You absolutely can run 4 Ezuri. Running a full playset of a Legendary can seem a little clunky, but when you take into consideration that it is the must kill threat of the deck that's going to eat a ton of Paths, Terminates, Pushes and Bolts the redundancy is totally fine. I've won games against Grixis Shadow where I've had three Ezuris in hand and they just couldn't kill the third. It's not always about the combo, it's about it being the best Elf in the deck to help you win the game. Martin Juza ran FOUR at GP Copenhagen.
I think Dusk//Dawn is a very good conditional sweeper and could be a great choice going forward if a grindier meta exists without Stubborn Denial. You have to take into consideration that ofttimes it's not a completely one sided board wipe if we have an Archdruid on the board, but perhaps without Ezuri or the likelihood of casting a big SOTP before we die, it could act as a nice emergency reset button.
I just think the decks it is good against we are already favoured against anyway. If you would like to further increase your percentage points against Eldrazi Tron and Grixis Shadow then you could experiment with a Copy in the board. 9 White sources should be enough to reliably enable Double W by the time you need it.
Hey everyone. Entered a 20 person tournament tonight. I ran your typical GB build so probably no need for a deck list. I took 1st place!! It caught everyone by surprise when they saw Elves so no one really packed hate for them in their sides. It's a control heavy meta here so Caverns came in clutch.
Round 1 (2-0) vs Red Tron
I'm on the play and had the God hand of turn 1 forest, Llanowar. Turn 2 Caverns into Elite and Heritage into Archdruid. Next turn I hit a company for Ezuri and Shaman. Was over quick. Game 2 I side in Rec Sages which gave me the win for hitting a Ratchet Bomb with no counters on it yet.
Round 2 (2-0) 4 Color Control
Game 1, again drew the nuts and won crazy fast. Game 2 I survived through a Zealous Persecution that took out 5 elves by having double company in hand and an Archdruid and Elite remaining on the field.
Round 3 (2-0) Jeskai Burn
Game 1, Shaman sealed the game turn 4 by hitting two. Game 2, Ezuri hit for exactly 19 for the win on turn 4. Never even drew into my Finks or Scooze for life gain.
Round 4 (2-0) Eldrazi Tron
Game 1, 3 Nettles and 2 Heritage allowed me to play Shaman hard cast, CoCo for another Shaman and then Chord for a 3rd Shaman all in 1 turn. Crazy turn. Game 2, went alpha strike with Ezuri and team for 18 damage. Next turn he plays All is Dust wiping my board. He is sitting at 2 life and I have no cards in hand. I top deck into a CoCo, cast it. And I hit Shaman and a dork FTW.
Was a fun night. Felt good taking down Burn and Tron twice.
The Fauna Shaman is a flex spot I'm testing out; I couldn't find a better 2cmc Elf that perfects my curve. 11 Sources of white and 11 sources of colorless ensures I never have a problem with mana. Overall I'm pretty happy with the list, I'm tempted to take it to Cash Modern Monday to test it out.
Edit: Wastes is actually 3rd forest.
That's hot! I haven't been able to play Elves in a while. Really getting me pumped for my next trip to the LGS!
!
Glad you like it because I'm actually taking it to a PPTQ this Saturday. I hope you''ll have good results on your end!
In case you're wondering, I made some alterations. Feel free to give me your opinion!
MB:
-1 Fauna, +1 Revoker
Fauna always been too cute for modern. Especially now with so much discard in my meta.
Revoker gives me some percentage points against equally fast decks like the mirror, devoted combo, affinity, etc
-1 Razorverge, +1 Canopy
I thought I'd be pinging myself more often with Brushland but that's seldom the case. Naturally I can fit in a 4th canopy for this reason!
SB:
-1 Revoker, +1 Finks
Revoker moved to MB. Burn and Zoo have been coming up in my meta so I need a little edge.
-2 Relic, +2 Finks
Relics have been unnecessary against anything that's not Dredge or Living End. Between TKS, Eidolon, and Scooze I feel like my Living End postboard plan is more than enough. I'm only afraid of Dredge now because it's such a bad MU but my strategy is to dodge it. Luckily for me neither of these decks have appeared in my meta recently because they've fallen out of favor.
Other thoughts:
The deck can get a little grindy with TKS and I've ran into situations where my dorks just sit back and let TKS swing. I'm thinking about Gavony Township as another means to pump up my team when there's a boardstall. It seems plausible now with 11 dorks and TKS eliminating imminent threats.
Lastly, I need Pendelhaven to fit somewhere. I'm wondering if I should be greedy and remove a forest.
You use the infinite mana to trigger Ezuri infinitely boosting your creatures with trample
Is that really necessary to give it infinite trigger? Seems like a winmore to me. Usually after 1 activation it's enough to get the kill.
