@BartHenryksson This deck is really sweet! I tried it in a modo competitive league and went 4-1. I'm going to stick with what I know for the RPTQ though.
Couple of thoughts re this variant:
- Objectively, what is the mainboard better against? We have both Coco and Chord + Bullets in the sideboard to go both faster and grindier. Which begs the question, which decks is the 60 better against?
- Sideboarding: My thoughts are that you bring in Coco in place of Cradle when you expect your creatures to die. And chord package instead of Beast Whisperers when you need a narrow answer to a specific archtype/deck.
Long time no chat. I took a break from magic after winning the PPTQ, but I've been thinking about the deck for the last couple of weeks leading into the RPTQ this weekend.
Notable differences:
- No Lead the Stampede Mainboard: I find in my testing I am boarding this card out every match-up. The format is insanely linear at the moment and this card just ends up being too slow accordingly. Moving two to the sideboard for the grindier matchups.
- 2 Dismember/2 Scooze Mainboard: Dismember has overperformed against a variety of creature decks. I know we are typically favoured against most creature decks, but boy oh boy are there a lot in modern at the moment. Helps kill problem creatures such as Steel Overseer/Spell Queller/Thing in the Ice. I haven't got the same praise for scooze, but it seems better than Lead in the mainboard to offset nonsense graveyard stuff going on in the format.
- Changed Manabase: To mainly support less painful dismembers over time, I've brought in the 4 x Blooming Marsh and changed my manabase. 1 Less canopy, no Westvale, 1 less forest and 1 less cavern.
Sideboard is still a work in progress. I'm pretty firm on 2 Rec, 4 LOTV but the rest is up for discussion.
Absolutely. I think Horizon Canopy is pretty hard to replace, and with more general sideboard answers such as Damping Sphere I’m happy to lose -4 Blooming Marsh and B sideboard cards. I plan on playing the same manabase at the RPTQ with question marks around Nykthos.
It was a hell of a run! The Judge even said to me before the finals “You are on track to go undefeated through the finals” to which I said “Gee, no pressure Judge”! 6-1 is also a hell of an effort, gotta run hot to win these things. Bad luck on the loss to infect, I think that deck is well positioned.
Yeah man good luck for the GP! Stick to what you know but happy to talk shop about Elves anytime. Eats spirits for breakfast
Oh man, so close! Hopefully the semis lost can spurr you on to a win this season! By the looks of it you had a really solid day.
Great job on the W's against UW Control. What sideboard cards helped out in the match-up? Or did a fast draw just get there? Bad luck on the storm pairing, Bogles would've had you feeling confident, especially being on the play. No luck drawing spheres against storm?
Beating Burn in 2 felt amazing. Granted being on the play helped, I was really happy that on the Saturday I addressed a problem with my sideboard, addressed it, and saw the result the very next day. Feels great to be a problem solver!
Thoughtseize is a very good card in GB, and really helps out against unfair decks/wrath decks. It's a tough one to lose, but I am just trying to run multiple copies of other impactful non-creature spells (Choke/Leyline/Damping Sphere) to improve our poor match-ups.
Good luck trying the list, let me know how you go! Cheers mate! Have a few months to go so let's see what the meta looks like come December time!
Thanks @Amok22! Yeah, I don't mind that painless, smooth manabase either. I just wanted the extra card draw from Horizon Canopy given the absence of visionary now that clancaller has taken that spot; we're sad Elves if we have a lot of mana and nothing to do with it!
4 Spheres may be overkill, but I just wanted to improve the tougher match-ups like Tron/Storm. I think for any non-creature SB card to be effective and have a higher chance of drawing it, you want at least 3.
2 Scoozes isn't reaaaaally enough GY hate. But my meta didn't have ANY bridgevine decks (they are everywhere online) so I substituted 3 Leyline of the Voids for 2 Scooze and an extra Kitchen Finks to hedge against GY and Burn. It worked well. Scooze ate a bunch of spells G3 against Mardu to make Reveller impossible to cast.
I was fortunate enough to run hot and win a PPTQ on Sunday 12th August in a field of 49 players!
As a bit of background, leading up to this event I had run a few leagues on magic online with both GW/GB. Even with a 5-0 with GW (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1264034#paper), I felt that GB was the better call in the meta.
