Pointed Discussion

I prefer mana that can be used on both kinds of spells...

like Izzet Signet.

Commander review: this card sucks. Comes into play tapped and only works for very specific cards. Nah thanks, there is no reason to ever add it to any Commander deck. If it at least work for all spells you can cast from a graveyard, such as unearth or retrace or whatever. But like this? 0.5/5

Not bad - Basically makes Snapcaster free.
Could even possibly make Past In Flames - Decks viable.
Ive seen a few competitive decks running running Pristine Talisman - So this to should see some play too.

In the same deck you've got this and Grafdigger's Cage. It's kind of mind boggling...

majinara: You don't know much about Commander then. You can only play one Izzet Signet. The Signets are better, sure, but it goes like this:

1 color decks can not play signets
2 color decks can only play one signet
3 color decks can only play 3 signets


For one and two color decks, this is what we call 'functional redundancy'. So what if the Signets are better? You want to play the Signets AND this in a graveyard themed Commander deck. Trust me, you do. Even three color decks might want a fourth mana stone if they have enough synergies. Of course the signets are better, but would you seriously tell me that you would play ONLY Dismember for creature killing in a black Commander deck? Of course not. You play Doom Blade, Terror, Rend Flesh, and Victim of Night, even though some of those are inferior to Dismember.

The reason Tutors are even better in Commander than in normal games is the same reason this card has every reason to expect healthy appreciation from the Commander community.

this would be really good if some spells had like WUBRG in their flashback cost. but until that comes up, this card will never reach its full potential

Terrific in the right deck, otherwise it's too spendy and wasteful.

I think people are going to try this. They are probably gonna fail, but they´ll try it nevertheless

I have to agree that this isn't good enough for Commander. Like A0602 stated, it's much better to use artifacts that have no restrictions on how the mana can be spent and there are plenty of efficient mana-producing artifacts to choose from before Altar of the Lost could be considered.

combos with flashback

At the end of the day.
It's a Snapcaster Signet.

The point of flashback spells is to have value later in the game. Curving out into your flashbacks comes naturally. A card like this actually only seems good for things like using Army of the Damned flashback as a win condition. That having been said, it does provide colored mana fixing for flashback spells, which means you can play off-color flashback costs like Spider Spawning and Forbidden alchemy in mono decks. I don't think this card is costed correctly for what it does, though. I'd have loved a Sol Ring wannabe.

So... I have a question from the Commander angle. If you were using this card in an Omnath deck, could you tap the altar for two green and then not spend it on anything? If so, would it continue to sit in Omnath's pool continually like any old green mana would?

The fact that it comes into play tapped is a bit of a handicap to the card’s benefit, but I suppose that if it didn’t come into play tapped it would definitely cross the line into the pretty powerful category (because you’d make-up for the casting cost by possibly using it as soon as it’s in play). Then again what is Wizards afraid of? There’s lots of ways to deal with artifacts and lots of ways to protect them; I would not have flinched much if this card cost 2 or 1 to play (for a "comes into play tapped card"). This card is obviously good for flashback themes while encouraging some versatility to the gameplay. Decks that can reduce artifact casting costs will help.
I’ll agree with the 2 ½ rating, but could see clever use of the card make this a tiny bit higher rated card, perhaps 3 stars? The artwork is cool without overstepping the line and trying to prove too much.

Catalyst Stone is both cheaper in cost and quicker on the field. I have this card and Even Dralnu is like "WTF is this? I don't need this.."

yup... coming into play tapped seriously hurts this card. i'm pretty sure there isn't even ANY (new) flashback cards whose flashback cost is 2 (or less), so what were they worried about?

Hey look! it is an alter to Fblthp!

@toasty: Deadly Allure and Memory's Journey said hello, but they still suck.

@Yndrian: Hmmmm... Yes, I think. And congratulations on finding some sinergy with this.

About the card... It could be used in some convoluted flashback deck based on it and Faithless Looting which aims to win by flashbacking Increasing Devotion or something like that, maybe?

Hmmm... Ral Zarek could make this beefy in a flashback deck.

While I agree with DarthParallax about redundancy in EDH, majinara is correct in stating this card is just not very good. There are other, more viable, mana rocks to use in EDH regardless of color(s). The limitations on what you can use this mana for is far too resrictive, imo.

@Yndrian - yes, you can do that. you would just want to keep track of how much mana is "for flashback only".

2.5/5

... Anyone else notice that this card says that the mana must be spent on a flashback cost from... A graveyard?! wtf WHY. Were there plans for some card or another to allow you to flashback cards from opponent's graveyards? Is there already a mechanic somewhere that necessitates this wording?

More than ANYTHING else about this card, that little "a" intrigues me the most.