I just started toying with the deck and tomorrow is the first FNM where I am going to test it. Can somebody answer few questions? I'm playing non Vizier Abzan version with Shamans and Ezuri.
- when siding in what is the first thing we side out? is it a creature for a creature?
- I know being a CoCo deck the more noncreature spells we side in the worse. Is Shapers Sanctuary worth siding in or do we just approve their spot removal and play over it?
- is a split of 2 Decays and 2 Paths good or is one better than the other in Elves?
- how good is Essence Warden? Is it worth playing and if so against what?
this is my current SB
3x Thoughtseize
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Lead the Stampede
1x Rest in Peace
1x Stony Silence
1x Kataki
1x Essence Warden
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
When siding out, if the matchup is grindy I will take out Chords and Nettles first. If the matchup is a race I will look at Visionaries as a first cut. Keeping the creature count high is important for CoCo math, but you can fudge it a little bit with a creature for spell sub if you need to.
If you have access to white, I'd just go 4 paths instead of 2/2 split with abrupt decay. I run GB and I just use 2 Dismember for my SB removal and it seems to work for me. Not a big essence warden guy myself, if you've got alot of burn it can sure be helpful but even with that I'd want to run more than 1 to hit it early without having to chord for it (by then the game is decided). After having played with Lead the Stampede in both the main and the side I've come to dislike the card. In the matchups where those two would come in for you I'd much rather a Nissa, Vital Force and a copy of Lifecrafters Bestiary.
I ran an abzan list but I didn't have any fetches. I went with the "painless" approach with Gilt leaf, blooming Marsh, horizon canopy, cavern, and Razorverge Thicket. It was very hard to cast non creature spells. I think with running fetches it helps you get the correct colors you need in order to cast your non creature spells. The hardest part with non creature spells is that we have to draw them.
I had a lot of fun playing the deck today for the first time ever. Missed few Nettle triggers but apart from that I guess a decent display. The manabase was allright (although if I get third Cavern I will probably swap a Swamp for it as it is awkward, until then I think I will play Pendelhaven instead). Beaten GW Vizier Elves, BW tokens and some rogue deck. Lost to 4c Death Shadow.
This is the list I played. I know Itlimoc and Craterhoof may seem like cute plays but so far they didn't let me down. Craterhoof won the game twice.
Had five small elves on board (including Heritage Druid) and an active Itlimoc and facing lethal next turn via opp's flyers, cast Company on his end step grab Ezuri and Elite, tap them and Llanowar, cast another Company grabbing two Archdruids. Untap, draw, tap Itlimoc and grandpas pump creatures via Ezuri twice, Chord for Behemoth and attack for 180 against his three 3/3 flying tokens
Games like that are definitely fun, but were your two wins from Craterhoof not including the game you describe? Because if you are serious about evaluating Craterhoof then you can’t count that as winning the game when it was already locked up off the collected company.
I just can’t help but think would a 3rd chord of calling be just as good as a craterhoof and less awkward in your opener?
Yeah I guess I could have just pump via Ezuri once more and win anyway Both times times Craterhoof was win more with style points - once played from hand and once Called for it. Thing is the amount of mana I get from Itlimoc/Druids allows me to do that. I bet one day I will get Needle, Spyglass, Linvala blocking Ezuri (people were siding those in and been just unlucky not to get them on time) and then Hoof becomes just as good backup plan. I was considering Regal Force instead of Hoof but I if I have those > 4 Elves I'd rather for Hoof for the win.
I chose Abzan due to it's wide range of angles it can go for the throat - I don't like depending too much on one card (Ezuri) - I don't have unlimited mana for Ezuri via Vizier/Druid combo but I have enough to play Ezuri and pump it once/twice, flood the board with Elves and drop some Shamans or a one off Beast (just in case)
I'm not trying to force it upon you pretending everyone should play it, just saying it works for me. IMHO Itlimoc is too powerful NOT to be played.
Oh I know you aren’t trying to force craterhoof on us. I just wanted to hear critical analysis alongside the fun of totally destroying someone.
