This fine primer was originally created by Parabola01, the update (9-1-2011, adding cards printed after the initial writing) by azn_cbc_1992 . All credit goes to them.
Welcome to the Elves Casual Primer, a thread dedicated to those who are looking to play Magic's most popular (and populous) forest dwellers. In this thread, myself, with the help of other posters, will be discussing Elf cards, decktypes and deck cores, and weakness of such decks.
The Cards:
In this section, the various cards that make an Elf deck an Elf deck will be listed, critiqued, and sorted. We'll go in the order of Mana Producers, Win Conditions (creatures), Win Conditions(no creatures), Lords, Token Producers, Utility(creatures), Utility (Non-creatures), Niche, and Lands.
The Mana Producers: The staple of the Elf deck. This sections will contain all the various Elves used to produce mana and help do what Elves do best: empty their hand on the board and win fast.
Birchlore ranger: more suited for combo elves but it grants different type of mana if you are splashing into other colours.
Devoted Druid: This isn't a card for every Elf deck, but any card that can produce more than one mana on a single turn is worth another look. Devoted Druid is mostly used in combo decks, as well as Standard format's Elf Ball. He gains a lot of potential in decks that can boost their creature's toughness, but even though Elf decks often carry such cards, other Elves can produce mana more efficiently than Devoted Druid.
Elvish Archdruid: pay one more green and get a 2/2 priest of titania with a elflord ability
Elvish Spirit Guide: Free mana for the trade of card disadvantage. Best suited for decks that need to eek out that extra mana, even at the loss of card disadvantage. You could take that extra mana, and turn it into an extra two cards, thanks to Skullclamp.
Fyndhorn Elves: Llanowar Elves #5 through #8. While 8 Llanowars isn't needed for every deck, many do appreciate it. Elf Ball, for example, wants to empty their hands as possible to win quickly. Aggro Elves, on the other hand, would
rather just play those 4 Llanowars and play some bigger creatures. The only reason this doesn't take Llanowar's place is because it was reprinted fewer times, making it not quite as readily availible.
Heritage Druid: Another Standard Elf Ball staple. Able to turn three creatures at a time into Llanowar Elves. While this does sound like a big boon, most Elf decks play Elves with Tap abilties or just better Elves at producing mana. However, any deck packing a lot of token producers could squeeze the most out of this card.
Joraga treespeaker: makes all your elves into mana producers downside is the level up cost and how fragile it is until level 5
Llanowar Elves: As if this card needed an explanation. Of the Elf decks I looked at, every single one played a full playset of the this guy.
Priest of Titania: The single greatest mana producer in an Elf deck. All Elf decks are good at one thing: dumping a lot of Elves on to the board very fast. Combine this with the Elf decks' ability to untap its creatures through a variety of ways, and things get degenerate very fast.
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary: In a Mono-Green Elf deck (the most common kind), Rofellos is very often extra copies of Priest of Titania, and we just discussed how amazing that card is. Rofellos, however, is not a 4-of card to play, thanks to his Legendary status, but a deck like Elf Ball should consider playing a few of these if they can't find the Priest.
Wirewood Channeler: A watered-down Priest of Titania with the ability to produce a different type of mana. If you can't find a Priest, or are heavily relying on a second color, the Channeler becomes a decent pick.
Wood Elves: If your deck can return it back to your hand, or if you are splashing a color, consider Wood Elves. It doesn't win any awards for it's cost to power ratio, but ti's ability to thin the deck of lands and fix mana with Forest/X dual lands can be helpful in the right decks.
Win Conditions Creatures: Because the deck needs to win somehow, even if it is Casual. These cards will include any creature that can beat face better than others and those that enable your creatures to beat face.
Chameleon Colossus: A 4/4 for four mana that has protection from black and can double his P/T. It sees play in tournaments, but he gets an even greater boost in Casual Elves. With so many mana producers, his doubling ability is easy to pay, and the fact that he's an Elf too makes him take bonuses from Lords and other effects.
Drove of elves: its P/T is equal to the number of green permanents on the field, also has hexproof. However it can be chumpblocked.
Elvish Vanguard: Not as strong as Totania's chosen but will still be extremely strong against most people.
Heedless One: With a P/T equal to the size of forest dwellers on the field, Heedless One shouldn't be dying in combat any time soon, and trample stops any hopes of chump blocking.
Jagged-scar archers: its P/T is equal to the number of elves you control. Also it can shoot fliers out of the air (very useful when shooting down a 20/20 szadek)
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa: While he's not an Elf himself, he is able to cast Overrun over and over again. With only a few Elves out, that's often enough to end the game. Currently eclipsed by Ezuri, renegade leader.
Nettle Sentinel: A 2/2 for a single green mana, he practically has no drawback in a Mono-Green deck, and being an Elf gives him access to extra bonuses. Comboes well with Heritage Druid, also.
Talara's Battalion: A highly efficiently body with a drawback that's not a huge deal in Casual Elf decks. With all the mana producing Elves, playing a spell before playing this should be doable.
Taunting Elf: This guy works best against token decks. Attack with him and the rest of your forces go by unblocked.
Timberwatch Elf: Only three mana to cast, it can turn unblocked creatures into a Good Game, blocked creatures into removal, and burn spells into nothing. Factor in Elves' untapping cards, and things get crazy, and big, very fast.
Titania's Chosen: 3 drop elf card that pumps like crazy, especially vs. another green deck.
Tribal forcemage: a weaker overrun on a stick. Becareful of mirror match ups though because all you will be doing is giving your creatures trample.
Wren's Run Vanquisher: Elves don't get more effiecent than this. Unless you have no hand, this should always be a 3/3 for two mana. Deathtouch sends it over the top, making sure that even if it dies in combat, it still kills its target. if you're running Aggro Elves, you'll need four of these.
Win Conditions Non-Creatures: These cards will include any non-creature card that will ensure death and destruction in the turn that it is played or soon after
Banefire: a different fireball. however it can be redirected.
Brainfreeze: A used with combo elf decks that throw out alot of creatures in one turn
Coat of Arms: As stated, Eff decks loves to throw their hands on the table as fast as possible. This 5 mana artifact will reward you for that. The problem, though, is that it isn't one-sided. Elves, and Tribal in general, is popular in Casual games, so you'll have to make sure you can get more out of this card that the opponent.
Door of destinies: a more one-sided coat of arms that can survive a wrath. also it costs less.
Epic Struggle: easily achievable in a token deck make it it not a struggle at all.
Gaea's Anthem: Another Lord, of sorts. Without any legs, the Anthem won't be doing any attacking, but that also makes it harder to kill against most decks. If you play aginst a lot of mass removal, this might be a good pick over the other Lords.
Kaervak's torch: also a similar to banefire however it can be prevented.
Overrun: Giving your team +3/+3 is huge when you have lots of 1/1s, but giving them trample is frosting on the cake, making chump blocking impossible. If Overrun resolves, barring any Fog effects, you'll probably win. However this card is sometimes overshadowed by overwhelming stampede
Overwhelming stampede: this card is great if you have something like heedless one or joraga warcaller on the field. This may not always be better than overrun but most of the time it is.
Triumph of the Hordes: Although this card gives less +p/+t than overrun, it grants your creatures infect which can be very deadly. Another upside is that it costs one less than overrun/overwhelming stampede
Lords: these make your creatures beat face more efficiently
Eladamri, Lord of Leaves: only use if you dont target your own creatures and also dont play mirror match ups.
Elvish Champion: Pumps your team of +1/+1 and makes them unblockable to roughly 1/5th of all decks. This used to be the go-to Lord of Elf decks, but has fallen ut of grace, mostly because better Lords have been printed. Still, if you people in your own meta playing Mono-Green decks without many Elves, you'll be able to kill them very shortly after you drop this card on the table.
Ezuri, renegade leader: it gives your other elves regenerate and is a recastable overrun. It has a cmc of 3 compared to kamahl’s cmc of 6.
Immaculate Magistrate: A large and permament boost. The tap ability is actually a benefit, thanks to the many Elf cards that can untap. The only problem with the Magistrate is that there is another card that does something very similar. Timberwatch Elf costs less to play and will have the same impact. The fact that Magistrate's boost is permament isn't a huge deal, since one activation should deal a large chunk, if not killing them. It's basically a winmore card
Imperious Perfect: If you're going to be playing an Elf Lord, this is the one to play. +1/+1 to your army plus the ability to make 2/2s for a measly one mana is a huge boon.
