The 1-ofs is usually Pact target/toolbox whatever the situation requires.
Wren's Run Packmaster - this is the tool when you have Intruder, heritage and another elf in play to produce infinite wolf.
Lys Alana Huntmaster - This is a nice target if you have an active beck and a mana to cast it to make beck continue to roll on a higher percentage.
Temur Sabertooth - This is also a nice target if you have mana on a beck roll and hit no creatures. An expensive Wirewood symbiote but sometimes do the job when needed. This is also a good card to have in grindy matchup.
I was always curious about UG Nissa. One concern I have is what happens if genesis finds her? Does she come out with X counters? or zero counters? Or what.
I would suggest playtesting it, so you can decipher which card: Beck/Curio/Intruder to focus on most. Personally, I think a curio deck with lifegain or yeva can be highly resilient.
This is the 3rd draft of Intruder Elves(with playtesting)
I just kept running out of gas without the combo pieces and too few elves. Changes became clear a lot quicker than I'd combo off.
Notes on old deck:
Beck: overkill and useless without Intruder. Out Beck, In: Harmonize.
Thought Courier: Same thing. Useless without intruder, and outclassed by an ELF that draws a card instantly. Out TC, In: ELVISH Visionary
The Satyr was nice at times, but Forbidden Orchard was janky. This gave me added reason to smooth out the mana base. Out Satyr/Mystic/Orchard, In: Arbor ELF/Utopia Sprawl/Gilt-Leaf Palace.
Notes on how the this deck played out:
Essence Warden is a headache for aggro decks:
Option A: Bolt the Warden and watch Heritage Druid ramp something fierce.
Option B: Bolt the Druid, and run out of gas against life gain/card advantage.
Option C: Win by bolting the player on the spot.
Heritage Druid is kind of like a Green Dark Ritual, in the same sense that Intruder Alarm is like Green Yawgmoth's Will. Don't be too hasty to assume it just speeds up sick dorks.
Arbor/Sprawl is just as valuable as Heritage Druid. 4 mana on turn 2 is no joke. Fits perfectly into a plethora of turn 2 plays, most notably Intruder or Harmonize. Each(Arbor/Utopia) is no worse than a dork individually.
Gangster Waving an Eternal Witness is BANANAS. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. BANANAS
I am yet to tap Nullmage Shepherd she'll probably get the axe by Krosan Grip or Beast Within. Probably Beast Within. The ability to hit any permanent and synergy makes sense to me.
Llanowar Elves over Elvish Mystic for flavor reasons all day, even if the artwork is less appealing.
This is how I feel about the progress thus far :
I look forward to perusing Gatherer again now that the deck has some direction.
1-2 Eidolon of the Great Revel / Bloodchief Ascension deck. Had to cast G-Wave with 1 life to go out in dramatic fashion(my triggers had priority). Had I had 2 life, he would have lost. Proper A/E hate would have helped turn this into a win. Aside from that, misplays cost me dearly. I really liked this guy's deck. He had burn and discards to augment his strategy.
2-0 Infect He dropped 9 poison counters on turn 2 almost emptying his hand after I didn't block... And then promptly got flooded by elves. Nullmage made an appearance here and took out a couple artifact infect creatures. He badly needed trample, but didn't have one? I never saw a Rancor or proliferate? Game 2 was a blowout: I didn't get a SINGLE poison counter, despite aggression on his part... We were just trading pump spells for elves. He's gonna run out of pump spells long before I run out of elves.
2-1 Pain Seer / Pack Rat deck. The first game was a blowout as I had to mulligan to 5 with a meh hand, and got flooded with SotP and no black mana. Game 2 was a blowout, this time in my favor. Had a turn 2 Arbor/Sprawl Harmonize, followed by a turn 3 Intruder/E-Wit/Harmonize. He scooped. Game 3 was pretty close. We both had plenty of draw in this one: Pain Seer/Visionary/Harmonize. He wouldn't let me get to 3 elves. Duh! Once he ran out of bolts and such, he scooped. Just too many elves. He complained that he couldn't get a bolt with all that extra draw(He had 3 in his graveyard at 42 cards in library, mmkay). I was at mid 30's. Yes, I outdrew a Bob.
2-0 Mill. Nothing to see here. Combo'd out on turn 4 and 5 respectively.
I will remove the Hinterland Harbors in favor of maxing gilt-leaf palace and breeding pool and whatever else. It was an auto-lose once.
I already knew I needed A/E hate in the sideboard. Still debating best options.
Board Wipes is the #1 killer of this deck. Followed by strategies that attack non-elf cards. Like land/hand/draw etc. Trying to trade cards for elves is a recipe for disaster.
The deck generally strings itself from just a dork and an intruder. Which is one particular advantage Intruder has. You don't need a big board to go off. So I'm on the fence about Ezuri with the sickness. Still, even attacking with a dork or 2 as 5+/5+ tramplers seems good.
On a side note, I'm wondering if Spell Burst could be useful. Probably sideboard material but I'll test it. Counterspells with buyback are silly good.