Havent played it long enough for that
Shapers' Sanctuary is working great. Has anyone tested Mark of Asylum - this should stop Anger and Pyroclasm as well or do we just depend on that one off Selfless Spirit or Forge Tender?
Shapers' Sanctuary is working great. Has anyone tested Mark of Asylum - this should stop Anger and Pyroclasm as well or do we just depend on that one off Selfless Spirit or Forge Tender?
I think it's better to Chord for Selfless Spirit/Forge Tender instead. Mark of Asylum is too situational. Even in a meta of Jeskai decks, I would rather just board in Shapers' Sanctuary for additional gas that is crucial in this match up
Regarding your decklist - I'd rather play Pendelhaven before I even consider Okina. Also Dwynen's Elite is gold - pump it to four copies cutting one Visionary who in my opinion is weakest Elf in the deck. Harbinger is a 3 mana Elf - look at other 3 mana Elves (Shaman, Archdruid and Ezuri) and compare their power to hers. If you need to find Ezuri - Chord and CoCo are doing a better job. Playing strict Golgari version with no access to W I would consider Abrupt Decay and/or Dismember in the SB.
So I've done a ton of lurking but this is my first post in here. I had a 1k modern event this weekend that I took GB Elves to and thought I’d share my results. There were 55 entries and I finished 13th (4-2 record). Here is my list:
Titan Shift L 1-2
Game one he has Anger main deck and I run into it and he proceeds to do his ramp and is quicker than I can rebuild. Game two he doesn’t have Anger and I Shaman of the Pact him pretty quick. I mulliganed strictly for a degenerate start because I know this match boils down to whether he draws Anger or not. If I try to pace my threats then he gets enough time to do his thing and I cannot allow that. Game three he has Anger twice and I lose. He ended up finishing third in the event.
Four Color Midrange W 2-0
Game one he bolts my Elvish Mystic turn one, then goes Confidant into Knight of the Reliquary. I follow up with two more Elvish Mystic, next turn Visionary into Archdruid, then Ezuri and overrun the win. Game two he bolts my Elf turn one then has Ethersworm Cannonist but it slows him down as much as it does me. Turn two I drop a Shapers’ Sanctuary so I’ll always have a full hand between the Cannonist and the Sanctuary if he removes my one play. We grind for a bit and he ends up having a LotV in play which sacrifices my last creature. I get super lucky the next few turns and get to play an Archdruid which survives, then next turn play Dwynen’s Elite so I don’t have to worry about removal into Lili minus. He then -2 to sac his own Cannonist which loses his Lili. This allows him to cast multiple creatures into another Cannonist. Thankfully I top deck Ezuri and overrun again for the win. My opponent said the Sanctuary slowed him down quite a bit (besides the Cannonist, obviously).
UR Breach w/ As Foretold W 2-0
Game one he stumbles and I have a good start and Shaman for the easy win. Game two he actually hits his lands and plays Remand a few times but I eventually get to play stuff that all die to bolts or get countered by Logic Knot. I land a Scavenging Ooze uncontested and grow it out of bolt range the same turn. It becomes a 7 power creature over the next turn or two and kills him.
GDS L 0-2
Game one he has a DS and a Tasigur. I have a huge field and an Llanowar Elf and a Shaman in hand. I don’t remember the creatures but if I attack with my board and he blocks my two biggest creatures then he goes to a life total that kills if I play Elf/Shaman. He responds to the Shaman trigger with Terminate which puts him to one and no cards in hand. He top decks a Snap to then flashback Push on my one untapped creature and he swings for 16 which happened to be my life total. Terrible feeling but I’d play the line again in a heartbeat. Game two I draw one land for the first 6-7 turns but have a ton of mana elves. He ends up playing Kozilek’s Return and lots of other removal to kill seven mana worth of mana elves and I can’t rebuild enough with only one land. I drew a second but it was after the damage was done.
Elves 2-0
He’s on the play and is on three color. He does Nettle Sentinel/Heritage druid shenanigans but only has one Shaman to put me to 10 or so. I have the same Nettle/Heritage draw but get to respond to my first Shaman trigger with a CoCo that nets me another Shaman so 22 damage later via Shaman and I steal game one. Game two I get to double Shaman again over two casts and steal two games on the draw.
