The Mind StoneThe Mind Stone | Art by Volkan Baga

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 Ebony FlyEbony Fly is the only two-mana rock that can become a 6/6 flier?)

So, we've got two of the Infinity Stones.

What I'd really like to cover here is my surprisingly strong feelings about The Mind StoneThe Mind Stone being white instead of blue, but let's skip on my diatribe and instead pivot to what these have in common, shall we?

Both The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone and The Mind StoneThe Mind Stone are two-mana rocks that make a mana of their color, although given that there are six Infinity Stones, one has to imagine that eventually that particular nuance will be broken. My original money was on The Power Stone to end up as the colorless one, maybe adding more mana and maybe costing more as a result. The other option, however, would be for it to start by adding a single and then use the second ability both known Stones have to pump that up to a bigger number.

For The Soul Stone, you pay seven mana and flavorfully exile a creature to activate its infinity ability, which then starts returning creatures from your graveyard to the battlefield each upkeep. Having already thrown flavor out the window by making The Mind Stone white, they then decided to throw power out the window as well, knocking only a single mana off of the harness cost and making it an eight-mana version of Teleportation CircleTeleportation Circle. Yes, yes, it can hit all nonland permanents, not just artifacts and creatures, but is that really worth double the mana?

The answer, for blink decks, is yes. And the reason? The original form that the Infinity Stones take: a two-mana rock. In fact, we're likely going to end up with a full six-card cycle of two-mana rocks that are going to upset much of the existing hierarchy of two-mana rocks, because it turns out even a slight upside on the normal format of "pay two mana, get one extra permanent mana" is fairly insane.

So, rather than continue to theorize on what each of the new Infinity Stones will look like, why not take a look at some of the rocks that they'll likely be replacing?

Top 10 Two-Mana Rocks

1. Arcane SignetArcane Signet
2. Fellwar StoneFellwar Stone
3. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
4. [REDACTED] (On actual list)
5. Talisman of CreativityTalisman of Creativity
6. Talisman of IndulgenceTalisman of Indulgence
7. Talisman of HierarchyTalisman of Hierarchy
8. Dimir SignetDimir Signet
9. Talisman of ProgressTalisman of Progress
10. Talisman of ConvictionTalisman of Conviction

Oh, right, because this is the most boring top ten list of all time. And also because, for most decks, these new rocks with upside won't actually be replacing the existing two-mana rocks. Why? Because the best existing rocks have the significant upside of not only costing only colorless, but also adding multiple colors of mana. In other words? The Infinity Stones don't mana fix, and as such will probably be relegated mostly to one- or two-color decks.

Still, they'll absolutely be displacing some rocks there, so let's take a look at those, shall we?

Top 10 Two-Mana Rocks with One or Less Colors

Criteria: Two-mana artifacts that can add either colorless mana or mana of only one color. We will also be consolidating obvious cycles of cards that have an entry for each color. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Plague MyrPlague Myr

(68.9k Inclusions, 0.78% of 8.85M Decks)

Plague MyrPlague Myr is many things. A two-mana rock. A dork. A possible sign to revisit the bracket conversation. Jokes aside, if you're seeing this little guy, then someone has nefarious intent. Yes, it's possible this will sit there and just add mana all game. It's equally possible this thing will untap and get BerserkBerserk cast on it to take you out of the game, so make sure to hold up those blockers!

9. Coldsteel HeartColdsteel Heart

(69.6k Inclusions, 0.79% of 8.89M Decks)

Coldsteel HeartColdsteel Heart barely sneaks into our top ten on a technicality of only being able to add one color of mana per instance. With that said, there were some other non-TalismanTalisman, non-SignetSignet rocks that were eliminated by our criteria that are in danger of being eliminated by the Infinity Stones, so lets go over those with Coldsteel Heart, shall we?

All three of these options either enter tapped or require mana to filter into colors, which amounts to pretty much the same thing. In other words, when you take into account the various Signets and Talismans out there to choose from for your mana fixing and ramping needs, these are the rocks that are actually in danger. They're just slower than the Infinity Stones are, and if mana fixing is what you need, you have better options elsewhere.

