Mana Vault

Premodern-legal editions of Mana Vault — old-border printings plus any period-appropriate foil promos (Arena/Judge, through Scourge). Hover to preview an edition on the card; click to select it.

Fifth Edition

1997·5edrare

Selected

Fourth Edition

1995·4edrare

Old-border editions + pre-Scourge promo foils (Arena/Judge). Modern-frame reprints (8th Edition onward) exist but are not period-appropriate printings.

Why It's Banned

A one-mana artifact that immediately taps for three colorless mana, Mana Vault turns turn one into a turn-three mana base for a single card, powering out threats long before opponents can answer them. The deferred drawback (it stays tapped through your untap step and deals 1 damage to you each upkeep unless you pay 4) is a cost a combo or fast deck happily ignores once it has already won. In a format built on the early-2000s interaction baseline, that kind of repeatable, color-free burst warps the first turns of the game beyond what fair decks can keep up with.

Originally printed in Alpha (1993) and reprinted through Unlimited, Revised, Fourth Edition, and Fifth Edition, Mana Vault sits squarely inside the Premodern legal pool (which includes Fourth and Fifth Edition printings) and has been Vintage-restricted for essentially its entire competitive life as a staple of artifact-fueled fast-mana shells.

Trivia & Lore

• Mana Vault debuted in Limited Edition Alpha (1993) with art by Mark Tedin, whose early portfolio is a who's-who of broken artifacts and spells - he also illustrated Mana Crypt, Chaos Orb, and Mana Drain.
• Despite being one of the most abused fast-mana artifacts, Mana Vault has NEVER been on the Reserved List, which is why Wizards has reprinted it freely - Fourth Edition, Fifth Edition, Vintage Masters, Kaladesh Inventions, Ultimate Masters, Double Masters 2022, and Secret Lair.
• The original Alpha card read 'Tapping this artifact can be played as an interrupt' - it predated the modern stack and used the now-defunct interrupt timing class.
• Oracle errata quietly retimed when Mana Vault burns you: the Alpha card dealt 1 damage 'during upkeep' if still tapped, but the current Oracle text moved that trigger to 'the beginning of your draw step' - so on the printed card you could pay 4 to untap during upkeep and avoid the damage.
• Mana Vault was restricted in Type 1 (Vintage) on October 1, 1999 - not at the format's birth. It spent roughly Magic's first six years legal as a 4-of, getting hit only in the wave of restrictions that followed Tolarian Academy and Combo Winter.
• The Kaladesh Inventions (Masterpiece Series) printing in 2016 - card #17 - reframed Mana Vault as an ornate Kaladesh device with art by Kirsten Zirngibl, set in the gold Inventions filigree border.
• The Ultimate Masters version (2018) used Christine Choi's gothic-architecture art (first seen on the 2014 Vintage Masters printing) and also appeared as a semi-borderless Ultimate Box Topper - boxes contained only one box topper each, from a pool of 40, making the foil Mana Vault a sought-after pull.
• The most valuable Mana Vault is the 2024 Secret Lair x Fallout bonus card - art by AKQA depicting a Nuka-Cola vending machine - inserted in only a very small number of Equinox Superdrop boxes. It has sold for over $800 with listings reaching $1,000-$1,800.
• Foreign Black Border printings exist under translated names using Tedin's original art - Spanish 'Cofre de mana', French 'Arche de mana', and Italian 'Forziere del Mana'.