Mana VaultMana Vault | Art by Steve Prescott

Outside of lands, the average cEDH deck is comprised mostly of three card types: instants, sorceries, and artifacts. Instant and sorceries cover your rituals, tutors, interaction, and a good deal of win-cons.

Artifacts, meanwhile, are the less flashy - but all the more game warping - core card type in cEDH. They provide long-lasting advantage, contain their fair share of combo pieces, and - more so than pretty much any other card type (save for the core three enchantment engines - Rhystic StudyRhystic Study, Mystic RemoraMystic Remora, and Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe) - have tremendous impact on the distribution of resources across a game.

So, what are the ten best artifacts in cEDH? Let's find out.

But, before we do, a quick note - this list covers cards that are artifacts only. You won't find Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel on here. With that out of the way, onto the list.

#10 - The One RingThe One Ring

Kicking off with the newest card on our list (and one of just two without a mana ability), we have The One Ring. For , this legendary artifact grants you protection from everything when it enters until your next turn and prevents you life total from changing until your next turn (provided that you cast it).

Additionally, at the beginning of your upkeep you lose one life for each burden counter on The One Ring. How does it get those? Well, it has the activated ability ": Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring."

Four mana is a lot to pay for just one card (at first), but thankfully all of that mana is generic, meaning it can pretty easily be cast early on either through rituals or through plenty of the other mana rocks on our list, making a turn two (or even turn one) cast pretty reasonable. Couple that with any of the myriad untap effects currently running around cEDH (Minamo, School at Water's EdgeMinamo, School at Water's Edge and Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse, to name a few), and you have a pretty potent engine.

#9 - Grim MonolithGrim Monolith

Next up is our first combo piece, albeit one that is plenty-playable on its own just for the mana.

For , Grim Monolith is an artifact that doesn't untap during your untap step. It has ": Add ," and ": Untap this artifact." If activated immediately, Grim Monolith is effectively a +1 ritual. Not bad, but not great.

Hold off for a single turn, however, and suddenly that's +3 mana at instant speed - a much more attractive rate. Plus, if it's ever enchanted by Power ArtifactPower Artifact, Grim Monolith can produce infinite colorless, as its untap ability gets reduced to only costing to activate.

#8 - Wishclaw TalismanWishclaw Talisman

Here at number eight is Wishclaw Talisman, the only colored artifact on our list.

For , Wishclaw Talisman is an artifact that enters with three wish counters on it. It has ", , Remove a wish counter from this artifact: Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle. An opponent gains control of this artifact. Activate only during your turn."

In practice, this is essentially a copy of Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor that either costs one mana more or one mana less to use, depending on whether you activate Wishclaw Talisman the same turn you play it or on a later turn. Add to that the political ramifications of passing the Talisman and not immediately winning then-and-there and you have all the makings of an exciting piece of leverage that can unlock tricky game states.

#7 - Mox OpalMox Opal

From here on out it's all mana rocks - Lotuses, Moxen, Diamonds, the whole plethora. So, what's first? Mox Opal.

For , Mox Opal is a legendary artifact that can tap to provide any color of mana, but only if you control three or more artifacts (itself included). That's an absurdly powerful rate (immediately going +1 on mana the turn you play it), but the metalcraft requirement is a pretty real bar.

Green decks will cut this rock more frequently as a result, swapping it out for any of the mana dorks that the color has access to, but just about every non-green deck out there has some interest in this card. If you've got more than ten artifacts in your list, Mox Opal is probably one of them.

#6 - Lotus PetalLotus Petal

Next up, Lotus Petal. For , this artifact is one-third of a Black LotusBlack Lotus - just tap and sacrifice it to add one mana of any color. Sweet and simple.

The fact that this artifact can only be used once is outweighed by the fact that it has no conditions to activate it and that it can be played just about anywhere. Even green runs Elvish Spirit GuideElvish Spirit Guide, and the logic is the same here: one mana for one card is a pretty solid rate in cEDH.

#5 - Mana VaultMana Vault

Here at the halfway mark is Grim MonolithGrim Monolith's older brother, Mana Vault.

For , Mana Vault is an artifact that doesn't untap during your untap step, deals one damage to you during your draw step if it is tapped, and has ": Add ." You can untap it by paying during your upkeep as part of a triggered ability.

