Every Magic Card Sorted by CMC
Mana Value or Converted Mana Cost?
When I think about a human lifetime I often think in terms such as Worth, Value, Cost, and Price. How much? Is it worth it?
Many of you may already be equating these terms and questions to the same concept: Money.
I have convinced myself that there is a very clear winner for most valuable measurable thing: Time
CMC/MV acts as the “Money/Time Continuum” for resource management in mtg.
That being said, I will try to keep this article brief. There is a veritable mandelbrot set of tangents to go off on already.
I noticed the broader curve of mana recently while sorting every rare card that I own by price and mana value because I got a new 4 page binder and wanted to separate some of the money cards from the bulk rares.
Thanks to GLHF Magic and Card Kingdom for the 500th episode giveaway credit which I used in part to buy the binder :)
Here is the breakdown of the CMC for every Magic card listed on Scryfall as of 09/24/2022*1
As you can see, 3 CMC, 2, and then 4, respectively, make up 62.8% of the total.
My favorite tidbit of data is the 17-999,999 range. haha nothing there.
So, what is your favorite CMC? Leave your answer in the comments!
I like Zero for the pure unfettered power level and Lands, of course.
One Drops really scratch that mono red itch for me cuz I just love jamming red deck wins to get the win rate up when that deck is in the meta. But 1 mana spells do all sorts of things!
2 Mana is for grizzly bears, signets, and the best ramp.
3 CMC reminds me of the powerful triple color cards
4 Mana starts to get into the bomb territory.
5 Mana spells WUBRG to me.
6 Drops feels like it is starting to be intentionally restrictive to cast.
7 Mana Spells start to feel insurmountable if they resolve.
8 Mans starts to feel extra gigantic!
Avacyn has to still be my favorite. I started playing during original Innestrad block and Avacyn was my first favorite card. I cracked an unwise amount of individual packs from the card shop without getting one. My good friend and roommate got me an Avacyn for Christmas that year 🥲
9 Mana is absurdity
Although you can see the “power creep” by comparing say, Inkwell Leviathan to Expropriate.
10 Mana - Double Digits - Eldrazi Territory - Progenitus
11 Mana fits on One Page with only 14 printed cards.
12 Mana is home to what feels like the biggest of the big.
I think of Ghalta when I think of 12 Mana.
13 . Emrakul, The Promised End.
The only black bordered 13 Mana Spell - Emrakul, the Promised End
This card makes me think of the Eldritch Moon Pro Tour. So many Emrakul turns in that top 8.
14. Blinkmoth Infusion
Leave a comment on how to break this card thanks!
15 Mana. BFM, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Shadow of Mortality is my favorite art from Capenna.
16. Draco. Lonely at the top
Draco is the highest mana cost card in the game.
Check out this recent video from Tomer on the MTG Goldfish Commander channelto hear about this crzy new combo
Finally, we have Gleemax.
The older un-set cards have a very strange vibe to them. haha.
Well everyone, That is every single CMC in the game!
What is your favorite Mana Value?? Leave a comment :)
*This includes silver bordered cards. I believe this is valid because silver border, now acorn, gives the entire team, design, play, world building, art direction, marketing and everything in between, artists, players, and article writers a chance to go out to the very edges of what the game could do.
The Un-Sets, imo, are really something that ought to be kept around as they offer freedom, creativity and forward/very forward thinking. I argue that the game would not be the same without the inclusion of the Un-Sets. Just as they would not be the same without the inclusion of any given set. Except the Un-Sets are wild and free. Wild horses in an endless field. And those deeply driven hoofprints lay tracks for only the most daring card designers to follow. Thus leading to a more expansive, inclusive, experimental, game that pushes boundaries in all directions.