Art: Jeff Dee · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast
Volo, Guide to Monsters
UGLegendary Creature — Human Wizard · from $0.34
Whenever you cast a creature spell that doesn't share a creature type with a creature you control or a creature card in your graveyard, copy that spell. (A copy of a creature spell becomes a token.)
A typical Commander deck
A starting template, not a rule — counts to fill in around the commander.
- Lands3736–38 for most decks; fewer with cheap curves
- Ramp10mana rocks, dorks, land ramp — mostly 2–3 mana
- Card draw10repeatable engines beat one-shot cantrips
- Targeted removal6answers for creatures AND artifacts/enchantments
- Board wipes3sweepers reset boards you've lost
- Synergy & win conditions33the deck's actual plan
Staples in these colors
The 100 cards that fit this color identity in the most EDHREC decklists (EDHREC rank via Scryfall).
Budget
55 of 100 at $5 or less · 31 at $1 or less
| # | Card | Type | MV | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sol Ring | Artifact | 1 | $1.07 |
| 2 | Command Tower | Land | 0 | $0.26 |
| 3 | Arcane Signet | Artifact | 2 | $0.34 |
| 4 | Exotic Orchard | Land | 0 | $0.19 |
| 5 | Reliquary Tower | Land | 0 | $4.28 |
| 6 | Swiftfoot Boots | Artifact | 2 | $1.43 |
| 7 | Lightning Greaves | Artifact | 2 | $3.86 |
| 8 | Path of Ancestry | Land | 0 | $0.16 |
| 9 | Counterspell | Instant | 2 | $1.33 |
| 10 | Fellwar Stone | Artifact | 2 | $0.47 |
| 11 | Rogue's Passage | Land | 0 | $0.31 |
| 12 | Evolving Wilds | Land | 0 | $0.09 |
| 13 | Cultivate | Sorcery | 3 | $0.38 |
| 14 | Thought Vessel | Artifact | 2 | $2.23 |
| 15 | Farseek | Sorcery | 2 | $0.42 |
| 16 | Beast Within | Instant | 3 | $0.49 |
| 17 | Nature's Lore | Sorcery | 2 | $2.15 |
| 18 | Rampant Growth | Sorcery | 2 | $0.39 |
| 19 | Heroic Intervention | Instant | 2 | $9.28 |
| 20 | Terramorphic Expanse | Land | 0 | $0.10 |
| 21 | Myriad Landscape | Land | 0 | $0.25 |
| 22 | Mind Stone | Artifact | 2 | $0.21 |
| 23 | An Offer You Can't Refuse | Instant | 1 | $3.01 |
| 24 | Birds of Paradise | Creature | 1 | $4.98 |
| 25 | Polluted Delta | Land | 0 | $19.85 |
| 26 | Kodama's Reach | Sorcery | 3 | $1.55 |
| 27 | Flooded Strand | Land | 0 | $12.78 |
| 28 | Three Visits | Sorcery | 2 | $5.55 |
| 29 | Skullclamp | Artifact | 1 | $4.85 |
| 30 | Solemn Simulacrum | Creature | 4 | $0.27 |
| 31 | Misty Rainforest | Land | 0 | $35.98 |
| 32 | Bloodstained Mire | Land | 0 | $14.54 |
| 33 | Fabled Passage | Land | 0 | $0.65 |
| 34 | Windswept Heath | Land | 0 | $11.19 |
| 35 | Rhystic Study | Enchantment | 3 | $61.06 |
| 36 | Wooded Foothills | Land | 0 | $17.96 |
| 37 | Verdant Catacombs | Land | 0 | $29.16 |
| 38 | Scalding Tarn | Land | 0 | $36.86 |
| 39 | Marsh Flats | Land | 0 | $32.04 |
| 40 | Arcane Denial | Instant | 2 | $1.88 |
| 41 | Commander's Sphere | Artifact | 3 | $0.19 |
| 42 | Negate | Instant | 2 | $0.12 |
| 43 | Arid Mesa | Land | 0 | $31.40 |
| 44 | Cyclonic Rift | Instant | 2 | $29.75 |
| 45 | Llanowar Elves | Creature | 1 | $0.24 |
| 46 | Breeding Pool | Land | 0 | $9.15 |
| 47 | Swan Song | Instant | 1 | $10.72 |
| 48 | Ancient Tomb | Land | 0 | $56.94 |
| 49 | Brainstorm | Instant | 1 | $0.56 |
| 50 | Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth | Land | 0 | $56.13 |
| 51 | Boseiju, Who Endures | Land | 0 | $50.48 |
| 52 | Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth | Land | 0 | $16.76 |
| 53 | Fierce Guardianship | Instant | 3 | $59.21 |
| 54 | Temple of the False God | Land | 0 | $0.19 |
| 55 | Chromatic Lantern | Artifact | 3 | $0.38 |
| 56 | Otawara, Soaring City | Land | 0 | $26.57 |
| 57 | Garruk's Uprising | Enchantment | 3 | $0.39 |
| 58 | City of Brass | Land | 0 | $9.17 |
| 59 | The One Ring | Artifact | 4 | $109.88 |
| 60 | Hinterland Harbor | Land | 0 | $0.28 |
| 61 | Frantic Search | Instant | 3 | $0.82 |
| 62 | Mystic Remora | Enchantment | 1 | $10.97 |
| 63 | Elvish Mystic | Creature | 1 | $0.35 |
| 64 | Cavern of Souls | Land | 0 | $47.72 |
| 65 | Propaganda | Enchantment | 3 | $1.84 |
| 66 | Sakura-Tribe Elder | Creature | 2 | $0.30 |
| 67 | Mana Confluence | Land | 0 | $34.75 |
| 68 | Urza's Saga | Enchantment | 0 | $34.67 |
| 69 | Mana Drain | Instant | 2 | $50.65 |
| 70 | Lotus Petal | Artifact | 0 | $35.11 |
| 71 | Eternal Witness | Creature | 3 | $1.10 |
| 72 | Wayfarer's Bauble | Artifact | 1 | $0.31 |
| 73 | Roaming Throne | Creature | 4 | $47.06 |
| 74 | Ashnod's Altar | Artifact | 3 | $8.15 |
| 75 | Yavimaya Coast | Land | 0 | $0.31 |
| 76 | War Room | Land | 0 | $0.79 |
| 77 | Ponder | Sorcery | 1 | $1.82 |
| 78 | Rejuvenating Springs | Land | 0 | $4.12 |
| 79 | Delighted Halfling | Creature | 1 | $25.91 |
| 80 | Herald's Horn | Artifact | 3 | $2.88 |
| 81 | Mana Vault | Artifact | 1 | $91.59 |
| 82 | Pongify | Instant | 1 | $2.21 |
| 83 | Chrome Mox | Artifact | 0 | $51.19 |
| 84 | Windfall | Sorcery | 3 | $4.78 |
| 85 | Mystical Tutor | Instant | 1 | $14.99 |
| 86 | Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx | Land | 0 | $45.68 |
| 87 | Reflecting Pool | Land | 0 | $5.50 |
| 88 | Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs | Instant | 3 | $9.68 |
| 89 | Worldly Tutor | Instant | 1 | $26.58 |
| 90 | Dreamroot Cascade | Land | 0 | $0.86 |
| 91 | Mystic Sanctuary | Land | 0 | $1.01 |
| 92 | Three Tree City | Land | 0 | $29.09 |
| 93 | Return of the Wildspeaker | Instant | 5 | $1.51 |
| 94 | Gemstone Caverns | Land | 0 | $62.05 |
| 95 | Command Beacon | Land | 0 | $7.99 |
| 96 | Hardened Scales | Enchantment | 1 | $1.85 |
| 97 | Tireless Provisioner | Creature | 3 | $2.33 |
| 98 | Doubling Season | Enchantment | 5 | $29.62 |
| 99 | Idol of Oblivion | Artifact | 2 | $2.40 |
| 100 | Prismatic Vista | Land | 0 | $28.10 |
Curve of these staples
3
0
17
1
18
2
16
3
3
4
2
5
6
7+
Combos with Volo, Guide to Monsters
The 10 most popular of 18 combos (by EDHREC decklist count) using this commander that fit its color identity, from Commander Spellbook.
Peregrine Drake + Temur Sabertooth + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite mana lands you control can produce · Infinite storm count
Palinchron + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite mana lands you control can produce · Infinite storm count
Food Chain + Man-o'-War + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite colored mana that can only be spent to cast creature spells · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite storm count · Return any number of creatures to their owners' hands
Mercurial Pretender + Peregrine Drake + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite creature tokens · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite mana lands you control can produce · Infinite storm count
Great Whale + Temur Sabertooth + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite mana lands you control can produce · Infinite storm count
Food Chain + Shrieking Drake + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite colored mana that can only be spent to cast creature spells · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite storm count
Ancestral Statue + Food Chain + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite colored mana that can only be spent to cast creature spells · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite storm count
Great Whale + Mercurial Pretender + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite creature tokens · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite mana lands you control can produce · Infinite storm count
Food Chain + Mist Raven + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite colored mana that can only be spent to cast creature spells · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite storm count · Return any number of creatures to their owners' hands
Errant, Street Artist + Intruder Alarm + Volo, Guide to Monsters
Infinite colored mana · Infinite creature tokens · Infinite creature ETB
Top finishes
One finish placing top 16 at 16+ player events with this commander. Results from Topdeck.gg.
- 9th of 26 — June GG Commander Clash on Topdeck.ggJun 26, 2026 · 2–1–0 · by Allan Fryer
Card data and images courtesy of Scryfall; popularity ranking from EDHREC decklist data included in Scryfall bulk. Combo data courtesy of Commander Spellbook. Tournament results courtesy of Topdeck.gg. Deckwarden is unofficial Fan Content and is not endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.