On the Saturday, I went 4-2 and just missed top 8. Two losses were to burn. I made the mistake of having my sideboard attack the magic online meta, as opposed to my cities meta. As a result, many cards rotted in my sideboard (namely 3 x Leyline of the Void) as popular online decks such as Bridgevine were far and few between (these decks are hard to acquire the pieces for in paper). As a result, I had no lifegain cards and was promptly punished by burn.
In general, I felt really good about how the deck was positioned and was keen to try again tomorrow.
My 2/1 Split of Chord/Lead felt wrong. Chord was poor all day where lead shined. As a result, I was deep in the tank reflecting on saturday night and ended up with the following list:
Sleeved this up and went to sleep dreaming of Archdruid on Turn 2. I woke up the next day, and apparently the dream continued.
Arriving full of hope and really happy with my Tuned 75, the PPTQ began!
Round 1 - Mardu Pyromancer 2-1
G1 - Lose pretty comfortably, didn't draw any of the big 7 cards (coco/lead) and was buried by removal.
G2 - Board in Shapers, Scooze, Dismember. Board out some nettles an ezuri and a clancaller. Begin with Shapers' on one and proceed to draw another one in the next couple of turns. Only have him use one removal spell on my guys and pitch the rest to faithless looting, playing around the shapers. I go wide and multiple lords get me out of Anger of the Gods Range as I keep calling the clan.
G3 - Really tight game with a timely Scooze that killed off both LoTV and Lily The Last Hope. Great sideboard inclusion! Feeling vindicated already.
Round 2 - Abzan 2-0
G1 - A really tight game, normally we steamroll game 1. His topdecked Siege Rhino had me worried, that is until Ezuri showed up two draw steps later. Closed the game on low life, would have died to 4 souls swinging in the air the following turn.
G2 - Shapers and Scooze come in, and a single rec sage to hedge against Grafdiggers cage. I have a great draw (theme of the day) and keep calling the clan to make his Tarmogoyf and 4/4 Flayer look quite small by comparison. All elves are 5/5 and 6/6 and I swing for lethal. Who needs Ezuri?
Round 3 - BTL Scapeshift 2-0
G1 and G2 - I just have archdruid on 2 both games and do absurd elf things resulting in big t4 kills both games. Lucky enough to dodge anger and any nonsense BTL targets both games. Chokes and a rec sage came in.
Round 4 - Colorless Eldrazi 2-1
G1 - Temple, Mimic, TKS, Smasher on consecutive turns while I don't draw any payoff or lords. A swift loss.
G2 - Bring in dismember, 2 rec sage. Take out some nettles. Bury him and go wide, playing around Ratchet Bomb by diversifying my threats.
G3 - A chalice on 2 bricks 2 dwynens elites and 1 clancaller in hand. I stall the game and play around a ratchet bomb on 3. Force him to pop the bomb with a SOTP on the stack. Float mana from the archdruid and cast coco after my shaman/archdruid die to gas back up again. He makes a poor attack into a 4/3 shaman with TKS forgetting about the lord and is punished as a result. 4-0 now!
R5 and R6 Double ID into 3rd place Swiss.
Quarter Final - Burn 2-0
G1 - Here it is. My nightmare matchup from yesterday. I feel confident being on the play against a solid burn player who queued for the PT using the same deck. I am happy to see Nettle/Dork/Clancaller and two lands - all I need to take the game and apply pressure to my opponents life total. Bury him under two cocos and finish over 10 life.
G2 - A t1 lavamancer kills a few of my elves but I am still able to coco on 3 with my 3rd dork that survived. Hit a shaman and another dork and widdle him down from there. An ensaring bridge stops my cold two turns later but I am on a comfortable 14. Many outs available and rec sage saves the day two drawsteps later.
I boarded in 2 shapers 2 finks 2 scooze 1 rec. Took out 3 lead, 2 clan, 1 ezuri and 1 other card i forget.
Semi Final - Eldrazi Tron 2-0
G1 - A good matchup, I am on the draw against 2nd seed but go wide and hard with no all is dust/tron available and he dies on my T4.