I searched gatherer(forgot to search black, but that might not be important unless there's a bomb somewhere). I mostly searched blue/green draw and artifacts 4cmc or less.
I found a lot of cards that have potential. I tried to evaluate the cards in terms of turn 2 play to turn 10 play and widdled the list down to two cards.
This card does everything the deck needs.
-You can save elves. I'd rather replay them, then lose them. Especially with Intruder.
-You can replay Shaman of the Pack. 2 if often just enough against competitive decks.
-It draws cards. Which is probably the most important mechanic this deck needs.
Remember, casting a heritage druid with 2 elves and intruder alarm in play turns into :symg::symg::symg::symg::symg::symg: by tapping, and retapping elves. Then play another elf to net 8 green mana. The next one you play makes 11 mana... from 1 tapped land. Or 2 land, if you started with 1 elf.
Grinning Totem
This is kind of interesting.
-Boros isn't a terribly popular deck at the moment. So we can probably play the card. At worst we see the deck and steal a land, might be able to deduce what their hand might look like.
-Cards we'd be very interested in stealing are cards like eternal witness, thoughtseize, and counter/draw. These are common cards in sultai colors. You certainly won't ever lose a mirror elf match that uses Ezuri or Imperious. This deck doesn't use them because overextending=loss and summoning sickness
It kind of made me wonder about Villainous Wealth. What's most interesting is "non-land cards"(VW) not non-land permanents(G-Wave). That's one problem this deck, if G-Wave doesn't end it, you often having nothing in hand.
Other cards that had me thinking were Ulvenwald Mysteries: I curse you wizards. white soldiers on a green card!?!? You cannot be serious!. This would be a bomb if it were elves. Prowess of the Fair is the closest thing, but it doesn't let you draw. This would be an auto 2 of if it were elves.
Damping Matrix: Shuts down something in every deck(including Arbor and Heritage). So, nope. Had to look this up.
Throne of the God-Pharoah. Its better in a Curio deck. There are just so many ways to make this a dead card in an intruder deck.
I just kept running out of gas without the combo pieces and too few elves. Changes became clear a lot quicker than I'd combo off.
Beck: overkill and useless without Intruder. Out Beck, In: Harmonize.
Beck is the best card draw you can have in the deck. You don't need Curio or Intruder to cast beck but if you have, the game usually ends there. I cast beck even having no combo enabler in play(Curio or Intruder) even drawing 2-3 card still worth it because it progresses your draw and your board at the same time. Drawing 3 cards thru beck means you also have 3 creature in play. You have a board presence and draw cards. and sweeper sometimes doesn't matter after a beck turn cause every creature you put in play has been replace in your hand.
And I'm curious, You are on Intruder deck but why does your deck have no option in producing unlimited creature?
I have some few cards I can suggest to you in addition to your search that could be useful. Fecundity - best card against sweeper to draw cards. Shamanic Revelation - This is a better card compare to harmonize if you completely commit all your creatures to the board cause you can draw more cards. But more often than not, Harmonize is better.
Yea, I am constantly editing this deck, even rebuilding it from scratch. I keep adding and removing in brews Imperious Perfect. I'm yet to test it. I should. Adding turn two plays can make the deck consistently faster
The way the deck has run out, dorks and harmonize has been the best starting hand. Try to draw into an Alarm/Genesis/Eternal Witness. It's a tad inconsistent, and I'm questioning if Utopia Sprawl or Abundant Growth is better. I would love to double the draw a card cantrips. Utopia Sprawl is best to double up green in this deck, but I constantly am forced to make it produce blue or black. Which really only have 1 time uses. I mean there really is no better play than a turn 2 harmonize, but the mana fixing/draw is better more often I'm thinking.
I'll have to try Fecundity. Excellent suggestion. The deck typically races pretty well with creature based decks. I'm never killing creatures anyway. Might have to side it out against black? Could be a strong 2 of, maybe even 3 of.
I'd rather use Shared Discovery than the revelation. Feels a little janky, but hey if I don't get a druid he kind of taps summoned elves for draw instead of mana. Also, Distant Melody and paradoxical outcome are instants.
After running the curio/evolutionary leap version for a while
Interesting! I've seen Curio builds (I've been running one myself recently) and Evo Leap builds, but never together! Would you please post you list and explain how it works for you ?
- I choose this one cause is much more sneaky. Like Imperious, You also need Elvish Archdruid to survive a full turn to use her in this combo but Heritage Druid doesn't. You can produce infinite wolf the turn you cast Heritage Druid and Wren's Run Packmaster provided you also have 2 other elves in play and Intruder Alarm. Also, Wren's Run Packmaster is much difficult to remove compare to Imperious Perfect.
Bought some cheap Imperious and tested it out. Adding the Lord effect was what ended up being best of all. It allowed the deck to function outside of G-Waving Shamans by going wide.