Joraga warcaller: a great finisher for your elf deck and a great mana sink for combo elves. This card combos well with immaculate magistrate.
Token producers: one is lonely, two is a pair, three is a crowd, +9000 is just being a jerk
Elvish Promenade: Double your team for a measly 3G, something very achievable in most Elf decks. While this a terrible topdeck vs Wrath of God and its many knock-offs, it doubles your army with a very relevent type and puts you in a position to be able to win shortly against most decks.
Hunting Triad: Normally used as a token producer, it can provide warm bodies after mass removal, or ramp up that Elf count for Priest of Titania or Timberwatch Elf. Its reinforce is helpful with joraga warcaller if you already have enough creatures on the field.
Lys Alana huntmaster: Every Elf spell you play gives you a free token. This can be very useful in decks using Overrun effects or Skullclamp. Unfortunately, Huntmaster's cost is a little high.
Rhys the Redeemed: makes tokens and doubles them. the downside is his weak body
Wolf-Skull Shaman: its a slow token producer but works well with the packmaster
Wren's Run Packmaster: A token producer. Spending three mana on a 2/2 doesn't look like a great deal next to Impervious Perfect, but there are a few extra factors with this card. First of all, the tokens have deathtouch, so, barring protection and indestructible, they'll always get the last laugh in combat. Next, the Packmaster is a 5/5 for four mana, meaning it will be a force in combat, itself. Finally, since it champions an Elf, it's also a mass removal insurance, making sure your board position isn't completely reset if someone play Wrath of God or the like.
Wirewood Hivemaster: Every Elf spell you play gives you a free token. This can be very useful in decks using Overrun effects or Skullclamp. Unfortunately, the tokens themselves are not Elves.
Utility creatures: Stuff on a stick. This includes untapping effects, card draw, destroying artifacts and enchantments, tutoring, and others.
Elvish visionary: 2 for a 1/1 cantrip. Better than multani’s acolyte. It makes beautiful music in combo elves but is also useful in aggro elves to draw more useful stuff
Elvish Harbinger: A tutor on a stick. however it puts it to the top of the deck so becareful not to use against a mill deck.
Gempalm strider: an uncounterable +1/+1 till end and card advantage, otherwise it is just a 2 for a 2/2
Multani's Acolyte: A cantripping creature. Aggro Elves may be slowed by its Echo cost, but the extra draw could be useful in Combo lists.
Nullmage Shepherd: its great in token decks to get rid of pesky o-rings
Quirion Ranger: One of Elves great untappers. Not only can you get second use out of your amazing tap effects, but you can actually get mana for doing so. If you don't have a land to play that turn, tap a Forest for mana, activate the Ranger, then play the Forest. A free and another go a tap effect; a great deal.
Seeker of Skybreak: Another untapper, but this one is less amazing. Unable to provide any extra advantage outside of untapping a creature, the Seeker is often left behind in favor of Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote.
Sylvan Messanger: A 2/2 for four mana isn't good deal, even with trample. But, when said creature often carries an Ancestral Recall, that's a whole different story. Able to put up to four cards in your hand (although, factoring lands, three is more likely) in dedicated Elf decks is a huge boon for any Elf deck able to generate enough mana to pay for this and whatever is revealed off it.
Viridian Zealot: A decent beater with the added ability to off any annoying artifact or enchantment. The fact that this costs more mana that other removal options is a hinderance, but it is the only one to provide an Elf body.
Wirewood Herald: A tutor on legs and one of Skullclamp's many friends. Your opponent won't want to remove it, so it often goes unblocked. And, if your opponent does kill it (let's say you activated a Timberwatch on it), you get to search up a new Elf to take it's place.
Wirewood Symbiote: It may not be an Elf, but it deserves consideration in nearly every Elf deck. Like the Quirion Ranger, it can untap your creatures, but for a different price: returning an Elf to your hand. This means the Symbiote can help your creatures dodge any targeted removal while getting extra use of their effects. Even better is the use of Concordant Crossroads with this guy; if the creature you returned had a Tap ability, too, that's the potential for another extra activation.
Utility Non-Creatures: All the non-creature cards in an Elf deck that make it tick. This includes untapping effects, card draw, destroying artifacts and enchantments, tutoring, and others.
Concordant Crossroads: With so many tap effects, haste is a big deal in Elf decks. Being able to take advantage of the various mana producers the turn the come into play, attacking with any large creature before an opponent can play mass removal, and just plain making your creatures a turn faster is a huge boon. The only downside is that the opponent reaps its rewards as well, but, thanks to the very nature of Elves, you'll probably be getting more out of it than they are. All of this for only a single green mana.
Crop Rotation: If you are playing Gaea's Cradle, you're probably going to want this card. Searching up that land, at instant speed no less, and putting it into play untapped provides an insane amount of mana.
Fastbond: A rather broken card, Fastbond is like adding gasoline to a fire; the already explosively fast Elves are able to come out even faster. It also has the benefit of turning Quirion Ranger's ability into "Pay 1 life, add G your mana pool, play a land, and untap an elf"
Glimpse of nature: great for most elf decks because the creature to card ratio is often high.
Green sun’s zenith: for one extra mana you can play any card inside your deck!!! And GSZ does back into your deck as part of the resolution.
Harmonize: A very straight-forward card. Drawing three cards is very welcomed in a deck that can empty its hand very fast, but Combo or Control Elf decks would probably enjoy this more than an Aggro deck.
Living Wish: A useful tutor. Able to get any creature or land, there's a very long list of candidates this card can find. Just make sure whatever you are searching for is in your sideboard, if your playgroup demands it.
Slate of Ancestry: Another card drawer for Elves. It can provide many cards at once, thanks to the sheer number of Elves you're likely to have on the field. Furthermore, if your deck is focused around Threshold, it helps achieve that quite nicely, too.
Skullclamp: The king of card draw in any Elf deck. Aggro wants it for nice power boost and the ability to recover after mass removal easily. Combo wants it for the crazy card advantage it provides. One of the best picks for any Elf deck.
Staff of Domination: Just add any Elf capable of producing five or more mana, and, presto, an infinite mana engine with the extras of being able to gain infinite life, draw your deck, and tap and untap any number of creatures.
Summoners’ pact: a tutor card with a dangerous downside. Only use if you can guarantee that you can pay it or if you can win the game in that turn
Weird harvest: this card is built more for combo elves than aggro elves because you can mass generate mana.
Niche: These are the cards that not every deck will want to play. Some are focused for multiplayer, others are meta specific, and some require their own decks.
Bramblewood Paragon: To make this card effective, you really have to be playing with a lot of Warriors. If you are, you gain access to yet another Lord, and one that leaves it's pump even after it dies. The addition of trample is always nice.
Caller of the Claw: If your meta has a lot of board sweepers, this is a great addition to an Elf deck. It can easily turn any Wrath of God on its head, and, depending on how many creatures you had out, win the game right there.
Essence Warden: A solid choice for Multiplayer games. Lots of creatures will be hitting the board, and that could amount to a sizable chunk of life.
Gilt-Leaf Archdruid: This is better for a Druid deck, but there are Druid Elves out there. Cantripping every creature in such a deck is very powerful, but the ability to steal all of an opponent's lands is a nearly instant Good Game.
Tooth and Nail: Once a top Standard deck, Elf and Nail can be done very easily in Casual, as there are better mana producing Elves.
Wellwisher: In an Elf Control deck, or an Elf deck based around lifegain, this is a top pick. Outside of that, however, the best it can usually do is stall.
winter orb: because elves have their own mana producers, they aren’t that reliant on the lands. Combos hilariously with collective voyage
Lands: There are choices more than just Forests for an Elf deck. Consider some of these for you land spots.
Gaea's Cradle: Priest of Titania in land form. A powerful effect for any Elf deck, but be careful with mass removal, not to mention the Legendary clause.
Pendelhaven: Able to turn your average Elf into something that can withstand combat. An easy add into most mono-Green decklists.
Wirewood Lodge: More untapping, but without using any spell slots. It does produce colorless instead of green mana, but if it can untap Priest of Titania, it should be considered.
