Worth the price? Personally no but if you have the budget so sure.
I reaerve a budget for it but I'm having a hard time looking for people selling a copy for a fair price locally. Appreciate your immediate response guys
I wouldnt worry about it. If you are trying cutthroat competition commander then yah you should get it. Otherwise you are better off gettong 4-5 $10-$20 cards which will have a bigger overall impact on the deck.
For the most cutthroat competitive decks, yeah it's probably a mandatory card.
For a lot of other decks, though, it's probably not even a good inclusion. I've seen people with more money than sense slot one in the deck, slam it down T1, and let it sit there turn after turn, unused.
Personally, I run it in Karn (artifact nonsense) and Wrexial (sea monsters), where I desperately need ramp in colors that don't really get ramp outside mana rocks, as well as the competitive Oloro deck that's nearing completion. Counting Oloro, I've got 29 decks, so that's just over 10% of my stable which run Crypt.
As a lot of people have already mentioned, it really depends on what you are going for. Are you trying to be as strong as you can be with your deck, or is it more of a casual, play with friends deck?
To be truly competitive, its fairly mandatory, but most edh circles are not nearly that competitive.
I have been playing commander since like 2009. I first obtained a Mana Crypt back in like 2012 and at this point I own three of them. I would say I put it in less than half of the decks I play. The faster your meta is the more important it is. I tend to run it more in decks that have lifegain and or that try to move much faster. The longer and more drawn out you intend for games to be with the deck you play it in the less good it is because it can literally take half of your life over the course of a game. If you are playing a slow attrition based deck that doesn't run a lot of lifegain it can be a problem.
So, no I wouldn't call it a necessity. The faster your games go though the more relevant it is. If you regularly see games go into the mid teens or later I wouldn't be too worried about it. It can do more harm than good if you are not correctly curving and trying to win off of it.
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I always keep a deck that's on the serious side with me at all time, just in case there's a random challenger who wants some hardcore game. I put my Mana Crypt in that one, other decks focus on making the table cringe with wacko ideas.
If you have it then run it, but don't feel you need to get it. It's better in cutthroat combo decks than anything else, it does too much self-damage if the game runs long.
I've been playing EDH for years without a Mana Crypt, though I did finally break down and buy one recently. Unless you're playing in a high-end competitive meta, you absolutely don't need it.
The short answer is no. Mana Crypt is nice, but surely not necessary.
The longer answer is that Mana Crypt helps out significantly with playing higher-costed stuff and commander tax so that you can get away with playing higher CMC generals and a higher overall mana curve. Without Mana Crypt, you have to rely on drawing Sol Ring to push you towards being able to play your mid-late game cards. You can get away from that somewhat by playing Signets or green ramps spells, but Sol Ring and Mana Crypt are the most efficient ways of getting there. In casual metas you can durdle a bit, but you can't durdle forever...
Given the choice, if I didn't have a Mana Crypt I probably wouldn't go out and buy one for $80-$100; I would either go about making my decks slightly less mana-hungry and adjust, or I would proxy it (several people in my group proxy Crypt). My groups are all pretty laid back about it, so it wouldn't matter much overall.
The biggest thing you need to ask your self is whether or not you are wanting Mana Crypt to help fuel casual shenanigans or are you wanting it to fuel all-in combo decks. I always say that nobody wins an arms race...
I will say though if you are unsure if you really want to run it, get a proxy and try it out for yourself; a demo version if you will. Yeah, proxys shouldn't be talked about, but when its some $60 or more card I would advise actually using a proxy to see if you really want to invest your money in that matter. Also allows you to test the waters just in case the card might result in burnt bridges.
See a smart player is also a smart shopper. You want to spend your money in a smart manner correct? Then you get yourself a proxy, obviously not for sanctioned/competitive play. After so many games with it, you can make an informed decision if you really want the card in your deck for sanctioned/competitive games. As there is nothing worse than that awful feeling like you just wasted your money on cards. Cards that turn out to be ones that you really didn't actually want/need anyway and would have preferred to spend it on cards you actually did want/need.
Also its a really smart idea to spend that money on lower priced cards in the 1-20$ range. As there are a lot of good cards in that range that are the real building blocks for many a deck.
I will say though if you are unsure if you really want to run it, get a proxy and try it out for yourself; a demo version if you will. Yeah, proxys shouldn't be talked about, but when its some $60 or more card I would advise actually using a proxy to see if you really want to invest your money in that matter. Also allows you to test the waters just in case the card might result in burnt bridges.
See a smart player is also a smart shopper. You want to spend your money in a smart manner correct? Then you get yourself a proxy, obviously not for sanctioned/competitive play. After so many games with it, you can make an informed decision if you really want the card in your deck for sanctioned/competitive games. As there is nothing worse than that awful feeling like you just wasted your money on cards. Cards that turn out to be ones that you really didn't actually want/need anyway and would have preferred to spend it on cards you actually did want/need.
Also its a really smart idea to spend that money on lower priced cards in the 1-20$ range. As there are a lot of good cards in that range that are the real building blocks for many a deck.
