I got a request for this deck list so I thought Id toss it up here and see what people think. It originally started as an Eladamri, Lord of Leaves deck but it sucked so I switched to Ezuri and the deck became much much better.
I realize I have a low land count but a lot of elves give mana on their own and have a low casting cost so Ive rarely had any problems with that.
Abundance, Recycle and Aluren together combine to let me play the majority of my deck in a single turn. Im very open to suggestion. This is my oldest deck so I tend to get a bit myopic about it and likely have missed some good choices along the way
EDIT: Got enough here to start making some changes
* indicates a card I do not have yet so cannot test at the moment but will add once acquired but are as good as in until then
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
-Voice of the Woods
-Garruk Wildspeaker
-Nissa Revane
-Nissa's Chosen
+Argothian Elder*
+Heritage Druid
+Viridian Joiner*
+Asceticism*
+Joraga Treespeaker
Once I have this deck more finely tuned I dont mind doing the extra work to turn it into a primer
Every rarity gets good cards. That means that some mythic rares will be tournament quality as will some commons, some uncommons and some rares. My promise wasn't that mythic rares wouldn't get good cards but that we wouldn't limit the good cards to only being mythic rare.
Bear this in mind the next time a powerful mythic rare is spoiled
Thanks to chaostheory90 for finding this quiz for me
Hey! Thanks for posting the deck. :embarass: yeah, I was the requestor...
For starters, it's amazing to see in that, no matter how many elf decks I see there is always a great amount of diversity and creativity in the card choices. Looks as though you have a really competitive build going on here, with the exception of only a few (I'm looking at Nissa Revane and Nissa's Chosen of course, but I have them in mine too...what elf deck should leave out the elf PW? )
Not sure if you wanted me to post my thoughts, so I will, but if you didn't, just don't read
Immaculate Magistrate has shown up again. Normally I would agree that he's useful, but with Ezuri running things, you only need 3 or 4 elves to become a high threat. The Magistrate doesn't pump that much with those low numbers, and you lose him as an attacker if you do. Overall, I believe he takes away from the overall aggro strategy.
Doesn't Eladamri, Lord of Leaves hurt you with it's shroud? You're unable to target your own creatures with Ezuri's regen when he's out. I used to run Steely Resolve but replaced it with Asceticism for that very reason.
I used to run Wren's Run Packmaster, but took it out thinking that you have to pay X mana (for the creature before) plus the 4 mana for him to get him into play. Can be expensive and I often had my targeted creature destroyed so it fizzled anyways. How has this guy worked out for you?
Wolf-Skull Shaman I find to be just too slow and his wolves don't amount to much since they can't be pumped by Ezuri.
Voice of the Woods does not make sense to me. For the same 5 mana you spend to cast him, you can give those 5 'tapped' elves a net of +15 dmg. How is getting a 7/7 better? Even if you use one of your elves to block instead of the 7/7, you still have 4 which gives you net +12 on the next turn.
I am very curious to know how Vedalken Orrery has worked out for you?
I saw an SCD on Gutter Grime a while back and I thought the conclusion was that it was not very good. How has this card worked for you in a creature heavy deck?
Praetor's Counsel is mostly a dead draw, imo. A few games you may be glad you had it, but most of the time I think you're hurting because your mana to cast it (in your elves) is in the graveyard when you want to cast it..
Overall, very interesting build. Naturally, meta has influence into it's overall design. I'll give some suggestions from my build next that you may wish to consider:
Instead of Garruk, I run Argothian Elder, for Vorthos reasons. Still, I found this guy to be very powerful for ramping, especially when you have Wirewood Lodge fielded along with an enchanted Elvish Guidance forest. Yes, another infinite mana combo...
I did not see Heritage Druid in your build. I understand why you might of missed it, as I too missed it's subtle BROKENNESS. Run it. You'll be impressed.
I see you run Umbral Mantle in your build, and I understand that you have several elves fielded that can combo with him, but you are missing Devoted Druid and Viridian Joiner...perhaps by choice, perhaps not. Just thought I'd mention, just in case.
