Mana Crypt
Set Price Alerts

Combos Browse all Suggest

Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Mana Crypt

Artifact

At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, this deals 3 damage to you.

: Add .

rckclimber777 on Build a Deck with Me …

1 week ago

Sometimes when I'm deckbuilding, I focus less on the commander and more on an interesting concept/combo that I want to use or exploit. This is the case with one of my favorite decks in my profile and actually one of the first commander decks I ever built. This deck began years ago when Magic finally started caring about the EDH format. It was a more simple time then, Rhystic study was $1.27 (exactly the price I paid for mine over 10 years ago), Cyclonic Rift was a bulk rare, and demonic tutor could be found for $10.

The combo that I was interested in was Palinchron and Deadeye Navigator. The latter was my favorite card at the time and is still one of my favorites. It was a great tool and with all the ETB effects that were out around then it was an underrated and uber powerful card. In fact, the entire blink mechanic was and is a very powerful strategy.

When I built this deck, I played a few times in shops and was quickly told that edh is a casual format and interaction of any kind is not fair (was told this by a land destruction deck...) So this deck is definitely more on the competitive side, but it would be the distant fringe of cedh. Alright with that let's get into it.

Initial thoughts

So we have a combo that we like Palinchron and Deadeye Navigator, but we don't even have a commander yet and going mono-blue seems not great, so we want to figure out what color(s) to add and what commander to choose. In a combo deck, there are generally three things that I like to make sure I include beyond the normal ramp, and card draw. That is redundancy, the ability to tutor up my combo pieces, and ways to protect my combo. So when thinking about tutoring up my combo pieces, I generally like to have the best tutors. Those are in black. So things like Wishclaw Talisman, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal (if you have money to burn or your playgroup is fine with you proxying the best cards so you can obliterate their precons j/k I proxy all my expensive cards and put them in a binder in case someone has an issue).

So we have Blue and Black and we can certainly add another color if we wanted to, but at the time I liked Dralnu, Lich Lord because Snapcaster Mage was in standard and flashback was cool. So I stuck with it when I revamped it, but decided that I wanted something that could ensure I can protect my combo from any threat and then also use it to win if I wanted to. The answer came in the form of Ertai Resurrected. He can counter basically anything from spells to activated abilities (which will come in handy) or he can take a threat on the field at the cost of letting your opponent draw a card.

So now that we have our commander, how to build the deck?

Redundancy

Combo decks need redundancy. If you don't get your two cards or one of them gets exiled, you need a backup plan, or scooping is your only option. Fortunately, there are some great redundancies here. We have Ghostly Flicker and Displace. Both of these will blink your creatures (ghostly flicker will also blink artifacts). Displacer Kitten can be helpful too, but I don't own it and it is a little more chaotic than I need it to be. Palinchron is great because you can return it to your hand and potentially play it again and create infinite mana through the use of High Tide, but a similar combo that has added benefits is Peregrine Drake, Archaeomancer, and Ghostly Flicker. This bounces both the drake and the archaeomancer untapping 5 lands, and returning ghostly flicker to your hand. Rinse and repeat for infinite mana. Archaeomancer also will help in returning key counterspells and tutors to your hand. Nothing like doing double duty. Mnemonic Wall and Great Whale also fit here. The great thing about this combo is that each component is useful in and of itself. Bring out your Great Whale early untap some lands and do some other stuff or play out the rest of your combo with the untapped lands. Cast Archaeomancer to grab a used tutor for another combo piece.

One note here, if you get Peregrine Drake (or one of the other two) paired with Deadeye Navigator and you generate infinite mana you can now draw your deck with Ertai as commander: Step 1: Bounce Deadeye, when he enters don't soulbond with anyone.
Step 2: Cast Ertai, don't choose anything or if you want kill one of your opponent's creatures. It doesn't matter.
Step 3: Soulbond ertai and deadeye. Step 4: Bounce Deadeye and while that is on the stack bounce Ertai. Step 5: Ertai enters the battlefield counter the Deadeye bounce on the stack Draw a card Step 6: Soulbond ertai and deadeye again rinse and repeat. Draw as many cards as you need. Which means draw until you find your wincon.

