MTG Salvation

im looking to replace everflowing chalice with a different mana rock in my mimeoplasm deck and im not sure which card would be the best or have the most useful added ability (besides mana generation). i would like it to be at cmc 2 as im trying to keep my curve consistent. im already running each of the on color signets, but after that im not sure what would be the best choice. the cards that jump to mind are thought vessel, mind stone, and talisman of dominance, but i dont know if i am overlooking anything. any suggestions? thanks.

What other rocks are you running?

Sol Ring?
Mana Crypt?
Gilded Lotus?
Lotus Petal?

We cant suggest cards if we don't know what you have already.



Thought vessel is always a good choice as it gives you unlimited hand size.

I second Fellwar Stone. 2CMC that doesn't enter tapped (unlike Coldsteel Heart, Moss Diamond, Star Compass)

When I consider something like Mind Stone, I also look at whether or not there is anyway to re-use it. Decks with Sun Titan are therefore better places for the Mind STone. But even a way to abuse Eternal Witness will make Mind STone better.

The thing I consider with Thought Vessel is whether or not there are situations I want to discard to Hand Size. The Mimeoplasm is a place where I could see wanting to discard to hand size, but you also play the 3 colours that draw the most cards, so depending on the deck maybe you want the infinite hand size.

Fellwar STone is pretty good, especially if you plan on reanimating your opponents' creatures (and especially if you are using Havengul Lich). Being able to activate off-colour activated abilities is a nice thing to be able to do.

Talisman is better if you have ambitious mana costs. For example, if you have triple blue and triple black spells, I would look at Talisman over all these other choices.

Quote from Loki_Lulamen »

What other rocks are you running?

Sol Ring?
Mana Crypt?
Gilded Lotus?
Lotus Petal?

We cant suggest cards if we don't know what you have already.



Thought vessel is always a good choice as it gives you unlimited hand size.

sorry, i thought i mentioned that i was only interested in two drops and was using the on color signets.

i looked at thought vessel, but this deck doesnt really draw many cards so the hand size bonus would rarely be useful. i didnt think about fellwar stone as im usually scared that wont be able to tap for the color i need. in our game tonight that wouldnt have been an issue so maybe its the way to go. i was leaning towards the talisman as the green in the deck is mostly a splash for mimeoplasm and couple other cards and the color fixing is nice, but maybe the stone is the way to go. the point about its usefulness with havengul lich is a good one plus my local shop doesnt seem to have any talismans in stock. thanks guys.

Go nuts

Corrupted Grafstone can be effective if you are throwing stuff into your yard, which I imagine you are.

Fellwar Stone is the answer.

Prismatic Lens and Sphere of the Suns could also be useful, especially if you want to be able to generate off-color mana.

The Talismans and (depending on deck) Grim Monolith are easily the best CMC 2 mana-producing artifacts.
Fellwar Stone is decent, but I typically dislike it unless you specifically want to produce off-color mana. It is also acceptable in five color decks.

My vote for how the various 2-drop mana artifacts rank.

1) Signets - Unless you are worried about having the mana to use immediately in the early turns (when you might not have a mana to activate it), these fix your mana an accelerate you better than all the other options.
2) Talismen - The life loss is negligible in a 40-life format and entering untapped and not needing a mana to activate means you can use them immediately.
3) Grim Monolith - Can be really good if you have Voltaic Key, Seedborn Muse, Rings of Brighthearth, or Paradox Engine in play, but some people shy away from this due to it not untapping and feeling more like a ritual than a mana rock.
3) Mind Stone - Being able to cash it in for a card is huge.
4) Fellwar Stone - Better than most colorless options, and although sometimes you can't get the color you want this doesn't happen too often in a large enough multi-player game to worry about.
5) Prismatic Lens - Bascially a colorless mana rock that can filter mana in a pinch.
6) Thought Vessel - ETB untapped with some minor upside.
7) Fractured Powerstone - The worst of the non-creature options that ETB untapped.
8) Coldsteel Heart - Entering the battlefield tapped is a bummer, but getting access to any color you choose is nice.
9) Mirage Diamonds - Entering play tapped and only being one fixed color really hurts these.
10) Myr - Unless you have something that grants Haste, these play out similar to the Mirage diamonds. They have the added fragility of being a creature, but the added utility of being able to attack.
11) Guardian Idol - ETB tapped and generates only colorless, but being able to attack or block with it in a pinch is nice.
12) Sphere of the Suns - Most people will want to use their rock more than three times.
13) Plague Myr - A colorless Myr with upside in an Infect/Poison deck.
14) Manakin - Basically a colorless Myr, but without the creature type support.
15) Hedron Crawler - Same as the Myr, but generates only colorless and has no power.
16) Millikin - You basically need to actively want to self-mill to run this over the other creature options above (at which point, this goes way up the list)

Fractured Powerstone is sweet tech that just hibernates until that one time your group decides to play Planechase EDH.

Aside from that, I agree that the three main options are signets, Talismen, Mind Stone, and Fellwar Stone with an order depending on how much you need coloured mana and how likely you are to specifically want to cast it on turn two and still be able to spend its mana that turn.