Ramp-lovers, express your grief here
Standard forum
Posted on Sept. 18, 2013, 8:39 p.m. by ChrisHansonBiomancin
Standard is losing some very good ramp in a couple weeks. Arbor Elf , Avacyn's Pilgrim , Farseek , Elvish Archdruid , and Somberwald Sage will all be very sad losses for those of us who don't like to wait around for awesome $#!t. Elvish Mystic was basically the only guy left until Theros gave us some early hope with Sylvan Caryatid . Unfortunately, that's pretty much it (don't even get me started on that 4-DROP Devotion dork or the Legendary land- WAY too slow!!!). Here's to hoping the rest of the set is more generous to us. Another one-drop would be the best place to start.
Leave your thoughts and prayers, and perhaps fond memories of your Craterhoof ramp deck, below.
Dear Farseek or Farseek equivalent in Born of the Gods. You can not get here soon enough. Sincerely, Killersuv
September 18, 2013 8:46 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #7
I see the appeal of Voyaging Satyr since it can untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and there are some other ways to get creative with it (ex. Verdant Haven ), but otherwise, it's a two-drop that does what a one-drop should. Tough to see that in a deck with the far-superior Sylvan Caryatid .
Gyre Sage is not a competitive card. Believe me, I've tried. It's too slow. Losing Increasing Savagery doesn't help his / her cause.
Axebane Guardian may be the best "big dork" left. It certainly received a boost from the Caryatid. I'm thinking about a deck that ramps into Colossus of Akros .
And killersuv, I echo your wish.
September 18, 2013 9:07 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #8
Ooh, how about Gatecreeper Vine ? I like him.
Is there anyone who would rather play Lay of the Land over Gatecreeper Vine ?
September 18, 2013 9:10 p.m.
I would rather play neither, as neither ramps you. However, in a defender ramp deck, Gatecreeper Vine fits right in as fixing, blocking, and typing for Axebane Guardian .
September 18, 2013 9:13 p.m.
cupofnoodles says... #10
Ramp cards were probably toned down because they didn't want people getting monstrous creatures too early.
I think Gyre Sage with Corpsejack Menace can still be good for mid-late game ramp. Forced Adaptation can also help it ramp faster.
In retrospect, this sort of thing happens every year when blocks rotate. What was very successful during the year will usually need to be fine-tuned or replaced for the next new block. The only exception I can think of is when Jace, the Mindsculptor was still in standard. He was tournament worthy from the day he became legal to the day he got banned. Very few standard cards can survive rotation and still be viable like that in the format.
September 18, 2013 9:21 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #11
Jace was the exception to everything ;)
September 18, 2013 9:35 p.m.
There is also Xenagos, The Reveler 's +1, but that's neither a creature, and the cluestones and keyrunes, but I don't know if those really count.
I doubt there will be much ramp in this block. They want the limited games to go long, and if you can easily ramp into a monstrous creature, that's a short game, so there won't be much ramp for a while, I think. Certainly not at low rarities.
September 18, 2013 9:52 p.m.
I thought for sure theros would give us something better than Lay of the Land , guess not though.
September 18, 2013 9:54 p.m.
Oh, and Manaweft Sliver for Sliver decks. But that doesn't really help other ramp decks.
September 18, 2013 9:54 p.m.
The reason Ramp isnt very big right now is because people got kinda bored of Ramp mirrors back in Titan Standard (Scars-Innistrad) because the decks were so consistant at getting out their big guys. The four decks in the format were: Pod, Zombie Pod/Aggro, Ramp, and Delver. That's why they aren't bringing back Rampant Growth effects aplenty like when they had Rampant Growth , Sphere of the Suns , and Solemn Simulacrum , not to mention mana elves like Birds of Paradise and good old Llanowar Elves . It's the same reason they cut down planeswalker quality after JtMS to prevent boring control mirrors.
September 18, 2013 9:54 p.m.
Liliana definitely gives Jace a run for his money though lol.
