Cryptolith Rite – Shadows over Innistrad
Date Reviewed: Feb. 6, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.00
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.13
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.88
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I remember people literally freaking out about this card when it was new. Even then, it wasn’t clear why – it’s at most one half of a combo, and probably less than that considering that even the one-mana accelerators seen as having power level issues need something to cast and/or a way to do it repeatedly. But that’s not to say it isn’t a good card. If you’ve set up a game state where you have a large number of tokens, casting this is basically spending two mana to generate much more than two. As I alluded to, anything that lets you untap creatures can turn into an engine, and there are many more ways to untap creatures at will than lands. The issues are that its “fair” uses tend not to be very interesting – it doesn’t really do anything that you couldn’t also do with Llanowar Elves, Eldrazi Spawn tokens, or the like – and its unfair uses can be a little fragile and easy to disrupt.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
The only thing better than one mana dork is a whole host of them, and Cryptolith Rite is certainly a way to make that a reality. If you have a lot of tokens or no need to swing, this lets you make the most out of them and generate an explosive turn off of their backs. This does require set-up to work, but it can more than pay for itself in a later game, and there are plenty of ways to abuse this with mass untap effects and the like (like Intruder Alarm). That said, this is a pretty dismal top deck if you don’t have anything to capitalize with off of this effect, and while a lot of mana is lovely, you always will need something to do with that mana to make this worthwhile.
Constructed: 3 (decks that want this effect likely already have plenty of mana dorks, and this is a bit too clunky for the rest in most cases)
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
Click here to read over 5,000 more MTG Card of the Day Reviews!
Daily Since 2001.