MTG Commander Ramp Types: Rocks vs Dorks vs Land Ramp (When Each Wins)

TLDR

Mana rocks are the default ramp in Commander because any deck can play them, and they fix colors well. They also die to artifact hate, and sometimes to one angry player who kept a “fair” hand.
Mana dorks are the fastest “honest” ramp (turn 1 dork is still disgusting). They also get swept up in board wipes like they owed rent.
Land ramp is the most resilient long-term plan. It is slower, mostly green, and it wins a lot of games simply because lands usually survive.
The best ramp package is picked by your critical turn (the turn you need to be “online”), your meta’s removal habits, and whether your deck wants explosive starts or inevitable mana.

Your deck wants to cast spells. Ramp is how it stops lying to itself.

Commander is the format where you lovingly sleeve up a 7-mana dragon, then spend the first four turns playing tapped lands and pretending you are “setting up.” This is why understanding MTG Commander ramp types matters. Rocks, dorks, and land ramp all do the same job (more mana sooner), but they do it with very different failure modes. And Commander is mostly a game of failure modes.

MTG Commander ramp types at a glance

Here’s the quick comparison you actually care about.

Ramp type	Speed	Resilience	Color fixing	Best when	Biggest downside
Mana rocks (artifacts)	Fast	Medium	High	You are not green, you need fixing, you want consistency	Artifact wipes and targeted removal are real
Mana dorks (creatures)	Fastest	Low	Medium to High	You want turn 2-3 acceleration and creature synergies	Board wipes turn them into a sad memoir
Land ramp (ramp spells, land auras)	Medium	Highest	Medium to High	You want stability, landfall, big mana over time	Mostly green, often sorcery speed

Now let’s talk about when each one actually wins games, not just arguments.

The real question: what’s your “critical turn”?

Your critical turn is the turn where your deck needs to start doing its thing:

Casting your commander because it is the engine.
Casting two meaningful spells in a turn.
Holding up interaction while still advancing board.

A simple rule that works surprisingly well:

If your critical turn is turn 3, you want 1-mana ramp (usually dorks, sometimes fast rocks).
If your critical turn is turn 4, you want 2-mana ramp (rocks and efficient land ramp).
If your critical turn is turn 5+, you can lean harder on land ramp and bigger payoffs, because you are playing the long game and you are emotionally prepared for it.

Most “normal” Commander decks are trying to be functional by turn 4. That’s why two-mana ramp has been the default forever. It is boring. It works. Commander runs on boring.

When mana rocks win

Mana rocks win when your deck needs universal, reliable acceleration that is not tied to having creatures survive.

Rocks are best when…

You are not green.
If you are in Rakdos, Dimir, Orzhov, Jeskai, etc., rocks are your practical ramp backbone. Treasures can help, but rocks are the steady paycheck.

You need color fixing more than speed.
Two-mana rocks that make colors (Signets, Talismans, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone) quietly fix more games than they “ramp.” Casting your spells on time is a form of ramp. Yes, it counts. No, your friend who cuts lands does not get to lecture you.

Your meta wipes creatures a lot.
If your table plays “reset button tribal” (Wrath of God, Damnation, Blasphemous Act, Toxic Deluge), dorks become collateral damage. Rocks stick around more often and keep you functional after the dust settles.

Your deck is spell-heavy.
If most of your value comes from noncreature spells, a pile of dorks is just extra cardboard waiting to die. Rocks keep your mana development separate from your win conditions.

Rocks lose when…

Your meta packs artifact hate like it’s a hobby.
Vandalblast, Bane of Progress, Farewell, Austere Command. If these show up often, you can still play rocks, but you want to avoid overcommitting. Nothing says “I am out of this game” like losing five mana sources at once.

You are trying to be explosively fast without the banned stuff.
Fast mana exists, but Commander legality changes, and some of the most absurd accelerants are banned. If your plan is “turn one nonsense,” you need to be more deliberate now. (And yes, your playgroup will still say your deck is too fast, even if you did it the hard way.)

When mana dorks win

Dorks win when you care about speed and creature synergies more than long-term safety. They are the sports car of ramp: exhilarating, fragile, and somehow always your fault when it crashes.

Dorks are best when…

Your deck’s critical turn is early.
Turn 1 dork lets you hit 3 mana on turn 2, and 4 mana on turn 3 with a land drop. That is the cleanest “fair” acceleration pattern in Commander.

Your commander rewards creatures.
If your commander draws from creatures, buffs creatures, untaps creatures, or wants bodies on board, dorks do double duty. They ramp, then they become:

sacrifice fodder
equipment carriers
chump blockers
“counted creatures” for anthem effects

You play green and you want density.
Green has the best dorks, and it can run a lot of them if the deck wants to curve out with creatures.

