Since Reality Fracture’s release, the Standard metagame has kept evolving. Unique brews built to maximize new tools keep making unexpected splashes, showing just how much depth this format has. This week, for example, a mono-green ramp shell 5-0d a Magic Online Standard League abusing the set’s most mana-intensive card.
Ramping to Brutal Payoffs
This Standard deck’s entire game plan revolves around ramping into your massive Eldrazi and taking over the game. To start, Llanowar Elves and Heartwood Crafter
Heartwood CrafterThis creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)
{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast spells from your hand. are your go-to one-drops, with Elves curving into Simulacrum Shaper being your best possible opening. Of course, Emrakul, the Exigent Doom
Emrakul, the Exigent DoomWhen you cast this spell, untap all lands you control.
Flying, trample
Ward—Sacrifice three permanents.
{3}, Exile this card from your hand: Target land gains "{T}: Add {C}{C}" until this card is cast from exile. You may cast this card for as long as it remains exiled. also supports this plan with its activated ability, dodging most counterspells in the process.
Then, to help bridge the gap between your early and late plays, you get to lean on a full playset of Interdimensional Web Watch
Interdimensional Web WatchWhen this artifact enters, exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.
{T}: Add two mana in any combination of colors. Spend this mana only to cast spells from exile.. The exile clause isn’t a huge issue for this strategy since Emrakul, as well as Prepared spells attached to Emeritus of Abundance and Vastlands Scavenger, exist in exile anyway. You can even funnel mana into the Eldrazi Anticausal Vestige or Mightform Harmonizer
Mightform HarmonizerLandfall — Whenever a land you control enters, double the power of target creature you control until end of turn.
Warp {2}{G} (You may cast this card from your hand for its warp cost. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step, then you may cast it from exile on a later turn.) after Warping them.
Once you’ve spent the early game ramping, you can start to dominate the late game with Emrakul and Ugin, Eye of the Storms. The former provides an incredible clock, while the latter removes any problematic permanent from your opponent’s board. Ugin also pairs perfectly with The Echoverse Fulcrum, which retriggers Ugin’s static and blows up the board to protect your Planeswalker.
Matchup Dependent
Ultimately, as cool as this deck is, Standard Eldrazi Ramp’s effectiveness depends heavily on the matchups you expect to face. Ramp decks have historically lined up well against slower midrange and control decks, and this shell is no exception.
When facing Azorius Control or Dimir Midrange, you typically have plenty of time to develop your mana. Even a quick Kaito, Bane of Nightmares usually fails to race Ugin, which cleans the Planeswalker up nicely. With Cavern of Souls making your primary threats uncounterable, long games are trivial to win.
Interestingly, though, The Echoverse Fulcrum also lets you slow-roll your beefy creatures and punish decks like Lifegain for going wide early. Once you have a bit of reprieve, Ugin and Emrakul should do the trick.
Where this deck falls short, however, is against decks that can pile on tons of damage quickly. Mono-Green Landfall, for example, can set up a Mightform Harmonizer kill as early as turn three. Similarly, Izzet Prowess threatens a lethal Slickshot Show-Off way before you can get your engine rolling. In both cases, The Echoverse Fulcrum being solely sorcery-speed removal is a huge liability.
Given how diverse the Standard metagame is, it can be hard to predict how well Mono-Green Ramp will perform in any given event. That being said, if you get fortunate pairings, we think you may get rewarded for the unorthodox deck choice.
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