anti_midas 13 months{"ops":[{"insert":"I have only been playing Magic (Commander) for about a year, so some of the intricacies of deck building elude me still. I'm still pretty naïve, I guess. But I love building decks, and I have definitely been getting better and making the engine run. \n\nOne effect I cannot wrap my brain around has always been \""},{"attributes":{"color":"#4d5156"},"insert":"Add one mana of any color that a land an opponent controls could produce.\""},{"insert":"\n\n...Why though? It seems like literally ANY mana artifact it its place would be just as good or better for mana, so the only two situations I see it being useful is A)In standard, where there isn't a color identity, or B) The off chance someone is playing the same colors as you, which, again, a Sol Ring or Arcane Signet would be much more useful. I want to believe that it's just a Standard card, but edhrec says its in 20% of decks. What am I missing?\n"}]}
1
John_Sherwood 13 months{"ops":[{"insert":"Color identity doesn't matter for mana you create during a game. Exotic Orchard is a land that enters untapped and is capable of tapping for multiple colors. Fellwar Stone is cheap ramp. Even if they make a color that isn't in your deck, you can still use that mana to pay a generic cost.\n\nGeneric costs aside, Exotic Orchard and Fellwar Stone get better with esch color in your deck. Decks with three colors or more are very likely to get a color they need off one of these mana sources. \n"}]}
1
CABLES 13 months{"ops":[{"insert":"like always, it depends on what you're playing. decks with 3+ colors can leverage both better than 2-color decks, since the odds that someone else at the table will share a color with your deck increase the more colors you yourself are playing. this, at least, is why i like recommending exotic orchard in tricolor decks that don't have the budget for expensive untap lands like shocks and fetches.\n\nthe real reason fellwar stone is played so much, though, is it's a 2-mana rock that a.) enters untapped and b.) taps for colored mana. the difference between 2 and 3 mana is actually pretty huge for your tempo — being able to ramp on turn 2 (ESPECIALLY in decks that lack green and have no access to ramp spells or efficient dorks) will put you at 4 mana on turn 3, assuming you hit your land drops. 3-4 mana is about where most EDH decks become able to move forward with their game plan, so being able to accelerate faster towards that critical mass of mana makes fellwar stone usually a better card than, say, tapping out for a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Commander's Sphere"}},{"insert":" on turn 3, or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Coldsteel Heart"}},{"insert":" on turn 2. plus, since fellwar stone enters untapped, it's less of a dead card in the late game than more expensive or enters-tapped mana rocks, since you can potentially use it to fix your mana in a pinch. worst-case scenario, it's permanent ramp that refunds half its mana cost immediately and is cheap to cast anyway. \n"}]}
Edited 3/5/2023, 7:29:39 PM
0