The 39 Best Mana Filters in Magic Ranked

Energy Refractor | Illustration by Maria Poliakova

Looking to build one of those majestic 5-color decks but don’t know where to start? First thing's first—you need to fix your mana. There’s no worse feeling than when you have powerful cards in hand but you can’t cast them.

To help with that, I’ve compiled a list of the top cards that can filter your mana so you can focus on casting those amazing spells without worry.

Curious about the best mana filters ever printed? This list has them all!

What Are Mana Filters in MTG?

Manamorphose | Illustration by Adam Paquette

Mana filters are cards that convert one type of mana into another. They don’t always ramp you, but they help fix your colors so you can cast spells more reliably.

For example, a mana filter might let you pay () and tap it to add a mana of any color. They’re especially useful in multicolor decks that need the right mix of colors at the right time.

These cards must have an output of creating mana. Cards like Vizier of the Menagerie and Agatha's Soul Cauldron that let you “spend mana as though it were mana of any color” count as mana fixing, but they're not really mana filtering.

#39. Celestial Prism

Celestial Prism is a classic, straightforward mana filter. You pay 2 and tap it to add 1 mana of any color. It’s not flashy, but sometimes you just need a reliable way to fix your mana in any deck. It’s a bit costly compared to more modern options, but for budget builds or color-hungry decks that need generic solutions, it still holds up as a utility piece.

#38. Crossroads Candleguide

This big ol’ scarecrow might seem clunky at first glance, but Crossroads Candleguide has some utility—its activated ability lets you pay 2 and get a mana of any color, and you get to exile a card from a graveyard when it enters the battlefield.

#37. Energy Refractor

Energy Refractor comes down for 2, draws you a card, and gives you a filtering engine for just 2 mana per activation. It’s worse than Prophetic Prism in the sense that you lose mana when you filter, but in exchange, you aren’t limited to activating it just once. This artifact’s ability doesn’t require you to tap it, unlike the Prism.

#36. Golden Egg

Golden Egg draws you a card on entry, and then you can sac it to get 1 mana of any color. You can also use it to gain life if needed, which makes it extra nice in decks that care about artifacts, food, or lifegain.

#35. Mystic Skull / Mystic Monstrosity

Mystic Skull starts as a humble little mana filter, but for 5 mana you can transform it into Mystic Monstrosity, a chunky 5/6 that also gives all your lands the ability to tap for any color. It’s slow but rewarding in longer games.

#34. Jack-o'-Lantern

Jack-o'-Lantern has two modes: one where you pay 1, tap, and sac it to exile a graveyard card and draw, and another where you exile it from your own graveyard to get a mana of any color. That delayed filtering makes it great for grindy decks or ones that want things in the graveyard to reuse later.

#33. Orochi Leafcaller

A staple in walls decks in Pauper, Orochi Leafcaller is a 1-drop that turns any green mana into mana of any color. That’s huge in green-based decks that splash other colors, especially decks like walls or elves that ramp hard or play lots of creatures that add mana.

#32. Terrarion

Terrarion is a delayed fixer, but it gets a lot done. It comes in tapped, but when you sac it for 2 mana of any combination of colors, it also draws you a card as it hits the graveyard. That means it's great for early setup and later fixing, especially in decks that care about artifacts, graveyard triggers, or value cycling.

#31. Urn of Godfire

Urn of Godfire is another flexible, if slightly clunky filter option. You can pay 2 to get 1 mana of any color, which is on the pricier side, but it fits well in slower, more controlling builds. Bonus points for its second ability—it can sacrifice itself for 6 mana to destroy a creature or enchantment. It’s not just a filter—it’s a late-game removal option, too.

#30. Wizard's Rockets

Despite entering the battlefield tapped, Wizard's Rockets shares some similarities to Chromatic Star as they both let you filter mana and draw a card when they die. The difference is that Wizard’s Rockets charges up by paying and tapping it, then you sacrifice it to get X mana in any colors you choose, letting you filter more than just 1 mana.

#29. TDM Devotee Cycle

The Devotee filter creature cycle released in Tarkir: Dragonstorm lets you spend 1 mana to filter for mana based on the clan these creatures belong to. Mardu Devotee fixes for Mardu colors (), Abzan Devotee does so for Abzan colors (), and so on.

#28. Tarnation Vista

Tarnation Vista lets you choose a color when it enters tapped, which is already fine, but for just 1 mana, it can tap to give you 1 mana of each color you’re already showing in your mono-colored permanents.

#27. Crystal Quarry

Simple and effective, Crystal Quarry is a go-to 5-color fixing land.

#26. Cormela, Glamour Thief

Cormela, Glamour Thief taps for , which is an ideal trifecta for Grixis spellslinging decks—but the key is that you can only use the mana for instants and sorceries. That makes Cormela a niche but efficient mana filter in decks that lean hard into spellcasting. On top of that, when this rogue dies, it brings one of those spells back to your hand.

