MTG Salvation

I called to make sure and the 2 stores I could get too after work before FNM don't have Wrap in Vigor, so I am with Fracturing Gust. The Sunday IQ store does have Wrap in Vigor, so I will bring it in there

Would Natural State replace Nature's Claim even though it doesn't touch Twin?

There are no good allies here for us which is just sad. The best one might be Oath of Gideon or that Equipment which generates kor ally tokens. It is about it from my understanding.

Natural State could be interesting, but it doesn't hit Twin.

I don't think Natural State is where Elves wants to be in terms of removal. We would have played Nature's Claim if that was the case. Still, it is a nice card and something to think about it. I would like it better if it hit Twin as well.

It is officially time to provide my latest concoction using ideas presented within and without. I will be going to an FNM and hopefully a Sunday IQ this week. This will probably be my last modern event until a March IQ. This year I plan on attending at least 1 GP (my first) and that is going to be Indianapolis.


Fracturing Gust will replace Wrap in Vigor if store doesn't have it.

I think Slivers could play this card either in the main or in the side. We have 12 colorless sources of mana and that is all that we would need to run it. I would picture at least 2 possibly in the main and would help the twin matchup either replacing the Spellskites or trimming a couple utility slivers elsewhere.

It has alot of uses especially when we have access to vial. We can slow roll a lot of thins with vial and this card that we couldn't before. I think it has potential for slivers even the last ability has game against Etched Champion.

Beck/Call can't work with Heritage Druid mana. This is why Beck/Call isn't played. If Beck/Call could be played and chained off of heritage druid mana it would be the preferred deck by far. If we have birchlore rangers, Beck/Call would be playd because we could generate consistant Blue mana. If we had a higher casting cost Glimpse that could be chained off of heritage druid mana, it would be played and tested and possibly would be a better Collected Company. I think I would replace Company with that card, and just kinda storm out although that might not be the correct move.

I was right. Elves fell off with the rise of Combo and probably no longer the new hotness. It is still powerful, see Sullano's place. However, if the meta shifts back to linear aggro or interactive midrange/control. You could see Elves gain back their metashare.

If we could get a Glipse effect for 3 mana, I would so totally be there. I don't know what it would replace or coexist with, but I would definitely try it. This enchantment is just too expensive and goes on the same heap as Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Garruk Caller of Beasts, and Regal Force.

If we could get a Glipse effect for 3 mana, I would so totally be there. I don't know what it would replace or coexist with, but I would definitely try it. This enchantment is just too expensive and goes on the same heap as Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Garruk Caller of Beasts, and Regal Force.

I don't know the answer to warping wail and others.

I think though if I am going to go the essentially mono-green version, I am going to need some form of Boardwipe protection. I think Mark of Asylum is our strongest answer, followed by BFT and Golgari Charm. Golgari Charm is good due to its flexibility, but the regeneration is key followed by the anti-twin enchantment clause. Mono-Green doesn't have that same answer for boardwipes. I went looking for Anti-Boardwipe protection in mono-green and found 2 answers. Only 1 of which I think is really acceptable. Fresh Meat is 3G instant that replaces our creatures with 3/3 beasts. If we have the mana this is superior due to still having a boardstate if we don't have the elves. I don't think this though is the answer. at 4 mana, it is extremely klunky in all versions of Elves.

My answer for mono-green versions is Wrap in Vigor. This is green's anti-boardwipe protection and is decent and castable with heritage druid mana. I will be testing this as I move away from a colored SB for FNM and Starcity IQ. I am hoping that my gameshop has them on Friday.

It would be different if we ran Mutavaults. I think it would be decent in Slivers and Merfolk. It doesn't work so well with us. The colorless mana is an issue and the primary issue at that. Even if it works for us, it would be primarily a sideboard card. We wouldn't want it in the main.

I don't have much experience with the Eldrazi deck, however, I don't think our strategy changes much. Elf-storm to Victory and see if you can win.

