Ramp
A deck strategy focused on accelerating mana production to cast expensive, game-winning spells before opponents can match your resources. Ramp decks trade early-game development for devastating mid-to-late game plays.
How Ramp Works
Ramp decks use mana acceleration — land fetching, mana creatures, and artifacts — to reach 6-8 mana while opponents are still at 3-4. This lets you deploy threats several turns ahead of schedule.
Types of Ramp
- Land ramp — Cultivate, Kodama’s Reach put extra lands into play. Most reliable since lands are hard to remove.
- Creature ramp — Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise tap for mana but die to removal.
- Artifact ramp — Sol Ring, Arcane Signet are Commander staples.
- Ritual ramp — Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame give temporary bursts.
Ramp in Commander
Ramp is the most important strategy in Commander. With 40 life and multiplayer politics, games go long enough for ramp to pay off enormously. The general rule: include 10-12 ramp sources in every Commander deck.
The Ramp Payoff
Ramp without payoffs is just playing lands. The best ramp decks culminate in Craterhoof Behemoth, Expropriate, or Tooth and Nail — spells so powerful they end games immediately.
See Also
- Land — A card type that produces mana, the resource used to cast spells. Each player can play one land per turn. The five basic land types (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest) each produce one color of mana. Nonbasic lands often produce multiple colors or have special abilities. Related Decks$20 Mono-Blue TownsStandard$30 CavesStandard12 RhinosPioneer52 Surveil LandsStandard5C Teachings […]
- Mana — The resource used to cast spells and activate abilities in Magic. Mana comes in five colors (white, blue, black, red, green) plus colorless. You generate mana primarily from lands, but also from artifacts, creatures, and spell effects. Related Decks$20 Mono-Blue TownsStandard$30 CavesStandard12 RhinosPioneer52 Surveil LandsStandard5C Teachings ControlStandardAmulet TitanModernBudget Brew Beatdown feat. Reminder TextCommanderDragonback AnalystStandardElvesPauperHoliday Showdown […]