Kortex’s Season 26 (Standard) Ramp Druid

This WotOG version of Ramp Druid aims to accelerate the Mana curve and overwhelm the opponent with large threats. Cards like Living Roots, Wrath, Druid of the Flame, Mind Control Tech, and Swipe help to control the early game and provide resistance against aggressive decks. Innervate, Wild Growth, and Mire Keeper are fantastic tools to cheat the Mana curve in order to place greater threats on the board. However, it is usually more valuable to use Mire Keeper for the 2/2 Slime against decks such as Zoolock and Aggro Shaman. Nourish can also be used to ramp in a pinch, although it is the deck’s main form of card draw in the late game after the Ancient of Lore nerf.

Fandral Staghelm is one of the best new Legendaries of the WotOG expansion and has excellent synergy with many cards in this deck including Living Roots, Wrath, Druid of the Flame, Mire Keeper, Druid of the Claw, Ancient of War, and Cenarius. This card can win games on its own through sheer value if left unchecked. Azure Drake provides essential card draw, as well as Spell Damage synergy with Living Roots, Wrath, and Swipe. In the midgame, Druid of the Claw and Dark Arakkoa are used to stabilize. Sylvanas Windrunner has gained increased value with the nerfs to various Silence cards and often brings beneficial board swings.

Some people choose not to include Emperor Thaurissan in their Ramp Druid lists in favor of other cards such as an additional Dark Arakkoa or Nourish but I believe that it has an important role in this deck. In addition to reducing the cost of late-game cards like Ancient of War, Cenarius, and Onyxia, Emperor Thaurissan often enables higher burst damage combos by lowering the cost of cards like Leeroy Jenkins, Savage Roar, Druid of the Claw with Charge, Living Roots, and Swipe. Some players may question the inclusion of Onyxia in this deck. After testing this card in over 40 games, I have found it to be surprisingly good. I also tested Ragnaros the Firelord in this slot and I have to say that I prefer to use this card. This card is much stronger with the Big Game Hunter nerf.  In addition to placing a large threat and creating a board from nothing, it provides a setup for Savage Roar and Cenarius.

While Ancient of War, Cenarius, and Onyxia supply a great late-game board presence win condition, Leeroy Jenkins + Savage Roar also provides an 8 Mana 10 damage burst combo that is useful in closing out the game. It is worth noting that it is sometimes more beneficial to use the burst combo cards like Savage Roar earlier in order to make the most out of your board if the opponent is expected to have large board clears. Another strategy commonly employed by this deck is to bait out premium removal with lower-cost cards such as Fandral Staghelm, Dark Arakkoa, and Emperor Thaurissan in order to secure a safe Ancient of War or Onyxia later.

Card substitutions for Leeroy Jenkins: 2nd Mulch, 2nd Nourish, 2nd Dark Arakkoa, The Black Night, Spellbreaker, Savage Combatant

Card substitutions for Cenarius/Onyxia: Ragnaros the Firelord, Ysera, Faceless Manipulator (Faceless + Mulch, Faceless + Leeroy)

Aggro Tech: 2nd Mind Control Tech, Wild Growth for Darnassus Aspirant