G2 - Much the same, TKS and Eldrazi Smasher outclassed by 2 Clancallers, 2 Archdruids and 3 dorks and a rec sage. I attack with dork dork rec sage dwynen. He blocks dwynen and takes 16. He couldn't believe he was dead!
Brought in 4 damping sphere, 2 rec sage and a dismember. Took out nettles and leads.
Final - Hollow One 2-0
G1 - Insanely tight back and forth. Being on the play against 8th seed was crucial. He double Hollow Ones me on his turn 2 and attacks me for 4 with a Flameblade. Thankfully I go into my turn 3 and am able to establish a board prescence. I don't draw much gas but thankfully 2 horizon canopies (instead of blooming marshes) are able to find me another archdruid. Life totals are close and I really need to turn the corner. My opponent has Hollow one Flameblade on Defence. He has two bloodghast and 2 phoenix in the yard hoping for land 3. I swing in with everything except one dork, 5 3/3s. He blocks one archdruid and the other 4 connect for 12, bringing him down to 3. This is where I stuff up - I really should have put him on a 2 turn clock and kept up another blocker but I didn't realise. I was on 10 life, he draws and cycles a street wraith going down to 1 life trying to find a land. If he hits land, he has Ghast Ghast Phoenix Phoenix 2 attack flameblade and Hollow one. I would block hollow one and take exactly 10 damage. Luck is on my side and I fade a land drop and win on the next turn.
G2 - Another really tight game. He leads on looting, I lead on mystic. He cast goblin lore - I hold my breath - no double hollow one this time, not even a single! I am feeling good untapping. I have the option to cast one of my two archdruids or the scavenging ooze i draw for turn. I opt for the ooze and eat one of the two bloodghasts in the bin. That's all the ooze does as it is promptly pushed off a cliff. A bit of back and forth, I survive some collective brutalities on my archdruids and eek out a kill with a topdecked SOTP for the tournament! Would have died next turn to a topdecked phoenix in addition to another phoenix for 4 damage (I was on 3).
Brought in 2 rec, 1 dismember, 2 scooze 2 finks. I take out some nettles some lead and shave another elf.
I can't believe it! I 6-0d the finals! All the grinding on MODO and sticking to the elf bois has paid off. I made a good call to switch to GB as I had been on Vizier Combo for a while, adjusted to my meta and ran incredibly hot all day. You need a bit of luck to win one of these events - lots of great players! I just had a really good feeling all day, the deck was drawing beautifully. No sketchy one landers, not a single mulligan all day! The only sketchy keep was G2 against Abzan. 4 Land (one canopy), ezuri, coco, coco on the draw. I don't like mulling against discard decks, I am rewarded with a mystic on top and another coco. A slow start but I bury my opponent under 3 cocos! Take that, Kalitas.
General notes
- Horizon Canopy x 4. You take some damage, you can't play black sideboard cards (my list only has 4 black sources). But man, without visionaries you need some additional card draw, nothing worse than flooding - Horizon Canopy saves the day in those circumstances and gives you an additional draw towards gas.
- No Chord - Chord isn't great at the moment. I sideboard out lead against the faster decks and go all in on the elf plan supplemented with sideboard cards. I actually only cast lead once all day! It was missing in action against my grindier round 1 and 2 opponents unfortuntately!
- Clancaller. Oh boy, this card is incredible. I was hesitant during spoiler season - but it's everything we want. A faster clock, an additional threat and a mana sink. I adore it!
- B over W. With Damping Sphere and Access to Leyline of the Void, I don't think GW necessarily has better sideboard options outside of say Eidolon of Rhetoric/Selfless Spirit etc. But without Chord of Calling, these bullets aren't as effective anyway.
- No Revoker - Again, without bullets, I didn't want to dedicate multiple copies of this card to my sideboard.
Really looking forward to my first RPTQ - it's Modern and you bet I will be playing Elves!
- jd
Hey guys, won a PPTQ with GB yesterday! I’ll post my list and a report soon, but for now enjoy this 5-0 I had with GW featuring SLC and Clancaller! I know a few of you have been asking for a SLC list in modern, and as far as I’m aware this is the first modern elves list published on goldfish to utilize a full playset!
