do tron decks become eldrazi decks from now on or is it the other way around? or are they still entirely separate ideas? I haven't payed any attention to tron decks since eldrazi fever started but I kind of had the impression they were starting to pick up cards like thought-knot as a way to interact early on with the opponent. t3 karn is still as potent as ever I'm sure, but is it better than beating down with huge eldrazi with an extra sol land on top of tron lands?
I voted yes in the poll, obviously there isn't the explosiveness of eye anymore but I still think there is something there. thought-knot is too powerful to just forget about just because you can't cast it as early anymore.
I agree completely. I think that following Eye's ban, the strongest aggro deck in modern will be the deck that most successfully merges Tron and Eldrazi into one decklist.
Based on the performance I have had with the deck in the OP, I think the build is close to optimal. The curve is smooth and the performance has been phenomenal.
Played the list in the OP at a tourney yesterday (I didn't realize the ban didn't go into effect already).
Round 1
Control - Won 2-0
Round 2
Delver - Won 2-0 handily despite never resolving a Chalice at 1.
Round 3
Eldrazi packing 4 Eye of Ugin
Won Game 1 handily even though my opponent won the die roll.
Game 2, was beat down by turn 1 Eye + double Eldrazi Mimics + Turn 2 Thought-Knot, Turn 3 Thought-Knot, Turn 4 Reality Smasher. Surprisingly. I was within a turn of winning (would've likely won if I played first) as I was able to assemble the tron pieces and resolved a Conduit for Ulamog which was about to land the turn before I died.
Game 3, was somewhat similar to game two. I lost due to multiple Ghost Quarters blowing up my lands consistently keeping me one mana short of hard casting my Ulamog (again fetched up with Conduit of Ruin).
Round 4
Affinity
Won Game 1
Game 2 - Mulliganed to 5 and lost never finding a chalice or Damping matrix.
Game 3 - Once again lost having never found a chalice or Damping matrix but this was close. Had 2 Thought-Knots + Reality Smasher beating him down while he was hanging on with Vault Skirge equipped so it was a 6/1 flying lifelinker as his only creature.
Was overall very happy with how the deck performed.
The deck functioned just as well as it did before Eye of Ugin. Played some of extra games ont the side against other players in between rounds and won all of them. (Even postban, only tough matchups I faced were affinity and the mirror).
Ryadrig, you're correct about Hedron Archive. Both Hedron Archive and Oblivion Stone proved too slow and I have since swapped them out for Mind Stone. The deck's curve has been buttery smooth ever since.
Made the following adjustments to the deck in the OP.
-2 Hedron Archive
-2 Oblivion Stone
+4 Mind Stone
Tron isn't what it used to be since Eye of Ugin got banned so I don't think it's anywhere near as competitive as it was pre-ban. In this deck, Conduit of Ruin serves the role that Eye used to serve for Tron. This list much more streamlined than Tron but achieves the same thing that Tron does and carries the same inevitability. Chalice is still available post board against the matchups where the card is amazing.
With Eye of Ugin banned, many people are ready to abandon this amazingly fun deck. I however think the deck can be molded to adjust for the ban and emerge almost as competitive as it was before.
Here is the list I'm fairly sure is close to optimal. But suggestions to refine it further are much appreciated. Blind Eldrazi
As you can see, this list is a bit more top heavy that most Eldrazi Aggro decks you're probably used to. The more powerful threat-base is enabled by playing a lot more mana ramp which wasn't playable before because Eye of Ugin wouldn't help you cast any of the potential rampers.
Rampers allow you to plop down on turn 4 a gamebreaking card like Wurmcoil Engine (another excellent card that was also unplayable in a deck that housed 4 Eye of Ugin). By going this route, you're able to play a much higher density of gamebreaking threats.
Expedition Map allows you to assemble the tron combo by turn 3. Just as useful, Map can fetch up an Eldrazi Temple on turn 2 which is often all you need to start laying down your game winning threats starting turn 3.
Conduit of Ruin is a tutor, ramper, and threat all in one card.
Radiant Fountain both helps you survive long enough to take control of the board, and offers up a juicy target for Vesuva to copy when it doesn't have an Eldrazi Temple to copy and you don't have the tron combo assembled yet.
