Mana Crypt
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Highlander Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Mana Crypt

Artifact

At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, this deals 3 damage to you.

: Gain .

TypicalTimmy on A Discussion of Staples

1 day ago

We all know that certain cards are staples in this format, such as Sol Ring and Mana Crypt if it is affordable. However staples also have a little bit of fluidity in that they have color restrictions. If you are playing a deck that contains and you are not playing Necropotence, you are running decidedly below your potential.

Unfortunately cards such as Crypt and Potence are very expensive, so not all players can have them.

In this thread, I'm not so much focused on the financial aspect, but the physical aspect.

I'd like to ask, what makes a staple? Now yes, casual play and competitive play are two different beasts. Competitive decks will be leagues behind if they lack specific cards, whereas casual decks will be slightly hindered but not really all that far off. Especially if there is a budget the friends adhere to.

Let's take for example Lightning Bolt. It is both financially cheap and resourcefully cheap as well. It is instant speed and works wonders as removal. Unfortunately, in many cases, it doesn't serve a great enough impact to win the game. Yes it can take down something such as a Thassa's Oracle or bolt a Sorin Markov so the opponent can't -3 you immediately. However, in the majority of plays, it serves as little more than a bump in the road to victory. Meanwhile, a card such as Path to Exile sees far fewer targets, but it'll remove that massive gargantuan 15/15 Ramos, Dragon Engine or Edgar Markov. So while Path has fewer total available targets then Bolt, it's impact is far greater and more disruptive.

  • (Although I prefer Swords to Plowshares. I'd rather give my opponent some life that will be gone in a turn or two, then a land of their choosing that they keep for the rest of the game.)

Similarly, a really good card in terms of mechanics is Scour from Existence. What hinders it is the mana value of . If it cost less, I'd expect to see it slotted into nearly every deck. The same applies to All is Dust. Yes, Wrath of God and Damnation are superior in that they cost less, however they also do less and are restrained to their own colors.

Mechanics, timing, color restrictions... These all play a role in what becomes a staple, and what doesn't.

So I'm curious, what are some staples across EDH that people know of, and do you have any opinions on what cards SHOULD be staples, that currently aren't?

0rc on Cheapskate Talrand (Competitive, Budget $50!!)

3 weeks ago

ToxicMCTV, you’re right—-Jeweled Lotus would be great in this deck. Then we might as well throw in Mana Crypt, Force of Will, Force of Negation, and why not Timetwister :)

Coward_Token on Commander Masters Previews and Speculation

3 weeks ago

This is a pretty good reference (I was surprised that among good reprintable cards, Capture of Jingzhou was the most expensive.)

Some neat cards that have seen little to no reprints for a long while:

I expect the various Sliver legends to make a reaprearance. Also, Mana Crypt could stand to be a less of a luxury.

amarthaler on EDH Skithiryx, the Blighted Dragon

1 month ago

Deck overhaul list!

Out: Cabal Ritual... Dark Ritual... Dark Confidant... Dash Hopes... Dauthi Voidwalker... Feign Death... Lotus Petal... Mana Crypt... O-Naginata... Oubliette... Royal Assassin... Sign in Blood... Sword of the Chosen... The Meathook Massacre... Vorpal Sword... Wasteland... Withering Boon... 1x Swamp

In: Blightbelly Rat... Contagion Clasp... Decanter of Endless Water... Drown in Ichor...Hand of the Praetors... Infectious Inquiry... Mirrex... Necrogen Communion... Nimraiser Paladin... Pestilent Syphoner... Phyrexian Arena... Sudden Spoiling... The Seedcore... Thought Vessel... Trailblazer's Torch... Vraska's Fall... Vraska, Betrayal's Sting... Whisper of the Dross

Profet93 on What's your dream play?

1 month ago

Pact of Negation on their turn 1 Sol Ring/Mana Crypt. I've only done this, twice. Feels really good. Die the hero, or live long enough to be the (Blue Player) villan.

Enter spiderman meme: "Carefully, he's a hero"

hejtmane on At what point do you …

2 months ago

Example in my main cedh deck I can technically get a turn one win very hard but very possible I can flub but the magical Christmas land. Land that produces red Mana Crypt + Jeska's Will + Underworld Breach + Grinding Station but it has a chance to get me there yes I would keep that hand

Epicurus on What is Your Opinion of …

2 months ago

Given two and a half pages worth of comments on this thread, I don't think I could add anything new. However, I do want to put in my vote that proxies are perfectly acceptable, on multiple levels.

At the moment, I don't proxy. If I want to build a deck, I first design it on this website as a prototype, playtest it using the tool on the site, promote it (through deck cycling and feature tokens) with the hope of getting suggestions, then decide A) if it's good and/or fun enough to build irl, and B) if I will be able to afford to do so. Then, I shuffle through my collection to find out how many cards I already have, make a price list of whatever I don't, and create a weekly budget for ordering the cards I still need a little at a time. That process probably sounds familiar to a lot of you. I've had decks that took me over a year to finally gather all the pieces for (no pun intended).

In short, I spend a long time and a lot of money to have real cards in all of my decks, and I take pride in doing so. HOWEVER, I also have been playing the game for a reeeeally long time, and have been fortunate enough to have been able to amass a sizeable collection over all of those years. AND, I share a collection with my cousin, who has the same passion for the game as I do, and so our collective buying power has given us both an advantage over all of those decades of buying cards and building decks.

If I was a new player just getting into the game, I'd probably look at the money needed just to maximize the effectiveness of one deck, and run screaming.

I own two decks that would each cost over two grand to build from scratch, and neither of them would likely be competitive in a cEDH meta. I own a few other decks that are worth between $500-$800 that are simply fun, and rarely win even in a casual setting. I saw a T-shirt once with an MtG logo on it with text that read "should've gotten into heroin instead." This game is damn expensive.

Furthermore, the playtesting tool on this site and others like it only do so much in the way of determining how good a deck is. The only real way to know for certain that a deck is good is to play it irl. It's at that point when you know if you need more ramp, or more draw, or if those board wipes are entirely necessary, or if that $50 card will fizzle when facing actual competition. Inevitably, you end up making adjustments to the deck after seeing it in action. And trust me, in the many, many years of playing this game, I can't begin to fathom the amount of times that I've tried over and over again to make a deck work the way I envisioned it, only to eventually give up on it because no amount of revision makes it perform in the way that was originally intended.

So there are a few legitimate arguments here for using proxies. First, for the sake of playtesting a deck before spending the money on it. Second, because you just started playing the game and want to win every now and then. Third, because you are just too poor to keep up with other people. Fourth, because you do own all of those cards, but don't want to continuously shift cards from one deck to another to another. Fifth, because the deck really just needs that Mana Crypt, and that's the only thing it needs, and yes you will at some point use your Christmas bonus or tax refund to get an actual copy of it, but dropping $200 on one piece of cardboard isn't something you can just do all the time, and it's not like it automatically makes you win every game anyway. And also for all of the other reasons people have already named on this thread.

Have you ever bought a ticket to a concert or sporting event for a friend who couldn't afford it, just because you didn't want to go alone, and you knew that they'd love it? How is that different than letting friends use proxies even though you yourself spend money to build your collection? The game is a game, and exists to have fun playing it. That doesn't work if nobody else can afford to play.

Okay, I went on much longer than I intended.

Profet93 on Azusa, Lost but Seeking Cthulu [Primer]

2 months ago
Fetchlands - Wooded Foothills/Fabled Passage/Misty Rainforest/Prismatic Vista/Terramorphic Expanse/Verdant Catacombs/Windswept Heath + others. They serve 3 purposes. It's primary purpose, in conjunction with Crucible of Worlds ensures you 3 land drops a turn with your commander. It's second purpose is topdeck manipulation for sylvan library, augur and courser of kruphix. Lastly, it doubles landfall triggers. Combine this with a Lotus Cobra or a tireless tracker for some serious ramp.

Boseiju, Who Endures - Interaction that takes up a land slot

Cavern of Souls - Ensures your huge mana investment into eldrazi doesn't go to waste.

Field of the Dead - Zombies!

Gaea's Cradle - Even better with zombies!

Deserted Temple - Untap cradle

Thespian's Stage - Copy field, deserted, opposing utility land or even an eldrazi temple in a pinch

Petrified Field - Recur important utility land

High Market - Sac eldrazi to prevent theft, prevent your GY from being exiled by saccing an eldrazi to shuffle grave in. Depends on the meta, same with Homeward Path

Greater Good - Sac outlet, draw a bunch of cards, similar with high market but with better payoff

Momentous Fall - More sac outlets! Draw more cards, gain some life, etc...Be aware though, that sacing is additional cost to cast so watch out for blue player

Mana Crypt - Ramp

Realms Uncharted - Tutor for Eye of Ugin, petrefied field and 2 other utility lands. Damned if they do, damned if they dont. Much better with land recursion effects such as crucible, Ramunap Excavator

More suggestions to come should you enjoy these.

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