One of the two strongest things you can do in Commander is ramp (the other is draw cards). When you're not - or can't, because of color restrictions - ramping through lands and creatures, you want to use mana rocks. Mana rocks are artifacts that produce mana.

I'm always building decks that aren't running Green, so mana rocks are hugely important for my ramp endeavors. I wanted to give you some of my sneaky little tech for mana, so here are my top 15 mana rocks of all time in Commander.

Banned Cards

It would be insane to talk about the best mana rocks in the game without talking about the baddies that broke the format. Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, the original Moxes, and Jeweled Lotus are all incredible cards. One might say too incredible.

The speed these cards gave players was so game warping that you might as well have packed it up. They don't make the list because they aren't currently playable. I'm glad they're not playable for the sake of the healthy back and forth nature of Commander, but they are the best of the best for a reason.

Honorable Mentions

I wanted to make a list that was accessible and not too niche. The next couple of cards are very expensive, hard to find, and nearly exclusive to very high power or cEDH. Basalt Monolith, Mana Vault, Lion's Eye Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal and their ilk are all high-powered mana rocks that would be at the top of the list.

I wanted to make a list that was slightly more accessible and more affordable. There are only two cards in my list that are more than $30. A lot of the best mana rocks in the game are accessible, so I wanted to stick to them.

15. Throne of Eldraine

This is a certified sleeper. I feel like no one is playing this card but me and one other person. It's a little expensive and a slightly niche use-case. It came out in Wilds of Eldraine Commander which is likely why it's so expensive. We need a reprint desperately.

What makes Throne of Eldraine great is that it's a must play in any mono-colored deck. It can produce four mana of any one color and has a mana value of five. It can only cast mono-colored spells of the chosen color, though.

You can also spend three and tap it to draw two cards. It's mana and card draw in one convenient package. It's really niche, but in a Mono-Red deck this could be the card advantage you need.

14. Cursed Mirror

Red needs more ways to ramp. Cursed Mirror is a little steep at when Ruby Medallion is sitting right there at . What is cool though is it comes in as a copy of any creature on the battlefield until end of turn and it has Haste.

If that Creature has a trigger when it Enters the Battlefield, Cursed Mirror will get it. That could be an Etali, Primal Conqueror trigger that can attack for 7/7 trample that same turn. It could be a Wall of Omens and draw you a card. And maybe it's just a mana rock that produced . It's very versatile.

13. Herd Heirloom

I'm a pretty big fan of Herd Heirloom. It's in Green, so it's a little more niche than some other mana rocks which is part of the reason it's not as popular as the others. Mana rocks aren't particularly the go-to strategy in Green. Lands are just better, more protected ways to ramp. So are mana dorks.

What's great about this rock is that it taps for any color for , but only for Creature spells. It doesn't ramp into other ramp spells or mana rocks, which is what we love to do. It does, however, ramp into dorks and Creatures.

It also doubles as evasion for Creatures and card draw for Creatures' with power four or greater. That is the reason this card is so great, so much versatility for only .

12. The Soul Stone

I struggled with where to rank The Soul Stone. It's very sneaky in how exceptional it is. I originally slept on this card because it was a chase card in a set that wasn't well received and didn't perform well sales-wise. It's hard to come by these days, which explains its price tag around $60.

This card is Indestructible. Aura Shards or Austere Command aren't going to aimlessly blow this card up. It's also right on curve and rate for a Talisman (two-mana rock) that produces Black. It would be playable if it just was a rock that produced Black and did nothing else.

However, this card is great to draw late game because you can Harness The Soul Stone by paying , tapping it and exiling a Creature you control. For doing all that, you get to return a Creature from your graveyard to the battlefield every upkeep. A lot of mana rocks aren't particularly good late game, but this one really is.

11. Decanter of Endless Water

Decanter of Endless Water is probably one of the better three-mana rocks. It's better than Commander's Sphere - in generic strategies - which, for the same rate, sacrifices itself and draws you a card.

It's better than Chromatic Lantern too, which may or may not fix your Lands depending on if you draw it. I can't stress how much Lands are better than they used to be and that we shouldn't be playing Chromatic Lantern anymore.

Unlimited hand size and mana of any color is relevant in most decks. I wouldn't choose it over a Thought Vessel but it's worth playing if you need more mana ramp on rocks.

10. Bender's Waterskin

I might love Bender's Waterskin a little too much. Getting three extra mana each turn cycle is great. Being able to leave one mana up for a Swan Song or An Offer You Can't Refuse is great. That's also mana of any color so it's good for a Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshare too.

