Hello and happiest of days to each of you! I wanted to take some time to talk about the need for Ramp and Mana Smoothing in Casual Magic. Last week I wrote up my Top 5 Mana Dorks for Casual Play, and then an entire deep dive into Multiplayer Ramp. Today, I am going over my top mana dorks! This is different from a Mana Dork that taps for it, and then only includes them when the lands hit the battlefield proper, rather than your hand like Civic Wayfinder, those will be later.

Honorable Mentions

These Two 6-Drops - Both of these ETB and grab any land from your deck to put it on the battlefield. They're both pretty good, and the Gladiolus Amicitia has a landfall trigger to pump one of your creatures and give it trample, and Ulvenwald Hydra has reach and power/toughness equal to your land count.

Sakura-Tribe Elder - a 2-drop 1/1 common printed long ago in green that sacs for no mana to Rampant Growth. I love this guy because you can drop it and then sac it right away, or wait until EOT, or after blocking. Also, shout out to Burnished Hart that sacs for to ramp out two lands to the battlefield!

4-Drop Colorless Rampers - Solemn Simulacrum ETBs and gives you a basic land tapped, so you can run it in tons of decks. And when it dies, you draw a card! Scampering Surveyor ramps a basic or a Cave tapped. Great stuff!

#5. Wood Elves

Wood Elves has a tiny 1/1 body, but on arrival it ramps you a Forest. Note that it can be any Forest, so you can grab a duel land or triome. That's why this cracks the top five over things like Solemn Simulacrum, but you do need Green mana for it so there're times this could be worse.

#4. Sutina and Stomper

Sutina arrives with a basic land tapped and then when she swings you can bounce a land to toss a +1/+1 counter on one of your creatures and set up for another landfall trigger. She's better than Wood Elves with her bigger size and attack trigger, but you might prefer being able to get other colors. Topiary Stomper ramps a basic land tapped and then cannot attack or block until you control a threshold of lands in play.

#3. Sylvan Primordial

This 7-drop, Reach 6/8 is banned in Commander! When it arrives, you can destroy one non-creature permanent for each opponent! Then you ramp a Forest tapped for each permanent you destroyed. Note they can be non-basic Forests. But why is this 7-drop banned? Lots of people told me it was because they would often aim that at lands and not the big important stuff like Rhystic Study or Skullclamp. You can run it elsewhere and then you can pinky promise not to hit lands too. Although I feel ones like Cabal Coffers and Gaea's Cradle are fair game. I'm still surprised by how much casual players don't want their lands destroyed but then run broken ones.

#2. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

Of course this legendary Scout had to be here. This 5-drop 3/5 arrives with any tapped land, like Coffers or Cradle. Or just Command Tower. Then you can activate him for seven to exile your top three cards with the ability to play them for free. If he's legal, you probably want to run him (which he isn't in Commander).

#1. Primeval Titan

Ah yes. Prime Time! This 6-drop 6/6 with trample broke Standard and Commander on release. When he arrives or swings you can ramp out any two lands tapped. That can be nasty in the case of putting both Coffers and Urborg into play, or things like Urzatron, recursion like Academy Ruins, removal like Strip Mine, card draw like War Room, and so much more. He's banned in Commander but otherwise, run him where legal.

Shoutout to Primeval Herald for any land, Ondu Giant, Farhaven Elf for basics, and Knight of the White Orchid for a nonbasic Plains!