Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Ith, High Arcanist
Ith, High Arcanist
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard · {5}{W}{U} · Blue/White commander
Vigilance
{T}: Untap target attacking creature. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to and dealt by that creature this turn.
Suspend 4—{W}{U}
Build an Ith, High Arcanist deck →
What Ith, High Arcanist actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Activated ability{T}: Untap target attacking creature. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to and dealt by that creature this turn.
- Keyword · vigilancevigilance
- Keyword · suspendsuspend
What an Ith, High Arcanist deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 16× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 10× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- 8× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 3× Answer a whole board at once
- 5× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 10× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 9× Refill your hand
- 4× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Ith, High Arcanist
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Super State7 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Krang, Utrom Warlord9 mana
Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- Reconnaissance1 mana
- Sword of Feast and Famine3 mana
- Amulet of Vigor1 mana
- Freed from the Real3 mana
- Pemmin's Aura3 mana
- Retreat to Coralhelm3 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Umbral Mantle3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
- Suspend1 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Final Showdown1 mana
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Martyr's Cry2 mana
- Split Up3 mana
- Cathedral Membrane2 mana
- Citywide Bust3 mana
- Displacement Wave2 mana
- Harsh Mercy3 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- Counterspell2 mana
- Three Steps Ahead1 mana
- Long River's Pull2 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Abjure1 mana
- Archmage's Charm3 mana
- Cancel3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Reshape2 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
- Long-Term Plans3 mana
- Open the Armory2 mana
- Whir of Invention3 mana
- Merchant Scroll2 mana
- Enlightened Tutor1 mana
- Mystical Tutor1 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Rhystic Study3 mana
- Archivist of Oghma2 mana
- Faerie Mastermind2 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Flowering of the White Tree2 mana
- Bastion Protector3 mana
- Gold-Forged Thopteryx2 mana
- Greater Auramancy2 mana
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Cryptothrall4 mana
- Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus4 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mox Opal0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Wayfarer's Bauble1 mana