Welcome to NinjaTheNick's primer for standard elves. With the release of M14 this deck has the potential to take it's place among some the metas top decks. I'm not claiming that this is the next delver, simply that it is worth looking at.
Why you should play this deck: If you like combo decks that have alot of consistency and redundancy than this is the deck for you. If you think you are good at sequencing and playing around boardwipes than this is the deck for you.
Why you should NOT play this deck: If you prefer goodstuff decks that have little synergy but obvious power level such as jund or naya, this deck might not be for you. Like any combo deck that isn't protected by Force of Will, it can lose pretty handily to counter magic. So if you don't sequence well or are bad at setting up outs, this deck is not for you.
So how do we win? This deck ramps hard into either Garruk, or into craterhoof himself on turn 4/5. The ideal line goes:
Turn 1: Mana Elf
Turn 2: Elvish Archdruid OR Elf + Farseek
Turn 3: Master Biomancer + Gyre Sage OR Garruk, Caller of Beasts to draw into a craterhoof
Turn 4: Tap your four lands plus Archdruid to cast a craterhoof and swing for the stars OR Use Garruk to plop out a Craterhoof.
Where this deck sits in the meta: If you're meta is all Jund, this deck is a poor choice. Not that it can't hang, but if Jund keeps packing 4 mainboard bonfires, your elves aren't ramping into squat. That being said it is a turn 4/5 combo deck, which is solid against alot of decks right now. Midrange decks are very beatable, and slower aggro like jund or naya are also great matchups. Decks that pack 8 to 10 spot removal spells and boardwips are very hard to beat. Reanimator is also a favorable matchup as it is a faster combo. There is no best deck right now and the meta feels very much like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. This makes Combo Elves as good a choice as any.
Bread and Butter Card Choices: This list needs a very specific core of elves to operate with very few flex slots.
Elvish Mystic: Llanowar Elves reprint. The ideal turn one play in most elf decks. This opens up a turn 2 Archdruid. Not having a turn 1 mana elf is almost a deal breaker for most hands. This reprint is huge as we now have alot of redundancy.
Arbor Elf: Not quite as good as Elvish Mystic but certainly good enough for what we need. This deck will never need UU so untapping a breeding pool is largely irrelevant. We consider this Elvish Mystic 5-8.
Elvish Archdruid: The one elf to rule them all. This guy is what enables this deck at all. Capable of producing obscene amounts of G mana, he is what allows us to hardcast a Craterhoof Behemoth on turn 4. Not only that, but he pulls double duty as a beatdown enabler. He puts Master Biomancer over the top, giving new new creatures 3 +1/+1 counters. In multiples he turn everythinn into a threat.
Craterhoof Behemoth: Our finisher of choice. Some might try a worldspine wurm or Primal Surge here, which is nice I guess. Craterhoof ends games on the Spot though, so he's got my vote. I run 4 because without seeing him we can have a hard time closing games.
Important Cards: These cards either have great synergy or can enable faster endgames. You should run these in your list.
Master Biomancer: He's the only elf that doesn't work towards our main goal of ramping into huge stuff, but he is still essential for winning games. His biggest interactions are with gyre sage and Garruk, Primal Hunter. 5/5 Beast tokens are enough to put away almost any game, especially if this engine gets online turn 4. Some might opt to not play a playset because of his mana cost being awkward, but I think he is an easy 4 of.
Elvish Visionary: Elf. Check. Diggin for win condition. Check. Card Advantage. Check. This guy checks out. The biggest benefit for me is that it makes more hands keepable.
Garruk, Relentless, Primal hunter, and especially Caller of Beasts:
These guy's win games by themselves. Ramping into one against control shouls be enough for you to survive boardwipes, block, beatdown, and get to your endgame quickly.
Garruk, Relentless - I usually put 2 in the sideboard against control and Jund. he puts pressure on, kills huntmaster and nighthawk, possibly Olivia, and can tutor for Craterhoofs. I don't play him mainboard as we can ramp harder into bigger things, like...
Garruk, Primal Hunter - Control's worst nightmare. This guy does everything we need and can easily be cast on turn 3 in this deck. The card draw is nice to find a craterhoof and his tokens, whien paired with a biomancer, end games in short order. I play 2 mainboard.
