Earlier this week, the Commander Rules Committee banned some of the format’s best cards out of the blue. Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, and Dockside Extortionist were all banned in Commander with no notice. Unsurprisingly, this has caused the price of these cards to plummet, potentially causing millions of dollars of lost value.
While many MTG players lost a lot of money on Monday, the MTG financial markets aren’t in complete disarray. Several cards may have lost the vast majority of their value, but another classic card has shot up. After inheriting the mantle of being, potentially, the best mana rock in Commander, Mana Vault is on the up and up.
Over the course of the past few days, every variant of Mana Vault has shot up in value. In the most extreme cases, this card is now selling for $100 more than it used to!
Mana Vault
The recent Commander bans were almost all aimed at reducing the likelihood of players having detrimental explosive starts. Mana Crypt, Jeweled Lotus, and Dockside could each easily have players untapping with five mana on turn two. Despite not being touched by the latest bans, Mana Vault can do exactly the same thing.
Unlike the recently banned trio, Mana Vault comes with a fair few caveats attached which harm this MTG card’s playability. Without any fancy tricks, you’ll need four mana to untap this mana rock, and if you don’t you’ll get hurt for it. Outside of one powerful early game turn, this makes Mana Vault pretty terrible in isolation honestly.
Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to break Mana Vault in order to generate tons of mana and value. Not only are there plenty of effects that can untap an artifact, like Aphetto Alchemist, but Mana Vault creates combos too. When played alongside Hullbreaker Horror and a sub-three mana colorless permanent, you can generate infinite mana.
While Mana Vault has always been a good ramp engine, especially in the right MTG deck, there’s significantly more interest in it now. In order to maintain their deck’s explosive starts, players have been rushing out to buy this card. This has caused prices to shoot up as supply dwindles dangerously low.
The Spike
First printed all the way back in Alpha, there have been quite a few variants of Mana Vault over the years. In total, there have been eight distinct printings across different sets, however, many of these are incredibly rare. As if the old versions of Mana Vault weren’t rare enough, the card has also had a few premium printings that routinely sell for significantly more.
As mentioned, the price for every single variant of Mana Vault has significantly increased over the past few days. The most notable increase can be seen in the regular Double Masters 2022 variant of Mana Vault. Being the card’s most recent printing, this is arguably the most widespread and available version.
Prior to the Commander bans, you could pick up this copy of Mana Vault for around $55. If you were really lucky you could even snag a copy for just $50, although these sales were rather rare. Now, however, you’ll need to fork over upwards of $149.99. Looking at the remaining listings for this variant, this already high price may soon soar higher.
Thankfully, while the Double Masters 2022 variant is very expensive, cheaper options do exist. Fourth Edition copies of Mana Vault only cost $100 right now, although this variant is white-bordered which not everyone loves. The next cheapest copy is the Revised Edition variant at $140, although that too is white-bordered.
At the top end, the most expensive variants of Mana Vault are the Masterpiece and Secret Lair Bonus Card variants. Following the bans, copies of these cards are completely sold out on TCGplayer. The last copies of these cards to be sold went for $449.99 and $950.75 respectively.
The Fall?
As good as Mana Vault is, this price spike is undoubtedly a reactionary one. Since the Commander bans happened out of the blue, players are scrambling to pick up what fast mana they can. Considering Mana Vault isn’t the most widely printed MTG card around, this has caused rapid buyouts.
Currently, it’s unclear if the demand for Mana Vault is going to keep up in the coming weeks and months. Yes, the card is one of the best mana rocks in Commander, but it’s nowhere near as consistent as the banned cards. Due to this, it’s likely never going to become as popular as Mana Crypt used to be.
While we can’t predict the future, it seems unlikely prices for Mana Vault will remain this high for too long. Like most price spikes, it will likely drop once immediate interest fades. In the long run, prices will surely be higher than before, but they may settle around the $100 mark, rather than the $150 range. Ultimately, it remains to be seen what will happen to the price of Mana Vault.
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