Now that's what I call some ramp skills

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squire1

26 January 2011

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Table of contents

What is ramp?
Types of ramp
Mana Tappers
Mana ability
Land droppers
Mana storage
Static mana
Land untappers
Land control
Mana Augmenters
Mana spells

Ramp is a term that has been around for quite a while in MTG. In KrazyCaley's recent article titled post:The MTG Slang Lexicon, he defined ramp as:

"Ramp To use spells or abilities to get mana-producing resources into play quickly. Named after Rampant Growth. He is ramping up to something really scary."

He is very correct in his definition, but I would like to delve a bit deeper into the concept here. The concept of ramp has been around since Limited Edition Alpha. Ramp is currently attributed to green primarily, but has been found in every color to come extent. For example, from the beginning green had Channel, Birds of Paradise, Fastbond, Ley Druid, and Llanowar Elves; black had Dark Ritual; blue had Drain Power; red had Gauntlet of Might, and Mana Flare; artifact had Basalt Monolith, Black Lotus, the moxen, Mana Vault, and Sol Ring; and white had nothing until legends at which point it received one of the better ramp cards Land Tax.
Since that set green has pretty much taken over as the mana producing machine that it is today. Some shifts happened, taking all ramp away from blue (not that it ever had much) except its ability to exploit artifact ramp. In addition, black lost its ramp which it receive a bunch of after Alpha. The lost ramp in black went to red to a weaker extent, and artifact ramp was never as sick as it was in the days of the POWER 9.
So with all of the ramp out there, players have developed many different ramp deck engines, some of which cause infinite loops, some of which led to banning of cards, some of which are still out there and broken as hell. To develop these strategies however, players needed to grasp the glut of ramp cards out there. A good way to do so is to group them by type of ramp they cause and how they can be used. I have broken the ramp cards out there into 9 categories, that describe all of them. Now some of the categories may only apply to a few cards, but it is a valid category nonetheless. After each category, click on the list below it for an exhaustive list of cards that fit into that category.

Now it is important to distinguish a major difference here. Ramp cards increase mana-producing ability. There are mana cards out there that add mana to your mana pool, but do so at a cost that equals or exceeds the amount of mana produced. For example, Farrelite Priest does not provide more mana it simply fixes the mana into a different color. These cards are mana fixers, not ramp cards. Also note that there are some cards that may fit into multiple categories.

Mana tappers are quite simply non-land permanents that tap for mana. Mana tappers have been around from the beginning, but have progressed quite a bit. Birds of Paradise is one of the earliest examples of a mana tapper, and is still a standard in many decks as it also acts as a mana fixer. Mana tappers are very important for many reasons. For one, mana tappers are often very common and cheap cards, making them a bit more accessible to all players. Additionally there are more ramp cards in this category than any other and the diversity in these cards allows for players to use the right cards for their decks and playing styles. Additionally, in mana cases, mana tappers come in the form of creature which can be used for ramp or for attacking/blocking.