8. The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone

(103k Inclusions, 4.12% of 2.50M Decks)

With that said, if you take a look at the image caption here, there is one thing that is keeping the Infinity Stones from becoming prominent: their price tag. The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone currently costs just under $100, with The Mind StoneThe Mind Stone currently pre-selling for about the same, despite being almost universally considered a weaker option. To put that in economic terms, you could buy multiples of every other rock on this list (besides our number five entrant that happens to be on the reserve list), then buy a full set of Signets and Talismans, and still come out with more in your pocketbook than if you bought a single Infinity Stone.

That won't matter to some folks with never-ending pockets or printer ink. But for most, I think that if these prices stay anywhere near where they are now, that will be the main reason that these Stones don't see more play.

7. MillikinMillikin

(109k Inclusions, 1.23% of 8.85M Decks)

MillikinMillikin probably isn't in too much danger of being replaced by an Infinity Stone, unless the blue entrant is also centered around mill. The decks that want Millikin want Millikin. Being able to have a two-mana ramp option that also mills you is absolutely invaluable for the decks looking to mill themselves, and unlikely to be replaced unless it's by something that mills even harder. Even then? Millikin sees play across all five colors, meaning it's unlikely that a hypothetical blue mill Stone would come close to these numbers in any case.

6. The Mana Myrs

(40.8k (Copper Myr) - 114k (Iron Myr) Inclusions)

All that said? The Mana Myrs are in trouble. Yes, there are some decks that want them because they're creatures, or specifically because they're Myrs. For everything else? It's likely that an Infinity Stone in the same color identity as the specific Myr is just a better option. Even some of the decks that just want them because they're a body will be hard pressed to keep them with a better card sitting there on the edges of their vision.

5. Grim MonolithGrim Monolith

(178k Inclusions, 2.01% of 8.85M Decks)

If you were looking for a powerhouse that was in no danger, however, then that would be Grim MonolithGrim Monolith. I actually considered eliminating this from the list entirely, as Monolith is in a league of its own. At the most basic level, if money is no consideration, this is a card you're putting in most decks with less than four colors.

Only, most decks don't contain a Grim Monolith. Is that because of money? Yes. Even more than that, however, it's about power level. Grim Monolith is on the Game Changer list, and for good reason. As a mana-positive rock, you instantly see dividends when you play it, and if you have any means of untapping it, those dividends continue to pay as the game goes on. In short? If there is a world where the Infinity Stones end up seeing more play than Monolith, it will be because of a bracket decision, not because they're actually better.

4. The Diamonds

(35.1k (Moss Diamond) - 163k (Sky Diamond) Inclusions)

The sole advantage that the Diamonds have over the Infinity Stones is their colorless cost. This means that they can be used to color fix. Now, I don't know about you, but I generally don't need to color fix in my mono-color decks, and I generally don't play the Diamonds in my two-color decks where the Talismans and Signets are available.

In other words? I think that these are the main candidate to be overtaken by the Infinity Stones. There is still the question of price, if they stay at $100, but on power level alone? This is no contest.

3. Liquimetal TorqueLiquimetal Torque

(229k Inclusions, 2.59% of 8.85M Decks)

Even if money isn't an option, however, I don't see any of the Infinity Stones, barring a super powerful one we haven't seen yet, overtaking Liquimetal TorqueLiquimetal Torque. A two-mana, untapped rock that has a flexible, unique ability is just too good. Torque aids your removal by making your DisenchantDisenchants able to blow up anything, turns on metalcraftmetalcraft, turns on affinityaffinity, and makes more decks and commanders incrementally better than you can shake a stick at.