There will be many situations where infinite will close out the game sooner than 1 activation. Here's why.
The difference between combo (infinite) and no combo (1 activation) is winning 1-2 turns earlier. Devoted druid can win T3 and only requires itself to attack for infinite damage whereas without the combo you'd have to spend a whole turn developing a board presence. On top of that you'd also need archdruid or enough dorks/land to activate Ezuri and still have enough power on the board for lethal.
As VIPowl mentioned, check out Martin Juza's list from GP Copenhagen of this year. If you have any questions, feel free to lay them on me. I actually took the same list - give or take a few tweaks - to GP Vegas and learned A LOT.
Exactly, it isn't overkill - it's an entirely new angle of attack for the deck and something your opponent will have to consider very carefully.
Very often untapping with Ezuri on turns 4-5 will result on a kill. This is about presenting a very fast and very real Turn 3 threat to fight faster combo decks as well as having Grixis DS and Jund style decks really think about what they need to remove from our boardstate.
Will they Bolt/Push the Devoted Druid in our upkeep leaving us free to develop our board? Or will they take a chance that we have it? It's a tough call to make!
Burn (2-0)
Game 1 - God Hand, Ezuri Stompy.
Game 2 - 6 life, he had 2 burn spells, but Chord called Burrenton then Elfball stuff.
GW Company (2-0)
Game 1 - Another God Hand, he tried GQ my lands, but isn't enought with mana dorks and Company.
Game 2 - Definition of power, just casted 3 Companys and 1 Chord in the same turn, 22 damage with Shamans.
Bant Eldrazi (2-1)
Game 1 - In the play this match is easy, Elfball stuff.
Game 2 - I had Archdruid and an army of 1 cmc, he did Explosives for 1, can't recover.
Game 3 - Revoker in the Noble then Dismember for his TKS, Company and gg.
Eldrazi Tron (Draw)
Late and we were tired, split but I think this is a favorable match.
Considerations:
First I tought about the numbers of Caverns and Canopys, but 4 is too much. The mana base was perfect, never misses any color.
UWx still looks a terrible match, I think that I need Lead the Stampede in the SB, but still can be countered so easily.
Thinking about change Dismember for Hornet Nest, looks good against Eldrazi and DS.
Westvale Abbey is another good option, but van hurt my mana base.
For nos, Abzan is the way to go I guess, still need test the GW Vizier yet.
Did a stream this morning @ twitch.tv/syreal_ - I forgot to set it to upload past broadcasts, but I have it on for next time (whenever that is!) It'll likely be this Saturday around 1000 AEST [2000 EST, 1700 PST, 0100 GMT+1, 0900 JP] so if you wanna come watch some GB Elves and shoot the *****, feel free.
As an aside so it's not just a stream ad, I've been thinking about playing Abzan but finding the correct balance between playing the right amount of Shamans, and possibly having the combo in the deck has been quite a dicey proposition. However, I think I might have hit the balance with the following:
While I'm still uncertain about the combo overall, I think this is a great way to approach an Abzan list going forward, as it gives us everything we're looking for in a three colour list:
a) 9 black sources to cast Shaman and access to it (4 Cavern, 4 fetch, 1 Tomb)
b) 9 white sources independent of Cavern to cast Vizier and sideboard cards (3 Razorverge, 1 Horizon Canopy, 4 fetch, 1 Temple Garden)
c) no wasted flex slot lands due to a hungry mana base
It looks like the perfect storm of mana, tools and reach.
Did a stream this morning @ twitch.tv/syreal_ - I forgot to set it to upload past broadcasts, but I have it on for next time (whenever that is!) It'll likely be this Saturday around 1000 AEST [2000 EST, 1700 PST, 0100 GMT+1, 0900 JP] so if you wanna come watch some GB Elves and shoot the *****, feel free.
As an aside so it's not just a stream ad, I've been thinking about playing Abzan but finding the correct balance between playing the right amount of Shamans, and possibly having the combo in the deck has been quite a dicey proposition. However, I think I might have hit the balance with the following:
While I'm still uncertain about the combo overall, I think this is a great way to approach an Abzan list going forward, as it gives us everything we're looking for in a three colour list:
a) 9 black sources to cast Shaman and access to it (4 Cavern, 4 fetch, 1 Tomb)
b) 9 white sources independent of Cavern to cast Vizier and sideboard cards (3 Razorverge, 1 Horizon Canopy, 4 fetch, 1 Temple Garden)
c) no wasted flex slot lands due to a hungry mana base
It looks like the perfect storm of mana, tools and reach.
List looks really, really, ridiculously good. Personally I'd prefer a 2nd Canopy to the Pendelhaven, but that's just me. What would your sideboard look like?
