Not sure if it's a budget concern, and I'm not going to do a full critique, but you really should be running Misty Rainforest but multiple reasons that should not have to be explained. Fetch lands are amazing and essentially required if you want the deck to have a competitive edge.
If this is something for friends or just for local games and your concern isn't rising to the top, I can understand.
I would think it's easier to tweak a RDW style of deck for Modern from it's Standard cousin. Adding Bolt and Ball Lightning...
If you have something like this, it'll be a nice quick fix. Otherwise you may be making a larger investment. I had a friend tweak his standard RDW and played casually with us for a few weeks, doing well, until he got his [evil] Affinity deck in the mail.
I just put it in my deck today, and I am at work for another 7 hours. So I have yet to use it. I just said it could get rid of them.
But honestly, that's not my main focus for a maindeck. It's the fact it's a 1 mana token that is an instant. Great after a wipe or cast after your opponent is tapped out.
The list im currently running. http://www.magic-league.com/tournament/info.php?id=75325&view=decks 3rd place. sorry for not pasteing the list directly, my phone isn't likeing to copy paste it. I been testing hour of recokoning, and pulse of the grid. Kind of like the hour its been okay. But pulse hasn't immpresed me at all if I want that effect I would rather have see beyond. The sideboard seems solid. I like the ethersworns a lot, I board out most of thr combo for them. Leaving just profusely staff. To turn 1/1s into 2/2s or a iona. U have to have fast disruption vs storm and a decent clock to. He gives you a 2/2 body on top the tokens plus he comes down a turn before rule of law.
I used Hour of Reckoning a good chunk of games the last few days (not extensive testing) and it's been amazing when I played against Affinity, real grade A card. Even against decks that aren't using a horde but just a couple of critical creatures such as Martyr Proc I've had great use of it. I'm currently not running it in my maindeck as of today and continue to play a few dozen games without it to see how it goes. The meta-game over here seems to be running more towards Storm and Jund as of late, and I've taken out my two Hours for Beckon Apparition. I feel that it helps me rid flashback cards, and honestly leaving one mana available at your opponent's end of turn to pump out a token to Polymorph is critical. That's a turn 3 move, and 4 for Polymorph or Proteus Staff.
I really want to squeeze Pulse of the Grid in the deck but I'll do so when I test the heavy blue variation. So far with the games I've played (again; not extensive testing) I haven't had any tempo issues. I will usually mulligan into something that I am sure will go off. But I haven't played a whole lot of control decks so it's not like I am dealing with my spells not resolving. Though burn/red/black decks have been more than annoying with their creature removal; which is why I've put in Beckon Apparition.
EDIT: Oh, and SBing and putting in Iona, Shield of Emeria to destroy some decks has been hilarious.
I just started playing this deck two days ago. With all the quick wins and even viability in late-game: I'm loving it! In those few days I have ordered most my deck online and am awaiting the cards in the mail. My own deck list is still in works but I may even maindeck Leyline of Sanctity given how popular Storm is in the area. We have a Grand Prix in Nebraska next month and I am very excited to bring this deck to it. I hope it doesn't gain too much attention or a following in the mean time.
Has anyone continued playing the heavy blue/control variations of the deck? I personally have yet to play such a list, but I want to give it a spin. Though I am having such successful with the core concept of all white minus Polymorph that I don't know if I'll get better results. I usually spend the first few turns laughing to myself that I have Polymorph already, have something great from Windbrisk, or a bunch of token cards. I've won more times with tokens than I have with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (though not by a significant amount).
After trying to salvage Elves after the GSZ ban and failing; I'm loving this! Thanks to all that have and will continue to contribute. Let's make sure we're on top of things for the next two Innistrad set releases, we're bound to have a few more spirit and token cards created, just as the previous post goes over.
Would just a standard elf beatdown deck be worth playing? I understand I would probably be better off going the Emrakul route but I just want to try something a little different.