Mana Vault's increased difficulty to untap (paying only during the upkeep) and decreased mana cost ( vs Grim Monolith's ) makes it operate far more like a ritual than anything else. Adding either +2 on mana the turn you play it or +3 a later turn is well within the upper-end of cEDH's suite of rituals, which is why any deck that could want a burst of colorless mana turns first to Mana Vault.

#4 - Mox DiamondMox Diamond

Time for our second Mox (and our first Diamond).

For , Mox Diamond is an artifact that can tap to add one mana of any color. However, Mox Diamond comes with a tricky enters condition: if it would enter the battlefield, you have to discard a land. If you do, Mox Diamond enters. If you don't, Mox Diamond is put straight into the graveyard. (This is a replacement effect, which means that - if you skip discarding a land - your Mox Diamond never even enters the battlefield in the first place.)

So, Mox Diamond is strict card advantage. That said, we've already seen that one mana for one card is a pretty solid rate in cEDH. So, while Mox Diamond is one mana for two cards, don't forget that it's one mana repeatedly available throughout the game.

#3 - Lion's Eye DiamondLion's Eye Diamond

Our second Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond is an artifact that is far more often a combo piece than anything else - but that's not its only role.

For , Lion's Eye Diamond has "Sacrifice Lion's Eye Diamond, Discard your hand: Add three mana of any one color. Activate only as an instant." Breaking that down, this means that Lion's Eye Diamond can't abuse the rules of mana abilities to provide mana for casting a spell that was in your hand. What it can pay for, however, are spells cast from anywhere else: exile, graveyard, command zone, or even cards you're just about to put into your hand off of Ad NauseamAd Nauseam or NecropotenceNecropotence.

Beginning with the fairest uses of this card (which is still Black LotusBlack Lotus levels of mana), the sequencing usually goes like this: spend some mana to Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune, hold priority, activate Lion's Eye Diamond in response. The mana from Diamond can't cast the Wheel, but it can be used on anything you draw off of it. Similarly, if you've got a really powerful commander, sometimes trading your hand for three mana is worthwhile: a turn one Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun is possible thanks to Lion's Eye Diamond.

As for the broken stuff, Lion's Eye Diamond is a core component of the most efficient Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach packages out there, serving as an excellent way to fuel both the mana requirement of escape costs as well as providing an initial batch of discarded cards to pitch to exile.

#2 - Chrome MoxChrome Mox

On to the final two, starting with our final Mox.

Chrome Mox is an artifact for that, when it enters, has an imprint ability that asks you to exile a nonartifact, nonland card from your hand. Chrome Mox can then tap to add one mana of any of the imprinted card's colors.

At face value, Chrome Mox is arguably a worse version of Mox DiamondMox Diamond - Mox Diamond adds mana of any color, the card you pitch is discarded, not exiled (so you can use it as graveyard fodder later on), and you only have to pitch a land - not some useful nonland card. That last requirement, however, is actually a trap: just from a numbers perspective, the average cEDH deck has around 2.5 nonland cards in it for every land. So, the odds of not having anything to discard to Mox Diamond are significantly greater than that of not having anything to exile to Chrome Mox. This also means that Chrome Mox is the actual piece of ramp here; Mox Diamond is just accelerating.

Picture this: it's turn one, you've played your land for turn, and you have Mox Diamond, one other land in your hand, and a nonland card. You can play Mox Diamond now, have two mana on turn one, and discard your land. If you do that and don't draw a land on turn two, then you've effectively wasted a card. However, if you swap Mox Diamond for Chrome Mox, then you can pitch the nonland card on turn one and still make a land play guaranteed on turn two, setting you up for three mana on turn two.

This is why the land-vs-nonland distinction matters with these Moxen, and it's why Chrome Mox comes out on top.

#1 - Sol RingSol Ring

Last but certainly not least, what else could it be but Sol Ring?

Sol Ring is the face of Commander, and for good reason. For , this artifact is an immediate +1 on mana the turn you play it, as well as a +2 for each subsequent turn of the game. Played early, that's the exact kind of cumulative mana advantage that can make or break a cEDH game, and nothing really comes close.

Wrap Up

I hope this list has come to show not just how powerful artifacts are in cEDH, but also how central they are to the format - especially mana bases. The One RingThe One Ring and Wishclaw TalismanWishclaw Talisman are powerful pieces of card advantage and selection, respectively, but by-and-large the legacy of artifacts in cEDH is one defined by mana.