For One Mana - Blue
This will be a new mini-series of articles where I highlight some underplayed cards for one mana that can easily fit in your deck. I’d also just like to show you what one mana can make you do in each color because we have a broad variety of options that currently aren’t being played enough in my eyes.
For those unfamiliar, I mainly play Battlecruiser and Low Power, so most of these cards aren’t going to be your new hidden tech for competitive play, though I will be hinting at some best in slot options that currently get played and highlight some lesser known variants with similar effects.
I’m kicking things off with blue because it’s easiest for me. Blue and black are my most played colors, so I thought I’d start there (and I wouldn’t want to write the white article with at least some of Chief’s input). That does mean this series will be in UBRGCW order - I’m sorry! But we’re currently trying to do a few ‘solo’ articles - now that there’s finally time for non-set related content - and I wanted to get this series going while Chief works on his own content.
A quick note from Chief: I’m looking forward to helping out with the article about white cards. I’ve already been working on a variety of articles related to white, but this gives me an opportunity to talk about some of my favorite pet cards that cost a single white mana!
Tap my Island for a blue, casting a … Brainstorm, Ponder, or Opt. These get played so often, and it’s easy to fall into the ‘include these 15 cards before I build my actual deck’ mindset. I hope you’ll at least consider slotting some of the cards highlighted in this article.
If you feel people keep playing the same few cards over and over again, why not start by including some of these lesser known and lesser played cards in your own decks yourself?
Creatures
Artificer’s Assistant shows up sometimes, mostly in decks that lean in on historic synergy already - but with the recent printing of Jodah, the Unifier and the latest set - The Brothers’ War - focusing on artifacts, I expect you may brew a deck soon which ends up with a higher ‘historic’ count than what you’re used to, maybe even just on accident.
Grab your favorite deck and count the number of artifacts and legendaries you have - sagas will likely not be that relevant, but do count them if you have them. At what time did you consider adding an Archmage Emeritus or Storm-Kiln Artist to your spellslinger deck? What creature count did you have that made you add that Beast Whisperer? What are your thresholds to consider something ‘worth’ a trigger?
If your historic count borders on the same amount, even by accident, it might be worth slotting in this lovely bird. Also, turn 1 land, Artificer’s Assistant into turn 2 mana rock (of which I know you likely run many) or T2 commander gives you an immediate advantage to manipulate your draw for turn 3.
Color fixing can be an issue depending on which colors you are playing. Realmwright gives you a turn 1 fixer, which can be quite important. It can be a great turn 1 play in those decks that lack reliable treasure generation or land fetching possibilities.
Important to note here is that the card reads ‘in addition to’, so your utility lands will still retain their other other abilities and your lands will still tap for the original mana they were able to generate. The same can’t be said of …
… Reef Shaman, which will do the exact opposite to your opponents. Yes, this card will make those lands lose all other abilities. Deny them access to their Cabal Coffers; Maze of Ith or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - remember to activate it in their upkeep so they can’t use those lands to do what they expected it to do for the remainder of the turn.
Enchantments:
Field of Dreams is great in your recurring play groups where you know people are up to shenanigans - and they prefer to keep those shenanigans private. Yes, you also play with your top card revealed, that’s not the point I’m trying to make here. Knowing exactly which cards people draw in the initial 3-4 turns can provide you, and the rest of the table, with some valuable information.
Your opponent that had that turn one fast start with their enabler or payoff or combo in plain sight on top of their deck can change how your table approaches the game, and Field of Dreams might assist in making sure the table’s threat assessment or removal is pointed in the right direction.
If you have a deck that’s low mana outlets, and you find yourself having mana open ‘often’, then maybe Soothsaying is the right card for you. Granted, it’s ‘technically’ a one drop, but to make use of it, you will need to sink mana into it.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to include this card initially, but turn 1 Soothsaying into turn 2 sink mana into the X ability isn’t that bad if you’re playing a slower control deck that tends to keep it’s mana open for ‘in response’. And said in response isn’t going to be required every turn - so now your lands just sit there, untapped.
Late game this will churn through your deck quite effectively. Spend any amount of mana, reshuffle your top for that many cards - I get that cards like Scroll Rack and Sensei’s Divining Top exist but if you’re building for budget or redundancy, and you have access to blue, consider Soothsaying instead.
I guess if you’re floating ‘infinite’ mana you get to stack your deck the way you like it and just keep activating the ‘look at’ and ‘shuffle’ ability until you find what you want, though I’m sure there are less convoluted ways of turning your infinite mana into a game win.
Man, I love this card. Unlike Field of Dreams, Telepathy does not reveal your own information. It shows you exactly what type of opening hand people kept and puts everyone but your own in-game knowledge in plain sight of the entire table (and you can hide the fact you may have kept a mediocre opener so they can’t judge you, ahem).
Great in pods where you know people tend to not politic a lot or want to storm off or build stack-wars early on. 75% Of hands are public information, and deciding what to (and what not to) respond to becomes a whole lot more fun (or frustrating, depending on who you ask).
Instants
‘Swing at you because you’re open’ “In response, Cerulean Wisps, let me untap my biggest blocker, and draw a card”. That’s how you’ll play this card in most scenarios. It doesn’t have to target a creature you control, so you can use this as a combat trick before blockers are declared on one of your opponent’s creatures too.
Use this to help out a player you really need to have around to deal with another opponent. Maybe you want a big threat at the table gone that could get blocked for lethal with a tapped down creature your opponents control. Enjoy your new ‘I could do something here, let’s talk’ card.
