The 54 Best Ramp Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on July 3, 2026

Rampant Growth | Illustration by Steven Belledin

Lands are the most fundamental cards in Magic. You play one land each turn, getting additional mana as the game goes on. Cards don’t function without mana, hence the persistent fear of mana screw.

Mana is the most important resource in the game, even moreso than your life total or the cards in your hand. This makes ramp spells incredibly powerful since they give you a mana advantage.

But which ramp spells are the best? Let’s think about it.

What Are Ramp Spells in Magic?

Rampant Growth | Illustration by Steven Belledin

Ramp gives you more mana than you'd normally have at any given point in the game, considering that you can make only one land drop each turn. Ramp can appear in different shapes and forms:

• Land-Based Ramp (Cultivate, Rampant Growth)
• Mana Dorks (Llanowar Elves, Bugenhagen, Wise Elder)
• Mana Rocks (Mind Stone, Basalt Monolith)
• Treasure-Makers and other artifact token producers (Smothering Tithe, Sarinth Greatwurm)
• Extra land drops (Exploration, Exploration Broodship)
• Land Recursion (Crucible of Worlds, Aftermath Analyst)
• Rituals (Dark Ritual, Mana Geyser)
• Cost Reduction (Honest Rutstein, Stormcatch Mentor)
• Eldrazi Spawn & Scion producers (Eldrazi Skyspawner, Kozilek's Predator)
• Mana Doublers (Mirari's Wake, Groundchuck & Dirtbag)
• Temporary mana abilities (firebending)

This ranking will cover many of these forms of ramp, but will leave some more specific ones like Treasure-makers to their own separate list.

#54. Erode

One of the “hidden modes” on Path to Exile is that you can target your own creature to ramp. You almost never do it, but it's an option that's available to you. Erode makes that line a bit more of a reality. Since it destroys instead of exiling, it's less of a drawback to use it on your own creature. You might have recursion lines that make this worthwhile, or indestructible creatures that don't interact as favorably with Path.

#53. Rampant Growth + Farseek

Rampant Growth is the classic spell we get the name “ramp” from. Farseek mimics the effect, though it can get dual lands and Triomes. While modern Magic offers some stronger ramp options, these classic green sorceries still hold up. Shared Roots and Into the North are strictly better Rampant Growth variants if supported.

#52. Worldsoul’s Rage

Worldsoul's Rage pulls double duty in ramp decks. It can kill an early creature and accelerate you, and later in the game it becomes an outlet for all that mana you generated. It pairs well with self-mill cards like Satyr Wayfinder and Blossoming Tortoise.

#51. The Ring Goes South

The going rate for a 4-mana ramp spell is two lands, per Explosive Vegetation. It takes very little for The Ring Goes South to exceed that. You only need your commander and another legendary creature to meet the bottom line. Each MTG set brings so many legends that this only grows stronger over time.

#50. Thran Dynamo

Four-mana rocks are slow, but Thran Dynamo propels you forward fast enough to be worth it. This colorless ramp is best in decks with plenty of other colorless spells to best utilize the mana the turn you cast it.

#49. Relic of Sauron

You have to be playing a Grixis commander for Relic of Sauron, which is far more restrictive than most mana rocks. But the card draw ability gives decks lots of reach in the late game. One card serving as an accelerant, discard outlet, and card draw is remarkably efficient, even at 4 mana.

#48. Keeper of the Accord

White often sucks at ramp, but it has some tools. Keeper of the Accord provides a steady stream of tokens and a less consistent stream of lands. This white creature does its best work against green decks; on a similar note, decks loaded with Rampant Growth effects should skip this, as they’ll often have more lands than their opponents.

#47. Knight of the White Orchid

Another entry in white’s ramp suite, Knight of the White Orchid is best suited for aggressive decks. They won’t mind a cheap human knight with first strike, even if the ramp whiffs.

#46. Sowing Mycospawn

Sowing Mycospawn‘s effectiveness as a ramp creature is entirely dependent on what you have access to in your deck. Vintage Cube players sometimes splash green in their blue artifact decks just so this Eldrazi can fetch Tolarian Academy, and it grabs various Sol lands in formats like Historic and Modern. The land destruction on top makes this a ramp piece that puts you ahead and an opponent behind at the same time.

#45. Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu

Cards like Training Grounds pull together entire archetypes centered on activated abilities, but Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu adds the pseudo-haste ability to further bolster the archetype. This sort of mana production and extra utility is a lot for a 2-drop, even if it's restricted to a very specific style of deck.

#44. Mind Stone

Mind Stone stands out among the crowds of 2-mana rocks littering Commander. Mana sources that can become fresh cards later in the game are really good, especially in a format like Commander with such long games.