Had some success, had some losses and I got blown out bad against a UBR deck that had endless targeted removal and board sweepers. Deck still lacks against board sweepers. Fundamentally flawed to build up a board to have everything set next turn and then just see an infest, or anger, or something.
I found Beck/Call to be useless the majority of the time. Seems it has a better place with Elvish Archdruid. I am leaning towards removing Beck in favor or Ezuri or Archdruid. I found Soul of the Harvest just better. A. It's a creature B. Pulling it with G-Wave is an auto-concede along with E-Wit'ing that G-Wave.
Played 2 games, and I've been extremely impressed with Elvish Archdruid. It has exponentially increased the speed of the deck. Being able to pop out a Soul o the Harvest on turn 3 is no joke. At the start of turn 4, I had roughly 30 cards left in my deck in both games and a horde of 5/5, 6/6 elves. With infinite token, mana, and draw power. I've been mildly impressed with Imperious, but he definitely has a place. I only played 1 match against a deck which I think was all treasure cruise, zombie infestation, and I think the rest lands. It was an all or nothing horde of 2/2 zombies, and it failed miserably despite having consistency on his combo.
Here is an update on the list I've been using and will continue to tinker with in an effort to find room for lead the stampede. I can't help but think that carving the mana base a little better and just removing abundant growth would make the deck stronger:
The way the deck works is to drop a dork on turn 1.
The best play on turn 2 is Elvish Archdruid, less optimal plays include cantripping draws or Imperious Perfect(a mediocre aggro deck as a whole)
You want to play Intruder on turn 2 or 3 if you can or build up for a G-Wave at x=6 or more. The only thing G-Wave won't put on the table... is G-Wave.
I've found the Harbinger to be quite useful.
A. After removing abundant growth's manafixing/can-trip draw, this is a useable card if not a little slow. The mana-fixing is huge!
B. Hitting it off G-Wave to find an ezuri in stride with soul or EV is pretty cool.
Still, I wonder is mainboarding Essence Warden and Chord of Calling isn't a better answer. The cards I'd look for are obviously, ezuri/imperious/reclamation/heritage. Even so, the problem with Ezuri has been he can't protect himself! But tapping down essence warden/visionary is pseudo heritage kinda with cantrips. Imperious just doesn't seem reasonable unless its a 4-of or I inclue Chord, which I am heavily leaning towards.
INB4, the problem I'm running into is Lead the Stampede doesn't hit G-Wave. It's minor but when I need to hit a g-wave or more elves, its a problem. It's a superb card for both Intruder Alarm, and refilling a hand. But on some occasions I need the Genesis Wave. That's the coup-de-grace game is over. Even when x=6, if I find intruder alarm, soul of the harvest, or eternal witness, it's going to be a very long turn. I'm considering going back to harmonize. x=6 on gangster wave is often enough to continue the turn. Still debating whether 3 G-waves or 2 is the right answer. Same goes for Intruder Alarm and Harmonize. Chord doesn't hit G-wave either, but at least it doesn't send it to the bottom with very little shuffling interaction. I suppose some fetches could solve that?
My sideboard currently consists of
1 Reclamation Sage, harbinger can search for this and nullmage. It's a turn later typically, but the option is there for decks with heavy a/e
4 Essence Warden, no-brainer against red
4 Relic of Progenitus, single handedly hoses both storm and dredge, along with many black decks
I want to trim into a shell with 4 Intruder and 3/4 Genesis with ZERO instants/sorceries(aside from G-Wave).
I want to have explosive mana consistently. So I want more than just the 4 archdruids.
cutting the dryad arbor, its just too much a of a liability in opening hand, its only good if I need the untap off of intruder, so its extremely narrow for me. I've been pleased with Underground River. Maybe 1 is enough, trying out a 2nd.
I have found use in all 4 of these cards in some form or another in a BG Combo Elves shell:
Prowess of the Fair: keeps up elf count for heritage/archdruid/shaman. Even if they boardwipe, they will have to block the 5 1/1 elf tokens that just spawned. Kudos if you have a Lord or throne in hand.
Evolutionary Leap: haven't tested it but I have read about it. I've given some thought to a deck with 24 one drop elves, and cycling through.
Fecundity: careful, lots of token decks out there, it will alter combat. "I'm not attacking into your elvish visionary to do zero damage so you can pop out a token and draw a card... I'm not blocking him either."
Lifecrafter's Bestiary: slows tempo, but A+ in grindy games trying to find a G-Wave to end it. One time I pulled a win out of nowhere cause I came up with 2 Nettles and a Heritage. That scry is beyond superb.
Throne of the God-Pharaoh: really, really good, even as a 1-of. I want to put more in because it's won me the game everytime I've played it, but you shouldn't do more than 2.
Genesis Wave drops EVERY card I reveal onto the board so long as X=6 or more. And its not that hard to generate 9+ mana with elves...
I even tried a Rishkar/Bramblewood mold. It was cute, but meh.
I really want to test Verdant Rebirth.
