land ramp and mana fixing
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on March 26, 2015, 2:26 p.m. by weisemanjohn
Im working in a hydra tribal EDH deck and I'm looking for the best cards to use for land ramping and color fixing. Progenitus is a demanding commander when it comes to colors, and guys like Savageborn Hydra and Hydra Broodmaster can soak up mana fast.
So, what other options do I have to go along with cards like Chromatic Lantern and Boundless Realms?
Generally speaking, Exploration type effects are nice. Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul Daya, Burgeoning, etc. coupled with ways to draw cards are the best way to shit out mana. Forest seek trhough cards like Skyshroud Claim are awesome. If not, Cultivate effects + ways of converting less usefull lands into tapping for what you need by cards like Mox Diamond are amazing. Fetchlands combo really well with recycling options like Crucible of Worlds and Life from the Loam. Generally speaking, ramp is pretty important.
March 26, 2015 2:44 p.m.
Oh, and to make your deck less susceptible to losing to a single Armageddon, you may want to distribute your ramp into something other than strict land ramp. Mana rocks + dorks bring a lot of resilience to your board.
March 26, 2015 2:46 p.m.
asasinater13 says... #6
Commander's Sphere is good. Darksteel Ingot is a good one. various signets. Shard Convergence
March 26, 2015 4:33 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #8
Woops, I meant Flooded Strand, not grove. However, all of the Filter Lands such as Flooded Grove are also great.
March 26, 2015 7:18 p.m.
HeroInMyOwnMind says... #9
I find the colorless mana dorks are amazing in 5-Color decks. Alloy Myr, Opaline Unicorn, and Scuttlemutt.
The "tap for any color" dorks are pretty good too. Birds of Paradise, Elvish Harbinger, Sylvan Caryatid, and Utopia Tree.
Bloom Tender can also be a huge help, and taps for 5 in a lot of situations.
Aside from those, Cultivate, Explosive Vegetation, Kodama's Reach, and Tempt with Discovery are the most useful ramp spells for color fixing.
Other cards I would include are Doubling Cube, Mana Reflection, and Mirari's Wake.
I tend to go overboard with putting mana on the field, and try to hit a lot of different sources, so they don't all get wiped out at once. I also prefer basic lands over non-basic, which I know is not the majority opinion, but I honestly have more success with it in 5-color decks.
March 26, 2015 8:17 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #10
Mana Flare and Dictate of Karametra are also options if you don't care about your opponents getting more mana too.
March 26, 2015 8:19 p.m.
nobu_the_bard says... #11
Mana dorks are somewhat risky if you're playing a lot of strong, high cost threats - they're likely to get boardwiped when people respond to the threats. They may get killed anyway by people responding to other players' threats! Consequently, you can't anticipate having them for the long term; I don't like to play too many at once personally. It's possible though I've grown accustomed to a local meta where boardwipes are more frequent than average. I've noted my decks probably have too few because I'm accustomed to other players overdoing it.
For the amounts of varied mana you're talking I'd focus on leaning on green's ramping abilities. In addition to the above are some less-good ones: Journey of Discovery, Search for Tomorrow, Farseek, Rampant Growth, Khalni Heart Expedition, Explosive Vegetation, Peregrination. If you use a lot of the above (Exploration, etc) Journey might be more worthwhile than the others there.
Personally I don't think Boundless Realms is worth the risk if you're serious, but I run it anyway because it's hilarious; however it tends to entice you tap out when it's more likely to get countered.
There's also lands that can tap for all five colors. You might want some nonbasic land tutors like Expedition Map, Sylvan Scrying, Reap and Sow to find them. The lands include stuff like City of Brass, Command Tower, Ancient Ziggurat, Exotic Orchard, Reflecting Pool, Mana Confluence. There's also some more budget-friendly less-good ones like Rupture Spire, Transguild Promenade. Should include at least a few; they make up for some weird person actually running Boil or maybe you just didn't get any Swamps.
There's also some funkier stuff like Trace of Abundance but it starts getting weird and I think you have enough actual solid suggestions here. Relying overly much on enchantments or artifacts is more of a risk than relying on lands most of the time, so the weird stuff generally isn't as worthwhile.
March 26, 2015 11 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #12
weisemanjohn, have you considered Rosheen Meanderer for hydra tribal instead?
March 27, 2015 6:43 p.m.
weisemanjohn says... #13
Thanks for the input everyone!
I didn't know about the Rosheen meandered thanks for pointing it out.
I found some that are interesting, but I unfortunately don't have the funds for $8+ cards right now. I have most of the hydras and I just need to build up the support around them.
srgpoofy says... #2
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/list-of-edh-ramp-cards/
Another member put a couple lists together including the one above that should help you out
March 26, 2015 2:40 p.m.