The ultimate diplomatic tool for mana pools.

Please bear in mind this is from February 2011.

If there’s one thing you want for your EDH or Commander deck, it’s mana acceleration. The grand wisdom I received, and I pass on to you, is to run with around ten mana acceleration cards. While 10% mana acceleration might sound like a tall order, I’m here to provide you a valuable set of lists: artifacts that can wiggle their way into any deck!

Artifacts are handy solutions not only because they fit all colors; their colorless cost is a great boon, too. Need red and can’t draw a mountain? No problem! Darksteel Ingot has got you covered. There’s your staples, the other colorless generators, the “any color” generators, then there are artifacts made for specific mana types.

If the artifact has to get sacrificed to produce mana, it’s not included here. These mana generators are meant for recursion and consistent mana acceleration. Also, the Power Nine didn’t make the list, since they’re out of most players’ price ranges.

The Staples

Almost every deck should have these. They’re too good to pass up.

1. Coalition Relic: get whatever color you want, or store an extra mana for later!
2. Darksteel Ingot: indestructible, any color, reliable.
3. Sol Ring: 1-for-2 holy doughnut?—yes, please! (Minus the expensive price tag. Nobody likes that.)
4. Spectral Searchlight: while I’m sure there are those that’ll disagree with me, I find the diplomatic use of this artifact quintessential.
5. Thran Dynamo: unless you don’t use big cards, the 4-to-3 is just awesomeness.

If you’re playing a mono-colored deck, Extraplanar Lens and Gauntlet of Power are also musts.

Add Colorless Mana to Your Mana Pool

While they might not fix your color problems, colorless mana generators are still cards to have. They get your operation running quicker with some heavy mana ramp.

1. Basalt Monolith: you’re essentially storing 3 mana for another turn, unless you have a better way to get it untapped. If you’re using this, consider Grim Monolith and Mana Vault as well.
2. Blinkmoth Urn: the more artifacts you have, the more mana you get!—helps out everyone else, too.
3. Dreamstone Hedron: costs a ton to come into play, but if you don’t need mana, you can sac it for card draw.
4. Everflowing Chalice: one of my favorites, especially when you get it in foil.
5. Krark-Clan Ironworks: sac an artifact, get 2 mana.
6. Kyren Toy
7. Mana Crypt
8. Mind Stone
9. Palladium Myr: while I was trying to avoid creatures that give mana (fragile, little things), it’s hard to ignore the bang-for-the-buck of this guy!
10. Sisay’s Ring
11. Thran Turbine: perfect for upkeep combos.
12. Ur-Golem’s Eye
13. Worn Powerstone

Add One Mana of Any Color to Your Mana Pool

If your deck has three or more colors, these are the artifacts for you.

1. Ashnod’s Altar: sacrifice your creatures for precious mana; also, Phyrexian Altar.
2. Chrome Mox: once you imprint a card, the colors stick, but it’s still versatile—and it’s a mox, so it comes in for free!
3. Coldsteel Heart: like one of the diamonds on steroids, this lets you pick a color when it comes into play [tapped].
4. Gemstone Array: like the mana batteries, this lets you get mana 2-for-1, only now it’s every color.
5. Gilded Lotus
6. Jeweled Amulet: will only make colors that you put into it, so it’s not as useful when you’re missing that black mana for Horde of Notions.
7. Khalni Gem
8. Mox Diamond: this almost made the staples list, it’s such a great card!
9. Mox Opal: only useful if you’re running a fair amount of artifacts.
10. Paradise Mantle: another amazing one, this turns anything into a bird.
11. Paradise Plume: I’m a fan of using the plume for two-color decks.
12. Phyrexian Lens: one life for one mana.
13. Prismatic Lens: I avoid straight-up filters, which is why this card’s additional colorless mana option is perfect.
14. Scuttlemutt: another creature that’s hard to ignore, this guy not only gives you one mana of any color, it lets you change creature colors—lols to you, intimidate!
15. Sol Grail
16. Sphere of the Suns: good stuff if you can keep those charge counters going with proliferate!
17. Springleaf Drum
18. Standing Stones
19. Star Compass: would make the must-have list if it didn’t come into play tapped.

Color-Specific Mana Acceleration

These bad boys work great, but only if they match your deck color.

1. Altar of Shadows (black): great for destroying creatures, too!
2. Azorius Signet (white/blue)
3. Bloodstone Cameo (black/red)
4. Boros Signet (red/white)
5. Dimir Signet (blue/black)
6. Fieldmist Borderpost (white/blue)
7. Firewild Borderpost (red/green)
8. Gauntlet of Might (red): gives your creatures +1/+1 as well.
9. Golgari Signet (black/green)
10. Gruul Signet (red/green)
11. Heart of Ramos (red)
12. Horn of Ramos (green)
13. Izzet Signet (blue/red)
14. Mistvein Borderpost (blue/black)
15. Obelisk of Bant (green/white/blue)
16. Obelisk of Esper (white/blue/black)
17. Obelisk of Grixis (blue/black/red)
18. Obelisk of Jund (black/red/green)
19. Obelisk of Naya (red/green/white)
20. Orzhov Signet (white/black)
21. Rakdos Signet (black/red)
22. Seashell Cameo (white/blue)
23. Selesnya Signet (green/white)
24. Simic Signet (green/blue)
25. Skull of Ramos (black)
26. Tigereye Cameo (green/white)
27. Tooth of Ramos (white)
28. Troll-Horn Cameo (red/green)
29. Veinfire Borderpost (black/red)
30. Wildfield Borderpost (green/white)

If you didn’t find enough cookies for your colors, you can also check out the mana batteries. Their 2-for-1 deal isn’t the best, though. The diamonds are also an option, although I’m not a fan of them coming into play tapped.

Have some other mana acceleration artifacts you want to share? Leave a comment, and I’ll update the lists.