Garruk, Caller of Beasts - Caller of Beasts was built for this deck. No way around it. He draws 2.5 cards a turn and plays a Craterhoof without us having to tap elves. If there is one card that needs to hit the battlefield it is this guy. I can't overstate this enough. It is even possible to play him turn 3, look for a craterhoof, and hoof turn 4 for the win.
Farseek, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Gyre Sage: Play any number of these for extra ramp or elf padding. Remember, hitting a turn 3 Garruk is vital to winning, and we need every measure of redundancy to make that happen.
drop the gyre sages for an additional farseek, switch to bant colors and add in sphinx's reveltation. Go down to 2 craterhoofs, 4 is way too many. Your game plan is easily counterered by removal or board wipes, so you should refine the list a bit more.
drop the gyre sages for an additional farseek, switch to bant colors and add in sphinx's reveltation. Go down to 2 craterhoofs, 4 is way too many. Your game plan is easily counterered by removal or board wipes, so you should refine the list a bit more.
I'm certainly open to another color, although I'm hesitant to dilute the statistical possibility of a turn 1 Elf. If I went into a color with more card draw I 'm sure I could go down to 3 Craterhoofs. However the deck is built around him and REALLY needs to see one. I've also considered a very light red splash, as in only adding in 4 Stomping Grounds and 2 Rootbound crags for a single kessig wolf run.
I've heard multiple people tell me to just cut gyre sage. I'm open to it but I'm having trouble finding another creature to ramp with. I could go 4 Pilgrim 4 Farseek 2 Beck//Call. The less creatures you run the less synergy you have with craterhoof, biomancer, and archdruid, which is really the main premise of the deck. The sideboard can be tuned to make it more resilient to boardwipe, but preboard you can't dilute the core elf package or your turn 4 wins get very rare.
Think the issue with gyre sage is it doesn't evolve half the time in an elf deck. In also contemplating a similar deck sure nice to see this here. And dun mind me I feel ur title shdnt put combo as I understand combo normally means u shd win or close to winning when it happens.. Didn't see much of that in this deck.. But then maybe it's just me..
I'm certainly open to another color, although I'm hesitant to dilute the statistical possibility of a turn 1 Elf. If I went into a color with more card draw I 'm sure I could go down to 3 Craterhoofs. However the deck is built around him and REALLY needs to see one. I've also considered a very light red splash, as in only adding in 4 Stomping Grounds and 2 Rootbound crags for a single kessig wolf run.
T1 elf needs 10 sources that come in untapped on t1, 12 if you want extra consistency. The difference between 18 t1 sources like you currently have and 12 sources is 80.9% vs 93% which really isn't as big as it sounds.
Give // Take seems like good card draw with your mana ramp, Urban Evolution would work too. Gyre Sage looks pretty bad, it doesn't tap for mana until it evolves and the only way you have to evolve it is your first Elvish Archdruid. That may need to be some other form of ramp, maybe Gilded Lotus? You lose tribal synergy there but it's still ramp.
Think the issue with gyre sage is it doesn't evolve half the time in an elf deck. In also contemplating a similar deck sure nice to see this here. And dun mind me I feel ur title shdnt put combo as I understand combo normally means u shd win or close to winning when it happens.. Didn't see much of that in this deck.. But then maybe it's just me..
I realize it doesn't seem like much of a combo, but the new Garruk cheats craterhooof in ftw, which seems as much a combo as you'll get in standard right now.
Gyre Sage is probably the easiest first cut to make. But it's synergy with biomancer really puts it over the top.
I rebuilt this as bant, adding the Sphinx's Revelations + Beck//call to the list. This deck is hilarious. Probably going to build it and test it out next week at FNM.
The manabase could probably use some work, as I just threw it together. A word on the Gyre Sages: I only have them in there to increase the elf count, as they don't do much without Master Biomancer / Elvish Archdruid there to evolve him.
Look at the card. Now back to Jace. Now back to that card, now back to Jace! Sadly, it isn't Jace, but if it stopped being a junk rare and became relevant, it could act like it's Jace. Crack some Worldwake. What do you have? You have a Jace, the card you wish this card could be like. Look again. THE CARD IS NOW A $75 BILL. Anything possible when you play Magic with Jace and not junk rares. This is probably spam.
