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Draw cards are cards that draw you additional cards. There are two subcategories for Draw cards; Draw Spells and Draw Engines.

• Draw Spells are one-time use cards that immediately get you 2 to 3 cards.

• Draw Engines are cards that might not get you cards immediately but will gradually draw you cards as you play your deck and the game goes longer.

Either variety of Draw card may either be generically powerful or may instead be dependent on synergy (meaning you need to do something specific in order to draw cards). Some cards are hybrids that are generically powerful but get better with additional synergy.

Ramp cards are cards that increase your capacity to produce mana while also accelerating the pace of your mana production. This is generally done by either the card acting as a permanent that creates mana or by finding a land card from your deck and putting it into play. By definition, a Ramp card should be cast within the first 3 turns of the game in order to allow you to cast more/larger spells sooner in the game. For a Golos deck, you should try to ramp once by turn 3 so that you can cast Golos on turn 4 (this won’t always happen, but your deck should be able to do it regularly – see Ratios for more).

There are 3 main subcategories of Ramp; Ramp Spells, Mana Rocks, and Mana Dorks.

• Ramp Spells are one-time use cards that find a land from your deck and put it into play (usually tapped).

• Mana Rocks are artifacts that produce mana.

• Mana Dorks are creatures that produce mana.

Resilience, Speed, and Synergy of Ramp Cards

Ramp Spells are the most Resilient type of Ramp card, as lands are not usually destroyed in EDH. Ramp Spells also trigger Landfall Synergies (Rampaging Baloths, Avenger of Zendikar, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Omnath, Locus of the Roil, Field of the Dead) which can be incredibly powerful over the course of a longer game. Ramp Spells can also “Color Fix” by finding specific basic lands that you might need to cast a spell or complete the Rainbow to activate Golos’s Rainbow Wheel of Death. However, it should be noted that Ramp Spells are purely slower than Mana Rocks as they almost always bring lands into play tapped.

Mana Rocks are not especially resilient due to the presence of cards that destroy artifacts(Reclamation Sage, Bane of Progress, Acidic Slime, Hellkite Tyrant, Hostage Taker). They do synergize with Artifact themed decks though, making them extremely useful in Artifact-heavy decks (Metalwork Colossus, Shimmer Dragon, Padeem, Consul of Innovation, Sai, Master Thopterist, Inventors' Fair). Mana Rocks also possess a distinct advantage in being the fastest type of Ramp, since most Mana Rocks come into play untapped, allowing you to use them immediately.

Mana Dorks are extremely fragile, as they die to Sweepers (Board Wipes like Wrath of God), Combat, and Combat Triggers (Drakuseth, Maw of Flames, Balefire Dragon, Silumgar, the Drifting Death). That being said, Mana Dorks definitely have a place in Green-Creature-heavy decks that enjoy the effects of Creature synergy (Beast Whisperer, Soul of the Harvest, Pathbreaker Ibex). Without haste, Mana Dorks cannot activate their mana producing abilities the turn they enter the battlefield, making them slow like Ramp Spells. Think of them like fragile lands – very risky to invest in.

Removal spells are Instants that destroy a target (typically a creature). These are essential for survival, as you can defend yourself or dismantle an opponent’s plans at a crucial moment and most often during their turn.

The Importance of Instants

Non-instant spells that destroy creatures are never considered Removal because you cannot count on them to save you if your opponent has an explosive turn (for example, they resolve Ghalta, Primal Hunger with Lightning Greaves on the board and they immediately equip the boots and attack you. Only an Instant could respond to the equipping of the boots and destroy Ghalta before it acquired Haste and Shroud.)

Sweepers are spells that destroy or ‘bounce’ (return to hand) all creatures and/or other permanents.

These may also be referred to as ‘Boardwipes’.

Deciding to play Sweepers

The decision to include Sweepers may depend on the state of your playgroup (your Meta). For example, if someone in your playgroup is playing an Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck (or similar) then you will almost definitely need to include Sweepers just to keep the nonsense at bay, because otherwise that opponent will likely overwhelm you with a small mountain of creatures. While that is a fun and powerful strategy, it can be counteracted by the presence of a few Sweepers in your deck. A well-built creature deck with the appropriate amount of Draw will still be able to recover, so this isn’t necessarily going to force your opponent to have a miserable time. Think of Sweepers as a way to buy time against faster, more aggressive decks – something that you’ll need to be wary of since you are playing a 5 color deck with a 5 Converted Mana Cost Commander.

Threats are cards that present a challenge to your opponents, most often in the form of a large creature that is capable of killing them and/or smashing their plans to pieces. Threats may take a different form though, such as enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, or even lands.

Golos in particular loves threats because of the simple, spicy fact that he can hit them with his Rainbow Wheel Of Death. This makes building a threat-centric Golos deck both incredibly fun and terrifyingly effective.

