The 41 Best Donate Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on October 11, 2025

Harmless Offering | Illustration by Howard Lyon

Since Alpha’s Control Magic, MTG has given players the dream of stealing each other’s stuff. The concept continued to evolve with cards like Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Outrageous Robbery.

But the idea of giving your stuff to other players is a more recent addition to the Magic playbook. It seems counterintuitive at first, in a game of card advantage, to two-for-zero yourself, especially in Commander, when exchanges that work in 1v1 formats put both players behind in the multiplayer calculus. But there are good reasons for this effect, and quite a number of commanders built to support this archetype.

Let’s see which cards that donate stuff to opponents are the best.

What Are Donate Cards in MTG?

Wishclaw Talisman | Illustration by Daarken

Donate cards give themselves or another permanent you control to an opponent. The simplest templating of this is on the iconic card of donation: Donate. But there are cards that donate themselves, sometimes as a drawback like on Avarice Amulet, and sometimes as a clear benefit like with Jinxed Idol.

There are also cards with donation activated abilities for fun and profit, like Zedruu the Greathearted.

Cards that trade something of yours for something of theirs aren’t exactly what we’re talking about, which includes cards as simple as Gilded Drake or as complex as the ultimate on Aminatou, the Fateshifter or even Scrambleverse, but we’ll address those at the end. The Beamtown Bullies is also a different effect, as it animates your dead creatures, not the cards you have in play.

#41. Witch Engine

If you can afford to cast the Witch Engine, you don’t need to tap for , and giving this to an opponent is too high impact for whoever receives it. Unless you sacrifice it. Because the ability includes a targeting clause, it’s not a mana ability, so you can respond to it on the stack and sacrifice the Engine to something like an Ashnod's Altar, which then goes infinite with Corpse Dance.

You’ll be tempted by Agatha's Soul Cauldron. The plus is that exiling the Engine means that everything you tap with a counter gives you four black mana and donates itself. That is tempting, but there are easier ways to build a deck that gives you lots of black mana. For now.

#40. Goblin Cadets

Sure, a donation. Goblin Cadets is also “good” in Norin, Swift Survivalist decks.

#39. Karona, False God

In the olden days, this was a nice, political group slug commander. Now it no longer makes the list. Some day there will be a 5-color donate commander, and Karona, False God will slip into its rightful place in the 99. But that is not this day.

#38. Goblin Festival

If you really need another coin flip card, sure, otherwise I won’t be going to the Goblin Festival as I ate too many fruits at Christina Rosetti’s “Goblin Market.”

#37. Jinxed Choker + Jinxed Idol + Jinxed Ring

These are fine enough, but kind of small ball in this donate space. But flavor-wise, you gotta at least consider these in your donate decks if you’re a Magic boomer and grew up in a time when most cards were bad. So hooray (?) for Jinxed Choker, Jinxed Idol, and Jinxed Ring!

#36. Custody Battle

Fine for donate decks, Custody Battle is interesting for Kaima, the Fractured Calm decks.

#35. Captive Audience

A Limited bomb that’s just too expensive in any deck that wants to cast it, Captive Audience is a fun self-donater in a Ghen, Arcanum Weaver deck.

#34. Avarice Amulet

Sure. This works in a donate deck, but you aren’t super happy to see Avarice Amulet move around the table.

#33. Crown of Doom

Crown of Doom zips around the table, which can be fun and chaotic, as well as fine in Zedruu the Greathearted, but it mostly hurts you in the long run if you aren’t synergizing.

#32. Sleeper Agent

For 1 mana, you could do worse in the right decks. You won’t like getting attacked by Sleeper Agent, and dropping this on turn 1 really annoys someone, but the right turn for politics to start is turn 1, so get to it!

#31. Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor

It’s hard to evaluate a card that exists in such a parasitic space. Also, although it’s been updated many times (and hence had its date shifted forward each time), the curses article was the very first thing I wrote for Draftsim back in the day. So my keen powers of analysis are under, well, my own curse. That said, Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor does the thing.

#30. Vislor Turlough

Vislor Turlough is an unwanted addition to someone’s board—which is how it felt when he joined The Fifth Doctor in the TARDIS! Mostly used as one of two companions who can add a black pip to a Doctor Who deck, Turlough’s donate mechanic does create some interesting chaos while creating lose life triggers for an opponent as long as it lives.