Sultai Midrange 2-0
Game one he has little interaction and I easily overrun with Ezuri/Archdruid. Game two I had a sweet play to put the game away. I have three lands, an Archdruid, a Chameleon Colossus, and another Elvish Mystic in play while he has a Grim Flayer and 5 mana. My hand is double Dwynen’s Elite and Nissa, Vital Force. I cast both Elite’s and get the tokens. I tap Archdruid for seven mana, spend five on Nissa then -3 her to get the Heritage Druid in my graveyard. I cast it and tap it and my two tokens for three mana and using the one float pump my Colossus to a 10/10 and swing. He has no non-black interaction for it so it puts him to a total to where he can’t get rid of the Colossus but if he did I’d have a Nissa to swing a lethal land.
As I said I got 13th place out of 55 (full results: http://geekfortress.wpengine.com/modern-1k-winter-edition-final-results/) so I’m pleased with the result but I really wanted top 8. The deck felt wonderful and I wouldn’t change anything main deck. The side also felt good and there wasn’t ever a card I thought was awful. I didn’t face any Eldrazi matchups for Glissa and didn’t draw it against GDS in case people were wondering about that one.
I think 2x Ezuri in GB is pretty standard. You get to rely on Shaman as a closer so you don't need to find Ezuri as consistently as the GW versions.
I'm not @Saige, but Westvale Abbey has been amazing for me. I don't think I've lost a game where I've flipped it. Though I see a lot of successful lists running Nykthos as well.
I don't have enough testing with planeswalkers in the board to say how good they actually are, but I know @Syreal is a big advocate of them. You can look him up on twitch I believe and watch some of his old streams to see them in action.
I'm thinking about Nissa, Vital Force or Garruk Wildspeaker. What i really love about this deck that you can play many good cards.
The only times I would have needed Abbey was against the Anger's and Kozilek's Return. I certainly wish I had drawn it at those times but I can say Westvale has been a key defense many times and I'd never consider it over Nykthos. I did use the extra Clerics in my round 2 match to continue applying pressure throughout the game 2 with the Cannonist out. Nykthos wouldn't have done squat that game.
Nissa has been a pretty solid card in matches that slow down and when you can cast it turn 3, it's fantastic. I can also see Garruk being equally great but since reaching four mana with a black source and five mana with no color restriction other than green both happen on average around turn 3, I went with the easier color restriction.
Hey all! I recently bought into MTGO, and ended up choosing to build GB Elves over UW Control (my two favorite paper decks) as my online deck of choice. So far, over five friendly Modern leagues (I’m told that the skill level there is the same or
similar to competitive leagues but the decks aren’t as consistently top tier), my record is 18-7, including a 5-0 last night. My list has remained unchanged from the one that’s been serving me well in paper:
Some slight budgetary concessions have been made (1 Cavern instead of 2; Duress over Thoughtseize [though Duress is much nicer against Burn]), but otherwise this is what I’ve been having success with in paper as well. Major findings:
- The maindeck Scooze has been approaching MVP status. I love slamming him on turn 5 or 6 of a grindy match against red-based decks with lots of spot removal and watching him just take over. It’s also great to have some Chordable grave hate against the usual suspects plus newer decks like Hollow One.
- The one-of Throne has been fantastic as well. I had a Lantern player scoop to it on sight, for instance. Beyond that, I seem to win roughly 40% of the time from overwhelming Shaman/Throne drain and 40% of the time from go-wide beats with Shaman/Throne assists (the other 20% coming from Ezuri overruns). Throne as a part of the early progression often makes either of the primary win conditions a turn quicker than they would otherwise be.
- A 2/2 split on Lead/Chord still feels right to me. When the Elf train is chugging along, either will put the nail in the coffin with the way GB plays. When we’re facing disruption, I like having access to both: Chord for instant-speed Ezuri to regen or Scooze to hose the grave or Shaman for lethal; Lead to rebuild post-wipe or just enable a completely degenerate turn with Heritage/Nettle/Dwynen’s synergies.