Mana Tappers list

Adarkar Unicorn
Apprentice Wizard
Azorius Signet
Basalt Monolith
Benthic Explorers
Birds of Paradise
Black Mana Battery
Blightsoil Druid
Bloom Tender
Blue Mana Battery
Boreal Druid
Cabal Coffers
Charcoal Diamond
Charmed Pendant
Chrome Mox
Chronatog Totem
Citanul Hierophants
Coalition Relic
Coldsteel Heart
Copper Myr
Crypt of Agadeem
Darksteel Ingot
Devoted Druid
Dimir Signet
Dreamstone Hedron
Drumhunter
Elvish Aberration
Elvish Archdruid
Elvish Harbinger
Everflowing Chalice
Exuberant Firestoker
Eye of Ramos
Fellwar Stone
Fieldmist Borderpost
Fire Diamond
Firewild Borderpost
Foriysian Totem
Fyndhorn Elder
Fyndhorn Elves
Gaea's Cradle
Gemhide Sliver
Gilded Lotus
Goblin Clearcutter
Gold Myr
Golgari Signet
Green Mana Battery
Greenweaver Druid
Grim Monolith
Gruul Signet
Guardian Idol
Harabaz Druid
Harvester Druid
Heart of Ramos
Heart Warden
Honor-Worn Shaku
Horn of Ramos
Iron Myr
Izzet Signet
Joraga Treespeaker
Khalni Gem
Knotvine Mystic
Krark-Clan Stoker
Kyren Toy
Lake of the Dead
Leaden Myr
Leaf Gilder
Llanowar Dead
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Mentor
Lotus Bloom
Lotus Guardian
Lotus Petal
Magus of the Coffers
Magus of the Library
Mana Crypt
Mana Prism
Mana Vault
Manakin
Marble Diamond
Metalworker
Millikin
Mind Stone
Mistvein Borderpost
Moss Diamond
Mox Diamond
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Opal
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Mul Daya Channelers
Myr Reservoir
Nantuko Elder
Noble Hierarch
Obelisk of Bant
Obelisk of Esper
Obelisk of Grixis
Obelisk of Jund
Obelisk of Naya
Orcish Lumberjack
Orochi Sustainer
Orzhov Signet
Overgrown Battlement
Palladium Myr
Paradise Mantle
Paradise Plume
Phyrexian Lens
Phyrexian Totem
Priest of Titania
Priest of Yawgmoth
Princess Lucrezia
Prismatic Lens
Quirion Elves
Quirion Explorer
Radha, Heir to Keld
Rakdos Signet
Red Mana Battery
Riven Turnbull
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Rosheen Meanderer
Sacellum Godspeaker
Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro
Scuttlemutt
Sea Scryer
Seashell Cameo
Selesnya Signet
Serum Powder
Silhana Starfletcher
Silver Myr
Simic Signet
Sisay's Ring
Sisters of the Flame
Skull of Ramos
Sky Diamond
Skyshroud Elf
Skyshroud Troopers
Smokebraider
Sol Grail
Sol Ring
Soldevi Adnate
Soldevi Machinist
Spectral Searchlight
Springleaf Drum
Star Compass
Steward of Valeron
Sunastian Falconer
Sunseed Nurturer
Sylvok Explorer
Thran Dynamo
Thunder Totem
Tigereye Cameo
Tooth of Ramos
Urborg Elf
Ur-Golem's Eye
Utopia Tree
Utopia Vow
Valleymaker
Vedalken Engineer
Veinfire Borderpost
Vesper Ghoul
Vine Trellis
Viridian Joiner
Weatherseed Totem
Werebear
White Mana Battery
Wildfield Borderpost
Wirewood Channeler
Wirewood Elf
Witch Engine
Worn Powerstone

So mana ability cards are generally similar to the mana tappers. The main different is that the cost for producing mana does not involve tapping the permanent that generates it. For example, card:ashnod's alter does not need to tap to produce mana, instead it has a cost of sacrificing a creature. Some others of these cards involve sacrificing other types of permanents, removing counters, discarding cards, activations from landfall, etc. The main advantage to cards like these is that they can be activated more times during a turn than most ramp methods. The main problem with them is that in many cases, is that the cost of activating these cards can be prohibitive. However, like many ramp cards, in the right deck mana of these non-tapping mana ability cards really shine.

Non-tap Mana Ability list

Ashnod's Altar
Astrolabe
Basal Sliver
Basal Thrull
Birchlore Rangers
Blood Pet
Blood Vassal
Cadaverous Bloom
Carnival of Souls
Dromar's Attendant
Elvish Spirit Guide
Grand Architect
Heritage Druid
Koth of the Hammer
Krark-Clan Ironworks
Lion's Eye Diamond
Lotus Cobra
Mana Echoes
Morselhoarder
Overeager Apprentice
Phyrexian Altar
Pygmy Hippo
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Rith's Attendant
Seton, Krosan Protector
Skirk Prospector
Squandered Resources
Thermopod
Tinder Wall
Utopia Mycon
Wall of Roots
Wild Cantor

Land droppers root themselves in the, hard to live up to, origins of Fastbond, but have gone through some serious changes and iterations through the years. These cards are basically cards that allow a player to play more lands than naturally granted by the game itself. Anything that allows a player to play more than one land per turn accelerates their mana-producing ability allowing them to play stronger spells earlier. These land drop cards come in two major forms.
The first is to allow a player to actually play additional lands on each turn like Gaea's Touch, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Exploration , Oracle of Mul Daya etc. These cards allow you to play extra lands that are in your hand and play very well with creatures that pull lands from your deck to your hand or in decks that have a lot of draw.
The second type is the more commonly seen fetch drop card. The cards that allow you to look through your library for a land card and put it into play, like Rampant Growth, Harrow, Cultivate, and Primeval Titan. These cards have the added advantage of being mana fixers while also ramping, hence making it easier to splash them and other colors in the deck.

Land Droppers list

Mana storage can actually act in two different ways. In the simplest examples it is a permanent that sits on the field that can turn itself into mana when needed, like Grinning Ignus, Wild Cantor, Basal Sliver, Basal Thrull, Blood Pet, Blood Vassal, and Gaea's Touch to name a few of the more notable mana storage cards. These cards are often useful because they can serve as early chumps or early beats until you need the mana they produce because you just drew that Fireball and they have no untapped Islands.
The second type of mana storage is storage that grows, which can come in many forms. One example of this would be the mana battery cycle introduced in legends (e.g., Black Mana Battery). Other examples include the Fallen Empires cycle of storage counter lands (e.g., card:hollow tree), card:iceburg, the storage lands from Mercadian Masques (e.g., Mercadian Bazaar), Petalmane Baku, Mana Cache, etc. Most of this type of mana storage card got very little love from players, which is understandable because , as far as ramp goes, these are all pretty slow. One increasing storage card has gotten some serious play (not much competitively, but a casual go to), he is Omnath, Locus of Mana. Omnath is kinda the best of both worlds, he stores mana when you don't need it, he gets bigger when he does, he can be a wall, he can be beats. This is a serious ramp card that can drop turn 2 and cause a turn 5 or 6 Fireball FTW without doing anything else.