It's nice to read the FNM reports that are so common in this thread. Elves aren't my main deck in Modern (heresy, I know), but I pulled off my first x-0 with this deck last night at a small event--and against some tough matchups--so I'm pretty hyped.
Played a fairly stock GB list with a few changes: 2/2 split of Visionary/Sentinel and only 2 copies of Ezuri. I maindecked a Scooze, included an Elves of Deep Shadow, and played 9 spells (4 CoCo/3 Lead/2 Chord).
Round 1 vs Lantern Control:
Game 1 he Decayed a couple of dorks while assembling his lock pieces. Pyxis, Lantern, and Bell were down, but no Bridge. With more dorks down, including a Heritage Druid, my Lead found still more dorks and a Shaman. I laid down some dudes, cast a CoCo to find Shaman and Elite, then hardcast my other Shaman, followed by my 1/1s getting in for the win.
Game 2 I kept a risky one-lander with two dorks and everything else 3+ CMC, including my sideboarded Fracturing Gust. Opponent opened with a Lantern, Decayed my first dork on T2, then killed my second dork on T3 with a Collective Brutality, taking away my Lead for good measure, then played a Bell. I failed to hit another land drop, and when he laid down more Mill pieces on T4 I scooped.
Game 3 was grindy. His early Inquisition took away a Reclamation Sage, but he couldn't stop the mana dorks from doing their thing. I chipped in for a few points here and there while assembling a huge field, drawing and laying down Ezuri and Elite off a Lead. His next turn saw him lay down an Ensnaring Bridge and a Welding Jar, emptying his hand and passing back. With an ungodly amount of mana at my disposal, I played Eternal Witness, buying back my discarded Rec Sage, played it to draw out the Jar, then Chorded for a second Rec Sage to smash the Bridge, with enough mana left for a single Ezuri activation and a lethal swing. 2-1
Round 2 vs Dredge:
Game 1 I had a mediocre start, while his was strong (but not unbeatable). After a few turns of catching beats from Bloodghast, Amalgam, and Narcomeba and going to 8 life, I decided to trade my 3/3 Elite (buffed by Archdruid) for his Amalgam. Opponent had one card in hand, and unluckily for me, it was a land. Second main he played it, returning more Bloodghasts and Amalgams, including the one I'd just traded for. With a CoCo in hand, I went to my turn, and topdecked a Shaman. CoCoed into Shaman and Elite, hardcast my other Shaman, and got in with my meager board for exactly lethal. Whew!
Game 2 was a lot more casual. I kept an explosive hand, but one without grave hate. Opponent kept a hand that failed to fire. Chorded for Ezuri on his T3 end step and it was GG next turn. 2-0
Round 3 vs Skred Red: I flooded the board with dorks, outpacing his Bolts and Skreds, but a T3 Eternal Scourge was threatening to wall off my chump attackers...until I saw a spicy line of play. With Pendelhaven and 3 other lands open, plus 2x Heritage and 1x Llanowar open, I swung with a small army of 1/1 tokens and dorks. His Scourge blocked one. Before damage I made it a 2/3 with Pendelhaven, then Chorded for Archdruid, winning the trade and getting in for extra damage elsewhere. My Archdruid died to the Chandra he cast the next turn, but I then CoCoed into double Shaman and swung with small guys for the win.
Game 2 I opened with Nettle Sentinel into Dwynen's Elite, threatening a clock and baiting out a T3 Anger. I rebuilt with dorks and an Archdruid, only to eat another Anger. On his T5, he played a Chandra and passed, ticking her up to 5. I CoCoed on his end step for Ezuri and Archdruid, then got in for 5 to kill Chandra with those two, playing more Elves with my free lands. He took Ezuri down with a Skred, then Archdruid with a Bolt, and the grind was on. A topdecked Lead, finding (among other things) Eternal Witness who bought back CoCo was the ultimate value as I battled through Koth, Scourge, and more removal. A second Ezuri eventually sealed the deal. Exhilarating game and match. 2-0
Historically, my luck always seems to run out with Elves toward the end of the night. Maybe that would have been the case here if there'd been enough attendees for a 4th round, but as is, I'll take it! The ninth spell (and ninth mana dork to compensate) felt great--CoCo, Lead, and Chord all more than pulled their weight last night.
@DB0013
The single Horizon Canopy is a concession to the fetches and two shocks doing a decent amount of damage to us, so I don't want to absolutely fold to Burn.