- Tajuru Preserver has cemented his place in my sideboard. A reasonably costed in-tribe body that blows out Living End, Emrakul, Liliana of the Veil, and some other things I’m likely forgetting is good enough for me. While there are lots of other cards with wider applications, I’ve come to realize that overboarding with this deck can be a real danger, so I’m happy with narrow but powerful selections like Preserver.
I've been playing Elves for years now, but I've always gone Mono-Green until recently. I swapped over to a budget version of CoCo Pack Elves in GB and I've loved having spot removal as an option. My LGS meta seems to have a lot of Tron, Fish, WAY TO MUCH JUND (complete with Tarmogoyfs of course), so that explains why I currently have two Selfless Spirits in the main board: I face lots and lots of wipes...
I really want to try Abzan CoCo Elves though and here's how it currently looks:
Additional options I have available:
3 Lead the Stampede
1 Throne of the God-Pharoah
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Craterhoof Behemoth
4 Unclaimed Territory
1 Stony Silence
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
I am mostly concerned about the side board options.
I'm (slowly) trying to acquire Thoughtseizes and Horizon Canopies.
In mono-green I ended up using 1 Heroic Intervention in the main and 1 in the side because I faced so many Jund decks running board wipes, hence the Spirits.
all of the following is just my opinion, i hope i am of help!
It seems you're going for a creature-oriented toolbox approach, so i'd say you should run all 4 unclaimed territoryies you have in addition to the 2 cavern of souls: if you happen to draw one of your silver bullets, you can simply name something other than "elf". this way these lands grant you access to all colors.
I'd say you should remove the basic plains and swamp, since you want all your lands to be able to produce green mana. Here's what i propose:
With this configuration you have 11 black sources and 10 white sources. Honestly i think this is the best you can do with the lands you have. They are enough for the creature toolbox approach, but they are too few if you plan to cast noncreature spells in W or B.(or G abilities!). For that, you'd need more fetchlands as cavern and unclaimed territories don't count for spells. You really should, in my opinion, decide if you want to go with manly creature bullets or spells, and build your manabase accordigly. In my opinion it is way easier for you to go with creatures, as the manabase can be more easily fetchless and painless like the one you have available (so that i don't think you really need dragon's claw). Mirror entity and tajuru preserver have overlapping utility against living end, if you're low on sideboards slot maybe choose one of them?
If you're planning to do any purchases in the near future, i'd start with a temple garden, so that every green fetchland you have can grant you access to all three colours.
Thanks for the feedback! I definitely want a creature-based toolbox but was unsure what creatures could replace the effects. I didn't do too much digging before building the original list.
I DO have a Temple Garden...though I have it in my Selesnya Enchantress EDH deck at the moment (which is a VERY satisfying deck to play, I might add!)...I'll see about picking up another at my LGS or in a trade. I can't decide what other land to drop in it's place though...one of the basic forests perhaps? That would give me 11 sources for both secondary colors.
I also found a number of other potential silver bullets among my collection:
As for the Mirror Entity, it serves a dual-purpose since as you pointed out, it's great against Living End, but someone earlier in this primer (may have been in the OP...) said it also functions in the match against Fish, turning my elves into x/x Merfolk with Islandwalk and +1/+1 if they're running Lord of Atlantis et cetera.
2x Heath
2x Cavern
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Temple Garden
1x Pendelhaven
1x Canopy
3x Forest
1x Swamp
When siding out, if the matchup is grindy I will take out Chords and Nettles first. If the matchup is a race I will look at Visionaries as a first cut. Keeping the creature count high is important for CoCo math, but you can fudge it a little bit with a creature for spell sub if you need to.
If you have access to white, I'd just go 4 paths instead of 2/2 split with abrupt decay. I run GB and I just use 2 Dismember for my SB removal and it seems to work for me. Not a big essence warden guy myself, if you've got alot of burn it can sure be helpful but even with that I'd want to run more than 1 to hit it early without having to chord for it (by then the game is decided). After having played with Lead the Stampede in both the main and the side I've come to dislike the card. In the matchups where those two would come in for you I'd much rather a Nissa, Vital Force and a copy of Lifecrafters Bestiary.