Pros:
-keeps heritage alive
-replays SotP, Reclamation, Eternal
-synergizes with prowess of the fair nicely
Cons:
-creature exiled = spell useless.
-creature has to die, this one isn't that big of a deal.
Question: If I cast this in response to an Anger of the Gods does Verdant Rebirth happen? or is the creature exiled?
What's the point of playing an infinite combo if you never actually get to have the satisfaction of dropping them to zero? I'm not saying CoCo is bad I just think it belongs in aggro elves that are going all-in or nothing.
Prowess of the fair and life Crafters have been the best. I tested all of the mentioned. Fecundity isn't good for meta. Evo leap is win more. I run gb Genesis elves. 4 potw, 3 life Crafters, 4 Genesis as the tech. 20 1 drop elves, visionary, archdruid, and sotp. Deck can explode on turn 3 if left unchecked wins on turn 5 consistently unless there is a TON of disruption. Good not great deck
Anyone tried viridian joiner as a Mana engine? Rhonas monument, blossoming defense come to mind. Burning tree emissary?
I did try this out. I thought about a fun idea with it and Elder of Laurels...but it got pretty convoluted. It definitely is a card that can be combo-ed with Umbral Mantle but again you have to pump it to begin with.
I do agree, however, that it is an under-studied card (that could potentially lead to a cool elf combo if tuned well).
Rancor and Giant Growth could be used which has always been a pretty underrated card(rancor). I think its still going to be the same issue as Archdruid. Takes a turn, and consistency.
I had read an article about Primal Command Lock in Curio. And the first thing I thought was suck it Tron.
I don't have any Coco's. Trying to jump mana to genesis wave is tough.
I want to try Curio Elves. My initial list will be as such in maybe a month:
I'm not too worried about the lands/sideboard. Yes yes, I need caverns and thoughtseize, but I have most of everything else.
Some bullets about the curio list though.
-I noticed Summoner's Pact popping up in a lot of elf lists, instead of Chord of Calling. A lot of the combos are 3 cards. But there's so many that it seems you'll have at least one most games. Is this for consistency? Because I can see Chord of Calling having a little more interaction potential. All about speed?
-I don't think the decktest will leave me satisfied with the draw aspect. How can this be improved besides Regal Force which is still dependent on a board-state.
- That Curio article which I couldn't re-find, mentioned UG Elves that utilized Eidolon of Blossoms. As you know Curio can return enchantments for enchantments. Naturally, I found Abundant Growth and Rancor a little more interesting(more consistency than a lonely elvish visionary). Leyline of Vitality isn't a terrible card if its in your opening hand I guess.
PS: Is anyone else wishing they'd reprint Wirewood Symbiote, or even just:
Rancor and Giant Growth could be used which has always been a pretty underrated card(rancor). I think its still going to be the same issue as Archdruid. Takes a turn, and consistency.
I had read an article about Primal Command Lock in Curio. And the first thing I thought was suck it Tron.
I don't have any Coco's. Trying to jump mana to genesis wave is tough.
I want to try Curio Elves. My initial list will be as such in maybe a month:
I'm not too worried about the lands/sideboard. Yes yes, I need caverns and thoughtseize, but I have most of everything else.
Some bullets about the curio list though.
-I noticed Summoner's Pact popping up in a lot of elf lists, instead of Chord of Calling. A lot of the combos are 3 cards. But there's so many that it seems you'll have at least one most games. Is this for consistency? Because I can see Chord of Calling having a little more interaction potential. All about speed?
-I don't think the decktest will leave me satisfied with the draw aspect. How can this be improved besides Regal Force which is still dependent on a board-state.
- That Curio article which I couldn't re-find, mentioned UG Elves that utilized Eidolon of Blossoms. As you know Curio can return enchantments for enchantments. Naturally, I found Abundant Growth and Rancor a little more interesting(more consistency than a lonely elvish visionary). Leyline of Vitality isn't a terrible card if its in your opening hand I guess.
PS: Is anyone else wishing they'd reprint Wirewood Symbiote, or even just:
Bodyguard Elf
G
Flash
1/1
Awesome list and even awesomer (?) idea about the flash elf!!!
I don't know the odds with this deck. (Haven't played elves since Legions) but would Hall of the Bandit Lord help any? Feels like you are doing the devoted druid combo so it's helpful. Plus you are also attempting to do turn 1 elf, turn 2 archdruid. Giving it haste and tapping for 2 would allow you to be more explosive.
Never used it but I have tried thousand-year elixir. It's really only useful with archdruid and dorks. You could use archdruid twice for a grand total of 4 Mana. So yes it can ramp well enough.
I had used chord before, but I mean damn it's not hard to get to 6 untapped elves/lands on battlefield to get ezuri on their end step. Or, an archdruid if gwave is in hand. What's overlooked about that on turn 3 is that you kind of need copperhorn scout. It's tough to activate ezuri without tapping an elf and losing damage.
On a side note it's too bad hidden herbalists is a freaking GREEN HUMAN. Seriously wizards. Third time I saw a nice card in green with a white subtype.