They are going to get big and they are going to get big fast, but that is generally not that much of an issue against a resolved Ezuri or Shaman of the Pack. They probably have boardwipes depending on their versions, but Elves know how to play through boardwipes.

Their issue is fast aggro decks and getting in before they can ramp up midrange. Surprisingly, Chameleon Colossus isn't going to be that great of an Allstar as Devoid shuts off the pro-black.

Each version of Eldrazi will play differently and will require different sideboarding choices.

As for your list, you should get some life gain either in Finks or Essence Warden. If you are running the hybrid version, I would recommend Finks. Especially due to your use of Shocks/Fetches against Burn/Zoo/Affinity and the like.

Beast Within could certainly be useful against Eldrazi, but it won't be really that useful. They have surprising amount of mana-resiliancy in the deck. They can and will wait it out until they draw other things. Be Fast, be aggressive. They will resolve things. You might have a worse matchup then other Elf decks because of your use of Fetchlands (putting something in the graveyard and the damage they cause will only help them.

Don't think of the Matchup as a Tron. Think of it is a Jund/Abzan/grixis grindy matchup. It will help solidify your thinking around it. It isn't tron, nor trying to be tron.

I think most of the discussion with lead the stampede was like 10 pages ago.

The short version is Lead the Stampede is for resiliancy in the face of boardwipes and targetted removal as well as Elf-storming to Victory(TM). Chord is for a diverse toolkit of hatebears and speed. Chord is faster and Lead is slower. They both can win on turns 3 and 4, but Lead does it by trying to chain cast multiple creatures to swarm the board. They each are simliar, but offer a different strategy for playing the game and sideboard choices. I am more familiar with Lead play, but for Lead/Messenger builds which I recommend if just going mono-green. The point is to chain cast Leads and Messengers to swarm the board with elves preferably with lords and win via Swarm Elf weenie beats or Ezuri Overrun. You tap out frequently and you run into boardwipes more frequently, but can recover with all the Card Advantage off of Leads. You want to keep casting Elves like an old World War 1 battlefield. Chord is different. Chord is more surgical. You want to swarm out, but not overextend. You want to have enough creatures on the board to be able to chord at the end of turn or on that turn to win the game instantly.

THe issue with Chord is that it is fragile. You need a boardstate to chord to win, so pyroclasms and targetted removal can be issues. You have worse matchups against Grindy decks, but better matchpus where Hatebears can make a difference and against Combo. The Chord version is more complex and requires more decision making and therefore more points where it could go wrong.

The issue with Lead decks are slower. You can dig through multiple gas spells and NOT find the answer you need to win on that turn or hte next or the next. I have lost to merfolk for want of an Ezuri where if I could have chorded for one I could have one. The Lead one is also simpler in strategy. We try to Elf-storm and pray that is enough. It is the brute force approach by just jamming the same strategy over and over again.

Mono-Green is fine. Horizon Canopies and Gilt-Leaf Palaces which are the colored lands that Sullano runs are essentialy there to provide Card Advantage or cast Shaman of the Pack. Otherwise, they aren't there to provide Colors for Sideboard.

Copperhorn Scout is more important in Chord versions where you might need that extra mana for an Alpha Strike than Lead versions due to not being able to find him all the time.

mapccu, what is your list? If you are running the Chord version of Elves, I don't recommend so much Essence Warden as Kitchen Finks and Scavenging Ooze works fine in that list. Essence Warden is better in Lead/Messenger lists then Kitchen Finks. Although Finks might be better in just Lead lists. I am not certain.

I have been doing a little thinking. We aren't the linear aggro decks that should be scared of SFM. SFM and Batterskull aren't that scary for us due to the way our kill strategies work. We can get huge amounts of damage onto the field out of nowhwere, far more then batterskull can do. It is a problematic card, but it is by no means unbeatable or even that threatening to us. I think it hurts Chord more because the decks that run it also tend to run a huge amount of removal, so that might be an issue. Chameleon Colossus can at least block the token without ill-effect. Lead decks will not exactly welcome it, but won't be like this is the worst thing ever unlike other decks.

Just my two cents