Jordan's Ramping & Filtering Guide

Unformat*

JordanSanFran

---

In Commander, ramping is of paramount importance! Ramping is defined as have access to more mana than the turn number you're on. So for instance, if you can generate 4 mana on turn 3, that's ramping! As a result, we'll mostly be taking a look at artifacts here because at one land per turn, lands don't allow you to ramp as well as artifacts. See lands further below, though the lands are less for ramping and more for filtering.

Zero and 1 Casting Cost:

Ramping has been around in Magic since the very beginning, and the single best known and really best period ramp card is Sol Ring. For one mana you get two, and you can use it the turn it comes into play! I'll assume the original Moxen and the Black Lotus are of no concern to us here as they are extremely expensive.

In the years since, some new power cards have come out to help us ramp. Cards like Mox Diamond and Chrome Mox work wonders, and Lotus Petal is a one-time use card that can help out in the early game. Lands such as Ancient Tomb and others are great for getting ahead as well!

Fetch Lands (i.e. Flooded Strand don't actually get you ahead in mana, since you sac one for one (it evens out) but does allow you to "fix" your mana as well as "thin your deck" - two important aspects of play!

Two Casting Cost:

Cards that cost two that get you mana are cards that are often overlooked as there are so many three-casting cost mana rocks. However, let's not forget Grim Monolith (which essentially is taking out a loan for mana) and the Signets (one for each Guild):

Azorius Signet , Boros, Dimir, Golgari, Gruul, Izzet, Orzhov, Rakdos, Selesnya, and Simic.

In addition to ramping, Signets also provide "Fixing" which we'll touch on again in moment. There are also lands that are Guild-related that tap for two mana (but they come into play tapped and bounce a land back to your hand when they come into play. You don't technically ramp as bouncing the land evens out, unless you can play more than one land per turn somehow, but they do help somewhat). Gruul Turf and Izzet Boilerworks are two examples of these lands.

Other great ramping cards are the Talismans as well as Fellwar Stone . Fellwar Stone should go in any deck with three or more colors, or that needs access to colors outside it's Commanders color for things like Converge or Sunburst, or if you tend to steal/copy opponents stuff.

Three Casting Cost:

There are MANY three casting cost mana rocks that will help you in your Commander games. Probably the very best is Chromatic Lantern as it not only taps for mana itself, but allows all your lands to be prismatic (see Prismatic Omen or Joiner Adept as well if you're playing a three or more color deck with green as one of the colors). Basalt Monolith gives you a loan. Extraplanar Lens, Heartbeat of Spring and Mana Flare double a mana-type/all mana respectively (similar to Gauntlet of Power/ Mirari's Wake ).

Also, don't forget about Commander's Sphere which should probably go in any two or more color Commander deck. It costs 3 but can tap for any colored mana that your Commander is made up of and can also be sacrificed for a card (doesn't even have to tap when you sac it!) If something indestructible is your thing, use Darksteel Ingot.

Obelisks (Shards):

Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund, Naya.

There is a cycle of five Obelisks (i.e. Obelisk of Jund ) that cost 3 and tap for one of three different colors. These are Shards (imagine the color pie on the back of a Magic card as a jewel and the colors that make up the three are all touching one another. These are essentially a main color with the addition of that main colors two "friendly colors" (see above).

Banners (Wedges):

Abzan, Jeskai, Mardu, Sultai, Temur.

In Khans of Tarkir there were a cycle of five Banners (i.e. Abzan Banner ) introduced which cost 3 and tap for one of three mana but instead of Shards, Wedges (think of the color pie as a pie and there is a slice taken out of the pie. Essentially two "friendly" colors and then the "shared enemy" color).

Keyrunes, Cluestones and Monuments (two-colors - see above for guild list):

There is a Keyrune cycle (i.e. Boros Keyrune ), a Cluestone cyle (i.e. Simic Cluestone ) as well as a Khans block Monument cycle (i.e. Ojutai Monument ) that can also help you. They each have additional bonus abilities like turning into creatures or drawing you a card.

More Than Three Casting Cost:

Past three mana ramping isn't as important, but I should mention that Thran Dynamo is a wonderful card as well as Gilded Lotus . Everflowing Chalice and Astral Cornucopia are X artifacts, but you'll always cast them for at least 2 and 3 respectively, and they are most effective when you put several mana into casting it.

List of Cards that help you fix your mana:

Filters/Fixers:

Signet cycle, Prismatic Omen/Joiner Adept, Channel the Suns (one-time use), Mirari's Wake , Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (if you're playing black), Mycosynth Lattice, Unknown Shores, Opal Palace.

Tap For Anything:

Birds of Paradise , Command Tower, Mana Confluence , City of Brass , Grand Coliseum , Glimmervoid , Ancient Ziggurat , Undiscovered Paradise , Reflecting Pool etc... Keep in mind that some of these have drawbacks, so be sure to look carefully at the card!

Free Mana Every Turn:

Frontier Siege, Thran Turbine (mana cannot be used to play spells though!), Eladamri's Vineyard , Elemental Resonance etc...

List of Cards that help you fix your draws:

Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top, Crystal Ball, Soothsaying, Elemental Augury etc...

Drawing More Cards:

Howling Mine , Font of Mythos , Well of Ideas , Honden of Seeing Winds , Thought Reflection, Phyrexian Arena, Dark Tutelage etc...

Lands:

Obviously the best lands to fix your mana are the original Alpha/Beta/Unlimited/Revised Dual Lands. However, many people haven't been playing for two-decades to have these cards laying around, and purchasing these at between $80-280 dollars each isn't usually a viable. Thankfully there have been many cycles of lands more recently that have provided similar capabilities:

Shock Lands: These lands come into play tapped unless you pay 2 life. This is nice because it gives you an option. In formats like Commander, you usually have quite a bit of life at the start, so spending 2 life to be able to play a card early on is a big advantage. The other bonus to keep in mind is that these are both land types - so you can Fetch for them!

Unless Lands: These lands are also both kind of land subtype at the same time, which makes fetching for them possible! The distinction here with these lands is that you need to have a basic land (of one of the same types as this land) out already or else this land will come into play tapped. These are less amazing for spike and tournament play but work very well for the average fun deck. Two-color decks will often have some basic lands in them, but when you get into three-color or more, these lands tend to be less beneficial.

Fetch Lands: A land that doesn't tap for mana?! But why you ask? Simple! At 1 life you can ditch that land in the graveyard and search your library for one of two different types of land. These can be basics or they can be Dual Lands that count as either land type A or land type B. Another small but statistically proven advantage is that they "thin your deck." This means that by playing it, paying a life and sacrificing it and going and getting a Blood Crypt for instance, is in affect getting two cards out of your library instead of just one. If you play with multiple Fetch Lands, you can remove cards (Fetch Lands) from your library quickly, which increases the probability of drawing the other cards you need in your deck!

Filter Lands: These lands work somewhat like the Signets in that you pay 1 mana of either type A or B and you get two mana for it of either land type AB, AA or BB. Again, options! These lands also come into play untapped and can be tapped for a colorless. There is a cycle from Odyssey that are more similar to the signets along with a bonus five-color variant!

Damage Lands: These are great because they come into play untapped and can tap for a colorless mana. In addition, you can tap them for one mana type or another and are dealt 1 point of damage for it. Again, having an option is great! Also, these don't cost as much to purchase. There are also the "poor-mans damage lands" but they come into play tapped so I'd highly recommend against them as the Khans Block "gain lands" are better and cheaper. Let's not forget about Ancient Tomb!

Tri-Lands: Why not tap a land for one of two different kinds of mana when you can tap for one of THREE! Enter the Tri-Lands! There are two cycles of these, the Shards from the Shards Block and the Wedges from the Khans Block. These lands come into play tapped but otherwise have no restriction!

Date added	9 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is not Unformat legal.
Cards	0