By definition, a cantrip is a low-cost card that replaces itself as part of its effect.
This category includes many well-known cards, from classic “draw spells” like Serum Visions, to cards with specific effects that let you draw blindly, such as Crash Through.
Delving deeper, having the ability to filter cards from the top of your deck or simply having cards that replace themselves effectively shortens your deck, reducing variance and increasing consistency. In a singleton format, this small difference can decide between victory and defeat, improving your deck’s overall efficiency.
Having cards in your list that replace themselves has become essential in almost every Magic format, which is why cards that prevent or “punish” card draw are always in the spotlight. Think of Narset, Parter of Veils, Orcish Bowmasters, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.
Every color has its own pool of self-replacing cards, but it goes without saying that blue is by far the most advantaged color, if only for the sheer number of draw spells it possesses.
To rank our list, we will follow several parameters:
- Efficiency – how easy it is to play the card at any stage of the game and how many cards it lets you see relative to its cost;
- Universality – whether the card in question fits into any strategy or just specific builds;
- Impact and synergies – how much the card can potentially affect the game and its tendency towards additional synergies.
Before diving into the top cantrips to play in Centurion, a few honorable mentions are in order.
Thought Scour – Mental Note
These two cards are practically equivalent, costing just one mana and being instants. They didn’t make today’s list because they draw without performing any selection beforehand, and their secondary synergies are mostly useful in decks that consistently leverage the graveyard.
Sleight of Hand
This draw spell allows us to choose between two cards, but if neither is appealing, we are still forced to pick one. Given the presence of many similar cards with more selection potential, the good old Sleight of Hand doesn’t quite make the cut.
Manamorphose
Undoubtedly one of the most efficient cantrips ever printed, it even helps fix your mana for the next play. The downside is that its usage is limited by its dual-color identity and fits into very specific strategies like storm or spellslinger. A classic in Magic’s history since its printing, but with limited uses in Centurion.
Veil of Summer
A relatively recent card that has been a powerhouse since its release, with the potential to swing games by turning a crucial play in your favor. It is excluded here because, while powerful, it is too situational to make this list.
Fire/Ice
A staple across multiple formats for years, it offers excellent flexibility by acting both as removal and a way to gain tempo. Despite being a card with significant potential, it falls short of this list because its draw effect only applies to one of its modes.
Now, let’s finally dive into the list. Here are the top 10 cantrips for Centurion!
10. Up the Beanstalk
In tenth place, we find this enchantment from Throne of Eldraine. It boasts an extremely high power level, so much so that it was banned in Modern due to its excessive consistency in drawing extra cards. In Centurion, it inherently loses some of that consistency, but it still replaces itself upon entering the battlefield and offers the potential to draw additional cards in many decks, from ramp strategies like Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary (thanks to high-cost creatures) to multicolored control decks (particularly with free spells).
9. Baleful Strix
The Strix has been a Legacy staple for years and is a near-obligatory choice in any Centurion deck that includes blue and black. Its versatility makes it suitable for multiple strategies: it can serve as a disposable blocker in control decks, an evasive threat in aggro decks, and, as an artifact, it triggers synergies in decks that exploit such permanents. For just 2 mana, it replaces itself by drawing a card while potentially removing an opponent’s creature or forcing a response from their hand, offering incredible value at a low cost.
8. Consider
Here’s the first “true” cantrip of today’s list. For one mana, it lets you filter the top card of your deck and draw. The ability to send the card to the graveyard is what earns Consider a spot on this list over Opt: both have the same filtering ability, but being able to send a card to the graveyard for future use or other synergies is much more relevant than simply putting it on the bottom of the deck.
7. Cling to Dust
This card shines through its flexibility. For just one mana, at instant speed, it functions as specific graveyard hate that can often cycle itself or help you gain life, thus buying time and allowing you to draw one or more extra cards thanks to the turns gained. It also has built-in recursion, allowing you to use it multiple times in a game if needed.
6. Remand / Reprieve
Although their effects are not identical, these cards can be considered equivalent in most cases. Their primary effect is to buy time by delaying an opponent’s play, making them waste the mana spent. They replace themselves by drawing a card as part of their effect. Remember, Remand counters the spell, so it has no effect on uncounterable spells, while Reprieve simply returns the spell to its owner’s hand, making it effective even against uncounterable spells.
5. Mishra’s Bauble / Urza’s Bauble
These two artifacts offer several significant advantages, mainly that they can be played by any deck regardless of color identity, cost zero mana, and provide additional information through their effects, allowing for better strategic planning. The main drawback is that the replacement card isn’t provided immediately, but only at the beginning of the next upkeep.
4. Gitaxian Probe
Gitaxian Probe is an extremely efficient card, thanks to its ability to be cast by paying 2 life instead of mana. It lets you look at your opponent’s hand, so you can play with full knowledge of what threats you will need to handle during the game. Replacing itself by drawing a card is the cherry on top, but drawing blindly keeps it from reaching the podium.
3. Ponder
We’ve reached the podium! In third place is Ponder, an excellent cantrip that always lets you see at least 3 cards, rearrange them as you prefer, and draw one. Not to be overlooked is the ability to shuffle your deck if none of the three cards are appealing. In short, it offers good selection, but as a sorcery, it doesn’t let you choose to keep just one of the three cards on top—you either keep all or none.
2. Preordain
In second place is Preordain, costing only one mana for scry 2 and then draw a card. At a very low cost, you can choose which cards to keep on top of your deck and in what order, or send them both to the bottom to draw blindly. Being a sorcery limits its flexibility slightly, which is why it lands in second place.
1. Brainstorm
Topping the list is the cantrip par excellence, often compared to a pseudo-Ancestral Recall. For one mana, this instant lets you draw 3 cards and put 2 back on top. It works best with effects that shuffle your deck (primarily fetchlands), further improving your hand quality. Every archetype that includes blue is happy to run this card, making it an automatic inclusion in any deck that can play it.
And with that, we conclude this top 10 list of cantrips for Centurion.
What do you think of our choices? Would you have included other cards or changed the order? Let us know your thoughts on our social media!