I started playing combo Elves and I couldn't really make it click, though I did try playing it after a 4+ year Magic break so my brain didn't want to cooperate. I then switched it to aggro Elves, which for me had good results initially but it doesn't have the overall longevity that combo has. Even after a wipe or something truly disastrous like Deathcloud, combo has a few backup plans thanks to cards like Eternal Witness, Primal Command, Aeons Torn, and others that you normally wouldn't slide into the aggro variation.
I like aggro, and I think it's decent, but combo has more of a recovery option. Even after something gets played that puts you against the ropes, you have a few options such as generating infinite mana to do a pump with Ezuri or plopping Aeons Torn and obliterating your opponent.
12/31/2011 results, two combo elf decks. One went 4-0, the other 3-1. I love when people say Elves are dead or can't be competitive in this environment. GSZ's banning sucks, yes. But it isn't the end of the world. One of the reasons I play this is for nostalgia of my 2004 Regionals deck; running Elves when everyone else and their mother was rocking Affinity, Tooth and Nail or Goblins. Besides, it's fairly easy on the wallet.
This list concept is also known as Combo Elves, which originally had its own forum along with Aggro Elves. Here is a link to the thread in this very forum about them.
4 Zealots? Me'za confused! I am trying to test the deck with one, but I'm just not feeling it. I personally need to run two. Besides, sometimes you can have a few zombies but they'll all be 4/4
Play more against people with creature kill. It's really handy.
Good idea. Time to play more burn decks, specifically Angelfire (which I don't see a lot). Guess I'll just have to bug someone to help me test it. Compulsive Research is still better than than Fetch though, since that sucker can get burnt and Compulsive Research can only get countered.
The more I play with compulsive research, the less and less I want to actually use it. Lately it seems like I only have enough mana to use Magus of the Bazaar, Drowned Rusalka, Horizon Canopy, Piracy Charm/Funeral Charm, etc. I mean, if the deck wasn't so darn fast I am sure it would be great but I am just not using it that often. I guess I just need to test with it more.
Edge Of Autumn is an interesting card MrCowFart, I may have to do some testing with that
Wow I see no one here know about drowned rusalka. It's better than lore broker, fetch, and thought courier in my opinion. Having a sac outlet is amazing, as is having a first turn play that doesn't involve simian spirit guide (which i hope people will shy away from). Anyhow, test Rusalka! It's sweet.
I have a few in the deck I'm testing at the moment. Pretty good turn 1 card, aye aye!
Being able to sac itself for a few zombies later on is pretty slick, I like it a lot!
Can you put a more detailed description of how to actually play the deck in the first post? I've been testing for a couple days now and I still barely understand it, the combo is pretty complicated so people new to the deck could probably use some help when starting out.
peace
Done! I'm currently using a description I found from another site, but if it needs to be a bit more in-depth I am willing to help extend it!
If this is something for friends or just for local games and your concern isn't rising to the top, I can understand.
If you have something like this, it'll be a nice quick fix. Otherwise you may be making a larger investment. I had a friend tweak his standard RDW and played casually with us for a few weeks, doing well, until he got his [evil] Affinity deck in the mail.
But honestly, that's not my main focus for a maindeck. It's the fact it's a 1 mana token that is an instant. Great after a wipe or cast after your opponent is tapped out.
I used Hour of Reckoning a good chunk of games the last few days (not extensive testing) and it's been amazing when I played against Affinity, real grade A card. Even against decks that aren't using a horde but just a couple of critical creatures such as Martyr Proc I've had great use of it. I'm currently not running it in my maindeck as of today and continue to play a few dozen games without it to see how it goes. The meta-game over here seems to be running more towards Storm and Jund as of late, and I've taken out my two Hours for Beckon Apparition. I feel that it helps me rid flashback cards, and honestly leaving one mana available at your opponent's end of turn to pump out a token to Polymorph is critical. That's a turn 3 move, and 4 for Polymorph or Proteus Staff.