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Archdruid
3 Dwynen's Elite
4 Nettle sentinel
4 Heritage Druid
1 Essence Warden
1 Regal Force
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Temur Sabertooth
2 Nissa, Steward of Elements
3 Summoner's Pact
4 Beck//Call
2 Cloudstone Curio
2 Intruder Alarm
Lands(18)
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Yavimaya Coast
9 Forest
The 1-ofs is usually Pact target/toolbox whatever the situation requires.
Wren's Run Packmaster - this is the tool when you have Intruder, heritage and another elf in play to produce infinite wolf.
Lys Alana Huntmaster - This is a nice target if you have an active beck and a mana to cast it to make beck continue to roll on a higher percentage.
Temur Sabertooth - This is also a nice target if you have mana on a beck roll and hit no creatures. An expensive Wirewood symbiote but sometimes do the job when needed. This is also a good card to have in grindy matchup.
Regal Force - for refuel.
My list is not tested yet in a current meta but I will in a couple of weeks. As of now, I'm using the Coco elves with a playset of curio.
I would suggest playtesting it, so you can decipher which card: Beck/Curio/Intruder to focus on most. Personally, I think a curio deck with lifegain or yeva can be highly resilient.
This is the 3rd draft of Intruder Elves(with playtesting)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Heritage Druid
4 Essence Warden
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Shaman of the Pack
2 Eternal Witness
1 Regal Force
1 Nullmage Shepherd
4 Intruder Alarm
4 Harmonize
3 Genesis Wave
4 Breeding Pool
3 Gilt-Leaf Palace
2 Hinterland Harbor
7 Forest
1 Dryad Arbor
I just kept running out of gas without the combo pieces and too few elves. Changes became clear a lot quicker than I'd combo off.
Notes on old deck:
Beck: overkill and useless without Intruder. Out Beck, In: Harmonize.
Thought Courier: Same thing. Useless without intruder, and outclassed by an ELF that draws a card instantly. Out TC, In: ELVISH Visionary
The Satyr was nice at times, but Forbidden Orchard was janky. This gave me added reason to smooth out the mana base. Out Satyr/Mystic/Orchard, In: Arbor ELF/Utopia Sprawl/Gilt-Leaf Palace.
Notes on how the this deck played out:
Essence Warden is a headache for aggro decks:
Option A: Bolt the Warden and watch Heritage Druid ramp something fierce.
Option B: Bolt the Druid, and run out of gas against life gain/card advantage.
Option C: Win by bolting the player on the spot.
Heritage Druid is kind of like a Green Dark Ritual, in the same sense that Intruder Alarm is like Green Yawgmoth's Will. Don't be too hasty to assume it just speeds up sick dorks.
Arbor/Sprawl is just as valuable as Heritage Druid. 4 mana on turn 2 is no joke. Fits perfectly into a plethora of turn 2 plays, most notably Intruder or Harmonize. Each(Arbor/Utopia) is no worse than a dork individually.
Gangster Waving an Eternal Witness is BANANAS. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. BANANAS
I am yet to tap Nullmage Shepherd she'll probably get the axe by Krosan Grip or Beast Within. Probably Beast Within. The ability to hit any permanent and synergy makes sense to me.
Llanowar Elves over Elvish Mystic for flavor reasons all day, even if the artwork is less appealing.
This is how I feel about the progress thus far :
I look forward to perusing Gatherer again now that the deck has some direction.
PS: It's practically a budget deck, don't be shy.
PPS: Sultai is my jam!!!
1-2 Eidolon of the Great Revel / Bloodchief Ascension deck. Had to cast G-Wave with 1 life to go out in dramatic fashion(my triggers had priority). Had I had 2 life, he would have lost. Proper A/E hate would have helped turn this into a win. Aside from that, misplays cost me dearly. I really liked this guy's deck. He had burn and discards to augment his strategy.
2-0 Infect He dropped 9 poison counters on turn 2 almost emptying his hand after I didn't block... And then promptly got flooded by elves. Nullmage made an appearance here and took out a couple artifact infect creatures. He badly needed trample, but didn't have one? I never saw a Rancor or proliferate? Game 2 was a blowout: I didn't get a SINGLE poison counter, despite aggression on his part... We were just trading pump spells for elves. He's gonna run out of pump spells long before I run out of elves.
2-1 Pain Seer / Pack Rat deck. The first game was a blowout as I had to mulligan to 5 with a meh hand, and got flooded with SotP and no black mana. Game 2 was a blowout, this time in my favor. Had a turn 2 Arbor/Sprawl Harmonize, followed by a turn 3 Intruder/E-Wit/Harmonize. He scooped. Game 3 was pretty close. We both had plenty of draw in this one: Pain Seer/Visionary/Harmonize. He wouldn't let me get to 3 elves. Duh! Once he ran out of bolts and such, he scooped. Just too many elves. He complained that he couldn't get a bolt with all that extra draw(He had 3 in his graveyard at 42 cards in library, mmkay). I was at mid 30's. Yes, I outdrew a Bob.
