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Manifold Key

Artifact

{1}, {T}: Untap another target artifact.
{3}, {T}: Target creature can't be blocked this turn.

CMC
1
Mana cost
{1}
Color identity
C
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate
Price
$1.39
EDHREC rank
#1040
Buy on TCGplayer
Manifold Key card art
Manifold Key does two things on one card: it untaps any artifact you control, and it makes a creature unblockable — both for one mana at activation, on a one-mana body. Commanders like Shorikai, Genesis Engine that want to untap a vehicle repeatedly, and artifact-heavy builds like Drafna, Founder of Lat-Nam that chain activations off a single mana rock, are exactly where Manifold Key belongs.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Shorikai, Genesis Engine

Shorikai, Genesis Engine

58.8% of decks · synergy 0.52

Shorikai, Genesis Engine is a vehicle that wants to attack every turn, and Manifold Key untaps it after it crews itself — turning a tap activation into a free second swing while also making Shorikai unblockable when you need that damage to land.

02
Oswald Fiddlebender

Oswald Fiddlebender

42.6% of decks · synergy 0.41

Oswald Fiddlebender's ability requires tapping him, and Manifold Key untaps him at instant speed for one mana — effectively doubling his tutoring output in a single turn, which is the engine the deck is built around.

04
Traxos, Scourge of Kroog

Traxos, Scourge of Kroog

64.6% of decks · synergy 0.31

Traxos, Scourge of Kroog enters tapped and stays tapped unless you cast historic spells, but Manifold Key bypasses that restriction entirely — untap Traxos for one mana and point a 7/7 trampler at an unblockable lane.

05
Zirda, the Dawnwaker

Zirda, the Dawnwaker

30.8% of decks · synergy 0.30

Zirda, the Dawnwaker reduces activated ability costs by two, which means Manifold Key's untap activation costs nothing with Zirda in play — turning one mana and a tap into an infinitely repeatable untap loop on any artifact you control.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

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

Manifold Key is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker — but Commander is where it actually earns its slot. In competitive and casual Commander alike, the combination of artifact untap and unblockable on a one-mana artifact is too efficient to ignore in any artifact-heavy shell. In Legacy and Vintage, the card sees fringe play in artifact-combo lists that want redundancy on Voltaic Key effects, but it rarely displaces purpose-built alternatives. Modern and Pioneer have enough artifact synergy pieces that Manifold Key shows up occasionally, but it's never a staple in those formats — the unblockable clause matters less when your game plan doesn't hinge on commander damage or vehicle attacks.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

346 decks
The Eternity ElevatorChrome DomeManifold Key

The Eternity ElevatorChrome DomeManifold Key

Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite colored mana; Infinite copies of artifacts you control with haste; Infinite creature tokens with haste; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$1.39 cheap tier

At $1.39, Manifold Key sits in the sweet spot where it's cheap enough to throw into any artifact build without a second thought. It's a staple-tier effect at a bulk-rare price, and that combination means the floor is unlikely to drop much further.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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