#25. Darkwater Egg

From the Odyssey eggs cycle, Darkwater Egg lets you pay 2, tap, and sacrifice it for plus card draw. That’s a solid one-shot filter for decks that just need a quick mana fix and some velocity.

#24. Ceta Disciple

Ceta Disciple is a surprisingly versatile little merfolk. Its green tap ability lets you filter into any color, which is exactly what we’re after. It’s also got a red ability that gives a creature +2/+0, so it’s a bit of a toolbox piece—some fixing, some aggression.

#23. Castle Sengir

This land gives you a little bit of choice. Castle Sengir taps for colorless mana by default, but you can pay mana to filter it into , , or . It’s not the fastest fixer out there since everything costs something, but in grindy or control-style decks where you’ve got time to spare, it helps hit your splash colors while also avoiding the pain of entering tapped.

#22. Knotvine Mystic

Knotvine Mystic is a triple-color mana ramp/filter in a creature body. For 1 generic mana and a tap, it gives you , which is amazing for any Naya-colored () build.

#21. Prismatic Lens

Prismatic Lens is one of those low-key MVPs. It taps for colorless right away, but for just 1 mana and a tap, it filters anything into any color. Prophetic Prism is a similar card that also lets you filter mana, and while it doesn’t ramp you ahead in the game, it replaces itself by letting you draw a card when it enters the battlefield.

#20. Pulse of Llanowar

If you’re looking for budget options to filter mana, Pulse of Llanowar turns every basic land you control into a mini rainbow source. It doesn't add extra mana, but whenever you tap a basic, you choose what color it becomes. That’s a huge deal in decks with lots of basics, especially budget builds or ones that aren’t running fancy duals.

#19. Treasure Dredger

Technically, Treasure Dredger fits into the mana filter category, getting you a steady stream of Treasure tokens for just 1 mana and a life each time. It’s a bit painful, but it's helpful in non-green decks that still need the fixing to support other colors.

#18. Apprentice Wizard

Apprentice Wizard might look like a goofy 0/1 at first glance, but don’t be fooled—this little wizard adds 3 colorless mana for just 1 blue mana. That’s not filtered into colored mana, sure, but it gives you a huge boost in colorless-based decks or when you just need a mana engine. Great for big artifact builds, Eldrazi strategies, or anything that’s colorless-hungry.

#17. Blood Celebrant

Now here’s a wild one. Blood Celebrant lets you pay 1 black mana and 1 life to get a mana of any color. It’s super flexible in decks that don’t mind losing a few life points—think combo or aggressive strategies where the payoff is worth the cost. It’s especially good for fixing in weird color combos or pulling off splashy plays in black-heavy decks. Think of decks like cycle storm in Pauper, where you want to filter the black mana you generate with Songs of the Damned from a graveyard filled with creatures.

#16. Bog Initiate

Bog Initiate is a simple but effective creature that can turn your colorless mana into black, leading to potential combos in formats like Pauper.

#15. Yurlok of Scorch Thrash

If you like living dangerously, Yurlok of Scorch Thrash is your kind of fixer. It gives each player when you pay 1 and tap it, but anyone who doesn’t use their mana is gonna feel it thanks to Yurlok’s mana burn mechanic. So not only are you filtering and ramping in Jund colors, but you’re also putting pressure on everyone else to do the same. It’s spicy, political, and powerful all at once.

#14. Cascading Cataracts

This land is indestructible, which already makes it great insurance, but Cascading Cataracts also lets you convert 5 generic mana into 5 mana in any colors. You’ll need the upfront mana to activate it, but it gives you perfect rainbow mana once you do, all without any risk of land destruction taking it out.

#13. Castle Garenbrig

This one’s more niche, but it’s excellent at what it does. Castle Garenbrig filters your mana into 6 green specifically for casting creatures or activating creature abilities. While it’s not universal color fixing, it’s extremely powerful fixing in creature-heavy green decks.

#12. Codie, Vociferous Codex

Codie, Vociferous Codex is absolutely bonkers when it comes to fixing for spells. You can’t cast permanents while it’s out, but in a spell-heavy deck, Codie gives you a tap ability that instantly adds 1 of each color. That’s perfect mana for anything you’re about to sling—plus it comes with a pseudo-cascade effect that digs for your next instant or sorcery.

#11. Abstergo Entertainment

Abstergo Entertainment taps for colorless normally, but with just 1 mana, you can turn it into any color you want. That’s solid, low-cost filtering on demand. Plus, if you really need a clutch play, you can exile it to recur a historic card and wipe graveyards clean.

There's a wide variety of lands with a similar filter effect printed through the game’s history, each with a different ETB or activated ability. There’s Hall of Oracles, Hall of Tagsin, and Guildmages' Forum, to name a few.

#10. Orb of Dragonkind

Orb of Dragonkind is a niche fixer with big payoff. You pay 1 and tap it to get 2 mana of any color combination, but you have to spend it on dragons or their abilities. In a dedicated dragon deck, that’s like a Sol Ring that fixes. It’s also got a dragon tutor ability stapled to it, so it ramps and digs for your best beaters.

