At Pro Tour Dominaria, we saw a number of teams trying a ramp strategy. Some quick mana creatures backed up by some dinosaurs seemed like a good plan then, and with the format becoming mostly focused on Red-based variants, maybe it's time to give it another shot. Take a look at this interesting build by Humpaa:
Black-Green Ramp - Core Set 2019 Standard | Humpaa, 5-0 Modern League
- Instants (11)
- 1 Dissenter's Deliverance
- 2 Cast Down
- 4 Fatal Push
- 4 Vraska's Contempt
- Sorceries (15)
- 2 Grow from the Ashes
- 2 Mastermind's Acquisition
- 3 Doomfall
- 4 Battle at the Bridge
- 4 Hour of Promise
- Enchantments (8)
- 2 Arguel's Blood Fast
- 2 Sandwurm Convergence
- 4 Gift of Paradise
This deck approaches the format in an interesting fashion. You've got a ton of removal against Red decks backed up by non-creature threats against midrange and control decks to blank opposing removal spells. The idea behind this deck is pretty straightforward. You've got a ton of ramp spells backed by giant haymakers. A little bit of interaction along the way helps to make sure that you have time to resolve your key threats and that the way is clear.
Against aggressive strategies, Battle at the Bridge and Hour of Promise are your key spells. Battle scales over the course of the game to help keep your life total out of the red zone, while Hour of Promise stalls out the ground and helps you reach Sandwurm Convergence. Against control decks, you're looking for Doomfall to clear the way and Arguel's Blood Fast to keep the cards coming. If you can find a target, Battle at the Bridge does a good job of ensuring you can continue to draw cards well into the late game.
Mastermind's Acquisition is the most interesting card here, as it allows you to play a suite of interesting singletons across your maindeck and sideboard for specific situations. Torment of Hailfire and Wildest Dreams are great mana sinks if you've resolved multiple big ramp spells. Pelakka Wurm stabilizes the ground and closes out the game against most aggro decks. You can even grab a Carnage Tyrant or Duress in preboard games against control decks. The ability to find sideboard cards that can swing a matchup in Game 1 is not something that should be taken lightly.
All in all, this deck walks an interesting line. You're a big mana deck that has a lot of the tools you need to go toe-to-toe with control decks in the lategame, but your removal suite is especially well-tailored to fight aggressive Red decks. If you've been looking for something new and exciting to try for the last couple of weeks of Standard, maybe this is it.