Mana storage list

So when I was originally writing this i could only think of 3 cards that fell into this category; however, to my surprise there were several. Static mana producers are ones that kind of just do their own thing. They produce how much mana they produce every turn whether you want it or not. This was obviously a much bigger risk before mana burn got...well burned. Many of the static mana producers produce variable amounts of mana but they still produce it. In other words, if Elemental Resonance found its way onto a Memnite it still produces X mana each turn. Sadly however X = 0 in that case which makes it useless. But to all of you always asking me to build decks around crappy cards, try slapping Elemental Resonance on a Scornful Egotist. Talk about ramp! Some other examples of static mana ramp cards are : Braid of Fire, Sakura-Tribe Springcaller, Shizuko, Caller of Autumn, Thran Turbine, Altar of Shadows, Black Market, Blinkmoth Urn, Eladamri's Vineyard, and Magus of the Vineyard.

Static Mana list

Land untaps are fairly self explanatory. These cards allow you to untap one or more lands, so that you may use them twice in one turn, doubling the usefulness of a given land. Now there are cards like Candelabra of Tawnos that fit this description, that do not generally untap lands so that they can be used twice Candelabra of Tawnos is a mana fixer and odd combo card not a ramp card in most cases. For a different reason Snap and its friends are not really ramp either. They allow for a free spell cast, but the spirit of the cards is not ramp, it is utilization of resources and mana shenanigans. Arbor Elf is the Llanowar Elves of the land untap world, basically getting the same effect, but if you are playing with dual lands like Tropical Island, Arbor Elf becomes way better. Some of these cards have been used in very creative ways for example Argothian Elder+Maze of Ith and Bear Umbra+Hellkite Charger.

Land Untap list

Arbor Elf
Argothian Elder
Awakening
Bear Umbra
Early Harvest
Earthcraft
Fatestitcher
Fiery Gambit
Garruk Wildspeaker
Hunting Wilds
Juniper Order Druid
Koth of the Hammer
Krosan Restorer
Ley Druid
Llanowar Druid
Merfolk Skyscout
Merrow Reejerey
Mind Over Matter
Nature's Chosen
Nature's Will
Patron of the Orochi
Reset
Rude Awakening
Seedborn Muse
Stone-Seeder Hierophant
Tidewater Minion
Turnabout
Unbender Tine
Woodland Guidance

Now this category has very few cards in it and its usefulness is extremely arguable. Land control is not control in the same sense as creature control. This category is not about destroying or bouncing opponents lands, though if done effectively land destruction can have the same effect as ramp to a certain extent in a bit slower way. This control is literal, as in who controls this card. Stealing land is a way to diminish opponent mana-producing ability while increasing your own. This is not a tactic often used, but it can often be an effective one if your deck is geared for it. Some examples of the few land stealing cards in existence are: Gilt-Leaf Archdruid, Annex, and Drain Power. Now Drain Power is not a land stealer but it acts as one until EOT. It fact, it is a cheap way to cause a possible temporary ramp.

Land Control list

Mana augmenters are cards that augment the amount of mana that is normally produced by a mana source. These cards are generally not used that often because they can be a little inefficient and slow; however, when you combine the mana augmenters with the land untap abilities above, an extremely powerful engine can be created.

Mana Augmentation list

Mana spells are simple. They actually just generate mana upon paying their casting cost. These cards had a great deal of popularity in the early days of magic when Swamp+Dark Ritual+Dark Ritual=Sengir Vampire or the infamous Mountain+Mox Ruby+Black Lotus+Lightning Bolt+Fireball+Channel=god hand! (no seriously angels actually sing if you draw that). These types of spells have had some serious resurgence in certain decks though. Goblin Charbelcher decks tend to have really tight land if any at all, so cards like Simian Spirit Guide and Elvish Spirit Guide became a bit more popular. In addition, when storm came out cards like Pyretic Ritual, Seething Song, Desperate Ritual, and Rite of Flame gave a great way to sit blow up a hand all at once for huge storm damage.

Mana Spell list

Alright everybody come back next time for my top 10 ramp cards.

BTW, if I missed a card in one of my lists, let me know and I will add it