Ramp when you move forward due to forest (Rin & Orchid) [Standard]

I pulled a very cool Mighty Simbi (U) from my Trial by Frost opening that ramps when one of your expeditions moves forward due to forest. Not long after, I came across a Cernunnos (U) with the exact same line of text on the Discord Marketplace, and I thought I might have a shot at building around the effect with some consistency.

I took this list to the Monday A.W.O.L. weekly on 2025-02-10, where it went 4-2 for 16th of 125.

The deck

The last time I played Rin & Orchid.

This deck shares the DNA of my previous list but cuts the Lyra Festival (F) win condition and commits to winning the old-fashioned way with anchored 3-drops.

Rin feels like the best home for my two ramp uniques. Anchored 3-drops and Coppélia (F) stick around for the next day, meaning the uniques can often threaten to ramp from both expeditions. Meanwhile, Persephone can help change the region type so that they can ramp even regions that aren’t naturally forest. This is an archetype that can take advantage of the ramp, since Rin’s hero ability draws you cards, and the deck is loaded with 3-drops.

Card changes

• Persephone (C/R): This lets you trigger Rin’s hero ability more times per game while blocking well against characters with poor forest stats. The fact that it’s effectively at least a 2-mana 3/3/3 from reserve means you’re happy to put it into reserve with Rin’s ability if you don’t have a better target in hand.
• Lost in the Woods (C): Muna gets flexible removal at common whose downside is much more manageable than Mana Reaping (C). This card’s addition is a big part of why I feel comfortable moving off of the Lyra Festival (F) plan.
• Icebound Taiga (C): The condition on this landmark is very easy to trigger for Rin, and it’s awesome that you can reanchor the Dragon Shade with your many support abilities. The hardest part is fitting this into your curve of 3-drops. As strong as it can be when it goes off, I’m only at one copy because you really don’t want multiples clogging up your draws in the early game or being dead draws on the last day.
• Jack Frost (C/R): Interaction with the opponent’s reserve has been much needed in Muna. This isn’t on plan with the rest of the deck, so you really need to find a valuable target if you’re keeping this over another card.
• Snoozer Shroom (C): The high forest stat plays well in the deck. The support ability can theoretically sleep a 3-drop in a losing expedition or even one of the uniques so that the passive ramp ability sticks around for another turn. In practice, this deck’s high curve means that it often passes before the opponent and can’t utilize the ability as well as it would like.

Uniques

My rating system

Cernunnos (U-6809): 6/7

This Cernunnos has enough stats that it will often be equivalent to an at-dusk ramp ability on D2, when you’ll virtually always have one expedition still in forest. With all of the Trial by Frost cards that affect an expedition’s biomes, you can ensure that it’s able to consistently ramp you in the mid-game as well.

It’s biggest downside is that it’s a 4-drop and vulnerable to removal. Still, you’re getting enough stats that the ramp ability is nearly free. It’s slightly unfortunate that its lowest stat point is in forest.

This unique pairs well when played alongside a previously-anchored character. If both expeditions are in forest, your opponent will usually have to let you through on one side; if they have a weak turn, you might even be able to ramp twice!

Mighty Simbi: 5/7

This is effectively identical to the Cernunnos (U) above except it has a 0 in mountain. That certainly makes it worse, since you occasionally won’t be able to block with it. The ramp ability is still powerful, however, and you can patch up its weakness with a card like Persephone (R).

Cernunnos (U-3493): 6/7

Takeaways

Coppélia (F) is an all-star for Rin. I knew this before, but I was running unique Coppélias for Lyra Festival (F), so I wasn’t wowed by the rares as often. Getting to play Coppélia (F) for free is strong enough that I’ll be cutting my Coppélia (U)s from any list that’s not strictly on the Festival plan.

The deck’s curve feels too high. Some of that is by design, since you need a high enough density of 3-drops worth anchoring. Still, I’d like more ways to pass priority. I feel I’ve overlooked cards like Floral Tent (C), Sow (R), and possibly Winter Outfits (F) and Magic Beans (C). Rin can make particularly good use of Floral Tent (C)’s resupply, and Sow (R) might be a better way to get the 3-cost anchor support ability than Mowgli (R).

I’ve been thinking of The Spindle, Muna Bastion (C) as anti-Yzmir and Lyra tech, but I’m wondering whether it’s just good against any hero with a responsible removal suite. I especially regretted not keeping it against my Ordis opponent (see R6).

The games

Link to the tournament on BGA.

Featured game: Round 4

Round 1 (W): Akesha & Taru

Cernunnos (R) traded on D1 while Cernunnos (U-6809) successfully ramped on D2.

I drew into The Spindle, Muna Bastion (C), but waited to deploy it on D4 when removal would be more punishing for me and the tough 2 would be more likely to disrupt my opponent’s plans for the turn.

