Standard 2022 Temur Ramp Deck Guide: The Most Powerful Late Game Deck in 2022

Hello everyone! Today I’m going to go over the BIGGEST deck around in 2022: Temur Ramp. This is an offshoot of the more popular Simic Ramp strategy that I devised because simply, I couldn’t get Simic to work. Before I continue, let’s take a look at the list I was using.

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I liked what it was doing in theory and it should be excellent against the slower decks of the format, but that wasn’t my experience at all. I would get steamrolled by the fast decks and then out grinded by the slow decks. I didn’t know what to do with the deck despite it performing well via the Untapped stats, so I left it for awhile.

However, I’m not one to just give up on an archetype. I knew that the deck had promise, but it needed both more early game and late game. That was not going to be an easy task as it felt like Simic was already playing the best it had to offer. With that, I figured if I was going to make this deck work, I needed to branch into a third color. I was concerned about adding a third color as Simic has a really nice mana base, but I couldn’t imagine the deck working for me if I didn’t try something.

I discounted White right off the bat as there weren’t really cards in it that I was interested in playing. Sure something like Felidar Retreat or Doomskar are solid, but far from the best offerings we could get.

So, it came down to Red or Black. Black was really tempting as you got Binding of the Old Gods as a bridge in the mid game, but the late game payoffs were a bit lacking. Blood on the Snow didn’t really work as we couldn’t play a lot of Snow lands in a 3 color deck, there was Burning-Rune Demon which seemed ok, but not great. You do get access to removal, but that was also true of Red.

With Red, you got a lot of nice removal between cheap spells like Frost Bite or Dragon's Fire and access to board wipes of any variety like Cinderclasm, Draconic Intervention, or Battle of Frost and Fire. Most importantly though, you get access to Magma Opus, one of the best top end spells around. Although I really wanted to play Binding the Old Gods, I was sick of ramping into my payoff and losing anyway, so I opted to go for the Red splash.

Safe to say, the Red splash felt more than worth it. I started winning significantly more often and the deck felt much more cohesive than it originally did. I did a few swaps here and there, but I ended up on a version I was happy with.

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CARD CHOICES

Tangled Florahedron

A 2 drop Ramp creature or a land. Hard to not include in a Ramp deck.

Prosperous Innkeeper

At first glance, Prosperous Innkeeper is a weird inclusion for a Ramp deck. The Ramp is just a 1 off Treasure in a deck that has a huge amount of expensive plays. Although I understand that logic, you’d be surprised how well it functions. It’s a ramp creature that you’re happy to chump with, can gain a small amount of life, and doesn’t have to live to give you the mana. I’d play Emergent Sequence in an ideal world, but not having to keep the creature alive for it to do its job is a huge benefit.

Quandrix Cultivator

A decently sized body that grabs you a land? Sign me up.

Koma, Cosmos Serpent

Koma is one of the best Ramp payoffs around barring it doesn’t get killed on entry. It will take over nearly any game it isn’t answered immediately as it creates too much value for any deck to ignore.

Field Trip

Half ramp spell, half medium card tutor. I opted for 3 Field Trip as I had to split my numbers between this and Divide by Zero and came to the conclusion that I theoretically wanted 1 of each per game hence the 3 copies.

Alrund's Epiphany

This card is just nuts, especially in multiples. This can stabilize you from really rough positions or end the game on the spot.

Dragon's Fire

I wanted cheap removal and figured Dragon's Fire was my best bet. I think the 3rd point of damage is relevant for creatures like Werewolf Pack Leader or Rediane, God of the Worthy so I opted for it over the cheaper options.

Divide by Zero

I still wanted a good amount of interaction in my Ramp deck so having Divide by Zero felt like a solid choice. Stalling the opponent for a turn can be a game winning play using a deck that has such high powered cards in it.

Magma Opus

The main reason to play Red. Opus can save you in spots no other card realistically can while making a threat its own AND drawing you 2 cards. It’s really hard to lose a game where you get to cast this. Furthermore, you can make a Treasure if you’re in a pinch and you really need the mana.

Battle of Frost and Fire

Aggro was a real issue for me before so I wanted to play some sort of board wipe. I liked this one the most as this killed both large and small creatures plus it had additional effects the next few turns that are marginal, but could make the difference in a close game.

LESSON BOARD

Environmental Sciences

If you really need a land or life gain in a pinch.

Containment Breach

There’s a lot of good Naturalize targets in 2022 so having one Breach is valuable.

Teachings of the Archaics

Despite how high our curve is, this deck is surprisingly good at mostly emptying it’s hand. With that, Teachings will very often be a Divination you get for free off of your Learn cards.

Mascot Exhibition

A big late game payoff that can quickly kill the opponent or stabilize lost board states.