Decks Outlines:
In this section, skeletons to different Elf decks will be provided. Because Casual is very meta dependent (what's popular in one group might not be played at all in another, kitchen table card bans, ect) I will only provide skeletons to these decklists, but will also provide suggestions on how to fill the remaining slots.
Elf Ball
Elf Ball is a combo deck, and an old one. Elf Ball got its name from running lots of mana Elves and killing the opponent with a large Fireball. However, splashing in Elf Ball is largely dead, since there are enough Mono-Green ways to kill the opponent.
Elf Ball needs lots of mana to function. Enter the best Elves has to offer: Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, and Priest of Titania as 4-ofs. As you want their mana as soon as possible, Concordant Crossroads is a must, but not neccesarily a 4-of, as extra copies sit in your hand doing nothing. To make even more mana, playsets of Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote are needed. Finally, you're going to need to draw into your combo. As the final must-have, a playset of Skullclamps.
For lands, Gaea's Cradle is perfect for this deck. Wirewood Lodge continues the untapping theme. The rest should be basic Forests, and you don't want too many. With so much mana, the deck can run off as few as 17 total lands.
From here, it's more of a matter of choosing your own path. Elf Ball can kill in a variety of ways, since it has so much mana. Timberwatch Elf is an excellent choice, and adding Heedless One gives a great target to use Timberwatch on. If there's a lot of targeted removal in your meta, or you are looking for Multiplayer, you could also use Staff of Domination to go infinite, gain infinite life, and draw into and cast a Hurricane that will kill everyone else at the table.
For the rest, you can add any utility or additional mana producers. Sylvan Messenger would be able to draw a few more Elves to help combo off. Crop Rotation searches up Gaea's Cradle. Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary or Wirewood Channeler become extra copies of Priest of Titania.
The deck has a few weaknesses. For one, mass removal, even Pyroclasm, can really hurt, as only Wirewood Symbiote can really help against that, so you may want to consider Caller of the Claw. Removing Skullclamp before it has a chance to do its thing can really take the gas out of the deck, so an alternative card drawer is advised. A burn deck would be able to kill off most of your mana and then go for the dome, while you can do nothing.
A different version of the elf ball deck revolves around heritage druid, nettle sentinel, and lots of low cost creatures. Skullclamp can be used here but I prefer using glimpse of nature.
Again after this it is up to you how you wish to create your wincon. often people will use brainfreeze, tendrils of agony, grapeshot because of alot of spells are played in one turn.
As is with the other elfball deck, becareful of pyroclasm. a solution to it is to use elvish archdruids.
Aggro Elves
Rather straightforward deck with a simple goal: reduce the opponent's life from 20 to 0 as fast as possible by smashing face.
Start with 4 of Wren's Run Vanquisher and Llanowar Elves. From here Timbewrwatch Elf is a necessity, turning any unblocked creature into Good Game. Impervious Perfect is a great Lord for this deck, and the extra 2/2s are amazing. Once again, Skullclamp proves itself useful, giving a power boost to the equipped creature and providing card advantage and recovery vs mass removal.
For the lands, be sure to use a Pendelhaven. The rest can be basic Forests. Since this deck has fewer mana producers than Elf Ball, the land count will have to be upped.
The additional spaces can be anything, as long as it helps you win faster. Umezawa's Jitte is a great card for any Aggro deck. Elvish Champion provides an additional Lord. Nettle Sentinel is a 2/2 for a single mana, and doesn't have a huge drawback in a Mono-Green deck. Viridian Zealot can hit for 2, and can kill off any bothersome artifact or enchantment.
This deck, too, is weak to mass removal, but not as weak to Pyroclasm as it's Elf Ball brother. With enough Lords, Pyroclasm doesn't have much of an effect. The deck has no disruption vs combo decks, making those the hardest matchups, unless it can kill fast enough
Goog primer. A for Parabola01.
I have two little things that I personally would add:
Wren's Run Packmaster: A token producer. Spending three mana on a 2/2 doesn't look like a great deal next to Impervious Perfect, but there are a few extra factors with this card. First of all, the tokens have deathtouch, so, barring protection and indestructible, they'll always get the last laugh in combat. Then it does not need to tap so you can and probably will be able to use it more than once a turn. Next, the Packmaster is a 5/5 for four mana, meaning it will be a force in combat, itself. Finally, since it champions an Elf, it's also a mass removal insurance, making sure your board position isn't completely reset if someone play Wrath of God or the like.
Wirewood Symbiote: It may not be an Elf, but it deserves consideration in nearly every Elf deck. Like the Quirion Ranger, it can untap your creatures, but for a different price: returning an Elf to your hand. This means the Symbiote can help your creatures dodge any targeted removal and combat damage while getting extra use of their effects. Even better is the use of Concordant Crossroads with this guy; if the creature you returned had a Tap ability, too, that's the potential for another extra activation.
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To the land section, I'd add Treetop Village and Mutavault. Mutavault in particular is ridiculous in an Elf deck as it gets all the bonuses from the lords. Granted, the price puts it out of the range of most casual players.
Voice of the Woods is used in some elf decks, especially those that have untap effects.
Goog primer. A for Parabola01.
I have two little things that I personally would add:
Wren's Run Packmaster: A token producer. Spending three mana on a 2/2 doesn't look like a great deal next to Impervious Perfect, but there are a few extra factors with this card. First of all, the tokens have deathtouch, so, barring protection and indestructible, they'll always get the last laugh in combat. Then it does not need to tap so you can and probably will be able to use it more than once a turn. Next, the Packmaster is a 5/5 for four mana, meaning it will be a force in combat, itself. Finally, since it champions an Elf, it's also a mass removal insurance, making sure your board position isn't completely reset if someone play Wrath of God or the like.
Wirewood Symbiote: It may not be an Elf, but it deserves consideration in nearly every Elf deck. Like the Quirion Ranger, it can untap your creatures, but for a different price: returning an Elf to your hand. This means the Symbiote can help your creatures dodge any targeted removal and combat damage while getting extra use of their effects. Even better is the use of Concordant Crossroads with this guy; if the creature you returned had a Tap ability, too, that's the potential for another extra activation.
Thank you, Blutsau.
You're absolutely right about those two points. I know them, I've seen them happen in games, but the reader might not find it obvious. I should have included them.
To the land section, I'd add Treetop Village and Mutavault. Mutavault in particular is ridiculous in an Elf deck as it gets all the bonuses from the lords. Granted, the price puts it out of the range of most casual players.
Voice of the Woods is used in some elf decks, especially those that have untap effects.
Cheers,
rant
Thanks, rant.
I was going to include Treetop Village, especially for an Elf Control deck. The problem was... there were no threads for Elf Control decks! Everything was Aggro or Control. As I've said in other threads, I love Control and I love Mono-Green, but I didn't want to just make up a deck skeleton. So, I cut the control section, and Treetop with it, I guess. Thinking about it, it's a good inclusion for Aggro decks (helps fight against mass removal), so I shouldn't have cut it.
The Primer was completed almost a month ago (9/20/08), so Elvish Visionary would have been, at most, a rumor (Shards prelease was on the 28th and 29th). I certainly agree on it's consideration for the Elf Ball deck. It cantrips into play, and has that perfect 1 Toughness for Skullclamp.
I remember when I used to run Akroma's Memorial in my Elf deck considering that Elves hardly have anything that gives them protection from Red and/or Black, but later on I realized it wasn't needed as much due to how fast the deck goes off past Turn 4. Give them haste early game with Concordant Crossroads and you should be fine...
I've playtested Imperious Perfect in my Elf deck only realizing that he's too slow on the curve for getting certain stuff off, basically how my curve is supposed to hit is like this:
There's another Elf Deck Archtype besides Elf Ball that some people don't know too much about but was made famous by a Pro Magic Player, it's called "Elf Grenade" a.k.a Standard Type 2 Elf Ball.
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I remember when I used to run Akroma's Memorial in my Elf deck considering that Elves hardly have anything that gives them protection from Red and/or Black, but later on I realized it wasn't needed as much due to how fast the deck goes off past Turn 4. Give them haste early game with Concordant Crossroads and you should be fine...