#29. Khârn the Betrayer

Fittingly, this chaos marine from Warhammer 40k has no clear utility to me outside of a full chaos mode donate deck or a deck where you benefit from your opponents card draw. And those might be the same deck. I still see Khârn the Betrayer in the 99 instead of at the top.

#28. Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos

My my my myyyyy Karona, improved! Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos is a fun trifle that slots into EDH donate decks nicely.

#27. Starke of Rath

I opened like six of these in Tempest packs! Never could figure out how to use Starke of Rath or why Dan Frazier did his head that way. But I think this is underutilized in Commander, where it has such great political uses if you can manage the double red pips.

#26. Yes Man, Personal Securitron

In case your play group hates group hug, here’s Yes Man, Personal Securitron, a Universes Beyond card to make them extra excited to be there! That said, this really does the job.

#25. Bucknard’s Everfull Purse

In donate decks, dice decks, and even Treasure decks like Vazi, Keen Negotiator, Bucknard's Everfull Purse is just fine.

#24. Pendant of Prosperity

Absolutely amazing if you have a solid ally at the EDH table, Pendant of Prosperity is also fine in a donate centered deck. It’s more fun in Mairsil, the Pretender decks as you get both values from activation if you exile it.

#23. Humble Defector

Draw two cards and donate the creature to the player you like? Humble Defector is great for group hug, donate themed decks, and, as a deeper cut, Rionya, Fire Dancer.

#22. Discerning Financier

For the variant on Land Tax alone, Discerning Financier can be a useful Commander card. But not a great one.

#21. Donate

A classic, Donate is the genesis of this line of cards.

#20. Harmless Offering

Donate color shifted to red makes it playable for just about every donate commander, and you can’t argue with the awesome Howard Lyon artwork!

#19. Sol'Kanar the Tainted

For Sol'Kanar the Tainted to work as a commander, you need to pack a stack of exchange cards like Role Reversal so you can get them back, or you need to be able to really work with an ally or to negotiate who gets it. I just don’t think the juice is quite worth the squeeze in most cases.

#18. Rainbow Vale

A must-include in Obeka, Brute Chronologist, of course. But Rainbow Vale is just fine in donate or group hug decks, as well. A lost gem from… Fallen Empires?! The sick, sick value!

#17. Akroan Horse

I love Akroan Horse. The flavor is fun, and in Commander, well, aside from donate decks, isn’t this tasty in Kambal, Profiteering Mayor and Massacre Girl, Known Killer decks?

#16. Domineering Will

Domineering Will is a nice trick for a draw-go sort of deck that is only a temporary donation. But it also steals blockers so they die. So a nice, juicy, complicated card that sometimes fits this list.

#15. Slicer, Hired Muscle

It looks like people mostly play Slicer, Hired Muscle as a Voltron-style commander, never donating it and always converting it. Goad is cool, but there’s not enough payoff here for the donation.

#14. Assault Suit

A lovely piece of the donate deck puzzle, Assault Suit is also good in a surprising deck: Zurgo Helmsmasher! Think about it….

#13. Blim, Comedic Genius

First off, they're a comedic genius. A genius. And a comedic one, not a comic one, so that’s funny on its own. Just so you know what you’re dealing with here.

On the pro side, Blim, Comedic Genius has access to black and Rakdos cards, which allows for the use of a ton of cards on this list that Zedruu the Greathearted can’t play. But the lack of blue reduces access to exchange effects, and having to deal combat damage really puts a crimp in the deck in anything but Duel Commander.

#12. Coveted Falcon

This card is confusing. Which is exactly what you expect of a card riffing on old film noir plots! If you get it to survive until disguising, you can throw a ton of nonsense at your opponents and draw a bunch of cards. Coveted Falcon seems like a great late game play in a donate EDH deck that plays blue.

#11. Act of Authority

A fine piece of removal, aside from that casting cost. Sometimes this sees play in donate decks, but Act of Authority is mostly a blink card.

#10. Jon Irenicus, Shattered One

An awesome donation machine, Jon Irenicus, Shattered One can dish out gross stuff like Flesh Reaver or just win with an expiring Archfiend of the Dross.