2-0 Mill. Nothing to see here. Combo'd out on turn 4 and 5 respectively.
I will remove the Hinterland Harbors in favor of maxing gilt-leaf palace and breeding pool and whatever else. It was an auto-lose once.
I already knew I needed A/E hate in the sideboard. Still debating best options.
Board Wipes is the #1 killer of this deck. Followed by strategies that attack non-elf cards. Like land/hand/draw etc. Trying to trade cards for elves is a recipe for disaster.
The deck generally strings itself from just a dork and an intruder. Which is one particular advantage Intruder has. You don't need a big board to go off. So I'm on the fence about Ezuri with the sickness. Still, even attacking with a dork or 2 as 5+/5+ tramplers seems good.
On a side note, I'm wondering if Spell Burst could be useful. Probably sideboard material but I'll test it. Counterspells with buyback are silly good.
I found a lot of cards that have potential. I tried to evaluate the cards in terms of turn 2 play to turn 10 play and widdled the list down to two cards.
Paradoxical Outcome
This card does everything the deck needs.
-You can save elves. I'd rather replay them, then lose them. Especially with Intruder.
-You can replay Shaman of the Pack. 2 if often just enough against competitive decks.
-It draws cards. Which is probably the most important mechanic this deck needs.
Remember, casting a heritage druid with 2 elves and intruder alarm in play turns into :symg::symg::symg::symg::symg::symg: by tapping, and retapping elves. Then play another elf to net 8 green mana. The next one you play makes 11 mana... from 1 tapped land. Or 2 land, if you started with 1 elf.
Grinning Totem
This is kind of interesting.
-Boros isn't a terribly popular deck at the moment. So we can probably play the card. At worst we see the deck and steal a land, might be able to deduce what their hand might look like.
-Cards we'd be very interested in stealing are cards like eternal witness, thoughtseize, and counter/draw. These are common cards in sultai colors. You certainly won't ever lose a mirror elf match that uses Ezuri or Imperious. This deck doesn't use them because overextending=loss and summoning sickness
It kind of made me wonder about Villainous Wealth. What's most interesting is "non-land cards"(VW) not non-land permanents(G-Wave). That's one problem this deck, if G-Wave doesn't end it, you often having nothing in hand.
Other cards that had me thinking were
Ulvenwald Mysteries: I curse you wizards. white soldiers on a green card!?!? You cannot be serious!. This would be a bomb if it were elves. Prowess of the Fair is the closest thing, but it doesn't let you draw. This would be an auto 2 of if it were elves.
Damping Matrix: Shuts down something in every deck(including Arbor and Heritage). So, nope. Had to look this up.
Throne of the God-Pharoah. Its better in a Curio deck. There are just so many ways to make this a dead card in an intruder deck.
Beck is the best card draw you can have in the deck. You don't need Curio or Intruder to cast beck but if you have, the game usually ends there. I cast beck even having no combo enabler in play(Curio or Intruder) even drawing 2-3 card still worth it because it progresses your draw and your board at the same time. Drawing 3 cards thru beck means you also have 3 creature in play. You have a board presence and draw cards. and sweeper sometimes doesn't matter after a beck turn cause every creature you put in play has been replace in your hand.
And I'm curious, You are on Intruder deck but why does your deck have no option in producing unlimited creature?
I have some few cards I can suggest to you in addition to your search that could be useful.
Fecundity - best card against sweeper to draw cards.
Shamanic Revelation - This is a better card compare to harmonize if you completely commit all your creatures to the board cause you can draw more cards. But more often than not, Harmonize is better.
Do any of you mess around with other combos like
Imperious Perfect + Intruder Alarm + any mana producing elf
or
Elvish Archdruid + Staff of Domination + 3 other elves
EDH Multiplayer: BUG Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, UWG Roon of the Hidden Realm, UG Edric - Elf Tribal
1v1 Commander: BUG Leovold, Emissary of Trest
The way the deck has run out, dorks and harmonize has been the best starting hand. Try to draw into an Alarm/Genesis/Eternal Witness. It's a tad inconsistent, and I'm questioning if Utopia Sprawl or Abundant Growth is better. I would love to double the draw a card cantrips. Utopia Sprawl is best to double up green in this deck, but I constantly am forced to make it produce blue or black. Which really only have 1 time uses. I mean there really is no better play than a turn 2 harmonize, but the mana fixing/draw is better more often I'm thinking.
I'll have to try Fecundity. Excellent suggestion. The deck typically races pretty well with creature based decks. I'm never killing creatures anyway. Might have to side it out against black? Could be a strong 2 of, maybe even 3 of.
I'd rather use Shared Discovery than the revelation. Feels a little janky, but hey if I don't get a druid he kind of taps summoned elves for draw instead of mana. Also, Distant Melody and paradoxical outcome are instants.