So interactions, this is in a nutshell just ramp into a Craterhoof Behemoth and swing, but to add to possible threats are the Korozda Guildmage / Master Biomancer interaction. I killed multiple opponents last night with an end of their turn sack a creature and overwhelm my opponent with saproling tokens (one person was killed my 5 3/3 tokens, while another had to face down 9 7/7 tokens).
The biggest problem facing this deck is card draw, so I'm using the Visionarys and Staff as my primary draw engines. The standout one-ofs from last night were the Staff of Nin and Primeval Bounty. A resolved bounty against a control opponent is just amazing since it triggers from a cast as opposed to a spell resolving.
My night went really well since I killed one opponent with a Primal Surge on turn 6, and overwhelmed multiple opponents with saprolings. One aggro opponent stalled against me since I cast a turn 3 Tree of Redemption, turn 4 Silklash Spider, which caused him to slow his attacks until I could draw into more threats.
So interactions, this is in a nutshell just ramp into a Craterhoof Behemoth and swing, but to add to possible threats are the Korozda Guildmage / Master Biomancer interaction. I killed multiple opponents last night with an end of their turn sack a creature and overwhelm my opponent with saproling tokens (one person was killed my 5 3/3 tokens, while another had to face down 9 7/7 tokens).
The biggest problem facing this deck is card draw, so I'm using the Visionarys and Staff as my primary draw engines. The standout one-ofs from last night were the Staff of Nin and Primeval Bounty. A resolved bounty against a control opponent is just amazing since it triggers from a cast as opposed to a spell resolving.
My night went really well since I killed one opponent with a Primal Surge on turn 6, and overwhelmed multiple opponents with saprolings. One aggro opponent stalled against me since I cast a turn 3 Tree of Redemption, turn 4 Silklash Spider, which caused him to slow his attacks until I could draw into more threats.
I'm split on which Garruk to maindeck since I like the tutor ability and fight ability of Relentless, but Caller of Beats (:D) seems good.
Suggestions? Opinions?
Caller of Beasts if my go to garruk because he enables the combo almost by himself. If you play him turn 3/4 and plus him, he should set you up to win on the following turn by minusing a Craterhoof onto the battlefield.
I run the 3/2 split of Caller and Primal Hunter because they both offer huge amounts of card draw. I can see staff of nin being good in the board against control, but either garruk is better for card draw.
Also, Korozda guildmage seems out of place, could you describe why you included it a little bit? I see the synergy with biomancer, but I feel like this deck needs alot of focus and you shouldn't be putting so much effort into the beatdown plan.
Korodza Guildmage is an elf so he allows the Archdruid to tap for one more green, evolves the Gyre Sage, having a sack outlet to work with Biomancer, and in rare instances allow for some hits with intimidate.
I do think I'll put in a Caller instead of the Relentless in the main since it does dig very well and allows for resolving a Craterhoof or other beats.
As for putting too much effort in the beatdown plan, I'm not a fan of only relying on resolving a Craterhoof to win a match. I understand that you are more in on the combo, just wanted to share a alternate version of the deck.
Simple concept, play elves, ramp, then proceed to generate a ton of mana using bell-ringers and restos and play Craterhoof or draw a ton of cards off Soul. The combo aspect is very fun since the bell-ringers and restos essentially become rituals and allow you to cast everything for free, pretty much. After playing with this I may be dropping red and going straight GW. T2 Domri is awesome, but it's not super reliable, and I actually never got the chance to cast the Surge so that and the Goblin may come out.
Simple concept, play elves, ramp, then proceed to generate a ton of mana using bell-ringers and restos and play Craterhoof or draw a ton of cards off Soul. The combo aspect is very fun since the bell-ringers and restos essentially become rituals and allow you to cast everything for free, pretty much. After playing with this I may be dropping red and going straight GW. T2 Domri is awesome, but it's not super reliable, and I actually never got the chance to cast the Surge so that and the Goblin may come out.
I resolved a Primal Surge and my opponent just conceded once I started revealing the deck and he asked if I had any other spells. As for dropping the red, you could always drop the red and replace the goblin with Akroma's Memorial. Has the same effect, and it's maindeck protection from bonfire and other red wrath effects (mutilate will still be a nightmare though).
