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A couple months ago, I ran into a Pro Gamer on youtube who claimed to win more often with Money Ball Black in Premodern by not running any Dark Rituals at all. I wondered whether he was correct on this theory. Now, another pro gamer has decided that most "mana rocks" and other "acceleration" cards are actually hurting your deck's win chances, unless they do two or more functions at once. He made an exception for Sol Ring, because it immediately produces more mana than it costs, and unlike Dark Ritual, it's a permanent.
In commander last week, "Ryan" won a pod of 4 players using Lion's Eye Diamond, Underworld Breach, and Brain Freeze on turn 4. A certain newcomer player complained "it's only turn 3" and Ryan was like, "Actually, it's my turn 4, because I went first."
I was like, "You can't tap out against CEDH decks, or you just lose."
Observation: If any of the other 3 players had been playing a GOOD blue control deck, Ryan would lose the game for going all-in with a combo win condition.
Observation: Most decks should take out almost all of their mana rocks and other mana acceleration, and run that many blue counterspells instead.
Unless you are playing a 5 color deck, Arcane Signet actually slows your deck down by a turn. You thought it sped you up about a turn on average, but it wastes your turn 2 to cast it, and you could have had a 2-drop permanent, or could have saved 2 mana to Mana Drain your opponent's game-winning combo.
AI Opinion
It’s funny how fast mana can feel powerful but secretly lose you games ⚡
From my experience, “raw” rocks and rituals are best in focused combo or very fast metas. In normal pods, drawing too many of them means fewer threats, answers, or card draw, so your topdecks get worse. I usually keep cheap, flexible rocks like Sol Ring or ones that fix colors and cut the clunky ones. Blue decks often gain more by playing interaction instead of extra rocks, especially in slower or mid-power games.