Sungrass EggSungrass Egg | Art by David Martin

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Charmed PendantCharmed Pendant is the only permanent card that mills a card, then uses information from that card to make mana?)

As of August 7th, 2026, the rules of the game have changed.

There have been quite a few pronouncements by the usual YouTube and TikTok suspects that this is some sort of huge change to the very fabric of the game, but in reality? The rules change affects a total of ten cards.

Well, that's a nice, round number, isn't it?

Top 10 Cards Affected by the New Mana Abilities Change

Criteria: Cards which add mana, and as a part of the same ability which adds mana, moves a card to or from the library. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Shadowblood EggShadowblood Egg

(1.20K Inclusions, 0.05% of 2.25M Decks)

Perhaps the most affected decks by the rule change, as a genre, are Eggs decks. For those not familiar, Egg decks are named after the original cycle of Eggs from Odyssey, of which Shadowblood EggShadowblood Egg is a part. The basic idea? Play a ton of effects that are mana-neutral and that draw a card, allowing you to churn through your deck.

Not every single egg is affected by the rules change, as many of them have their card draw attached to a separate triggered abilitya separate triggered ability. With that said, the entire OG cycle being on the list is going to be a consideration for eggs decks, or at least those that were aware enough of the rules to be playing by them in the first place.

9. Mossfire EggMossfire Egg

(1.31K Inclusions, 0.06% of 2.10M Decks)

So what are those rules, you ask? Well, when Eggs like Mossfire EggMossfire Egg were mana abilities, you could activate and resolve them while other things you were doing were on the stack. This is why you technically declare your spell first, then pay the costs. Now, with most folks playing things a bit nilly-willy anyhow in casual Commander, this wasn't necessarily that noticeable. If your playgroup did maintain clear priority, however, then there were some stack battles during which this could technically be an advantage. For instance, if someone played an Angel's GraceAngel's Grace, then you could have activated your Egg, despite split second saying you can't activate abilities. This would then also likely trigger abilities in your Eggs deck that's most likely built around triggered abilities, which are unaffected by split second as well.

Now? These specific Eggs are no longer mana abilities and cannot be activated under split second effects.

8. Charmed PendantCharmed Pendant

(1.34K Inclusions, 0.01% of 9.71M Decks)

Charmed PendantCharmed Pendant wasn't really affected by the rules change. Wizards went out of their way to include it in the announcement, however, and I desperately needed a break from our regularly scheduled Egg programming, so I figured why not include it as well? The reason it wasn't really affected is because of the "play this ability only any time you could play an instant" rider. For those not well versed, mana abilities can be used at times you can't cast spells and the like. It's why it's typically seen as okay to tap a land in the middle of sacrificing it, for instance, (or to use Wizards' own words: "Mana abilities can be activated and resolved without using the stack during the casting of spells or resolution of abilities"), and thank goodness for that.

In the case of Charmed Pendant, however, from day one it has been printed on the card that you could only use this ability when you could play an instant. In other words? It's always been something that's only been able to be used when you could use a spell or ability, although it technically didn't use the stack until now. So, what's the difference? Essentially nil, other than Charmed Pendant's ability can now be StifleStifled, where you used to not be able to respond to it at all.

7. Darkwater EggDarkwater Egg

(1.41K Inclusions, 0.06% of 2.40M Decks)

Do you remember the old newspaper comic that was entirely based in egg puns? That's more or less eggs-actly how I feel right now.

We've covered the rules dynamics, but not really covered the Eggs themselves. And unfortunately, there's little reason to be eggs-cited for these Eggs affected by the change. While the entire thing is a small deal, and won't even be noticed in most games, this is technically a nerf, taking abilities that were living entirely outside of a space where they could be responded to or acted upon, and makes them just another thing you put on the stack to be drowned in infinite Faerie MastermindFaerie Mastermind activations. Not so egg-cellent.

6. Skycloud EggSkycloud Egg

(1.83K Inclusions, 0.08% of 2.22M Decks)

Enough with the rules, though, and more than enough egg puns! What's different about these Eggs? Well, for one thing, the colors. And... that's it. End of list. If that is the case, though, then why does Skycloud EggSkycloud Egg have almost a thousand more inclusions than Sungrass EggSungrass Egg? They even share a color!

Well, to find out, why not do another quick list about Eggs?

Top Commander That Plays Each Egg

1. Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper (Skycloud EggSkycloud Egg)
2. Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper (Darkwater EggDarkwater Egg)
3. Toph, the First MetalbenderToph, the First Metalbender (Mossfire EggMossfire Egg
4. Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper (Shadowblood EggShadowblood Egg
5. Toph, the First MetalbenderToph, the First Metalbender (Sungrass EggSungrass Egg)

Finally, a list with a little variety! Okay, so obviously there aren't very many commanders playing these Eggs, and near as I can tell, it's not really a huge blow to anything either of the top ones are doing that they now have to use the stack. We now move on from our regularly scheduled Egg programming.

5. Chromatic SphereChromatic Sphere

(29.3K Inclusions, 0.30% of 9.71M Decks)

...into another egg that is less thematically appropriate, but fits the category anyhow. Chromatic SphereChromatic Sphere doesn't quite take the crown as the best egg out there (that honor falls to Chromatic StarChromatic Star, which was unaffected by the rules change), but it is a solid number two. As with the previous entries, it's not a huge blow to the card that it's now no longer a mana ability, although there was one cute line that no longer works as well as it did. Previously, if you had a Laboratory ManiacLaboratory Maniac in play and could mill your entire deck, you could then win without using the stack by activating Chromatic Sphere to draw yourself out. In other words? You could win the game without anyone being able to respond to it.

