Last updated on January 22, 2024
Mana Crypt | Illustration by Dominik Mayer
Another set, another round of alternate arts, card frame variants, and foiling treatment. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan introduces the new “Cosmium Ink” treatment, and if that sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a riff on the rare treatment that was used in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
Lore-wise, cosmium is a powerful substance that surfaced from the depths of Ixalan and became the focus of warring factions across the plane. No worries though, you won’t have to engage in any wide-scale battles to get your hands on cosmium ink cards… though your wallet might not be happy.
What Is a Cosmium Ink in MTG?
Inkling Summoning | Illustration by Scott Murphy
Cosmium ink is a variation of the neon ink treatment used in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, which is being repurposed in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. It’s defined by its neon coloring on the art and textbox borders of cards, and different versions feature different neon coloring to denote rarity.
How Do You Tell if a Card is Cosmium Ink?
Trust me, you’ll know. For one, there’s an obvious, vibrant color scheme to a cosmium ink card, and that neon coloring is used in the card art as well as the borders around the name and text box.
If you’re still unsure, you can check the collector’s number on the bottom left corner of the card. A cosmium ink version displays the card’s collector number with a different lowercase letter for each different version. For example, an alternate-art Cavern of Souls without cosmium ink shows #345 in the corner. The blue version displays #410c, the red version uses #410e, etc.
How Do You Get Cosmium Ink Cards?
You ask your significant other and family members really nicely around Christmas time. Or you can open Collector boosters of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
Notably, copies of yellow-inked Cavern of Souls are being used as a “Premium store promo,” which means your local game store might have a few copies to give away. It’s completely up to individual stores to determine how they want to distribute these. This yellow version of Cavern of Souls is not available in booster packs.
What Types of Packs Have Cosmium Ink Cards?
Cosmium ink cards are currently exclusive to The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Collector boosters. Notably, the LCI Bundle: Gift Edition includes one Collector booster, so there’s a chance of opening a cosmium ink card in a bundle.
- GIVE THE GIFT OF MAGIC—The perfect present for any Magic fan, the Bundle: Gift Edition is full of cards and exclusive accessories, including a Collector Booster full of Rare cards, shiny foils, and alternate-art cards
- JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Discover powerful relics and craft tools to give you an edge against the deadly dinosaurs, cunning traps, and ancient gods at the center of the world
- FOIL JURASSIC WORLD CARD IN EVERY BOX—Every box comes with 1 Universes Beyond Jurassic World Collection card featuring the Jurassic World franchise’s iconic characters and ferocious dinosaurs with a shiny Traditional Foil card treatment
- EXCLUSIVE ALTERNATE-ART CARD—Every Bundle also comes with 1 promo card featuring Bundle-exclusive alternate art and a shining Traditional Foil treatment
- PLAY A GAME THAT FUSES ART, STORIES & STRATEGY—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy with art and mechanics that explore the themes of a particular world and story—whether you want to play a casual game with friends, collect cool cards, or get competitive, Magic welcomes you to The Gathering
How Many Mana Crypt Cosmium Ink Versions Are There?
Mana Crypt and Cavern of Souls each have six cosmium ink variants. Note that these cards are part of the “Special Guests” slot in certain types of booster packs, and both cards have a normal, non-cosmium version with the same art, without any of the neon highlights. In other words, there are seven total versions of each card, six of which use the cosmium ink treatment.
There’s one inked version corresponding to each color in the spectrum, as well as a 3-color version using a mix of different neon colors in its art. The color also corresponds to the rarity of the version, with some colors being rarer than others. Those rarities are as follows, from least to most rare:
- Yellow – Corresponds to , yellow Cavern of Souls are promotional cards
- Green
- Blue
- Purple – Corresponds to
- Red
- 3-color
Where Do You Get a Cosmium Ink Mana Crypt?
Two options: You either get lucky and open one in an LCI Collector booster, or you purchase it on the secondary market.
Which Sets Have Cosmium Ink Cards?
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is the only set that currently features cosmium ink cards, and they can only be opened in Collector Boosters.
- JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Discover powerful relics and craft tools to give you an edge against the deadly dinosaurs, cunning traps, and ancient gods at the center of the world
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR COLLECTORS—Collector Boosters are a shortcut to the coolest cards in a set, with packs full of Rare cards, shiny foil cards, and special alt-art, alt-frame cards
- EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL TREATMENTS—Found only in Collector Boosters, every pack contains at least 1 Extended-Art card and may even contain a Cosmium Neon Ink card with borderless art that radiates with the power of Ixalan’s inner sun
- JURASSIC WORLD CARD IN EVERY PACK—Get 1 Universes Beyond Jurassic World Collection card depicting iconic characters and moments from the Jurassic World franchise in every pack
- PLAY A GAME THAT FUSES ART, STORIES & STRATEGY—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy with art and mechanics that explore the themes of a particular world and story—whether you want to play a casual game with friends, collect cool cards, or get competitive, Magic welcomes you to The Gathering
What Are the Odds of Opening a Cosmium Ink Card?
The chances of opening a cosmium ink card in a Collector booster is less than 1%. There’s only one slot in a Collector booster in which a cosmium ink card can appear, and that slot contains a card from an assortment of other rares and mythics the overwhelming majority of the time. That means even in an entire Collector booster Box only gives you 12 1% shots at opening a Cosmium ink card.
Are Cosmium Ink Cards Valuable
Even though at the time of writing there aren’t any reliable prices listed for cosmium ink cards on most of the major Magic retailer sites, it’s fair to say these will be worth a decent amount. For one, the two cards that received this treatment are heavily played and highly sought by players, so they’ll be in high demand regardless of the special treatment.
You can use the neon ink Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty as an approximation of how these prices stack up. This card was featured with four different alternate neon ink versions, which ranged from promotional to extremely rare. While most versions hover around $20-$30, the “ultra-rare” neon red version has a market value closer to $1,000. That doesn’t necessarily mean your cosmium ink Mana Crypt is worth a cool G, but you can use this as an estimation for how wildly the prices might vary from version to version.
It’s safe to say with Cavern of Souls and Mana Crypt being generically powerful and desirable cards, even the more common versions should hold a fairly high price tag. You can compare these to the confetti foils from Wilds of Eldraine, some of which have an absurdly expensive asking price. For example, a confetti foil Rhystic Study currently sells between $350-$400, and Smothering Tithe ranges between $200-$250. Those are heavily played Commander staples, as are Mana Crypt and Cavern of Souls.
Do All Cards Have Cosmium Ink Versions, or Only Certain Ones?
Cavern of Souls and Mana Crypt are currently the only cards with cosmium ink versions. There’s no news about seeing this treatment in a later set or in a Secret Lair tie-in, and the name “cosmium” is thematically tied to the plane of Ixalan, so I doubt it’ll be used again outside of a direct tie-in the Ixalan.
The neon ink treatment did appear in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty before this, and it was repurposed as “cosmium ink”. It’s plausible to think neon ink can be used again, just without the “cosmium” flair. The only real difference is that cosmium ink versions incorporate their color palette into the art of the card instead of being a simple overlay, whereas regular neon ink versions have the same base art for each card.
Are Cosmium Ink Cards Tournament Legal?
Cosmium ink variants are legal in any format where the card in question is already legal. Note that this implies the card is legible and in reasonable condition.
Time For Some New Ink
Cavern of Souls | Illustration by Pedro Correa
Cosmium ink isn’t entirely new, but it’s a cool spin on the underused neon ink treatment we’ve seen before. I’m a fan of the whole color-rarity system, as it adds a ton of unique versions of the same card to the card pool to match different players’ preferences. Of course, it’s a huge bummer that they only appear in the most expensive packs possible, and at such an ungodly low frequency.
Are you a fan of the cosmium ink version, or were you lucky enough to crack one open? If so, which color did you get? Which one would you choose if you could? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.
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2 Comments
Twelve 1% chances is not 12%, it’s twelve independent draws.
Yup, that’s been fixed, thanks~
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