welcome back. after good few months with Elves I am thinking of putting this piece of art together again. Best deck I've ever played, and definetely most fun. Any solid lists?
Meta yesterday - Elves, Elves, Storm, Storm, Boros Burn, Jeskai Control, Dredgevine and Living End......aaaaand got paired and ripped to pieces twice by storm 0:2 and 1:2. Guy won through Leyline and Sphere on the backs of Things in the Ice?!!
Ended 2:2 beating Burn and Dredgevine (I love this matchup).
I am cutting Leylines and upping Spheres to three copies. Also time to test one maindeck Ooze (two in sb) in the place of one Ezuri.
Anybody who plays Trophies either main or sb - do you need Elves of Deep Shadow for them to successfully work? GB version.
went 3-1 yesterday in a small tournament with my Golgari Band. Beaten Dredgevine 2:0, Burn 2:0 and some strange Umbral Mantle combo deck 2:1. Lost to UW control 0:2.
Any ideas how to improve UW control matchup? They stall us with PTE and Snapcaster blocks, then Verdict or Terminus our board, drop Jace and Collonade ugh it is so painfully boring to play against.
Hello guys, I'm pretty new to this forum and I would like to hear some of your opinions.
I just recently bought into GB elves in paper, I'm currently only missing Caverns and I play just one Canopy.
But what I wanted to discuss is that I heard and saw Jeff Hoogland piloting the deck and advocating playing additional 4 dorks(Deep Shadow) in the place of Nettles, saying that Nettle is a "win more card" and that Shadow allows for more keepable hands. Yet I find Nettle better than ever mainly thanks to the new Clancaller lord effect, because Nettle has a bigger body. So what is your opinion on that? Maybe it was already discussed here and I missed it. Also excuse my english.
Edit: I play 3 nettle/1 Shadow split as of now, dunno if that isn't hurting the otherwise streamlined deck s bit.
Nettle Sentinel got even crazier with Clancaller. Dont think Deep Shadow Elves are that much needed unless you play mostly black SB (Thoughtseizes, Leylines, Pushes) but then you are dilluting the aggro creature deck too much with noncreature spells.
Why there is a tendency to play 3 Lead the Stampede instead of a full playset.
In my opinion, there is nothing greedy about playing 4. I would often like to draw 3 new cards instead of putting Ezuri into play.
I have won too many games because of having a full hand when the tempo/control just had 2. They mostly recycle cards such as Serum Visions, Cryptic Command, but none of them draw them more cards than one. When we sideboard correctly we always hit a crazy amount of from it. Many decks board a Dispel or Spell Snare to our matchup, and Lead dodges them like crazy.
On the other hand against a fast deck that wrecks us turn 2/3, we can easily remove 4 of them and have room to put our sideboard cards. There is also synergy when we swap noncreature cards for leads.
Leads shine against any form of control, tempo decks, discard decks, midrange value and more.
Lead is also easier castable than Ezuri under the Blood Moon.
And eventually, Leads are not slowing our linear game plan!
I agree that Lead is crazy. In Elves it is usual 2G = draw 4-5 cards I might actually cut my third Ezuri and test the playset eventually.
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
Congratulations. Your main deck looks similar to mine although I play Marshes instead of Canopies and an extra Forest instead of Nykthos. Do you really need 4 Spheres? Are 2 Oozes enough to deal with all that grave shenaningans?
Clancaller is huge. I never liked Visionary with her much "needed" ability. Like Jeff Hoogland says "dont pretend, Elves are nothing more than an aggro". We need cheap lords, way to fill up the hand with more creatures and cheap creatures. No need for Chord and silver bullets. Before Clancaller when I had to start t1 Nettle Sentinel I was like meh. Now it is my favourite play. t1) Nettle Sentinel t2) Clancaller t3) Heritage Druid, Archdruid, Clancaller, Ezuri. Lethal next turn.
For those advocating Steel Leaf Champion - I tried so much to squeeze him in - but he cant replace Archdruid nor Ezuri in 3cmc mana slot.
