I like to proliferate, so Astral Cornucopia is one that I like. It is technically a 0 Mana rock, but doesn't do anything unless you pay at least 3, so I think it still counts.
Graveyard Meta runs rampant in my playgroup, so Honored Heirloom will forever have a place in my mana rocks - just 'cause sometimes you gotta fizzle a recursion combo.
A cool extra turns episode after you’ve done enough of these would be to build a deck utilizing the cards you drafted but you can’t play the cards the others drafted.
The fact that machine god effigy is NOT a creature is actually the biggest upside. Enters the battlefield, copy your opponent sheoldred or any other gamewarping creature and get yourself a much harder version to remove.
Chromatic Lantern may not be the best 3 Mana rock but it still has its place. It’s almost required in decks that what a lot of Colorless Lands and Multiple Colors too. A Devoid Eldrazi deck like the MH3 Eldrazi Precon is a good example of a deck that wants access to Colored and Colorless Mana. Desert decks also benefit greatly from Chromatic Lantern because most Deserts aside from, and including ones added in OTJ produce Colorless Mana.
Aye, pretty much any WUBRG Omnath list can benefit from it quite well. Unless you're running some life gain, just using pain lands all the way through really isn't a solve.
It's not required because it's 1/100 card and you're statistically unlikely to draw it. So you have to build your manabase assuming you won't have Chromatic Lantern in play anyway, which makes it redundant.
I will say that I run Coveted Jewel in as many decks as I can. Whenever it hits the table, it immediately causes more chaos and greed than monarch or initiative. Players will sacrifice most of their board just for the chance to draw 3 for an answer. It's such a fun, underrated card
I wish i could drop it in decks casually more - meaning no way to sac it instant speed or copy it or something. The decks in my pod are so optimized, and the play patterns so sweaty, that i just cant afford to cut a 6 mana turn in half to make my opponents benefit from it so much. Plus i found, much like monarch/initiative, that the dominant player usually gets it very easily and holds it very well.
@mofomiko agreed i have it in my token deck and it helps to draw stuff with it but it makes you a target cause everyone wants that card draw so if you have it you better be prepared to defend it. I let people take it so it would take focus off me and they will kill each other while I'm slowly building a army
I think Cultivator’s Caravan is underrated and deserves honorable mention. Great as a potential blocker to deter attacks, sneaky after creature board wipes because crew doesn’t care about summoning sickness of the newly played creatures, and a free “tap outlet” for the growing list of creatures that benefit from being tapped. Especially effective if your commander has at least 3 power. Side note: it’s getting a reprint in foundations.
@darkfaithful for my monoU sphinx deck I was going between Sceptre or Throne, and Sceptre won out because 4mv curved out from all the 2mv ramp. 5mv was just too much
@@alexliang1040 Same thing for my monoU Bruvac deck. Perhaps that reasoning is more valid fo blue decks, since we really don't care for the extra draw in Throne (there are more efficient ways of drawing in monoU). We struggle with ramp, so the lower mana curve makes more sense.
When Rachel said, "we're drafting, well, fantasy drafting" ... I thought it would be amazing to see an actual video of a draft from the command zone team
@vasylpark2149 i highly recommend playing a card called over the top, it goes so hard with all the treasures, and if u dont think u can win, it can add enough rng to either allow u to win or let someone else win
i pretty much slam Crowded Crypt into any deck where i expect a lot of creatures to die, be it by my hand or my opponents; that card is a very quickly growing army in a can
I'd argue that Carnelian orb is better, since most of the time my stuff just gets boardwiped, but with haste it still gets to swing that turn, and all the ancient dragons which care about dealing combat damage really need to swing. But both is best 😊
You went over in honorable mentions a lot of stuff I might've picked but I want to shoutout some others not top but niche, "coalition relic" I think is pretty good being able to store a mana at instant speed, or more with proliferate, for a stronger next turn is good, the other "Victory chimes", it can give other players mana in fringe cases, if you like playing at instant speed a lot it untaps each other players untap, so it can be 2 3 or 4 mana a turn cycle. "Hourglass of the lost" is another, white mana early or cache it in for reanimation later on
I like token decks, so I'm kinda sad Skyclave Relic wasn't mentioned. Base line is Darksteel Ingot, which is fine, but for 6 mana you get 3, and with Mondrak or doubling season it gets silly.
When he said Chromatic Orrery, I was so excited, I love that card. It was the first 3+ mana rock that I thought of when I saw the video, opportunity cost of 2 and all your mana is any color. It even goes great in decks that don't need colors because only losing 2 on the current turn to have an additional 5 going forward is amazing (if you are a deck that needs 12 mana, I run it in near cEDH Eldrazi titan tribal where I tend to win games the turn after I resolve it).