#9. Shadowmoor Filter Lands

As you can expect, filter lands like Cascade Bluffs are the classic example of what the cards on this list should do. They don't make colors mana on their own, but for a colored mana investment, these filter into any combo of 2 mana in their colors—for Cascade Bluffs, that’s , , or .

#8. Original + Fallout Filter Lands

Darkwater Catacombs is an example of the other kind of filter lands, except these ones don’t require mana of a specific color. You can filter colorless mana through them, which makes them relatively better than the ones printed in Shadowmoor.

#7. Ravnica Signets

The Signet cycle definitely belongs on this list. They’re a staple in multicolor builds because they’re efficient, they smooth your curve, and they don’t care what color mana you used to activate them. They're just rock-solid 2-drops for anyone needing both ramp and fixing.

#6. Manamorphose

Manamorphose is the gold standard for spell-based mana fixing. You spend 2 mana—either or —and you get any 2 mana back, plus you draw a card. It essentially replaces itself and smooths your mana while it adds to your storm count, triggers prowess, or enables any other spell-based synergy.

#5. Arcum's Astrolabe

Banned across multiple Eternal formats, Arcum's Astrolabe is the MVP of mana fixers. You just need a snow mana to cast it, and it replaces itself with a card right away. Then it becomes a 1-mana fixer for anything, letting you tap 1 more to filter into any color. Super clean, very cheap, and especially busted in decks built around snow lands.

#4. Chromatic Sphere + Chromatic Star

Chromatic Sphere is a classic one-shot fixer that gets straight to the point. Pay 1, tap, and sacrifice it to get 1 mana of any color and draw a card. Chromatic Star is a better version, as the card draw ability triggers separately from the activation cost. You can use Chromatic Star along with the likes of Deadly Dispute to draw an extra card, something you can’t pull off with the Sphere.

#3. Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile

Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile is just straight-up a rainbow battery. You can tap it for with a 5-mana activation, which is a dream for any 5-color or color-intensive deck. Even better, Jenson Carthalion tosses in scry and Angel tokens as bonuses for casting multicolored spells.

#2. Loot, the Pathfinder

This beast is doing the most. Loot, the Pathfinder has a green tap ability that lets you add 3 mana of any one color. That’s massive for fixing and ramping all in one go. While it’s tied to the exhaust mechanic, even just one activation is game-changing. Add a built-in Ancestral Recall and Lightning Bolt options with blue and red, and you’ve got a jack-of-all-trades that smooths out your mana base while still pressuring the board.

#1. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds

Selvala, Heart of the Wilds is an absolute mana machine. Its ability lets you tap for X mana in any combination of colors, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control. That means not only do you get a ton of mana, but it’s perfectly filtered to whatever you need. You also get additional card draw if you start resolving creatures with the greatest power on the field, and even though your opponents can benefit from this as well, it can be a considerable payoff for playing big creatures in a dedicated deck.

Does Mana Filtering Count as Ramp?

No, mana filtering doesn’t count as ramp. Ramp refers to effects that increase the total amount of mana you can produce, letting you cast more expensive spells earlier. Mana filtering, on the other hand, just changes one color of mana into another, though some effects double as both, as seen with Knotvine Mystic or Yurlok of Scorch Thrash.

Is a Mana Filter a Mana Source?

Yes, a mana filter is a type of mana source. If you can tap a card or activate its ability to produce mana, whether it’s converting one color into another or generating mana directly, it counts as a mana source. Mana filters don’t always add extra mana like ramp does, but they still produce mana, which means they’re considered mana sources under the rules.

What’s the Best Way to Turn Colorless Mana into Colored Mana?

The best way to turn colorless mana into colored mana is by using mana filters with a cheap and accessible activation cost. Examples include artifacts like Prismatic Lens or lands like Cascade Bluffs. These cards don’t usually ramp you, but they fix your colors by converting colorless or off-color mana into exactly what you need.

What Are Filter Lands?

Filter lands are a type of land that lets you convert one type of mana into a specific combination of two colors. Unlike basic lands, they usually don’t tap for colored mana on their own—instead, you pay 1 mana and tap them to “filter” into color pairs like , , or . Cards like Cascade Bluffs and Darkwater Catacombs are classic examples of filter lands, although the Shadowmoor ones require you to spend colored mana, while the other ones don’t.

Wrap Up

Golden Egg | Illustration by Lindsey Look

As you can see, mana filters come in all shapes and sizes. They’re essential tools for multicolored decks, helping you fix your mana or cast those 5-color monstrosities with ease.

What do you think? Which one is your favorite? Are there any I may have missed? Let us know in the comments or over on the Draftsim Discord! If you’d like to see more lists like this, be sure to follow us on social media so you never miss a post.

Take care, and I’ll see you next time!