I've found Gilt-Leaf Ambush to be far more effective that Elvish Promenade as you can play it at opponents end of turn, and then swing more elves unknowningly. Perhaps your Vedalken Orrery accomplishes this aswell?
Also, consider Wrap in Vigor if your meta is giving you problems with boardwipes. Will help you keep your guys alive for considerably less than Ezuri's regen costs...
Thanks for posting your decklist. I've really enjoyed going through it and tossing down my thoughts. As for your land count, you're still sitting at 36. I run only 30 and am never short on land...so I think you're okay on that front...
Immaculate Magistrate I like mostly for its interaction with Joraga Warcaller the two of those out means I only need to use Ezuri's overrun once to give trample
Eladamri I have mixed feelings on. Sometimes he's awesome and creates a difficult to deal with board situation and others I wish he wasnt there at all so I could equip Umbral Mantle and win. Asceticism does seem like a superior choice though
The packmaster doesnt work quite the way you think it does. Champion does not target so by the time you choose a creature to champion it is too late to destroy that creature. Champion never really fizzles either you have a creature you can choose or you sacrifice the champion creature. In general I champion a token so he really just costs 4 mana and the wolves are good fodder for Eldrazi Monument and pump Gaea's Cradle.
Orrery I like to have in the deck because otherwise I would do very little during my opponents turns. I prefer Aluren most of the time but the ability to play all spells and not just creatures at instant speed is nice.
Voice of the woods has been a bit of a disappointment and looked good on gatherer but turned out much less good in practice likely itll be cut for one of your suggestions
Gutter Grime I like as a rattlesnake type card to ward off board wipes and is my only practical defence against Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. I never saw the thread on Gutter Grime but after getting basically locked out of a game by Elesh Norn this card seemed like a good counter to it.
Praetor's Counsel I use it differently than most green decks. Yes it can help me recover from a board wipe if I have a lot of lands out but the best use Ive found for it is to overrule the hand limit on Recycle or to recover the cards that Genesis Wave put in the graveyard.
Argothian Elder does look better than Garruk as I rarely use Garruk for anything other than untapping lands and I had no idea this card existed and will definitely get a slot in this deck. Elvish Guidance as well.
Heritage Druid I had considered at first when trying to mimic the old Elfball deck from a few extended seasons ago but I decided against it simply because I want mana to help my elves attack but they cant do that if theyre tapped for the druid. Could you explain what makes it so broken?
I dont really see how the combo with Devoted Druid can generate anything other than an infinite number of tap and untap triggers. Viridian Joiner makes sense and I just never noticed so that will likely get a slot.
I find that Promenade generates so many more tokens that the instant speed doesnt do me as much good as the sheer numbers generated by promenade.
I never noticed the oran-rief and Cauldron of Souls interaction before but Ill definitely give it a shot.
As for the haste effects I havent really found them necessary. I tend to lay low for most of the game and swing only when I can kill. A pile of basic lands and a handfull of small creatures doesn't attract much attention and it is only when I swing and make my creatures huge do I really appear dangerous. Swinging for 2-4 damage with one elf is insignificant when I can kill people with only 5 elves and 10 mana without anyone getting angry at me. Ezuri can play a nice defensive game until he is ready to strike
Every rarity gets good cards. That means that some mythic rares will be tournament quality as will some commons, some uncommons and some rares. My promise wasn't that mythic rares wouldn't get good cards but that we wouldn't limit the good cards to only being mythic rare.
Bear this in mind the next time a powerful mythic rare is spoiled
Thanks to chaostheory90 for finding this quiz for me
wow, I never used the Champion mechanic like you described it. I always thought you had to target the creature you plan to remove from the game, but you are most certainly correct: There is no mention of targeting. Sweet! Champions just got better for me
As for Heritage Druid, it's like casting Joraga Treespeaker, having it leveled all the way, and granting it haste all for just 1 mana!
- Every 3 elves you play becomes a triplet of Llanowar Elves.
- You can have very explosive game starts (t1: Forest, Llanowar Elves. t2:Forest, Boreal Druid, Heritage Druid.Ezuri, Renegade Leader. t3:Forest, SMASH).
