Deck Guide: Selesnya Ramp Landfall in Standard

Roberto Castiello October 8, 2021 MTG Decks, Standard, Strategy

Last updated on December 16, 2022

Storm the Festival | Illustration by Yigit Koroglu

One of the longest-awaited Standard rotations in recent years is now a reality. Throne of Eldraine is Historic and a new and unexplored Standard is opening up. These first steps of a totally new meta are very exciting with enough space to unleash the creativity we all carry inside.

It seems green is dominating the first few weeks of this meta. Any list that runs Esika's Chariot, Wrenn and Seven, or Storm the Festival is a powerful choice.

Today I’ll be analyzing another deck that uses these and other white cards to build a very interesting Selesnya Ramp Landfall list. Let's go dive in!

Table of Contents show

The Deck

Wrenn and Seven | Illustration by Bram Sels

This deck is based on a list from French MTG player Eliott Dragon.

Decklist

The Strategy

This deck’s goal is to ramp on turn 2 to play powerful spells from turn 3 on. It has very important “turn 3” plays if the ramper survives, since being able to cast impactful cards like Felidar Retreat, Esika's Chariot, or even Yasharn, Implacable Earth puts you well ahead on board.

It’s a very explosive deck that generates a good board presence very early and then creates a “snowball” situation that’s impossible for your opponent to recover from. You do this with the Chariot’s 2/2 Cat tokens, the Retreat's 2/2 Cat Beast tokens, or by casting the new Collected Company on steroids, Storm the Festival.

Let’s take a look at each card in the deck and the importance of each one of them, shall we?

The Rampers

As I already mentioned, this deck’s ramp aspect is very important. That’s why you’ve got 13 2-drops with this objective. Normally you’d aggressively mulligan all starting hands that don’t contain one of these cards, but I’ll talk about that a bit further down.

Tangled Florahedron is a very interesting double-sided card. You play it as a tapped land if you’ve got another mana dork in your hand or as a creature if you’re holding 3+ lands. This versatility is very important.

Lotus Cobra is a great creature that was seen a lot in various decks in the previous Standard. It can scratch the first few points of life from your opponent in addition to ramping, and its interaction with Wrenn and Seven’s ability can generate a lot of mana that could be used to flashback Storm the Festival.

Prosperous Innkeeper is probably the best of all the possible turn 2 plays since it doesn’t need to stay alive to generate a Treasure and at least ramp you a single turn. The ability to gain life is very relevant against the most aggressive decks in the format, though.

Emergent Sequence is in two slots in the deck to reinforce your ramping. Be careful searching for a land that you need a lot since it’ll very painful if your opponent kills it. This card also interacts very well with Wrenn and Seven’s ability to create a big threat.

The Creatures

These creatures add a lot of value to the deck whether by placing a threat, taxing your opponent, or providing a great body with some card advantage. Let's say they’re the bridge between your ramp and your big spells, providing you with additional and alternative plays on turn 3.

Kazandu Mammoth is a double-sided card that's usually played as a land on the first turn. But it can easily become a threat that attacks as a 5/5 if you have enough lands and a mana dork in-hand. The Mammoth’s body blocks very well and can be traded against lots of mono green’s creatures.

Reidane, God of the Worthy has seen a lot of play in many white weenie and Taxes decks so far but it also does an important job in this deck. Some decks in the format play snow lands (most notably mono black control and mono green aggro) and Reidane slows them down and makes their game much more uncomfortable. Besides, forcing your opponent to pay more for their already costly spells can even win the game by itself.

Yasharn, Implacable Earth is another card that gives the deck consistency. It grants a great body plus card advantage, searching more lands for your hand that will surely find very good use. The passive ability isn’t as relevant as it is in Historic, but Yasharn is another good target to bring in with Storm the Festival.

The Ramp Payoffs

Wrenn and Seven is probably the card that will define the new Standard the most, at least in the short term. Its interaction with Esika's Chariot is ridiculously good so the green decks are standing out. The fact that the Treefolk from Wrenn’s - ability has reach is tremendously important (say hi Goldspan Dragon). Plus its + guarantees you’ll hit your land drops.

Storm the Festival is one of the deck’s all-stars. It can get you nine mana in the best-case scenario (Wrenn plus Chariot) and well ahead of the game even in medium hit scenarios. In the very worst scenario of just two lands, you'll still get a couple of tokens and you’ll be closer to the Festival’s flashback cost if Felidar Retreat is already in play. Although very different from Collected Company Storm the Festival has been compared to it, and for good reason.