I resolved a Primal Surge and my opponent just conceded once I started revealing the deck and he asked if I had any other spells. As for dropping the red, you could always drop the red and replace the goblin with Akroma's Memorial. Has the same effect, and it's maindeck protection from bonfire and other red wrath effects (mutilate will still be a nightmare though).
I did consider Akroma's Memorial at first but then I made it the Goblin as I can use it as a combo piece in the event I draw it. But I totally forgot about it when thinking of changes I could make so thanks for that, I'll be testing it.
To my surprise this deck showed up pretty big at SCG Richmond with a few different variants. Most notably was the Mono Green version in the Top 4. This version ran a more agressive creature base with some interesting choices, namely Strangleroot Geist and Predator Ooze. To me both are fine creatures but they don't seem to fit the ramp strategy in the least bit.
Also there were multimple GW Variants running township to facilitate the beatdown plan, essentially running our version of master biomancer.
yeah, that's probably 61 cards main and just a random assortment of other big nasty stuff to ramp into in the sideboard for now ... as players who've been trying this strategy (but with blue instead of red), what does someone/anyone think? the red cards seem pretty powerful and the deck can win without 'elf-ball.' It's my next FNM deck - depending on how it does there, we'll see - getting tired of being close but not quite with more mainstream choices (Gruul Midrange or the similar Jund Aggro variants) - thanks
I think R/G elf run ramp is a very viable option. The deck list you posted is a very fair take on what this style of deck can do. Honestly I really love that list, maybe the BTEs could be something else like farseek.
I picked Blue originally because this is a craterhoof deck but also a garruk deck. Being able to play Biomancer and Garruk with ramp is a very powerful strategy that puts all your threats out of bonfire range. Blue also gives you access to alot of things in the sideboard.
I'm moving towards a Bant option though for Beck//Call, gavony township, and sphinx's rev.
I think R/G elf run ramp is a very viable option. The deck list you posted is a very fair take on what this style of deck can do. Honestly I really love that list, maybe the BTEs could be something else like farseek.
I probably should've explained that choice a little since it's an aggro card in a ramp deck. I thought Burning-Tree makes it easier to reliably cast an early Domri or get double-red for Thundermaw Hellkite - think more of it as like Manamorphose in this list. An early BTE can also let you set up a free chump block the same turn you're playing Archdruid or Visionary that you might not want to trade for the opponent's x/1 or x/2. It also ups the creature count for Craterhoof 'for free.' I'm willing to change it when further testing against a variety of decks shows it to be a weak card.
I guess the question is which color, if any, is worth splashing for?
Red- Kessig Wolf run, Ruric Thar, Bonfire
Blue- Biomancer, Beck, Counterspells in the board
White- Gavony Township, Synergy with Avacyn's Pilgrim.
RUG- Kessig Wolf run a Biomancer, making hulking beast tokens with Garruk.
Bant- Beck//Call Fused with a Biomancer out, GG. Gavony the Biomancer, Sphinxe's Rev for a **** tin with archdruid. This is the direction I'm leaning towards.
Nice deck combo elfs, it kind of reminds me of my blink deck witch worked with elfs 4x elvish visionary, thrags, rest. angels and two craterhoofs.
Only your deck has no interaction with your opponent, what ansers do you have aginst creatures like a Kalonian Hydra??
In my old blink deck i had O- rings and fiendhunters...
I understand where your coming from in regards to there isn't any sort of removal/protection offered in his deck list. I can appreciate decks like this because I'm old as dino-poop. Back in the day, mono-color decks were the theme, mostly because there just weren't so many options to choose from. Not all the colors had the great removal we have today. Decks like this are reminiscent of what I learned MTG with. We called them "Beat Down" decks. RG was the beat down king. Throw a few goblins or elves at somebody, when they went to accept damage dump a handful of blood lusts and giant growths on em.
Right now, one of the good things about mono decks would be that they aren't expected just yet. Throws people off balance, there isn't as much "color" hate, and opponent's creature decks need to decide: remove mana base, or start setting up my own side of the board. It's a love/hate relationship at times, but when something works well, it's worth keeping, we just need to get things to work consistently well.
a turn 3 Kalonian Hydra into a turn 4 Behemoth is game, provided you don't get stymied by a Golgari Charm.