Wincon

Since this is an infinite mana combo we need something to use all that mana. Obviously the activated ability on deadeye is great, but we need something to actually win with. I went with Commander's Insight and Blue Sun's Zenith. Both of these cards are useful even when they aren't being used to force your opponents to draw their cards. Blue Sun's Zenith works nicely because once you cast it goes back into your deck, which I showed above you can draw as many cards as you need so you cast it once, put it in your library draw again until you find it, cast it again on the next opponent, then again. You can also tutor them up or bring them back from the graveyard with the tutors or the archaeomancer/mnemonic wall from earlier. I like this more than straight damage, because if you don't have infinite mana these cards will still draw you cards.

Tutors

This is a fairly simple step, we need some good tutors. There are a number of good choices in black so I won't belabor that too much. I don't have some of the standard ones and feel like the deck performs fine with the ones it currently has. I do have a Tribute Mage in the deck because nearly all my mana rocks are 2 mana and so is Wishclaw Talisman. I found that the consistency with the deck is vastly improved by being able to tutor up my ramp. Also with deadeye I can bounce it multiple times and get more rocks or the talisman.

Protecting the combo

So I needed to figure out how to protect my combo and do so in a way that is flexible or can be used as needed. So Counterspell. Honestly, this part was fairly simple, most blue counter magic is here. Only reason Fierce Guardianship isn't here is because I don't have it. Other than that we have the typical cards here Force of Will, Mana Drain, Cyclonic Rift, Force of Negation, Pact of Negation, etc.

I also have a couple other standouts. Venser, Shaper Savant is great here as it can be bounced with Deadeye Navigator to essentially boomerang my opponent's board and all their spells. Ertai Resurrected also protects the combo and with deadeye becomes a nice repeatable counter/removal spell.

glen_elandra_archmage can be bounced when she has her -1/-1 counter allowing her to be used again and again to counter noncreature spells.

Typical stuff

There is a lot of ramp in the deck, so Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, and other mana rocks including some larger ones like Gilded Lotus and Basalt Monolith to really get the ramp going, the sooner you can get to 7-8 mana the sooner you can combo out.

For card draw some key performers here are Rhystic Study, Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena, The One Ring. Mystic Remora. In my initial hand I want to have 3 lands, and one of these/tutor to find one or I typically mulligan.

Special notes

A couple other cards deserve mention here. Time Stretch and Time Warp. These are both repeatable with Archaeomancer and Mnemonic Wall and I can honestly say that if I'm able to resolve either of these, it is unlikely that I'm going to lose, especially Time Stretch. With the ramp in the deck or a well timed Dark Ritual/High Tide I can play this fairly early and get a huge advantage.

Lands

Since this deck tends to be fast, you don't want lands that come into play tapped, so this deck uses fetch lands, shock lands, and duals that have the ability to come in untapped. (there are a couple that come into play tapped, but they are fetchable so I fetch them only when I know that I'm not going to be able to use the mana and only on an opponent's turn.)

I've had this deck for a while and it performs far better than any of my other decks. It always presents interesting lines that if followed will lead to surprising victories. As always let me know what you think in the comments and if you have a commander in mind that you want to see me build put it in the chat.

Here is the final decklist: Unlimited Power!

Profet93 on Gisa: So Undead It’s Criminal

2 weeks ago

Santiago1011

I'm glad I was able to inadvertently point it out. Now for some actual suggestions/thoughts....

Cabal Stronghold - You do not have enough basics to warrant it's inclusion. You need at least 4 basic swamps to make it mana neutral. Assuming you draw 5 basics and stronghold in a row, you only get 1 extra mana. Stronghold is best for budget decks without a lot of non-basics in the mana base. Another potential replacement is Thespian's Stage to copy coffers or opposing utility lands like cradle, nykthos, Crypt of Agadeem, etc... Crypt of Agadeem is also another decent replacement as you run more than 25% creatures. Lastly, my favorite option is Deserted Temple as it allows you to untap your large mana producing lands and has a political aspect as well.

Zombie Master > Zombie Trailblazer - While I understand trailblazer allows you to commit a crime, I feel the redundancy is not needed whereas the protection is super useful. I do understand what most wipes make it so you can't regenerate your creatures, but this is another hurdle for opponents to play around which I believe warrants the swap.

Priest of Forgotten Gods - I get the need for crimes, but the impact of the ability itself really needs to be taken into consideration as well. It's not impactful enough to warrant an inclusion. Perhaps something more on flavor such as Zombie Apocalypse? Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is also a great choice and is a combo enabler

Wayfarer's Bauble - With a deck whose avg cmc is so low, I feel another card in your maybeboard or otherwise could pull more weight. Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt or a more budget friendly Mana Vault can help you establish an earlier board presence.