- You can block with all your elves, then tap them all to pump Ezuri's ability to crush your attackers into dust.
- You can have each creature (rounding to the nearest 3) regenerate himself with Ezuri's ability during a boardwipe.
In short, this guy transformed my deck, in many ways more so that Ezuri himself.
About Devoted Druid, you're right. It can't. I forgot to mention Joraga Treespeaker needs to be leveled. Makes Devoted Druid tap for 2 mana instead of 1. The first untap you use druid's ability and the second you use the mantle's ability. Every 2 untaps you net 1 +1/+1 (since you gain +2/+2, but only lose -1/-1) on the druid and +1 mana in the pot (since your tappig for 4 mana, but only have to pay 3 for abilities), giving you infinite for both.
I'll agree, it's the weakest of the bunch, but even without the combo, it's still very veritile along side Ezuri:
Have Devoted Druid and Ezuri, Renegade Leader out.
-5 mana for 1 Ezuri pump and you can tap Devoted Druid 5 times which results in +6/+6 for your troops.
-10 mana for 2 Ezuri pump's and you can tap Devoted Druid 8 times before he dies, which results in +9/+9 for your troops.
-12 mana and you can tap Devoted Druid 14 times before he dies, which results in +12/+12 for your troops.
-13 mana and you can tap Devoted Druid 15 times before he dies, which results in +15/+15 for your troops.
I don't know how much life your meta likes to gain, but at end game, with a table of 4, you probably only need 6 elves to wipe all three of your opponents out. That's shenanigans.
While I probably can't add much to the discussion for card choice, but thanks for everyone explaining some of the finer points in this deck. I'm gathering cards right now to make one of these decks and it helps out so much knowing why some of these cards are picked!
See this style of Ezuri deck encourages overextension. Drove of Elves, Elvish Promenade, and Heedless One all need at least 3-4 elves to function properly which in my opinion become dead draws if you just got wiped. Additionally, all these cards are only used as beatsticks which I find unnecessary, not to mention pointless since all elves can attack (with the exception of heavy mana producers). There are better cards to fill these slots like removal or other utility green creatures like Eternal Witness, Regal Force, and Woodfall Primus. The last two are beatsticks with no extra support. There is one elf called Caller of the Claw to help against board wipes, but I personally dislike it because it makes bear tokens. If it made wolf tokens, I might have included it.
I run a pretty low land count in this deck counting on many mana elves to make up the differences so running expensive creatures becomes just as much of a gamble. Eternal Witness I mostly dont run on principal because she should've been an elf in the first place. The three cards you listed I dont necessarily play around and it does help to have something big that can trade with other big creatures without needing mana. Ezuri also covers up most board wipes with only Wrath of God and Damnation being issues. The most unpleasent card for this deck is by far Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite which will kill pretty much my entire board unless I have a couple of lords out.
In general I keep around 4-6 creatures out and that is usually sufficient. If Im being completely honest I find that an early Elvish Vanguard on average becomes bigger than either of the */* creatures just because of its lower profile
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Every rarity gets good cards. That means that some mythic rares will be tournament quality as will some commons, some uncommons and some rares. My promise wasn't that mythic rares wouldn't get good cards but that we wouldn't limit the good cards to only being mythic rare.
