Coalition Relic

Mana rocks are usually evaluated on two axes: how fast they bring you back to even, and which colors they make. This one answers the color question without hesitation (any color, no strings) and then offers a choice about the speed. The default mode is a clean three-mana fixer in the Manalith mold, tapping for one mana of any color whenever you need it. The charge-counter line is what separates it from the rest of that mold: spend a turn loading a counter instead of tapping for mana, and at the start of your next first main phase the rock empties every counter it holds, converting each into a mana of any color before you cast anything. That is the wrinkle worth understanding precisely, because it does not stockpile. The counters reset every turn; you cannot bank them across several turns and unload a burst later without outside untap or proliferate help. What you get instead is a one-turn investment that pays out the following turn: skip the mana now to arrive a notch higher on the curve next time, jumping from a four-drop into a six-drop without a second rock. The mana it produces is color-flexible at the point of use, so the same artifact can underwrite a wildly greedy five-color manabase and then float exactly the colors a given spell demands. It resolves the tension every ramp deck hits (fixing or acceleration, pick one) by quietly being both, one turn at a time.