#9. Wrong Turn

Donate when you are taking donations first! As an instant whose rules text spells out its effect, Wrong Turn is so flexible, even for just manipulating combat.

#8. Fateful Handoff

A Donate in black! And it also draws you cards? Fateful Handoff is a lot better than you remember if you’ve only seen it in Brothers' War Draft!

#7. Xantcha, Sleeper Agent

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent is a fascinating commander, but it is a bit more fun in the 99, especially if it comes as a surprise. The fact that you still get activated ability goodness when it’s on the opposing team is especially nice flavor. It also means you can just burn someone out, which is extra mean. I mean cool.

#6. Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant

There aren’t quite enough white or colorless cards that you want to dish out to your opponents to make it obvious that Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant is a good buildaround commander, but a 1-mana 1/2 with lifelink is also just fine. Also, I can just give cards like Deafening Silence around the table to opponents who don’t have a sacrifice package to draw cards later. Seems decent.

#5. Zedruu the Greathearted

There are a ton of black cards that you want to be able to give people, like Demonic Pact. But even though Zedruu the Greathearted as a commander doesn’t give access to those cards, there are plenty in Jeskai colors and in colorless to make it worth it, especially given the card draw.

#4. Bazaar Trader

One of the most efficient repeatable donors we have, Bazaar Trader is also sneaky in Yasova Dragonclaw decks. You borrow something juicy with Yasova and then target yourself with the Trader and keep the creature permanently.

#3. Pumpkin Bombs

I think this card is going to do work in Standard when it drops. Pumpkin Bombs gets you discards and cards with a ping for 2. They get it, sure, but it’s tapped until their turn, which they might not ever get in a Monument to Endurance deck. And in Commander, this is a useful tool if you have an ally at the table.

#2. Coveted Jewel

A player in high-power decks like Orvar, the All-Form, Coveted Jewel is a card printing away from being in a banlist conversation. Until then, it’s good.

#1. Wishclaw Talisman

Wishclaw Talisman is an effective tutor for combo strategies in all formats where it's legal. If I burn you out with Goblin Charbelcher before you get a turn to use it, well, bummer for you! And if they do use it, you have another go in 1v1!

Why Would You Give an Opponent Your Cards?

Well, two reasons: You get a benefit or your opponent suffers. You benefit from cards like Zedruu the Greathearted. You opponent suffers when you give them a card like Steel Golem.

There is a third possibility in the group hug space, but other mechanics work better in those decks.

Also, with cards like Wishclaw Talisman, the downside of donating the card might be obviated by you using the card to win that turn.

What Are the Best Cards to Donate to an Opponent?

There are many good types of cards to donate. Here’s a few categories and examples.

The classic cards to dish out with a Harmless Offering are cards that are bad to control. Perhaps an expiring Demonic Pact. Maybe a Rust Elemental. Even something like Statecraft can ruin someone’s day.

Think world enchantments like Arboria. Or things that can be gifted without losing their function, like an Oblivion Ring (unless they can sacrifice enchantments, of course!). An aura that enchants one of your things can be donated and it still enchants your thing for the same effect.

I can see gifting an opponent something helpful for a few reasons. In a group hug space, why not gift a Gluntch, the Bestower? Also, allies are good to have. I can see donating Ghostly Prison to a friend in need if you’re stable.

What Cards Exchange Control of Permanents?

There are more than we can count, but they range from the wholesale horror of Scrambleverse to various styles, like Legerdemain and Phyrexian Infiltrator, to the newest version of this effects, Trade the Helm.

Wrap Up

Zedruu the Greathearted | Illustration by Mark Zug

It looks like a card that donates has been in just about every premier set released recently, so expect this space to be further mined by WOTC designers. It’s been almost 15 years since Zedruu the Greathearted, so perhaps it's time for a Commander precon? At the very least, I’d predict a Limited archetype around an uncommon legend, especially after the gift mechanic in Bloomburrow. It might help Izzet spells, which has been so underpowered while Izzet artifacts seems even harder than spells to tune for reasonable power.

Would you welcome your new donation overlords? Let us know in the comments below or on Discord whether you like this mechanic or not. In other words, donate your opinion, please.

I’ll see myself out.