playing Elves now for about a year, i am glad to share my experience with you.
I think the pure G/W List is too prone against removal. If they disrupt your Combo you are just out of cards, if you play with chord.
Playing GB with Shaman and Lead for the last couple of Tournaments it felt just better in grind out your opponents and have another good wincon alongside Ezuri. I rly dont wanna Cut Shaman entirely, even in the combo List.
Shaper´s Sanctury is defefinitly a great Sideboard Card and a must have i think!
I agree on the GW version being prone to removal. However, it fights on two different axes. One is trying to assemble the combo and the second is by traditional beatdown. The deck is designed to outrace other linear decks while still having enough gas to survive a grindy match-up. Plus, you're forgetting how great the sideboard can be when you're on white. I do still think GB is strong and I think it's a better deck when you're fighting through a meta full of control/midrange decks. I think the two decks are very competitive right now, it's just a matter of how you read the meta.
Shaper's Sanctuary is definitely a house and makes your opponents wanna pull their hair out. Kill my dork? Sure, but not before I draw another.
I'm moving away from Abzan as I don't see it being as competitive as the GB and GW Vizier versions. I'm going to try GB for now for more consistency and grind. I'll let you guys know how it works.
The reason for this is that you probably have Shaman of the Pack in the main deck while your white cards come from the side board. You need to consistently cast Shaman while you can Chord for our bullets. I also suggest having the least number of noncreature spells in your sideboard as this dilutes your Leads and CoCo's. You should probably get Caverns as soon as possible as Chalice and control decks are rampant here in PH meta.
I have the entire B/G stock elves list minus the playset of Cavern of Souls. Do you reckon the deck can still be competitive with a playset of Blooming Marsh?
Definitely. UR control decks aren't really big right now excpet may be Jeskai Nahiri and Grixis Delver
Hey guys. Got 2 tournaments to report, both are small, 8-man pods. I'm using GB Chord list which is the first and second time that I will be playing this. I used to play a GW Chord list due to lack of Caverns and Gilt-Leaf Palaces and 4-0'd a tournament.
Match 1: v UW Flicker (Flickerwisp-Sun Titan combo with Lone Missionaries, Emeria, Wall of Omens)
G1: I tested with him a fair bit before the tournament started and I kept beating him so I thought it was as good as a bye. Turns out, he was just very unlucky during playtesting. I kept a good hand and was on the draw. Turn 3 vomit, then got hit by T4 Supreme Verdict. I didn't even know he played them.
G2: Kept another good hand where I would've won T4 if undisrupted. He had 2 Path to Exiles which hit 1 T1 dork and an Elvish Archdruid. I tried CoCo'ing but he had counterspells. He had enough Lone Missionaries, Flickerwisps and Walls to stabilize and hit me in the air. I also mis-sideboarded and put in Reclamation Sage instead of Ooze, don't think it matters though.
0-1
Match 2: v Gr Tron
G1: I think he kept a nonsense hand. He stumbled, T4 kill, undisrupted.
G2: Same w/ G1. I have played with him before and he wasn't really good at mulliganing.
1-1
Match 3: v Gr Tron. Again.
G1: Kept a hand with 3 dorks, 1 Visionary, 1 Heritage, 1 land, 1 Coco. I thought he had no 'clasms on his mainboard. T1 vomit, T2 Pyroclasm. GG.
G2: T1 Thoughtseize revealed 1 Expedition Maps, 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Sylvan Scrying, 1 Mine, 1 Tower, 1 Karn, 1 Pyro. Took the 'Clasm out. I also had 2 Beast Withins in my opening hand. I tried keeping him form active Tron while maintaining a board. I failed to draw Coco or even Chord. The 3/3 Beasts got the better of my measly dorks.
1-2
Gr Tron is the bane of Elves. And that UW Flicker deck keeps haunting my dreams til now.
I tried reading the meta for the 2nd tournament a few days after Tournament 1:
Match 1: Guess what?? Gr Tron!
G1: My notes says Pyroclasm then Karn then O-Stone then Ulamog.
G2: He mulled to 6 with my T1 Thoughtseize revealing Clasm, O-Stone, Karn, and the 3 Tron lands. I destroyed his Tower with Beast Within. He kept drawing draw aeffects and no Stirrings nor Sylvan Scrying. He casted a Thragtusk when he was at about 8 life. This match last for about 30 mins and we ended up drawing this game.
0-1
Match 2: Mother^%&%$@#$ UW Flicker. I really hate this deck for some reason.
G1: I was on the draw. T4 Supreme Verdict ensured I don't get the chance to kill him early. Stabilizes his board once again with walls, Flickerwisps and Lone Missionaries. This time, I got to see flickering Blade Splicer for 3 tokens.
G2: T4 kill with double Shaman of the Packs off a CoCo plus one more from my hand. This felt soooo good!
G3: Same with G1.
0-2
Match 3: v Living End
G1: I tried slowly building my board without overextending. After LE resolves however, my hand of 2 dorks, 1 Heritage Druid, 2 CoCo pales compared to his board of 3 Pale Recluse, 1 Shriekmaw, 1 Street Wraith, 1 minotaur I forgot the name.
G2: I stormed the board since I had a Viscera Seer out of the board and a Chord in hand. He had to cast a Cascade spell on T3 without having much cyclers in his GY due to the sheer number of my creatures.
G3: He kept a hand full of lands and a couple of cyclers.
