Would this be infinite mana?
Asked by RockerRyan 13 years ago
So I was poking around some artifacts and came across these two: Basalt Monolith & Rings of Brighthearth. Would this make an infinite colorless mana combo, or am I missing something?
RockerRyan says... #2
Its first ability is a mana ability. Its second ability, which allows it to untap, is not. That's the ability which utilizes the Rings.
March 15, 2012 11:24 a.m.
No, it wouldn't be, as Bingbing says, due to the ability of Rings of Brighthearth. If you wanted to have an instance of infinite mana, use 2+ Mox Lotus. For a legal combination other than in Un-Sets, however, I'm not sure what you would use other than some sort of Myr deck.
March 15, 2012 11:37 a.m.
RockerRyan says... #4
Are you people reading Basalt Monolith correctly? It has two separate abilities. Here's how it reads using the current grammar. This is from gatherer.wizards.com:
Basalt Monolith doesn't untap during your untap step.Tap: Add 3 to your mana pool.3: Untap Basalt Monolith.
March 15, 2012 11:44 a.m.
RockerRyan says... #5
With proper sentence separation:
Basalt Monolith doesn't untap during your untap step.Tap: Add 3 to your mana pool.3: Untap Basalt Monolith.
March 15, 2012 11:46 a.m.
It still wouldn't be infinite mana, since you need that mana to untap it again, as well as losing 2 mana from Rings of Brighthearth. Seems like it'd be a waste of 2 mana.
March 15, 2012 12:12 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #7
It is infinite mana, and the accepted answer is incorrect. If you were able to play Basalt Monolith in the first place, it's assumed you have at least 3 other mana available from sources other than the Monolith. The combo plays out like this:
- Tap Basalt Monolith for 3 mana, and your other sources for 3 more mana. 6 in pool.
- Activate Monolith's "Untap this" ability, and copy it with Rings of Brighthearth. 1 in pool.
- The copy of the ability resolves first. Before the original ability resolves, tap Basalt Monolith for mana. 4 in pool.
- The original ability resolves. After it does, tap Monolith for mana. 7 in pool.
- Continue the process, starting over again at Step 2. You gain a net of 1 mana for each full iteration.
@RockerRyan: Maybe if you had actually explained the combo, they would have understood what you were trying to tell them.
March 15, 2012 12:23 p.m.
metalmagic says... #8
*Basalt Monolith doesn't untap during your untap step.
T: Add 3 to your mana pool.
3: Untap Basalt Monolith.*
This actually would net you infinite mana.
- Tap Basalt Monolith, add 3 mana to your mana pool.
- Use that 3 to activate the untap ability, and use 2 lands to copy the ability via Rings of Brighthearth.
- Both abilities are on the stack. The first one resolves, untapping it. You then tap it to add 3 to your mana pool.
- The second ability resolves and untaps it. You then tap it again so you have 6 in your mana pool.
- Use 3 (3 floating at this point) to activate the untap ability, pay 2 (1 floating) to copy via Rings.
- Tap after first resolution (4 floating), tap after second resolution (7 floating).
The combo will net you 1 mana each time you use it. So long as you have an additional 2 mana open somewhere, you can indeed net infinite mana from this.
March 15, 2012 12:24 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #9
Okay, I didn't realize you were the one who asked the question in the first place. It sounds like you actually do understand the combo, so why did you ask?
March 15, 2012 12:24 p.m.
Arachnarchist says... #10
RockerRyan is right. From what I see this would be infinite mana. If you look at gatherer you'll see basalt monolith has been errata'd to have 2 activated abilities.
- Tap Basalt Monolith for 3.
- Pay to use its untap ability and ability goes on the stack
- Pay for Rings of Brighthearth, copied ability goes on the stack.
- Copied ability resolves, untap monolith
- Tap the monolith for 3.
- Original untap ability resolves, untap monolith
- Repeat 1-6 as needed.
It would produce 1 colorless mana every run.
March 15, 2012 12:25 p.m.
metalmagic says... #11
Rhadamanthus - You gotta love the numbering system, haha. "Step 2" seems like one of those boxes you can open at one of two ends, but each end says 'Open at other end.'
March 15, 2012 12:25 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #12
Haha, where were all of us when the question was asked the first time? =P
March 15, 2012 12:26 p.m.
metalmagic says... #13
I don't know!! We should have been around :( There needs to be a way to change to whom the correct answer goes in case of something like this.
March 15, 2012 12:28 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #14
I thought the original asker could do that? If so, I'm sure he will when he comes back and sees all this.
March 15, 2012 12:35 p.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #15
You tap the Basalt Monolith for 3 mana (3 mana floating). You can't copy this effect with Rings of Brighthearth.
Then you pay that same 3 mana (0 mana floating) to untap Basalt Monolith. This effect goes on the stack, and can be copied by Rings of Brighthearth.
If you choose to copy the effect, then you pay 2 more mana to activate Rings of Brighthearth (You've now used 2 more mana than you've gained). The copied effect goes on the stack.
The copied effect resolves, untapping Basalt Monolith. At this point you can tap it for 3 mana before the original untap effect resolves (3 mana floating, with a net gain of 1 mana).
The original untap effect resolves. You can now tap the Basalt Monolith for 3 mana (6 mana floating). The extra 3 mana in your mana pool should be enough to replace the two lands you had to tap earlier, making this loop self-sustaining.
To answer your question, this combo results in infinite mana as long as you can invest 2 mana to make it self-sustaining.
March 15, 2012 12:38 p.m.
RockerRyan says... #16
Hi all! I just ran out of my building at work cause I saw these responses. I thought it was correct. I asked this question initially because I wasn't certain. It seemed too good to be true, and I wanted others to essentially proofread, in the event I missed something. Thank you for your responses!
March 15, 2012 1:29 p.m.
JordTron5000 says... #17
Langrafb is correct.
These two cards can be used to produce infinite mana, provided you can invest 2 mana from other sources to copy the first initial untap ability using Rings of Brighthearth needed to get the combo started.
March 15, 2012 2:45 p.m.
What about the scenario in which a player controls two Basalt Monolith artifacts? Would activating the first "Untap Basalt Monolith" ability on one of them untap the other Basalt Monolith, effectively untapping two Basalt Monoliths for 3 mana and acquiring infinite mana?
December 27, 2015 1:02 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #20
When a card uses its own name in an ability it means "this object right here", not anything with that name. Activating the "untap (this)" ability of a Basalt Monolith will only untap that particular Monolith.
It's much more effective to post a new question topic rather than add a comment to an old one (in this case, almost 4 years old). As it is, only the people who have previously posted in this thread and are still subscribed to updates for it will be aware of any new comments being added to it.
Bingbing says... #1
Basalt Monolith
's ability is sadly a mana ability, which Rings of Brighthearth
says it cannot be used to copy. Bad luck, old chap.
March 15, 2012 11:21 a.m.