Being able to get half the mana to crack a Clue on another player's turn to look for answers is great. With a Forensic Gadgeteer, it could just be a free Clue sacrifice. Three mana for any color alone is a good rate.

9. Mind Stone

We enter the realm of mostly two-mana rocks now. Mind Stone is a good two-mana rock that taps for one generic. That rate is pretty good as it is. Being able to sac it to draw a card is the cherry on top. For decks that want to ramp in Mono-Red, having access to more mana is a godsend.

Mono-Blue decks like Urza, Lord High Artificer love having cheap Artifacts that tap for mana. Casting Urza earlier and being able to tap for later is important. Mind Stone is also great for decks like Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher that want to sac things at Instant speed.

8. Liquimetal Torque

I love the interactions with this little card. My favorite thing about Liquimetal Torque is that it turns any nonland permanent into an Artifact. Rakdos decks are bad at removing Enchantments, so I often use Liquimetal Torque to turn an Enchantment into an Artifact and Abrade it.

It's also just a mana rock for two that produces one generic mana which, we've established, is a good rate. Doing anything beyond that is gravy. Being able to turn Urza, Chief Artificer into an Artifact to protect him, or improvise with it into an Organic Extinction is crazy good.

7. Relic of Legends

This is the last three-mana rock on the list. I love Relic of Legends because it's a little too niche to be incredible, but in most Commander decks it's still just great. If you have your Commander out this rock makes two mana of any color.

It taps your Commander - it doesn't give your Commander the ability to tap for mana - so it doesn't care about summoning sickness. In a Legends Matter deck this can go insane. Every Creature you cast adds one more mana of any color to your pool.

Jodah, the Unifier absolutely needs this card.

6. Thought Vessel

Thought Vessel card is similar to the Torque, except the use case is more broad. Almost all decks care about keeping a hand stocked full of cards, so being having no maximum hand size is relevant. Drawing cards is very important. Keeping them is slightly less important but still very important.

As we've said many times, low cost rocks that tap for even just one are a solid rate. It's great for Mono-Red, Mono-Blue, and Mono-Black decks that struggle to ramp outside of mana rocks (and maybe rituals for Black and Red).

5. Signets

This is a bump up from the previous two-mana rocks because they produce two colored mana in exchange for one generic mana. The Signets are strong because colorless mana can only get you so far. Color intensive decks can't get away with things like Thran Dynamo and Mind Strone.

The only drawback of these are that they need one mana to filter into them if you want them to do anything, so you need to be a little more strategic. You can't go from one signet into a one-drop like you can with a Talisman.

4. Talismans

Speaking of Talismans, these are some of the best mana rocks in the game. Paying the one life when you need the color or tapping it for colorless when you don't is so versatile. I love these little guys.

They are self-sufficient, unlike something like Dimir Signet. You don't need one mana to filter into them to get two mana. If you need instead of, you can do that with a little pain.

3. Fellwar Stone

Fellwar Stone letting us cast it for to produce mana of any color is a good rate, making this card a strong pick. An Exotic Orchard Land is good the way this rock is good. It's basically better than an Arcane Signet for some decks.

Coram, the Undertaker wants mana outside his color identity sometimes, so an option like this is very good, but the randomness of what Lands opponents play make it too temperamental early game. It has its uses, but most of the time Arcane Signet is still a bit more reliable.

2. Arcane Signet

This is a card Gavin Verhey doesn't like because of how it homogenizes the deck-building process. Arcane Signet is a mana rock that everyone plays in their decks. It's played so often because it's really that good. Whether you agree with Gavin here, you must accept it's near the top of its class in terms of power level.

It's two mana for any color of mana you want. It's the Sol Ring into Arcane Signet combo that opens you with five mana on turn two that everyone dreads. Arcane Signet helps fix your colors as well as quantity of mana. It's powerful. Period.

1. Sol Ring

The unofficial Game Changer. This card is game-warpingly good. It turns a Bracket 3 deck into a Bracket 4 deck if it's in your opening hand. It is so good that people can't stop talking about it when talking about the Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus bans.

I even wrote at length about this in my article at EDHREC. It's strong but it's accessible. Everyone with a precon has access to this card. It's a two-dollar card to buy on its own. One mana for two mana is just crazy.

Conclusion

Let me know if you agree with my list. What are some mana rocks you really love? These are the ones I really enjoy that are strong and accessible and mostly not too niche. Let me know your thoughts! I'm @strixhavendropout on everything! Here is my linktree where you can follow me: https://linktr.ee/strixhavendropout