Not providing a Voltron creature with hexproof is a mistake you can punish people for thanks to Disarm. This clearly doesn’t belong in ‘just about every deck’ but if your local meta has heaps of equipment matter decks, you can turn someone’s 20/18 First strike, menace, temple, flying, lifelink Rograkh back into a more manageable 0/1. They should be thankful you left them their clothes.
There’s no way around it - EDH feels like it’s homogenizing a lot. Because of this, especially as you go up in power level, you will likely run several cards that will also be in your opponent’s deck. Sure, your Consecrated Sphinx is good to resolve, but before my turn, for the price of one blue mana and an expendable creature, let me get my own straight to the field with Mask of the Mimic as well.
Relying on your opponents to ‘have something’ is never a guarantee - but you’ll know when this card if it’s right for you and your playgroup. If you regularly use sentences like ‘everyone is playing x y z and so am I’ or ‘wow, we have 3 <creature name> on the board at the same time’ then you know what you have to do.
I’m aware this card directly contradicts the goal of my article (making you play less of the same cards you and others always keep playing) but if that meta and mindset already exists at your tables, you might as well capitalize on it.
‘But Gitaxian Probe exists’ - true! But that’s a sorcery, and Peek is an instant, and while you’ll always pay the mana here, being able to make decisions at instant speed might sometimes be necessary. In a format where words like ‘redundancy’ or ‘synergy’ get thrown around a lot, it’s quite weird that this one isn’t on people's minds when building for hand knowledge. Also, being able to say ‘first, let me take a peek’ in response to something else is great.
Counterspelling a boardwipe may not always be the best answer. In a format with an ever growing abundance of artifacts, and with it, more cards like Austere Command, Farewell and Vandalblast getting played, returning your own to hand with Retract over having them get exiled or destroyed isn’t bad.
The boardwipe may have to resolve to deal with a player who has a way bigger board presence than your own and having the option to take yours back so you come out on top one turn later feels amazing. Playing this in response to a Dockside Extortionist might also change how the remainder of someone’s turn plays out.
This card can already be found in several cheerios decks, but is quite absent from decks helmed by commanders such as Sai, Master Thopterist or Alela, Artful Provocateur. Replay your early game artifacts to gain extra triggers from your commander by recycling your own board at instant speed! With the new prototype mechanic coming out recently, this one will likely see some play soon.
Spy Network
Combine Gitaxian Probe, Mishra’s Bauble and Ponder and don’t draw cards, is essentially what Spy Network does. You get a lot of knowledge here, both about one opponent and your own next few cards. While it’s true you’re not drawing cards, you have just manipulated your top 4 and know what your highest threat opponent is intending to do on their turn. You are down a card, but if you’re already getting spellsinger payoffs, you won’t feel that lack of draw too much, and I feel the top deck knowledge for your next 4 can make quite a difference in decision making on your end.
Sorceries:
As someone who builds a lot of decks that utilize the graveyard well, ‘blue Faithless Looting’ has turned out to be not a terrible card in several of my decks. Careful Study easily sets up reanimation targets you really want to cast from the graveyard instead of from your hand.
Windfall gets printed in a lot of precons so it’s easy to ‘not look around’ for something that only benefits you. If you’re playing against Araumi, Meren or Chainer and the likes, you probably do not want to wheel your opponents without having some sort of graveyard hate on board. Careful study benefits you and you alone, and sometimes, that’s necessary.
If you already run cards like Agent of Treachery; Diluvian Primordial or Hullbreaker Horror in the 99, or your commander is one of Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur; Koma, Cosmos Serpent; Memnarch or Tiamat, Energy Tap turns into quite a strong ritual in a color that’s not really known for playing this type of effect. Tapping your Torrential Gearhulk to help you overload a Cyclonic Rift feels amazing to pull off.
Hey it’s me 10 years from now ‘Let me look through my top 5 and stack them the way I like’ as a turn one play can be fantastic. True, Index doesn’t let you draw cards, but you just saw 5% of your library on turn 1 and are able to manipulate your next few turns the way you choose. I get that drawing the extra cards from spells like Brainstorm can easily be preferred, but do not underestimate the advantage looking at your top 5 can give you.
Portent is literally Ponder where your card draw happens one turn later. If your deck isn’t particularly fast, or you want to draw cards on not your turn (I’m looking at you, God-Eternal Kefnet players), getting to draw a card now versus later might actually turn out in your favor.
Sourcerous Sight truly is Gitaxian Probe, minus the Phyrexian mana. I feel ‘Gitaxian Probe but different’ has been a recurring theme for this article - my bias in wanting to know what others are doing at the table is clearly starting to show.
With all of these options, why settle for the same few cards everybody else is playing? I get that when given the option, many people will just grab the ‘best in slot’ card - it’s one less card you have to worry about, and it saves you having to spend time brewing your deck, right?
It’s also the quickest way to make all (your) decks feel similar and some of the sentences I enjoy hearing the most when playing EDH are ‘what does that do?’ and ‘I have never seen that card’ (That and ‘Exxaxl, I was at the register already so I bought you coffee too’).
I’m hoping at least some of these cards made you go ‘I didn’t know that card existed’ and you go for a less homogenized approach on your next brew instead of grabbing the easy go to staples that make up the bulk of what most decks play nowadays. Be the change you want to see at your table and try to get others to do the same. Change can happen, and if you feel it isn’t happening enough, be the first person to start.
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