POTENTIAL INCLUSIONS / NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS

Beyeen Veil

I know this card has seen functionally 0 play, it definitely would be at its best here. As I said with Divide by Zero, stalling for even a turn can make a huge difference considering how powerful the top end is.

Into the Roil

Into the Roil is a solid card and was included in the Simic list, but it always felt like a worse Divide by Zero to me.

Jwari Disruption

Another solid MDFC. Countering something early can be a huge blowout and this would just be a tapland later.

Pop Quiz

Solid card, but not enough room to justify it.

Desert Doom”]

I really like Iymrith in Ramp decks as a mid game bridge, but I don’t think it’s necessary in Temur as we have 4 Battle of Frost and Fire as our 5 drop. That being said, I could see shaving one of the top end cards for a 1-2 of or something.

Cyclone Summoner

Summoner was solid in Simic, but Magma Opus just does the job way better most of the time, even if it is a mana more expensive.

Sea Gate Restoration

If you can cast a 7 drop that doesn’t impact the board and not lose, you were probably going to win that game regardless.

Frost Bite

Frost Bite is a better card than Dragon's Fire, but it’s really hard for this deck to get 3 Snow lands until much later in the game since we have so many non basics. I felt that always dealing 3 was worth the extra mana investment.

Spikefield Hazard

A solid MDFC that doesn’t really fit in this deck. If Red was a base color then I would consider it more, but as it stands this will be a tapped Mountain 99% of the time.

Cinderclasm

If you’re seeing a lot of small creature decks this is a solid choice, but I don’t think the Monowhite matchup is even that bad which makes this a bit overkill.

Thundering Rebuke

There’s a decent argument to include this over Dragon's Fire, but I think dealing the 4th damage is not as relevant as the Instant.

Crush the Weak

More or less the same logic as Cinderclasm, but I do like this card more.

Igneous Inspiration

Definitely a solid Learn card, but the other 2 are better.

Draconic Intervention

Although I do like this card, it’s not the easiest to cast for us and does require a spell to be cast before it to work.

Goldspan Dragon

It feels like sacrilege to not play Goldspan in a Red deck, but we’re really splashing for Red. You could build the deck in a way to be more base red, but then you’d probably have to make your mana even slower to accommodate it.

Shatterskull Smashing

I coudl definitely see this as a 1 of as drawing it late in the game can provide really good turns. That being said, I’m not super excited by it either as a Bolt Mountain is pretty rough.

Emergent Sequence

I mentioned it briefly before, but ramp that necessitates staying alive to do anything is really risky in a Ramp deck.

Overgrown Arch

This might look dumb, but it’s actually not that bad in theory. Bit too weak in practice.

Esika's Chariot

The Goldspan Dragon of Green. I hate excluding this, but realistically we don’t have room. If you find a way to squeeze this in, all power to you.

Vastwood Surge

I played versions with Surge, but generally you can’t afford to take turn 4 off to Ramp and this is usually a dead draw in the late game.

Turntimber Symbiosis

This is more reasonable when we have more creatures in the deck, but it’s not good in this version.

Expressive Iteration

Extremely powerful card, could eventually try to find room for a few copies.

Prismari Command

I’ve seen versinos of Temur that played Prismari Command as interaction plus ramp which seems super reasonable. Wouldn’t know what to cut for it beyond maybe some Dragon's Fire, but I don’t hate that.

Galazeth Prismari

Like Quandrix Cultivator, this could also be a solid mid game bridge since most of our top end is an Instant or a Sorcery, could trim some cards to make room.

Svella, Ice Shaper

This card make look weird, but I was really close to including it. The main issue is that it doesn’t survive Battle of Frost and Fire as it’s a Troll, not a Giant. So close.

Waking the Trolls

Love this card, sadly it isn’t very good.

CREATURELANDS

I’d love to get double duty out of the mana, but you need enough basics so the fetch effects work and having a land come into play tapped when you desperately need to cast an expensive spell seems like too large a detriment.

TIPS AND TRICKS

If you have a choice between interacting with the opponent’s board or ramping, unless you’re under a lot of pressure, ramping is generally better.

I generally play Tangled Florahedron out as a land rather than a creature unless I really need the body, I have no other plays, or I have a lot of lands already.

Quandrix Cultivator brings the land into play untapped so it’s ok to sandbag it for a turn if you can double spell a following turn (presuming that you’re using that turn to cast somethign else).

Try to use Divide by Zero moreso as a stalling mechanism than a way to avoid damage (unless those two intersect).

On average, you’ll be getting Environmental Sciences as your Learn card unless you have a huge amount of lands. Guarenteeing your land drops and a little bit of life gain is invaluable in this deck.

Thank you for reading!