When you build your next deck, what mana rocks are you going to include? From Izzet Signet to Darksteel Ingot, there are a large number of artifacts that tap to produce mana. But there are so many choices. Which ones are worth running? Which have stood the test of time?

(For this article, a mana rock is defined as a noncreature artifact that taps for mana. Creature-based acceleration, such as Silver Myr and Opaline Unicorn, is nice sometimes, but it defeats the unique purpose of mana rocks—accelerating your mana in a colorless way but without being weak to creature removal.)

Now, there have been times when they have been reduced in power considerably. Compare the Diamond set from Mirage with the Mox set (Charcoal Diamond vs. Mox Jet). For an even worse comparison, consider the parts of Ramos set from Mercadian Masques (such as Skull of Ramos). Similarly, Sol Ring used to cost a single mana. Then, look at Sisay's Ring, which costs 4 mana for the same artifact. And then we have an upgrade: comes into play tapped for 3 mana (Worn Powerstone) or tap for 3 mana instead (from Thran Dynamo).

Thus, mana rocks have been with us for all twenty years of the history of this game, and they have brought a large number of options to the front. What mana rocks are out there, and how do they play? What sort of deck can best use them? Skipping some of the lousy options, you still have a lot of fair rocks to choose from when building your next deck.

Let’s begin with the small number of 0-drops and work our way up.

1-Mana Rocks – Say “hello” to Mana Vault and Sol Ring. That’s basically it—both are hot. Anything else is not a true rock since they do not tap to make mana without sacrificing (Terrarion), filtering (Mana Cylix), or needing fuel (Springleaf Drum).

2-Mana Colorless Rocks – One of the most common places on the chain is for 2-mana artifacts that tap for a single colorless mana; they wind up doing something else as well. The classic is Mind Stone because it sacrifices for a card. You can sacrifice it in response to removal, when you need a card, or later in the game when the mana is no longer necessary. It also can be played as both a mana accelerant and as a tool in some combo decks, sacrificing the Stone and recurring it over and over again. It’s the strongest of this lot. Guardian Idol has a good pedigree and turns into a creature for attacking or blocking purposes. I’ve gotten great mileage from it, especially in metagames that pack a lot of mass creature removal. Those are the only two major options, cards such as Prophetic Prism, Prismatic Lens, and Fractured Powerstone, really don’t appeal to most decks.

One quick note on Everflowing Chalice: You can pay 2 mana to make this a 1-mana accelerant. You can also play it as a Sisay's Ring, and up the ladder you go. Because it plays well with your needs at the time—as well as with effects such as proliferate—it’s quite a powerful mana monkey. It goes into a lot of my decks.

Don’t forget a sexy card like Grim Monolith, which requires 2 mana but that taps for 3 mana. (Maybe you count Doubling Cube!)

3-Mana Colorless Rocks – There are not that many cards that make colorless for a 3-mana investment. We already looked at Worn Powerstone, which is solid when you want a long-term investment on your mana—3 today turns into 2 each turn for the rest of the game until it is destroyed. Serum Powder is played in some Eternal formats, but it’s not that reliable in Casual Land, and it rarely is played here. Now, I have seen Pristine Talisman on a regular basis ever since it was printed a few years ago. Just last week, I ran into it at the Commander table twice. It may cost an extra mana to just tap for 1 mana a turn, but the ability to gain a life as well is very nice. Not only does it play well in formats with 20 starting life, but it’s another way to abuse life-gain triggers, such as Well of Lost Dreams. Don’t forget Basalt Monolith.

3-Mana Color Rocks – We have a lot of rocks that make mana at the 3-drop spot. One interesting cycle is the Totem cycle from Time Spiral (Chronatog Totem, Thunder Totem, etc.). This has a wide range of quality. Frankly, the Thunder Totem is great, and it can be quite useful. The Weatherseed Totem and Foriysian Totem are decent choices if you need more threats in the right deck. But the other two are just bad—too dangerous—and I wouldn’t recommend them at all outside of a highly specialized deck or metagame.

This is the place of both the Keyrune (Rakdos Keyrune) and Cluestone (Simic Cluestone) cycles. Again, if you want the artifact-into-creature theme, don’t ignore the Keyrunes. They work very well with your own mass removal just as much as against it. They play well around cards such as Portcullis and Aether Flash. The Keyrunes add creatures without adding creatures, and that’s important. The Cluestones can sacrifice for a card, too, and like Mind Stone, that gives you a way of drawing cards when needed. In fact, both of these cycles are like guild versions of Guardian Idol and Mind Stone.

There are some seriously crappy 3-mana accelerants—cards such as Mana Prism, Warden of the Wall, and such. We also have highly specific mana rocks, such as Altar of the Lost.

4-Mana Rocks – There are so few options here that I am combining them for the rest of the article. Here, we see the casting cost of Sisay's Ring or Ur-Golem's Eye for 2 colorless mana (or Everflowing Chalice for the same) and the aforementioned Thran Dynamo for 3 mana.

But we also have a few interesting rocks to make specific mana. Take a look at Paradise Plume, which sort of combines the power of the Lucky Charms with a mana producer. It works very nicely in a mono-colored deck—and some two-colored ones as well. It’s all of the sass of Sol Grail attached to Kraken's Eye. Over the long term, that is a potent card, and one that is a bit underplayed. While you might have to jump through some hoops to bring it out, Khalni Gem taps for two colors of mana, and that has a lot of power. You also have the iconic Mana Batteries (Black Mana Battery) from Legends to aid in your mana-making and storage. You can always tap it to make the right mana or store some away for later. Some decks will covet the Mana Batteries because they want to guzzle it for massive effects later in the game.

The only other artifact in this spot is the Dreamstone Hedron. Because it’s like three Mind Stones, it sees play, and I just ran against a deck abusing it this past weekend. It fits into a lot of artifact-loving decks because you can use it again and again to sacrifice for cards. I play them occasionally for myself, and I can find them both good and boring at the same time. Paying 6 can be a lot for a mana rock, but in the right deck, they help curve to baddies such as Eldrazi or they can sacrifice for a trio of cards.

There are a lot of great selections for noncreature-based artifact acceleration. From Thunder Totem to Coldsteel Heart, there are some nice, undervalued options that can help enhance your next deck. Enjoy the many options!

See you next week,

Abe Sargent