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Fully Grown and the Green Ramp Playbook in MTG
Green ramp decks have long been about turning early acceleration into late-game pressure. mana dorks, fetch lands, and fat mana sinks all work toward a single objective: drop a bigger threat than your opponent can outpace. When a card like Fully Grown enters the scene, it doesn’t just add a wrinkle to the plan—it reframes how you think about tempo, committing to the board, and turning a single combat into a finishing blow. This Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths instant, though modest in mana cost, provides a versatile swing that can reshape how you approach every turn in green ramp wanting to keep pressure on the table. 🧙🔥💎
What Fully Grown actually does for ramp
- Cost and immediacy: For {2}{G}, Fully Grown is a three-mana instant. In many ramp shells, that’s a sweet spot—you’re not waiting until you’ve dumped your entire mana base to gain impact, but you’re still playing within the midgame where tempo matters. The instant speed means you can respond to removal, push through blockers, or set up lethal commits right after you’ve ramped. ⚔️
- Payload on a single spell: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn and you put a trample counter on it. That combination is a surprisingly potent one-two punch. The +3/+3 can be the difference between a blocked attack turning into a clean break or a stalemate that drags on. The trample counter adds a layer of inevitability, letting oversized threats push through even if your opponent stumbles to find a block that miraculously lives. 🎲
- Flexibility in combat: You don’t need to wait for your big behemoth to land. You can buff your current attackers mid-combat to spike through just enough damage, or you can juice a smaller, nimble creature to take a risky, aggressive line—often a crucial tempo play in a deck that’s trying to press advantage before incremental card draw or creature removal regains balance. 🧙🔥
How the trample counter shifts combat math
The line, “Put a trample counter on it,” might sound small, but in practice it’s a lever with strategic depth. A 3/3 pump isn’t extraordinary by itself; the real value comes when the creature already has a robust board presence from your ramp. If you drop this on a 4/4 or 5/5 creature, you’re not just getting +3/+3; you’re enabling a large portion of your board to press through damage that would otherwise stall behind blockers. It’s not a one-turn wonder—it can tilt the balance of a race in your favor, especially when you couple it with other pump effects or with a sequence of attacks across turns. And in Kokoria’s green ecosystem, where mutate and big stompy creatures loom large, Fully Grown can be the precise tool to convert a ramped board into an actual throne of power. ⚔️⚡
“One day I woke up and knew I had nothing left to teach her. So now I ride on her shoulders and follow where she leads.” — Gustin, wildbonder
The flavor text nods to the sense of mentorship and growth that defines Ikoria’s monstrous families. In practical terms, the quote also mirrors the way ramp decks grow with each spell you cast: each instant of acceleration makes the board more capable of carrying you into a decisive attack or a brutal alpha strike. The art by Dmitry Burmak gives you a tangible sense of scale—these green behemoths aren’t just big; they’re ready to surge forward when you find the right moment to push. 🎨
Deck-building angles: where Fully Grown fits in green ramp
- Tempo-friendly inclusion: Including Fully Grown in a green ramp shell lets you answer removal while maintaining pressure. If your opponent’s plan is to slow you with bounce or subtle removals on your ramp enablers, this instant can reclaim tempo by turning a single creature into a game-ending threat on the same turn. 🧙♂️
- Synergies with other pump and protection effects: Pairing this with green pump spells or giving a creature protection via additional spells can maximize the damage you push through. Think of it as a bridge between acceleration and peak aggression—a moment where you don’t need to overcommit to the board to force a win. Colossal cantrips and natural green hate pieces can fill in around it, ensuring you don’t rely on a single draw to win. 💎
- Counterability and resilience: In formats where you can leverage global pump or clone effects, Fully Grown becomes a multiplier. Doubling Season or similar counter-doubling effects, for example, would amplify not just power but also the flavor of “trample counter x2,” turning a midrange threat into a molto-huge behemoth at once (just be mindful of commander/format rules when you’re drafting or building!).
- EDH and multi-format appeal: Common rarity makes Fully Grown accessible in Commander and other casual formats where green ramp thrives. In these spaces, the card’s flexibility—instant speed, midcombat impact, and a clean mana cost—helps you capitalize on established ramp engines without overcommitting to a single archetype. It’s the kind of spell that shines brightest when you’re weaving a board well before your big finishers arrive.
Practical tips for leveraging Fully Grown on the table
- Cast on the attack to break through a lean defensive line and force a two-for-one trade in your favor.
- Target your own creature to maximize the damage you can push through with trample, especially if you suspect your opponent plans a chump-block strategy.
- Combo potential with additional pump or with effects that grant trample for longer duration—these lines can turn a single spell into a multi-turn tempo swing. 🧙♀️
- Don’t overlook the utility of the trample counter in late-game situations featuring token swarms or wide boards; the added reach can lock in a win even if you’re not drawing into your late-game haymakers right away.
As you refine your green ramp list, Fully Grown acts as a versatile centerpiece that encourages dynamic combat choices. Its rare blend of speed, aggression, and utility makes it a natural ally to aggressive ramp plans while still offering room for creative, on-theme plays that can surprise even seasoned opponents. The Ikoria flavor pairings—mutate, behemoths, and big threats—aren’t just window dressing; they’re a reminder that growth in MTG is rarely linear, and one well-placed instant can bend the entire game to your favor. 🎨🧭
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