These are our best red ramp cards for EDH that you should consider running.
With red’s traditional aggro capabilities also comes the capacity to ramp in an explosive manner. This way, you can cast your big spells early, without your opponents anticipating on it. As this list will demonstrate however, is that red has gotten more consistent ramping possibilities these day, in the form of treasures.
Table of Contents
10. Ancient Copper Dragon
You have to give it haste or it has to survive a turn but when this Dragon connects, there is a big chance you will get showered in treasures. On average it will give you 10 of them, which is an insane amount of ramp. Ancient Copper also makes an appearance in our top mono red dragons list.
9. Koth of the Hammer
In a mono red deck that runs a lot of mountains Koth’s -2 ability is fantastic. He will pay for itself if you cast him with 4 mountains and if you cast him later in the game he can seriously ramp you.
8. Treasonous Ogre
This guy has saved me many times in my Purphoros, God of the Forge deck. When you life total is still above 30, this ogre can ramp you for around 10 red mana, enough to to cast a big finisher or go out with a bang when all is lost. And you can do it at instant speed.
7. Simian Spirit Guide
This card sees most play in highly tuned casual decks or cEDH decks where tempo plays a crucial role. Rushing out your commander as soon as possible and securing an early win or knockout is the goal and this card is fantastic for that. If you’re following a more casual or slower mid-range strategy than this card is less suitable.
6. Seething Song
Seething Song is a great red ritual spell. It might not be as mana efficient as Dark Ritual, but it’s a great include if you want to be able to get your five mana red commander out on turn three. Classic red ramp spell for EDH.
5. Birgi, God of Storytelling
Birgi let’s you add one red to your mana pool whenever you cast a spell. She works excellent with storm like strategies, where you cast a lot of cheap one or two mana spells to gain value. A similar card is Runaway Steam-Kin, the difference being that you need to cast at least 3 spells before you can cash in.
4. Curse Of Opulence
This works great in a creature heavy combat deck where you have good ways to get combat damage through to the cursed opponent. What’s even better, your other opponents will have an incentive to attack the cursed player, which will also give you one gold. This can potentially gain you 3 gold per turn cycle, for just one red mana. Really great.
3. Mana Geyser
This card is easy to understand, can net you a huge amount of mana in the late game to cast a big finisher. The impact of Mana Geyser can be meta dependent. If your playgroup doesn’t tap out as often and plays a lot of spells on instant speed, it gets worse.
2. Jeska’s Will
Playing this at the right moment in the game can gain you a great boost of red mana. And even if it only nets you four mana, that is still a great ritual effect. The added card advantage when you have your commander in play, is a great combination because it gives you more options to spent your freshly obtained mana on.
1. Dockside Extortionist
This card doesn’t need any explanation. Dockside has become an absolute powerhouse in any EDH deck that has access to red. It doesn’t matter if you can recur it, or just use for one time ramp, it will almost always be amazing value in a 4 player EDH game. The fact that it ramps you with treasures is even more insane since you can spent it whenever you want.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading our take on the best red ramp spells in EDH that are available today. Some noteworthy exclusions are Goldspan Dragon which is great but quite conditional since you need treasures to fully profit. And Neheb, the Eternal which is a great commander that you can build around in its own right, but less so a ramp card in your 99.
| Ramp Spells | USD | EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Dockside Extortionist | $65.97 | €54.12 |
| Jeska's Will | $21.82 | €18.47 |
| Mana Geyser | $1.82 | €0.85 |
| Curse Of Opulence | $1.33 | €1.50 |
| Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty | $10.69 | €10.10 |
| Seething Song | $2.12 | €0.95 |
| Simian Spirit Guide | $0.87 | €0.24 |
| Treasonous Ogre | $11.53 | €7.44 |
| Koth of the Hammer | $1.03 | €2.06 |
| Ancient Copper Dragon | $53.28 | €46.05 |