Mana Ramp 101
General forum
Posted on Jan. 4, 2014, 9:57 a.m. by MonsterFinder221
Can you guys teach me how to actually play a Mana Ramp deck? I mean, I can build one, yes, But actually playing effectively is another story. (Planing on making a G/R Ramp Aggro Hydra deck.)
Dalektable says... #3
Drop early mana dorks like Elvish Mystic and Sylvan Caryatid , play cards with good devotion to trigger Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx . Drop a turn two Worldspine Wurm with a vey lucky combo and watch your opponent scoop.
But seriously, mana ramp is a very very simple strategy to follow. Simply develop ramp (and now devotion too) early so that you can cast that big 7/7 trampling wurm on turn 4 instead of turn 7.
January 4, 2014 10:43 a.m.
Nexus_disciple says... #4
It's about the timing, your opening hand, and the choice of creatures that you're ramping in to. You're opening hand is really going to set the stage for what your first three turns are gonna be like which are the most crucial. Take my Six Headed Dragon deck for instance. With the proper opening hand I can have a turn 3 Kalonian Hydra or Stormbreath Dragon . Your opening hand though will all depend upon your deck's balance, your decision whether to mulligan or not, and of course a little luck. The second thing is timing. No matter what you play, knowing what your opponent has to play and if they can play it is critical. Say you're going against control. The best thing to do is wait until they're all tapped out then play your big guy so he doesn't get countered. You may also have to let one bite it so that you can let your better creature come out. Another thing is not to get too greedy. Don't continuously play your big guys one after the other if you think things are going right for you. Hold onto as much as you can if you have the better board state in case of board wipes such as Supreme Verdict or ceature kill/removal spells, but if you're going against another aggro deck play on and swing for the fences. Finally, there's the choice of what creatures to play. This is all about prioritization. Say for instance you're facing Azorius control and you have in your hand a Kalonian Hydra and a Stormbreath Dragon . You have enough mana to summon them both but which should come first? The hydra should. Why? Because your dragon has pro-white and makes for a much better match against your opponent. The hydra is played first as something of a sacrifice to test to see if your opponent has a counter spell. If he/she does, he/she counters the hydra and your dragon comes out uncountered. If he/she doesn't, hold off on the dragon, play it next turn, and swing 12. The creatures you choose for your sideboard plays a huge part in this also. I hope this has helped and good luck to ya and your new ramp deck.
January 4, 2014 10:45 a.m.
CaveShinobi says... #5
@Nexus_disciple If I could +1 posts, I'd +1 that post.
January 4, 2014 11:41 a.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #6
Yeah, pretty much sums it up. I play my ramp deck the same way.
January 4, 2014 12:28 p.m.
The current Standard's ramp decks are a tad bit more complicated than ramp decks from a few years ago.
Generally speaking, there are two things that need to happen in order to be getting ahead on mana faster than normal (ramping): You need to be hitting your land-drops each turn and you need to be casting spells that give you more mana.
A popular deck from the 2011-2012 Standard season would optimally start with these plays:
t1: Land (1 land), go.t2: Land (2 lands), Rampant Growth , go. (3 lands)t3: Land, Solemn Simulacrum (4 lands), go. (5 lands)t4: Land (6 lands), Primeval Titan (find Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus ) (8 lands), go.t5: ???t6: Profit
January 4, 2014 1:40 p.m.
MonsterFinder221 says... #8
Thanks guys, My somewhat lack of experience with Ramp is probably due to the fact that I tried it for about a day or two and then I foolishly gave up because I didn't see any results. (Me being a hasty aggro player that I am)
January 4, 2014 7:32 p.m.
MonsterFinder221 says... #9
But is it possible to have 5-7 mana sources as early as turn 3?
January 4, 2014 8:25 p.m.
MonsterFinder221 says... #11
I've been thinking of using Satyr Hedonist , Is this a plausible game-plan?
T1-land, Elvish Mystic (2 Mana sources)
T2- land, sack Satyr Hedonist (6 mana in mana pool, 3 mana sources) summon Ruination Wurm
T3-land Rampant Growth (now 5 mana sources) summon Changeling Titan and champion my Elvish Mystic and swing in with Ruination Wurm for 7 damage on turn 3 (Enemy life now at 13)
T4-land swing in with Changeling Titan and Ruination Wurm for a total of 14 damage (enemy life now at -1)
Wow, while I was thinking of that and typing it down I felt like a damn genius. So THATS what it feels like being a MTG genius!
January 4, 2014 8:41 p.m.
MonsterFinder221 says... #12
Damn, if this works out, Ramp might just become my favorite Archtype!
January 4, 2014 8:42 p.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #13
On turn 2 in takes 1 R to sac the hedonist. 5 left.
January 4, 2014 8:48 p.m.
MonsterFinder221 says... #16
I'll modify this later, but this is mainly the game-plan.
January 4, 2014 9:14 p.m.
I'll re-ask this question: Which format?
My Modern Elves.dek could have effectively unlimited mana on turn two and attack for 54-trampling on turn three.
For Standard, usually what I see is turn-one Forest, Elvish Mystic , turn-two Mountain, Burning-Tree Emissary , for another Burning-Tree Emissary into a Voyaging Satyr , then another Elvish Mystic. Turn three, play another land (perhaps Nykthos..) and your three lands can tap for 7 mana, then the satyr can untap Nykthos and the elves can power it up again for at least another 7 mana. You could then bring out a Polukranos and make it monstrous.
(or something like that. . )
January 4, 2014 9:22 p.m.
MonsterFinder221 says... #18
@MagnusMTG, Modern, I see Modern as more versatile and flavorful. (Plus it has more choices and better cards)
January 4, 2014 9:37 p.m.
Oh, with Modern you could probably have an infinite mana combo on turn two or three, and cast your hand if not your whole deck before turn four.
January 4, 2014 9:43 p.m.
Nexus_disciple says... #20
This is a best of the best case scenario for standard.
T1: Forest , Elvish Mystic
T2: Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx , tap forest and elf for Burning-Tree Emissary into 3 more emissaries, use the 2 mana to tap into nykthos and you have 9 green mana or 8 red mana on turn 2. Like I said though, super highly unlikely but actually possible. I wouldn't build a deck around, but I would definitely include it since emissary and nykthos work so well together.
Here's a combo that's much more likely if you use grull:
T1: Forest , Elvish Mystic
T2: Forest , Mountain , or Stomping Ground , Satyr Hedonist
T3: you can play a land or not but you definitely need a red source at this point, sac the satyr for 4-5 man on turn 3, and there you have a turn 3 Stormbreath Dragon or Kalonian Hydra .
There are plenty of other combos out there for ramp. Just look around at other green decks and get a little creative. You'd be surprised what ya might can come up with.
January 5, 2014 7:58 a.m.
In modern, your first-turn mana dorks are almost always Birds of Paradise and Noble Hierarch .
But there is a very janky (but hilarious good) combo-ramp deck going around Modern that involves using Amulet of Vigor , Azusa, Lost but Seeking , and the lands that include Selesnya Sanctuary to power out a turn-3 Primeval Titan or anything up to 8 mana or so.
The Karoo -lands enter untapped and trigger. In response to the trigger, you tap it for 2 mana. Then with that mana and your first land, you cast Azusa, Lost but Seeking . On turn-3, you play 3 Karoos and tap them for mana, giving you 6 right there and then whatever you still have left from the first 2 turns to cast whatever you want.
And the stupid thing is that any land Primeval Titan finds comes into play untapped, so you can keep getting Karoos and keep casting more Titans.
thataddkid says... #2
What format is it?
January 4, 2014 10:41 a.m.