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
- AbilitySuspend 4—{W}{U}
What an Ith, High Arcanist deck needs
Plays as tap engine. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- creatures with tap abilities (it untaps creatures — attack, then tap them again)
- haste and untap effects that reach the commander (a tap ability is unusable the turn it lands)
The Ith, High Arcanist deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards 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
- 10× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 5× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 3× Answer a whole board at once
- 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
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Haunted Cloak3 mana
- Sword of Vengeance3 mana
Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- Freed from the Real3 mana
- Pemmin's Aura3 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Umbral Mantle3 mana
- Unstoppable Plan3 mana
- Genji Glove5 mana
- Honor-Worn Shaku3 mana
- White Plume Adventurer3 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
- Generous Gift3 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
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Supreme Verdict4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Shatter the Sky4 mana
- Split Up3 mana
- Winds of Abandon2 mana
- Depopulate4 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
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
- Coppercoat Vanguard2 mana
- Lost in the Maze2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Azorius Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
Combos with Ith, High Arcanist
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Ith, High Arcanist is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Ith, High Arcanist + Ioreth Of The Healing House522 decks
- Ith, High Arcanist + Unctus, Grand Metatect45 decks
- Ith, High Arcanist + Wake Thrasher20 decks
- Ith, High Arcanist + Mesmeric Orb15 decks
- Ith, High Arcanist + Najeela, The Blade-Blossom + Jegantha, The Wellspring4 decks
- Ith, High Arcanist + Najeela, The Blade-Blossom + Bloom Tender3 decks