Cryptex
Artifact
, Collect evidence 3: Add one mana of any color. Put an unlock counter on this artifact. (To collect evidence 3, exile cards with total mana value 3 or greater from your graveyard.)
Sacrifice this artifact: Surveil 3, then draw three cards. Activate only if this artifact has five or more unlock counters on it.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #20209
Cryptex replaces itself by surveilling and then draws a card when you solve it, stapling light library manipulation onto a cheap artifact that pays for itself. The rate is fair but unexciting — it's filler in most lists, and the hoops to solve it keep it off the maindeck in anything with better options.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Cryptex sits at the low end of playable draw — it gets the job done in budget builds that need cheap cantrip artifacts, but it competes with a long list of superior options at the same mana cost. Constructed formats like Modern and Pioneer have enough efficient cantrips that Cryptex won't see serious play there; the solve condition is too slow for a sixty-card environment where tempo is everything. Standard is the one place Cryptex might earn a slot if the format's card selection is thin enough to warrant it. Legacy and Vintage have no interest.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Cryptex is deep bulk — you're paying almost nothing to pick it up. Bulk artifacts at this price rarely climb unless a combo or synergy breaks them out, and nothing on the horizon suggests Cryptex is that card.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.