In Magic: The Gathering, ramping is a crucial strategy that allows players to accelerate their mana production, enabling them to cast powerful spells and threats earlier than usual. While most players rely on basic lands to produce mana, nonbasic lands have become an essential part of many ramp decks due to their unique abilities and mana fixing. Nonbasic land ramp strategies revolve around incorporating special lands that not only generate mana but also provide additional effects, synergy, and flexibility, elevating the overall power and consistency of a deck. Understanding how to build and utilize nonbasic land ramp effectively can drastically improve your gameplay experience and give you an edge over your opponents.
What is Nonbasic Land Ramp?
Nonbasic land ramp refers to the use of lands other than the basic five (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest) to increase mana production and fix colors in Magic: The Gathering decks. Unlike basic lands, nonbasic lands often come with activated abilities or enter-the-battlefield effects that offer various advantages beyond just producing mana.
Ramp itself is the concept of gaining access to more mana faster than usual, usually by playing additional lands or mana-producing permanents, which allows players to cast spells with higher mana costs earlier than opponents might expect. Nonbasic lands contribute significantly to this by generating multiple mana sources, producing mana of any color, or offering synergistic effects.
Why Choose Nonbasic Lands for Ramp?
- Mana Fixing: Nonbasic lands often produce multiple colors, which helps in multicolor decks where basic lands alone might struggle to provide the right mana at the right time.
- Additional Utility: Some nonbasic lands come with abilities like drawing cards, destroying artifacts, or providing protection, adding value beyond just mana production.
- Synergy with Other Cards: Nonbasic lands can interact well with cards that benefit from artifacts or lands entering the battlefield.
- Faster Ramp: Certain lands can tap for multiple mana or untap under conditions, helping players ramp up more quickly than with basic lands.
Popular Nonbasic Lands Used for Ramp
There is a wide variety of nonbasic lands that players utilize to ramp efficiently. Here are some of the most common and powerful choices:
1. Mana-Generating Lands
- Command Tower: A staple in multicolor decks, it taps for any color of mana in your commander’s color identity, making it perfect for decks with diverse color needs.
- Ancient Tomb: Provides two colorless mana at the cost of 2 life, allowing fast ramp but at a slight health cost.
- City of Traitors: Produces two colorless mana and can be sacrificed after use; excellent for explosive starts but risky in long games.
- Reflecting Pool: Taps for any color produced by lands you control, offering flexible mana but requires other lands to be effective.
2. Utility Ramp Lands
- Fabled Passage: Helps fix mana by fetching basic lands while also ramping mana in decks with many basics.
- Simic Growth Chamber: Produces green and blue mana and can untap if you pay life, doubling its mana output in some cases.
- Homeward Path: Useful in tribal or synergy decks, can protect your creatures from exile and offers some strategic options beyond ramp.
- Field of the Dead: While not pure ramp, this land produces zombie tokens once you control enough lands, creating a growing board presence.
3. Fetch Lands and Shock Lands
- Fetch Lands (e.g., Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta): Help search for basic or specific lands, improving mana consistency and speeding up ramp.
- Shock Lands (e.g., Steam Vents, Overgrown Tomb): Provide two colors of mana, allowing smoother color fixing and quicker access to different spells.
How to Build an Effective Nonbasic Land Ramp Deck
When building a deck focused on nonbasic land ramp, several factors come into play. Balancing the number and types of nonbasic lands, combining them with mana ramp spells, and considering synergy with your deck’s overall strategy are key to success.
1. Choose Your Colors Wisely
Nonbasic lands excel in multicolor decks where mana fixing is crucial. Choosing two or more colors means you’ll need lands that produce multiple colors or can fetch the right mana. Popular combinations include green-blue (Simic) for ramp and card draw, green-red (Gruul) for aggressive ramp, or full five-color decks using Command Tower and other utility lands.
2. Include Mana Ramp Spells
- Artifacts: Cards like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Chromatic Lantern can dramatically increase your mana output and complement your lands.
- Creatures: Mana dorks such as Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, and Bloom Tender add mana acceleration by producing mana themselves.
- Enchantments: Spells like Exploration or Burgeoning allow additional land drops, accelerating your ramp.
3. Balance Land Types
Avoid relying too heavily on any single type of land. Mixing fetch lands, shock lands, and utility lands ensures you get the mana you need and maintain flexibility during the game. However, be mindful of potential drawbacks like life loss from shock lands or damage from cards like Ancient Tomb.
4. Protect Your Ramp
Ramp strategies can be vulnerable to land destruction or artifact removal. Including cards that protect your lands or ramp sources, or that recover mana afterward, helps maintain your momentum. Cards such as Misty Rainforest, Ranger’s Guile, or artifacts with built-in protection can be valuable additions.
Tips for Playing Nonbasic Land Ramp
1. Prioritize Mana Fixing Early
Play your lands in an order that ensures you have access to the colors you need. Fetching basic lands early can help activate cards like Shock Lands or enable color-intensive spells.
2. Use Land Abilities Wisely
Many nonbasic lands have activated abilities such as paying life to untap or producing multiple mana. Use these strategically to maximize your mana output during critical turns.
3. Keep Track of Life and Risks
Some ramp lands like Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors come with life costs or risk of losing the land. Weigh the benefits against the costs to decide when to use them for maximum effect.
4. Combine Ramp with Strong Finishers
Ramping into big spells or creatures is only useful if you have a strong plan to win. Build your deck so that the mana acceleration leads to powerful, game-ending plays rather than just a mana advantage.
Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
While nonbasic land ramp decks are powerful, they come with their own set of challenges:
- Vulnerability to Land Destruction: Opponents may try to slow you down by destroying key lands. Including backup ramp methods and recursion can help.
- Color Screw: Even with nonbasic lands, poor mana draws can happen. Balancing the right number of fetches and basics mitigates this risk.
- Life Loss from Ramp Lands: Lands like Ancient Tomb require careful life management; balancing aggressive and defensive playstyles helps maintain survivability.
Nonbasic land ramp is a vital and exciting aspect of Magic: The Gathering that allows players to accelerate their mana production, fix colors, and gain additional benefits from lands with special abilities. By carefully selecting and balancing nonbasic lands with other mana ramp spells, players can build decks that unleash powerful spells early and maintain strong board presence. The versatility and strategic depth offered by nonbasic lands make them a cornerstone in many successful ramp decks, especially in multicolor formats. Mastering nonbasic land ramp techniques will not only improve your deck-building skills but also elevate your overall gameplay experience.
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