2. Mind StoneMind Stone

(1.25M Inclusions, 14.1% of 8.85M Decks)

The issue of Mind StoneMind Stone and The Mind StoneThe Mind Stone became a meme long before we ever saw the card itself, but honestly, this is another one where it's not really a contest. While there will be some decks that want the specific ability of the specific Infinity Stone, as it falls in their niche, the vast majority of decks playing a Mind Stone will continue to do so. Why? Because it's a simple card that does two simple things that most decks want: it ramps early, and draws a card late.

1. Thought VesselThought Vessel

(1.52M Inclusions, 17.2% of 8.85M Decks)

Thought VesselThought Vessel will be similar to Mind StoneMind Stone in that it will continue to see play that will mostly be unaffected by the Infinity Stones. The main difference here is: I don't think it should. In similar fashion to Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower, Thought Vessel is usually an excuse to not have to think about discards, rather than anything that is necessary for your specific deck 95% of the time. In all reality, most decks would be better off just sculpting a seven and saving a slot in their deck. But what can I say? People like the comfort of having a huge grip, and it's "free" because it's on a mana rock.

Honorable Mentions

There isn't a real deep well of mana rocks that weren't mentioned in our list, but there are a couple of niche ones that are worth talking about.

There's not much to say about these remaining two-mana rocks, other than they each see play in a particular niche. The IrencragThe Irencrag sees play in a lot of Voltron builds or in decks that care about the power of their commander. Séance BoardSéance Board sees play in Demon decks, Spirit decks, and some spellslinger brews that dabble in creatures or creature removal. Pillar of OriginsPillar of Origins also sees play in Demon and Spirit decks, along with any other deck that cares about specific creature types.

So, will they be replaced by an Infinity Stone? Well, not by the two we've seen so far, but possibly? So far, the Infinity Stones have also been niche rocks, and if that continues, then we very well might see them hit on these or other niches we've talked about today.

Which just leaves one thing to do: wildly speculate about what the remaining Infinity Stones will care about!

There are four stones left to be printed: The Space Stone, The Reality Stone, The Power Stone, and The Time Stone. With The Mind StoneThe Mind Stone being white for... reasons, that probably leaves The Time Stone in blue, and almost certainly it cares about extra turns or untapping things. From there, we only have red and green left to claim, with The Reality Stone, The Power Stone, and The Space Stone all left to go.

The Reality Stone could be either red or green, and although it doesn't seem like a solid fit in either, I'm inclined to go with red for two reasons: The Reality Stone's depiction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is where the Stones are called stones and not gems, is fickle and chaotic. As for the second reason, it's because The Reality Stone is also red in the MCU, and Wizards likes to match up their art a lot of the time. So what would it care about? I would stick with the chaotic theme, and would expect either a Mass PolymorphMass Polymorph kind of effect or a full-on Warp WorldWarp World kind of situation.

Which just leaves The Power Stone and The Space Stone, and those are easy to fit categorically if I'm right about The Time Stone and The Reality Stone. In short, while The Power Stone could be either green or colorless, it is unlikely that The Space Stone could be green. With that in mind, I would expect The Power Stone to be the green entry, and for it to care about making creatures huge, while The Space Stone will be colorless. As for what it will care about, I admit I'm a bit puzzled on that one. In universe, The Space Stone is represented by Loki's Tesseract, and it moves people from place to place, anywhere in the universe. How you translate that to a Magic card? I admit, I'm a little stumped. Lands are what come to mind, which could mean that I'm wrong about The Space Stone feeling colorless.

There is also another option that throws this all out: that the designers at Wizards decided to throw their normal color pie nonsense out the window and just match the colors of the Stones in the MCU. If you look at the dimmer Soul Stone as "black", so far they've done exactly that by making the white Mind Stone white. That would have The Reality Stone as red, The Space Stone as blue, The Time Stone as green, and the purple Power Stone as the obvious colorless option, barring the famed sixth color purple being added to the game. This scenario seems less likely to me, but is nonetheless a direction the designers could have gone if they were looking for a challenge and to make life a little easier for the art directors.

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! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what is your favorite two-mana rock? Is it in danger of getting kicked out of your 99 by an Infinity Stone?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table with six ominous slots in it.