I think there's some incredibly powerful cards that are being overlooked.
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenhorde Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy. Along those same lines Stampeding Elk Herd might be worth it as well. Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
Reality Smasher - AlexStollScientist already mentioned this guy but it bears repeating. He's fantastic.
Can you explain why these cards don't warrant mention in the primer?
As for your build Ugin, MOno green tends to want to be fast by running mana dorks, deathcap ,Hedron Crawler, and Leaf Guilder are all options. Don't you think a mono green list should start there?
The list in the OP is much more threat dense (allowing it to not be slowed down by all the hard removal and mass removal that standard currently has access to) and runs a much lower curve as well. Because of the lower curve, the deck runs just fine without any mana dorks aside from Shaman (since it also functions as a decent blocker and a win condition in the late game). Take the list for a spin and you'll see what I mean.
I'm open to playing more mana dorks though. Just don't know what to cut? What would you cut from the list to squeeze in mana dorks without hurting the curve.
As the existing thread in the New Card Discussion forum is scheduled to be archived in four days, the moderator recommended continuing the discussion in this forum.
Red Deck Wins will be fairly competitive post rotation. The key to it's success is to find the most optimal configuration. Below is a comprehensive list of all playable RDW cards (for either maindeck or sideboard) that will be legal post rotation. We just need to figure out which of these cards are actually worth running...
As long as the curve is smooth, I really don't think you could go wrong playing any of those above cards with four caveats:
Many of the goblins are only worth playing alongside Goblin Piledriver.
The madness cards are only worth playing alongside discard outlets.
The delirium cards are only worthwhile in builds capable of achieving delirium.
Stensia Masquerade is marginally playable at best, and even then, only in a deck chockful of other Vampires alongside Ravenous Bloodseeker.
Now that we have a pool of cards to work with, let's start brewing some decks.
A black splash is very feasible thanks to Llanowar Wastes, Deathcap Cultivator and Shaman of Forgotten Ways. Explosive Vegetation could be added to the list to add consistency. What such a splash would offer is more removal and The Gitrog Monster (along with Groundskeeper and Drownyard Temple), however I'm not convinced this would be worth the splash.
Alternatively, Red has quite a few solid ramp cards.
You could build a competitive G/r ramp deck with...
The deck would have access to some very powerful effects but it would play a bit differently than the one above (a good bit slower without the Formidable guys giving all your creatures haste and trample), and would have a slower less consistent manabase once the fetchlands rotate out next week.
To incorporate red into the manabase, you would also have to lose out on the Thoughtseize effect that Thought-Knot Seer provides. Given how effective Seer has been for me in nixing your opponent's only way to stabilize against your onslaught, it's not worth the loss of Seer and a less consistent manabase in order to splash red in my view.
This deck was the byproduct of a thread at the Standard New Card Discussion forum. However, that particular thread is scheduled to be archieved on April 2nd, and as per the moderator's recommendation, that discussion is to be continued in this thread.
Mono Green Ramp is poised to be among the most competitive decks in the format when the fetches rotate out next week. SOI has a number of offerings that should make the deck quite a bit stronger.
Llanowar Wastes - The deck needs a minimum of 11 colorless sources to make Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher consistently playable, but it also needs 16 green sources to ensure that you never have to mulligan an otherwise excellent hand due to the lack of a green source in your hand. Prior to testing Llanowar Wastes, Crumbling Vestige was the only way to make this happen. Yes, it only makes green mana with the loss of life, but just losing life for one turn is enough to allow you to cast Nissa's Pilgrimage or Shaman of Forgotten Ways so that you can play out the rest of your threats without ever having to worry about lifeloss again.
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Titanic Growth - A very powerful combat trick especially with Elk Herd giving your creatures trample. Your opponent will often double block one of your big guys to kill them thinking you can only kill one of the two blocking creatures. A well timed Titanic Growth ensures that both the blockers die while your threat survives, often creating a board advantage that will be nearly impossible for your opponent to overcome.
Nissan's Pilgrimage - Lets you consistently reach 5 mana on turn 4. It's needed in order to enable a quick ramp.
