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Mana Vault

Artifact

This artifact doesn't untap during your untap step.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay {4}. If you do, untap this artifact.
At the beginning of your draw step, if this artifact is tapped, it deals 1 damage to you.
{T}: Add {C}{C}{C}.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{1}
Color identity
C
Rarity
rare
Set
Magic Online Promos
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#145
Buy on TCGplayer
Mana Vault card art
Mana Vault puts three colorless mana on the table on turn one for a single mana investment — that's the whole pitch, and it's enough to warp your opening sequence around it. The cost is real: you don't untap it for free, you take damage if you leave it tapped, and it only produces colorless, which is why it slots cleanly into artifact-centric and cEDH builds like Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver or Hullbreaker Horror combo lines rather than generic midrange piles.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy banned
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage restricted
pauper not legal
oathbreaker banned

Mana Vault carries three restrictions that explain its legal footprint: it only taps for colorless, it doesn't untap during your untap step unless you pay four mana, and it deals three damage to you each upkeep it stays tapped. In Legacy it's banned outright, and Vintage restricts it to a single copy — both formats let you string enough fast-mana pieces together to produce broken early turns that make those restrictions irrelevant. Oathbreaker bans it for similar reasons: the format's lower starting life total makes three-damage upkeep ticks sting faster, and smaller deck sizes compress the explosive draws. Commander gives Mana Vault a pass because the singleton rule and 40 life dilute the degeneracy — the damage is manageable, and you'll reliably have ways to untap it or cash it out over a longer game.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Dargo, the ShipwreckerTymna the Weaver

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver

86.8% of decks · synergy 0.83

Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver needs cheap artifacts sacrificed to reduce Dargo's cost to zero or one, and Mana Vault does double duty — it accelerates the turn-two Dargo while counting as the artifact sacrifice that makes him free.

02
Rograkh, Son of RohgahhSilas Renn, Seeker Adept

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept

90.7% of decks · synergy 0.82

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh // Silas Renn, Seeker Adept is an artifact-based cEDH combo shell where every piece of fast mana collapses the kill to a turn earlier, and Mana Vault showing up in over 90% of those lists reflects exactly how load-bearing that one extra mana is.

03
Tevesh Szat, Doom of FoolsThrasios, Triton Hero

Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools // Thrasios, Triton Hero

74.9% of decks · synergy 0.69

Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools // Thrasios, Triton Hero is a blue-green combo deck that wants to activate Thrasios repeatedly, and Mana Vault provides the colorless burst that lets you sink mana into Thrasios's ability several turns ahead of schedule.

04
Thrasios, Triton HeroYoshimaru, Ever Faithful

Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

72.1% of decks · synergy 0.68

Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful runs the same Thrasios engine, so Mana Vault serves the identical role — generating excess mana early so Thrasios starts converting it into cards and lands before opponents can answer the setup.

05
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed NavigatorVial Smasher the Fierce

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce

68.5% of decks · synergy 0.60

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce is a four-color storm-adjacent shell where Mana Vault accelerates the critical storm turn, providing the colorless burst that lets you chain spells through Vial Smasher's triggers for lethal damage across the table.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Mana Vault has been reprinted across multiple high-end products, so prices vary significantly depending on printing — borderless and original versions trade at a premium while reprint copies are considerably more accessible. Check current marketplace listings before buying; the spread between editions is wide enough that the edition you pick matters as much as the decision to buy.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.