#43. Honest Rutstein

Honest Rutstein is already an honest-to-good card as 3-mana recursion. As long as it sticks around, your creature spells cost less, which helps you in a big way. It’s not even tied to any typal theme. Golgari already plays into graveyard themes, so you’re ramping and getting more gas to cast later.

#42. Sylvan Caryatid

If you want a 2-mana dork, it’s hard to do better than Sylvan Caryatid. You can get some thematic ones, like Gyre Sage in +1/+1 counter decks, but the combination of “any color” and hexproof makes this a reliable dork for any deck. Even mono-green decks play this as an unboltable Birds of Paradise.

#41. Crystal, Inhuman Princess

The color identity for Crystal, Inhuman Princess unfortunately means its playability is restricted, though it's quite good in the decks that support it. It's both an enabler for mana bases with heavy color requirements, and a payoff/wincon for those decks.

#40. Ornithopter of Paradise

As an artifact creature with little toughness, Ornithopter of Paradise is quite fragile, but giving any deck that chance to play a mana dork that fixes all their colors shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s great for Commander and Cube.

#39. Skyshroud Claim

Skyshroud Claim is the best 4-mana ramp card for Commander. Putting untapped lands into play cuts the cost in half; more importantly, getting two Triomes nets perfect mana every time.

#38. Utopia Sprawl

You need a high forest count to justify Utopia Sprawl, but the acceleration and fixing is worth it. This green enchantment sees frequent play in different Ponza decks and pairs well with cards like Garruk Wildspeaker and Bear Umbra that ramp by untapping lands.

#37. Arbor Elf

You need a reason to play Arbor Elf over other 1-mana dorks like Llanowar Elves and Birds of Paradise. That reason is often enchantment-based ramp like Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl that produce extra mana from one land, letting this produce an absurd 4 mana rather than a respectable 2.

#36. Fanatic of Rhonas

Fanatic of Rhonas has all the signs of a Modern Horizons 3 card. Overstatted for its cost, absurd upside in the right deck, 2-for-1 potential with no extra effort needed. All the numbers add up here, though Fanatic's clearly at its best in decks with 4+ power creatures.

#35. Cabal Coffers

Cabal Coffers works best in mono-black. You can play this black ramp piece in other color combinations thanks to Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, but those decks make this black land a weak half of a 2-card combo. This might look like a low ranking for such a staple, but I suspect it’s overrated.

#34. Sakura-Tribe Elder

Sakura-Tribe Elder (aka Steve) is the most reliable creature in Magic. It’s a fine Rampant Growth variant that can Fog a creature by blocking then sacrificing itself, giving it some late game relevance. It also synergizes with commanders that care about creatures in the graveyard, like Meren of Clan Nel Toth and Muldrotha, the Gravetide.

#33. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove

Dryad of the Ilysian Grove became an EDH staple for a couple reasons. Fixing is hard, and some Commander decks really need the extra fixing. Playing an extra land ramps you, and these decks usually have high land counts. Finally, it’s a 2/4, so it’s not like you’ve spent 3 mana to cast an artifact that doesn’t affect the board.

#32. Deathrite Shaman

Deathrite Shaman has done such a number on Constructed formats it's banned in most of them. This 1-drop “planeswalker” dominates any format dependent on fetch lands. If you want to play it in Commander, make sure you have plenty of ways to get lands in the bin to fuel it.

#31. Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

I remember the dark days of Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath dominating Standard. Decks with plenty of ways to get cards in the graveyard—typically an abundance of fetch lands and cheap interactive spells—can’t get enough of this overpowered giant.

#30. Burgeoning

Burgeoning can give you an incredible boost in mana when it’s in your opener in Commander. But it’s such a bad draw late that I hesitate to play it; there’s also something to be said for its greatest use requiring you to have a handful of lands… but this sees a fair amount of play and is incredible with landfall commanders like Tatyova, Benthic Druid and Tannuk, Memorial Ensign that keep cards flowing.

#29. Nissa, Who Shakes the World

Nissa, Who Shakes the World requires a green-biased mana base, but the payoff is worth it. Doubling your mana puts you leaps and bounds ahead of your opponents, especially considering that this excellent green planeswalker protects itself and pressures your opponent by animating lands.

#28. Talisman Cycle + Signet Cycle

Almost every multicolor Commander deck uses some number of Talismans and Signets to power their ramp, especially if they’re not green. Talismans are far more powerful, but all these 2-mana rocks are playable, especially with commanders that cost 4 mana.

#27. Arcane Signet

The ultimate 2-mana rock for Commander! It doesn’t make a huge difference in 2-color decks, but 3+ color decks love this for its low cost and easy fixing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was in more EDH decks than Sol Ring.

