Hi guys, I would appreciate some help with tuning my abzan elf deck (hopefully playing it tonight.) Below is the list I played a couple of weeks ago (3-0-1)
I do not own any cavern of souls or gilt-leaf palace. I would prefer to play GB but I figured that since I would already need to run fetches, I may as well play abzan
What are peoples thoughts on the number of basic forests I have? I feel like I should cut 1-2 razorverge for more basic forests.
Similar thing happened to me last week when I went 3-0-1 at fnm (first fnm with elves). Couple of salty players about the deck's speed/linearity/"this is a bad matchup for my deck". I just ignore it, but I did find the degree of saltiness a bit odd
Not having noble hierarch's will probably lose you a couple of percentage points but nothing major. Avacyn's Pilgrim is a better substitute if you are expecting to run into blood moon, otherwise I think Arbor Elf is the better choice.
I'm not sure what the proper substitute land base is for khans fetches, as white is a lot more important than black in most builds, but not being able to access a basic swamp off a fetch could make things difficult. Could someone else with more experience chime in on this?
Currently at GP Brisbane there are only 6 players at 8-0 and 2 of those decks are elves!
(other decks are 1x cheeri0s, 1x dredge, 1x lantern and 1x esper control)
Quick explanation behind some card choices:
I don't have gilt-leaf palaces at the moment, if I did I would probably play straight GB
My meta is quite removal heavy, with about 50% of the field being either Jeskai control, Grixis delver, Jund/Abzan or Mardu midrange. There is also regularly about 10-15% of the field on burn. This has lead removing 4x Nettle Sentinel for a 2/2 split between Essence Warden and Narnam Renegade.
Questions:
Is it worth going to a 2/2 split of Chord and Lead in the MB so that I can use Narnam renegade as an ambush viper?
Is Thrun too deviating from the game plan?
Should I play both selfless spirit and forge-tender, or just selfless spirit?
Without Gilt-Leaf Palaces how bad would the deck be if I went straight GB lead version with duress and heroic intervention in the side?
Hey guys, I've been jamming a few games of elves on cockatrice to see how it feels (I currently play Kiki-Chord). Couple of things that I'm finding difficult with this deck is mulligans and playing with the chord. How aggressive can you mulligan with this deck? For example, game 1 mull to 6 and you have a hand with 1 land, 1 dork, 1 sentinel, 1 dwynen's elite, elvish arch druid and a pay off card (company, chord, shaman of the pack etc.) Should you keep? I generally do, but it seems that 50-50 whether it works out, depending if the dork survives.
In addition, in what meta does this deck do well? My local meta is 90% fair decks, mainly grixis delver and burn, with a bit of mardu, jeskai nahiri, jund, zoo and merfolk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems like a poor meta for elves considering the amount of decks with bulk removal.
I've played about 20 games with Liam Lonergan's GW list from SCG player's championship to get comfortable with the deck. Below is the current list I've been messing with, I'm struggling with the mana base, drawing white sideboarded cards after game 1 and not being able to cast them is the pits. Any other criticism would be greatly appreciated!
How do you guys play around grafdigger's cage? I know that we can still function without our tutor cards but it definitely makes things tough, and the chance of drawing into a qasali or reclamation sage is pretty low. I've found that in my meta only about ~25% of decks have it, but generally when I see it in game 2 I've already sideboarded out my artifact/enchantment hate because my opponent is playing something like abzan, grixis etc.
FYI I play chord or evo versions, or sometimes a split between the two cards.
4x llanowar elves
4x elvish mystic
4x heritage druid
4x nettle sentinel
4x elvish visionary
4x dwynen's elite
4x elvish archdruid
4x shaman of the pack
2x ezuri, renegade leader
Spells
4x collected company
4x chord of calling
4x blooming marsh
2x razorverge thicket
1x horizon canopy
3x windswept heath
2x wooded foothills
1x overgrown tomb
1x temple garden
1x westvale abbey
3x forest
2 kitchen finks
1 spellskite
1 phyrexian revoker
1 scavenging ooze
1 selfless spirit
1 eidolon of rhetoric
1 reclamation sage
1 elvish champion
1 chameleon colossus
3 lead the stampede
2 abrupt decay
Couple of points
Thanks for your help guys! I really appreciate it
I'm not sure what the proper substitute land base is for khans fetches, as white is a lot more important than black in most builds, but not being able to access a basic swamp off a fetch could make things difficult. Could someone else with more experience chime in on this?
Currently leading is dredge at 13-0 with lantern (12-1), dredge (12-1) and burn (12-1) close behind
(other decks are 1x cheeri0s, 1x dredge, 1x lantern and 1x esper control)
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Heritage Druid
2x Essence Warden
2x Narnam Renegade
4x Dwynen's Elite
3x Elvish Vissionary
4x Elvish Archdruid
4x Shaman of the Pack
3x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4x Collected Company
3x Lead the Stampede
1x Chord of Calling
Lands
4x Blooming Marsh
4x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Temple Garden
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Westvale Abbey
3x Forest
1x Burrenton Forge-Tender
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Elvish Champion
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Reclamation Sage
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Spellskite
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
2x Chord of Calling
2x Duress
Quick explanation behind some card choices:
I don't have gilt-leaf palaces at the moment, if I did I would probably play straight GB
My meta is quite removal heavy, with about 50% of the field being either Jeskai control, Grixis delver, Jund/Abzan or Mardu midrange. There is also regularly about 10-15% of the field on burn. This has lead removing 4x Nettle Sentinel for a 2/2 split between Essence Warden and Narnam Renegade.
Questions:
Is it worth going to a 2/2 split of Chord and Lead in the MB so that I can use Narnam renegade as an ambush viper?
Is Thrun too deviating from the game plan?
Should I play both selfless spirit and forge-tender, or just selfless spirit?
Without Gilt-Leaf Palaces how bad would the deck be if I went straight GB lead version with duress and heroic intervention in the side?
Thanks!
In addition, in what meta does this deck do well? My local meta is 90% fair decks, mainly grixis delver and burn, with a bit of mardu, jeskai nahiri, jund, zoo and merfolk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems like a poor meta for elves considering the amount of decks with bulk removal.
I've played about 20 games with Liam Lonergan's GW list from SCG player's championship to get comfortable with the deck. Below is the current list I've been messing with, I'm struggling with the mana base, drawing white sideboarded cards after game 1 and not being able to cast them is the pits. Any other criticism would be greatly appreciated!
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Forest
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Pendelhaven
2 Blooming Marsh
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
Creatures (34)
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Heritage Druid
4 Dwynen's Elite
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Shaman of the Pack
4 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Collected Company
2 Lead the Stampede
2 Chord of Calling
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Elvish Champion
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Selfless Spirit
2 Fracturing Gust
2 Path to Exile
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Spellskite
FYI I play chord or evo versions, or sometimes a split between the two cards.