The Art of Balance in Commander Deckbuilding

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Astrolabe" href="#" target="_blank">Astrolabe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CAmy+Weber%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amy Weber</a></em></p>
<p>For being part of the supporting cast of deck construction, there might not be a more contentious card type outside of lands than mana rocks (artifacts that tap for mana). Should you run mana rocks? If so, how many? Most importantly, at what mana value do those mana rocks appear?</p>
<p>As the years have gone by and the Commander format has grown, the game has gotten faster. Mana curves have gone down, and relying on artifacts to ramp you isn't what some players want to do anymore. I'm here to say that writing off the rocks isn't the move. Mana rocks deserve a place in your deck, and some of the best just so happen to hit at three on the curve.</p>
<p>Let's take a look at some of the most undervalued three-mana rocks.</p>
<h2>Proliferation and Planeswalkers</h2>
<p>The first two mana rocks that I don't see anyone play work very well together, but there's no requirement that they go in the same deck. As someone who plays both in the same deck, I can tell you it feels exceptional to have both available.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gatewatch Beacon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Glistening Sphere"></div></div>
<p>First up is a mana rock that <em>needs</em> to be run in any planeswalker deck containing <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>. I'm not usually a fan of saying a card <em>needs</em> to be run in a deck, but I'll make an exception for some cards when they're too perfect. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gatewatch Beacon" href="#" target="_blank">Gatewatch Beacon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does something that is underrated in the game: It changes the math.</p>
<p>Not only does this card add mana to help cast your planeswalkers, but it can help accelerate those same planeswalkers to their ultimates. I wonder what planeswalkers have very powerful ultimates that Gatewatch Beacon can help accelerate?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ugin, the Spirit Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Narset of the Ancient Way"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Narset Transcendent"></div></div>
<p>Ugin and the Jeskai Narset both turn into must-answer threats thanks to the beacon. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Narset Transcendent" href="#" target="_blank">Narset Transcendent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will need another time around the table, but with one of the true "game-winning" ultimates in the game, one more turn might be all you need. What's even better is that Gatewatch Beacon is a great play the turn before <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glistening Sphere" href="#" target="_blank">Glistening Sphere</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>The sphere's most significant downside is that it comes in tapped. While that's a bit of a bummer, the trade-off is in the right decks; this card is good on turn three and sometimes better on turn nine. A three-mana colorless effect that can proliferate any counters that you see fit should be something people want to play.</p>
<p>If you find yourself in a deck poisoning opponents, this card gets better when the opposition becomes <em>corrupted. </em>Glistening Sphere is also on the short list of <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=legal%3Dedh+oracle%3Aproliferate+color%3DC+%28game%3Apaper%29+cmc%3C%3D3+prefer%3Abest&amp;unique=cards&amp;as=grid&amp;order=name" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cheap and colorless</a> cards that can proliferate.</p>
<h2>Cursed Copies</h2>
<p>Can a card be played in 211k decks at a 5.70% inclusion rate be considered underrated? Yes, it can because it's one of the best three-mana rocks out there.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cursed Mirror"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cursed Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Cursed Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an absurd card that's so far above rate for a three-mana card. Enters untapped, makes colored mana, and can copy any creature on the battlefield with haste till the end of the turn. What more could anyone ask of a card?</p>
<p>The knobs and dials that could've been turned on this card to make it weaker and still be playable are many. The fact that instead, those dials and knobs were turned up makes me a happy <em>Magic</em> player.</p>
<p>When making deck lists, having cards that can do double duty makes everything easier. Cursed Mirror is as good a mana rock as it's a temporary clone spell.</p>
<h2>Our Untap Step</h2>
<p>Next up are a pair of cards that can be used as scare tactics to antagonize your pod mates.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bender&#039;s Waterskin"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Victory Chimes"></div></div>
<p>Starting with the newer of the two in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bender&#039;s Waterskin" href="#" target="_blank">Bender&#039;s Waterskin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. On the face, it's a simple card that adds one mana of any color. Secretly, this card can strike fear into the hearts of a table. Always having mana up on every untap once again "changes the math." Even if the controller of this card doesn't have anything to cast with the mana, the threat is always there, and sometimes that's enough.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Victory Chimes" href="#" target="_blank">Victory Chimes</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a bit worse when it comes to making mana since it only provides colorless. Being able to politic with your mana rock on every turn is such a cool aspect to the game that this card offers. Everyone has been in a game where a player has an answer but finds themselves just a mana short. You could be the one to give that mana. Helping another player at the table can be the reason the chimes of victory ring for you.</p>
<h2>Is This Card Real?</h2>
<p>With so many cards in the game, finding something you've never seen before is a common occurrence. Mana rocks are no different.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Starnheim Memento"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Astrolabe"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Starnheim Memento" href="#" target="_blank">Starnheim Memento</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can potentially win you the game. For the low price of <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, target creature gets +1/+1 and flying till the end of the turn. That's an extremely cheap rate to give a creature evasion. Small creatures that want to attack can now do it more safely than before.</p>
<p>A mana rock and a combat trick rolled into one. Flying is possibly as underrated as these mana rocks themselves, so putting them both together is a winning combination.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Astrolabe" href="#" target="_blank">Astrolabe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is objectively a card that I've not had the pleasure of playing with or ever seeing played. What I've seen, however, is the card <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Terrarion" href="#" target="_blank">Terrarion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> played more than enough. While this isn't a perfect card-to-card comparison, it's the one I'm going with. At a total of four mana to cast and activate, Astrolabe is a bit expensive, but it returns two mana of any color and a delayed card draw. Terrarion comes in tapped and only totals three mana to do everything with immediate card draw.</p>
<p>Both have individual strengths and weaknesses, and I believe Astrolabe is just a card that people are unaware of, as it's only been printed in <em>Alliances</em>. Inside an artifact shell, this card and its slightly higher mana costs will mean nothing. Cost reduction and graveyard recursion are two things that artifact-based decks do best.</p>
<p>Whether underrated or unknown, both Astrolabe and Starnheim Memento need more chances to shine.</p>
<h2>Wrap Up</h2>
<p>I don't expect this article to change the landscape of mana rocks in Commander. I don't expect three-mana rocks to take over for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arcane Signet" href="#" target="_blank">Arcane Signet</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The thing that designers can't do is innovate on one-mana rocks. If you make something better than Sol Ring, you risk breaking the game in a way that it can't recover from.</p>
<p>When it comes to higher up the mana curve, you can experiment, and that's how we get cards like the ones on this list. All I hope is that when deckbuilding, you take a bit of a longer look at this point on the curve. It might be a bit scary, but I believe in you. I'll even look to up the amount of three-mana rocks I run, since right now I only have them in a fourth of my current stable of decks.</p>
<p>What's your favorite three-mana rock? Which one do you think needs more love? Let me know here or on the internet at nicnax96. Hopefully, all your mana rocks...rock now and for years to come.</p>


3 mana rocks

The Art of Balance in Commander Deckbuilding

The Best Underplayed Three-Mana Rocks for Commander