Shaman of Forgotten Ways - Lets you consistently reach 5 mana on turn 4. Also doubles as a decent blocker and an early game target for Aim High.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenlord Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy.
Stampeding Elk Herd - Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
Reality Smasher - Haste, Trample and a pseudo-shroud effect on a 5/5 body is too good to pass up. However, the other threats this deck plays are honestly just better. Still, it's well worth it as a two of because it's often the best Sanctum of Ugin target to ensure that you win the game a turn quicker.
Conduit of Ruin - It's a beater, a mana accelerant and a tutor all in one card. It can fetch up whichever silver bullet you most need and happen to have the mana to cast.
World Breaker - When you don't quite have the mana to cast Ulamog, this is the best silver bullet to blow up your opponent's Aligned Hedron Network or Quarantine Field.
Breaker of Armies - The ideal silver bullet to enable an alpha swing (all your opponent's creatures are stuck blocking him while your other creatures all get through to deal lethal damage). Even if they don't do lethal damage, Breaker of Armies guarantees that your opponent will lose their 2-3x best creatures while your other guys take out any annoying planeswalkers on the board.
Void Winnower - The ideal silver bullet in a variety of situations. Even just by making it so that none of your opponents tokens (CC=0) can chump block any of your threats, it can often enable an alpha strike for the win the same turn you cast it.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - Needs no explanation. If you have 8 mana on the board (Conduit makes it 2 cheaper), you can never go wrong with tutoring up this guy with your Conduit or your Sanctum of Ugin.
Sideboard Cards Explanations:
Jaddi Offshoot - Severely impairs very fast, very aggressive decks that would otherwise kill you before you start the beatdown.
Warping Wail - Can counter Planar Outburst and other nasty sorceries that control decks tend to play. The other two modes (exiling Kalastria Healer, making a chump blocker or surprise attacker into an open Planeswalker or EOT accelerating your mana production for your next turn) have their uses as well.
Naturalize - Another answer (on top of World Breaker and Ulamog) to the various annoying enchantments and artifacts that control decks tend to play: Sphinx's Tutelage, Quarantine Field, Aligned Hedron Network etc.
Aim High - See above. Awesome combat trick, especially worth bringing in versus any deck that plays flyers.
Epic Confrontation (previously Plummet, Titanic Growth and Rabid Bite all alternatively occupied this slot but this card beat them all in terms of versatility) - Another answer to flyers that ignore your ground game. Against flyers, think of this as Aim High 5 & 6. Very similar to Rapid Bite in terms of functionality but has it's pros and cons compared to Rapid Bite based on the respective creatures power/toughness.
Reality Smasher - Great to sideboard in (subbing in for Aim Highs) against control decks chockful of removal but playing very few creatures.
Additional cards I would love to play but am unable to make room for without weakening the deck...
Revenge definitely isn't necessary. What you need are more World Breakers. I guess if you want to go budget you could use Gaeas Revenge in the board instead.
Why? What does World Breaker add to the existing deck that the deck is lacking in? It's not a particularly fast card, or a particularly fast clock given it's casting cost. Seer/Surrak/Herd and Reality Smasher often win you games before you ever even reach 7 mana. If you stall out, Conduit of Ruins gives you exactly whichever card you need to best break that stall.
There is no reason you should ever lose to control. Your sideboard should be starting with 4 Gaea's Revenge.
I don't ever lose to control. Reality Smasher does just as good a job of achieving that as Gaea's Revenge. If you think Revenge warrants 4 sideboard slots, what cards do you think should be cut from the current sideboard? Warping Wail and Naturalize are there for more than just the control matchup, they're useful against a variety of decks.
honestly you are better off starting with the current version of mono g ramp. Its focus is going over the top with early/mulitple world breakers and ulamogs .
Stampeding herd and reality smashers are not where you want to be in a deck focused to cast 10 drops. sam applies to the pump spells, more ramp would be better. Oath of nissa is also very good in mono g ramp.
explosive vege and hedron archive are both much better than the shaman
I've played the current version of mono g ramp. It plays quite a bit fewer threats than the list in the OP making it much more vulnerable to control decks playing lots of removal, it's atleast two turns slower, and it has some consistency issues (many games are lost to drawing too few threats (all of which are dealt with by your opponent's removal). For every game I won with that deck by dropping multiple 10 drops, I've lost two to either getting out aggroed very quickly by faster aggro decks, or out controlled by control decks that play more removal spells than you play threats.
