Ramp

Ramp is anything that gives you access to more mana than you'd naturally have from your land drops. Games last 10+ turns and the spells you want to cast cost 5, 6, 7 mana. Getting there faster than your opponents is a real advantage.

Everyone at the table draws one card and plays one land per turn. If you ramp on turn 2, you're now a full turn ahead. That compounds. By turn 5, you're casting things your opponents won't have mana for until turn 7.

Run 10-12 ramp sources. This isn't optional.

Mana rocks

Artifact-based mana. Fast to deploy, vulnerable to artifact destruction, colorless in most cases.

The staples everyone runs:

Sol Ring — produces 2 colorless for 1 mana. Goes in every deck. Not debatable.
Arcane Signet — produces any color in your commander's identity. Goes in every multi-color deck.
Commander's Sphere — a worse Arcane Signet that you can sacrifice to draw a card. Solid in 3+ color decks.

Two-mana rocks (the sweet spot):

Signets (Dimir Signet, Gruul Signet, etc.) — filter 1 generic into 2 colored mana
Talismans (Talisman of Dominance, etc.) — tap for colorless or pay 1 life for a color
Fellwar Stone — produces whatever your opponents' lands can produce. Usually covers your colors.
Mind Stone — colorless mana, sac to draw later. Good in every deck.

Bigger rocks (3+ mana):

Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Gilded Lotus — produce lots of mana but cost more upfront
These are better in decks that need a lot of mana fast (big spells, X-costs)
In most decks, 2-mana rocks are better because they come down earlier

The expensive stuff:

Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond — these are Game Changers and push your deck into higher brackets. Powerful but not necessary for a functional deck.

Mana dorks

Creatures that produce mana. Faster than rocks (turn 1 dork = turn 2 you have 3 mana), but vulnerable to creature removal and board wipes.

Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves — the classic 1-mana dorks. Green staples.
Birds of Paradise — any color, flying (blocks fliers in a pinch). The most flexible 1-mana dork.
Bloom Tender — in multi-color decks, this produces absurd amounts of mana.
Priest of Titania / Elvish Archdruid — insane in Elf tribal, mediocre everywhere else.

Mana dorks are strongest in green decks and decks that want creatures for other reasons (sacrifice, tribal synergies). If you're running board wipes yourself, rocks are safer.

Land ramp

Spells that put extra lands onto the battlefield. Since almost nobody runs land destruction, these stick around all game. More durable than rocks or dorks.

Rampant Growth — the baseline. 2 mana, one basic land tapped.
Farseek / Nature's Lore / Three Visits — better than Rampant Growth because they can find dual lands (shocklands, etc.) and Nature's Lore / Three Visits put them in untapped.
Cultivate / Kodama's Reach — 3 mana, one land to battlefield + one to hand. Guaranteed land drop next turn. Excellent in 3+ color decks.
Skyshroud Claim — 4 mana, two Forests to the battlefield untapped. Can grab shocklands.

Land ramp is almost exclusively green. If you're in green, you should lean on these over rocks. If you're not in green, rocks are your lifeline.

Rituals and burst mana

One-shot mana spells. They don't stick around, but they can enable explosive turns.

Dark Ritual — 1 black mana into 3 black mana. One-shot but can enable explosive early plays.
Jeska's Will — the red card draw/mana spell. In red decks with your commander out, this often produces 5+ mana and exiles 3 cards to play.
Mana Geyser — counts all tapped lands your opponents control. In a 4-player game, this routinely produces 10+ mana.

Rituals are best in combo decks and spellslinger decks that want one big turn. In a typical midrange deck, sustainable ramp is better.

Cost reducers

Cards that make your spells cheaper rather than giving you more mana. Functionally similar, sometimes better.

Helm of Awakening — all spells cost {1} less. Helps opponents too, but you built around it.
Urza's Incubator — choose a creature type, those creatures cost {2} less. Tribal all-star.
Goblin Electromancer — instants and sorceries cost {1} less. Spellslinger staple.

Cost reducers stack with ramp, which is where things get degenerate. A Birgi, God of Storytelling with a cost reducer turns every cheap spell into a free spell.

How to choose

In green: lean on land ramp. It's the most durable. Fill gaps with a Sol Ring and maybe 2-3 rocks.

Not in green: you're entirely on mana rocks. Run the best ones you can afford, prioritize 2-mana rocks, and accept that artifact removal hurts.

Aggressive decks: prioritize 1-2 mana ramp. You want to cast your commander on turn 3, not turn 5.

Big mana decks: mix early rocks with big payoff ramp (Thran Dynamo, Mana Geyser). You need both speed and ceiling.

General rule: if your ramp spell costs 4+ mana and doesn't produce at least 2 mana in return, it's probably too slow.