Sideboard for this weekend stream is:
3 Lead
2 Dismember
1 Forge-Tender
1 Revoker
1 Scooze
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Eidolon
1 Witness
1 Rec Sage
1 Colossus
1 Corrosion
1 Gust
I noticed your previous list ran a Westvale Abbey. I understand not running it in abzan, but from a straight gb perspective, how did that work out for you? I've only been able to try it out a few times, but did get to flip it at 6 life against burn and that was amazing.
I noticed your previous list ran a Westvale Abbey. I understand not running it in abzan, but from a straight gb perspective, how did that work out for you? I've only been able to try it out a few times, but did get to flip it at 6 life against burn and that was amazing.
Its been the best flex land I've played with in GB in ages. A lot of the time it acts as 14 points of reach in conjunction with a Shaman. Would definitely not cut it.
Hey guys, I just had a good paycheck and decided to impulse buy the deck. I'm coming from a Jeskai Control and Lantern Control background so I'm not entirely familiar with decks that win by attacking..
When building it I was wondering if it is better to run more of Chord of Calling or Lead the Stampede? Currently I built it around 4 coco, 3 chord of calling, and 1 lead the stampede. Has anyone play tested the numbers? Is it better to run more lead the stampede to stock the hand with heritage druid dorks?
Also, is it beneficial to run 1-2 Gavony Township? I don't see any lists running that but I feel like it could be useful if you aren't drawing necessary combo pieces so you can at least swing in?
Thank you in advance! I look forward to playing the deck and will post results
Hey guys, I just had a good paycheck and decided to impulse buy the deck. I'm coming from a Jeskai Control and Lantern Control background so I'm not entirely familiar with decks that win by attacking..
When building it I was wondering if it is better to run more of Chord of Calling or Lead the Stampede? Currently I built it around 4 coco, 3 chord of calling, and 1 lead the stampede. Has anyone play tested the numbers? Is it better to run more lead the stampede to stock the hand with heritage druid dorks?
Also, is it beneficial to run 1-2 Gavony Township? I don't see any lists running that but I feel like it could be useful if you aren't drawing necessary combo pieces so you can at least swing in?
Thank you in advance! I look forward to playing the deck and will post results
Lets run through the questions:
Chord vs Lead -
Highly debated topic, but one we've hit a conclusion on. It depends on what you want to do, and what your meta is like. Most of us, myself included, play a combination of both.
Chord lends itself to increasing the speed and velocity of the deck by letting us tutor key Elves (we are an aggro-combo deck, after all!), while Lead gives us a bit more resilience by allowing us to draw more Elves to continue flooding the board. I personally find Chord lends itself to game 1 situations more than Lead does, so I play with Chords in the main, and Leads in the sideboard.
A particular exception to that is if you're on the GW Vizier variant, in which case Chord is the only way in the main deck as it lets you tutor up infinite mana.
Gavony Township hasn't seen much testing admittedly, but that's mostly due to the nature of the card itself - it's cost prohibitive by forcing you to pay both white and green. Further, usually dude size isn't a problem in the GW variants, the real problem is having dudes on board in the first place, so it doesn't help unless you're already ahead for the most part.
Yeah I think I will probably go with more of the chord of calling, however how does this deck go against mass removal? Is it just strongly unfavored game one against things like anger of the gods and supreme verdict? What does everyone use as protection? I was thinking of running selfless spirit in the sideboard as a 2 or 3 of since my local meta is high in esper control and other deck lists with similar creature hate.
Also, one more question for now I promise.. I am running a build that is mostly GB but splashes white. How valuable is horizon canopy? Is it worth the &100 price tag? I remember running it in maverick legacy before it jumped so high (used to only be $20) and it was good for that style deck.
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Yeah I think I will probably go with more of the chord of calling, however how does this deck go against mass removal? Is it just strongly unfavored game one against things like anger of the gods and supreme verdict? What does everyone use as protection? I was thinking of running selfless spirit in the sideboard as a 2 or 3 of since my local meta is high in esper control and other deck lists with similar creature hate.
Also, one more question for now I promise.. I am running a build that is mostly GB but splashes white. How valuable is horizon canopy? Is it worth the &100 price tag? I remember running it in maverick legacy before it jumped so high (used to only be $20) and it was good for that style deck.
Mass removal is the enemy when you first start playing the list, but after some play you learn how to play around it. Generally most lists wouldn't have main deck wipes (UW Control/Esper Control aside, they have main deck Supreme Verdicts) so you can generally get away with following your own plan in game one. Game two you have to be willing to grind with them, and chip them down for the Shamans or a sneaky Ezuri activation to kill them. Cards that protect you against wipes are okay...but the best protection to wipes is good, clean play - but a Selfless Spirit won't hurt. (A note about UW Control - I think we're favoured in the matchup, despite the main deck wipes).