I specifically built the deck in the OP to deal with the weaknesses of traditional ramp lists. That's why it plays more threats, more combat tricks and a smoother lower curve while remaining just as capable of winning with an Ulamog.
I agree completely. I think that following Eye's ban, the strongest aggro deck in modern will be the deck that most successfully merges Tron and Eldrazi into one decklist.
Based on the performance I have had with the deck in the OP, I think the build is close to optimal. The curve is smooth and the performance has been phenomenal.
Round 1
Control - Won 2-0
Round 2
Delver - Won 2-0 handily despite never resolving a Chalice at 1.
Round 3
Eldrazi packing 4 Eye of Ugin
Won Game 1 handily even though my opponent won the die roll.
Game 2, was beat down by turn 1 Eye + double Eldrazi Mimics + Turn 2 Thought-Knot, Turn 3 Thought-Knot, Turn 4 Reality Smasher. Surprisingly. I was within a turn of winning (would've likely won if I played first) as I was able to assemble the tron pieces and resolved a Conduit for Ulamog which was about to land the turn before I died.
Game 3, was somewhat similar to game two. I lost due to multiple Ghost Quarters blowing up my lands consistently keeping me one mana short of hard casting my Ulamog (again fetched up with Conduit of Ruin).
Round 4
Affinity
Won Game 1
Game 2 - Mulliganed to 5 and lost never finding a chalice or Damping matrix.
Game 3 - Once again lost having never found a chalice or Damping matrix but this was close. Had 2 Thought-Knots + Reality Smasher beating him down while he was hanging on with Vault Skirge equipped so it was a 6/1 flying lifelinker as his only creature.
Was overall very happy with how the deck performed.
The deck functioned just as well as it did before Eye of Ugin. Played some of extra games ont the side against other players in between rounds and won all of them. (Even postban, only tough matchups I faced were affinity and the mirror).
Made the following adjustments to the deck in the OP.
-2 Hedron Archive
-2 Oblivion Stone
+4 Mind Stone
Sideboard
-2 Warping Wail
-1 Dismember
+3 Damping Matrix
Now, if I could just find a way to make room for maindeck Chalice of the Voids, the deck would be perfect.
Tron isn't what it used to be since Eye of Ugin got banned so I don't think it's anywhere near as competitive as it was pre-ban. In this deck, Conduit of Ruin serves the role that Eye used to serve for Tron. This list much more streamlined than Tron but achieves the same thing that Tron does and carries the same inevitability. Chalice is still available post board against the matchups where the card is amazing.
Here is the list I'm fairly sure is close to optimal. But suggestions to refine it further are much appreciated.
Blind Eldrazi
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Mine
4 Radiant Fountain
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Vesuva
2 Wastes
4 Expedition Map
4 Mind Stone
3 Spatial Contortion
3 Dismember
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
4 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Conduit of Ruin
1 Breaker of Armies
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Damping Matrix
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Gut Shot
1 All is Dust
1 Void Winnower
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
As you can see, this list is a bit more top heavy that most Eldrazi Aggro decks you're probably used to. The more powerful threat-base is enabled by playing a lot more mana ramp which wasn't playable before because Eye of Ugin wouldn't help you cast any of the potential rampers.
Rampers allow you to plop down on turn 4 a gamebreaking card like Wurmcoil Engine (another excellent card that was also unplayable in a deck that housed 4 Eye of Ugin). By going this route, you're able to play a much higher density of gamebreaking threats.
Expedition Map allows you to assemble the tron combo by turn 3. Just as useful, Map can fetch up an Eldrazi Temple on turn 2 which is often all you need to start laying down your game winning threats starting turn 3.
Conduit of Ruin is a tutor, ramper, and threat all in one card.
Radiant Fountain both helps you survive long enough to take control of the board, and offers up a juicy target for Vesuva to copy when it doesn't have an Eldrazi Temple to copy and you don't have the tron combo assembled yet.
How would you suggest improving on this list?