Emeria's Call is another very flexible card. It’ll be played as a land during the first turns on many occasions but it’s a good top deck when the game is stuck. Not to mention that the 4/4 angels it generates can close games quickly and efficiently.

The Other Powerhouses

Esika's Chariot is the card that’s causing the most headaches in Standard right now right alongside Wrenn and Seven. It’s not easy to answer it cleanly except by countering it, which is why Dimir () control decks are gaining popularity. Just destroying the artifact doesn’t work since it leaves two 2/2 tokens along the way. Not to mention the interaction with the planeswalker I just mentioned; if you curve out a turn 3 Chariot into a turn 4 Wrenn you’ll get two Treefolk tokens and basically win the game on the spot.

Felidar Retreat is another card that creates a snowball situation, although it takes more time. Each land you play is relevant. You have practically no bad draws and that’s huge. The interaction with Wrenn’s ability can also flood the field with 2/2 tokens. Not to mention that it's another good target to catch with your Festival.

Tips and Tricks

Esika's Chariot (Showcase Frame) | Illustration by WolfSkullJack

Don't keep a hand that doesn’t have some ramp or a mana dork. Playing your most expensive spells ahead of schedule is key in this ramp build. Starting hands without a mana accelerator dramatically decrease your odds so you need to avoid them.
Don't be too greedy with land spells. Think if you’ll need that land three or four turns in advance and play it safe when in doubt. You might get mana screwed if you try to squeeze the most out of spells and then you’ll inevitably lose the game.
When sequencing the deck’s 4-drops, prioritize Esika's Chariot since it adds the most pressure to the board.
Felidar Retreat can generate an immediate 2/2 on turn 5 if you play it before your land drop for the turn.
Curving Esika's Chariot into Wrenn and Seven is the deck’s most powerful play, so prioritize it if you get the chance. Play Wrenn pre-combat and use its - to generate a Treefolk and then crew the Chariot with that Treefolk and create another Treefolk with the Chariot’s trigger.
With Felidar Retreat and/or Kazandu Mammoth are on the battlefield, there may be situations where using Wrenn’s is appropriate (if you have two or three lands in hand) or where Storm the Festival should put two lands on the battlefield.

Sideboard Guide

Mono Green Aggro Matchups

This matchup is about being alive to cast your biggest spells. Felidar Retreat isn’t good after the sideboard since it's very slow and multiple copies of Storm the Festival could be an issue. Cut them to add more cheap interaction.

+3 Portable Hole
+3 Borrowed Time

Out

Izzet Dragons Matchups

This is a pretty straightforward swap assuming Izzet Dragons isn’t playing snow lands. Toski, Bearer of Secrets is a powerhouse and very difficult to deal with. It’ll generate a ton of card advantage. But you have to be careful with Goldspan Dragon so it’s wise to add some ways to remove it. Elite Spellbinder is crucial to slow your opponent down and check if you can slam your best 4-drops or not.

Out

Mono Black Control Matchups

Mono black control uses both snow mana and big spells, so Reidane, God of the Worthy is huge. On the other hand, being a control deck without counterspells makes you want to keep all your costly money makers. Ramping isn’t that necessary in this kind of matchup; all you want is impactful and valuable cards.

Out

Ramp Midrange “Mirror” Matchups

If you can disrupt your opponents' big spells with Elite Spellbinder this will be a quick win. Reidane, God of the Worthy is important but don't forget to cast your threats after that.

Out

-3 Felidar Retreat
-1 Kazandu Mammoth

Wrap Up

Reidane, God of the Worthy | Illustration by Jason Rainville

The new Standard format seems to be wide open after the rotation. This will change after the Worlds since the format will be defined, so keep an eye on that event. Ramp decks like this should stick around for a while since Esika's Chariot and Wrenn and Seven will be very important over the next couple of years. ~~Unless the ban hammer visits us!~~

I hope you enjoyed today’s deck guide. Feel free to leave a comment down below if you have any questions or a suggestion for a future guide. or head over to Discord or Twitter if those are more your thing. And if you’re thinking of test driving this deck over on MTGA, make sure you take Arena Tutor with you! It tracks your matches, offers stats and Draftsim’s signature AI, and (best of all) it’s free.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll see you next time!

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Roberto Castiello

Roberto Castiello is a draft lover who has been playing MTG since 1999. He's been streaming (in Spanish) since 2019 on a daily basis at twitch.tv/rcastiello, grinding both the Constructed and Limited ladders.