Bear this in mind the next time a powerful mythic rare is spoiled
Thanks to chaostheory90 for finding this quiz for me
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1x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1x Immaculate Magistrate
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1x Joraga Treespeaker
1x Timberwatch Elf
1x Heedless One
1x Elvish Visionary
1x Viridian Joiner
1x Viridian Corrupter
1x Fyndhorn Elves
1x Tel-Jilad Fallen
1x Thornweald Archer
1x Jagged-Scar Archers
1x Priest of Titania
1x Wren's Run Packmaster
1x Elvish Champion
1x Imperious Perfect
1x Wolf-Skull Shaman
1x Drove of Elves
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Viridian Shaman
1x Masked Admirers
1x Tajuru Preserver
1x Glissa Sunseeker
1x Taunting Elf
1x Wirewood Herald
1x Elvish Skysweeper
1x Heritage Druid
1x Lys Alana Huntmaster
1x Quirion Ranger
1x Elvish Vanguard
1x Sylvan Messenger
1x Viridian Zealot
1x Elvish Harbinger
1x Joraga Warcaller
1x Argothian Elder
1x Caged Sun
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x Mind's Eye
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Vedalken Orrery
1x Umbral Mantle
1x Extra Planar Lens
1x Skullclamp
Enchantments:
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Aluren
1x Mana Reflection
1x Helix Pinnacle
1x Recycle
1x Gutter Grime
1x Abundance
1x Stormfront
1x Asceticism
Instants:
1x Beast Within
1x Decree of Savagery
1x Summoning Trap
Sorceries:
1x Harmonize
1x Genesis Wave
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Elvish Promenade
1x Creeping Renaissance
1x Triumph of the Hordes
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Wirewood Lodge
1x Strip Mine
1x Wasteland
1x Maze of Ith
1x Yavimaya Hollow
1x Llanowar Reborn
1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1x Tranquil Thicket
27x Forest
I realize I have a low land count but a lot of elves give mana on their own and have a low casting cost so Ive rarely had any problems with that.
Abundance, Recycle and Aluren together combine to let me play the majority of my deck in a single turn. Im very open to suggestion. This is my oldest deck so I tend to get a bit myopic about it and likely have missed some good choices along the way
EDIT: Got enough here to start making some changes
* indicates a card I do not have yet so cannot test at the moment but will add once acquired but are as good as in until then
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
-Voice of the Woods
-Garruk Wildspeaker
-Nissa Revane
-Nissa's Chosen
+Argothian Elder*
+Heritage Druid
+Viridian Joiner*
+Asceticism*
+Joraga Treespeaker
Once I have this deck more finely tuned I dont mind doing the extra work to turn it into a primer
Bear this in mind the next time a powerful mythic rare is spoiled
Thanks to chaostheory90 for finding this quiz for me
For starters, it's amazing to see in that, no matter how many elf decks I see there is always a great amount of diversity and creativity in the card choices. Looks as though you have a really competitive build going on here, with the exception of only a few (I'm looking at Nissa Revane and Nissa's Chosen of course, but I have them in mine too...what elf deck should leave out the elf PW? )
Not sure if you wanted me to post my thoughts, so I will, but if you didn't, just don't read
Immaculate Magistrate has shown up again. Normally I would agree that he's useful, but with Ezuri running things, you only need 3 or 4 elves to become a high threat. The Magistrate doesn't pump that much with those low numbers, and you lose him as an attacker if you do. Overall, I believe he takes away from the overall aggro strategy.
Doesn't Eladamri, Lord of Leaves hurt you with it's shroud? You're unable to target your own creatures with Ezuri's regen when he's out. I used to run Steely Resolve but replaced it with Asceticism for that very reason.
I used to run Wren's Run Packmaster, but took it out thinking that you have to pay X mana (for the creature before) plus the 4 mana for him to get him into play. Can be expensive and I often had my targeted creature destroyed so it fizzled anyways. How has this guy worked out for you?
Wolf-Skull Shaman I find to be just too slow and his wolves don't amount to much since they can't be pumped by Ezuri.
Voice of the Woods does not make sense to me. For the same 5 mana you spend to cast him, you can give those 5 'tapped' elves a net of +15 dmg. How is getting a 7/7 better? Even if you use one of your elves to block instead of the 7/7, you still have 4 which gives you net +12 on the next turn.
I am very curious to know how Vedalken Orrery has worked out for you?
I saw an SCD on Gutter Grime a while back and I thought the conclusion was that it was not very good. How has this card worked for you in a creature heavy deck?
Praetor's Counsel is mostly a dead draw, imo. A few games you may be glad you had it, but most of the time I think you're hurting because your mana to cast it (in your elves) is in the graveyard when you want to cast it..
Overall, very interesting build. Naturally, meta has influence into it's overall design. I'll give some suggestions from my build next that you may wish to consider:
Instead of Garruk, I run Argothian Elder, for Vorthos reasons. Still, I found this guy to be very powerful for ramping, especially when you have Wirewood Lodge fielded along with an enchanted Elvish Guidance forest. Yes, another infinite mana combo...
I did not see Heritage Druid in your build. I understand why you might of missed it, as I too missed it's subtle BROKENNESS. Run it. You'll be impressed.
I see you run Umbral Mantle in your build, and I understand that you have several elves fielded that can combo with him, but you are missing Devoted Druid and Viridian Joiner...perhaps by choice, perhaps not. Just thought I'd mention, just in case.
Perhaps your Skullclamp and Aluren and Mind's Eye give you enough carddraw, but just in case, have you considered Collective Unconscious or Slate of Ancestry? Both give a tonne of card draw.
I've found Gilt-Leaf Ambush to be far more effective that Elvish Promenade as you can play it at opponents end of turn, and then swing more elves unknowningly. Perhaps your Vedalken Orrery accomplishes this aswell?
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood is in your build, but no Cauldron of Souls? These combo for excellant aggro board protection.
Also, consider Wrap in Vigor if your meta is giving you problems with boardwipes. Will help you keep your guys alive for considerably less than Ezuri's regen costs...
Lastly, I run more hasters; specifically Swiftfoot Boots and Obsidian Battle-Axe in addition to Lightning Greaves. getting the early beats in I find to be very important...
Thanks for posting your decklist. I've really enjoyed going through it and tossing down my thoughts. As for your land count, you're still sitting at 36. I run only 30 and am never short on land...so I think you're okay on that front...
Cheers
| B Erebos, God of VampiresB | GYeva SmashG | RBosh ArtifactsR | GURAnimar +1 BeatsGUR | RBVial's Secret Hot SauceRB | UBRNekusar, Draw if you DareUBR | RGBDarigaaz'z DragonsRGB | GBSlimeFEETGB | UBOn-Hit LazavUB | URBrudiclad's Artificer InventionsUR | GUBMuldrotha's ElementalsGUB | WUGKestia's EnchantmentsWUG | GUTatyova - Draw, Land, Go!GU | WGArahbo's EquipmentWG | BUWVarina's ZOMBIE HORDESBUW | WLyra's Angelic SalvationW | WBChurch of TeysaWB | UAzami...WizardsU
Eladamri I have mixed feelings on. Sometimes he's awesome and creates a difficult to deal with board situation and others I wish he wasnt there at all so I could equip Umbral Mantle and win. Asceticism does seem like a superior choice though
The packmaster doesnt work quite the way you think it does. Champion does not target so by the time you choose a creature to champion it is too late to destroy that creature. Champion never really fizzles either you have a creature you can choose or you sacrifice the champion creature. In general I champion a token so he really just costs 4 mana and the wolves are good fodder for Eldrazi Monument and pump Gaea's Cradle.
Orrery I like to have in the deck because otherwise I would do very little during my opponents turns. I prefer Aluren most of the time but the ability to play all spells and not just creatures at instant speed is nice.
Voice of the woods has been a bit of a disappointment and looked good on gatherer but turned out much less good in practice likely itll be cut for one of your suggestions
Gutter Grime I like as a rattlesnake type card to ward off board wipes and is my only practical defence against Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. I never saw the thread on Gutter Grime but after getting basically locked out of a game by Elesh Norn this card seemed like a good counter to it.
Praetor's Counsel I use it differently than most green decks. Yes it can help me recover from a board wipe if I have a lot of lands out but the best use Ive found for it is to overrule the hand limit on Recycle or to recover the cards that Genesis Wave put in the graveyard.
Argothian Elder does look better than Garruk as I rarely use Garruk for anything other than untapping lands and I had no idea this card existed and will definitely get a slot in this deck. Elvish Guidance as well.
Heritage Druid I had considered at first when trying to mimic the old Elfball deck from a few extended seasons ago but I decided against it simply because I want mana to help my elves attack but they cant do that if theyre tapped for the druid. Could you explain what makes it so broken?
I dont really see how the combo with Devoted Druid can generate anything other than an infinite number of tap and untap triggers. Viridian Joiner makes sense and I just never noticed so that will likely get a slot.
Collective Unconscious and and Slate of Ancestry are definitely interesting options and cards Ill have to consider if I got some room to spare
I find that Promenade generates so many more tokens that the instant speed doesnt do me as much good as the sheer numbers generated by promenade.
I never noticed the oran-rief and Cauldron of Souls interaction before but Ill definitely give it a shot.
As for the haste effects I havent really found them necessary. I tend to lay low for most of the game and swing only when I can kill. A pile of basic lands and a handfull of small creatures doesn't attract much attention and it is only when I swing and make my creatures huge do I really appear dangerous. Swinging for 2-4 damage with one elf is insignificant when I can kill people with only 5 elves and 10 mana without anyone getting angry at me. Ezuri can play a nice defensive game until he is ready to strike
Bear this in mind the next time a powerful mythic rare is spoiled
Thanks to chaostheory90 for finding this quiz for me
As for Heritage Druid, it's like casting Joraga Treespeaker, having it leveled all the way, and granting it haste all for just 1 mana!
- Every 3 elves you play becomes a triplet of Llanowar Elves.
- You can have very explosive game starts (t1: Forest, Llanowar Elves. t2:Forest, Boreal Druid, Heritage Druid.Ezuri, Renegade Leader. t3:Forest, SMASH).
- You can block with all your elves, then tap them all to pump Ezuri's ability to crush your attackers into dust.
- You can have each creature (rounding to the nearest 3) regenerate himself with Ezuri's ability during a boardwipe.
In short, this guy transformed my deck, in many ways more so that Ezuri himself.
About Devoted Druid, you're right. It can't. I forgot to mention Joraga Treespeaker needs to be leveled. Makes Devoted Druid tap for 2 mana instead of 1. The first untap you use druid's ability and the second you use the mantle's ability. Every 2 untaps you net 1 +1/+1 (since you gain +2/+2, but only lose -1/-1) on the druid and +1 mana in the pot (since your tappig for 4 mana, but only have to pay 3 for abilities), giving you infinite for both.
I'll agree, it's the weakest of the bunch, but even without the combo, it's still very veritile along side Ezuri:
Have Devoted Druid and Ezuri, Renegade Leader out.
-5 mana for 1 Ezuri pump and you can tap Devoted Druid 5 times which results in +6/+6 for your troops.
-10 mana for 2 Ezuri pump's and you can tap Devoted Druid 8 times before he dies, which results in +9/+9 for your troops.
-12 mana and you can tap Devoted Druid 14 times before he dies, which results in +12/+12 for your troops.
-13 mana and you can tap Devoted Druid 15 times before he dies, which results in +15/+15 for your troops.
I don't know how much life your meta likes to gain, but at end game, with a table of 4, you probably only need 6 elves to wipe all three of your opponents out. That's shenanigans.
| B Erebos, God of VampiresB | GYeva SmashG | RBosh ArtifactsR | GURAnimar +1 BeatsGUR | RBVial's Secret Hot SauceRB | UBRNekusar, Draw if you DareUBR | RGBDarigaaz'z DragonsRGB | GBSlimeFEETGB | UBOn-Hit LazavUB | URBrudiclad's Artificer InventionsUR | GUBMuldrotha's ElementalsGUB | WUGKestia's EnchantmentsWUG | GUTatyova - Draw, Land, Go!GU | WGArahbo's EquipmentWG | BUWVarina's ZOMBIE HORDESBUW | WLyra's Angelic SalvationW | WBChurch of TeysaWB | UAzami...WizardsU
Standard
W.I.P.
EDH
WNorn Tokens
In general I keep around 4-6 creatures out and that is usually sufficient. If Im being completely honest I find that an early Elvish Vanguard on average becomes bigger than either of the */* creatures just because of its lower profile
Bear this in mind the next time a powerful mythic rare is spoiled
Thanks to chaostheory90 for finding this quiz for me