Brand New Best-In-Class Mana Rock Rivals Premium Commander Staples

Last updated on November 20, 2025

Chromatic Lantern | Illustration by Jung Park

New mana rock, who dis?

When was the last time a new mana rock really impacted Commander? Sure, the Soul Stone came out in Marvel's Spider-Man, but it's prohibitively expensive, and has a color identity restriction. How about before that? Arcane Signet, maybe?

The point is, mana rocks are a pivotal part of Commander gameplay and deckbuilding, but we rarely get new mana rocks that break the mold of the established Signet-Talisman-Sol Ring paradigm. A new print from Avatar: The Last Airbender is doing its best to make its mark on the format, and it's got people excited about a 3-mana rock for the first time since Commander's Sphere

New Commander Staple: Bender's Waterskin

It's basically Prophet of Kruphix, if you squint real hard. According to EDHREC, Bender's Waterskin is currently the second most played card from Avatar in Commander, behind Redirect Lightning, a potential cEDH contender.

See, if you've ever played with or against Seedborn Muse, you know that untapping mana sources during other players' turns is busted. It's essentially going above and beyond what a typical mana doubler does by letting you effectively quadruple your mana if you're able to use it all effectively on each individual turn. Waterskin won't be doing that, but it does have the potential to tap for 4 mana across a single turn cycle.

The key here is having cheap instants in your deck. The more 1-mana spells you have at your disposal, the more likely you'll be able to soak up all the extra mana you get from Bender's Waterskin. Remember, this accounts for 4 additional mana of any color across four turns, you just have to provide places to spend that mana.

Something like Zada, Hedron Grinder comes to mind. This commander thrives with 1-mana cantrips like Expedite and Crimson Wisps, but mana is usually the chokehold for Zada decks. Waterskin can essentially quadruple the number of cantrips you can use to target your creatures in a turn cycle. Feather, the Redeemed is the seventh most common commander to use this artifact right now, for similar reasons.

Browsing through EDHREC, you'll see that the Waterskin is popping up in two styles of decks.

The first is commanders that want you to operate at instant speed and play during your opponents' turns. Y'shtola, Night's Blessed and Alela, Cunning Conqueror are at the #1 and #2 spots right now, for obvious reasons.

The other class of commanders are those that require a payment for their abilities, usually in 1-mana increments. Ragost, Deft Gastronaut, Hylda of the Icy Crown, and Marchesa, Dealer of Death have all adopted the card as a “free” way to use their abilities each turn. We also see Eluge, the Shoreless Sea in the top-5 as a sort of hybrid of both categories.

Basically, if you can effectively use mana during other players' turns, you might want to consider Bender's Waterskin.

The Isle of 3-Drop Mana Rocks

Manalith | Illustration by Ryan Yee

If you want a comprehensive list of 3-cost mana rocks, I suggest checking that out on our sister site, Mana Gathering, but we've got places to go and decks to build, so let's just check in on a few of the closest comparisons for now.

Victory Chimes

The easiest comp is Victory Chimes from Battlebond. You lose out on the political aspect of giving other players mana, but adding colored mana makes the Waterskin so much better if you're hogging it for yourself.

Coalition Relic

Perpetually underrated, Coalition Relic is another 3-mana rock that has the option to add additional mana, but unlike Bonder's Waterskin, you have to give up on a turn's worth of mana to get a burst the following turn. Relic works better with expensive spells, whereas Waterskin is at its best with a flurry of cheap spells.

Chromatic Lantern

Not really comparable, but gotta get a dig in while I can. Chromatic Lantern, sucks, has always sucked, and will continue to suck in anything that's not a 5-color or “Oops All Ultimatums” deck. You can get a broader look at my feelings on the card here. And yes, Waterskin is significantly better.

Commander's Sphere

Commander's Sphere used to be the golden standard for 3-mana rocks, but it's considered pretty slow these days. It's nice that it tags out for an extra card in the face of an artifact sweeper (or if you just need to hail mary draw a card), but your 3-cost rocks need to be performing better than actual Manalith while they're on the battlefield. Waterskin isn't a direct replacement, but will probably give you better results in most games.

Relic of Legends

Relic of Legends is a fantastically powerful mana rock, but has a deckbuilding restriction. Jamming a bunch of legends into a deck is easier than ever, but that is a requirement to justify Relic, at which point this becomes the best accelerant in your deck. Honor-Worn Shaku‘s another underrated gem that fits in this same category of rocks that untap themselves for additional mana. Waterskin isn't as explosive as either, but fits the context of more decks overall.