#26. The Infinity Stones

It almost doesn't matter what the harness abilities on the Infinity Stones are. These would be highly desirable as mana rocks for their respective colors if all they did was provide untapped colored mana on an indestructible mana rock. But of course, they do have extra abilities, which makes them all the better. With our most recent update, we've seen The Soul Stone and The Mind Stone, with more on the way.

#25. Llanowar Elves + Friends

There are more Llanowar Elves variants—1-mana creatures that tap for a single mana—than I want to list, but they’re all good. Accelerating from turn 1 can give you a huge advantage, especially against opponents opening on tapped lands. Try pairing a critical mass of 1-mana accelerants with powerful 3-drops like Oko, Thief of Crowns and Sentinel of the Nameless City.

#24. Three Visits + Nature’s Lore

Only getting forests might make Three Visits and Nature's Lore look like more restrictive versions of Rampant Growth, but they’re far better. Firstly, the land you find comes into play untapped if it’s a basic land or a shock land; immediately netting 1 mana does more work than it seems. They also offer incredible mana fixing thanks to the Triomes. Casting one of these green ramp effects often results in near-perfect mana, even in 4+ color decks.

#23. Malevolent Rumble

You only get one shot at ramp with Malevolent Rumble, but that's really all you need. This green cantrip fills the graveyard and puts a body on board that ramps you into a 4-drop a turn early. That's a lot more than you'd get out of most self-mill enablers like Satyr Wayfinder.

#22. Bloom Tender + Faeburrow Elder

Bloom Tender and Faeburrow Elder shine in multicolor decks. You get the best value from 5-color decks, but these are still on rate in 2-color lists. Play them.

#21. Icetill Explorer

Icetill Explorer combines so many different effects that land-based decks are interested in. It's got the ever-present land recurison ability plus the extra land drops effect, and it provides its own self-mill to fuel the graveyard from which it pulls its land drops. This is compartmentalization at its finest for a lands archetype.

#20. Exploration

Playing extra lands gets you ahead quickly. For Exploration to be at its best, you want to pair it with ways to draw tons of extra cards or play lands from the graveyard. It goes hard with a fetch land and Crucible of Worlds. It’s also fantastic in enchantress decks that are happy to have a cheap enchantment, regardless of its use.

#19. Noble Hierarch + Ignoble Hierarch

Noble Hierarch and Ignoble Hierarch are best in assertive decks that can utilize the power of exalted—the former saw plenty of play in Modern Infect once upon a time for that reason. Even if you aren’t attacking, these fix three colors of mana for just ! Noble Hierach is one of the best Bant cards, and Ignoble is among the best Jund cards.

#18. Badgermole Cub

It's unclear what WotC was thinking printing a 2-cost mana doubler, especially one that creates its own mana dork. Badgermole Cub immediately proved itself problematic in Constructed, which came as a surprise to no one. It makes the port to Vintage Cube well, where it has synergies with fetches and other land sac outlets.

#17. Birds of Paradise

Birds of Paradise is nearly the best 1-mana dork in the game. It can’t compete with fast mana like Sol Ring, but fair decks rarely do much better. Getting perfect fixing and acceleration from turn 1 changes the game dramatically.

#16. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

If you’ve played Pioneer, you’ve experienced the fearsome power of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. You need to play a mostly mono-colored deck for this to work, but who cares when one land taps for 10 or more mana? An easy exploit for this is to look towards colorless spells to spend all that mana on. Pioneer decks used to use Karn, the Great Creator and all the artifacts it could wish for, but Commander decks can reach for Eldrazi like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth.

#15. Nyxbloom Ancient

Can you imagine playing a mere mana doubler when Nyxbloom Ancient exists? Once you’ve accelerated this into play, you get more mana than you know how to spend. You could always Rite of Replication on Nyxbloom Ancient to see how much mana you can make in a single game.

#14. Delighted Halfling

The legendary restriction on Delighted Halfling is becoming less and less of a real drawback, since most of the best creatures being printed these days are legendary. That makes the halfling a premium 1-drop dork that keeps your best plays safe from countermagic, which can cripple an entire control deck's gameplan against you.

#13. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is one of Simic’s strongest commanders. This druid is incredibly cheap for the impact its mana generation has on games. Not only does it produce mana, but the activated ability gives you an outlet for it that even forces creatures through countermagic. There’s a reason this graces the command zone of cEDH decks.

#12. Basalt Monolith + Grim Monolith

Basalt Monolith and Grim Monolith are kind of like rituals in that they deliver a burst of mana for one turn, but the option to untap them makes them significantly stronger. You can do so fairly with their abilities or utilize cards like Tezzeret the Seeker and Voltaic Key. Plenty of cards can also turn Basalt Monolith into an infinite mana engine, notably Zirda, the Dawnwaker and Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy.

