
The classic “actually no” button. - Cyclonic Rift
A card people complain about right up until they cast it. - Toxic Deluge
Black gets one of the best board wipes, and it travels well between decks. - Demonic Tutor
You will reuse this in black decks forever, assuming your pod is fine with that power level. - Jeska’s Will
One of red’s best burst cards for mana and velocity. - Heroic Intervention
If you play green creature decks, this becomes an old friend very fast.
The Best First 10 If You Are Starting From Zero
If 50 feels like a lot, that is because it is a lot. Here are the ten i would knock out first for sheer reuse:
- Sol Ring
- Arcane Signet
- Command Tower
- Exotic Orchard
- Lightning Greaves
- Swiftfoot Boots
- Swords to Plowshares
- Beast Within
- Cultivate
- Rhystic Study
That mix gives you mana, fixing, protection, removal, ramp, and one premium draw engine. It is not perfect for every deck, but it is a much smarter start than buying three commander-specific bombs and then realizing your mana base looks like a cry for help.
What I Left Off, On Purpose
You could absolutely make a different 50-card list. And depending on your meta, you probably should.
I left off some famous cards because they are powerful but not always the best first purchase for a reusable pool. Cards like The One Ring, Mana Crypt, Dockside Extortionist, or Deflecting Swat can be incredible, but they are more tied to power level, pod tolerance, or specific deck shells. This article is trying to answer a practical buying question, not win an argument in the YouTube comments.
I also did not overload the list with cycles. Signets and Talismans matter. A lot. But your exact favorites depend on which colors you actually build. If you mostly live in Esper, your reuse cards will not look exactly like somebody who only plays Gruul monsters and mono-red nonsense.
That is the main point. Reuse is personal. MTG proxy staples are not “cards every deck must play.” They are “cards you keep reaching for because they solve the same problems across multiple decks.”
Conclusion
If you want the short version, buy the glue first. Start with universal rocks, protection pieces, staple lands, and the best color-specific cards for the decks you actually enjoy building. That is how MTG proxy staples save you money. You stop rebuying one-deck novelties and start building a reusable pool that makes every future deck cheaper and easier.
And honestly, that is the part a lot of people miss. A smart proxy collection is not just a pile of strong cards. It is a workflow. The smoother your base gets, the more fun Commander gets. Less scrambling, less regret, more actual games.
FAQs
What Counts as a Staple in Commander?
A staple is a card that solves a common problem well enough that you keep reusing it across multiple decks. Ramp, fixing, removal, protection, and card draw make up most of the real staples.
Should I Buy Lands Before Spells?
Usually, yes. It is less exciting, but staple lands get reused constantly and make every deck feel smoother. That is a better first investment than a flashy one-deck payoff.
Do I Need All 50 MTG Proxy Staples Right Away?
No. Start with 10 to 15. Build the core pool first, then add premium engines and color packages based on what you actually play.
Should Every Commander Deck Run These Cards?
No. Some are near-universal. Others are staples only if you are in the right colors or playing at the right power level. If you jam all 50 into one deck, you have built a five-color goodstuff project, which is certainly a choice.