Crack the Cipher

Cryptex rewards patient decks. As an artifact for {2}, it turns slow accumulation into a flexible mana source while advancing a payoff mechanic that can change a midgame into a card advantage engine. Tap to collect evidence 3 and add one mana of any color while placing an unlock counter on Cryptex, so each activation both fuels your next play and moves you toward its late game ability.

The sacrifice clause reads like a case file. Once Cryptex has five unlock counters you can sacrifice it to surveil 3 and then draw three cards. That timing encourages careful graveyard construction and selective exile to meet the evidence requirement. In play it fits into control shells that value card selection and resource smoothing, or into graveyard synergies that turn small investments into a decisive advantage in the endgame.

• Mana Cost – {2}
• Card Type – Artifact
• Subtypes –
• Card Text / Rules Text (Printed) – {T}, Collect evidence 3: Add one mana of any color. Put an unlock counter on Cryptex. (To collect evidence 3, exile cards with total mana value 3 or greater from your graveyard.) Sacrifice Cryptex: Surveil 3, then draw three cards. Activate only if Cryptex has five or more unlock counters on it.