Budget Alternatives to the Power Nine
The best budget alternatives to the Power Nine are Lotus Petal in place of Black Lotus, Sol Ring for Mox-style fast mana, Brainstorm standing in for Ancestral Recall, and Time Warp as the affordable Time Walk.
The Power Nine — Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, and the five Moxen — were printed only in Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited, sit on the Reserved List, and cost more than most complete collections. But the effects themselves have echoes all over Magic's history, and most of the echoes are cheap.
Black Lotus on a budget: Lotus Petal and friends
Lotus Petal is the honest tribute: a free artifact you sacrifice for one mana instead of three. Printed at common in Tempest and reprinted since, it delivers the exact Lotus feeling — a zero-cost rock that turns into speed — for pocket change.
Lotus Bloom gives you the full three mana if you can wait out its suspend counters, and Dark Ritual remains the most efficient legal burst of mana ever printed at common. None of them are Black Lotus. All of them let you cast something absurd a turn early, which is the point.
Replacing the Moxen: the modern Mox family
Wizards has spent decades printing Moxen with strings attached, and the strings are what set the price. Mox Amber and Mox Opal want specific deck construction; Chrome Mox exiles a card; Mox Diamond costs you a land and, being on the Reserved List, is no longer budget at all.
For genuine budget builds, Sol Ring is the answer hiding in plain sight. It debuted in Alpha alongside the Power Nine, it is arguably the most powerful thing you can do for one mana in Commander, and endless Commander-product reprints keep it among the cheapest staples in the game. Springleaf Drum and Everflowing Chalice fill out the zero-to-one-mana rock category for next to nothing.
Ancestral Recall and Timetwister: cheap card flow
Nothing legal matches drawing three cards for one mana, but Brainstorm comes closest in spirit — one blue mana, three cards seen, and a Legacy pedigree that speaks for itself. Ponder and Preordain deliver the same cheap-cantrip feel, and Night's Whisper trades life for honest card advantage.
Timetwister's wheel effect is the easiest of the nine to replicate. Windfall is a Commander staple that often draws you a full grip, and Time Reversal, Day's Undoing, and Echo of Eons all reshuffle and refill in Timetwister's image. Wheel of Fortune, the classic red version, is itself Reserved List and priced out of budget territory — but its many descendants are not.
Time Walk for mortals
Extra-turn spells never stopped being printed; they just got fairer. Time Warp is the direct descendant — five mana instead of two, same rules text where it counts — and repeated reprints keep it reasonable. Most formats offer several extra-turn options at casual-friendly prices.
The honest truth about all these substitutes: what made the Power Nine broken was the rate, and the rate is exactly what modern design refuses to repeat. What you can recapture cheaply is the play pattern — explosive starts, deep card selection, stolen turns. That scratches the itch far better than a binder page you cannot afford.
- Black Lotus → Lotus Petal, Lotus Bloom, Dark Ritual
- Moxen → Sol Ring, Mox Amber, Springleaf Drum, Everflowing Chalice
- Ancestral Recall → Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Night's Whisper
- Timetwister → Windfall, Time Reversal, Day's Undoing, Echo of Eons
- Time Walk → Time Warp and the long family of extra-turn spells
Cards mentioned in this guide
Frequently asked questions
- Is Sol Ring part of the Power Nine?
- No. Sol Ring debuted in Alpha alongside them and is nearly as powerful in Commander, but the Power Nine is specifically Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, and the five Moxen. Heavy reprinting keeps Sol Ring cheap.
- Why is the Power Nine so expensive?
- Tiny early-90s print runs, Reserved List protection guaranteeing no reprints, and unmatched power — all nine are restricted in Vintage and banned in Legacy. Frozen supply plus permanent demand does the rest.
- What is the cheapest way to get Power Nine effects in a deck?
- Commons and heavily reprinted staples: Lotus Petal, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, Brainstorm, Windfall, and Time Warp cover fast mana, card draw, wheels, and extra turns for a tiny fraction of one Mox.