I've playtested Imperious Perfect in my Elf deck only realizing that he's too slow on the curve for getting certain stuff off, basically how my curve is supposed to hit is like this:
There's another Elf Deck Archtype besides Elf Ball that some people don't know too much about but was made famous by a Pro Magic Player, it's called "Elf Grenade" a.k.a Standard Type 2 Elf Ball.
As far as Concordant Crossroads goes, I included it. It's a much-needed card for Elf Ball, but I'm not sold on it's Aggro applications.
I have to disagree with you about Imperious Perfect. She pumps your entire army and provides virtual card advantage in the form of tokens. Turning Llanowar Elves into bears is one thing, but making a bear each turn for only G is icing on the cake. The Perfect's best thing going for her is that she protects against the biggest weaknesses of the Aggro Elf deck: mass removal. Tokens make sure you don't have to expend actual Elves in your hand unless you have to, and the Toughness pump can help your Elves survive damage sweepers, especially in conjunction with other Elf pumpers. She may be too slow for your Aggro list, which, from the looks of it, seems to take an all-or-nothing approach to mass-removal, but I believe other Aggro decks could benefit with her addition.
As far as Elf Grenade goes, I have seen it, (although I was not aware it was called that. I just assumed it was called Elf Ball) but I didn't want two include it for two main reasons:
1.) It focuses on different colors. I wanted to keep the Primer largely Mono-Green, since that's what most of the Elf threads posted here have been asking for help with (although G/B was on the rise with Lorwyn).
2.) It's Standard-legal. Since this is Casual, the pool is much, much deeper and better alternatives exist. Even Fireball and Wirewood Channeler are obsolete, not that they still can't be good for some old-school fun.
Silhana Ledgewalker is also being overused nowadays as a consistant Jitte carrier, into aggro elves.
Very nice, hope being amused by other primer decks made by you!
Thank you, Halted. Seeing your work with tribal decks, I don't take your praise lightly.
I forgot about Bloodline Shaman, but I will say that I never really saw it used in a finalized decklist of any Elf deck I looked at, which is where a vast majority of cards I talked about came from. It seems out-of-place in Aggro and too slow for combo, but Bloodline Shaman would be the poster-child for a Mono-Green Control Elf deck, so it deserves mentioning. With enough candidates, maybe I can make and try my own list, sometime.
Glimpse of Nature got by me too. That could be very interesting in Elf Ball, but would it be overkill, considering Clamp, or would it be there to be extra copies of Clamp in case you couldn't find any?
I don't know how I didn't mention Silhana Ledgewalker. With the right equipment or enough Lords, she can be a beast in an Aggro deck.
As for more Primers, I'm hoping to at least start on a Slivers primer towards mid-December and have until mid to late-January to keep working, unless someone else wants it.
As I said before, you do a lot of work with Tribal decks. Ever think of doing a Primer? We don't have anyone signed up for Goblins.
Basically also tries to use intuition and chord of calling to get some awesome creatures... and lets face it, any elf deck that runs venser and sower of temptation is made of win! amirite?
Good primer, just wanted to mention that having a Wirewood Herald in play with three mana up means that any Wrath turns your guys into bears. Another idea for the Caller I thought of while reading this is using a full set of them in a deck, and championing one with something like Changeling Titan. That's pretty good Wrath insurance. For other Elves ideas, check out the Top 8 of Pro Tour Berlin.
I think it ran some Glimpse of Nature's as well. When I saw the deck in action I was like what was the deck trying to do spam more late game than mid?
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Why not essence warden? It's a four-off against almost every Aggro/Weenie decks, and it helps you survive in the beginning of the game if you're playing Elf Combo.
Isn't Civic Wayfinder worth mentioning? It's similar to Wood Elves. Better body - better clock; still gives you the land; still gives you color fixing; all you lose is the acceleration part. I often find that I don't need that anyway, I just need the swamp for removal spells.
The reason, Neyda, is because I don't really play Elf decks. So, when making this primer, I consulted the many, many threads the Casual board had on Elves, and then compiled a list of every Elf that showed up for the first 20 pages of threads, or so.
The green Elves you mentioned? Didn't show up.
Civic Wayfinder gets opted out for better mana producers or faster beats. The fact that the land he fetches doesn't hit the table is probably his biggest problem. I've used and enjoyed the Wayfinder in an old Standard deck I had, but I think there are better options for Combo and Aggro Elves. That, again, leaves us with Control Elves, where I think he would be great.
Elvish Warrior is a decent choice for Aggro. Not outstanding or anything, but certainly not bad.
I think the reason Lys Alana Huntmaster wasn't in any of the threads is due to Wirewood Hivemaster costing half as much. While the Hivemaster's tokens are not Elves, that probably won't matter much to decks just looking to sacrifice the tokens for Skullclamping or using them with Overrun.
Elvish Harbinger is another card that belongs more in Control than it does Aggro or Combo. It's a solid card, but because I never saw an Elf Control deck out of 20 pages is probably the reasons for it's absence.
Because I was keeping the thread Mono-G, as I didn't see much of a reason to branch out for only a few cards in other colors, I excluded the Black cards you mentioned. While I could have mentioned them, I thought it would help make the Primer more streamlined and focused. Once I mention those Black cards, I should probably make a G/ deck, and Gaea's Skyfolk and Coiling Oracle are solid GU cards, so I should mentioned them, and make a G/ deck, and so on and so forth.
Why not essence warden? It's a four-off against almost every Aggro/Weenie decks, and it helps you survive in the beginning of the game if you're playing Elf Combo.
You mean:
Essence Warden: A solid choice for Multiplayer games. Lots of creatures will be hitting the board, and that could amount to a sizable chunk of life.
Thanks for the detailed answer. What still intrigues me is that Civic Wayfinder sees a lot of play in midrange GB elf decks. Maybe those are too Rock-ish and/or multicolored to be considered in the primer, I don't know. Can't see any other reason.
Either that, or I wrote it down and forgot to add it to the Primer, which is entirely possible.
The problem here lies with Wellwisher. Wellwisher got played in a lot of decks it didn't rightfully belong in. I recall seeing it in an Aggro deck, and it seems to be popular in Elf Ball decks. While I don't agree with playing it in such decks, as it doesn't help you win but simply not lose, I didn't suggest it for either deck skeleton, but included the card with the rest of them.
You've referred to imperious perfect as "impervious perfect". This couldn't be further from the truth as she is always the #1 target of any sort of removal.
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention Titania's Chosen, 3 drop elf card that pumps like crazy, especially vs. another green deck.
As said with other cards mentioned, I never saw the card played in any list. However, it might be worth considering for ElfBall decks, seeing as how it'll happily pump itself from the volley of spells you'll be casting in a given turn.
You've referred to imperious perfect as "impervious perfect". This couldn't be further from the truth as she is always the #1 target of any sort of removal.
Very true; the 2/2 Elf is a win condition all on her own and is almost always dealt with before other Elves. However, calling it "impervious" has more to do with me misspelling it than me calling it indestructible.
Thanks for the detailed answer. What still intrigues me is that Civic Wayfinder sees a lot of play in midrange GB elf decks. Maybe those are too Rock-ish and/or multicolored to be considered in the primer, I don't know. Can't see any other reason.
That's the big reason why a card such Civic Wayfinder, at 2G, above normal cmc of elves for accelleration, doesn't shine, it limits itself to put a single land into play when you need no more mana.
Another point is, comparing Wellwisher roll vs Elvish Harbinger is almost an offense. Anyone who played vs Gobbos or MRBurn knows how important Wellwisher is for the deck. Not letting you lose is not a thing to ignore, losing is not cool..lol, cause....well, you lose. But he really shines on a deck with untap abilities. Of course, he should be never 4-of, and sometimes sideboard material, but vs */R decks you'll really want it at your side.
About Harbinger, is just a slow tutor at 2G, again above mana curve for what it does, there is no MU's where it can shine.
Excellent primer. Two cards that you might want to consider adding that I've had great luck with are Gempalm Strider and Tribal Forcemage
Thats what I was thinking.
As for mana producers, Birchlore Rangers is very good (please WotC reprint this with good art).