I am happy with BBE. Deck seems to be faster and more aggresive due to third turn 3/2 haster hitting one more Elf or Lead. I don't miss white SB at all and Chord always seemed clunky for me. As for the boardwipes I am trying to be faster than them, hit them via Thoughtseize or reinforce the board with BBE into Lead into 3-4 more Elves. I will definetely test Steel Leaf Champion just trying to find a slot or two for him.
Regarding your decklist - I'd rather play Pendelhaven before I even consider Okina. Also Dwynen's Elite is gold - pump it to four copies cutting one Visionary who in my opinion is weakest Elf in the deck. Harbinger is a 3 mana Elf - look at other 3 mana Elves (Shaman, Archdruid and Ezuri) and compare their power to hers. If you need to find Ezuri - Chord and CoCo are doing a better job. Playing strict Golgari version with no access to W I would consider Abrupt Decay and/or Dismember in the SB.
Oh I know you aren’t trying to force craterhoof on us. I just wanted to hear critical analysis alongside the fun of totally destroying someone.
Havent played it long enough for that
Shapers' Sanctuary is working great. Has anyone tested Mark of Asylum - this should stop Anger and Pyroclasm as well or do we just depend on that one off Selfless Spirit or Forge Tender?
Yeah I guess I could have just pump via Ezuri once more and win anyway Both times times Craterhoof was win more with style points - once played from hand and once Called for it. Thing is the amount of mana I get from Itlimoc/Druids allows me to do that. I bet one day I will get Needle, Spyglass, Linvala blocking Ezuri (people were siding those in and been just unlucky not to get them on time) and then Hoof becomes just as good backup plan. I was considering Regal Force instead of Hoof but I if I have those > 4 Elves I'd rather for Hoof for the win.
I chose Abzan due to it's wide range of angles it can go for the throat - I don't like depending too much on one card (Ezuri) - I don't have unlimited mana for Ezuri via Vizier/Druid combo but I have enough to play Ezuri and pump it once/twice, flood the board with Elves and drop some Shamans or a one off Beast (just in case)
I'm not trying to force it upon you pretending everyone should play it, just saying it works for me. IMHO Itlimoc is too powerful NOT to be played.
I had a lot of fun playing the deck today for the first time ever. Missed few Nettle triggers but apart from that I guess a decent display. The manabase was allright (although if I get third Cavern I will probably swap a Swamp for it as it is awkward, until then I think I will play Pendelhaven instead). Beaten GW Vizier Elves, BW tokens and some rogue deck. Lost to 4c Death Shadow.
This is the list I played. I know Itlimoc and Craterhoof may seem like cute plays but so far they didn't let me down. Craterhoof won the game twice.
Had five small elves on board (including Heritage Druid) and an active Itlimoc and facing lethal next turn via opp's flyers, cast Company on his end step grab Ezuri and Elite, tap them and Llanowar, cast another Company grabbing two Archdruids. Untap, draw, tap Itlimoc and grandpas pump creatures via Ezuri twice, Chord for Behemoth and attack for 180 against his three 3/3 flying tokens
I just started toying with the deck and tomorrow is the first FNM where I am going to test it. Can somebody answer few questions? I'm playing non Vizier Abzan version with Shamans and Ezuri.
- when siding in what is the first thing we side out? is it a creature for a creature?
- I know being a CoCo deck the more noncreature spells we side in the worse. Is Shapers Sanctuary worth siding in or do we just approve their spot removal and play over it?
- is a split of 2 Decays and 2 Paths good or is one better than the other in Elves?
- how good is Essence Warden? Is it worth playing and if so against what?
this is my current SB
3x Thoughtseize
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Lead the Stampede
1x Rest in Peace
1x Stony Silence
1x Kataki
1x Essence Warden
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
Ended 2:2 beating Burn and Dredgevine (I love this matchup).
I am cutting Leylines and upping Spheres to three copies. Also time to test one maindeck Ooze (two in sb) in the place of one Ezuri.
Anybody who plays Trophies either main or sb - do you need Elves of Deep Shadow for them to successfully work? GB version.
