White is the weakest at drawing cards among all five colors in MTG. Nevertheless, it isn’t all bad – there are some remarkably potent ways white can catch up in the card advantage game. So, what is the best MTG white card draw?
The best MTG white card draw is permanents with triggered abilities that draw cards when you fulfill a specific condition, like casting a creature spell. Although white has very few instants and sorceries to draw cards, the color does have plenty of creature synergies to create card advantage.
Now that we know what to look for with a white MTG card draw, we can look at the best examples. This list will discuss these cards, how the pros use them, and which decks they work best. However, we’ve chosen not to order this list since all these cards are powerful in different ways – read on to find out how that’s the case.
White Card Draw MTG
1. Esper Sentinel
One of the white color’s most oppressive forms of card draw is Esper Sentinel, a 1/1 artifact creature for a single white mana.
You get to draw whenever your opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn unless that player pays mana equal to this creature’s power. Esper Sentinel is a perfect white weenie – the color’s answer to Rhystic Study.
Esper Sentinel has three Top 8s in Historic championships, featuring prominently in Azorius Artifacts lists.
It also shines as a Stax piece, seeing play in an impressive 22% of all EDHREC decks, particularly cEDH strategies.
2. Mentor of the Meek & Bygone Bishop
This pair of creatures let you pay mana to draw cards whenever you play small creatures.
For Mentor of the Meek, that’s one mana whenever a creature with a power of two or less hits the board. And the Bygone Bishop investigates whenever you cast a creature spell with a mana value of three or less.
These abilities are excellent in white weenie strategies and give white some much-needed card advantage that can also attack or block in a pinch.
When combined, these three drops are featured in over 8% of all EDHREC lists, amounting to over nearly 40,000 decks.
3. Court of Grace
Court of Grace is one of the best white card draw enchantments, although it is a risky choice.
See, when this four-mana card enters the battlefield, you become the monarch. You’ll draw an extra card at the end of your turn for as long as you don’t take combat damage.
Not only that, but Court of Grace also gives you a 1/1 flying spirit each turn. And if you remain the monarch, those spirits upgrade into 4/4 angels.
With these potent abilities, it’s not surprising that Commander players run this Court in 5% of all EDHREC decks.
4. Welcoming Vampire & Rumor Gatherer
Welcoming Vampire and Rumor Gatherer are two similar three-drops that draw you a card when your creatures enter the battlefield.
While Welcoming Gatherer draws the first time you play a creature with power two or less each turn, Rumor Gatherer is more versatile. Any time one of your creatures enters, you scry one. If it’s the second time a creature entered this turn, the alliance ability instead gets you a card.
Together, these creatures are excellent choices for white weenie decks – which naturally spam low-power creatures.
They’re also good choices for cEDH strategies that flood the board with creatures since card advantage never hurts.
5. Palace Jailer
Palace Jailer isn’t only a card advantage engine – it’s also removal.
When it enters, it makes you the monarch. Then you can exile an opponent’s creature until you lose that role. However, you can easily keep the monarch with Palace Jailer’s 2/2 stats and the extra cards it draws you. At least until after this creature dies and its prisoner stays exiled forever.
This Conspiracy: Take the Crown four-drop is a favorite of Death & Taxes lists, which exploit cards like Yorion, Sky Nomad, and Aether Vial to get maximum value out of its exile and monarch effects.
In those builds, Palace Jailer has two Pro Tour Top 8s.
6. Bennie Bracks, Zoologist
An exciting new legend from New Capenna Commander, Bennie Bracks, Zoologist, is a novel way for white to draw cards.
At the beginning of each end step, Bennie Bracks draws a card if you made a token that turn. And white excels at flooding the board with tokens.
Although MTG hasn’t officially released this card at the time of writing, we’re nevertheless excited to see what changes it’ll make to Commander and the Eternal formats.
No doubt, Bennie Bracks will finally be the card advantage mono-white EDH needs to be competitive once more.
7. Secret Rendezvous
Secret Rendezvous is one of the few viable ways white can draw cards without using permanents.
Instead, this three-mana sorcery draws you and a target opponent three cards each, giving you each an Ancestral Recall.
And while giving your opponent a new hand isn’t great, it is a powerful tool in multiplayer politics. You can easily pull ahead with a loyal ally in the right EDH decks after casting this card.
8. Dawn of Hope
One of the most reliable forms of white card draw, Dawn of Hope, triggers whenever you gain life. Then, you can pay two generic mana to draw a card.
Being white – the life-gain color – Dawn of Hope can quickly earn you over three cards per turn if you have the mana for it.
As well as that beneficial ability, Dawn of Hope also creates 1/1 lifelink soldier tokens. That way, you can always trigger the draw ability of this two-mana enchantment. It’s a great deal – and one Commander players are becoming aware of pretty fast.
Dawn of Hope sees play in 3% of all EDHREC lists, particularly in mono-white strategies.
9. Halo Fountain
Halo Fountain is an excellent artifact from New Capenna – an artifact that does more than only draw you more cards.
Its first ability untaps a creature you control to make a 1/1 white and green citizen. You can later use that token in its second ability – untapping two creatures to draw a card, no strings attached.
Last, Halo Fountain is also an alternate win condition. You can pay five mana and untap fifteen tapped creatures you control to win the game on the spot.
Not bad for a three-mana artifact – especially in a color where the latter two abilities are so rare.
10. Sram, Senior Edificier
One of the best sources of white card draw, Sram, Senior Edificer, has three Top 8s in Historic championships and the Player’s Tour.
It sees play in 6% of EDHREC Commander builds, too. And here’s why – this two-drop dwarf draws you a card whenever you cast a vehicle, equipment, or aura spell.
This deadly ability can trigger unlimited times per turn. So, in a deck built around these card types, Sram can quickly refill your hand and let you overwhelm your opponent with buffed-up creatures and cars.