Support cards are somewhat obscure cards that don’t fulfill any of the usual roles, but instead enhance some aspect of your deck by improving your Engines (such as Draw Engines or other Value Engines like a Token Generator) or Threats.

Generally speaking, support cards are the cards that make your deck go from good to crazy and they often empower you to win the game if uninterrupted.

• An example of a support card is Leyline of Anticipation which allows you to cast your spells at any time, but doesn’t do anything by itself.

• In a Blink deck, Panharmonicon (Yarok, the Desecrated too) makes an appearance as the premium support card, doubling Enter-The-Battlefield effects (ETB’s).

• For a Reanimation deck, you might see Deadbridge Chant or Debtors' Knell make an appearance.

Almost any Golos deck particularly enjoys the inclusion of incredibly powerful support cards such as Zendikar Resurgent, Mirari's Wake, Nyxbloom Ancient, or other options that increase the amount of mana you can create to use with Golos’s Rainbow Wheel Of Death.

Lands are an obvious inclusion for most Magic decks, but I will mention them anyway.

I am familiar with three main categories of lands; Basic Lands, Utility Lands, and Color Fixing Lands.

Basic Lands are always useful in small quantities for decks that play many Ramp Spells (I recommend this for most Golos decks).

Utility Lands may or may not generate colored mana (for our purposes, we will assume they only generate colorless mana) but they come equipped with a powerful ability.

Color Fixing Lands are lands that are nonbasic but allow us to ‘fix’ our colors by providing us with an option of mana to choose from. These are very helpful for most Golos decks.

Cascading Cataracts

I will mention right now that Cascading Cataracts is the ultimate Color Fixing Land because it can be immediately fetched by Golos and it allows you to consistently Spin The Wheel regardless of your color availability (note that you need 7 mana plus the Cascading Cataracts, which often implies you need 8 lands). If you are plan on playing a deck with few color requirements (mostly one or two primary colors) then this card can singlehandedly enable The Wheel.

• Ramp – 10-12

• Draw – 10-12

• Removal – 6-8

• Sweepers – 1-3

• Threats – 8-13

• Support – 5-10

• Land – 35-37

• Ramp – 12

• Draw – 13

• Removal – 7

• Sweepers – 2

• Threats – 12

• Support – 7

• Land – 36

Total: 89

• Ramp – 8

• Draw – 15

• Removal – 7

• Sweepers – 6

• Threats – 10

• Support – 10

• Land – 36

Total: 92

• Ramp – 15

• Draw – 8

• Removal – 6

• Sweepers – 0

• Threats – 20

• Support – 8

• Land – 35

Total: 92

• Ramp – 14

• Draw – 14

• Removal – 7

• Sweepers – 2

• Threats – 16

• Support – 8

• Land – 36

Total: 97

• Ramp – 20

• Draw – 13

• Removal – 7

• Sweepers – 2

• Threats – 12

• Support – 8

• Land – 36

Total: 98

Generic Draw Spells

• Read the Bones

• Drawn from Dreams

• Urban Evolution

• Harmonize

• Ambition's Cost

• Ancient Craving

• Syphon Mind

• Concentrate

• Ugin's Insight

• Rush of Knowledge

Synergy Draw Spells

(Many Creatures)

• Shamanic Revelation

• Tishana, Voice of Thunder

• Regal Force

• Voice of Many

(Big Creatures)

• Rishkar's Expertise

• Return of the Wildspeaker

• Soul's Majesty

• Keruga, the Macrosage

(Blink – using effects like Ephemerate to ‘Blink’ or ‘Flicker’ cards for enter-the-battlefield [ETB] effects)

• Mulldrifter (if you cast an Ephemerate after Mulldrifter ETB’s but before it sacrifices itself, you can stop it from dying and draw four cards)

• Cloudblazer

• Cavalier of Gales

• Wall of Blossoms

• Wall of Omens

• Elvish Visionary

• Watcher for Tomorrow

• Generous Patron (I promise you, the two cards is worth giving away two counters)

(Tribal – Many creatures of one type, such as elementals or goblins)

• Risen Reef

• Distant Melody

Generic Draw Engines

• Underworld Connections

• Phyrexian Arena

• Bringer of the Blue Dawn

• Vilis, Broker of Blood

• Mind Unbound

• The Magic Mirror

• Thought Reflection

• Damia, Sage of Stone

• The Ur-Dragon

Synergy Draw Engines

(Many Creatures)

• Beast Whisperer

• Primordial Sage

• Soul of the Harvest

• Guardian Project

• Chulane, Teller of Tales

(Big Creatures)

• Elemental Bond

• Temur Ascendancy

• Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

• Garruk, Primal Hunter

• Colossal Majesty

• Drumhunter

(Combat Matters)

