Top 10 Mana-Adding Auras in Magic: The Gathering

Author:
Jeremy Gill
Updated date:
Sep 3, 2022

Jeremy casts spells in between his careers as a chemical analyst and campus manager.

Enchanting Lands in Magic

Auras used to have a bad reputation as an easy -1 in advantage, as the creatures they bolstered often got removed, losing two cards at once. To counter this, they've gotten more efficient throughout the years, with many cantripping (drawing) on entry.

More than that, many of the best enchant lands, which not only increases mana production (immediately if the land is untapped), but offers some defense, as land removals are fairly rare. So, which mana-providing auras deserve your attention? These are the ten best ramping auras in MTG!

10. Careful Cultivation

Enchants: An artifact or creature

While Cultivation can enchant artifacts, you almost always want it on a creature, letting it tap for two green and gaining +1/+3 and reach, letting it block flyers. Sure, it stinks if the creature gets hit with removal, but three bonuses and a potential immediate refund of two mana help compensate.

Even better, Cultivation's alternate channel ability lets you discard it at instant speed to create a 1/1 monk token that taps for a green. Both useful forms of ramp, especially in enchantment based commander or brawl decks (like Sythis, Harvest's Hand).

9. Weirding Wood/Grafted Growth

Enchants: Land

Both these auras let a land tap for two mana of any one color. Note this only increases production by one (it's two mana, not two additional mana), but still nice ramping, especially since each card has a different bonus effect.

Wood investigates on entry, creating a clue token you can sacrifice for two mana to draw a card, while Growth gives one of your creatures or artifacts a +1/+1.

8. Runaway Growth

Enchants: Land

This one is only available in online game MTG Arena, and it's an underrated gem. The enchanted land taps for extra green mana based on Growth's intensity; it starts at 1, but increases by one each time it's tapped.

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So you start off gaining a little extra, and this skyrockets as the game progresses. It goes even faster with land-untapping effects from cards like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner.

7. Sticky Fingers

Enchants: Creature

Here's an excellent tool for red aggro decks. Sticky Fingers only costs one mana and gives its bearer menace (requiring at least two blockers to be blocked) and creates a treasure token whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player.

Treasures are artifacts that can be sacrificed for one mana. To reap the most rewards, enchant a creature that can attack (perhaps using haste) or has double strike, which creates two treasures, one per hit.

Plus, Fingers punishes removal by giving you a draw when its enchanted creature dies, mitigating one of the classic downsides of creature-auras.

6. Curse of Opulence

Enchants: Player

Here's a great multiplayer tool, easy to cast and harder to remove since it enchants a player, not creatures. Once enchanted, you and any opponent attacking that player each gain a gold token (basically the same as a treasure, sac for a mana).

Not only does this often direct aggression away from you, it triggers just by someone being attacked; it doesn't matter if you actually get through any blockers.

5. Wild Growth/Utopia Sprawl

Enchants: Land (Growth), Forest (Sprawl)

These similar spells each offer fast additional resources. Growth enchants any land and lets it tap for an extra green, while Sprawl can only enchant green's forest lands (they can be non-basic forests though), but lets you pick a color and tap for an extra of that color. Simple but efficient ramping, and less prone to the board wipes that can plague mana weenie creatures.

4. Curse of Bounty

Enchants: Player

Bounty curses a player and untaps the non-land permanents of you and anyone else attacking them. Not only is this basically giving your creatures vigilance, it's often immediate ramping since it lets you reuse mana-tapping creatures, artifacts, and anything else you've got.

3. Fertile Ground/Wolfwillow Haven

Enchants: Land

Here are another set of near-identical lands. Ground and Haven both let a land tap for an extra mana; Ground gives any color, Haven can only do green, but has a secondary effect that spends five mana and sacrifices itself to create a 2/2 wolf token.

That's an expensive price for a small creature, but it can be nice late-game when you no longer need mana and can help pressure enemy planeswalkers.

2. Overgrowth

Enchants: Land

Overgrowth simply lets a land tap for an extra two green mana. By putting it on an untapped land, you immediately get back two of the mana spent casting it, effectively reducing the cost to one.

1. Elvish Guidance

Enchants: Land

Similar to an aura version of Priest of Titania, Guidance lets a land tap for an extra amount of green per number of elves on the battlefield. This is insane in tribal builds, especially since it also counts opposing elves.

Even if you don't luck out and face a dedicated elf deck, many multicolor builds splash cards like Llanowar Elves for extra ramping, plus changelings also boost Guidance.

Mana Ramp Creatures

Mana auras generally cost more than creatures, but they have their advantages. In addition to synergy with enchantment decks, they're better protected from board wipes, don't have to deal with summoning sickness, and reward land-untapping effects like Seedborn Muse. But for now, share your favorite aura and I'll see you at our next MTG countdown!