Photon wants a deck that makes huge amounts of mana for giant spells. It also works in a deck built around Heroes or Humans.
Mana cost
Red ()
Power / toughness2 / 4
RarityRare
Flying
Whenever Photon deals combat damage to a player, add that much mana of any one color. Until end of turn, you don't lose this mana as steps and phases end.
Picked for what they do in Photon's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Photon's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryRPlayers write colors as letters: R for red.Big ManaBig Mana decks build up far more mana than usual, then spend it on huge spells. Some are X spells, which have X in their cost and get stronger the more mana you put in.Open the Big Mana pageMana StorageKeeps mana from disappearing at the end of a step or turn, or makes a burst of mana last until end of turn. Normally unused mana empties as each step ends; these cards let you save it up for something enormous. Kruphix, God of Horizons, Omnath, Locus of Mana, UpwellingOpen the Mana Storage pageBig ManaProduces several mana at once from a single source, rather than the one extra mana most acceleration gives you. That surplus is what lets a deck cast something enormous far ahead of schedule. Compare Ramp, which is a reusable source you build up over time, and Burst Mana, which pays out once and is then gone. Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Savage VentmawOpen the Big Mana pageRampAn effect that accelerates your mana, giving you a reusable mana source beyond the usual one land per turn. Cultivate Rampant GrowthOpen the Ramp pageSaboteurTriggers when a creature deals combat damage to a player, so the reward comes from connecting rather than from the damage itself. Evasion makes these far more reliable. Ragavan, Nimble PilfererOpen the Saboteur page
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