Appreciate the love brother! As Syreal said, we've both been focusing on Standard for Nationals. I just had a cheeky league before going out on Saturday! I'll stream this week for sure!
Couple of thoughts re this variant:
- Objectively, what is the mainboard better against? We have both Coco and Chord + Bullets in the sideboard to go both faster and grindier. Which begs the question, which decks is the 60 better against?
- Sideboarding: My thoughts are that you bring in Coco in place of Cradle when you expect your creatures to die. And chord package instead of Beast Whisperers when you need a narrow answer to a specific archtype/deck.
Long time no chat. I took a break from magic after winning the PPTQ, but I've been thinking about the deck for the last couple of weeks leading into the RPTQ this weekend.
@FoodChainGoblins here's where I am at now with my thinking, a few things have changed since August in Modern and as such this is my current decklist:
https://www.manatraders.com/buy-mtgo-cards/custom-deck/393836
Notable differences:
- No Lead the Stampede Mainboard: I find in my testing I am boarding this card out every match-up. The format is insanely linear at the moment and this card just ends up being too slow accordingly. Moving two to the sideboard for the grindier matchups.
- 2 Dismember/2 Scooze Mainboard: Dismember has overperformed against a variety of creature decks. I know we are typically favoured against most creature decks, but boy oh boy are there a lot in modern at the moment. Helps kill problem creatures such as Steel Overseer/Spell Queller/Thing in the Ice. I haven't got the same praise for scooze, but it seems better than Lead in the mainboard to offset nonsense graveyard stuff going on in the format.
- Changed Manabase: To mainly support less painful dismembers over time, I've brought in the 4 x Blooming Marsh and changed my manabase. 1 Less canopy, no Westvale, 1 less forest and 1 less cavern.
Sideboard is still a work in progress. I'm pretty firm on 2 Rec, 4 LOTV but the rest is up for discussion.
It was a hell of a run! The Judge even said to me before the finals “You are on track to go undefeated through the finals” to which I said “Gee, no pressure Judge”! 6-1 is also a hell of an effort, gotta run hot to win these things. Bad luck on the loss to infect, I think that deck is well positioned.
Yeah man good luck for the GP! Stick to what you know but happy to talk shop about Elves anytime. Eats spirits for breakfast
Oh man, so close! Hopefully the semis lost can spurr you on to a win this season! By the looks of it you had a really solid day.
Great job on the W's against UW Control. What sideboard cards helped out in the match-up? Or did a fast draw just get there? Bad luck on the storm pairing, Bogles would've had you feeling confident, especially being on the play. No luck drawing spheres against storm?
Beating Burn in 2 felt amazing. Granted being on the play helped, I was really happy that on the Saturday I addressed a problem with my sideboard, addressed it, and saw the result the very next day. Feels great to be a problem solver!
Thoughtseize is a very good card in GB, and really helps out against unfair decks/wrath decks. It's a tough one to lose, but I am just trying to run multiple copies of other impactful non-creature spells (Choke/Leyline/Damping Sphere) to improve our poor match-ups.
Good luck trying the list, let me know how you go! Cheers mate! Have a few months to go so let's see what the meta looks like come December time!
4 Spheres may be overkill, but I just wanted to improve the tougher match-ups like Tron/Storm. I think for any non-creature SB card to be effective and have a higher chance of drawing it, you want at least 3.
2 Scoozes isn't reaaaaally enough GY hate. But my meta didn't have ANY bridgevine decks (they are everywhere online) so I substituted 3 Leyline of the Voids for 2 Scooze and an extra Kitchen Finks to hedge against GY and Burn. It worked well. Scooze ate a bunch of spells G3 against Mardu to make Reveller impossible to cast.
My pleasure man! Good luck at your PPTQs!
Hi guys,
I was fortunate enough to run hot and win a PPTQ on Sunday 12th August in a field of 49 players!
As a bit of background, leading up to this event I had run a few leagues on magic online with both GW/GB. Even with a 5-0 with GW (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1264034#paper), I felt that GB was the better call in the meta.