Interesting! I've seen Curio builds (I've been running one myself recently) and Evo Leap builds, but never together! Would you please post you list and explain how it works for you ?
I've been testing both years back and they are fun to have. This is my personal opinion..
Elvish Archdruid + Staff of Domination + 3 other elves
Its very hard in modern to have 5 creature in play. Its very hard to execute.
This is the combo in elves to produce infinite creatures.
Imperious Perfect + Intruder Alarm + any mana producing elf
- This can be executed as early as turn 3 but Imperious Perfect need to survived a full turn to be successful.
Wren's Run Packmaster + Heritage Druid/Elvish Archdruid + any other elf + Intruder Alarm
- I choose this one cause is much more sneaky. Like Imperious, You also need Elvish Archdruid to survive a full turn to use her in this combo but Heritage Druid doesn't. You can produce infinite wolf the turn you cast Heritage Druid and Wren's Run Packmaster provided you also have 2 other elves in play and Intruder Alarm. Also, Wren's Run Packmaster is much difficult to remove compare to Imperious Perfect.
Here's the list I was using:
4 Arbor Elf
4 Heritage Druid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Shaman of the Pack
2 Eternal Witness
2 Soul of the Harvest
1 Nullmage Shepherd
4 Intruder Alarm
3 Genesis Wave
2 Beck/Call
1 Beast Within
4 Breeding Pool
9 Forest
Had some success, had some losses and I got blown out bad against a UBR deck that had endless targeted removal and board sweepers. Deck still lacks against board sweepers. Fundamentally flawed to build up a board to have everything set next turn and then just see an infest, or anger, or something.
I found Beck/Call to be useless the majority of the time. Seems it has a better place with Elvish Archdruid. I am leaning towards removing Beck in favor or Ezuri or Archdruid. I found Soul of the Harvest just better. A. It's a creature B. Pulling it with G-Wave is an auto-concede along with E-Wit'ing that G-Wave.
Do you have any thoughts on Elvish Promenade, Hunting Triad, or Gilt-Leaf Ambush. Alarm can turn this into massive mana acceleration. The same can be said for Dwynen's Elite. More testing soon maybe.
I realize Soul of teh Harvest isn't the fastest card. But it does its job, a big beater that draws cards.
Here is an update on the list I've been using and will continue to tinker with in an effort to find room for lead the stampede. I can't help but think that carving the mana base a little better and just removing abundant growth would make the deck stronger:
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Heritage Druid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Shaman of the Pack
2 Soul of the Harvest
1 Eternal Witness
1 Nullmage Shepherd
4 Intruder Alarm
3 Genesis Wave
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Breeding Pool
9 Forest
The way the deck works is to drop a dork on turn 1.
The best play on turn 2 is Elvish Archdruid, less optimal plays include cantripping draws or Imperious Perfect(a mediocre aggro deck as a whole)
You want to play Intruder on turn 2 or 3 if you can or build up for a G-Wave at x=6 or more. The only thing G-Wave won't put on the table... is G-Wave.
Unlimited draw/elves/mana is not uncommon
The only part of the sideboard I've made thus far is 4 Relic of Progenitus.
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Heritage Druid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Shaman of the Pack
4 Elvish Harbinger
2 Soul of the Harvest
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Nullmage Shepherd
3 Intruder Alarm
sorcery(6)
3 Genesis Wave
3 Lead the Stampede
land(17)
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Breeding Pool
7 Forest
1 Undeground River
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Essence Warden
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Reclamation Sage
I've found the Harbinger to be quite useful.
A. After removing abundant growth's manafixing/can-trip draw, this is a useable card if not a little slow. The mana-fixing is huge!
B. Hitting it off G-Wave to find an ezuri in stride with soul or EV is pretty cool.
Still, I wonder is mainboarding Essence Warden and Chord of Calling isn't a better answer. The cards I'd look for are obviously, ezuri/imperious/reclamation/heritage. Even so, the problem with Ezuri has been he can't protect himself! But tapping down essence warden/visionary is pseudo heritage kinda with cantrips. Imperious just doesn't seem reasonable unless its a 4-of or I inclue Chord, which I am heavily leaning towards.
INB4, the problem I'm running into is Lead the Stampede doesn't hit G-Wave. It's minor but when I need to hit a g-wave or more elves, its a problem. It's a superb card for both Intruder Alarm, and refilling a hand. But on some occasions I need the Genesis Wave. That's the coup-de-grace game is over. Even when x=6, if I find intruder alarm, soul of the harvest, or eternal witness, it's going to be a very long turn. I'm considering going back to harmonize. x=6 on gangster wave is often enough to continue the turn. Still debating whether 3 G-waves or 2 is the right answer. Same goes for Intruder Alarm and Harmonize. Chord doesn't hit G-wave either, but at least it doesn't send it to the bottom with very little shuffling interaction. I suppose some fetches could solve that?