Any ideas how to improve UW control matchup? They stall us with PTE and Snapcaster blocks, then Verdict or Terminus our board, drop Jace and Collonade ugh it is so painfully boring to play against.
Nettle Sentinel got even crazier with Clancaller. Dont think Deep Shadow Elves are that much needed unless you play mostly black SB (Thoughtseizes, Leylines, Pushes) but then you are dilluting the aggro creature deck too much with noncreature spells.
I agree that Lead is crazy. In Elves it is usual 2G = draw 4-5 cards
Congratulations. Your main deck looks similar to mine although I play Marshes instead of Canopies and an extra Forest instead of Nykthos. Do you really need 4 Spheres? Are 2 Oozes enough to deal with all that grave shenaningans?
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Clancaller
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Shaman of the Pack
4 Collected Company
3 Lead the Stampede
Lands [19]
1 Pendelhaven
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Cavern of Souls
5 Forest
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Damping Sphere
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Elvish Champion
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Choke
3 Duress
Clancaller is huge. I never liked Visionary with her much "needed" ability. Like Jeff Hoogland says "dont pretend, Elves are nothing more than an aggro". We need cheap lords, way to fill up the hand with more creatures and cheap creatures. No need for Chord and silver bullets. Before Clancaller when I had to start t1 Nettle Sentinel I was like meh. Now it is my favourite play. t1) Nettle Sentinel t2) Clancaller t3) Heritage Druid, Archdruid, Clancaller, Ezuri. Lethal next turn.
For those advocating Steel Leaf Champion - I tried so much to squeeze him in - but he cant replace Archdruid nor Ezuri in 3cmc mana slot.
Havent played it long enough for that
Shapers' Sanctuary is working great. Has anyone tested Mark of Asylum - this should stop Anger and Pyroclasm as well or do we just depend on that one off Selfless Spirit or Forge Tender?
I chose Abzan due to it's wide range of angles it can go for the throat - I don't like depending too much on one card (Ezuri) - I don't have unlimited mana for Ezuri via Vizier/Druid combo but I have enough to play Ezuri and pump it once/twice, flood the board with Elves and drop some Shamans or a one off Beast (just in case)
I'm not trying to force it upon you pretending everyone should play it, just saying it works for me. IMHO Itlimoc is too powerful NOT to be played.
This is the list I played. I know Itlimoc and Craterhoof may seem like cute plays but so far they didn't let me down. Craterhoof won the game twice.
Had five small elves on board (including Heritage Druid) and an active Itlimoc and facing lethal next turn via opp's flyers, cast Company on his end step grab Ezuri and Elite, tap them and Llanowar, cast another Company grabbing two Archdruids. Untap, draw, tap Itlimoc and grandpas pump creatures via Ezuri twice, Chord for Behemoth and attack for 180 against his three 3/3 flying tokens
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Heritage Druid
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Dwynen's Elite
4x Elvish Archdruid
2x Elvish Visionary
4x Shaman of the Pack
3x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
2x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1x Lead the Stampede
4x Collected Company
2x Chord of Calling
2x Windswept Heath
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Temple Garden
2x Cavern of Souls
1x Horizon Canopy
3x Forest
1x Swamp
3x Shaper's Sanctuary
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Path to Exile
2x Thoughtseize
2x Rest in Peace
1x Stony Silence
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Reclamation Sage
as for SB Sanctuary is amazing and I think I will go:
- Sage - Colossus - Pte
+ Decay + Thoughtseize + Lead the Stampede.
2x Heath
2x Cavern
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Temple Garden
1x Pendelhaven
1x Canopy
3x Forest
1x Swamp
- when siding in what is the first thing we side out? is it a creature for a creature?
- I know being a CoCo deck the more noncreature spells we side in the worse. Is Shapers Sanctuary worth siding in or do we just approve their spot removal and play over it?
- is a split of 2 Decays and 2 Paths good or is one better than the other in Elves?
- how good is Essence Warden? Is it worth playing and if so against what?
this is my current SB
3x Thoughtseize
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Lead the Stampede
1x Rest in Peace
1x Stony Silence
1x Kataki
1x Essence Warden
1x Selfless Spirit
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric