Considering the new Green Ruler, I decided to make an article about the topic Ramp and other mechanics that build up Mana (Will). The Green Ruler Welser, the Progenitor of Magic (EDL-074) // Welser, the Progenitor of Magic [J-Ruler] (EDL-074J), who can only judge if the player controls 10 of the more Magic Stones, indicates that the ‘Epic of the Dragon Lord’ cluster will give Green a Ramp-centered playstyle.
Ramp traditionally refers to a game mechanic to play Magic Stones, in addition to the Magic Stone brought into play by the Ruler.
Frequently, players also talk about ramping into cards or plays when creating additional mana by effects of Mana Dorks, Resonators, Additions or Regalia. Mana Dorks are a subcategory of Resonators that have low cost and mostly bad stats.
A Mana Dork should be a 2 drop at most, due to the required efficiency. The Dorks are often very popular, for reasons that we will discuss in a moment.
Why is Ramp such a common and effective strategy? What advantages and/or disadvantages does Ramp have?
Since I started Force of Will (Lapis Cluster), Ramp has been one of the core strategies of almost all the Top Tier decks that existed.
The efficiency of Ramp results out of the resource mechanics used by Force of Will. The available Will limits the possibilities of making moves, especially in the early game. Ramp allows you to build up a turn to a larger extend, respond to opponent cards, and prepare plays that have a big impact on the game state. The crucial advantage: big or expensive cards may be played ‘ahead of the curve’.
For example, a Mana Dork allows you to play a turn 3 play on turn 2, where a 3 Mana card usually has a higher impact on the game than a card for 2 Mana. Or what is more common in Force of Will: in addition to the proactive game play, one might spare Mana for reactive plays. Dorks are efficient early game cards, because additional to accelerating your own match plan, they are hardly tempo-efficient to eliminate, due to their low cost.
Usually the only drawback of a Dork is its low damage output, limiting its use in the combat phase to a junk blocker. Ramping Magic Stones is usually better than ramping over Dorks, as it is more difficult to remove Magic Stones from the field than Resonators.
Now that we know the benefits of Ramp strategies, what is their downside?
Well, most of the time, Ramp cards don’t generate a card advantage, and have no impact on the board state. This usually makes Ramp cards bad top decks, especially in critical game situations. Furthermore, a lot of ramp in the early game without back-up plays can cause you to become sensitive to aggro strategies, or get problems in the control matchup due to the lack of the ability to draw cards or generate card advantage. However, the circumstance has been almost completely eliminated by the constancy of Rune Rulers and the additional resource mechanics of Stranger Rulers.
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