September 18, 2013 9:56 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #17
Eh, Manaweft Sliver is better than Gatecreeper Vine , Lay of the Land , and maybe Elvish Mystic . And it's not terrible in multicolor decks.
September 18, 2013 9:57 p.m.
Greenside Watcher and Into the Wilds also says hello. Maze's End .dec anyone?
September 18, 2013 10:54 p.m.
cupofnoodles says... #19
When I think about it, we may actually have one of the best ramp creatures in standard now then ever before - Burnished Hart .
I was instantly interested because this is an artifact creature; it can land ramp mono-red burn or blue-black control. Decks that normally shouldn't have land ramp but now can. Black has ways of bringing creatures back to the field too, so in the right deck the elk may even be repeatable =)
September 18, 2013 11:02 p.m.
The problem is that Burnished Hart
is a Gray Ogre
, and needs you to spend your next turn to ram.
It seems more like Ranger's Path + Grizzly Bears , and that's okay, but it's slow.
September 18, 2013 11:08 p.m.
anotherbomb says... #21
As a grixis player I must say I'm not too sad. Farseek pretty much dominated last season, and there's still a lot of ramp in creature form, but they don't thin your deck and fix your mana with shock lands at the same time ;). Every color took a hit though, blue's losing snapcaster and think twice much to my dismay. Our best card draw is opportunity and we don't even have 1 and 2cc guys to get us there faster!
September 19, 2013 12:09 a.m.
one thing to remember too is that even though some of the new ramp cards cost a little more than what we've come to know, everything in Theros seems to cost a little more. So while it may not be so obvious in the early stages, as the rest of the block is released these ramp cards won't seem so bad. You can't try to slow things down with this set and make ramp cards just as easy to get out as before during faster game play sets. So putting fewer into the set and making them cost more is a good way to slow things down, but even so, you'll be producing things faster than your opponent because things have slowed down and cost have been raised for them too.
September 19, 2013 12:21 a.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #23
This is why Casual rules all. I use the good stuff like Harrow and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger for my ramping :)
September 19, 2013 12:27 a.m.
@UmbrotheUmbreon sure anyone can make a deck out of the thousands of cards ever printed but not just anyone can build a deck out of just a few hundred available cards. lol.... just messing with ya
September 19, 2013 12:32 a.m.
You also have to take into account that Theros will be a much slower format so cards like Burnished Hart might not be as bad as we think it is. Just providing some prospective, and no i'd never play lay of the land. Elvish Mystic + Gyre Sage + Corpsejack Menace seems a lot better especially if you ramp into Kalonian Hydra . Renegade Krasis isnt all that bad either.
September 20, 2013 9:35 a.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #26
Burnished Hart is an interesting one. My reservations on it are that it basically takes up 2 turns and / or 6 mana for the same effect as Ranger's Path . The "best case scenario" is an Elvish Mystic, another one-drop, and five basic lands by the end of turn 3.
The fact that Manaweft Sliver is being discussed as a viable option in a non-Sliver deck shows how desperate we are right now. I still think that Sylvan Caryatid will crowd him out of most decks since they are the same CMC.
September 21, 2013 1:28 p.m.
HarbingerJK says... #27
As a primarily Modern player, I will still be using Farseek often : D
September 21, 2013 2:35 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #28
Sylvan Caryatid is amazing and should be a playset in any deck needing ramp
September 21, 2013 2:43 p.m.
turn 3 Burnished Hart
turn 4 at opponents end step or as a combat trick, activate Burnished Hart fetch two lands.
turn 5 assuming u hit all your land drops u now have 7 mana on turn 5.
At the cost of turns 3 and 4 with only a 2/2 half blocker, if the opoonent has trample its like all you did was cast Ranger's Path .
7 mana on turn 5 is decent, but if you die before then, or have nothing to do on that turn with that mana, then it's pointless and not viable, atleast not til something is added to the equation.
Blizzicane says... #2
Voyaging Satyr is another mana ramp card for standard were getting but yeah thats it.
September 18, 2013 8:45 p.m.