I have played with an Elfdeck for years casually and have collected one of every elf in the game. With that said I feel my most valued card to play with Elves is Aluren. On its own it is fantastic. Combined with cards such as Recycle and/or Intruder Alarm it gets ridicules. (yes I know there are other maybe better combos with those cards, but not nearly as fun IMO)
I think it ran some Glimpse of Nature's as well. When I saw the deck in action I was like what was the deck trying to do spam more late game than mid?
i think what you saw is ElfBall which uses the untap abilities / Glimpse of nature to keep more creatures coming into play until there are like 30 elves.
Skullclamp makes Elves run a whole lot faster, (If it isnt banned in your play area) Run 4 makes you run in an goblin/Affinity decks' speed
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Welcome to the Elves Casual Primer, a thread dedicated to those who are looking to play Magic's most popular (and populous) forest dwellers. In this thread, myself, with the help of other posters, will be discussing Elf cards, decktypes and deck cores, and weakness of such decks.
The Cards:
In this section, the various cards that make an Elf deck an Elf deck will be listed, critiqued, and sorted. We'll go in the order of Mana Producers, Win Conditions (creatures), Win Conditions(no creatures), Lords, Token Producers, Utility(creatures), Utility (Non-creatures), Niche, and Lands.
The Mana Producers: The staple of the Elf deck. This sections will contain all the various Elves used to produce mana and help do what Elves do best: empty their hand on the board and win fast.
Birchlore ranger: more suited for combo elves but it grants different type of mana if you are splashing into other colours.
Devoted Druid: This isn't a card for every Elf deck, but any card that can produce more than one mana on a single turn is worth another look. Devoted Druid is mostly used in combo decks, as well as Standard format's Elf Ball. He gains a lot of potential in decks that can boost their creature's toughness, but even though Elf decks often carry such cards, other Elves can produce mana more efficiently than Devoted Druid.
Elvish Archdruid: pay one more green and get a 2/2 priest of titania with a elflord ability
Elvish Spirit Guide: Free mana for the trade of card disadvantage. Best suited for decks that need to eek out that extra mana, even at the loss of card disadvantage. You could take that extra mana, and turn it into an extra two cards, thanks to Skullclamp.
Fyndhorn Elves: Llanowar Elves #5 through #8. While 8 Llanowars isn't needed for every deck, many do appreciate it. Elf Ball, for example, wants to empty their hands as possible to win quickly. Aggro Elves, on the other hand, would
rather just play those 4 Llanowars and play some bigger creatures. The only reason this doesn't take Llanowar's place is because it was reprinted fewer times, making it not quite as readily availible.
Heritage Druid: Another Standard Elf Ball staple. Able to turn three creatures at a time into Llanowar Elves. While this does sound like a big boon, most Elf decks play Elves with Tap abilties or just better Elves at producing mana. However, any deck packing a lot of token producers could squeeze the most out of this card.
Joraga treespeaker: makes all your elves into mana producers downside is the level up cost and how fragile it is until level 5
Llanowar Elves: As if this card needed an explanation. Of the Elf decks I looked at, every single one played a full playset of the this guy.
Priest of Titania: The single greatest mana producer in an Elf deck. All Elf decks are good at one thing: dumping a lot of Elves on to the board very fast. Combine this with the Elf decks' ability to untap its creatures through a variety of ways, and things get degenerate very fast.
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary: In a Mono-Green Elf deck (the most common kind), Rofellos is very often extra copies of Priest of Titania, and we just discussed how amazing that card is. Rofellos, however, is not a 4-of card to play, thanks to his Legendary status, but a deck like Elf Ball should consider playing a few of these if they can't find the Priest.
Wirewood Channeler: A watered-down Priest of Titania with the ability to produce a different type of mana. If you can't find a Priest, or are heavily relying on a second color, the Channeler becomes a decent pick.
Wood Elves: If your deck can return it back to your hand, or if you are splashing a color, consider Wood Elves. It doesn't win any awards for it's cost to power ratio, but ti's ability to thin the deck of lands and fix mana with Forest/X dual lands can be helpful in the right decks.
Chameleon Colossus: A 4/4 for four mana that has protection from black and can double his P/T. It sees play in tournaments, but he gets an even greater boost in Casual Elves. With so many mana producers, his doubling ability is easy to pay, and the fact that he's an Elf too makes him take bonuses from Lords and other effects.
Drove of elves: its P/T is equal to the number of green permanents on the field, also has hexproof. However it can be chumpblocked.
Elvish Vanguard: Not as strong as Totania's chosen but will still be extremely strong against most people.
Heedless One: With a P/T equal to the size of forest dwellers on the field, Heedless One shouldn't be dying in combat any time soon, and trample stops any hopes of chump blocking.
Jagged-scar archers: its P/T is equal to the number of elves you control. Also it can shoot fliers out of the air (very useful when shooting down a 20/20 szadek)
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa: While he's not an Elf himself, he is able to cast Overrun over and over again. With only a few Elves out, that's often enough to end the game. Currently eclipsed by Ezuri, renegade leader.
Nettle Sentinel: A 2/2 for a single green mana, he practically has no drawback in a Mono-Green deck, and being an Elf gives him access to extra bonuses. Comboes well with Heritage Druid, also.
Silhana Ledgewalker: a psuedo-flyer with hexproof, great with dense canopy and Jitte.
Talara's Battalion: A highly efficiently body with a drawback that's not a huge deal in Casual Elf decks. With all the mana producing Elves, playing a spell before playing this should be doable.
Taunting Elf: This guy works best against token decks. Attack with him and the rest of your forces go by unblocked.
Timberwatch Elf: Only three mana to cast, it can turn unblocked creatures into a Good Game, blocked creatures into removal, and burn spells into nothing. Factor in Elves' untapping cards, and things get crazy, and big, very fast.
Titania's Chosen: 3 drop elf card that pumps like crazy, especially vs. another green deck.
Tribal forcemage: a weaker overrun on a stick. Becareful of mirror match ups though because all you will be doing is giving your creatures trample.
Wren's Run Vanquisher: Elves don't get more effiecent than this. Unless you have no hand, this should always be a 3/3 for two mana. Deathtouch sends it over the top, making sure that even if it dies in combat, it still kills its target. if you're running Aggro Elves, you'll need four of these.
Win Conditions Non-Creatures: These cards will include any non-creature card that will ensure death and destruction in the turn that it is played or soon after
Banefire: a different fireball. however it can be redirected.
Brainfreeze: A used with combo elf decks that throw out alot of creatures in one turn
Coat of Arms: As stated, Eff decks loves to throw their hands on the table as fast as possible. This 5 mana artifact will reward you for that. The problem, though, is that it isn't one-sided. Elves, and Tribal in general, is popular in Casual games, so you'll have to make sure you can get more out of this card that the opponent.
Door of destinies: a more one-sided coat of arms that can survive a wrath. also it costs less.
Epic Struggle: easily achievable in a token deck make it it not a struggle at all.
Fireball: The card that made elfball, elfball
Gaea's Anthem: Another Lord, of sorts. Without any legs, the Anthem won't be doing any attacking, but that also makes it harder to kill against most decks. If you play aginst a lot of mass removal, this might be a good pick over the other Lords.
Kaervak's torch: also a similar to banefire however it can be prevented.
Overrun: Giving your team +3/+3 is huge when you have lots of 1/1s, but giving them trample is frosting on the cake, making chump blocking impossible. If Overrun resolves, barring any Fog effects, you'll probably win. However this card is sometimes overshadowed by overwhelming stampede
Overwhelming stampede: this card is great if you have something like heedless one or joraga warcaller on the field. This may not always be better than overrun but most of the time it is.
Tendrils of Agony: Same as Brainfreeze
Triumph of the Hordes: Although this card gives less +p/+t than overrun, it grants your creatures infect which can be very deadly. Another upside is that it costs one less than overrun/overwhelming stampede
Lords: these make your creatures beat face more efficiently
Eladamri, Lord of Leaves: only use if you dont target your own creatures and also dont play mirror match ups.
Elvish Champion: Pumps your team of +1/+1 and makes them unblockable to roughly 1/5th of all decks. This used to be the go-to Lord of Elf decks, but has fallen ut of grace, mostly because better Lords have been printed. Still, if you people in your own meta playing Mono-Green decks without many Elves, you'll be able to kill them very shortly after you drop this card on the table.