Around 38:20 in, where Rachel talks about building monocoloured decks: The first monocoloured EDH deck I sketched out and eventually built was monogreen control with Dosan, the Falling Leaf. When I next went to brew a monocoloured deck, I decided to try with commons only, and started with Red, because I figured if I could do that, I could do any colour combination with only commons and make it run well. Joven ended up heading it and I'm finding I'm enjoying brewing monocoloured decks that do unusual things and finding ways to deal with problems others don't normally have to contend with - Joven runs Aftershock, Fissure, Lava Flow, and Introduction to Annihilation to kill creatures outright, for example. Also for monocoloured decks, Sceptre of Eternal Glory (from 40k) is really good because it's either a slightly more expensive Manalith, or once you have three lands with the same name (eg Swamp), it's a cheaper Gilded Lotus. I would love to see an episode like this for "Manaliths with upside", by which they have to cost 3 mana and tap for any colour - and have some other ability as well. At common, I think Honored Heirloom is a great Manalith.
I only run 3 mana rocks if their secondary effects work with my deck. Commander sphere gets ripped out of all my pre cons. I am shocked it was picked by anybody.
Same, i will take Chromatic Lantern, or Decanter of endless water over commander sphere any day. I have 2-3 color decks that I run nyx lotus in over commander sphere even.
I was kinda surprised that Chromatic Lanturn didn't get picked or was an honorable mention. Sure it's just a plain rock at it's core but color fixing your mana for the entire game is pretty valuable if you are in a 4 or 5 color deck.
@Russian_engineer_bmstu yeah cus it has actual utility besides color fixing which should theoretically never be an issue, especially when they make more and better duals every year
@@alexliang1040 Sure but how many CASUAL commander players are going to spend hundreds of dollars on all the fetches and shocks for their 5 color deck? it's a bit redundant if you can craft a perfect manabase, but outside of tons of expendable income or proxies, it's extremely reasonable to run Chromatic Lantern to help smooth out your plays.
I've found that my decks that want Inspiring Statuary also want Clock of Omens. The clock has eaten my opponents removal spells in equipment decks when a sol ring or thran dynamo is out.
I love Inspiring Statuary in my Kozilek, the Great Distortion deck. All of my equipment suddenly become mana rocks. Just have to remember to tap Kozilek independently of the equipment attached to him
Misleading Signpost is an awesome card in "Play a land and pass" type decks, where you're looking to hold up mana and cast spells on other people's turns. It's great because you can use that 3 mana for something else that you need, but if someone attacks you, you can easily flash it in and protect yourself and then have a rock to tap for more spells later. I have a Faerie Spellslinger deck that it does wonders in.
Interesting how Worn power stone and Coalition relic where not picked or even mentioned. As they are the closet thing to the the traditional 2 mana rocks. Sure one comes into play taped, but having access to 6 mana on turn 4 can be a big deal particularly if you are running a high costed commander.
I've thought about putting Strixhaven Stadium in a Felix Five-Boots deck. Seems like it'd be pretty good synergy, but I agree that it's really tough putting it down as a mana rock.
I have had atleast 2 instances in the last year where i had Midnight clock out vs a mill strategy and it has saved me on the critical turn and given me a new grip. Loveeeeee midnight clock
I'm with Rachel on making mono coloured decks. It started as a personal challenge when I first started building my own decks and now mono is all I play.
Ditto! I made a new year's resolution to create at least 1 of each monocolor deck by the end of the year. All I have left is to make Diamond/Colorless, I love them all :)
500 Year Diary has the same problem as Nyx Lotus in that it comes in tapped; but it counts as a Clue, you can sac it for a card like a Clue and if you untap with it, you’re probably getting a boatload of Blue mana.
15:00 Thran Dynamo is good, but did you forget about Sceptre of Eternal Glory? 4 Mana for 3 of any color? It's legendary, and a slight restriction, but not so much if playing 1 or 2 color decks. 42:31 I replace Commander's Sphere with Sonic Screwdriver in every deck that I have. It can untap an Artifact creature, or even a good mana rock, and the threat of unblockable is huge. and worst case it's a scry 1. Nyx Lotus does count all devotion, so yes, after a board wipe it's weaker, but your enchantments stull add to it. And sure, you might need to rebuild a bit, but in a mono color deck, it helps a lot. Plus, it does combo well with Sonic Screwdriver. Double devotion gain.
i know in most decks its not great, but with proliferate or extra upkeeps, i have fallen in love with replicating ring. goes pretty crazy with obeka splitter of seconds.
No Wand of the Worldsoul? I feel like it's absolutely GREAT in decks with any amount of white mana that go wide. It's great whether it's early game or late game, sure it comes in tapped but it allows you to either always have mana up to cast defensive spells or also to just push out big spells during your turn as well. That "Your next spell has convoke" is a sneaky and powerful effect for just 3 mana and coming in tapped.
Sculpting Steel is always in my mana rocks pile. Almost every commander game will have artifact ramp, and frequently that ramp will be sol ring, making it an untapped worn powerstone. Mid to late game it can be whatever the biggest artifact on the table is. Mirrormade and Phyrexian Metamorph also count as three-mana rocks for the same reason. I count Dack Fayden and Thieving Skydiver as ramp when deckbuilding too to snag an opponent's rock, but they're not really rocks themselves.
i feel like inspiring statuary really shines in decks that make artifact tokens. any food, clue, or treasure strategies now turn all those mid artifacts you've been spamming into mana rocks for the bulk of your deck.
