Summary
There are a lot of ways for Commander players to jump ahead in turns inMagic: The Gathering. From ramp spells to mana-producing creatures to artifacts that generate bonus mana, you have a wide range of cards to pick from.
Fast mana refers to a special type of card that produces more mana on the turn you play it than it costs to play. If that’s a bit confusing, don’t worry, we gathered up the best of the best for you to take a look at and determine if you want to run in your deck.
10Sol Ring
The Classic
Perhaps the most obvious pick forfast mana is the everpresent Sol Ring. You can find this artifact in practically every preconstructed Commander deck, and in most constructed Commander decks you make at home.
There’s practically no reason not to run Sol Ring in a deck, especially when you can play a Sol Ring on your first turn, and follow it up immediately with a two-mana mana rock like Arcane Signet or a Thought Vessel. Thanks to it being everywhere, and being a little too easy to pick up since most players have a copy of this card already, we added it first, not because it’s the worst, but because everyone already knows about it.
9Mox Amber
Legendary Specific
A zero-mana artifact that produces a mana is gold in Commander, especially since you don’t have to sacrifice it to get a use out of it. Unfortunately, Mox Amber has a stipulation with it that keeps it from being optimal early in the game.
Mox Amber can only produce mana equal to a color from among legendary creatures or planeswalkers you control. This downside is mitigated by having cheap legendary creatures like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, or even better, Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy since this two mana commander will make your Mox Amber tap for two mana instead.
8Lion’s Eye Diamond
Who Needs A Hand?
An exceptionally powerful card and a rather valuable one to boot, Lion’s Eye Diamond has only been printed in Mirage, contributing to its high price. Lion’s Eye Diamond requires no mana commitment to cast, but in order to get three mana out of it, you have to discard your hand.
This makes the card exceptionally narrow to use in most decks, though that’s not to say it doesn’t have a place in commander. If your commander is something like Emry, Lurker of the Loch, you’re able to pitch your hand to Lion’s Eye Diamond, take the three blue mana to cast Emry, and then on a later turn use her to recover the Lion’s Eye Diamond plus any other artifacts you pitched.
7Lotus Petal
A Zero For One Trade
Getting something for nothing feels great, especially in a game like Commander where getting value over your opponents is everything. Lotus Petal helps you get mana positive with little to no effort, all while setting you up for combos and more.
This zero mana artifact just has to be tapped and sacrificed to add one mana to your mana pool. If you’re still looking to build Emry, Lurker of the Loch and can’t afford a Lion’s Eye Diamond, you’re able to jam a Mirran Spy with Emry and Lotus Petal, to get an infinite loop going to get you infinite mana, enter and leave the battlefield triggers, and even an infinite storm count.
6Gemstone Caverns
Lands are a pretty easy way to get ahead on mana, especially with cards like Ancient Tomb going around. But those cards can be a bit boring, so how about something to spice up your deck?
Gemstone Caverns is a wild land, which if it’s in your opening hand, and you’re not the starting player, you can just start the game with it in play and with a luck counter on it. In exchange, you have to exile another card from your hand, so you’re starting the game with only five cards. However, you can add one mana to your mana pool of any color.
5Grim Monolith
Don’t Look So Grim
For just two mana you can generate three mana, making Grim Monolith a pretty darn good fast mana rock for Commander, but there are two things holding this card back. One, it’s expensive, running more than $250 on average so it’s not the best for all players.
Secondly, it doesn’t untap normally during your untap step. If you want to get Grim Monolith untapped you have to pay four mana. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to make the most out of this artifact, like Nyxbloom Ancient to generate triple the amount of mana or Zirda, the Dawnwaker to reduce the cost to untap it by two generic mana.
4Chrome Mox
Upgrading A Card For Mana
Chrome Mox is one of those cards that is a staple in plenty of Commander decks, and it is easy to see why. For zero mana you get a mana rock that all you have to do is exile a nonartifact, nonland card from your hand to use, giving you mana equal to one of the exiled card’s colors.
Chrome Mox just eats the worst card in your hand, or whatever card gives you the most access colors that you need on your first turn. Effectively, Chrome Mox and other similar artifacts act as bonus lands or replace basic lands in a deck.
3Gaea’s Cradle
The Big Green Land
There’s no way around the fact that Gaea’s Cradle is a fantastic way to generate tons of mana with no direct input, though it is dependent on how many creatures you have in play. So long as you have at least one creature out, it’s as good as a basic Forest.
Once you get even just three creatures out, Gaea’s Cradle is better than practically every other land in the game. The big downside with Gaea’s Cradle is that it is consistently running more than $800, so it’s a hefty commitment for any deck.
2Jeska’s Will
You Can’t Deny It
There’s no way around the fact that if you’re looking to get a lot of mana at once, you have Jeska’s Will to get it for you. This three mana spell can be cast as early as turn two with the right set up (looking at you Sol Ring), and can easily net between five to seven mana depending on your opponent’s hands.
Jeska’s Will has two modes that are sometimes forgotten about:
If you have your commander out, which might be a bit rarer unless you’re late in the game, you get to pick both of them, giving you a few cards to use that extra mana on.
1Dark Ritual
It Goes To A Good Cause
Dark Ritual is one of those cards that is explosive in mana when used right, though late in the game it can be a bit of a dead card. For one mana this instant spell generates three black mana, which is great especially if you’re trying to accelerate out a commander.
While it only does one thing, opening a game with a Dark Ritual into a commanderlike Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, or even Tinybones, Trinket Thief, and a Thoughtsieze on your first turn is pretty darn good.