Honestly, usually a Turn 3 anything or multiples of anything with a Turn 4 Craterhoof is game. For instance, a Turn 3 Wolfir Silverheart and a Turn 4 CB is also game usually. A Turn 3 Ooze and Mystic followed by a CB usually says game over as well. Even a Turn 3 Thrag followed by a Turn 4 CB usually says 'good game, next?'
Honestly, usually a Turn 3 anything or multiples of anything with a Turn 4 Craterhoof is game. For instance, a Turn 3 Wolfir Silverheart and a Turn 4 CB is also game usually. A Turn 3 Ooze and Mystic followed by a CB usually says game over as well. Even a Turn 3 Thrag followed by a Turn 4 CB usually says 'good game, next?'
yeah, that's the point I'm making in regards to the question of removal. The deck banks on ramping so fast and killing asap that maybe the pilot isn't so worried about removal.
not a 100% brilliant and foolproof strategy, imo, but 16 mana creatures are bound to give you some advantage game 1...
also, looks like it's getting some Spotlight, over at TCGPlayer.
yeah, that's the point I'm making in regards to the question of removal. The deck banks on ramping so fast and killing asap that maybe the pilot isn't so worried about removal.
not a 100% brilliant and foolproof strategy, imo, but 16 mana creatures are bound to give you some advantage game 1...
also, looks like it's getting some Spotlight, over at TCGPlayer.
Good point then and I'm glad to see the deck back in some kind of spotlight as well. I've deviated quite a bit from the combo aspect to have a more solid deck and I like where it has taken me. I've had some really horrible games where I drew tons of accelerants with no endgame and some decks have way too easy of a time slowing this deck down. Trying to find the sweet spot.
I've also decided to go GW for now because of some really good SB options as well as some MD options. I still have the archdruid and the one mana elves but Gyre sage really has been underwhelming for me and was cut. Same with cantrip elf and I love my cantrip elf.
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Why you should play this deck: If you like combo decks that have alot of consistency and redundancy than this is the deck for you. If you think you are good at sequencing and playing around boardwipes than this is the deck for you.
Why you should NOT play this deck: If you prefer goodstuff decks that have little synergy but obvious power level such as jund or naya, this deck might not be for you. Like any combo deck that isn't protected by Force of Will, it can lose pretty handily to counter magic. So if you don't sequence well or are bad at setting up outs, this deck is not for you.
So how do we win? This deck ramps hard into either Garruk, or into craterhoof himself on turn 4/5. The ideal line goes:
Turn 1: Mana Elf
Turn 2: Elvish Archdruid OR Elf + Farseek
Turn 3: Master Biomancer + Gyre Sage OR Garruk, Caller of Beasts to draw into a craterhoof
Turn 4: Tap your four lands plus Archdruid to cast a craterhoof and swing for the stars OR Use Garruk to plop out a Craterhoof.
Where this deck sits in the meta: If you're meta is all Jund, this deck is a poor choice. Not that it can't hang, but if Jund keeps packing 4 mainboard bonfires, your elves aren't ramping into squat. That being said it is a turn 4/5 combo deck, which is solid against alot of decks right now. Midrange decks are very beatable, and slower aggro like jund or naya are also great matchups. Decks that pack 8 to 10 spot removal spells and boardwips are very hard to beat. Reanimator is also a favorable matchup as it is a faster combo. There is no best deck right now and the meta feels very much like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. This makes Combo Elves as good a choice as any.
Bread and Butter Card Choices: This list needs a very specific core of elves to operate with very few flex slots.
Elvish Mystic: Llanowar Elves reprint. The ideal turn one play in most elf decks. This opens up a turn 2 Archdruid. Not having a turn 1 mana elf is almost a deal breaker for most hands. This reprint is huge as we now have alot of redundancy.
Arbor Elf: Not quite as good as Elvish Mystic but certainly good enough for what we need. This deck will never need UU so untapping a breeding pool is largely irrelevant. We consider this Elvish Mystic 5-8.