You are in a meta where board wipes are lighter or later.
Some pods play fewer wipes, or they wipe on turn 7 after everyone has had fun. In those games, dorks are fantastic because they are rarely punished before they have paid you back.

Dorks lose when…

Wraths are common.
You will ramp, commit more pieces, then someone will reset the board because they took 7 damage and felt emotions. You will be left with fewer mana sources and a newly refined respect for land ramp.

You need stable mana after interaction.
Dorks are easy to pick off, and losing one early can time-walk you. If your deck cannot recover tempo well, dorks are risky.

You are not getting synergy.
If a dork is only “a fragile Llanowar Elves that taps for one,” and your deck has no reason to care about bodies, the value is mostly speed. That can still be correct, but you should be honest about what you are buying.

When land ramp wins

Land ramp wins because lands are the hardest permanent type to interact with in casual Commander. Not impossible. Just socially discouraged enough that it feels like a cheat code.

Land ramp is best when…

You want resilience.
A Cultivate that finds two lands is not flashy, but it survives the average table’s interaction patterns. When the board is wiped, you still have lands. You still cast spells. You still play the game.

You care about landfall or big mana.
If you scale with land drops, land ramp is not just acceleration, it is synergy. Fetching lands is also fixing, thinning future draws slightly, and turning on cards that care about land count.

Your pod is mid-power and punishes artifacts.
Many casual tables pack artifact hate because artifacts do “unfair” things. Land ramp often slips under that radar because it looks like basic competence.

You expect longer games.
In longer games, permanent, untouchable-ish mana advantages matter. A couple extra lands turns into “I can double-spell every turn and hold up interaction.” That is how you win without anyone noticing until it is too late.

Land ramp loses when…

You need speed right now.
Most land ramp is sorcery speed and costs 2-4 mana. If you need to get ahead early, land ramp can be a half-turn too slow compared to dorks or efficient rocks.

You are not in green (or you are pretending you are).
Non-green “land ramp” exists, but it is narrower. If you are in Boros and telling yourself you are a land ramp deck, that’s optimism. It’s not a plan.

Your deck is ultra low curve.
If your deck wants to operate on 2-3 mana and is built to churn value cheaply, spending turn 3 casting Cultivate can be a tempo loss. In those shells, cheaper rocks or dorks keep you playing spells sooner.

The “good deck” answer: mix your ramp on purpose

Most Commander decks do best with a blend so you are not folding to one type of interaction.

Here are practical ramp mixes that work in the wild:

1) The default mid-power package (most decks)

Mostly 2-mana rocks for consistency and fixing
A little land ramp if you are green
Minimal dorks unless you have creature synergies

This package survives random wipes and still lets you cast your commander early enough to matter.

2) The “my commander must be early” package

Add 1-mana dorks (especially in green)
Keep your best 2-mana rocks
Trim slower ramp spells unless they are synergistic

If your commander is the engine, you want it out early and often. Dorks do that. Just accept the risk and build for recovery (card draw, recursion, redundancy).

3) The wipe-heavy pod package

Favor land ramp (and land auras like Wild Growth style effects)
Play fewer fragile dorks
Keep rocks, but avoid going all-in on artifacts

You want mana sources that survive a board reset. Lands do that. Your opponents will still complain that you are “always ahead,” which is a fascinating critique of basic arithmetic.

4) The artifact-hate pod package

Lean into land ramp and dorks
Use rocks mainly for fixing and only the best ones

If your pod routinely nukes artifacts, you do not want 12 rocks. You want enough rocks to function, then you diversify.

A quick proxy note (because this is ProxyKing)

Ramp staples are some of the most proxied cards in Commander for a simple reason: they go in everything, and buying the “real” version for every deck is a hobby for people with stronger wallets than sense.

FAQs

How much ramp should I run in Commander?

Most Commander decks want roughly 8-12 ramp pieces, adjusted by curve, commander cost, and how much card draw you have. Lower curve decks can run less. Big-mana decks should run more.

Are mana dorks better than mana rocks?

Not universally. Dorks are faster and synergize with creature plans, but they are fragile. Rocks are more universal and better at fixing, but they invite artifact hate. Pick based on your critical turn and your meta.

Is land ramp always the safest?

In most casual pods, yes, because lands tend to survive. It is not “invincible,” it is just the least attacked resource at many tables.

What if my deck has no green?

You are mostly on rocks, treasure production, and mana cost reduction. You can still build a consistent ramp package, you just do not get to press the “Rampant Growth” button.

Does Dockside Extortionist still matter for ramp discussions?

It matters historically and culturally, but it is currently banned in Commander, so it is not the default solution anymore. If your ramp plan starts with “Dockside,” you are reading an older primer.