Hello happy multiplayer/Commander folks! I hope your day is going super mega well!!! Today I wanted to take a look see at what I see is the overuse of Cantrips instead of Card Draw in these areas. We use Cantrips way too much!

A Cantrip is a card that draws you a card when you resolve it, from Opt to Elvish Visionary. The problem with a Cantrip is that you are not up a card and in multiplayer like Commander where you are being outdrawn naturally 1:3 in a four player game, you need card draw to bring you even, not Cantrips.

Let's start for the cases for when I like and do for Cantrips in Commander and multiplayer.

The Case for Cantrips

Deck Manipulation

Let's start with the generic one. If you are digging for an answer to that problem, you'll need to sort your deck with scry, surveil, or just dig and draw one, like Impulse. These are great and mana-free ways to find your stuff. A first-turn Ponder can ensure you draw your lands for next turn if you are land or mana color light. You can dig for combos too, like Goblin Bombardment to win with sacrifices or Test of Endurance in your Esper Life Gain deck. You can also set up some card draws with Portent, or just shuffle your deck. This digging, and deck manipulation is great in the early game to do stuff and draw goods.

Spellslinger

The next obvious home for Cantrips are in the popular Spellslinger archetype in Commander where you have things that trigger when you cast an instant, sorcery and sometimes just for noncreature casts. These will kill foes, draw cards, ramp Treasures (Storm-Kiln Artist), and make tokens to block or swing with (Young Pyromancer and more). You are loving Cantrips here to trigger your stuff and replace it cheap for more casts for more triggers.

Storm

The other commonly played Commander/multiplayer archetype for cantrips is Storm. Here you'll want a ton of cheap Cantrips and Dark Ritual effects until you've built up a huge storm counter, and then cast your storm win con and win like with milling Brain Freeze, token making Empty the Warrens or damage based win con Tendrils of Agony, in here Cantrips are key ways to build up that pretty storm count.

Creatures

This is a great way to draw and drop a free dork to block, swing, or grab equipment. The first of these was the 0/4 Wall of Blossoms just a few sets after ETB dorks debuted with things like Man-o'-War and Uktabi Orangutan in Visions. Then this is huge today since even MTG Foundations has a two-mana 1/1 cantrip cat in Helpful Hunter. This works too, and from Elvish Visionary to Elite Guardmage this is pretty deep and commonly played. Please note that Mulldrifter is not in this category since it draws 2.

When It's Brainstorm

There is one Cantrip that plays differently from the rest of Cantrips. It's the instant-speed one-cost Brainstorm. You'll draw three and reload two on top of your library in any order to draw again. When digging you'll draw three, and when combined with shuffle effects like fetch lands you won't even have to draw the two you didn't want! It's a cantrip, sure, but not like others since it digs more draws more and then can be broken. It's restricted in Vintage. This is the rare exception that proves the rule. Get it, run it, love it.

The Case for Card Draw

Let's start with the pure card draw stylings of instant speed four cost Fact or Fiction that digs five, your foes separate, and you choose the half you need, so you have a guaranteed two good cards or three okay ones. Or if you need the best card, your foe might 4:1 you. Then we have the aforementioned evoking five cost normally, three with evoke Mulldrifter to draw two on arrival. All of the cheap Black card draw for life loss is here too, like two cost Sign in Blood above to draw two or Read the Bones with scry too, which is better than Cantrips since they'll draw two or more. Since you are drawing more than one, these are better than Cantrips.

Wheels

Next up are cheap effects that make everyone discard their hand and draw seven or the biggest number. The classic Commander Red one defines this card draw type. The Blue three-cost uncommon Windfall is the one that makes everyone draw equal to the biggest hand. Then there are draw sevens that shuffle their graveyard and deck and draw, like five-mana Time Reversal too, that will stop decking. Due to the mass card draw opportunity, these are way better than Cantrips.

Big Spell Card Draw

I also love bigger card draw too and this is where three or more cards are drawn for just you. The five cost Tidings above was printed in a Starter set then reprinted in a starter one for drawing four en masse. The color shifted Concentrate to Green in Planar Chaos will always draw you three for four mana. I also like splashable four for three cards and three life lost from Portals as well as Ambition's Cost I often run. Yes I'd rather run Tidings than Ponder.

Deck Matters Card Draw

Now let's turn to deck matters card draw, like the Spellsinger one above for Cantrips, where you are drawing over and over again, like mono-Green Verduran Enchantress a 0/2 three-drop in Green with a cast trigger for enchantments. See also Sram, Senior Edificer or Vedalken Archmage. The Green five-cost instant spell will draw equal to the power of your biggest non-Human or serves as a combat trick to pump them all +3/+3. The four cost mono-Blue sorcery will draw equal to your priciest artifact. Have a bunch of dorks or evasive ones or tokens in a Blue deck? Toss in Coastal Piracy and similar effects to draw for each combat damage dealt!

Permanents, Card Draw Over Time

Now let's turn to permanents that just draw you cards over time often in your upkeep or draw step. The Commander Classic Arena costs three and has a trigger to swap a life for a card each of your turns. Ditto colorless Staff that doesn't lose life. The five-mana mono-Blue Shrine draws equal to your Shrine count, minimum one! The just printed and pricey on the secondary market four-drop artifact has indestructible, can give you protection from everything for a turn. You'll lose life equal to the burden counters and then tap for nothing to add one and draw that many cards! It's a bit pricey, but if you can afford it? All of these are much better than Cantrips.

Permanents that Require Opponents

Now let's turn to commonly played Commander card draws that require opposing interaction to draw, like Rhystic Study, Esper Sentinel and Consecrated Sphinx. The common first printed from Masques block was a three-drop, and when an opponent casts any spell? Draw unless they spend that mana. The one-drop artifact dork will tax its power for cards but this time just once/turn, and just non-critters, those are fine. That's why I prefer it to Remora and Study on harder to answer enchantment (this is both artifact and dork so every color has answers, and some have both, like White). Sure, Mystic Remora doesn't work for creatures too, but a tax of four and you cannot get past that by casting a second spell that turn...? Nasty rough! The mythic six-drop 4/6 flyer in Blue will get you two cards for each one your foes draw, and as they draw more, so will you!

And there we go! I hope that you enjoyed our little fun take on Cantrips vs card draw!