The 47 Best Ramp Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on April 16, 2024

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 better 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 Cards in Magic?

Nature's Lore | Illustration by Julie Dillon

Ramp spells give you additional mana. They have a variety of forms and uses, with the most powerful being cards that produce additional mana each turn. Here’s a breakdown:

Land-Based Ramp

Land-based ramp tends to be the strongest because it’s hard to interact with lands; other forms of ramp can be destroyed or killed. These ramp spells either put additional lands directly into play (Rampant Growth, Reshape the Earth, Search for Tomorrow) or let you play additional lands (Exploration, Fastbond, Growth Spiral).

Mana Dorks

“Mana dork” is Magic slang for a creature that taps for 1 or more mana. The classic examples are Llanowar Elves and Birds of Paradise.

Mana Rocks

Most Commander players are familiar with mana rocks, if only because most decks use them. These are artifacts that tap for mana like Sol Ring and the Talisman cycle. Enchantment-based ramp like Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl fills a similar role.

Rituals and Cost Reducers

Cost reducers (Jet Medallion, Sunscape Familiar) make cards of a certain category, often color or type, cost less. Rituals (Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame) produce temporary bursts of mana. I’m not including rituals or cost reducers; I’m only looking at cards that add additional mana each turn by tapping or putting lands into play.

Since I’m not adding any one-shot mana effects, I’m also not considering Treasure producers like Dockside Extortionist and Smothering Tithe. These are fine cards; they’re just outside the scope of this article.

I’m looking for efficient cards that provide huge leaps in mana production. Cards that do more than add mana, or add a lot, get bonus points. I also want to give an honorable mention to the original Moxen cycle. They’re all incredible; as the majority of the Power Nine, their inclusion would be obvious, so I want to focus on other cards. Though I primarily focus on Commander, plenty of these cards work in other formats.

#47. Kami of Whispered Hopes

Kami of Whispered Hopes offers plenty of value but needs to serve under a +1/+1 counter commander or deck to have a meaningful impact on the game. That’s a pretty low bar to clear, but there’s still a bar.       

#46. Rampant Growth + Farseek

Rampant Growth is the classic spell we get the name “ramp” from. Farseek plays alongside the same rules, though it can get dual lands and Triomes. While modern Magic offers some stronger ramp options, these classic green sorceries still hold up.

#45. Dreamscape Artist

Blue ramp typically involves cost reduction or restrictive mana dorks (only spend this mana on X, usually instants, sorceries, or artifacts), which makes Dreamscape Artist unique. This blue creature‘s ability is rather costly, but many decks can utilize a discard outlet that puts them up on mana.

#44. 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.

#43. 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 seems to grow stronger.

#42. Thran Dynamo

4-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 colorless mana the turn you cast it.

#41. 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.

#40. Cabal Coffers

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

#39. Commander’s Sphere

Commander players hate 3-drop mana rocks more than anything, though I don’t find them that bad. Commander's Sphere makes the cut in lots of decks. Cashing it in for a card later helps prevent flooding, plus some decks do a lot with artifacts that sacrifice themselves.

#38. Worn Powerstone

I might be in the wrong for loving Worn Powerstone, if only because I never see anybody else play it. But it always seems to hit the right spot whenever I play it.

#37. 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.

#36. 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.

#35. 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.

#34. 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.

#33. Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Chandra, Torch of Defiance might be my favorite planeswalker. I was enthralled when playing this in Standard, even when I shouldn’t have been. I’ve won many games of Cube by casting this red planeswalker and ramping into some flavor of Lightning Bolt to clear an opposing threat.

#32. 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.

#31. 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.

#30. 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.

#29. 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 ending up in the graveyard, like Meren of Clan Nel Toth and Muldrotha, the Gravetide.

#28. 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.

#27. Solemn Simulacrum

Sad robot has been a Commander staple artifact for a year and a day. Though you don’t see Solemn Simulacrum as often these days, decks interested in an artifact, a creature they can sacrifice, or ramp in colors that don’t have access to it can still leverage this.

#26. 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.

#25. Mana Flare

One might consider Mana Flare the first group hug card since it was printed in Alpha Edition. It offers incredible ramp, especially with effects that untap lands like Turnabout and Frantic Search. You really need those cards to use this red enchantment well or you risk losing to your opponents getting the same mana boost without investing any cards.

#24. 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 imposing, ramping threat.

#23. 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 that keep cards flowing.

#22. 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 Nissa protects itself and pressures your opponent.

#21. 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.

#20. 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.

#19. 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 Preacher of the Schism.

#18. 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.

#17. 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.

#16. 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.

#15. 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 one!

#14. Birds of Paradise

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

#13. 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 tutor, but Commander decks can reach for Eldrazi like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth.

#12. 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.

#11. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

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

#10. 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 (who helps Grim Monolith and Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy).

#9. Mox Amber

Mox Amber rises in my esteem with each new set. Wizard’s dedication to Commander has led to more and more legends being printed each set—just look at the gold cards in Outlaws of Thunder Junction! Using this card becomes easier and easier as legendary creatures naturally take more space in Commander decks.

#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 two-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. Ancient Tomb

Using Ancient Tomb can get pricy, but most of us are playing in a format with 40 life. 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.

#5. 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 is best in unfair strategies that don’t mind going down a card.

#4. 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. Cradle is slightly more relevant as Academy has been banned in virtually every format, but both are exceptional ramp pieces.

#3. 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.

#2. Sol Ring

According to EDHREC, Sol Ring is the most played card in Commander with 84% of decks playing it. Its evergreen status largely comes from every Commander precon ever printed having a copy. This is one of the strongest mana rocks ever printed. 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.

#1. Mana Crypt

The difference between 1 mana and 0 can be immense. You put your life total on the line each upkeep when you play Mana Crypt but propel yourself so far ahead by doing so. The risk is well worth the reward of playing two turns ahead of the rest of the table.

Best Ramp Payoffs

Expensive spells are the simple answer to the best ramp payoffs, but how you’re ramping matters greatly. If you’re using lands, landfall cards like Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait and Scute Swarm leap in value; but decks ramping with artifacts might want Urza, Lord High Artificer, while a deck full of mana dorks may reach for Craterhoof Behemoth.

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

Growth Spiral | Illustration by Seb McKinnon

Ramp is a key part of the game. You can argue that mana is the most important resource in the game, 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!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!