Last thought, I see feed the swarm for enchantment removal, but how do you deal with artifacts? Perhaps an Oblivion Stone might be worth considering depending on the prevalence of artifacts within your meta and how much trouble they give you.

legendofa on Seeking Advice for Lazav., Dimrir …

1 month ago

Welcome to the club, Danutercisd!

For being a first deck, I'm impressed to see the Mana Crypt, Cyclonic Rift, Fierce Guardianship, The Meathook Massacre, Underground Sea... I'm going to guess that budget isn't a major constraint here.

One of my pet cards for this sort of thing is Geth, Lord of the Vault. It offers milling, reanimation theft for creatures and artifacts, and a pretty big evasive body.

If you like instant-win combos, both Bloodchief Ascension and Duskmantle Guildmage set up full-deck milling and lots of damage with the Mindcrank in the deck.

Another suggestion is to diversify your copy/theft effects. There's a lot of ways to copy opponents' creatures, but you can take them directly with Control Magic, Beguiler of Wills, and similar effects, steal and copy spells with Talent of the Telepath or Twincast, or yank something from their deck with Praetor's Grasp. You opponents are probably going to be doing things beside throwing creatures around, and being able to react to different threats and take advantage of different opportunities is always good.

HeavenlyAxe on

1 month ago

Hey Indie,

First off I really like the lands you have assembled and the suggestions from SufferFromEDHD are all good.

You are definitely going to want an artifact ramp package.

Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo

Special Mention to Nyx Lotus, it could be good being in mono black. and Jeweled Lotus, pays for your commander for free on turn 1 even.

Sword of the Animist is not bad ramp at all and buffs yours rats

Commander's Plate might be cute.

Liliana of the Dark Realms, makes sure you always get a land drop and could make your swamps tap for four.

Chittering Witch if your playing with more opponents.

Crypt Ghast is sort of ramp, but doubles your swamps. Very good in mono black.

Dauthi Voidwalker is not on theme at all but is just sooo much value in a two cost card I have to recommend it.

God-Eternal Bontu is excellent draw power in the right situation.

Dont forget you can run any number of Relentless Rats

Gray Merchant of Asphodel will heal you up a lot and hurt your opponents

Krav, the Unredeemed is also great card draw.

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, has card draw, removal, and proliferate all on one card

Deadly Rollick, potentially free removal

Defile, cheap good removal

Thrilling Encore saves you from a board wipe or lets you bring everything back after sacrificing it all to like God-Eternal Bontu

Phyrexian Arena some ok card draw.

Bojuka Bog if you are worried about graveyards

Mutilate, a good board wipe in mono black

Night's Whisper, Read the Bones, Sign in Blood, are a great draw package for mono black

Toxic Deluge a great board wipe for when things need resetting, and you could follow with Thrilling Encore and get it all back

Syphon Mind is great draw if your playing with more players

Victimize - is really really strong, get rid of one weak thing for two of your best things

Yawgmoth's Will - lets you treat your graveyard like your hand for a turn

Lord Skitter, Sewer King makes rats

Marrow-Gnawer - lets you make lots of rats

Infectious Inquiry - good draw and gives poison

Ogre Slumlord - makes rats when your creatures or your opponents creatures die.

Tangled Colony - if your opponent has to block it or it dies to like Blasphemous Act will make you rats

Vraska's Fall removal and poison counter

Drown in Ichor removal and poison

Bontu's Monument all your creatures cost less

Rat Colony can have any number and they buff themselves, and cost less mana than Relentless Rats

Typhoid Rats deathtouch rat opponents wont want to block

Crypt Rats can board wipe but can also win the game if you give it infect, doesnt work with your commander because toxic specifies combat damage but does work if you give it infect and deal damage with it's ability.

Ratcatcher tutors rats, and gives you card advantage

Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm - buffs your rats and lets you get rats back

Wave of Rats has blitz and reanimates itself

Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni rat that steals opponents stuff

Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion rat that steals opponents stuff

Adaptive Automaton is a rat and buffs rats

Okiba-Gang Shinobi rat makes opponents discard and has ninjutsu

Filth gives all your rats swampwalk pairs well with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Dark Ritual lets your get a head start or some extra mana a turn you need it

Tainted Strike instant speed infect, funny in multiplayer because you can use it on anyone's creatures.

