Fastbond Fundamentals
Draw cards. Play cards. Repeat.
Fastbond illustrated by Mark Poole
At its core, Magic: The Gathering is a game where you draw cards, accumulate mana and play creatures. With the inclusion of ABU, Season 9 has been the most powerful format of Fantasy Standard to showcase these fundamental mechanics, as seen with Galacticdragonlord’s Fastbond Ramp where moxen fly to the field and cards wheel through the hand! The strength of these cards is mitigated by their singleton restriction, but looking at many cards increases their power through added consistency.
Empty Your Hand
Without cards, but not without more resources than the opponent
Fastbond Ramp needs to accelerate its mana while emptying out its hand to exploit an opponent with a full grip of cards. It runs 10 cheap ramp spells that can be played out on turn one: all five moxen, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Black Lotus and two Fastbond. Wheel of Fortune and Timetwister then refuel the hand with payoffs for the fast mana while also disrupting the opponent’s mulligan decision, making the wheels feel anything but symmetrical. Mind Twist and Balance provide a similar asymmetry—while both players are left nearly hellbent, Fastbond Ramp has deployed more resources than its opponent. In the ensuing top-deck war, not only does Fastbond Ramp have the resource advantage, but it generally has the card quality advantage.
Restock on Quality Cards
Finding and replaying just what is needed at the right moment
Playing the most mainboard restricted cards (18) out of all winning lists means Fastbond Ramp is going to draw something powerful most of the time, and with its added card selection, the deck guarantees action every turn. Opt, Narset and Champion of Wits sift through redundant pieces of mana in favor of impactful spells. Regrowth and Tamiyo combo nicely with Fact or Fiction as they let you grab the best of both piles. Regrowths also act as extra copies of previously played restricted cards—grabbing Timetwister allows Fastbond Ramp to churn through cards without the worry of ever overdrawing its library.
Deploy A Flow of Threats
Once a threat eventually appears, more are soon to follow.
Fastbond Ramp is light on wincons, but has resilient options in recursion and redundancy. Champion of Wits and Bontu eventually return after being dealt with once. These threats, including Commence the Endgame, dig towards other wincons or regrowth effects so that Fastbond Ramp never runs out of steam. Even Karn grabs another threat when he enters the battlefield. Some well-timed interaction could throw the deck off-balance long enough to be felled, but this weakness is shored up through its 8 sideboard counterspells.
Conclusion
Wheel of Fortune illustrated by Daniel Gelon
wrap up