• Reconnaissance Mission

• Bident of Thassa

• Ohran Viper

• Ohran Frostfang

• Keeper of Fables

• Oakhame Adversary

• Cold-Eyed Selkie

• Coastal Piracy

Ramp Spells

• Rampant Growth

• Farseek

• Into the North

• Nature's Lore

• Search for Tomorrow

• Sakura-Tribe Elder

• Growth Spasm

• Beanstalk Giant

• Far Wanderings

• Harrow

• Cultivate

• Kodama's Reach

• Explosive Vegetation

• Skyshroud Claim

• Migration Path

• Circuitous Route

• Wood Elves

• Springbloom Druid

• Yavimaya Dryad

• Farhaven Elf

Mana Rocks

• Sol Ring

• Fellwar Stone

• Arcane Signet

• Simic Signet (also see signets for: Azorius, Rakdos, Gruul, Golgari, Dimir, Boros, Izzet, Selesnya, Orzhov)

• Everflowing Chalice

• Mind Stone

• Chromatic Lantern

Mana Dorks

• Birds of Paradise

• Arbor Elf

• Llanowar Elves

• Llanowar Tribe

• Faeburrow Elder

• Elvish Mystic

• Paradise Druid

• Sylvan Caryatid

• Ilysian Caryatid

• Leafkin Druid

• Leyline Prowler

• Swords to Plowshares

• Dire Tactics

• Heartless Act

• Rapid Hybridization

• Pongify

• Terminate

• Despark

• Putrefy

• Mortify

• Price of Fame

• Path to Exile

• Utter End

• Wrath of God

• Day of Judgment

• Fumigate

• Supreme Verdict

• Flood of Tears

• Sublime Exhalation

• Coastal Breach

• Time Wipe

• Duneblast

• In Garruk's Wake

• Plague Wind

• Cataclysmic Gearhulk

• Mythos of Snapdax

• Massacre Girl

• Quartzwood Crasher

• Avenger of Zendikar

• Rampaging Baloths

• Artisan of Kozilek

• Kogla, the Titan Ape

• Tendershoot Dryad

• Many, many, many more…

• Zendikar Resurgent

• Nyxbloom Ancient

• Mirari's Wake

• Sunbird's Invocation

• Maelstrom Nexus

• Support cards often depend on the deck…

Utility Lands

• Field of the Dead

• Reliquary Tower (only if you expect to draw a billion cards)

• Westvale Abbey  ^Flip

• Kessig Wolf Run

• Slayers' Stronghold

• Vault of the Archangel

• Alchemist's Refuge

• Temple of the False God

• Halimar Depths

Color Fixing Lands

• Command Tower

• Evolving Wilds

• Terramorphic Expanse

• Ash Barrens

• Exotic Orchard

• Krosan Verge

• Sandsteppe Citadel

• Savage Lands

• Seaside Citadel

• Opulent Palace

• Nomad Outpost

• Crumbling Necropolis

• Arcane Sanctum

• Jungle Shrine

• Mystic Monastery

• Frontier Bivouac

• Indatha Triome

• Ketria Triome

• Raugrin Triome

• Zagoth Triome

• Savai Triome

• Cinder Glade

• Canopy Vista

• Prairie Stream

• Sunken Hollow

• Smoldering Marsh

• Fabled Passage

Ramp

• 1 Rampant Growth

• 2 Farseek

• 3 Sakura-Tribe Elder

• 4 Sol Ring

• 5 Cultivate

• 6 Kodama's Reach

• 7 Springbloom Druid

• 8 Search for Tomorrow

Draw

• 1 Read the Bones

• 2 Harmonize

• 3 Drawn from Dreams

• 4 Syphon Mind

• 5 Ugin's Insight

• 6 Ambition's Cost

• 7 Ancient Craving

• 8 Underworld Connections

• 9 Elemental Bond

• 10 Urban Evolution

Under the Ramp category I counted:

• Humble Naturalist

• Fertilid

• Dimir Locket

• Ketria Crystal

• Raugrin Crystal

These cards are NOT Ramp cards:

• Farfinder

• Dryad of the Ilysian Grove (fantastic Support card)

• Migratory Greathorn

• Parcelbeast

• Adventurous Impulse

Under the Draw category I counted:

• Reconnaissance Mission

• Chevill, Bane of Monsters (this is not a good Draw card)

• Dreamtail Heron (well, maybe)

These cards are NOT Draw cards:

• Farfinder

• Adventurous Impulse

• Cathartic Reunion

• Channeled Force

• and others

I see a few cards that Recover cards from the graveyard and that is fine but it is not Draw.

Cycling cards are not Draw cards if we define Draw cards as being able to find you 2 or 3 cards and thus help refill your hand.

• Ramp – 12

• Draw – 13

• Removal – 7

• Sweepers – 2

• Threats – 12

• Support – 7

• Land – 36

Total: 89