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenhorde Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy. Along those same lines Stampeding Elk Herd might be worth it as well. Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
Reality Smasher - AlexStollScientist already mentioned this guy but it bears repeating. He's fantastic.
Can you explain why these cards don't warrant mention in the primer?
The list in the OP is much more threat dense (allowing it to not be slowed down by all the hard removal and mass removal that standard currently has access to) and runs a much lower curve as well. Because of the lower curve, the deck runs just fine without any mana dorks aside from Shaman (since it also functions as a decent blocker and a win condition in the late game). Take the list for a spin and you'll see what I mean.
I'm open to playing more mana dorks though. Just don't know what to cut? What would you cut from the list to squeeze in mana dorks without hurting the curve.
The curve is currently...
2cc - 8
3cc - 8
4cc - 7
5cc - 5
6cc - 4
7cc - 1
8cc - 1
9cc - 1
10cc - 1
Btw, Duskwatch Recruiter is functionally a manadork as well.
Red Deck Wins will be fairly competitive post rotation. The key to it's success is to find the most optimal configuration. Below is a comprehensive list of all playable RDW cards (for either maindeck or sideboard) that will be legal post rotation. We just need to figure out which of these cards are actually worth running...
1cc Spells
2cc Spells
3cc Spells
4+cc Spells
As long as the curve is smooth, I really don't think you could go wrong playing any of those above cards with four caveats:
Many of the goblins are only worth playing alongside Goblin Piledriver.
The madness cards are only worth playing alongside discard outlets.
The delirium cards are only worthwhile in builds capable of achieving delirium.
Stensia Masquerade is marginally playable at best, and even then, only in a deck chockful of other Vampires alongside Ravenous Bloodseeker.
Now that we have a pool of cards to work with, let's start brewing some decks.
A black splash is very feasible thanks to Llanowar Wastes, Deathcap Cultivator and Shaman of Forgotten Ways. Explosive Vegetation could be added to the list to add consistency. What such a splash would offer is more removal and The Gitrog Monster (along with Groundskeeper and Drownyard Temple), however I'm not convinced this would be worth the splash.
Alternatively, Red has quite a few solid ramp cards.
You could build a competitive G/r ramp deck with...
The deck would have access to some very powerful effects but it would play a bit differently than the one above (a good bit slower without the Formidable guys giving all your creatures haste and trample), and would have a slower less consistent manabase once the fetchlands rotate out next week.
To incorporate red into the manabase, you would also have to lose out on the Thoughtseize effect that Thought-Knot Seer provides. Given how effective Seer has been for me in nixing your opponent's only way to stabilize against your onslaught, it's not worth the loss of Seer and a less consistent manabase in order to splash red in my view.
Mono Green Ramp is poised to be among the most competitive decks in the format when the fetches rotate out next week. SOI has a number of offerings that should make the deck quite a bit stronger.
Here is my proposed decklist...
4 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
3 Llanowar Wastes
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
2 Aim High
2 Titanic Growth
4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
4 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
3 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
3 Stampeding Elk Herd
2 Reality Smasher
4 Conduit of Ruin
1 World Breaker
1 Breaker of Armies
1 Void Winnower
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Jaddi Offshoot
3 Warping Wail
2 Naturalize
2 Aim High
2 Epic Confrontation
2 Reality Smasher
Card Explanations:
Llanowar Wastes - The deck needs a minimum of 11 colorless sources to make Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher consistently playable, but it also needs 16 green sources to ensure that you never have to mulligan an otherwise excellent hand due to the lack of a green source in your hand. Prior to testing Llanowar Wastes, Crumbling Vestige was the only way to make this happen. Yes, it only makes green mana with the loss of life, but just losing life for one turn is enough to allow you to cast Nissa's Pilgrimage or Shaman of Forgotten Ways so that you can play out the rest of your threats without ever having to worry about lifeloss again.
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Titanic Growth - A very powerful combat trick especially with Elk Herd giving your creatures trample. Your opponent will often double block one of your big guys to kill them thinking you can only kill one of the two blocking creatures. A well timed Titanic Growth ensures that both the blockers die while your threat survives, often creating a board advantage that will be nearly impossible for your opponent to overcome.