Phyresis Outbreak gives poison and might kill opponents creatures

Feed the Swarm enchantment removal in black

Vat Emergence gets a creature back and proliferates

Spread the Sickness destroys a creatures and proliferates

Pact of the Serpent strong tribal card draw

Living Death swap graveyards with battlefields, great after sacrificing your whole board to draw cards

Skullclamp sack small rats for card draw

Thrumming Stone if you go the Relentless Rats or Rat Colony route

Coat of Arms your rats will be huge

Bolas's Citadel this card is dumb lol, lots of casting power and then you hit Gray Merchant of Asphodel and keep going lol

Icon of Ancestry kinda draw buffs rats...is ok

Contagion Engine proliferate twice each time you activate

Eldrazi Monument gives creatures flying indestructible and +1/+1

Grafted Exoskeleton gives a creature infect, great with Crypt Rats

Sword of Truth and Justice proliferate sword

Bad Moon buff all black creatures, opponents too

Phyresis gives infect again good with Crypt Rats

Greed card draw

Vraska, Betrayal's Sting proliferate planes walker

I know that's a lot but hopefully gave you some ideas to work with!

Profet93 on Azami, Lady of Sudden Victory

3 months ago

The_Dragonmaster

Sadly, cEDH is not my scene. From what little I know, Concentrate is not good for cEDH given you're paying 4 mana to draw 3 cards when your commander already draws cards at instant speed rather than sorcery speed.

Ancient Tomb > Temple of false

Fierce Guardianship/Force of Will/Misdirection - Free counterspell

Mana Crypt/Jeweled Lotus - Ramp

What is the purpose of Perpetual Timepiece?

Counterspell, Arcane Denial, Mana Drain > Desertion

Mind Stone > Chromatic lantern. Lantern's benefit is for multi-color decks, not mono. Coalition Relic also fits the 3cmc slot and is colored mana if you really want something similar yet better. But mindstone comes down more quickly and can be draw when you don't need it so it usually sees more play

Your avg cmc is relatively high for cEDH. Might want to bring it closer to 3.20. I can give you ideas for more cuts should you wish.

TypicalTimmy on Card creation challenge

4 months ago

Glendalyn the Magnificent

Legendary Creature - Gnome Artificer

At the beginning of your upkeep, you may reveal the top card of your library. If you reveal an artifact or a land, create a treasure token. Otherwise you may put it on the bottom of your library.

Sacrifice X treasure, : Create a token copy of a nontoken artifact with mana value X or less. If that token is a creature, it gains haste until end of turn.

One strike to superheat the metal. One strike to shape it. And one more strike to sign it, just for good measure.

2/2

Mana Crypt and Sol Ring have entered the chat.

She strikes (LOL) me as a Kill On Sight Commander, because of how absolutely huge her potential can become in such a short amount of time.

Make another KOS Commander.

Profet93 on Ob Nixilis, of the Combo

4 months ago

Willmsy

I haven't kept up with anything past March 2020.

Syphon Mind - Draw 3, opponents discard 1 each.

Read the Bones - Draw with scry

Sign in Blood/Night's Whisper/Ancient Craving - Simple draw

Necropotence - Super draw

Mana Vault

Mana Crypt

Grim Monolith

Basalt Monolith - I am actually not a fan of this one, grim monolith is better because it can bring your commander down Turn 3. Basalt + Rings + 2 mana = Infinite colorless. Add a Sensei's Divining Top to draw your whole deck. Note; Adding top to the rings + deserted temple + coffers combo also allows you to draw (and then cast) your entire deck

Dark Ritual - Helpful in a pinch

Bubbling Muck - Super ramp. Be careful with urborg out though as it affects all players.

Jet Medallion - Cost reducer

Mind Stone - Ramp when you need it, draw when you don't

I don't recommend everything above, just wanted to give you options to consider based on budget, availability and preference. Let me know if you would like suggestions for cuts.

phatkattz7 on Xenegos, God of Revels 2000 …

5 months ago

So I was playing Xenagos, God of Revels the other day, when things got out of hand VERY VERY fast. I am interested to hear any experiences others may have had with a non Cedh, power 9/10 deck without an infinite loop, that got out of hand quickly. Secondly, if I am wrong about my damage somewhere, let me know, I am doing this off the top of my head and during the game, I was shaking with excitement and was struggling to think lol.

T1) Mana Crypt, Taiga, Combat Celebrant.

T2) Mountain, Jeweled Lotus, Sneak Attack.

T3) Mountain, Sacrifice Jeweled Lotus, Cast Xenagos, God of Revels, Leaving Mana Crypt and a Mountain untapped to cast Wheel of Fortune.

T4) Play Kessig Wolf Run.

Load more