This is the list I played. I know Itlimoc and Craterhoof may seem like cute plays but so far they didn't let me down. Craterhoof won the game twice.
Had five small elves on board (including Heritage Druid) and an active Itlimoc and facing lethal next turn via opp's flyers, cast Company on his end step grab Ezuri and Elite, tap them and Llanowar, cast another Company grabbing two Archdruids. Untap, draw, tap Itlimoc and grandpas pump creatures via Ezuri twice, Chord for Behemoth and attack for 180 against his three 3/3 flying tokens
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Heritage Druid
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Dwynen's Elite
4x Elvish Archdruid
2x Elvish Visionary
4x Shaman of the Pack
3x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
2x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1x Lead the Stampede
4x Collected Company
2x Chord of Calling
2x Windswept Heath
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Temple Garden
2x Cavern of Souls
1x Horizon Canopy
3x Forest
1x Swamp
3x Shaper's Sanctuary
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Path to Exile
2x Thoughtseize
2x Rest in Peace
1x Stony Silence
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Reclamation Sage
as for SB Sanctuary is amazing and I think I will go:
- Sage - Colossus - Pte
+ Decay + Thoughtseize + Lead the Stampede.
I just can’t help but think would a 3rd chord of calling be just as good as a craterhoof and less awkward in your opener?
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
I chose Abzan due to it's wide range of angles it can go for the throat - I don't like depending too much on one card (Ezuri) - I don't have unlimited mana for Ezuri via Vizier/Druid combo but I have enough to play Ezuri and pump it once/twice, flood the board with Elves and drop some Shamans or a one off Beast (just in case)
I'm not trying to force it upon you pretending everyone should play it, just saying it works for me. IMHO Itlimoc is too powerful NOT to be played.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Havent played it long enough for that
Shapers' Sanctuary is working great. Has anyone tested Mark of Asylum - this should stop Anger and Pyroclasm as well or do we just depend on that one off Selfless Spirit or Forge Tender?
Have any of you testet IT?
4x Elvish Archdruid
4x Elvish Mystic
3x Elvish Visionary
2x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1x Gnarlroot Trapper
4x Heritage Druid
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Shaman of the Pack
3x Lead the Stampede
1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
4x Blooming Marsh
4x Cavern of Souls
5x Forest
4x Gilt-Leaf Palace
1x Westvale Abbey
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Elvish Champion
1x Glissa, the Traitor
1x Nissa, Vital Force
2x Reclamation Sage
1x Scavenging Ooze
3x Shapers' Sanctuary
3x Thoughtseize
Titan Shift L 1-2
Game one he has Anger main deck and I run into it and he proceeds to do his ramp and is quicker than I can rebuild. Game two he doesn’t have Anger and I Shaman of the Pact him pretty quick. I mulliganed strictly for a degenerate start because I know this match boils down to whether he draws Anger or not. If I try to pace my threats then he gets enough time to do his thing and I cannot allow that. Game three he has Anger twice and I lose. He ended up finishing third in the event.
Four Color Midrange W 2-0
Game one he bolts my Elvish Mystic turn one, then goes Confidant into Knight of the Reliquary. I follow up with two more Elvish Mystic, next turn Visionary into Archdruid, then Ezuri and overrun the win. Game two he bolts my Elf turn one then has Ethersworm Cannonist but it slows him down as much as it does me. Turn two I drop a Shapers’ Sanctuary so I’ll always have a full hand between the Cannonist and the Sanctuary if he removes my one play. We grind for a bit and he ends up having a LotV in play which sacrifices my last creature. I get super lucky the next few turns and get to play an Archdruid which survives, then next turn play Dwynen’s Elite so I don’t have to worry about removal into Lili minus. He then -2 to sac his own Cannonist which loses his Lili. This allows him to cast multiple creatures into another Cannonist. Thankfully I top deck Ezuri and overrun again for the win. My opponent said the Sanctuary slowed him down quite a bit (besides the Cannonist, obviously).