Ezuri, renegade leader: it gives your other elves regenerate and is a recastable overrun. It has a cmc of 3 compared to kamahl’s cmc of 6.
Immaculate Magistrate: A large and permament boost. The tap ability is actually a benefit, thanks to the many Elf cards that can untap. The only problem with the Magistrate is that there is another card that does something very similar. Timberwatch Elf costs less to play and will have the same impact. The fact that Magistrate's boost is permament isn't a huge deal, since one activation should deal a large chunk, if not killing them. It's basically a winmore card
Imperious Perfect: If you're going to be playing an Elf Lord, this is the one to play. +1/+1 to your army plus the ability to make 2/2s for a measly one mana is a huge boon.
Joraga warcaller: a great finisher for your elf deck and a great mana sink for combo elves. This card combos well with immaculate magistrate.
Token producers: one is lonely, two is a pair, three is a crowd, +9000 is just being a jerk
Elvish Promenade: Double your team for a measly 3G, something very achievable in most Elf decks. While this a terrible topdeck vs Wrath of God and its many knock-offs, it doubles your army with a very relevent type and puts you in a position to be able to win shortly against most decks.
Hunting Triad: Normally used as a token producer, it can provide warm bodies after mass removal, or ramp up that Elf count for Priest of Titania or Timberwatch Elf. Its reinforce is helpful with joraga warcaller if you already have enough creatures on the field.
Lys Alana huntmaster: Every Elf spell you play gives you a free token. This can be very useful in decks using Overrun effects or Skullclamp. Unfortunately, Huntmaster's cost is a little high.
Rhys the Redeemed: makes tokens and doubles them. the downside is his weak body
Wolf-Skull Shaman: its a slow token producer but works well with the packmaster
Wolf-briar Elemental: another mana sink that creates wolves for dirt cheap
Wren's Run Packmaster: A token producer. Spending three mana on a 2/2 doesn't look like a great deal next to Impervious Perfect, but there are a few extra factors with this card. First of all, the tokens have deathtouch, so, barring protection and indestructible, they'll always get the last laugh in combat. Next, the Packmaster is a 5/5 for four mana, meaning it will be a force in combat, itself. Finally, since it champions an Elf, it's also a mass removal insurance, making sure your board position isn't completely reset if someone play Wrath of God or the like.
Wirewood Hivemaster: Every Elf spell you play gives you a free token. This can be very useful in decks using Overrun effects or Skullclamp. Unfortunately, the tokens themselves are not Elves.
Utility creatures: Stuff on a stick. This includes untapping effects, card draw, destroying artifacts and enchantments, tutoring, and others.
Elvish visionary: 2 for a 1/1 cantrip. Better than multani’s acolyte. It makes beautiful music in combo elves but is also useful in aggro elves to draw more useful stuff
Elvish Harbinger: A tutor on a stick. however it puts it to the top of the deck so becareful not to use against a mill deck.
Gempalm strider: an uncounterable +1/+1 till end and card advantage, otherwise it is just a 2 for a 2/2
Multani's Acolyte: A cantripping creature. Aggro Elves may be slowed by its Echo cost, but the extra draw could be useful in Combo lists.
Nullmage Shepherd: its great in token decks to get rid of pesky o-rings
Quirion Ranger: One of Elves great untappers. Not only can you get second use out of your amazing tap effects, but you can actually get mana for doing so. If you don't have a land to play that turn, tap a Forest for mana, activate the Ranger, then play the Forest. A free and another go a tap effect; a great deal.
Seeker of Skybreak: Another untapper, but this one is less amazing. Unable to provide any extra advantage outside of untapping a creature, the Seeker is often left behind in favor of Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote.
Sylvan Messanger: A 2/2 for four mana isn't good deal, even with trample. But, when said creature often carries an Ancestral Recall, that's a whole different story. Able to put up to four cards in your hand (although, factoring lands, three is more likely) in dedicated Elf decks is a huge boon for any Elf deck able to generate enough mana to pay for this and whatever is revealed off it.
Viridian Zealot: A decent beater with the added ability to off any annoying artifact or enchantment. The fact that this costs more mana that other removal options is a hinderance, but it is the only one to provide an Elf body.
Wirewood Herald: A tutor on legs and one of Skullclamp's many friends. Your opponent won't want to remove it, so it often goes unblocked. And, if your opponent does kill it (let's say you activated a Timberwatch on it), you get to search up a new Elf to take it's place.
Wirewood Symbiote: It may not be an Elf, but it deserves consideration in nearly every Elf deck. Like the Quirion Ranger, it can untap your creatures, but for a different price: returning an Elf to your hand. This means the Symbiote can help your creatures dodge any targeted removal while getting extra use of their effects. Even better is the use of Concordant Crossroads with this guy; if the creature you returned had a Tap ability, too, that's the potential for another extra activation.
Utility Non-Creatures: All the non-creature cards in an Elf deck that make it tick. This includes untapping effects, card draw, destroying artifacts and enchantments, tutoring, and others.
Concordant Crossroads: With so many tap effects, haste is a big deal in Elf decks. Being able to take advantage of the various mana producers the turn the come into play, attacking with any large creature before an opponent can play mass removal, and just plain making your creatures a turn faster is a huge boon. The only downside is that the opponent reaps its rewards as well, but, thanks to the very nature of Elves, you'll probably be getting more out of it than they are. All of this for only a single green mana.
Crop Rotation: If you are playing Gaea's Cradle, you're probably going to want this card. Searching up that land, at instant speed no less, and putting it into play untapped provides an insane amount of mana.
Fastbond: A rather broken card, Fastbond is like adding gasoline to a fire; the already explosively fast Elves are able to come out even faster. It also has the benefit of turning Quirion Ranger's ability into "Pay 1 life, add G your mana pool, play a land, and untap an elf"
Glimpse of nature: great for most elf decks because the creature to card ratio is often high.
Green sun’s zenith: for one extra mana you can play any card inside your deck!!! And GSZ does back into your deck as part of the resolution.
Harmonize: A very straight-forward card. Drawing three cards is very welcomed in a deck that can empty its hand very fast, but Combo or Control Elf decks would probably enjoy this more than an Aggro deck.
Living Wish: A useful tutor. Able to get any creature or land, there's a very long list of candidates this card can find. Just make sure whatever you are searching for is in your sideboard, if your playgroup demands it.
Slate of Ancestry: Another card drawer for Elves. It can provide many cards at once, thanks to the sheer number of Elves you're likely to have on the field. Furthermore, if your deck is focused around Threshold, it helps achieve that quite nicely, too.
Skullclamp: The king of card draw in any Elf deck. Aggro wants it for nice power boost and the ability to recover after mass removal easily. Combo wants it for the crazy card advantage it provides. One of the best picks for any Elf deck.
Staff of Domination: Just add any Elf capable of producing five or more mana, and, presto, an infinite mana engine with the extras of being able to gain infinite life, draw your deck, and tap and untap any number of creatures.
Summoners’ pact: a tutor card with a dangerous downside. Only use if you can guarantee that you can pay it or if you can win the game in that turn
Weird harvest: this card is built more for combo elves than aggro elves because you can mass generate mana.
Niche: These are the cards that not every deck will want to play. Some are focused for multiplayer, others are meta specific, and some require their own decks.
Bramblewood Paragon: To make this card effective, you really have to be playing with a lot of Warriors. If you are, you gain access to yet another Lord, and one that leaves it's pump even after it dies. The addition of trample is always nice.
Caller of the Claw: If your meta has a lot of board sweepers, this is a great addition to an Elf deck. It can easily turn any Wrath of God on its head, and, depending on how many creatures you had out, win the game right there.
Essence Warden: A solid choice for Multiplayer games. Lots of creatures will be hitting the board, and that could amount to a sizable chunk of life.
Gilt-Leaf Archdruid: This is better for a Druid deck, but there are Druid Elves out there. Cantripping every creature in such a deck is very powerful, but the ability to steal all of an opponent's lands is a nearly instant Good Game.
Tooth and Nail: Once a top Standard deck, Elf and Nail can be done very easily in Casual, as there are better mana producing Elves.