Horizon Canopy is a great land, but if you don't have one you don't really miss out too much. You gain percentage by being able to cash in the land, but lose percentage in races and against Burn. It's almost certainly worth the pricetag, but if you ain't got one, you're not gonna be horrendously behind the other lists. 1% max even.
Any advice facing against Valakut deck variants? How favorable is it for Elves? I'm running a typical Abzan build. I have access to Mark of Asylum and Burrenton Forge-tender
Any advice facing against Valakut deck variants? How favorable is it for Elves? I'm running a typical Abzan build. I have access to Mark of Asylum and Burrenton Forge-tender
Most of Valakut deck (like Titan Shift) mainboard Anger of Gods so, it's a bad matchup for us.
Here some advice for sideboard:
Gaddock Teeg for Scapeshift, Primeval Titan and Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Aven Mindcensor for Scapeshift, Summoner's Pact, Primeval Titan's trigger ability, Search for Tomorrow (or other search land cards) and fetchlands
Burrenton Forge-Tender/Selfless Spirit for Anger of Gods
Thoughtseize for hand disruption
Elvish Champion to get through blockers
Stain the Mind to get rid of Scapeshift, Primeval Titan or Anger of Gods
I'm wondering about Lone Missionary as a replacement for Finks against burn/zoo.
I realize Finks potential strengths but it has 3 potential weaknesses in my experience. Firstly, postboard your opponent will bring in Grafdigger's without a doubt which makes an already good card against us even better. Secondly, Path converts Finks into a very average creature. Thirdly, it's a three drop which has the possibility of not coming out until T4 if you miss a land drop and they're killing your dorks - it happens.
The reasons why I like Lone are because it gives you 4 life off the bat, it's a t2 play, and its 2 power body is nice against Burn/Zoo's creatures save Nacatl. Lastly it's much easier to chord for in a pinch.
My question to you guys is, does Finks' potential strengths overshadow its potential weaknesses when comparing to Lone Missionary as a replacement?
On a different note, I would like to continue the discussion of Gavony Township.
Activation:
If you're running any type of white noncreature spell in the sideboard it's because you have enough white sources to cast them and activate Gavony. Lastly, paying 4 mana in Elves is extremely achievable as early as T3.
MUs:
It's relatively bad against decks you need to race such as Hyperaggro, creatureless combo, and creature combo. It shines in slow games and against decks packed with removal.
Comparing to Counters Company:
The reason why it's good in Counters Company (formerly Abzan Company) is because, like us, they flood the board quickly with dorks and company. With Gavony, these dorks become an eventual threat that forces your opponent to react to a 3/3 Elvish Visionary which screams value. There are reasons why it's better in Counters Company such as synergy with Finks/Redcap and better grind potential but these aren't good enough to say the card is bad in Elves.
As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!
I just think the decks it is good against we are already favoured against anyway. If you would like to further increase your percentage points against Eldrazi Tron and Grixis Shadow then you could experiment with a Copy in the board. 9 White sources should be enough to reliably enable Double W by the time you need it.
Is that really necessary to give it infinite trigger? Seems like a winmore to me. Usually after 1 activation it's enough to get the kill.
Round 1 (2-0) vs Red Tron
I'm on the play and had the God hand of turn 1 forest, Llanowar. Turn 2 Caverns into Elite and Heritage into Archdruid. Next turn I hit a company for Ezuri and Shaman. Was over quick. Game 2 I side in Rec Sages which gave me the win for hitting a Ratchet Bomb with no counters on it yet.
Round 2 (2-0) 4 Color Control
Game 1, again drew the nuts and won crazy fast. Game 2 I survived through a Zealous Persecution that took out 5 elves by having double company in hand and an Archdruid and Elite remaining on the field.
Round 3 (2-0) Jeskai Burn
Game 1, Shaman sealed the game turn 4 by hitting two. Game 2, Ezuri hit for exactly 19 for the win on turn 4. Never even drew into my Finks or Scooze for life gain.
Round 4 (2-0) Eldrazi Tron
Game 1, 3 Nettles and 2 Heritage allowed me to play Shaman hard cast, CoCo for another Shaman and then Chord for a 3rd Shaman all in 1 turn. Crazy turn. Game 2, went alpha strike with Ezuri and team for 18 damage. Next turn he plays All is Dust wiping my board. He is sitting at 2 life and I have no cards in hand. I top deck into a CoCo, cast it. And I hit Shaman and a dork FTW.
Was a fun night. Felt good taking down Burn and Tron twice.
Glad you like it because I'm actually taking it to a PPTQ this Saturday. I hope you''ll have good results on your end!
In case you're wondering, I made some alterations. Feel free to give me your opinion!
MB:
-1 Fauna, +1 Revoker
Fauna always been too cute for modern. Especially now with so much discard in my meta.
Revoker gives me some percentage points against equally fast decks like the mirror, devoted combo, affinity, etc
-1 Razorverge, +1 Canopy
I thought I'd be pinging myself more often with Brushland but that's seldom the case. Naturally I can fit in a 4th canopy for this reason!
SB:
-1 Revoker, +1 Finks
Revoker moved to MB. Burn and Zoo have been coming up in my meta so I need a little edge.
-2 Relic, +2 Finks
Relics have been unnecessary against anything that's not Dredge or Living End. Between TKS, Eidolon, and Scooze I feel like my Living End postboard plan is more than enough. I'm only afraid of Dredge now because it's such a bad MU but my strategy is to dodge it. Luckily for me neither of these decks have appeared in my meta recently because they've fallen out of favor.
Other thoughts:
The deck can get a little grindy with TKS and I've ran into situations where my dorks just sit back and let TKS swing. I'm thinking about Gavony Township as another means to pump up my team when there's a boardstall. It seems plausible now with 11 dorks and TKS eliminating imminent threats.
Lastly, I need Pendelhaven to fit somewhere. I'm wondering if I should be greedy and remove a forest.
There will be many situations where infinite will close out the game sooner than 1 activation. Here's why.
The difference between combo (infinite) and no combo (1 activation) is winning 1-2 turns earlier. Devoted druid can win T3 and only requires itself to attack for infinite damage whereas without the combo you'd have to spend a whole turn developing a board presence. On top of that you'd also need archdruid or enough dorks/land to activate Ezuri and still have enough power on the board for lethal.
As VIPowl mentioned, check out Martin Juza's list from GP Copenhagen of this year. If you have any questions, feel free to lay them on me. I actually took the same list - give or take a few tweaks - to GP Vegas and learned A LOT.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
Very often untapping with Ezuri on turns 4-5 will result on a kill. This is about presenting a very fast and very real Turn 3 threat to fight faster combo decks as well as having Grixis DS and Jund style decks really think about what they need to remove from our boardstate.
Will they Bolt/Push the Devoted Druid in our upkeep leaving us free to develop our board? Or will they take a chance that we have it? It's a tough call to make!
3 Cavern of Souls
3 Blooming Marsh
3 Horizon Canopy
3 Forest
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Dwynen's Elite
3 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Shaman of the Pack
4 Collected Company
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Elvish Champion
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Selfless Spirit
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Dismember
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Yixlid Jallier
1 Eternal Witness
Burn (2-0)
Game 1 - God Hand, Ezuri Stompy.
Game 2 - 6 life, he had 2 burn spells, but Chord called Burrenton then Elfball stuff.
GW Company (2-0)
Game 1 - Another God Hand, he tried GQ my lands, but isn't enought with mana dorks and Company.
Game 2 - Definition of power, just casted 3 Companys and 1 Chord in the same turn, 22 damage with Shamans.
Bant Eldrazi (2-1)
Game 1 - In the play this match is easy, Elfball stuff.
Game 2 - I had Archdruid and an army of 1 cmc, he did Explosives for 1, can't recover.
Game 3 - Revoker in the Noble then Dismember for his TKS, Company and gg.
Eldrazi Tron (Draw)
Late and we were tired, split but I think this is a favorable match.
Considerations:
First I tought about the numbers of Caverns and Canopys, but 4 is too much. The mana base was perfect, never misses any color.
UWx still looks a terrible match, I think that I need Lead the Stampede in the SB, but still can be countered so easily.
Thinking about change Dismember for Hornet Nest, looks good against Eldrazi and DS.
Westvale Abbey is another good option, but van hurt my mana base.
For nos, Abzan is the way to go I guess, still need test the GW Vizier yet.
As an aside so it's not just a stream ad, I've been thinking about playing Abzan but finding the correct balance between playing the right amount of Shamans, and possibly having the combo in the deck has been quite a dicey proposition. However, I think I might have hit the balance with the following:
3 Forest
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Windswept Heath
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Pendelhaven
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Nettle Sentinel
4 Devoted Druid
4 Dwynen's Elite
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Vizier of Remedies
4 Elvish Archdruid
3 Shaman of the Pack
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Collected Company
3 Chord of Calling
While I'm still uncertain about the combo overall, I think this is a great way to approach an Abzan list going forward, as it gives us everything we're looking for in a three colour list:
a) 9 black sources to cast Shaman and access to it (4 Cavern, 4 fetch, 1 Tomb)
b) 9 white sources independent of Cavern to cast Vizier and sideboard cards (3 Razorverge, 1 Horizon Canopy, 4 fetch, 1 Temple Garden)
c) no wasted flex slot lands due to a hungry mana base
It looks like the perfect storm of mana, tools and reach.