I really want to squeeze Pulse of the Grid in the deck but I'll do so when I test the heavy blue variation. So far with the games I've played (again; not extensive testing) I haven't had any tempo issues. I will usually mulligan into something that I am sure will go off. But I haven't played a whole lot of control decks so it's not like I am dealing with my spells not resolving. Though burn/red/black decks have been more than annoying with their creature removal; which is why I've put in Beckon Apparition.
EDIT: Oh, and SBing and putting in Iona, Shield of Emeria to destroy some decks has been hilarious.
Polymorph Tokens placed first at a MTGO daily which is pretty impressive, I'm surprised no one posted it here. Here is the link and list:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/3253779
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Island
12 Plains
2 Seachrome Coast
4 Windbrisk Heights
Creatures (2)
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Other Spells (35)
2 Beckon Apparition
4 Flayer Husk
4 Intangible Virtue
3 Leyline of the Meek
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Path to Exile
4 Polymorph
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Spectral Procession
2 Disenchant
2 Ghostly Prison
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Nevermore
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rule of Law
2 Tormod's Crypt
Has anyone continued playing the heavy blue/control variations of the deck? I personally have yet to play such a list, but I want to give it a spin. Though I am having such successful with the core concept of all white minus Polymorph that I don't know if I'll get better results. I usually spend the first few turns laughing to myself that I have Polymorph already, have something great from Windbrisk, or a bunch of token cards. I've won more times with tokens than I have with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (though not by a significant amount).
After trying to salvage Elves after the GSZ ban and failing; I'm loving this! Thanks to all that have and will continue to contribute. Let's make sure we're on top of things for the next two Innistrad set releases, we're bound to have a few more spirit and token cards created, just as the previous post goes over.
I started playing combo Elves and I couldn't really make it click, though I did try playing it after a 4+ year Magic break so my brain didn't want to cooperate. I then switched it to aggro Elves, which for me had good results initially but it doesn't have the overall longevity that combo has. Even after a wipe or something truly disastrous like Deathcloud, combo has a few backup plans thanks to cards like Eternal Witness, Primal Command, Aeons Torn, and others that you normally wouldn't slide into the aggro variation.
I like aggro, and I think it's decent, but combo has more of a recovery option. Even after something gets played that puts you against the ropes, you have a few options such as generating infinite mana to do a pump with Ezuri or plopping Aeons Torn and obliterating your opponent.
12/31/2011 results, two combo elf decks. One went 4-0, the other 3-1. I love when people say Elves are dead or can't be competitive in this environment. GSZ's banning sucks, yes. But it isn't the end of the world. One of the reasons I play this is for nostalgia of my 2004 Regionals deck; running Elves when everyone else and their mother was rocking Affinity, Tooth and Nail or Goblins. Besides, it's fairly easy on the wallet.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Forest
3 Horizon Canopy
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Pendelhaven
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
31 CREATURES
2 Arbor Elf
4 Boreal Druid
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Mentor of the Meek
4 Nettle Sentinel
1 Regal Force
3 Chord of Calling
4 Cloudstone Curio
4 Summoner's Pact
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Loaming Shaman
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Viridian Shaman
15 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
34 CREATURES
4 Arbor Elf
4 Devoted Druid
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
2 Essence Warden
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Regal Force
1 Chord of Calling
3 Cloudstone Curio
1 Genesis Wave
3 Lead the Stampede
2 Summoner's Pact
2 Essence Warden
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Naturalize
4 Noxious Revival
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=354843
4 Zealots? Me'za confused! I am trying to test the deck with one, but I'm just not feeling it. I personally need to run two. Besides, sometimes you can have a few zombies but they'll all be 4/4
Edge Of Autumn is an interesting card MrCowFart, I may have to do some testing with that
I have a few in the deck I'm testing at the moment. Pretty good turn 1 card, aye aye!
Being able to sac itself for a few zombies later on is pretty slick, I like it a lot!
Against aggro it can block the weak 1/1s if you really need to I don't I ever have though, since he is always tapped.