A sensible starting point
Many casual and mid-power decks are comfortable with around 10 dedicated ramp pieces alongside 35–38 lands. That combination makes it likely you hit your fourth and fifth mana on time. Treat this as a baseline to adjust, not a requirement.
When to run more
- Your commander costs six or more and you want to cast it early.
- Your curve is top-heavy, with many spells at five mana and above.
- Your strategy cares about lands entering, such as landfall decks.
- You play big X spells that scale with available mana.
When to run less
- Your curve is low and most spells cost three or less.
- Your deck wants to fill every early turn with cheap creatures.
- Your commander itself generates mana or reduces costs.
- You run many cards that double as ramp and something else.
Not all ramp is equal
Two-mana ramp is the sweet spot for most decks because it accelerates you on turn two into a four-drop on turn three. Land-based ramp is harder to remove than mana rocks, which are vulnerable to artifact wipes. Mana creatures are fast but die to almost everything. A healthy mix spreads that risk.
Also consider color fixing. Ramp that finds any basic land does double duty in three- and four-color decks, where an off-color hand can be as crippling as a land-light one.
Ramp versus lands
Cutting lands to fit more ramp is tempting, but ramp spells only work if you hit your early land drops. If you drop below about 34 lands, make sure your ramp is cheap and your draw is strong. Our Deck Analyzer counts both and flags when the balance is off.
Is your ramp tuned to your curve?
DeckOS counts your ramp, lands and curve together and explains what to change.