Commander is one of the more stable formats inMagic: The Gathering’s repertoire of formats, but that doesn’t mean that shake-ups will happen from time to time. One of the biggest changes to the format happened with the banning of four staple cards from higher levels of play.
Of those four cards, one of the most prestigious of them was Mana Crypt,an exceptionally powerful mana rockthat has been a staple in plenty of decks over the years. If you are wondering what led to Mana Crypt getting banned, we have all the details you need.
What Is Mana Crypt?
The infamous artifact has long been a powerful card in Commander, partly because of thelong-time exclusivity of the cardand the sheer power it provides.
This zero-mana artifact adds two generic mana to your mana pool, all at the cost of a little bit of life, sometimes. The big drawback of this huge mana rock is that at the start of your turn, you have to flip a coin.Losing that flip means you take three damage, while if you win you don’t.
You can immediately see why Mana Crypt is so good. For literally no investment,you get to add two generic mana.
Another part of what makes Mana Crypt so valued by Commander players is that getting one, at least getting a legitimate physical copy, was incredibly difficult for years.You could not open a Mana Crypt in packsback when it was released in 1995.
The only way you could add this card to your collection was by purchasing theMagic: The Gathering Book Final Sacrifice, mailing a special coupon to the publisher, Harper Prism, and then waiting for the card to come back via mail.
Other cards from this promotion include:
Once that promotional period was over, there was no other way ofobtaining the exclusive promo carduntil it wasfinally reprinted in 2016’s Eternal Mastersas a Mythic Rare.
Technically, it was released again in 2011 as a Judge Promo card, but those are exclusively given to Magic’s Judges and aren’t widely released.
Mana Crypt was released in the Special Guests portion of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. You could open a regular copy or theCosmium Neon Ink variants, which all come in fancy colors.
What Makes Mana Crypt So Good?
It’s easy to see what can lead Mana Crypt to being banned. Having access to two manabefore you even play your first land gives you an incredible advantage.
You can either play a land and cast a three-mana spell, or get the mana out of Mana Crypt, play another mana rock or two like Sol Ring or Arcane Signet, and possibly a spell while you are at it.
All this lets youuntap on your second turn with anywhere between three to five mana, which is plenty of space to play any remaining cards you have left in your hand or to cast a larger Commander.
The downside to Mana Crypt, and what theoretically helps to balance out this zero-mana mana rock, is that you havea 50/50 chance to hit yourself for three points of damage at the top of your turn.
Realistically though, you’ll end up taking a few points of damage, which can be nothing in a formatwhere you start with 40 healthwhile taking the extra mana and using it to catapult yourself several turns ahead of your opponents.
Why Did Mana Crypt Have To Be Banned?
The idea behind banning cards isto keep the game healthy, and players happy, and to help players be as creative as possible with their deck building.
If there are too many cards that are considered staples in every deck, like Mana Crypt,it can lead to a narrowing of deck variance.
Mana Crypt isalso an exceptionally fast card. you’re able to fire off a ton of spells in the earliest turns of a match that might normally take three or four turns to get going.
There are few other cards like Mana Crypt in Magic, withthe other similar card, Jeweled Lotus, also receiving a ban, while the more widely accepted and available Sol Ring being safe from any bannings.
Okay, So What About Sol Ring?
Sol Ring isa bit of a conundrum for Magic players and the Commander Rules Committee, the organizing body behind the Commander Banlist that Wizards of the Coast follows.
As it stands, there iszero movement or discussion around banning the ever-present mana rock.
Sol Ring requires a mana commitment of one mana, and whileit offers similar power by generating two generic mana when you tap it, without the pesky downside that Mana Crypt has, it has other things going for it.
Sol Ring quickly became a standout card for Commander players, both being picked for its explosive mana generation andfor being just a fun card.
Removing Sol Ring from the format would be a huge blow to the identity of the game and havea huge impact on casual and competitive players alike.
