When you sit down for a game of Commander, one of the first things you'll do is discuss power levels. When we do we often talk about some specific things: Fast Mana, Free Spells, and Infinite Combos. In this series, I'll answer the question: What are the Pros and Cons of these things in your decks, continuing with Fast Mana.

What is Fast Mana?

We might all be slightly touchy discussing this topic in reference to Commander, but they're spells that accelerate how much mana you can use in a turn and following turns. Usually these sources are colorless, such as Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, and Ancient Tomb. The fact that two of the three options are banned in Commander is part of the contention, but there are options outside of these to accelerate.

What are Rituals?

Rituals are spells that cost something that allow players to produce a temporary burst of mana. Usually it's floating, non-permanent mana. This is not exactly the fast mana we're talking about in this article because they accelerate you in a different way. The benefit of these ritual cards is that you can get a big burst of floating mana on a turn to accelerate in that turn. It's finicky though because you can't change phases and keep any of it. Some of the rituals are Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Mana Geyser, Jeska's Will (to some extent), and Sacrifice. This is why Lotus Petal is so good! It costs zero for additional mana on any turn you want to crack it, any phase. It could potentially be a pseudo additional land drop on a turn when you need it.

Why do we play fast mana?

Ramp. The two best things you can do in Magic: The Gathering might arguably be: produce mana and draw cards. Need an answer to something on the board? You need to draw and play it with mana. Traditionally, on a turn, a play is limited by how much mana they can play on a turn. Usually, you can play one land and try to ramp with more mana for later turns, but seldom can you use the extra mana the turn you play it, but with fast mana gets around this. turn one could be:

• Play a land, tap it
• Play Sol Ring,
• Play Mana Crypt,
• Play Jeweled Lotus
• Cast a 7 mana, single colored Commander.

Then start turn two with 6 mana if you play a land that turn. This is acceleration that will continue to benefit throughout the game unless someone manages as Vandalblast. Considering this, why do players try to filter them out of games? I have a few theories.

• Fast mana is not just a fast start, this could be game crippling. A start like that would immediately be able to do 3-4 things a turn when players are still building up their mana base to do one spell that turn. It swings the game heavily in the favor of the person able to maintain all that mana. That doesn't, on its own, seem to be a problem. Mono-Green landfall decks are able to do the very same thing, produce god-tiers of accessible mana on their turns, and lands are harder to blow up. But it brings me to the next theory as to why players filter them out.
• Fast mana is often colorless. Colors identities have flavor and strengths and weaknesses. An Azorious and Boros deck are often going to struggle to ramp, but a Simic Deck won't. Colorless acceleration in Commander allows players following any strategy to accelerate outside of the acceleration colors. Mono-Green is limited to not running many counterspells and having only situational card draw because of its color identity's flavor, but can ramp into high heaven. Well, if Green struggles with these things there might be "objectively bad colors." Just don't play Green and run Fast mana in other decks to make them stronger. There are two theories as to why this might not be a realistic option for players.
• Short of Sol Ring, most fast mana, is expensive. There is a financial barrier. Jeweled Lotus would have cost you roughly 75 dollars before the ban. Mana Crypt would have cost you roughly 150 dollars at it's cheapest pre-ban. These aren't cheap cards. Why are they expensive? The game warping effect is noticeable with even one of them. However, like we've said in previous articles, money is often a concern playing cards outside of the category of fast mana, free spells, and infinite combos.
• The other concern might be that Commander, for the most part, is a casual format where players want to play strong stuff in all color identities. I think this might be the spirit of the bans in the first place? It shoehorns players into a single way of playing: Simic. Jokes aside, it does encourage players to play specific, good decks, because the acceleration is so optimal in those colors. Fast mana is colorless so it doesn't fit all situations, but it does fit very specific situations. It naturally makes some color identities and strategies "bad."

I don't know if there is a true answer to this question, but I'll share my take. It's hard to talk about anything in this without discussing the ban meta. I'll say that there is a good spirit to pro-ban and anti-ban, but we shouldn't be taking our feelings about our hobbies out on other people's lives. The hatred of the bans destroyed The Commander Rules Committee. You could argue that it was the bans themselves that created this vitriol, but the hatred took place outside of protest and became threats, which is unacceptable.

That said, I think Magic is its best when people are creative. Synergy and interaction come through a love of playing and building. People are their most creative when there are many ways to win. I don't like the idea of never playing Boros again because there is a "solved meta" to Commander. I see the holes in my logic, though. People grow and are creative under restrictions of solved metas too. That's where we see some really creative stuff too. I just think it's much less fun to get there. Commander is usually a lot of people's entrance to Magic: The Gathering. I just want to keep people playing this game. I think it's beautiful that way.

But enough of me yapping, let me hear your thoughts, though? I'm @strixhavendropout on Blue Sky. Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I hope this helps in your next deck-building session!