My sideboard currently consists of
1 Reclamation Sage, harbinger can search for this and nullmage. It's a turn later typically, but the option is there for decks with heavy a/e
4 Essence Warden, no-brainer against red
4 Relic of Progenitus, single handedly hoses both storm and dredge, along with many black decks
Jebus guys, I'm making progress, help me out
I want to have explosive mana consistently. So I want more than just the 4 archdruids.
Here's what I will test soon:
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Essence Warden
4 Heritage Druid
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
3 Shaman of the Pack
2 Eternal Witness
2 Soul of the Harvest
1 Nullmage Shepherd
4 Intruder Alarm
3 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
Spells(3)
3 Genesis Wave
Lands(17)
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Breeding Pool
2 Underground River
7 Forest
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Reclamation Sage
cutting the dryad arbor, its just too much a of a liability in opening hand, its only good if I need the untap off of intruder, so its extremely narrow for me. I've been pleased with Underground River. Maybe 1 is enough, trying out a 2nd.
Prowess of the Fair: keeps up elf count for heritage/archdruid/shaman. Even if they boardwipe, they will have to block the 5 1/1 elf tokens that just spawned. Kudos if you have a Lord or throne in hand.
Evolutionary Leap: haven't tested it but I have read about it. I've given some thought to a deck with 24 one drop elves, and cycling through.
Fecundity: careful, lots of token decks out there, it will alter combat. "I'm not attacking into your elvish visionary to do zero damage so you can pop out a token and draw a card... I'm not blocking him either."
Lifecrafter's Bestiary: slows tempo, but A+ in grindy games trying to find a G-Wave to end it. One time I pulled a win out of nowhere cause I came up with 2 Nettles and a Heritage. That scry is beyond superb.
Throne of the God-Pharaoh: really, really good, even as a 1-of. I want to put more in because it's won me the game everytime I've played it, but you shouldn't do more than 2.
Genesis Wave drops EVERY card I reveal onto the board so long as X=6 or more. And its not that hard to generate 9+ mana with elves...
I even tried a Rishkar/Bramblewood mold. It was cute, but meh.
I really want to test Verdant Rebirth.
Pros:
-keeps heritage alive
-replays SotP, Reclamation, Eternal
-synergizes with prowess of the fair nicely
Cons:
-creature exiled = spell useless.
-creature has to die, this one isn't that big of a deal.
Question: If I cast this in response to an Anger of the Gods does Verdant Rebirth happen? or is the creature exiled?
What's the point of playing an infinite combo if you never actually get to have the satisfaction of dropping them to zero? I'm not saying CoCo is bad I just think it belongs in aggro elves that are going all-in or nothing.
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/36238_One-Elf-Two-Elf-Red-Elf-Blue-Elf.html
Being more of a Curio player myself, it is interesting to see so much Intruder Alarm and Beck decks recently. Great discussion and ideas!
I did try this out. I thought about a fun idea with it and Elder of Laurels...but it got pretty convoluted. It definitely is a card that can be combo-ed with Umbral Mantle but again you have to pump it to begin with.
I do agree, however, that it is an under-studied card (that could potentially lead to a cool elf combo if tuned well).
I had read an article about Primal Command Lock in Curio. And the first thing I thought was suck it Tron.
I don't have any Coco's. Trying to jump mana to genesis wave is tough.
I want to try Curio Elves. My initial list will be as such in maybe a month:
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
3 Shaman of the Pack
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
2 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Genesis Wave
2 Chord of Calling
2 Primal Command.
I'm not too worried about the lands/sideboard. Yes yes, I need caverns and thoughtseize, but I have most of everything else.
Some bullets about the curio list though.
-I noticed Summoner's Pact popping up in a lot of elf lists, instead of Chord of Calling. A lot of the combos are 3 cards. But there's so many that it seems you'll have at least one most games. Is this for consistency? Because I can see Chord of Calling having a little more interaction potential. All about speed?
-I don't think the decktest will leave me satisfied with the draw aspect. How can this be improved besides Regal Force which is still dependent on a board-state.
- That Curio article which I couldn't re-find, mentioned UG Elves that utilized Eidolon of Blossoms. As you know Curio can return enchantments for enchantments. Naturally, I found Abundant Growth and Rancor a little more interesting(more consistency than a lonely elvish visionary). Leyline of Vitality isn't a terrible card if its in your opening hand I guess.
PS: Is anyone else wishing they'd reprint Wirewood Symbiote, or even just:
Bodyguard Elf
G
Flash
1/1
Awesome list and even awesomer (?) idea about the flash elf!!!
I had used chord before, but I mean damn it's not hard to get to 6 untapped elves/lands on battlefield to get ezuri on their end step. Or, an archdruid if gwave is in hand. What's overlooked about that on turn 3 is that you kind of need copperhorn scout. It's tough to activate ezuri without tapping an elf and losing damage.
On a side note it's too bad hidden herbalists is a freaking GREEN HUMAN. Seriously wizards. Third time I saw a nice card in green with a white subtype.
Takes a turn (one to pump, second to get the emblem); but could be a BLAST to make a deck out of.