Nissan's Pilgrimage - Lets you consistently reach 5 mana on turn 4. It's needed in order to enable a quick ramp.
Shaman of Forgotten Ways - Lets you consistently reach 5 mana on turn 4. Also doubles as a decent blocker and an early game target for Aim High.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenlord Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy.
Stampeding Elk Herd - Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
Reality Smasher - Haste, Trample and a pseudo-shroud effect on a 5/5 body is too good to pass up. However, the other threats this deck plays are honestly just better. Still, it's well worth it as a two of because it's often the best Sanctum of Ugin target to ensure that you win the game a turn quicker.
Conduit of Ruin - It's a beater, a mana accelerant and a tutor all in one card. It can fetch up whichever silver bullet you most need and happen to have the mana to cast.
World Breaker - When you don't quite have the mana to cast Ulamog, this is the best silver bullet to blow up your opponent's Aligned Hedron Network or Quarantine Field.
Breaker of Armies - The ideal silver bullet to enable an alpha swing (all your opponent's creatures are stuck blocking him while your other creatures all get through to deal lethal damage). Even if they don't do lethal damage, Breaker of Armies guarantees that your opponent will lose their 2-3x best creatures while your other guys take out any annoying planeswalkers on the board.
Void Winnower - The ideal silver bullet in a variety of situations. Even just by making it so that none of your opponents tokens (CC=0) can chump block any of your threats, it can often enable an alpha strike for the win the same turn you cast it.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - Needs no explanation. If you have 8 mana on the board (Conduit makes it 2 cheaper), you can never go wrong with tutoring up this guy with your Conduit or your Sanctum of Ugin.
Sideboard Cards Explanations:
Jaddi Offshoot - Severely impairs very fast, very aggressive decks that would otherwise kill you before you start the beatdown.
Warping Wail - Can counter Planar Outburst and other nasty sorceries that control decks tend to play. The other two modes (exiling Kalastria Healer, making a chump blocker or surprise attacker into an open Planeswalker or EOT accelerating your mana production for your next turn) have their uses as well.
Naturalize - Another answer (on top of World Breaker and Ulamog) to the various annoying enchantments and artifacts that control decks tend to play: Sphinx's Tutelage, Quarantine Field, Aligned Hedron Network etc.
Aim High - See above. Awesome combat trick, especially worth bringing in versus any deck that plays flyers.
Epic Confrontation (previously Plummet, Titanic Growth and Rabid Bite all alternatively occupied this slot but this card beat them all in terms of versatility) - Another answer to flyers that ignore your ground game. Against flyers, think of this as Aim High 5 & 6. Very similar to Rapid Bite in terms of functionality but has it's pros and cons compared to Rapid Bite based on the respective creatures power/toughness.
Reality Smasher - Great to sideboard in (subbing in for Aim Highs) against control decks chockful of removal but playing very few creatures.
Additional cards I would love to play but am unable to make room for without weakening the deck...
Why? What does World Breaker add to the existing deck that the deck is lacking in? It's not a particularly fast card, or a particularly fast clock given it's casting cost. Seer/Surrak/Herd and Reality Smasher often win you games before you ever even reach 7 mana. If you stall out, Conduit of Ruins gives you exactly whichever card you need to best break that stall.
It's too narrow to be maindeckable, and too weak to warrant sideboard space imo.
I don't ever lose to control. Reality Smasher does just as good a job of achieving that as Gaea's Revenge. If you think Revenge warrants 4 sideboard slots, what cards do you think should be cut from the current sideboard? Warping Wail and Naturalize are there for more than just the control matchup, they're useful against a variety of decks.
I've played the current version of mono g ramp. It plays quite a bit fewer threats than the list in the OP making it much more vulnerable to control decks playing lots of removal, it's atleast two turns slower, and it has some consistency issues (many games are lost to drawing too few threats (all of which are dealt with by your opponent's removal). For every game I won with that deck by dropping multiple 10 drops, I've lost two to either getting out aggroed very quickly by faster aggro decks, or out controlled by control decks that play more removal spells than you play threats.
I specifically built the deck in the OP to deal with the weaknesses of traditional ramp lists. That's why it plays more threats, more combat tricks and a smoother lower curve while remaining just as capable of winning with an Ulamog.