Elvish Archdruid: The one elf to rule them all. This guy is what enables this deck at all. Capable of producing obscene amounts of G mana, he is what allows us to hardcast a Craterhoof Behemoth on turn 4. Not only that, but he pulls double duty as a beatdown enabler. He puts Master Biomancer over the top, giving new new creatures 3 +1/+1 counters. In multiples he turn everythinn into a threat.
Craterhoof Behemoth: Our finisher of choice. Some might try a worldspine wurm or Primal Surge here, which is nice I guess. Craterhoof ends games on the Spot though, so he's got my vote. I run 4 because without seeing him we can have a hard time closing games.
Important Cards: These cards either have great synergy or can enable faster endgames. You should run these in your list.
Master Biomancer: He's the only elf that doesn't work towards our main goal of ramping into huge stuff, but he is still essential for winning games. His biggest interactions are with gyre sage and Garruk, Primal Hunter. 5/5 Beast tokens are enough to put away almost any game, especially if this engine gets online turn 4. Some might opt to not play a playset because of his mana cost being awkward, but I think he is an easy 4 of.
Elvish Visionary: Elf. Check. Diggin for win condition. Check. Card Advantage. Check. This guy checks out. The biggest benefit for me is that it makes more hands keepable.
Garruk, Relentless, Primal hunter, and especially Caller of Beasts:
These guy's win games by themselves. Ramping into one against control shouls be enough for you to survive boardwipes, block, beatdown, and get to your endgame quickly.
Farseek, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Gyre Sage: Play any number of these for extra ramp or elf padding. Remember, hitting a turn 3 Garruk is vital to winning, and we need every measure of redundancy to make that happen.
So when you put it all together, you get:
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Elvish Archdruid
4x Master Biomancer
4x Elvish Visionary
4x Gyre Sage
4x Craterhoof Behemoth
2x Avacyn's Pilrgim
3x Farseek
2x Garruk, Primal Hunter
4x Breeding Pool
4x Hinterland Harbor
2x Cavern of Souls
12x Forest
2x Garruk, Relentless
3x Negate
1x Primal Surge
3x Tree of Redemption
Sideboarding Section: More to come as it gets more refined.
Hopefully this piques your interest and you can help me develop this archetype into something great!
(246-174-26)
I'm certainly open to another color, although I'm hesitant to dilute the statistical possibility of a turn 1 Elf. If I went into a color with more card draw I 'm sure I could go down to 3 Craterhoofs. However the deck is built around him and REALLY needs to see one. I've also considered a very light red splash, as in only adding in 4 Stomping Grounds and 2 Rootbound crags for a single kessig wolf run.
I've heard multiple people tell me to just cut gyre sage. I'm open to it but I'm having trouble finding another creature to ramp with. I could go 4 Pilgrim 4 Farseek 2 Beck//Call. The less creatures you run the less synergy you have with craterhoof, biomancer, and archdruid, which is really the main premise of the deck. The sideboard can be tuned to make it more resilient to boardwipe, but preboard you can't dilute the core elf package or your turn 4 wins get very rare.
T1 elf needs 10 sources that come in untapped on t1, 12 if you want extra consistency. The difference between 18 t1 sources like you currently have and 12 sources is 80.9% vs 93% which really isn't as big as it sounds.
Give // Take seems like good card draw with your mana ramp, Urban Evolution would work too. Gyre Sage looks pretty bad, it doesn't tap for mana until it evolves and the only way you have to evolve it is your first Elvish Archdruid. That may need to be some other form of ramp, maybe Gilded Lotus? You lose tribal synergy there but it's still ramp.
I realize it doesn't seem like much of a combo, but the new Garruk cheats craterhooof in ftw, which seems as much a combo as you'll get in standard right now.
Gyre Sage is probably the easiest first cut to make. But it's synergy with biomancer really puts it over the top.
4 Arbor Elf
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
2 Gyre Sage
4 Master Biomancer
2 Craterhoof Behemoth
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Beck // Call
4 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Farseek
4 Breeding Pool
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple Garden
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
The manabase could probably use some work, as I just threw it together. A word on the Gyre Sages: I only have them in there to increase the elf count, as they don't do much without Master Biomancer / Elvish Archdruid there to evolve him.
Oh the possibilities...