UR Breach w/ As Foretold W 2-0
Game one he stumbles and I have a good start and Shaman for the easy win. Game two he actually hits his lands and plays Remand a few times but I eventually get to play stuff that all die to bolts or get countered by Logic Knot. I land a Scavenging Ooze uncontested and grow it out of bolt range the same turn. It becomes a 7 power creature over the next turn or two and kills him.
GDS L 0-2
Game one he has a DS and a Tasigur. I have a huge field and an Llanowar Elf and a Shaman in hand. I don’t remember the creatures but if I attack with my board and he blocks my two biggest creatures then he goes to a life total that kills if I play Elf/Shaman. He responds to the Shaman trigger with Terminate which puts him to one and no cards in hand. He top decks a Snap to then flashback Push on my one untapped creature and he swings for 16 which happened to be my life total. Terrible feeling but I’d play the line again in a heartbeat. Game two I draw one land for the first 6-7 turns but have a ton of mana elves. He ends up playing Kozilek’s Return and lots of other removal to kill seven mana worth of mana elves and I can’t rebuild enough with only one land. I drew a second but it was after the damage was done.
Elves 2-0
He’s on the play and is on three color. He does Nettle Sentinel/Heritage druid shenanigans but only has one Shaman to put me to 10 or so. I have the same Nettle/Heritage draw but get to respond to my first Shaman trigger with a CoCo that nets me another Shaman so 22 damage later via Shaman and I steal game one. Game two I get to double Shaman again over two casts and steal two games on the draw.
Sultai Midrange 2-0
Game one he has little interaction and I easily overrun with Ezuri/Archdruid. Game two I had a sweet play to put the game away. I have three lands, an Archdruid, a Chameleon Colossus, and another Elvish Mystic in play while he has a Grim Flayer and 5 mana. My hand is double Dwynen’s Elite and Nissa, Vital Force. I cast both Elite’s and get the tokens. I tap Archdruid for seven mana, spend five on Nissa then -3 her to get the Heritage Druid in my graveyard. I cast it and tap it and my two tokens for three mana and using the one float pump my Colossus to a 10/10 and swing. He has no non-black interaction for it so it puts him to a total to where he can’t get rid of the Colossus but if he did I’d have a Nissa to swing a lethal land.
As I said I got 13th place out of 55 (full results: http://geekfortress.wpengine.com/modern-1k-winter-edition-final-results/) so I’m pleased with the result but I really wanted top 8. The deck felt wonderful and I wouldn’t change anything main deck. The side also felt good and there wasn’t ever a card I thought was awful. I didn’t face any Eldrazi matchups for Glissa and didn’t draw it against GDS in case people were wondering about that one.
I'm not @Saige, but Westvale Abbey has been amazing for me. I don't think I've lost a game where I've flipped it. Though I see a lot of successful lists running Nykthos as well.
I don't have enough testing with planeswalkers in the board to say how good they actually are, but I know @Syreal is a big advocate of them. You can look him up on twitch I believe and watch some of his old streams to see them in action.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
The only times I would have needed Abbey was against the Anger's and Kozilek's Return. I certainly wish I had drawn it at those times but I can say Westvale has been a key defense many times and I'd never consider it over Nykthos. I did use the extra Clerics in my round 2 match to continue applying pressure throughout the game 2 with the Cannonist out. Nykthos wouldn't have done squat that game.
