A lot of the time, Magic: The Gathering’s Commander can feel like a solved format. The staple cards in each color combo are so well-known and so numerous that many decks effectively build themselves. For this reason, it’s always a breath of fresh air when players stumble across some spicy new tech that previously went overlooked. Today, the community has done just that, unearthing the 30-year-old MTG mana rock Jeweled Amulet for consideration.
As obscure Magic cards go, this is up there with the best of them. It’s had just a single printing, back in 1995’s Ice Age. It’s also quite unusual in terms of functionality, making use of a mechanic you rarely see in Magic design nowadays. Most importantly, however, the card is an alternative zero-mana mana rock, which gives it utility in a ton of different lists. You probably haven’t heard of Jeweled Amulet before today, but it could be a fine addition to a number of your Commander decks.
Jeweled Amulet MTG
- Mana Value: 0
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Type: Artifact
- Card Text: 1, Tap: Put a charge counter on this artifact. Note the type of mana spent to pay this activation cost. Activate only if there are no charge counters on this artifact.
Tap, Remove a charge counter from this artifact: Add one mana of this artifact’s last noted type.
Jeweled Amulet was dug up from the depths of MTG obscurity in an r/EDH post by Azuflux earlier today. In it, they pointed out how the card was a surprisingly good way of powering out three-mana Commanders.
“I have been thinking about this card a lot lately. At first blush it just seems like you’re losing a slot in your hand and deck just to bank a mana for a later turn… but if you think of it as a 1-generic-mana rock that enters tapped and taps for one, isn’t it actually kinda amazing??”
Azuflux, via r/EDH
While the card is worded weirdly, it does essentially work as Azuflux states. You can play it for free on turn one, use your land drop to add a charge counter to it, then untap and play another land to have access to three mana on turn two. This is the kind of line that only mana dorks and enchantments like Utopia Sprawl enable normally.
Those cards are all locked to green, so for non-green decks Jeweled Amulet is actually a pretty big deal. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that it plays in a similar space to the likes of Mox Opal, etc. In Azuflux’s post they even point this out. They note that, unlike the Commander-legal Moxen, there are no specific deckbuilding requirements for using Amulet in your list.
This puts Jeweled Amulet in a uniquely strong position. Many players in the comments of Azuflux’s thread were quick to acknowledge this. RicciosDilemma said “Bro, you convinced me,” while TVboy_ added “Oh damn, I totally need this for my Xavier deck now.”
Others weren’t quite so surprised. IzzetReally said “It’s not a secret. But yeah, it’s great.” Several other players, like IgnobleWounds and Jahan_kyral, shared similar sentiments. While the card is largely unknown in casual spaces, it turns out it has a sizable audience over on the competitive side of Magic.
A Surprising cEDH Superstar
“I’ve run it in two different cEDH decks so yeah I’d say it’s pretty good.”
RectalBallistics, via r/EDH
Though Azuflux started the thread in the regular r/EDH sub, a lot of the comments came from a cEDH perspective. At first glance, you wouldn’t really expect a card like Jeweled Amulet to be useful in such a fast-paced MTG format. The effect is unique, sure, but cEDH has access to some of the most powerful mana rocks and acceleration in all of Magic. Amulet is quite clunky, too, since it requires continuous mana investment and only functions every other turn.
Turns out, these elements aren’t actually all that important in cEDH. Most games end very quickly, which means Amulet’s long-term clunkiness is less important than its short-term acceleration potential. If you’re only storing up mana and spending it once, it really is like a tapped one-mana rock, which is a stellar deal. It’s also a zero-mana artifact, which opens up a lot of potential interactions and combo lines in the format.
Some of the best cEDH Commanders care about you casting multiple spells. Stella Lee wants you to cast two per turn, for example, while Flubs just wants you to cast as many as possible. Final Fantasy newcomer Vivi falls into the latter camp as well. In these decks, Amulet offers some nice utility just by existing as a zero-mana artifact. Additionally, because all three of these Commanders cost three mana, they can all be powered out via a turn-one Amulet.
For Stella Lee and Vivi, this is actually one of the more consistent ways to hit such a line. Flubs has access to all of green’s dorks, of course, but none of those can cycle for a free card once Flubs comes down. Looking at the EDHRec stats for Jeweled Amulet, these three Commanders are some of the most popular decks for the card.
A Range Of Applications
“Very common in Braids, Arisen Nightmare. Let’s you T2 Braids and you can sac it to Braids!”
Aredditdorkly, via r/EDH
The free spell factor is just one aspect of Jeweled Amulet’s playability. The card also has a wide range of other synergies, which make it useful in decks beyond cEDH.
For instance, as Aredditdorkly points out above, the card is an ideal starter for Braids, Arisen Nightmare. It both allows you to ramp into your Commander, and serves as a piece of sacrifice fodder for it afterwards. Amulet offers diminishing returns on subsequent uses, so this is a perfect way to maximize your value. The card also works well with other Commanders who care about sacrificing artifacts, like Breya or Daretti.
Jeweled Amulet is also fantastic if you run a deck with lots of counter manipulation. Proliferate lets you get around the usual ‘one counter at a time’ limit, and just use the card as a one-mana colored mana rock. Decks like Atraxa can make great use of this, as well as Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. In decks like these, Amulet may even be better than some Moxen. At the current $8 price tag, that’s not a bad spot to end up in at all.
Jeweled Amulet isn’t a secret broken MTG tech piece or anything. As Azuflux notes in their post, “it’s no Sol Ring, Ancient Tomb, or Mana Vault.” It has its downsides, and it definitely plays worse in long games than it does in short ones. That said, it’s a rare effect that can offer acceleration and fixing in non-green decks, and a great synergy piece for artifacts to boot. After 30 years, maybe it’s finally time for this forgotten trinket to have its day in the sun.
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