Wellwisher: In an Elf Control deck, or an Elf deck based around lifegain, this is a top pick. Outside of that, however, the best it can usually do is stall.
winter orb: because elves have their own mana producers, they aren’t that reliant on the lands. Combos hilariously with collective voyage
Lands: There are choices more than just Forests for an Elf deck. Consider some of these for you land spots.
Gaea's Cradle: Priest of Titania in land form. A powerful effect for any Elf deck, but be careful with mass removal, not to mention the Legendary clause.
Pendelhaven: Able to turn your average Elf into something that can withstand combat. An easy add into most mono-Green decklists.
Wirewood Lodge: More untapping, but without using any spell slots. It does produce colorless instead of green mana, but if it can untap Priest of Titania, it should be considered.
Decks Outlines:
In this section, skeletons to different Elf decks will be provided. Because Casual is very meta dependent (what's popular in one group might not be played at all in another, kitchen table card bans, ect) I will only provide skeletons to these decklists, but will also provide suggestions on how to fill the remaining slots.
Elf Ball
Elf Ball is a combo deck, and an old one. Elf Ball got its name from running lots of mana Elves and killing the opponent with a large Fireball. However, splashing in Elf Ball is largely dead, since there are enough Mono-Green ways to kill the opponent.
Elf Ball needs lots of mana to function. Enter the best Elves has to offer: Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, and Priest of Titania as 4-ofs. As you want their mana as soon as possible, Concordant Crossroads is a must, but not neccesarily a 4-of, as extra copies sit in your hand doing nothing. To make even more mana, playsets of Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote are needed. Finally, you're going to need to draw into your combo. As the final must-have, a playset of Skullclamps.
For lands, Gaea's Cradle is perfect for this deck. Wirewood Lodge continues the untapping theme. The rest should be basic Forests, and you don't want too many. With so much mana, the deck can run off as few as 17 total lands.
Elf Ball skeleton
13 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
3 Wirewood Lodge
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Priest of Titania
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Wirewood Symbiote
4 Skullclamp
Enchantments: 3
3 Concordant Crossroads
Total: 44
Unused slots: 16
From here, it's more of a matter of choosing your own path. Elf Ball can kill in a variety of ways, since it has so much mana. Timberwatch Elf is an excellent choice, and adding Heedless One gives a great target to use Timberwatch on. If there's a lot of targeted removal in your meta, or you are looking for Multiplayer, you could also use Staff of Domination to go infinite, gain infinite life, and draw into and cast a Hurricane that will kill everyone else at the table.
For the rest, you can add any utility or additional mana producers. Sylvan Messenger would be able to draw a few more Elves to help combo off. Crop Rotation searches up Gaea's Cradle. Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary or Wirewood Channeler become extra copies of Priest of Titania.
The deck has a few weaknesses. For one, mass removal, even Pyroclasm, can really hurt, as only Wirewood Symbiote can really help against that, so you may want to consider Caller of the Claw. Removing Skullclamp before it has a chance to do its thing can really take the gas out of the deck, so an alternative card drawer is advised. A burn deck would be able to kill off most of your mana and then go for the dome, while you can do nothing.
13 forest
1 gaea’s cradle
2 wirewood lodge
Creatures: 22
4 nettle sentinel
4 llannawar elves
4 fyndhorn elves
2 heritage druid
2 wirewood symbiote
4 priest of titania
2 quirion ranger
3 glimpse of nature
enchantment: 2
2 concordant crossroads
Total: 43
Unused slots: 17
Again after this it is up to you how you wish to create your wincon. often people will use brainfreeze, tendrils of agony, grapeshot because of alot of spells are played in one turn.
As is with the other elfball deck, becareful of pyroclasm. a solution to it is to use elvish archdruids.
Rather straightforward deck with a simple goal: reduce the opponent's life from 20 to 0 as fast as possible by smashing face.
Start with 4 of Wren's Run Vanquisher and Llanowar Elves. From here Timbewrwatch Elf is a necessity, turning any unblocked creature into Good Game. Impervious Perfect is a great Lord for this deck, and the extra 2/2s are amazing. Once again, Skullclamp proves itself useful, giving a power boost to the equipped creature and providing card advantage and recovery vs mass removal.
For the lands, be sure to use a Pendelhaven. The rest can be basic Forests. Since this deck has fewer mana producers than Elf Ball, the land count will have to be upped.
Aggro Elves skeleton
1 Pendelhaven
4 Impervious Perfect
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Timberwatch Elf
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 Skullclamp
Total: 41
Unused slots: 19
The additional spaces can be anything, as long as it helps you win faster. Umezawa's Jitte is a great card for any Aggro deck. Elvish Champion provides an additional Lord. Nettle Sentinel is a 2/2 for a single mana, and doesn't have a huge drawback in a Mono-Green deck. Viridian Zealot can hit for 2, and can kill off any bothersome artifact or enchantment.
This deck, too, is weak to mass removal, but not as weak to Pyroclasm as it's Elf Ball brother. With enough Lords, Pyroclasm doesn't have much of an effect. The deck has no disruption vs combo decks, making those the hardest matchups, unless it can kill fast enough
I have two little things that I personally would add:
Wren's Run Packmaster: A token producer. Spending three mana on a 2/2 doesn't look like a great deal next to Impervious Perfect, but there are a few extra factors with this card. First of all, the tokens have deathtouch, so, barring protection and indestructible, they'll always get the last laugh in combat. Then it does not need to tap so you can and probably will be able to use it more than once a turn. Next, the Packmaster is a 5/5 for four mana, meaning it will be a force in combat, itself. Finally, since it champions an Elf, it's also a mass removal insurance, making sure your board position isn't completely reset if someone play Wrath of God or the like.
Wirewood Symbiote: It may not be an Elf, but it deserves consideration in nearly every Elf deck. Like the Quirion Ranger, it can untap your creatures, but for a different price: returning an Elf to your hand. This means the Symbiote can help your creatures dodge any targeted removal and combat damage while getting extra use of their effects. Even better is the use of Concordant Crossroads with this guy; if the creature you returned had a Tap ability, too, that's the potential for another extra activation.
To the land section, I'd add Treetop Village and Mutavault. Mutavault in particular is ridiculous in an Elf deck as it gets all the bonuses from the lords. Granted, the price puts it out of the range of most casual players.
Voice of the Woods is used in some elf decks, especially those that have untap effects.
Cheers,
rant
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Thank you, Blutsau.
You're absolutely right about those two points. I know them, I've seen them happen in games, but the reader might not find it obvious. I should have included them.
Thanks, rant.
I was going to include Treetop Village, especially for an Elf Control deck. The problem was... there were no threads for Elf Control decks! Everything was Aggro or Control. As I've said in other threads, I love Control and I love Mono-Green, but I didn't want to just make up a deck skeleton. So, I cut the control section, and Treetop with it, I guess. Thinking about it, it's a good inclusion for Aggro decks (helps fight against mass removal), so I shouldn't have cut it.
Mutavault, I just forgot. Oops.
Voice of the Woods... you know I own and play this card in my own G/r Elf deck? And I still forgot it? *sigh*
The Primer was completed almost a month ago (9/20/08), so Elvish Visionary would have been, at most, a rumor (Shards prelease was on the 28th and 29th). I certainly agree on it's consideration for the Elf Ball deck. It cantrips into play, and has that perfect 1 Toughness for Skullclamp.
I remember when I used to run Akroma's Memorial in my Elf deck considering that Elves hardly have anything that gives them protection from Red and/or Black, but later on I realized it wasn't needed as much due to how fast the deck goes off past Turn 4. Give them haste early game with Concordant Crossroads and you should be fine...
I've playtested Imperious Perfect in my Elf deck only realizing that he's too slow on the curve for getting certain stuff off, basically how my curve is supposed to hit is like this:
Turn 1 Llanowar Elves/Fyndhorn Elves, Turn 2 Essence Warden and Heritage Druid, Turn 3 Elvish Promenade for 6 Elves out on Turn 3. Turn 4 is where things start to get a little more fun...
There's another Elf Deck Archtype besides Elf Ball that some people don't know too much about but was made famous by a Pro Magic Player, it's called "Elf Grenade" a.k.a Standard Type 2 Elf Ball.
It might be alot faster than Elf Ball but I'm not sure, however instead of using Fireball with Wirewood Channeler it uses Roar of the Crowd with either Gemstone Mine or a land that produces either Red or Green mana like Grove of the Burnwillows.
