MTG Moxen: Rules, FAQ, and Where to Buy

Last updated on April 9, 2025

Mox Ruby | Illustration by Volkan Baga

The Power 9 are Magic’s most iconic group of cards. These nine cards were first printed in Alpha and Beta and have gone on to become some of the game’s most iconic cards thanks to how absurdly powerful they are.

Five of these cards are the original Moxen, or Moxes. These artifacts are famous among players for being an almost ridiculously good way to fix your mana and gain near-immediate advantage over your opponents. These Moxen also gave way to a few other iterations of them with different effects trying to balance them.

Let’s go over the Moxes and what makes them so popular!

What is a Mox?

Chrome Mox | Illustration by Dan Frazier

The Moxen are 11 artifacts with mana value 0 that generate different kinds of mana. They all have the word Mox in the name, and their art represents a gemstone or precious metal sometimes held by a pair of hands.

The 11 Moxen are:

• Chrome Mox
• Mox Amber
• Mox Diamond
• Mox Emerald
• Mox Jasper
• Mox Jet
• Mox Opal
• Mox Pearl
• Mox Ruby
• Mox Sapphire
• Mox Tantalite

There are also three other Mox cards from Un-sets: Mox Lotus, Jack-in-the-Mox, and Spooky Clown Mox.

History of Moxen

Mox Emerald, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, and Mox Jet are the first five Moxen and part of the Power 9, printed in Alpha, Beta,_, and Unlimited.

These 0-mana artifacts each generate a single mana of one of the five colors when tapped. They’re among the most powerful cards in the game since you can play any number of them in a single turn to grant yourself an absurdly fast mana advantage. This led to the ban of the original five in every format except Vintage, where they’re restricted to one per deck.

With Stronghold’s Mox Diamond, Wizards attempted to create a Mox that wasn’t as broken as the previous ones by requiring players to discard a land if it would enter the battlefield. This was followed by Chrome Mox during the first Mirrodin block, which required you to imprint a card from your hand onto it so it could generate mana. Mox Opal came along during the second Mirrodin block, and it only truly worked in artifact-heavy decks thanks to its metalcraft ability.

Mox Amber made the artifact basically unusable if you didn’t control legendary creatures or planeswalkers, making it a way more limited but still useful card, especially in EDH. Mox Tantalite is considered the weakest because of its suspend cost. It’s a pretty slow card when compared to the other nine, but it’s still pretty good and could be cheated onto the battlefield with abilities like storm.

Mox Jasper entered this small circle from Tarkir: Dragonstorm and has a different limitation than Mox Tantalite in that it requires you to control a dragon to produce any mana.

The original five cards didn’t get to see much play because of their very early ban in 1994. They still see pretty consistent play in Vintage, the only format where they’re allowed despite their restriction. Mox Diamond sees enough consistent play to get on the EDH Game Changer list, but that’s probably because it’s not legal in Modern at all.

Chrome Mox is banned in Modern since it can effectively break the format.

Mox Tantalite is a decent ramp artifact in several decks, and you can break it by playing things that can cheat it onto the battlefield or by playing it with cascade from your deck.

How Many Mox Cards Are There?

There are 11 Mox cards, 13 if you count the two from Un-sets.

Why Are the Mox So Expensive?

Moxen are expensive because they're particularly powerful cards. The original five are basically the best fast mana, second only to Black Lotus, another member of the legendary Power 9. Mox Diamond may have been an attempt at a more balanced Mox, but it also ended up pretty powerful.

High power levels, play in formats like Vintage, and limited reprint possibilities make the price of these cards stay consistently high. And we all know Magic is a game about finance and not having fun with cardboard, so the Moxen got thrown onto the Reserved List to please the more finance-oriented among us. I’ll keep my thoughts about the Reserved List and Magic’s absurd prices for another time (spoiler: they’re very negative).

Mox Opal and Chrome Mox are by far the most powerful of the Moxen outside the Reserved List. They’ve also only seen reprints in Masters sets, as Kaladesh inventions or special things like judge gifts and Grand Prix promos. This mix between high power, high playability, and low reprints keeps these cards’ prices high, even if they’re not close to the original five.

Mox Amber has a pretty daunting price for a mana rock, but it’s definitely more accessible than the original Moxen. This card has tons of utility in Commander where legendary creatures and planeswalkers are extremely common, so it’s very useful.

Mox Tantalite definitely has its drawback compared to the powerful Moxen, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good card. This Mox is less powerful and thankfully less expensive, so its price is definitely more easily accessible than the others.

How Much is Mox Amber Worth? ($50)

Mox Amber‘s original printing from Dominaria is among the cheaper prices on this page around $50.

