In the last couple of weeks, we've seen Standard evolving in a really exciting way. Aggro decks are giving way to Green-Red-X monsters decks, as well as all manner of Blue-based control and Hour of Promise ramp decks. For me, one of the most exciting things about this Standard is trying to find the best Hour of Promise deck. Last week we looked at Ali Aintrazi's five-color build, but this week Seth Manfield has something that's a little more conservative and packs a little more punch.

Abzan Ramp - Rivals of Ixalan Standard | Seth Manfield

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Vraska, Relic Seeker

• Instants (9)
• 2 Moment of Craving
• 3 Vraska's Contempt
• 4 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (15)
• 1 Grind // Dust
• 1 Never // Return
• 2 Battle at the Bridge
• 2 Golden Demise
• 2 Mastermind's Acquisition
• 3 Doomfall
• 4 Hour of Promise

• Enchantments (4)
• 2 Ixalan's Binding
• 2 Profane Procession

• Artifacts (4)
• 2 Azor's Gateway
• 2 Thaumatic Compass

• Lands (26)
• 1 Plains
• 2 Forest
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Arch of Orazca
• 1 Desert of the Glorified
• 1 Desert of the Indomitable
• 1 Desert of the True
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 2 Field of Ruin
• 2 Scattered Groves
• 3 Ifnir Deadlands
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Concealed Courtyard

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Arguel's Blood Fast
• 3 Deathgorge Scavenger
• 3 Duress
• 3 Gifted Aetherborn
• 1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1 Lost Legacy
• 1 Naturalize
• 1 Torment of Hailfire

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As the game goes on, this deck has a fairly overbearing endgame, including locking your opponent out of key spells with Ixalan's Binding, locking them out of creatures with Profane Procession, or just grinding them out with Vraska, Relic Seeker, Arch of Orazca, and Ifnir Deadlands.

That said, there's an additional angle that this deck leverages that Ali's did not. Azor's Gateway. Azor's Gateway is what lets you turn the corner and start overpowering opponents with an incredible mana advantage. Suddenly, your Mastermind's Acquisition isn't a slow tutor for the answer you need. Instead, it lets you go get something like Torment of Hailfire or Wildest Dreams to bury your opponent in cards. Alternatively, it lets you activate Arch of Orazca and Profane Procession while still casting cards that your opponent absolutely must deal with.

If you want a midrange deck with an overwhelming endgame, this is where I would start. With cards like Thaumatic Compass and Sanctum of the Sun helping to power both huge haymakers and splash colors, you can do any number of interesting things, especially with Hour of Promise to help pull the mana base and midgame together. All in all, I'm very excited to watch the development of the Mastermind's Acquisition ramp deck, and I can't wait to see how successful this type of variant is.