One-shot mana bursts? Are they useful?

[Aetherium Slinky]

I want to know the general opinion on cards like Wild Cantor, Lotus Petal, Simian Spirit Guide, Elvish Spirit Guide, Dark Ritual, Blood Pet and the likes.

I personally think I undervalue these cards and their potential of churning out a commander a turn or two early. They're useful later on as bodies or extra bursts of mana, storm or whatever it is that your deck tries to do. Some synergies include the dudes that sac for the purposes of Primal Surge.

We've already established the usefulness of one-shot draw spells (Night's Whisper, Pull from Tomorrow and the likes) and their superiority over slower spells like Mind's Eye or Phyrexian Arena. What's the difference to these? You're down a card but you're also up a mana (sometimes on the next turn but these are really good T1 plays).

[dam1k0]

Hey

I got a Lotus Petal recently, still haven't tested, but I feel that it really depends on what you deck wants to do. I was playtesting in my
Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer to see how fast I could end the game, and with it I could end a turn earlier (If I get the perfect hand and draw  ).

Blood Pet on a Meren of Clan Nel Toth or any aristocrat deck is awesome.

Now  Simian Spirit Guide and  Elvish Spirit Guide I don't really like, they only ramp once and done. The others you can get back and combo with.

[Slyvester12]

I'm also not very fond of the guides. I do really like rituals in the right deck, though. Not quite as good as ramp, but using a Dark Ritual to churn out some big black mana spells a couple of turns early is great. They're also fantastic in storm.

[WizardSpartan]

Unless I can abuse the rituals/make use of them in more ways than just a single burst of mana, I'm usually not the biggest fan (i.e. Storm decks that like a spell that essentially costs ≤0 mana)

The only time I use rituals purely for the ramp is Dark Ritual in mono black decks with a commander at ≥4 CMC that can use the explosive start Dark Ritual gives. Right now, the only deck I have it in is Whisper, Blood Liturgist because when that deck gets going, it gets going.

Admittedly, I am not the average EDH player. Most of the decks that like one-shot mana bursts are instant/sorcery based, draw lots of cards with draw spells, and/or end games with big x spells, and I am a simple green player that has only built a few of those types of decks.

[terminalgeek]

I've come around on these more lately and think they're legitimate mana ramp. There's always the risk of getting set back later on, so I tend to use them in situations that require some sort of explosive play but they're also good for sinking into other ramp spells or artifacts to have lasting impact.

Some are combo pieces or enable you to "storm-off," but then you're building your deck to take advantage. I use Lotus Petal as a cheaper option to Lion's Eye Diamond, in conjunction with Underworld Breach. Any commander that can cast artifacts from your graveyard should have it in the 99 I feel too.

Other fast mana options like the spirit guides seem mostly useful in decks that need access to free mana (i.e. cEDH builds). At a lower powered / casual table, I'd take a rampant growth or signet instead.

[stuffnsuch]

I really only like to run them in decks that have a use for them in the late game as well as an early source of ramp.  If I never need more than 5 mana on a turn, getting to 5 and then drawing a ritual is basically a dead draw.  I'd just as soon draw another land at that point.  However, if I'm interested in playing lots of instants and sorceries, recurring spells, or if I just have a lot of high cost finishers, it's a great draw early or late game.  I run a bunch of ritual effects in my Dragonstorm deck and in a deck that runs a few Tendrils of Agony (where they can provide turn 1 lethal with the right draw), but they aren't common in any of my EDH stuff.  I run a Dark Ritual in my Teysa deck, a Mana Geyser in a few of my red decks, and that's about it.  Mana Geyser had such a high ceiling that it's definitely worth it if you're in red and have anything in your deck that might appreciate 10, 20, or even 30 mana.
2 more thoughts, a ritual usually costs you more than 1 card.  You'll almost always play something off it, giving you one spell for 2 cards.  That can thin out your hand really quick if you're doing it too often and eventually you'll be top decking and falling back behind again.  Also, ritual and the like are more impactful in a short game than a long game.  You may love to get your commander out a turn early, but that doesn't matter that much in a 10+ turn game.  In a 3-5 turn game, though, it can be hugely significant. 

[Judaspriester]

For me the main question is: what do you want to achive?
If you aim for a very fast win, they might come in handy. A Lotus Petal (or similar) could make a one turn difference, or allow you to cast something like Silence or Swan Song in order to protect your win combo. But if you can't kick off and finish the game, I don't think they are worth using.

For many of them its hard (or even next to impossible) to use them more than once and with every turn passed after you used this burst spells, the cast disadvantage becomes more serve.

[CleanBelwas]

I'm in the same boat as most people it seems. They can be fine if you have other synergies / ways to abuse them. Probably not worth a slot outside of that, with the exception of Dark Ritual.

They were superb in my Dragonstorm deck.
Blood pet is an incredible card (maybe even in my top 10 of all time these days) but not for the mana alone, it's more of a combo / synergy card.

And then there is Dark Ritual. There is something about that card. Maybe it's my love of mono black. Maybe it's the fact that it's the most efficient ritual. Something about it sets it apart. It's the only one that I consider worth a slot regardless. I'm just never sad to see it in my hand. It's good at all parts of the game, and lets you do one of the best things in Magic; bluff. People see your one untapped swamp, but they don't know you actually have three mana available. It enables so many "gotcha" moments, and I love those moments.