Now, that's a cute line, but how often did it actually come up that a table let you mill yourself out with a Lab Man in play, and actually had meaningful removal that could do something about you activating a Chromatic Sphere for the actual win? I would submit: never.

4. Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant

(33K Inclusions, 0.69% of 4.79M Decks)

Okay. Having truly moved on from eggs, we hit our next category: mana dorks that mill you. Every deck out there that cares about putting cards in the graveyard loves them, and them being affected by the rules change is actually a lot more noticeable. Why? Because you can no longer just activate Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant whenever you want. Technically, you'll have to activate it before you declare your spells, and now folks can respond to it (not that anyone is likely to).

Now, in most games of casual Commander, no one is sitting there asking each person if they pass priority. Folks are unlikely to tell you that you can't cast that spell because you didn't tap your dork ahead of time, and even if they did, you could then just tap your dork, then cast the spell anyhow. I do not expect that will change when it comes to these dorks in anything but a "well, actually" capacity. In other words? This continues to not matter to just about anyone but the judges.

3. The Warring TriadThe Warring Triad

(Helms 237 Decks, Rank #2641; 46.7K Inclusions, 0.64% of 7.29M Decks)

Having established that this rules change doesn't matter much for your average game of Commander, and also won't do anything but be a minor nuisance in competitive, what do we think about The Warring TriadThe Warring Triad? As three-mana rocks go, it's got a decent hook: it mills cards, and as you put more cards in your graveyard, it becomes a 5/5 flampler. For a deck to be interested, it needs to want mill and probably also be interested in combat. That's a pretty specific niche, but not one that isn't out there.

Still, I am surprised to see The Warring Triad beat out the cheaper Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant, even with it being colorless. I'm also surprised that more folks haven't built decks with Triad at the helm, which seems like a fun new take on colorless!

2. Selvala, Explorer ReturnedSelvala, Explorer Returned

(Helms 4492 Decks, Rank #618; 69K Inclusions, 3.38% of 2.04M Decks)

And here it is. The card where this all very much does matter. Selvala, Explorer ReturnedSelvala, Explorer Returned is a popular commander at all levels of play, but can also be a bit of a rules nightmare. Previously, you could activate her ability whenever you wanted, a phenomenon which caused all sorts of issues with Panglacial WurmPanglacial Wurm specifically. Why? Because as a mana ability, you could activate her ability to try to cast Panglacial Wurm while you were searching your library, only then you would need to reveal a card from the top of the library you were currently searching.

So that was the actual rules interaction that Wizards was trying to fix with this change. Fixing Panglacial Wurm so it didn't allow you to abuse the rules to... Well, there's never really been an official ruling, so it's not certain exactly what would happen if you tried to abuse this loophole. Some argue you'd get to keep and use the flipped card, some argue you'd get a warning on general principle after the game was reset to the best of the judge's ability. What is widely agreed is that this whole thing was more problematic than actually a problem.

As for the biggest actual loss? Selvala was a fringe Competitive EDH commander, and with her ability no longer breaking timing restrictions, it's all but certain that that deck is no more. Like Xantcha, Sleeper AgentXantcha, Sleeper Agent before it, the rules team over at Wizards has killed another fun non-blue option for competitive players. Collateral damage, yes, but damage nonetheless.

1. MillikinMillikin

(123K Inclusions, 1.27% of 9.71M Decks)

Outside of Selvala, however, the most popular card affected by this rules change is MillikinMillikin, and it ain't close at almost double the inclusions. Playable in any color, Millikin is a viable mana dork in any deck that even just passively cares about putting cards in the graveyard. And there's not too much more to it than that, now that we've explored the rules ramifications.

Except... have we?

Honorable Mentions

There are actually a few commanders which benefit from this rules change. With the various eggs now no longer being a mana ability, they are both copiable and reducible by effects that previously omitted mana abilities specifically. The most relevant of these is easily Ashnod the UncaringAshnod the Uncaring, simply because it has the most colors available to play the most eggs possible. In other words, in the case of Chromatic SphereChromatic Sphere, Darkwater EggDarkwater Egg, and Shadowblood EggShadowblood Egg, they are all now mana-positive and draw two cards with Ashnod, something pilots are taking note of. While Scientist Supreme of A.I.M.Scientist Supreme of A.I.M. only has access to Sphere and Darkwater Egg specifically, it operates extremely similarly, paying two life to copy the ability for an extra card and two extra mana. This isn't the end of the list, but the other commanders that can do these copy effects either cost mana to do it, play less colors, or both.

The other notable, then, is Zirda, the DawnwakerZirda, the Dawnwaker. It can reduce the activation cost of the various eggs, although it can't play them in its own colors. That's okay, however, because Zirda is a much-celebrated companion that could easily find its way into a five-color egg build to make them mana-positive.

In addition to the commanders that were affected, there are also a horde of cards that seem like they would have been affected by the rules change, but aren't. Let's go through those quickly, shall we?

All three of these mana abilities come with a caveat that says you could draw a card, but if you look closely, they're all delayed triggers. In the same vein, Barbed SextantBarbed Sextant and AstrolabeAstrolabe will also remain mana abilities, as they have you draw a card at the next upkeep, rather than immediately where it would create a problem. In other words? If you draw (or mill, or surveil) later, rather than right now, then you're still a mana ability. Congratulations!

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! (Actually, this time around, Wizards of the Coast just released the list for me, although I didn't find that out until after I'd done all the work of recreating it myself.) For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what is your favorite mana ability? Does it still qualify?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the rectangular platform with four legs at a sufficient height to fit chairs underneath.