List looks really, really, ridiculously good. Personally I'd prefer a 2nd Canopy to the Pendelhaven, but that's just me. What would your sideboard look like?
Played a fairly stock GB list with a few changes: 2/2 split of Visionary/Sentinel and only 2 copies of Ezuri. I maindecked a Scooze, included an Elves of Deep Shadow, and played 9 spells (4 CoCo/3 Lead/2 Chord).
Round 1 vs Lantern Control:
Game 1 he Decayed a couple of dorks while assembling his lock pieces. Pyxis, Lantern, and Bell were down, but no Bridge. With more dorks down, including a Heritage Druid, my Lead found still more dorks and a Shaman. I laid down some dudes, cast a CoCo to find Shaman and Elite, then hardcast my other Shaman, followed by my 1/1s getting in for the win.
Game 2 I kept a risky one-lander with two dorks and everything else 3+ CMC, including my sideboarded Fracturing Gust. Opponent opened with a Lantern, Decayed my first dork on T2, then killed my second dork on T3 with a Collective Brutality, taking away my Lead for good measure, then played a Bell. I failed to hit another land drop, and when he laid down more Mill pieces on T4 I scooped.
Game 3 was grindy. His early Inquisition took away a Reclamation Sage, but he couldn't stop the mana dorks from doing their thing. I chipped in for a few points here and there while assembling a huge field, drawing and laying down Ezuri and Elite off a Lead. His next turn saw him lay down an Ensnaring Bridge and a Welding Jar, emptying his hand and passing back. With an ungodly amount of mana at my disposal, I played Eternal Witness, buying back my discarded Rec Sage, played it to draw out the Jar, then Chorded for a second Rec Sage to smash the Bridge, with enough mana left for a single Ezuri activation and a lethal swing. 2-1
Round 2 vs Dredge:
Game 1 I had a mediocre start, while his was strong (but not unbeatable). After a few turns of catching beats from Bloodghast, Amalgam, and Narcomeba and going to 8 life, I decided to trade my 3/3 Elite (buffed by Archdruid) for his Amalgam. Opponent had one card in hand, and unluckily for me, it was a land. Second main he played it, returning more Bloodghasts and Amalgams, including the one I'd just traded for. With a CoCo in hand, I went to my turn, and topdecked a Shaman. CoCoed into Shaman and Elite, hardcast my other Shaman, and got in with my meager board for exactly lethal. Whew!
Game 2 was a lot more casual. I kept an explosive hand, but one without grave hate. Opponent kept a hand that failed to fire. Chorded for Ezuri on his T3 end step and it was GG next turn. 2-0
Round 3 vs Skred Red: I flooded the board with dorks, outpacing his Bolts and Skreds, but a T3 Eternal Scourge was threatening to wall off my chump attackers...until I saw a spicy line of play. With Pendelhaven and 3 other lands open, plus 2x Heritage and 1x Llanowar open, I swung with a small army of 1/1 tokens and dorks. His Scourge blocked one. Before damage I made it a 2/3 with Pendelhaven, then Chorded for Archdruid, winning the trade and getting in for extra damage elsewhere. My Archdruid died to the Chandra he cast the next turn, but I then CoCoed into double Shaman and swung with small guys for the win.
Game 2 I opened with Nettle Sentinel into Dwynen's Elite, threatening a clock and baiting out a T3 Anger. I rebuilt with dorks and an Archdruid, only to eat another Anger. On his T5, he played a Chandra and passed, ticking her up to 5. I CoCoed on his end step for Ezuri and Archdruid, then got in for 5 to kill Chandra with those two, playing more Elves with my free lands. He took Ezuri down with a Skred, then Archdruid with a Bolt, and the grind was on. A topdecked Lead, finding (among other things) Eternal Witness who bought back CoCo was the ultimate value as I battled through Koth, Scourge, and more removal. A second Ezuri eventually sealed the deal. Exhilarating game and match. 2-0
Historically, my luck always seems to run out with Elves toward the end of the night. Maybe that would have been the case here if there'd been enough attendees for a 4th round, but as is, I'll take it! The ninth spell (and ninth mana dork to compensate) felt great--CoCo, Lead, and Chord all more than pulled their weight last night.
The single Horizon Canopy is a concession to the fetches and two shocks doing a decent amount of damage to us, so I don't want to absolutely fold to Burn.
Sideboard for this weekend stream is:
3 Lead
2 Dismember
1 Forge-Tender
1 Revoker
1 Scooze
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Eidolon
1 Witness
1 Rec Sage
1 Colossus
1 Corrosion
1 Gust
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Its been the best flex land I've played with in GB in ages. A lot of the time it acts as 14 points of reach in conjunction with a Shaman. Would definitely not cut it.
