It is vital to get
Kruphix, God of Horizons into play as early as possible, so as to start banking mana as soon as we can. For this reason, and for the purposes of banking mana, the deck has a rather extensive ramp package with around 20 cards total falling into this category. For simplicity's sake, the ramp package will be broken up into 4 categories: Enchantment-Based, Spell-Based, Creature/Artifact-Based, and Combo-Based ramp.
Enchantment-Based
In total, we are running 3 enchantments that all do essentially the same thing with minor variation. Dictate of Karametra, while being the cheapest of the three, is a global enchantment; that means that once it is out there, our opponent(s) will also benefit from it. Next up on the curve is Mana Reflection, likely the strongest of these enchantments being as it interacts with all of our tap-based ramp and not just lands. Finally, Zandikar Resurgent is a powerful card in that it also seconds as a card draw spell. But with great power comes great responsibility, and the amount of cards this deck can draw will sometimes actually make Zandikar Resurgent a dangerous card to have out.
Spell-Based
Cards like Rampant Growth, Explosive Vegetation, and Search for Tomorrow are standard ramp Sorceries, and speak for themselves. But the interesting form of ramp that we are running comse in the form of Drain Power. When you combine Drain Power + Kruphix, God of Horizons
, any turn where your opponent could not spend their mana efficiently becomes doubly beneficial for you.
Creature/Artifact-Based
Any good deck needs an equally good host of artifacts and mana-dorks that will accelerate it along the mana curve. Here, we find such cards in Sol Ring, Simic Signet, andBirds of Paradise, furthermore the deck runs Boreal Druid + Scrying Sheets
to ensure that if lands aren't going to be consistent, at least mana will be. For most decks, Lotus Cobra falls short in it's ability to deliver, but for this deck, it offers one mana in the bank for each land played after it. Because the deck wants to combo off, Counterspells are the enemy, and for this reason Pygmy Hippo is an excellent addition to the deck, with this we can drain opponents holding up mana during combat, and then proceed to combo off in the 2nd main. Perhaps our most versatile ramp card though would be Kiora's Follower. While it doesn't actually tap for mana, we can use it to get an extra tap out of our lands or mana dorks, and Doubling Cube + Kiora's Follower
allows us to generate insane ammounts of mana for the bank.
Combo-Based
The deck relies on two combos in order to generate infinite mana, each of which coming with its own pros and cons. To fortify these combos, and ensure that all ramp in general goes over smoother we are running Paradox Engine and a Doubling Cube
The first combo is Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth
. This combo requires you to have 2 extra mana when you attempt to set it off: you tap Basalt Monolith for and then spend to untap it, using the trigger from Rings of Brighthearth to pay , attempting to untap it again. Both untaps go on the stack. After the first resolves, you can tap basalt monolith a second time, bringing your manapool up to . Being as this combo requires to set in motion, it floats each time. Demonstrating the loop should satisfy most play groups so you don't have to physically repeat the loop anytime you want mana. The deck runs Academy Ruins mainly to give this combo more resilience against targeted removal.
The second and stronger combo is Deadeye Navigator + Palinchron
. The main benefits to this combo are that it provides colored mana, and can work with just Palinchron so long as there is a mana-doubling enchantment in play. If you have never seen this combo at work, all you have to do is play Palinchron, then play Deadeye Navigator and Soulbond the two. Using the new ability on Palinchron, you can blink it infinitely tapping your lands each time it comes back into play. The biggest drawback to this combo over the other is that you need to set it off.