I've been having a lot of fun playing Misleading Signpost. Lategame it can save you and/or kill someone else. In the early game you can keep up interaction (or pretend to do so) and it still doesn't feel bad if you cast it before your next turn just for mana.
It’d be cool someday if they made decks and played each other with cards they drafted in all their fantasy drafts. Like an ultimate fantasy commander duel or something
9:30 I respect the hell out of Midnight clock, but I swear... every time I've drawn it, it has been into a hand I didn't want to shuffle away... that's the only reason I don't run it. The card just hates me for some reason...
Machine God's effigy is a combo piece that is amazing in cEDH. It combos most often with devoted druid but because it isn't a creature it goes infinite because the downside of the untap doesn't affect a non creature card. Meaning you pair it with a creature that's downside is based on it being a creature and then your left only with an upside.
1:00:44 strixhaven stadium is amazing. I have it in my anowon rogue tribal deck and it does so much work with all those unblockables. I nearly built a rigo streetwise mentor deck with it too.
I rub throne of eldraine in my Zada Hedron grinder deck and I LOVE it. It’s saved me when I ran out of gas, and the 4 red when I have a hand full of cards is also really good
Thinking about the whole "3 mana rock with something stapled to it" thing gave me an idea for a decent one. 3 or 4 mana, taps for blue. At the beginning of your upkeep you may pay 3 life. If you do, draw a card and this rock gains, "T: add a black" until end of turn. Feels flavorful in terms of color identity...
I really like Phyrexian Totem in my Shirei deck, great for boardwipes and if they damage the idol you can just sack little guys for Shirei. Crowded Crypt, Dragon Hoard, Misleading Signpost, Wand of the Worldsoul, Hourglass of the Lost, Forger's Foundry, Progenitor's Icon, Haunted Screen, and many more... they've just been going ham with so many cool 3 mana rocks in the last few years!
I’m surprised staff of compleation isn’t on here. The ability to just pay life to do so many different things is so useful in commander where life is such a resource.
the problem with midnight clock is, like Jimmy says, it eats removal as you get to the 12th hour counter, so you sit there waiting and you never see the pay off
Inspiring Statuary is excellent in Shilgengar for the same reason. The synergy almost has to be with token artifacts, because nontoken ones are usually mana rocks or individually valuable enough themselves that you don't want to tap them for 1 mana...but not a bad option.
Glad to see a Strixhaven Stadium shoutout; it's criminally underrated in go-wide token decks where it essentially works like a mini "Triumph of the Hordes" to give all your 1/1 fliers Toxic 1
Strixhaven Stadium does INCREDIBLE work with Cowboy Gonti, it just synergizes so well with a deck that wants 30+ cheap evasive creatures swinging at 3 players
A 3+ cmc mana has to do much more than ramp, so much so that the principle purpose should be the non-ramp effect and the ramp is just a bonus. Cursed Mirror is the perfect example: it's a combo piece that can win you the game and outside of the combo it can get decent value by copying a good EtB and ramp on top of that.
How do y’all feel on “Mirran Safehouse”? It can act as a mana rock if another land is put in the graveyard (which isn’t hard to do), but I mainly use it as land ramp with fetch lands in several green-less decks.
I would really love to see a cycle of three mana rocks that tapped for two colors and had an additional effect that was closely tied to those colors similar to the sword cycle.
Oh i loooooove Sonic Screwdriver! I never use the Scry (though it's gravy on there) but i love that it can untap something or make a creature unblockable. I have it in my Kozilek the Great Distortion deck as well as one or two others. I think it's way underrated.
41:25 Here's a question - if Sonic Screwdriver had a Universes Within reprint called like Urza's Spyglass or something, would it be in your decks already?
I have an idea for a 3mana rock: Rockside Extortionist which would have “t, scar it: add 1 mana any color” and “when enters, create a treasure for each artifact and enchantment your opponents control” :P
Thanks for this, I am gonna go hunt for a chromatic orrary for my Belbe deck and a throne of eldraine for my angels, Didn't know those cards existed :)
Rachel and I are on the exact same wavelength, it’s crazy. I immediately thought to Josh’s Thran Dynamo pick “I never would have thought about that and i still wouldn’t even have had that on my list and I’m sure Rachel didn’t either”
Machine God's Effigy is a haymaker in my Mishra Emminent One deck, keep eyeing it for my Brago deck too. But I agree that narrow designs is perfect for 3 mana or more rocks. Like if they do one that enters tapped and gives all creatures -1/-1 I think could be good, but make it mono black. That sort of thing.