When building it I was wondering if it is better to run more of Chord of Calling or Lead the Stampede? Currently I built it around 4 coco, 3 chord of calling, and 1 lead the stampede. Has anyone play tested the numbers? Is it better to run more lead the stampede to stock the hand with heritage druid dorks?
Also, is it beneficial to run 1-2 Gavony Township? I don't see any lists running that but I feel like it could be useful if you aren't drawing necessary combo pieces so you can at least swing in?
Thank you in advance! I look forward to playing the deck and will post results
Lets run through the questions:
Chord vs Lead -
Highly debated topic, but one we've hit a conclusion on. It depends on what you want to do, and what your meta is like. Most of us, myself included, play a combination of both.
Chord lends itself to increasing the speed and velocity of the deck by letting us tutor key Elves (we are an aggro-combo deck, after all!), while Lead gives us a bit more resilience by allowing us to draw more Elves to continue flooding the board. I personally find Chord lends itself to game 1 situations more than Lead does, so I play with Chords in the main, and Leads in the sideboard.
A particular exception to that is if you're on the GW Vizier variant, in which case Chord is the only way in the main deck as it lets you tutor up infinite mana.
Gavony Township hasn't seen much testing admittedly, but that's mostly due to the nature of the card itself - it's cost prohibitive by forcing you to pay both white and green. Further, usually dude size isn't a problem in the GW variants, the real problem is having dudes on board in the first place, so it doesn't help unless you're already ahead for the most part.
Also, one more question for now I promise.. I am running a build that is mostly GB but splashes white. How valuable is horizon canopy? Is it worth the &100 price tag? I remember running it in maverick legacy before it jumped so high (used to only be $20) and it was good for that style deck.
Mass removal is the enemy when you first start playing the list, but after some play you learn how to play around it. Generally most lists wouldn't have main deck wipes (UW Control/Esper Control aside, they have main deck Supreme Verdicts) so you can generally get away with following your own plan in game one. Game two you have to be willing to grind with them, and chip them down for the Shamans or a sneaky Ezuri activation to kill them. Cards that protect you against wipes are okay...but the best protection to wipes is good, clean play - but a Selfless Spirit won't hurt. (A note about UW Control - I think we're favoured in the matchup, despite the main deck wipes).
Horizon Canopy is a great land, but if you don't have one you don't really miss out too much. You gain percentage by being able to cash in the land, but lose percentage in races and against Burn. It's almost certainly worth the pricetag, but if you ain't got one, you're not gonna be horrendously behind the other lists. 1% max even.
Most of Valakut deck (like Titan Shift) mainboard Anger of Gods so, it's a bad matchup for us.
Here some advice for sideboard:
Gaddock Teeg for Scapeshift, Primeval Titan and Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Aven Mindcensor for Scapeshift, Summoner's Pact, Primeval Titan's trigger ability, Search for Tomorrow (or other search land cards) and fetchlands
Burrenton Forge-Tender/Selfless Spirit for Anger of Gods
Thoughtseize for hand disruption
Elvish Champion to get through blockers
Stain the Mind to get rid of Scapeshift, Primeval Titan or Anger of Gods
Hope this will help!
I realize Finks potential strengths but it has 3 potential weaknesses in my experience. Firstly, postboard your opponent will bring in Grafdigger's without a doubt which makes an already good card against us even better. Secondly, Path converts Finks into a very average creature. Thirdly, it's a three drop which has the possibility of not coming out until T4 if you miss a land drop and they're killing your dorks - it happens.
The reasons why I like Lone are because it gives you 4 life off the bat, it's a t2 play, and its 2 power body is nice against Burn/Zoo's creatures save Nacatl. Lastly it's much easier to chord for in a pinch.
My question to you guys is, does Finks' potential strengths overshadow its potential weaknesses when comparing to Lone Missionary as a replacement?
On a different note, I would like to continue the discussion of Gavony Township.
Activation:
If you're running any type of white noncreature spell in the sideboard it's because you have enough white sources to cast them and activate Gavony. Lastly, paying 4 mana in Elves is extremely achievable as early as T3.
MUs:
It's relatively bad against decks you need to race such as Hyperaggro, creatureless combo, and creature combo. It shines in slow games and against decks packed with removal.
Comparing to Counters Company:
The reason why it's good in Counters Company (formerly Abzan Company) is because, like us, they flood the board quickly with dorks and company. With Gavony, these dorks become an eventual threat that forces your opponent to react to a 3/3 Elvish Visionary which screams value. There are reasons why it's better in Counters Company such as synergy with Finks/Redcap and better grind potential but these aren't good enough to say the card is bad in Elves.
As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth