Summary
Since the dawn ofDisney Lorcana, Ramp decks have had a solid position in the metagame. These decks, largelybuilt in Sapphire/Steel, use cards that allow them to put extra Ink into their Inkwell, building up to play characters that would be prohibitively expensive for other decks. The term ‘Ramp’ comes from Magic: The Gathering, where such decks have existed since 1993.
Every Lorcana set so far has had a few cards that fit into this archetype, but not all Ramp cards are created equal. Some are snappy early-game boosts that can start your victory snowball rolling down the hill, while some are lumbering chonkers that need to be ramped into themselves, missing the point somewhat. Today, we’ll be looking at the cards in the former camp.
10Belle, Strange But Special
A Ramp Card And A Ramp Payoff
While this incarnation of Belle may seem slow on the surface, it’s actually one of the better Ramp cards Lorcana has to offer. That’s because, in addition to ramping you itself, it also rewards you for ramping at the same time. Getting the balance right between enablers and payoffs is crucial in any strategy, and Belle does that work for you.
Each turn Belle sits in play, you can drop an additional card into your Inkwell from your hand. This isn’t guaranteed ramp, but you should get a few uses out of it in most games. Once you hit 10 Ink, she starts questing for five Lore, which should end the game in short order combined with your high-Ink characters.
9Fishbone Quill
Repeatable Ramp At A Reasonable Rate
Now this one is a certified Ramp classic. Fishbone Quill costs three Ink to get going, but once it does it starts putting cards from your hand into your Inkwell every single turn. There are no restrictions on which cards you can Ink with this, so normally uninkable cards that are languishing in your hand can contribute to the cause.
Combine this with the fact thatQuill is an item, and thus harder to interact with than other card types, and you have a recipe for rapid Ink development. There’s a reason the card is a four-of in the vast majority of Ramp lists: it really is just that good.
8Gramma Tala, Storyteller
The Gold Standard For Early Game Ramp
As a character, Gramma Tala is underwhelming to say the least. A two Ink 1/1 with one Lore wasn’t impressive back in The First Chapter, never mind in today’s game. What makes the card great isn’t its raw stats, however, but its ramp ability. When Tala is banished, through any means, it returns to your Inkwell to fuel your future plays.
This makes removing it a bad option for your opponent, which will likely result in you racking up a lot of free early Lore as Tala goes unchallenged. It also discourages the use of AOE effects, such as Tinker Bell, Giant Fairy, for the same reason.
7Lantern
The Rare Non-Sapphire Ramp Card
It almost feels wrong to include a non-Sapphire card on this list, but ramp effects do exist elsewhere in Lorcana, too. They just take more subtle forms. Case in point: the lovely Lantern. This luminous item comes down for two Ink, then exerts each turn to reduce the Ink cost of your next character by one.
Obviously this isn’t quite as flexible as adding an extra card to your Inkwell, but in a game as character-centric as Lorcana, it’s pretty darn close. Lantern gives you an extra Ink to play with for the rest of the game. For that reason, color aside, it stands as a fine example of ramp in Lorcana.
6Winnie The Pooh, Having A Think
A Fishbone Quill With A Body
Like a cross between Fishbone Quill and Belle, Strange but Special, this contemplative take on Winnie the Pooh has a lot going for it. Three Ink for a 2/3 with two Lore isn’t embarrassing, and the ramp effect, which works the same as Quill’s, lets you make better use of your pricey unthinkable cards.
Of course, Pooh is less reliable than other options when it comes to ramp, since it’s a character, unlike Quill, and has three Willpower, unlike Belle. That vulnerability comes with a trade-off, though, as Pooh can ramp you up and keep your Ink train rolling in one fell swoop, every single turn.
5Falling Down The Rabbit Hole
Removal And Ramp In One Neat Package
Symmetrical effects in card games are a tricky thing. If they’re too well-balanced, playing them isn’t worth it, since they affect your opponent and you the same. Falling Down the Rabbit Hole is one such symmetrical effect, and if you’re playing your deck right, its outcome won’t be balanced at all.
This card lets both players choose one of their characters in play to put face down in their Inkwell.
Against an opponent with one scary character, this is a great way of removing it from the board, while getting around banish effects too. Since Ramp decks have more ways to leverage high Ink totals, your opponent likely won’t be able to make the best use of their fallen soldier, either.
4How Far I’ll Go
An Icon In Form And Function
One of modern Disney’s most iconic songs gets a worthy cardboard representative here. How Far I’ll Go lets you draw one card from your top two and put the other in your Inkwell, for a very reasonable four Ink. Of course, being a song, you can also cheat it out with any four cost character, ora cheaper Singer.
This is a great effect early to ramp you up, but it’s also great late, to draw you into more big characters to play with all your hoarded wealth. Card draw is a must-have in Ramp decks, so getting some on a card that can also ramp you itself is a big deal indeed.
3Gramma Tala, Spirit Of The Ocean
A Way To Win On Ramp Alone
Technically this version of Gramma Tala isn’t a ramp card per se. It doesn’t directly contribute to you gaining more Ink, and at its cheapest it costs five, so it’s not coming down in the early game. The reason it’s on this list, however, is because it’s one of the best payoff cards for Ramp decks Lorcana has seen yet.
Every time you add a card to your Inkwell with this Tala in play, you gain one Lore. This turns an action that’s normally useless in the late game into a way to close out tight matches. Those ramp cards you topdeck later will no longer be dead draws, but rather extra pressure on your opponent. The card also has incredibly solid stats, especially if you can Shift it out.
2Mama Odie, Mystical Maven
An Engine Of Vocal Destruction
Just like her on-screen incarnation, Mama Odie is here to inspire you to Dig a Little Deeper. Specifically, deeper into your deck. To find more cards to add to your Inkwell. She lets you do so every timeyou sing a Song. An action which, in the current Lorcana metagame, happens an awful lot.
Getting to use cards from the top of your deck rather than your hand makes Odie much more efficient than other ramp options, if a bit less consistent due to the song requirement. In the right deck, some kind of song-heavy Ramp pile, this could be the very best card on this list.
1Motunui, Island Paradise
An All-Expenses-Paid Trip To Ramp Town
Some Locations protect the characters within via keywords likeward or evasive. Others, like Motunui here, protect them by making it a very bad idea to banish them in the first place. Any time a character relaxing on the Motunui beaches is banished, it returns to your Inkwell face-down, thus ramping you up.
Since it only costs one Ink to move here and two Ink to play it, it’s simple to stack all your early characters on Motunui and give your opponent a tricky decision to make. Do they waste five damage removing the location, or target your characters and risk letting your Ink total spiral out of control. Either way, you’ll be having a great time with this one.