My opponent pressed their lead and got within one expedition of victory, but had to pay the tough 2 on two Beauty Sleep (F)s to do so.

My opponent fighting for one side gave me the freedom to sleep my Cernunnos (U-6809) to save some stats for the following day. The Spindle let me play with no fear of removal, and being ahead 3 mana meant I could afford to cast the back side of the Beauty Sleep. I was ready to cast it offensively if they surprised me with stats, but they slept their own Baba Yaga (R), so I did the same to my Coppélia (F).

I dodged Small Step, Giant Leap (C), but Blizzard (C) took us to tiebreakers. Fortunately, my Jack Frost (R) exhausted their Hathor (R) to prevent them from preparing for the final day by drawing up with their reserve Magical Training (C).

My hand wasn’t excellent for tiebreakers, but I had the mana advantage, and Lost in the Woods (C) let me pass priority to ensure that my 4/4/4 Cernunnos (U-3493) would dodge any removal. I won 7/7/4 to 4/3/3.

Round 2 (W): Kojo & Booda

As the second player facing down Booda with no particularly impressive 3-drop, I figured D1 might be my best chance to get down the Icebound Taiga (C).

When I went to anchor an Aloe Vera (R) as the second player on D2, it got hit with an Intimidation (C), and my opponent leaped ahead 7/3 while drawing with a Haven Seiringar (C).

My opponent identified D3 as my power spike and took the day off to deploy The Foundry, Axiom Bastion (R). I set up an anchored Aloe Vera (R), an anchored Dragon Shade, and a Muna Caregiver (C) to reanchor one of them on the following day. Two Rin triggers let me put a Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) into reserve to turn off the symmetrical draw.

Their Haven Bouncer (C) sabotaged my Muna Caregiver to prevent the reanchor, but my previously anchored characters let me 2-0 to tie the game back up.

As the starting player, I immediately discarded The Foundry with Lost in the Woods (C). This prevented my opponent’s Tiny Jinn (R) from self-boosting, and my follow-up of Persephone (R) made its mountain stat entirely irrelevant. The Mowgli (R) I had put into reserve kept Persephone (R) out. Since she changed to region to forest, Rin’s hero ability triggered to draw me a Muna Druid (C) to into reserve for its support ability.

Thanks to my opponent being stuck in a water region, I was able to 2-0 on the following day with the help of Aloe Vera (R), Cernunnos (R), and a Snoozer Shroom (C) once it was clear they were forfeiting the region with the previously-anchored Persephone (R).

Round 3 (W): Afanas & Senka

My keep was Cernunnos (R), Coppélia (F), and The Spindle, Muna Bastion (C).

I wanted Cernunnos (R) for the best chance of winning on D1: Persephone (R) doesn’t beat Baba Yaga (R) and loses to Kadigiran Mage-Dancer + Helping Hand (F). Banking on that forest win, I kept Coppélia (F) to play for free. I was tempted to keep Cernunnos (U-3493) to anchor Coppélia on D2, but the play is too weak to removal. Plus, The Spindle, Muna Bastion (C) is too important in this matchup to put into mana.

Just as I hoped, Cernunnos (R) 1-0’d against their Studious Disciple (C) and let me play Coppélia (F) for free.

Afraid of Off You Go! (C), I led with The Spindle. As I discovered later, they did have the Off You Go but would have had to pay 4 for it, so we traded expeditions.

I was able to anchor out Cernunnos (R) on D3 thanks to Rin having put a Muna Caregiver (C) into reserve.

The turning point of the game was when my Lost in the Woods (C) hit my opponent’s 4-mana Flamel (U) that would have bounced a spell and sabotaged if it had stuck around until the end of the day.

My opponent combo-ed their Flamel (U) with Helping Hand (F), but I was able to win the other side while setting up for the next day with an anchored Aloe Vera (R) and a slept Kodama (C).

I passed priority and blanked their removal with the second The Spindle I resupplied into, then closed the game out with a Beauty Sleep (C).

Round 4 (L): Sigismar & Wingspan

Jack Frost (C) was my only playable character in hand, which I kept alongside a Lost in the Woods (C) in case my opponent was on The Monolith, Ordis Bastion (C) or Grand Endeavor (R). Fortunately, the exhaust-less Jack Frost was enough to trade against a Baba Yaga (F) as the second player.

I went for an anchored Aloe Vera (R) blocking a water-only region but was only able to go 0-1 due to my opponent’s Kadigiran Alchemist (U) with an Open the Gates effect.

Cernunnos (U-3493) reanchored Aloe Vera (R) on D3. I played it into the same expedition rather than contesting in order to play around Teamwork Training (C) on the Aloe Vera.