#11. Mox Amber

Mox Amber rises in my esteem with each new set. Using this card becomes easier and easier as legendary creatures naturally take more space in Commander decks.

#10. Vivi Ornitier

The designers got a little carried away with Vivi Ornitier and forgot to put a tap symbol on him. The fact that Vivi deals passive damage while growing and generating the mana to cast tons of spells (or really big spells) all added up to a monstrously broken experience. That sort of ramp in blue-red is unheard of, and makes you question how Vivi made it to print as is.

#9. Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Nadu, Winged Wisdom also enters broken territory, with ramp potential so unbounded that it almost immediately ruined formats and subsequently hit the banlist. You have a shot at ramping any time a creature you control is targeted, by anything, from any player, up to twice per creature per turn. That's patently absurd with 0-mana targeting abilities like Lightning Greaves, and still incredibly strong if you just play it fairly in a normal game of Magic. The lands enter untapped, by the way, which is even more absurd.

#8. Mox Opal

Oh no, you need to play cards with Magic’s best card type to activate Mox Opal! While metalcraft is a legitimate downside, there are plenty of cheap artifacts to enable this card. Some artifact payoffs, like Urza, Lord High Artificer and cards with affinity, might not care if the Opal taps for mana or not.

#7. Mana Vault

Mana Vault is part of a nasty 2-card combo: Mana Vault plus whatever busted 4- or 5-mana spell you want to play on turn 2 – strong enough to be banned in Legacy and even restricted in Vintage. The self-pings can add up, but this card puts you far enough ahead it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

#6. Mana Crypt

Mana Crypt is a 0-mana Sol Ring with a negligible downside that used to be an auto-include in EDH decks (before the bannings) for people who could afford a copy. After the EDH ban, you can only play the card as a one-of in Vintage, so that’s why it doesn’t rank higher.

#5. Ancient Tomb

Using Ancient Tomb can get pricy, but most of us are playing in a format with 40 life, and this is one of the best lands in Commander. This card gets weaker the more colors your deck plays, but don’t let that deter you. City of Traitors offers a similar, though more costly effect.

#4. Chrome Mox

Imprinting a card with Chrome Mox is scary. One Shatter puts you down two cards. But the acceleration is too tantalizing for many decks to pass up on. This mox is best in unfair strategies that don’t mind going down a card.

#3. Tolarian Academy + Gaea’s Cradle

Pairing Tolarian Academy and Gaea's Cradle seems strange but the two are deeply connected. Both produce unspeakable amounts of mana with a little help from some of the most common card types in the game. Both love tokens; either can win a game. The green land is slightly more relevant as Academy has been banned in virtually every format, but both are exceptional ramp pieces.

#2. Fastbond

Fastbond is my favorite card in Vintage Cube. It plays best with ways to see tons of lands; common pairings include draw-sevens like Timetwister and cards that let you play lands from zones other than your hand, like Courser of Kruphix and Crucible of Worlds. The latter opens the door to many combos utilizing the likes of Strip Mine and Zuran Orb.

#1. Sol Ring

Sol Ring is unsurprisingly the most played card in Commander. Its evergreen status largely comes from nearly every Commander precon ever printed having a copy. Your opponents have a turn to answer it before you start taking over, maybe even less if you throw down a Talisman the turn you play it.

Best Ramp Payoffs

Expensive spells are the simple answer to the best ramp payoffs. Decks ramping with artifacts might want Urza, Lord High Artificer, while a deck full of mana dorks may reach for Craterhoof Behemoth.

Beyond just paying for expensive spells and abilities, ramp has utility with landfall, which is one of the go-to ways to play a “lands-matter” deck. More land drops = more landfall triggers from cards like Lotus Cobra, Felidar Retreat, and Scute Swarm.

How Much Ramp Should I Have?

Pretty much every EDH deck plays at least a little ramp. Veterans often tell new Commander players to run about 10 ramp cards, but the answer to how much ramp you should run in Commander can vary a lot depending on your deck's curve, whether ramping early actually supports your deck’s gameplan, and how quickly you want to win.

And that doesn’t even get into the complexity of 1v1 formats like Modern and Standard!

Wrap Up

Nature's Lore | Illustration by Julie Dillon

Ramp is a key part of the game. You can argue that mana is the most important resource in Magic, so getting more of it is one of the best game actions you can take. Anybody who’s ever played Vintage Cube knows just how powerful a mana advantage can be.

What’s your favorite ramp spell? How much ramp do you run in your Commander decks? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord! And check out The Daily Upkeep newsletter to stay up to date on all the latest MTG news.

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!