How Much is Chome Mox Worth? ($80)

Chrome Mox has a low price around $80 for the Eternal Masters print, while the Kaladesh Inventions version is over $400.

How Much Is a Mox Opal Worth? ($150)

The Modern Masters and Double Masters prints of Mox Opal can be found for about $150, while the Kaladesh Inventions print can cost more than $500.

How Much Is a Mox Diamond Worth? ($600)

Mox Diamond’s Stronghold print can be found for around $600 while its From the Vault: Relics foil print can cost more than $800.

How Much Is a Mox Pearl Worth? ($2,060)

Mox Pearl’s Unlimited print sells for about $2,000. It’s one of the least expensive Moxen of the five belonging to the Power 9.

How Much Is a Mox Ruby Worth? ($2,690)

Mox Ruby can go for about $2,690 for its Unlimited version.

How Much Is a Mox Emerald Worth? ($2,700)

The Mox Emerald can be found for $2,700 for its Unlimited print.

How Much Is a Mox Jet Worth? ($2,800)

Mox Jet costs about $2,800 from Unlimited.

How Much Is a Mox Sapphire Worth? ($3,200)

Mox Sapphire can go from around $3,200 from Unlimited to $22,000 from Alpha.

Where To Buy

Local Game Stores

Your local game store is always the best place to search for cards you need before you check online retailers. You’re probably going to have a pretty hard time finding the first six Moxen at your LGS because of their Reserved List status, but you might have some luck if you’re looking for Mox Amber or even Mox Opal.

Card Kingdom

A quick search over at Card Kingdom shows they have a pretty decent stock with at least one of each of the Moxen like Mox Sapphire, Mox Emerald, even Mox Ruby, and a variety of editions. They have slightly higher prices than some other sites but are also notably trustworthy.

Star City Games

Star City Games is actually the reference site for a lot of players outside of the U.S. when you need to convert prices to their local currency because they have good and updated prices. Their stock, especially on the Power 9 prints, is pretty much empty right now.

You can use it as a reference for prices, but you’re not gonna have much luck actually buying the more expensive Moxen here.

Amazon

Amazon's stock of the Moxen fluctuate constantly, so you're better off giving it a search yourself to see what's currently available. A few honorable mentions right now include No products found., No products found., and No products found..

Chrome Mox

Buy on Amazon

eBay

I found a lot of copies of the Moxen and at great prices on eBay, but confirm the reliability of the seller before you trust their quality.

Proxies

Proxies are technically illegal to sell, but not to buy or make. I’d personally argue in favor of just getting proxies of the Moxen for any non-tournament match.

Always check with your playgroup and LGS if they’ll allow you to play these cards, but proxies are absolutely an option if they give you the okay. I especially advocate for proxying Reserved List cards because there’s absolutely no reason why Magic should be pay-to-win.

For clarity, I’m only advocating for unofficial proxies because there’s really no reason to waste money on the 30th Anniversary proxies of these cards.

For example a set of moxen costs you 10 bucks over on MTG Proxy…

Why Are Mox Cards Banned?

The first five Mox and Mox Diamond are all banned in every format and restricted in Vintage thanks to their absurdly high power levels. They can be unfun to play against. This is only my opinion, but their placement on the Reserved List and having such absurdly high prices also make the game entirely pay-to-win if you don’t play with proxies.

Is Mox Amber Legal in Modern?

Mox Amber is legal in Modern and isn’t banned in any formats. It’s not legal only in formats like Standard or Alchemy where it’s out of rotation, or Pauper and Penny where it doesn’t fit in with the formats’ rules.

Is Mox Opal Legal in Modern?

Mox Opal was unbanned in Modern on December 16, 2024 and allows certain decks excessively powerful combos, though less with Underworld Breach banned from the format.

Can You Tap Mox Diamond Without Discarding the Land?

Mox Diamond’s updated rules text makes it so that the card can’t enter the battlefield at all unless you discard a land card, so you can’t tap it without having discarded a land card because it just wouldn't enter the battlefield.

The card’s old wording allowed for some leniency in a way that you could get away with playing the card and responding to the sacrifice trigger by tapping it for mana. The new wording prevents that.

Wrap Up

Mox Amber | Illustration by Steven Belledin

The Moxen have a well-earned spot in Magic’s Hall of Fame. They’re part of the Power 9, and even attempts at making Moxes that aren’t as broken end up with as pretty powerful cards. I personally don’t care that much for cards that cost absurd prices, especially the ones that aren’t on the Reserved List. I think Wizards could (and should) reprint them more often and make them more accessible.

Have you ever played with or against one of the original five Moxes? What new Mox would you make? What’s your favorite non-Power 9 Mox? Feel free to leave a comment, and make sure to check out the Draftsim Discord to find an amazing community of Magic fans.

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!

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