What in the world was Wizards of the Coast thinking?

We currently have a Standard format with some of the best mana ramp spells in the history of Standard. It's not uncommon to see something as silly as a 5 to 2 land advantage on turn three, which is to say nothing of Nissa, Who Shakes the World allowing for double digit mana on turn four.

And then Core Set 2021 comes out.

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is one of the most powerful things to ramp into... well ever. We see it on turn four with Tron in Modern and now we can see it turn four in Standard! I won the 2015 SCG Tour Player's Championship when Ugin, the Spirit Dragon was last legal in Standard, playing ramp cards much worse than what we have now (lol Map the Wastes).

But while I may question the wisdom of printing Ugin into this format, we are game players, not game designers. It's our job to win games of Magic, and Ugin is very good at winning games of Magic.

Time Stamps:

00:04:39 - Match 1

00:21:41 - Match 2

00:40:42 - Match 3

01:03:23 - Match 4

Simic Ramp | M21 Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (8)
• 2 Arboreal Grazer
• 3 Hydroid Krasis
• 3 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Instants (10)
• 3 Aether Gust
• 3 Mystical Dispute
• 4 Growth Spiral

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Cultivate

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Shark Typhoon

• Lands (29)
• 4 Island
• 8 Forest
• 2 Blast Zone
• 2 Castle Vantress
• 2 Ketria Triome
• 3 Fabled Passage
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Temple of Mystery

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Aether Gust
• 3 Negate
• 2 Scavenging Ooze
• 2 Wilt
• 2 Brazen Borrower
• 1 Mystical Dispute
• 2 Shifting Ceratops
• 1 Arboreal Grazer
• 1 Shark Typhoon

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Simic Ramp feels like the level zero deck of this Standard format coming out of Core Set 2021.

All the cards are proven winners in Standard, with the Simic suite of ramp spells being basically everything you could ever want. I know it's weird, but Nissa, Hydroid Krasis, and Growth Spiral are still really good! And when you add Ugin to the mix, you get an extremely well-rounded threat and answer to anything random that may come your way.

The nice thing about the deck is how well it can shift over to a ramp/tempo style plan. Nissa, Who Shakes the World is a phenomenal ramp card, but is also an amazing threat to play and backup with counterspells when you can untap Breeding Pool for Negate or Aether Gust. We saw this in a number of the games and Shark Typhoon helps you lean into this plan a little more as well.

You may be getting tired of the Simic cards in Standard, but make no mistake: if you want to win, mixing them with Ugin is a very good plan!