My play group also advice me to proxy it as well. They have it because they are playing mtg like for 20years now. I'll take your advice and focus on the 1-20$ cards for now. Im running narset turns and jaleva storm that is why I ask this. Thanks you so much for your suggestions and opinion. I can really make a good conclusion out of this
Mana Crypt is the best ramp spell in the format bar none. If the cost isn't a factor, I can't think of any real justification (barring flavour) for not running it (whereas there are a few niche cases where Sol Ring doesn't work). Of course, cost usually is a factor when it comes to cards like this so whether or not you should get them will depend on a whole range of factors - how much you can afford to spend, what other expensive cards you need, what colours your decks are running (having green gives you access to other good ramp spells like Carpet of Flowers and mana dorks which can help make up for the lack of a crypt). Personally, I own three - I got some good deals on EBay shortly after Eternal Masters - which are in the fastest of my 11 decks.
Monolith may be in the top 10 of ramp artifacts (or close to it), but Crypt should be in the Top 1 of all ramp maybe Top 1 of all EDH.
I would say: you can play without it all your life, but it will improve you deck if you have it. Very, very few decks / scenarios, where it's not a good card.
More often in very slow lockdown decks, where the life loss will matter. I would still play it in those decks.
Only reason not to play it: price and availability!
I not sure if this is a reponse to my last post. I did not compare them. I was advicd to get both
It is not needed if you can't afford it.
It is not recommended if you aren't playing a competitive deck/meta.
You should AVOID it if you are running a deck with a NON-colorless general and over 90% of your spells have a CMC of 2 or less that use at least 1 colored mana symbol (which I've never seen attempted in Commander as it sounds atrocious in a nonduel format and it would have little midrange and next to no late game most likely, but I figure I should cover all the bases).
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EDH is a casual format though, so having the strongest deck possible isn't what most people aim for.
If you are just playing for fun with friends/LGS then not really.
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I reaerve a budget for it but I'm having a hard time looking for people selling a copy for a fair price locally. Appreciate your immediate response guys
I have sol ring and mana vault. Dont have monolith and mana crypt. My play group have them all
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For a lot of other decks, though, it's probably not even a good inclusion. I've seen people with more money than sense slot one in the deck, slam it down T1, and let it sit there turn after turn, unused.
Personally, I run it in Karn (artifact nonsense) and Wrexial (sea monsters), where I desperately need ramp in colors that don't really get ramp outside mana rocks, as well as the competitive Oloro deck that's nearing completion. Counting Oloro, I've got 29 decks, so that's just over 10% of my stable which run Crypt.
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To be truly competitive, its fairly mandatory, but most edh circles are not nearly that competitive.
So, no I wouldn't call it a necessity. The faster your games go though the more relevant it is. If you regularly see games go into the mid teens or later I wouldn't be too worried about it. It can do more harm than good if you are not correctly curving and trying to win off of it.
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The longer answer is that Mana Crypt helps out significantly with playing higher-costed stuff and commander tax so that you can get away with playing higher CMC generals and a higher overall mana curve. Without Mana Crypt, you have to rely on drawing Sol Ring to push you towards being able to play your mid-late game cards. You can get away from that somewhat by playing Signets or green ramps spells, but Sol Ring and Mana Crypt are the most efficient ways of getting there. In casual metas you can durdle a bit, but you can't durdle forever...
Given the choice, if I didn't have a Mana Crypt I probably wouldn't go out and buy one for $80-$100; I would either go about making my decks slightly less mana-hungry and adjust, or I would proxy it (several people in my group proxy Crypt). My groups are all pretty laid back about it, so it wouldn't matter much overall.
The biggest thing you need to ask your self is whether or not you are wanting Mana Crypt to help fuel casual shenanigans or are you wanting it to fuel all-in combo decks. I always say that nobody wins an arms race...
I will say though if you are unsure if you really want to run it, get a proxy and try it out for yourself; a demo version if you will. Yeah, proxys shouldn't be talked about, but when its some $60 or more card I would advise actually using a proxy to see if you really want to invest your money in that matter. Also allows you to test the waters just in case the card might result in burnt bridges.
See a smart player is also a smart shopper. You want to spend your money in a smart manner correct? Then you get yourself a proxy, obviously not for sanctioned/competitive play. After so many games with it, you can make an informed decision if you really want the card in your deck for sanctioned/competitive games. As there is nothing worse than that awful feeling like you just wasted your money on cards. Cards that turn out to be ones that you really didn't actually want/need anyway and would have preferred to spend it on cards you actually did want/need.
Also its a really smart idea to spend that money on lower priced cards in the 1-20$ range. As there are a lot of good cards in that range that are the real building blocks for many a deck.
My play group also advice me to proxy it as well. They have it because they are playing mtg like for 20years now. I'll take your advice and focus on the 1-20$ cards for now. Im running narset turns and jaleva storm that is why I ask this. Thanks you so much for your suggestions and opinion. I can really make a good conclusion out of this
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+1
Jeleva and Narset really want that extra ramp and burst.
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Yah that is what they are telling me. Both Mana crypt and grim monolith
I not sure if this is a reponse to my last post. I did not compare them. I was advicd to get both
It is not recommended if you aren't playing a competitive deck/meta.
You should AVOID it if you are running a deck with a NON-colorless general and over 90% of your spells have a CMC of 2 or less that use at least 1 colored mana symbol (which I've never seen attempted in Commander as it sounds atrocious in a nonduel format and it would have little midrange and next to no late game most likely, but I figure I should cover all the bases).