Instead of Slate of Ancestry Elf Grenade uses Distant Melody for draw power but like I said by using Gemstone Mine or a land that produces multiple colors it shouldn't be too hard. Birds of Paradise would be a good splash for playing Roar of the Crowd and Distant Melody in Elves, maybe throw in a Coiling Oracle for kicks since he's an Elf as well.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
You indeed covered almost every way to lead elves in a reliable way.
Just would add some the card drawers: Bloodline Shaman, Glimpse of Nature and some still use the slower Sylvan Messenger.
Silhana Ledgewalker is also being overused nowadays as a consistant Jitte carrier, into aggro elves.
Very nice, hope being amused by other primer decks made by you!
Presence of Gond + Coat of Arms + Devoted Druid is a nice combo, especially with Concordant Crossroads. Either I forgot it or dismissed it, but I should have included it, at least for just that interaction. Thanks for bringing it up.
As far as Concordant Crossroads goes, I included it. It's a much-needed card for Elf Ball, but I'm not sold on it's Aggro applications.
I have to disagree with you about Imperious Perfect. She pumps your entire army and provides virtual card advantage in the form of tokens. Turning Llanowar Elves into bears is one thing, but making a bear each turn for only G is icing on the cake. The Perfect's best thing going for her is that she protects against the biggest weaknesses of the Aggro Elf deck: mass removal. Tokens make sure you don't have to expend actual Elves in your hand unless you have to, and the Toughness pump can help your Elves survive damage sweepers, especially in conjunction with other Elf pumpers. She may be too slow for your Aggro list, which, from the looks of it, seems to take an all-or-nothing approach to mass-removal, but I believe other Aggro decks could benefit with her addition.
As far as Elf Grenade goes, I have seen it, (although I was not aware it was called that. I just assumed it was called Elf Ball) but I didn't want two include it for two main reasons:
1.) It focuses on different colors. I wanted to keep the Primer largely Mono-Green, since that's what most of the Elf threads posted here have been asking for help with (although G/B was on the rise with Lorwyn).
2.) It's Standard-legal. Since this is Casual, the pool is much, much deeper and better alternatives exist. Even Fireball and Wirewood Channeler are obsolete, not that they still can't be good for some old-school fun.
Thank you, Halted. Seeing your work with tribal decks, I don't take your praise lightly.
I forgot about Bloodline Shaman, but I will say that I never really saw it used in a finalized decklist of any Elf deck I looked at, which is where a vast majority of cards I talked about came from. It seems out-of-place in Aggro and too slow for combo, but Bloodline Shaman would be the poster-child for a Mono-Green Control Elf deck, so it deserves mentioning. With enough candidates, maybe I can make and try my own list, sometime.
Glimpse of Nature got by me too. That could be very interesting in Elf Ball, but would it be overkill, considering Clamp, or would it be there to be extra copies of Clamp in case you couldn't find any?
I don't know how I didn't mention Silhana Ledgewalker. With the right equipment or enough Lords, she can be a beast in an Aggro deck.
As for more Primers, I'm hoping to at least start on a Slivers primer towards mid-December and have until mid to late-January to keep working, unless someone else wants it.
As I said before, you do a lot of work with Tribal decks. Ever think of doing a Primer? We don't have anyone signed up for Goblins.
3 thran quarry
4 breeding pool
1 gaea's cradle
2 island
5 forest
Creatures
4 llanowar elves
4 fyndhorn elves
4 birds of paradise
4 priest of titania
3 wren's run vaniquisher
3 sower of temptation
2 genesis
1 quirion ranger
2 deranged hermit
2 regal force
1 trygon predator
1 spikeweaver
1 plaxmanta
1 venser, shaper savant
3 chrome mox
4 chord of calling
2 intuition
1 sensei's divining top
1 life from the loam
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EDIT: Depending on Skullclamp and how group feels about it, Steely Resolve can be great for Elves too.
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I think it ran some Glimpse of Nature's as well. When I saw the deck in action I was like what was the deck trying to do spam more late game than mid?
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
The reason, Neyda, is because I don't really play Elf decks. So, when making this primer, I consulted the many, many threads the Casual board had on Elves, and then compiled a list of every Elf that showed up for the first 20 pages of threads, or so.
The green Elves you mentioned? Didn't show up.
Civic Wayfinder gets opted out for better mana producers or faster beats. The fact that the land he fetches doesn't hit the table is probably his biggest problem. I've used and enjoyed the Wayfinder in an old Standard deck I had, but I think there are better options for Combo and Aggro Elves. That, again, leaves us with Control Elves, where I think he would be great.
Elvish Warrior is a decent choice for Aggro. Not outstanding or anything, but certainly not bad.
I think the reason Lys Alana Huntmaster wasn't in any of the threads is due to Wirewood Hivemaster costing half as much. While the Hivemaster's tokens are not Elves, that probably won't matter much to decks just looking to sacrifice the tokens for Skullclamping or using them with Overrun.
Elvish Harbinger is another card that belongs more in Control than it does Aggro or Combo. It's a solid card, but because I never saw an Elf Control deck out of 20 pages is probably the reasons for it's absence.
Because I was keeping the thread Mono-G, as I didn't see much of a reason to branch out for only a few cards in other colors, I excluded the Black cards you mentioned. While I could have mentioned them, I thought it would help make the Primer more streamlined and focused. Once I mention those Black cards, I should probably make a G/ deck, and Gaea's Skyfolk and Coiling Oracle are solid GU cards, so I should mentioned them, and make a G/ deck, and so on and so forth.
You mean:
Either that, or I wrote it down and forgot to add it to the Primer, which is entirely possible.
The problem here lies with Wellwisher. Wellwisher got played in a lot of decks it didn't rightfully belong in. I recall seeing it in an Aggro deck, and it seems to be popular in Elf Ball decks. While I don't agree with playing it in such decks, as it doesn't help you win but simply not lose, I didn't suggest it for either deck skeleton, but included the card with the rest of them.
Thank you.
As said with other cards mentioned, I never saw the card played in any list. However, it might be worth considering for ElfBall decks, seeing as how it'll happily pump itself from the volley of spells you'll be casting in a given turn.
Very true; the 2/2 Elf is a win condition all on her own and is almost always dealt with before other Elves. However, calling it "impervious" has more to do with me misspelling it than me calling it indestructible.
dont forget Elvish Vanguard as well...
add Lara Croft and you've got trample!
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I just wanna complement Parabola answer, with some short analisys.
Everytime elves wants to speed up mana, they have plenty options to do it (no other tribe has such powerful ability), here we can mention: Fyndhorn Elves, Llanowar Elves, Heritage Druid, and the star Priest of Titania, even more in an enviroment where exists Wirewood Symbiote and Quirion Ranger.
That's the big reason why a card such Civic Wayfinder, at 2G, above normal cmc of elves for accelleration, doesn't shine, it limits itself to put a single land into play when you need no more mana.
Another point is, comparing Wellwisher roll vs Elvish Harbinger is almost an offense. Anyone who played vs Gobbos or MRBurn knows how important Wellwisher is for the deck. Not letting you lose is not a thing to ignore, losing is not cool..lol, cause....well, you lose. But he really shines on a deck with untap abilities. Of course, he should be never 4-of, and sometimes sideboard material, but vs */R decks you'll really want it at your side.
About Harbinger, is just a slow tutor at 2G, again above mana curve for what it does, there is no MU's where it can shine.
Finally and definitily Hivemaster > Huntmaster.
Thats what I was thinking.
As for mana producers, Birchlore Rangers is very good (please WotC reprint this with good art).
I have played with an Elfdeck for years casually and have collected one of every elf in the game. With that said I feel my most valued card to play with Elves is Aluren. On its own it is fantastic. Combined with cards such as Recycle and/or Intruder Alarm it gets ridicules. (yes I know there are other maybe better combos with those cards, but not nearly as fun IMO)
Lates for now,
Dr.KnowMaD
i think what you saw is ElfBall which uses the untap abilities / Glimpse of nature to keep more creatures coming into play until there are like 30 elves.
Skullclamp makes Elves run a whole lot faster, (If it isnt banned in your play area) Run 4 makes you run in an goblin/Affinity decks' speed