On the Saturday, I went 4-2 and just missed top 8. Two losses were to burn. I made the mistake of having my sideboard attack the magic online meta, as opposed to my cities meta. As a result, many cards rotted in my sideboard (namely 3 x Leyline of the Void) as popular online decks such as Bridgevine were far and few between (these decks are hard to acquire the pieces for in paper). As a result, I had no lifegain cards and was promptly punished by burn.
In general, I felt really good about how the deck was positioned and was keen to try again tomorrow.
My 2/1 Split of Chord/Lead felt wrong. Chord was poor all day where lead shined. As a result, I was deep in the tank reflecting on saturday night and ended up with the following list:
4 Nettle
4 Heritage
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Mystic
4 Dwynen
4 Clancaller
4 Archdruid
4 Shaman
3 Ezuri
4 Coco
3 Lead
4 Forest
4 Cavern
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Gilt Leaf palace
1 Pendelhaven
1 Nykthos
SB
2 Shapers
2 Finks
2 Scooze
4 Damping Sphere
1 Dismember
2 Rec Sage
2 Choke
Sleeved this up and went to sleep dreaming of Archdruid on Turn 2. I woke up the next day, and apparently the dream continued.
Arriving full of hope and really happy with my Tuned 75, the PPTQ began!
Round 1 - Mardu Pyromancer 2-1
G1 - Lose pretty comfortably, didn't draw any of the big 7 cards (coco/lead) and was buried by removal.
G2 - Board in Shapers, Scooze, Dismember. Board out some nettles an ezuri and a clancaller. Begin with Shapers' on one and proceed to draw another one in the next couple of turns. Only have him use one removal spell on my guys and pitch the rest to faithless looting, playing around the shapers. I go wide and multiple lords get me out of Anger of the Gods Range as I keep calling the clan.
G3 - Really tight game with a timely Scooze that killed off both LoTV and Lily The Last Hope. Great sideboard inclusion! Feeling vindicated already.
Round 2 - Abzan 2-0
G1 - A really tight game, normally we steamroll game 1. His topdecked Siege Rhino had me worried, that is until Ezuri showed up two draw steps later. Closed the game on low life, would have died to 4 souls swinging in the air the following turn.
G2 - Shapers and Scooze come in, and a single rec sage to hedge against Grafdiggers cage. I have a great draw (theme of the day) and keep calling the clan to make his Tarmogoyf and 4/4 Flayer look quite small by comparison. All elves are 5/5 and 6/6 and I swing for lethal. Who needs Ezuri?
Round 3 - BTL Scapeshift 2-0
G1 and G2 - I just have archdruid on 2 both games and do absurd elf things resulting in big t4 kills both games. Lucky enough to dodge anger and any nonsense BTL targets both games. Chokes and a rec sage came in.
Round 4 - Colorless Eldrazi 2-1
G1 - Temple, Mimic, TKS, Smasher on consecutive turns while I don't draw any payoff or lords. A swift loss.
G2 - Bring in dismember, 2 rec sage. Take out some nettles. Bury him and go wide, playing around Ratchet Bomb by diversifying my threats.
G3 - A chalice on 2 bricks 2 dwynens elites and 1 clancaller in hand. I stall the game and play around a ratchet bomb on 3. Force him to pop the bomb with a SOTP on the stack. Float mana from the archdruid and cast coco after my shaman/archdruid die to gas back up again. He makes a poor attack into a 4/3 shaman with TKS forgetting about the lord and is punished as a result. 4-0 now!
R5 and R6 Double ID into 3rd place Swiss.
Quarter Final - Burn 2-0
G1 - Here it is. My nightmare matchup from yesterday. I feel confident being on the play against a solid burn player who queued for the PT using the same deck. I am happy to see Nettle/Dork/Clancaller and two lands - all I need to take the game and apply pressure to my opponents life total. Bury him under two cocos and finish over 10 life.
G2 - A t1 lavamancer kills a few of my elves but I am still able to coco on 3 with my 3rd dork that survived. Hit a shaman and another dork and widdle him down from there. An ensaring bridge stops my cold two turns later but I am on a comfortable 14. Many outs available and rec sage saves the day two drawsteps later.
I boarded in 2 shapers 2 finks 2 scooze 1 rec. Took out 3 lead, 2 clan, 1 ezuri and 1 other card i forget.
Semi Final - Eldrazi Tron 2-0
G1 - A good matchup, I am on the draw against 2nd seed but go wide and hard with no all is dust/tron available and he dies on my T4.
G2 - Much the same, TKS and Eldrazi Smasher outclassed by 2 Clancallers, 2 Archdruids and 3 dorks and a rec sage. I attack with dork dork rec sage dwynen. He blocks dwynen and takes 16. He couldn't believe he was dead!
Brought in 4 damping sphere, 2 rec sage and a dismember. Took out nettles and leads.
Final - Hollow One 2-0
G1 - Insanely tight back and forth. Being on the play against 8th seed was crucial. He double Hollow Ones me on his turn 2 and attacks me for 4 with a Flameblade. Thankfully I go into my turn 3 and am able to establish a board prescence. I don't draw much gas but thankfully 2 horizon canopies (instead of blooming marshes) are able to find me another archdruid. Life totals are close and I really need to turn the corner. My opponent has Hollow one Flameblade on Defence. He has two bloodghast and 2 phoenix in the yard hoping for land 3. I swing in with everything except one dork, 5 3/3s. He blocks one archdruid and the other 4 connect for 12, bringing him down to 3. This is where I stuff up - I really should have put him on a 2 turn clock and kept up another blocker but I didn't realise. I was on 10 life, he draws and cycles a street wraith going down to 1 life trying to find a land. If he hits land, he has Ghast Ghast Phoenix Phoenix 2 attack flameblade and Hollow one. I would block hollow one and take exactly 10 damage. Luck is on my side and I fade a land drop and win on the next turn.
G2 - Another really tight game. He leads on looting, I lead on mystic. He cast goblin lore - I hold my breath - no double hollow one this time, not even a single! I am feeling good untapping. I have the option to cast one of my two archdruids or the scavenging ooze i draw for turn. I opt for the ooze and eat one of the two bloodghasts in the bin. That's all the ooze does as it is promptly pushed off a cliff. A bit of back and forth, I survive some collective brutalities on my archdruids and eek out a kill with a topdecked SOTP for the tournament! Would have died next turn to a topdecked phoenix in addition to another phoenix for 4 damage (I was on 3).
Brought in 2 rec, 1 dismember, 2 scooze 2 finks. I take out some nettles some lead and shave another elf.
I can't believe it! I 6-0d the finals! All the grinding on MODO and sticking to the elf bois has paid off. I made a good call to switch to GB as I had been on Vizier Combo for a while, adjusted to my meta and ran incredibly hot all day. You need a bit of luck to win one of these events - lots of great players! I just had a really good feeling all day, the deck was drawing beautifully. No sketchy one landers, not a single mulligan all day! The only sketchy keep was G2 against Abzan. 4 Land (one canopy), ezuri, coco, coco on the draw. I don't like mulling against discard decks, I am rewarded with a mystic on top and another coco. A slow start but I bury my opponent under 3 cocos! Take that, Kalitas.
General notes
- Horizon Canopy x 4. You take some damage, you can't play black sideboard cards (my list only has 4 black sources). But man, without visionaries you need some additional card draw, nothing worse than flooding - Horizon Canopy saves the day in those circumstances and gives you an additional draw towards gas.
- No Chord - Chord isn't great at the moment. I sideboard out lead against the faster decks and go all in on the elf plan supplemented with sideboard cards. I actually only cast lead once all day! It was missing in action against my grindier round 1 and 2 opponents unfortuntately!
- Clancaller. Oh boy, this card is incredible. I was hesitant during spoiler season - but it's everything we want. A faster clock, an additional threat and a mana sink. I adore it!
- B over W. With Damping Sphere and Access to Leyline of the Void, I don't think GW necessarily has better sideboard options outside of say Eidolon of Rhetoric/Selfless Spirit etc. But without Chord of Calling, these bullets aren't as effective anyway.
- No Revoker - Again, without bullets, I didn't want to dedicate multiple copies of this card to my sideboard.
Really looking forward to my first RPTQ - it's Modern and you bet I will be playing Elves!
- jd
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1264034#online
Long time no speak guys! Wanted to share this little gem with you. Sorry to ruin the 5-0 Partee, Pardee.