In order to play around Grand Endeavor (R), I led with Mowgli (R) as a 1-drop from reserve. I needed to leave 5 mana up for Lost in the Woods (C) and the tough 2, and Mowgli (R) would let me 2-1 in that scenario.

Thanks to a Frog Prince (C), my opponent was able to 1-0 me and prevent Cernunnos (U-6809) from ramping. I was at least able to reanchor Aloe Vera thanks to the 4/4/4 Cernunnos (U-3493)’s support ability.

On the following day, I traded while anchoring Persephone (R) and Aloe Vera (R) for the following day, though I was still behind 4/2.

My opponent’s Teamwork Training (C) let them trade in spite of my anchored characters, removing my Mighty Simbi (U) to prevent me from ramping once again.

D7 presented me with a difficult mana decision: do I play around sabotage and/or Grand Endeavor (R)?

If my opponent plays Grand Endeavor (R), and I can’t remove it, I lose the game since I’m 3 expeditions away from victory. In this world, I need to keep Lost in the Woods (C) and put Persephone (R) into mana to guarantee I can pass priority with two 2-drops long enough to ensure that I have enough mana to remove the Grand Endeavor (R) when it comes down.

This is a solid line even if they don’t have Grand Endeavor (R), since the reserve Persephone (R) can be played companion-side to turn on Lost in the Woods (C) for character removal, and then I can play my other two 2-drops.

However, if my opponent has sabotage and gets rid of my Persephone (R), I can’t afford to put the Persephone (R) in hand into mana. Otherwise, my Lost in the Woods (C) will be unable to target their companion expedition in water, and my opponent can win on board against Kodama (C), my only character with a water stat. Not to mention that sabotage disrupts my curve, likely leaving me without enough stats to win on board.

Unfortunately, what I realized is that my opponent could play their reserve Ordis Trooper (R) and Baba Yaga (F) companion-side, and no combination of 2-drops would be able to block both sides if I then had to spend 5 mana getting rid of Grand Endeavor (R).

As a result, I put Lost in the Woods (C) into mana to have the strongest turn in the world where my opponent has neither Grand Endeavor (R) nor sabotage.

After my opponent played their reserve Ordis Trooper and Baba Yaga, they did indeed drop the Grand Endeavor (R), which I no longer had any way to remove.

Round 5 (W): Treyst & Rossum

I got to set up a free Coppélia (F) for D2. My opponent sent all three of my characters to reserve with an excellent Avalanche (R), but I was able to replay a Muna Caregiver (C) to manage a 1-0.

I was able to maintain my lead over the next two turns while anchoring out an Aloe Vera (R). I was also lucky to draw into the other two Coppélia (F)s, which each got played for free.

I set up the Icebound Taiga (C) on D4 where I noticed a neat interaction: one of my expeditions moved forward into a region that didn’t naturally have forest, but since Persephone (R) was turning it into forest, I got a Rin trigger. I put Coppélia into reserve to play it for free, and since Persephone hadn’t left yet, the region was still forest, so I got a trial counter on my Icebound Taiga.

My opponent Kelon Burst (C)-ed the anchored Dragon Shade when I completed the Icebound Taiga, but I had enough stats that I was still able to 1-0.

I got very lucky this game in that my opponent wasn’t able to find their first The Ouroboros, Lyra Bastion (F) until D6 when they were already over halfway through their deck. They were able to cycle through support abilities to dig for a Boom! (C) for my anchored Aloe Vera (R) but weren’t able to do better than trade.

Since I was ahead 1/3, I was able to leverage my overstatted 3-drops to take one side for the win.

Round 6 (L): Sigismar & Wingspan

Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) let me 1-1 and play a Coppélia (F) for free.

I stayed even until D3, when I took the turn to set up Icebound Taiga (C). This was definitely a mistake. There’s no world where this doesn’t go 0-2, and I likely could have traded with Snoozer Shroom (C) and Muna Druid (C). Moving forward due to forest would have let me play the second Coppélia (F) for free and possibly set up a window on D4 where I could get down the Icebound Taiga without falling as far behind. Instead, Coppélia (F) sat in hand for far too long this game.

I completed the Taiga on the following day, threatening to ramp on both sides with my Mighty Simbi (U), but my opponent had the Teamwork Training (C) for the Dragon Shade and a Sticky Note Seals (C) for my unique. Fortunately, I was still going 1-1 after the removal; the Sticky Note Seals (C) effectively just prevented me from ramping.

I had put both copies of The Spindle, Muna Bastion (C) into mana this game, which I’m now pretty sure was wrong, given how robust Ordis’s removal suite is.

I was able to ramp and anchor out a Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) on the following turn, but I was still behind 3/1. My opponent’s Hypothermia (C) put me down a net 2 stats, and their The Sandman (F) handily closed out the game.