Nissa has been a pretty solid card in matches that slow down and when you can cast it turn 3, it's fantastic. I can also see Garruk being equally great but since reaching four mana with a black source and five mana with no color restriction other than green both happen on average around turn 3, I went with the easier color restriction.
similar to competitive leagues but the decks aren’t as consistently top tier), my record is 18-7, including a 5-0 last night. My list has remained unchanged from the one that’s been serving me well in paper:
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Pendelhaven
1 Westvale Abbey
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Shaman of the Pack
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Lead the Stampede
2 Chord of Calling
1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Duress
2 Shapers’ Sanctuary
1 Eternal Witness
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Stain the Mind
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Tajuru Preserver
Some slight budgetary concessions have been made (1 Cavern instead of 2; Duress over Thoughtseize [though Duress is much nicer against Burn]), but otherwise this is what I’ve been having success with in paper as well. Major findings:
- The maindeck Scooze has been approaching MVP status. I love slamming him on turn 5 or 6 of a grindy match against red-based decks with lots of spot removal and watching him just take over. It’s also great to have some Chordable grave hate against the usual suspects plus newer decks like Hollow One.
- The one-of Throne has been fantastic as well. I had a Lantern player scoop to it on sight, for instance. Beyond that, I seem to win roughly 40% of the time from overwhelming Shaman/Throne drain and 40% of the time from go-wide beats with Shaman/Throne assists (the other 20% coming from Ezuri overruns). Throne as a part of the early progression often makes either of the primary win conditions a turn quicker than they would otherwise be.
- A 2/2 split on Lead/Chord still feels right to me. When the Elf train is chugging along, either will put the nail in the coffin with the way GB plays. When we’re facing disruption, I like having access to both: Chord for instant-speed Ezuri to regen or Scooze to hose the grave or Shaman for lethal; Lead to rebuild post-wipe or just enable a completely degenerate turn with Heritage/Nettle/Dwynen’s synergies.
- Tajuru Preserver has cemented his place in my sideboard. A reasonably costed in-tribe body that blows out Living End, Emrakul, Liliana of the Veil, and some other things I’m likely forgetting is good enough for me. While there are lots of other cards with wider applications, I’ve come to realize that overboarding with this deck can be a real danger, so I’m happy with narrow but powerful selections like Preserver.
I really want to try Abzan CoCo Elves though and here's how it currently looks:
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Forest
1 Gilt-Leaf Palace
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Pendelhaven
1 Plains
4 Sunpetal Grove
1 Swamp
1 Windswept Heath
Creatures
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Elvish Visionary
1 Eternal Witness
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Selfless Spirit
4 Shaman of the Pack
3 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
1 Lead the Stampede
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Dragon's Claw
2 Duress
2 Fatal Push
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Mirror Entity
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Rest in Peace
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1 Choke
1 Tajuru Preserver
Additional options I have available:
3 Lead the Stampede
1 Throne of the God-Pharoah
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Craterhoof Behemoth
4 Unclaimed Territory
1 Stony Silence
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
I am mostly concerned about the side board options.
I'm (slowly) trying to acquire Thoughtseizes and Horizon Canopies.
In mono-green I ended up using 1 Heroic Intervention in the main and 1 in the side because I faced so many Jund decks running board wipes, hence the Spirits.
Thanks for the feedback! I definitely want a creature-based toolbox but was unsure what creatures could replace the effects. I didn't do too much digging before building the original list.
I DO have a Temple Garden...though I have it in my Selesnya Enchantress EDH deck at the moment (which is a VERY satisfying deck to play, I might add!)...I'll see about picking up another at my LGS or in a trade. I can't decide what other land to drop in it's place though...one of the basic forests perhaps? That would give me 11 sources for both secondary colors.
I also found a number of other potential silver bullets among my collection:
2 Nissa, Vital Force
1 Beast Within
1 Shapers' Sanctuary
2 Kitesail Freebooter
2 Fairgrounds Warden
1 Banisher Priest (leaning towards the Warden though due to the single white mana in the cost)
4 Nettle Sentinel I took these out since they only function properly with a Heritage Druid in play...
1 Pendelhaven Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze (I KNEW I had a second one of these somewhere!)
1 Dryad Militant
1 Gilt-Leaf Winnower
2 Imperious Perfect
1 Elvish Champion
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
Thoughts?
As for the Mirror Entity, it serves a dual-purpose since as you pointed out, it's great against Living End, but someone earlier in this primer (may have been in the OP...) said it also functions in the match against Fish, turning my elves into x/x Merfolk with Islandwalk and +1/+1 if they're running Lord of Atlantis et cetera.