1-2
God, I hate that Flickerwisp deck. I don't know if it's the match-ups, or if the Gb list is just really clunky. I will be grinding the whole year to find out which colors make me the happiest. I'll probably test the GB Lead list and see if its better with my metagame. Any thoughts?
1
I agree on the GW version being prone to removal. However, it fights on two different axes. One is trying to assemble the combo and the second is by traditional beatdown. The deck is designed to outrace other linear decks while still having enough gas to survive a grindy match-up. Plus, you're forgetting how great the sideboard can be when you're on white. I do still think GB is strong and I think it's a better deck when you're fighting through a meta full of control/midrange decks. I think the two decks are very competitive right now, it's just a matter of how you read the meta.
Shaper's Sanctuary is definitely a house and makes your opponents wanna pull their hair out. Kill my dork? Sure, but not before I draw another.
1
1
Hi bro! Where do you play? I suggest fine-tuning your own first. However, I can suggest this land base:
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Windswept Heath
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
3 Forest
1 flex spot
The reason for this is that you probably have Shaman of the Pack in the main deck while your white cards come from the side board. You need to consistently cast Shaman while you can Chord for our bullets. I also suggest having the least number of noncreature spells in your sideboard as this dilutes your Leads and CoCo's. You should probably get Caverns as soon as possible as Chalice and control decks are rampant here in PH meta.
1
1
I use fetches. Check this out:
Or maybe you can look at the landbase I posted above.
1
Definitely. UR control decks aren't really big right now excpet may be Jeskai Nahiri and Grixis Delver
2
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qcGbT7UN-flD9hMc8qD-g
1
Tournament 1:
Sideboard:
Match 1: v UW Flicker (Flickerwisp-Sun Titan combo with Lone Missionaries, Emeria, Wall of Omens)
G1: I tested with him a fair bit before the tournament started and I kept beating him so I thought it was as good as a bye. Turns out, he was just very unlucky during playtesting. I kept a good hand and was on the draw. Turn 3 vomit, then got hit by T4 Supreme Verdict. I didn't even know he played them.
G2: Kept another good hand where I would've won T4 if undisrupted. He had 2 Path to Exiles which hit 1 T1 dork and an Elvish Archdruid. I tried CoCo'ing but he had counterspells. He had enough Lone Missionaries, Flickerwisps and Walls to stabilize and hit me in the air. I also mis-sideboarded and put in Reclamation Sage instead of Ooze, don't think it matters though.
0-1
Match 2: v Gr Tron
G1: I think he kept a nonsense hand. He stumbled, T4 kill, undisrupted.
G2: Same w/ G1. I have played with him before and he wasn't really good at mulliganing.
1-1
Match 3: v Gr Tron. Again.
G1: Kept a hand with 3 dorks, 1 Visionary, 1 Heritage, 1 land, 1 Coco. I thought he had no 'clasms on his mainboard. T1 vomit, T2 Pyroclasm. GG.
G2: T1 Thoughtseize revealed 1 Expedition Maps, 1 Ancient Stirrings, 1 Sylvan Scrying, 1 Mine, 1 Tower, 1 Karn, 1 Pyro. Took the 'Clasm out. I also had 2 Beast Withins in my opening hand. I tried keeping him form active Tron while maintaining a board. I failed to draw Coco or even Chord. The 3/3 Beasts got the better of my measly dorks.
1-2
Gr Tron is the bane of Elves. And that UW Flicker deck keeps haunting my dreams til now.
I tried reading the meta for the 2nd tournament a few days after Tournament 1:
Tournament 2:
Match 1: Guess what?? Gr Tron!
G1: My notes says Pyroclasm then Karn then O-Stone then Ulamog.
G2: He mulled to 6 with my T1 Thoughtseize revealing Clasm, O-Stone, Karn, and the 3 Tron lands. I destroyed his Tower with Beast Within. He kept drawing draw aeffects and no Stirrings nor Sylvan Scrying. He casted a Thragtusk when he was at about 8 life. This match last for about 30 mins and we ended up drawing this game.
0-1
Match 2: Mother^%&%$@#$ UW Flicker. I really hate this deck for some reason.
G1: I was on the draw. T4 Supreme Verdict ensured I don't get the chance to kill him early. Stabilizes his board once again with walls, Flickerwisps and Lone Missionaries. This time, I got to see flickering Blade Splicer for 3 tokens.
G2: T4 kill with double Shaman of the Packs off a CoCo plus one more from my hand. This felt soooo good!
G3: Same with G1.
0-2
Match 3: v Living End
G1: I tried slowly building my board without overextending. After LE resolves however, my hand of 2 dorks, 1 Heritage Druid, 2 CoCo pales compared to his board of 3 Pale Recluse, 1 Shriekmaw, 1 Street Wraith, 1 minotaur I forgot the name.
G2: I stormed the board since I had a Viscera Seer out of the board and a Chord in hand. He had to cast a Cascade spell on T3 without having much cyclers in his GY due to the sheer number of my creatures.
G3: He kept a hand full of lands and a couple of cyclers.
1-2
God, I hate that Flickerwisp deck. I don't know if it's the match-ups, or if the Gb list is just really clunky. I will be grinding the whole year to find out which colors make me the happiest. I'll probably test the GB Lead list and see if its better with my metagame. Any thoughts?
P.S.
I'm from the Philippines.