I feel like the new tier system is going to be so convoluted when in addition to a ban list theyre going to move cards up and down in tiers so now you'll never know unless you constantly reference their lost what your cards power is
Inspiring Statuary is absolutely a mana rock and incredibly powerful. The card is not useful in an artifact deck, but it is incredibly in a deck that makes junk. I had it in my old Breya deck from 7 years ago and out it into my historic doctor who deck. I run Sara Jane Smith and the 6th doctor. The deck is split between junk generation and copy generation. The deck makes so many damn clues. With sarah out, I can cast I.S on turn 3 and get a clue. Then, on turn 4, I have six mana. If I cast another historic, [which is about 50 of the cards] I get another clue, which can immediately tap for mana. So if I cast a simic signet for 2 of my 4 mana from land, I get a clue and will have 4 artifacts that I can tap for mana. I effectively just ramped two mana for free. I feel like most decks that make junk tokens dottle in their mid game because they don't do anything early but get value late game. Inspiring Statuary fills our that mid game with consistent ramp. Considering how often carda produce incidental junk, Rachel is right, the value will just go up. Not even mentioning that it turns ever artifact into a rock. Are you running boots? Ashnod or Phyrexian altar? Solemn simulacrum? All mana rocks.
as a WUBRG commander enjoyer between Jodah and a rule 0 maelstrom angel deck, I really like Timeless lotus. The problem with it of course being it costs 5 and comes in tapped so if it gets naturalized you get blown out. Still the threat of being able to turn 4 ish drop it and then when it untaps play both your WUBRG commander guaranteed and either hold up mana to protect it or just play something else to immediately get a jodah trigger is so strong.
55:13 misleading signpost goes in the precon it comes with, just the alt commander alela instead of tegwyll, it makes you a faerie when you play it and is just suoer fun otherwise the first game i won with that deck i signposted a ghalta at the only other player left in the game, then copied ghalta with malleable imposter and killed that player with it, super memorable and always has good use
What is your first-pick mana rock (over 3 mana)? Who came out on top after this draft? Did we miss any that you would have snapped up?
I like to proliferate, so Astral Cornucopia is one that I like. It is technically a 0 Mana rock, but doesn't do anything unless you pay at least 3, so I think it still counts.
Graveyard Meta runs rampant in my playgroup, so Honored Heirloom will forever have a place in my mana rocks - just 'cause sometimes you gotta fizzle a recursion combo.
A cool extra turns episode after you’ve done enough of these would be to build a deck utilizing the cards you drafted but you can’t play the cards the others drafted.
The Celestus. The difference between this mana rock and all of its competitors is like day and night.
I was expecting someone to pick Machine-God's Effigy.
they should do a game knights in which they can only use cards they drafted from these episodes.
They’d need to do a minimum of 20 of these episodes. I think they have done maybe 5.
It doesn't have to be exclusively cards they picked but they could apply the restrictions that only those that picked those cards may play them.
There's only the three of them doing the draft though right? That would be weird for a 4 person game lol
@@monomanamaniac The guest can play the honorary mentions.
@@Dragon_Fyre land
It would be amazing to watch an episode where you play decks with your precious fantasy drafted card types only!
BUMP
The fact that machine god effigy is NOT a creature is actually the biggest upside. Enters the battlefield, copy your opponent sheoldred or any other gamewarping creature and get yourself a much harder version to remove.
It's actually an additional option to go infinite with Devoted Druid. I've seen a few cedh decks experiment with it as an additional option.
So many upsides to decks that build around it. Being able to net a lot of value and for sure would have been my top 4
Chromatic Lantern may not be the best 3 Mana rock but it still has its place. It’s almost required in decks that what a lot of Colorless Lands and Multiple Colors too. A Devoid Eldrazi deck like the MH3 Eldrazi Precon is a good example of a deck that wants access to Colored and Colorless Mana.
Desert decks also benefit greatly from Chromatic Lantern because most Deserts aside from, and including ones added in OTJ produce Colorless Mana.
Agreed. I don't even listen to Josh most of the time. His comment about it proves that it was a good decision.
Plus, it's good against Blood Moon.
Aye, pretty much any WUBRG Omnath list can benefit from it quite well. Unless you're running some life gain, just using pain lands all the way through really isn't a solve.
@@johnpratts2856 100% this
I have it in my Derevi deck. It’s great just to have fixing. I’ll eventually acquire a better in slot but I’m never sad when I cast it.
It's not required because it's 1/100 card and you're statistically unlikely to draw it. So you have to build your manabase assuming you won't have Chromatic Lantern in play anyway, which makes it redundant.
I will say that I run Coveted Jewel in as many decks as I can. Whenever it hits the table, it immediately causes more chaos and greed than monarch or initiative. Players will sacrifice most of their board just for the chance to draw 3 for an answer. It's such a fun, underrated card
I wish i could drop it in decks casually more - meaning no way to sac it instant speed or copy it or something.
The decks in my pod are so optimized, and the play patterns so sweaty, that i just cant afford to cut a 6 mana turn in half to make my opponents benefit from it so much.
Plus i found, much like monarch/initiative, that the dominant player usually gets it very easily and holds it very well.
@mofomiko agreed i have it in my token deck and it helps to draw stuff with it but it makes you a target cause everyone wants that card draw so if you have it you better be prepared to defend it. I let people take it so it would take focus off me and they will kill each other while I'm slowly building a army
I think Cultivator’s Caravan is underrated and deserves honorable mention. Great as a potential blocker to deter attacks, sneaky after creature board wipes because crew doesn’t care about summoning sickness of the newly played creatures, and a free “tap outlet” for the growing list of creatures that benefit from being tapped. Especially effective if your commander has at least 3 power. Side note: it’s getting a reprint in foundations.
Vehicle supremacy
I love Sceptre of Eternal Glory, it's a must play for monocolored decks
Very surprised this went unmentioned, even in 2 color decks with lot of basics it is very good
I was wondering that too
@darkfaithful for my monoU sphinx deck I was going between Sceptre or Throne, and Sceptre won out because 4mv curved out from all the 2mv ramp. 5mv was just too much
@@alexliang1040 Same thing for my monoU Bruvac deck. Perhaps that reasoning is more valid fo blue decks, since we really don't care for the extra draw in Throne (there are more efficient ways of drawing in monoU). We struggle with ramp, so the lower mana curve makes more sense.
When Rachel said, "we're drafting, well, fantasy drafting" ... I thought it would be amazing to see an actual video of a draft from the command zone team
Bring in Numot!
Yessss
Pretty sure they did a commander cube draft with Brandon Sanderson
Crowded Crypt has always been a solid card for me, I'm surprised it didn't even get honorable mention!
equipment decks I think can use Inspiring Statuary.
Manascape Refractor, Dragon's hoard, Decanter of Endless Water, Glistening Sphere, Crowded Crypt.
Inspiring sanctuary goes hard in rashmi and ragavan, it allows ur treasures to grow while still allowing higher mana amounts
@daltronius funny you say that. I have a Rashmi and Ragavan deck, but its oops all clones.
@vasylpark2149 i highly recommend playing a card called over the top, it goes so hard with all the treasures, and if u dont think u can win, it can add enough rng to either allow u to win or let someone else win
Good call!
i pretty much slam Crowded Crypt into any deck where i expect a lot of creatures to die, be it by my hand or my opponents; that card is a very quickly growing army in a can
Jade Orb of Dragonkind is the GOAT in a dragon tribal deck. Getting to actually untap with your big scary dragon commander is a huge deal
I'd argue that Carnelian orb is better, since most of the time my stuff just gets boardwiped, but with haste it still gets to swing that turn, and all the ancient dragons which care about dealing combat damage really need to swing.
But both is best 😊
I think I'd rather have Dragon's Hoard if I can only pick one. The ability to draw with it instead has always come in so clutch.
You went over in honorable mentions a lot of stuff I might've picked but I want to shoutout some others not top but niche, "coalition relic" I think is pretty good being able to store a mana at instant speed, or more with proliferate, for a stronger next turn is good, the other "Victory chimes", it can give other players mana in fringe cases, if you like playing at instant speed a lot it untaps each other players untap, so it can be 2 3 or 4 mana a turn cycle. "Hourglass of the lost" is another, white mana early or cache it in for reanimation later on
I like token decks, so I'm kinda sad Skyclave Relic wasn't mentioned. Base line is Darksteel Ingot, which is fine, but for 6 mana you get 3, and with Mondrak or doubling season it gets silly.
Definitely agree!
As a new player starting in the last month or two, I appreciate the valuable info y'all provide. You guys have become a staple in my algorithm lol
Welcome to the game. Command Zone provides great content. There are other very good a valuable channels out there for the commander format.
My two favorite rocks have been 4 mana. Machine God's effigy and Crystal skull. Both do work!
Personal recent favorite is patchwork banner because i like running tribal decks
yessssss i just found out about this from a draft and it went right into my vampire deck
When he said Chromatic Orrery, I was so excited, I love that card. It was the first 3+ mana rock that I thought of when I saw the video, opportunity cost of 2 and all your mana is any color. It even goes great in decks that don't need colors because only losing 2 on the current turn to have an additional 5 going forward is amazing (if you are a deck that needs 12 mana, I run it in near cEDH Eldrazi titan tribal where I tend to win games the turn after I resolve it).
Around 38:20 in, where Rachel talks about building monocoloured decks: The first monocoloured EDH deck I sketched out and eventually built was monogreen control with Dosan, the Falling Leaf. When I next went to brew a monocoloured deck, I decided to try with commons only, and started with Red, because I figured if I could do that, I could do any colour combination with only commons and make it run well. Joven ended up heading it and I'm finding I'm enjoying brewing monocoloured decks that do unusual things and finding ways to deal with problems others don't normally have to contend with - Joven runs Aftershock, Fissure, Lava Flow, and Introduction to Annihilation to kill creatures outright, for example.
Also for monocoloured decks, Sceptre of Eternal Glory (from 40k) is really good because it's either a slightly more expensive Manalith, or once you have three lands with the same name (eg Swamp), it's a cheaper Gilded Lotus.
I would love to see an episode like this for "Manaliths with upside", by which they have to cost 3 mana and tap for any colour - and have some other ability as well. At common, I think Honored Heirloom is a great Manalith.
The crazy thing with The might and weakstone even though it's a MDFC it can go in any deck do to how meld works!!! 46:44
Manascape Refractor is a very interesting mana rock to me. It is very narrow, but has huge top end I think.
I only run 3 mana rocks if their secondary effects work with my deck. Commander sphere gets ripped out of all my pre cons. I am shocked it was picked by anybody.
Same here
Same, i will take Chromatic Lantern, or Decanter of endless water over commander sphere any day. I have 2-3 color decks that I run nyx lotus in over commander sphere even.
Yesss, coveted jewel.... Totally underrated as far as I am concerned 🎉 Thank you, great Episode
So good!
Machine Gods Effigy is nuts. Can go infinite or gives you a great static effect that is a little harder to remove.
I was kinda surprised that Chromatic Lanturn didn't get picked or was an honorable mention. Sure it's just a plain rock at it's core but color fixing your mana for the entire game is pretty valuable if you are in a 4 or 5 color deck.
If you have a staple land base (fetches+shocks) then the 3 mana is just a hindrance
@@alexliang1040they did pick a fucking sonic screwdriver
@Russian_engineer_bmstu yeah cus it has actual utility besides color fixing which should theoretically never be an issue, especially when they make more and better duals every year
@@alexliang1040 Sure but how many CASUAL commander players are going to spend hundreds of dollars on all the fetches and shocks for their 5 color deck? it's a bit redundant if you can craft a perfect manabase, but outside of tons of expendable income or proxies, it's extremely reasonable to run Chromatic Lantern to help smooth out your plays.
@@alexliang1040 also, running a lot of fetches makes you miss landdrops, duh
Wow. Im throwing Inspiring statuary into my Dee Kay deck ASAP. Those attractions gonna be doing some WORK!
I've found that my decks that want Inspiring Statuary also want Clock of Omens. The clock has eaten my opponents removal spells in equipment decks when a sol ring or thran dynamo is out.
I love Inspiring Statuary in my Kozilek, the Great Distortion deck. All of my equipment suddenly become mana rocks. Just have to remember to tap Kozilek independently of the equipment attached to him
I have just joined the patron on the 25 tier. I'm glad that I'm able to join your channel. Keep up the good content. I really do enjoy them
That was a really well done commercial, lol. The delivery and everything was perfect! Loved it.
Misleading Signpost is an awesome card in "Play a land and pass" type decks, where you're looking to hold up mana and cast spells on other people's turns. It's great because you can use that 3 mana for something else that you need, but if someone attacks you, you can easily flash it in and protect yourself and then have a rock to tap for more spells later. I have a Faerie Spellslinger deck that it does wonders in.
Interesting how Worn power stone and Coalition relic where not picked or even mentioned. As they are the closet thing to the the traditional 2 mana rocks. Sure one comes into play taped, but having access to 6 mana on turn 4 can be a big deal particularly if you are running a high costed commander.
Midnight clock is a great pick. Good job Rachel.
I've thought about putting Strixhaven Stadium in a Felix Five-Boots deck. Seems like it'd be pretty good synergy, but I agree that it's really tough putting it down as a mana rock.
I have had atleast 2 instances in the last year where i had Midnight clock out vs a mill strategy and it has saved me on the critical turn and given me a new grip. Loveeeeee midnight clock
I'm with Rachel on making mono coloured decks. It started as a personal challenge when I first started building my own decks and now mono is all I play.
Ditto! I made a new year's resolution to create at least 1 of each monocolor deck by the end of the year. All I have left is to make Diamond/Colorless, I love them all :)
im shocked Sceptre of Eternal Glory or Throne of Eldraine wasn't taken early rounds since I see those do good
and by that i mean round 3
I did not know that misleading signpost existed. Absolutely love those effects. Thanks for sharing!
Jimmy wheeling Cursed mirror for Commander's sphere was just gold
Assuming Extraplanar Lens doesn't count,
I really enjoy:
Relic of Legends
Patchwork Banner
Chromatic Lantern
Draft videos are my next favorite after precon upgrades. Can’t wait to see the final decks after all of y’all’s drafts
500 Year Diary has the same problem as Nyx Lotus in that it comes in tapped; but it counts as a Clue, you can sac it for a card like a Clue and if you untap with it, you’re probably getting a boatload of Blue mana.
I love how you guys doing your ads, never skip them because of that
15:00 Thran Dynamo is good, but did you forget about Sceptre of Eternal Glory? 4 Mana for 3 of any color? It's legendary, and a slight restriction, but not so much if playing 1 or 2 color decks.
42:31 I replace Commander's Sphere with Sonic Screwdriver in every deck that I have. It can untap an Artifact creature, or even a good mana rock, and the threat of unblockable is huge. and worst case it's a scry 1.
Nyx Lotus does count all devotion, so yes, after a board wipe it's weaker, but your enchantments stull add to it. And sure, you might need to rebuild a bit, but in a mono color deck, it helps a lot. Plus, it does combo well with Sonic Screwdriver. Double devotion gain.
Yes! New Command Zone! I love your content! Thanks for making my days better!
Glad you enjoy it!
@commandcast And a reply! My lucky day! If this is Rachel, you deserve a raise!!!
i know in most decks its not great, but with proliferate or extra upkeeps, i have fallen in love with replicating ring. goes pretty crazy with obeka splitter of seconds.
Thank you! This are perfect tips for my Bellow deck.
My fav is the Misleading Signpost
Yall need to play with it more.
Flash and can swing a game
Pretty powerful for a rock
No Wand of the Worldsoul? I feel like it's absolutely GREAT in decks with any amount of white mana that go wide. It's great whether it's early game or late game, sure it comes in tapped but it allows you to either always have mana up to cast defensive spells or also to just push out big spells during your turn as well. That "Your next spell has convoke" is a sneaky and powerful effect for just 3 mana and coming in tapped.
These have been great! I have really enjoyed watching the fantasy drafts and I look forward to the next one!
Always enjoy these drafting videos, looking forward to seeing some of the hidden gem rocks that people don't often think about.
I like this format, and this episode specifically is great for new/returning players!
Sculpting Steel is always in my mana rocks pile. Almost every commander game will have artifact ramp, and frequently that ramp will be sol ring, making it an untapped worn powerstone. Mid to late game it can be whatever the biggest artifact on the table is. Mirrormade and Phyrexian Metamorph also count as three-mana rocks for the same reason. I count Dack Fayden and Thieving Skydiver as ramp when deckbuilding too to snag an opponent's rock, but they're not really rocks themselves.
Because Inspiring Statuary grants itself the ability to tap for to pay for costs, I think it has to count as a mana rock.
My picks outside of great hinge and midnight clock are : Astral Cornucopia, and Empowered Autogenerator because I play Atraxa..lol
It's gotta be very synergistic at 3 cmc.... like Dragon's Hoard in a dragon deck or something.
Kind of surprised Staff of Compleation towards the end. Proliferate on a rock can help a lot.
i feel like inspiring statuary really shines in decks that make artifact tokens. any food, clue, or treasure strategies now turn all those mid artifacts you've been spamming into mana rocks for the bulk of your deck.
I've been having a lot of fun playing Misleading Signpost. Lategame it can save you and/or kill someone else. In the early game you can keep up interaction (or pretend to do so) and it still doesn't feel bad if you cast it before your next turn just for mana.
It’d be cool someday if they made decks and played each other with cards they drafted in all their fantasy drafts. Like an ultimate fantasy commander duel or something
9:30 I respect the hell out of Midnight clock, but I swear... every time I've drawn it, it has been into a hand I didn't want to shuffle away... that's the only reason I don't run it. The card just hates me for some reason...
Cast everything before hand or save the card till you're close to running low
Excited that this series is back!
Machine God's effigy is a combo piece that is amazing in cEDH. It combos most often with devoted druid but because it isn't a creature it goes infinite because the downside of the untap doesn't affect a non creature card. Meaning you pair it with a creature that's downside is based on it being a creature and then your left only with an upside.
the throne of eldraine is one of the best big mana rocks i’ve ever played in my mono white decks. it makes my game feel so smooth
1:00:44 strixhaven stadium is amazing. I have it in my anowon rogue tribal deck and it does so much work with all those unblockables. I nearly built a rigo streetwise mentor deck with it too.
I rub throne of eldraine in my Zada Hedron grinder deck and I LOVE it. It’s saved me when I ran out of gas, and the 4 red when I have a hand full of cards is also really good
I’m suprised to not see sceptre of eternal glory on the list
When cursed mirror was so popular I was expecting machine gods effigy to be picked
Both go infinite with Astral Dragon. Kick the tires for your next dragon deck!
Thinking about the whole "3 mana rock with something stapled to it" thing gave me an idea for a decent one. 3 or 4 mana, taps for blue. At the beginning of your upkeep you may pay 3 life. If you do, draw a card and this rock gains, "T: add a black" until end of turn. Feels flavorful in terms of color identity...
I really like Phyrexian Totem in my Shirei deck, great for boardwipes and if they damage the idol you can just sack little guys for Shirei.
Crowded Crypt, Dragon Hoard, Misleading Signpost, Wand of the Worldsoul, Hourglass of the Lost, Forger's Foundry, Progenitor's Icon, Haunted Screen, and many more... they've just been going ham with so many cool 3 mana rocks in the last few years!
I’m surprised staff of compleation isn’t on here. The ability to just pay life to do so many different things is so useful in commander where life is such a resource.
100% agree, and if you have any kind of lifegain its soooo good, love it in my elenda deck
the problem with midnight clock is, like Jimmy says, it eats removal as you get to the 12th hour counter, so you sit there waiting and you never see the pay off
Inspiring Statuary is excellent in Shilgengar for the same reason. The synergy almost has to be with token artifacts, because nontoken ones are usually mana rocks or individually valuable enough themselves that you don't want to tap them for 1 mana...but not a bad option.
Love the Inspiring Statuary pick. My spouse uses it in their Strefan blood token vampire deck and it goes crazy whenever it comes out.
Inspiring statuary is going straight into Gandalf the white. Thanks Rachel!!!
Glad to see a Strixhaven Stadium shoutout; it's criminally underrated in go-wide token decks where it essentially works like a mini "Triumph of the Hordes" to give all your 1/1 fliers Toxic 1
Perfect video right before i brew my Maskwood Nexus Iron Man commander deck
Strixhaven Stadium does INCREDIBLE work with Cowboy Gonti, it just synergizes so well with a deck that wants 30+ cheap evasive creatures swinging at 3 players
Machine-God's Effigy and cursed mirror is amazing atm.
it's narrow but Progenitor's Icon is sweet in decks built around specific creature types. I had it in Sidar Jabari and it rocked.
A 3+ cmc mana has to do much more than ramp, so much so that the principle purpose should be the non-ramp effect and the ramp is just a bonus. Cursed Mirror is the perfect example: it's a combo piece that can win you the game and outside of the combo it can get decent value by copying a good EtB and ramp on top of that.
Omg, that was only like a million ads before the actual content. Great guys, I hope you don't sell out anymore.
I met Rachel Weeks at Magic Con Vegas. She was super cool. She signed my Serra Paragon card and we got to chat about my high powered Vega deck. 😃
I didn't give you permission to play me.
Jimmy drafting the henge followed by his evil laugh is so frustrating for jlk and rachel. 😂
How do y’all feel on “Mirran Safehouse”? It can act as a mana rock if another land is put in the graveyard (which isn’t hard to do), but I mainly use it as land ramp with fetch lands in several green-less decks.
I would really love to see a cycle of three mana rocks that tapped for two colors and had an additional effect that was closely tied to those colors similar to the sword cycle.
Oh i loooooove Sonic Screwdriver! I never use the Scry (though it's gravy on there) but i love that it can untap something or make a creature unblockable. I have it in my Kozilek the Great Distortion deck as well as one or two others. I think it's way underrated.
41:25 Here's a question - if Sonic Screwdriver had a Universes Within reprint called like Urza's Spyglass or something, would it be in your decks already?
I have an idea for a 3mana rock: Rockside Extortionist which would have “t, scar it: add 1 mana any color” and “when enters, create a treasure for each artifact and enchantment your opponents control” :P
I'm glad Rachel mentioned Strixhaven Stadium. I love that card!
Thanks for this, I am gonna go hunt for a chromatic orrary for my Belbe deck and a throne of eldraine for my angels, Didn't know those cards existed :)
Rachel and I are on the exact same wavelength, it’s crazy. I immediately thought to Josh’s Thran Dynamo pick “I never would have thought about that and i still wouldn’t even have had that on my list and I’m sure Rachel didn’t either”
Machine God's Effigy is a haymaker in my Mishra Emminent One deck, keep eyeing it for my Brago deck too. But I agree that narrow designs is perfect for 3 mana or more rocks. Like if they do one that enters tapped and gives all creatures -1/-1 I think could be good, but make it mono black. That sort of thing.
I feel like the new tier system is going to be so convoluted when in addition to a ban list theyre going to move cards up and down in tiers so now you'll never know unless you constantly reference their lost what your cards power is
Inspiring Statuary let's you tap equipment, which is a niche that is very interesting.
Jimmy not taking Cursed Mirror at first pick is nuts. I mean, does he even likes red anymore?? /s
Inspiring Statuary is absolutely a mana rock and incredibly powerful.
The card is not useful in an artifact deck, but it is incredibly in a deck that makes junk.
I had it in my old Breya deck from 7 years ago and out it into my historic doctor who deck.
I run Sara Jane Smith and the 6th doctor. The deck is split between junk generation and copy generation. The deck makes so many damn clues. With sarah out, I can cast I.S on turn 3 and get a clue.
Then, on turn 4, I have six mana. If I cast another historic, [which is about 50 of the cards] I get another clue, which can immediately tap for mana. So if I cast a simic signet for 2 of my 4 mana from land, I get a clue and will have 4 artifacts that I can tap for mana. I effectively just ramped two mana for free.
I feel like most decks that make junk tokens dottle in their mid game because they don't do anything early but get value late game.
Inspiring Statuary fills our that mid game with consistent ramp.
Considering how often carda produce incidental junk, Rachel is right, the value will just go up.
Not even mentioning that it turns ever artifact into a rock. Are you running boots? Ashnod or Phyrexian altar? Solemn simulacrum? All mana rocks.
as a WUBRG commander enjoyer between Jodah and a rule 0 maelstrom angel deck, I really like Timeless lotus. The problem with it of course being it costs 5 and comes in tapped so if it gets naturalized you get blown out. Still the threat of being able to turn 4 ish drop it and then when it untaps play both your WUBRG commander guaranteed and either hold up mana to protect it or just play something else to immediately get a jodah trigger is so strong.
Staff of Compleation and Misleading Signpost are some of my personal favorites
I love these fantasy draft episodes
1:The Great Henge
2: Midnight Clock
3: crowded crypt
55:13 misleading signpost goes in the precon it comes with, just the alt commander alela instead of tegwyll, it makes you a faerie when you play it and is just suoer fun otherwise
the first game i won with that deck i signposted a ghalta at the only other player left in the game, then copied ghalta with malleable imposter and killed that player with it, super memorable and always has good use