Turn 6
URURxUR
UWUWxUW
4x Arbor Elf
4x Elvish Mystic
1x Deathrite Shaman
4x Elvish Visionary
3x Korozda Guildmage
3x Gyre Sage
4x Elvish Archdruid
4x Master Biomancer
2x Yeva, Nature's Herald
1x Progenitor Mimic
3x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Primeval Bounty
1x Staff of Nin
1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Primal Surge
4x Breeding Pool
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Hinterland Harbor
3x Woodland Cemetery
3x Cavern of Souls
4x Forest
3x Tree of Redemption
2x Silklash Spider
2x Deadbridge Goliath
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Fog
2x Golgari Charm
1x Pithing Needle
1x Deathrite Shaman
So interactions, this is in a nutshell just ramp into a Craterhoof Behemoth and swing, but to add to possible threats are the Korozda Guildmage / Master Biomancer interaction. I killed multiple opponents last night with an end of their turn sack a creature and overwhelm my opponent with saproling tokens (one person was killed my 5 3/3 tokens, while another had to face down 9 7/7 tokens).
The biggest problem facing this deck is card draw, so I'm using the Visionarys and Staff as my primary draw engines. The standout one-ofs from last night were the Staff of Nin and Primeval Bounty. A resolved bounty against a control opponent is just amazing since it triggers from a cast as opposed to a spell resolving.
Only things that came in from the sideboard the entire night were the Golgari Charm, Tree of Redemption, and Silklash Spider, and the extra Deathrite Shaman.
My night went really well since I killed one opponent with a Primal Surge on turn 6, and overwhelmed multiple opponents with saprolings. One aggro opponent stalled against me since I cast a turn 3 Tree of Redemption, turn 4 Silklash Spider, which caused him to slow his attacks until I could draw into more threats.
Changes I would make would be to replace one Cavern of Souls with a forest to avoid tap land issues, and maybe pull in another Woodland Cemetery. As for the board, I would add another Golgari Charm, a Witchbane Orb, and maybe a couple Predator Ooze to vex opponents that bring in more Supreme Verdict.
I'm split on which Garruk to maindeck since I like the tutor ability and fight ability of Relentless, but Caller of Beats (:D) seems good.
Suggestions? Opinions?
Caller of Beasts if my go to garruk because he enables the combo almost by himself. If you play him turn 3/4 and plus him, he should set you up to win on the following turn by minusing a Craterhoof onto the battlefield.
I run the 3/2 split of Caller and Primal Hunter because they both offer huge amounts of card draw. I can see staff of nin being good in the board against control, but either garruk is better for card draw.
Also, Korozda guildmage seems out of place, could you describe why you included it a little bit? I see the synergy with biomancer, but I feel like this deck needs alot of focus and you shouldn't be putting so much effort into the beatdown plan.
I do think I'll put in a Caller instead of the Relentless in the main since it does dig very well and allows for resolving a Craterhoof or other beats.
As for putting too much effort in the beatdown plan, I'm not a fan of only relying on resolving a Craterhoof to win a match. I understand that you are more in on the combo, just wanted to share a alternate version of the deck.
4x Elvish Mystic
3x Avacyn's Pilgrim
4x Elvish Archdruid
4x Elvish Visionary
3x Somberwald Sage
3x Thragtusk
1x Acidic Slime
3x Soul of the Harvest
3x Village Bell-Ringer
4x Restoration Angel
2x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Hellraiser Goblin
4x Temple Garden
4x Stomping Ground
3x Rootbound Crag
2x Sunpetal Grove
2x Gavony Township
5x Forest
3x Domri Rade
4x Centaur Healer
3x Acidic Slime
1x Thragtusk
3x Deathrite Shaman
1x Oblivion Ring
Simple concept, play elves, ramp, then proceed to generate a ton of mana using bell-ringers and restos and play Craterhoof or draw a ton of cards off Soul. The combo aspect is very fun since the bell-ringers and restos essentially become rituals and allow you to cast everything for free, pretty much. After playing with this I may be dropping red and going straight GW. T2 Domri is awesome, but it's not super reliable, and I actually never got the chance to cast the Surge so that and the Goblin may come out.
Deckbox
I resolved a Primal Surge and my opponent just conceded once I started revealing the deck and he asked if I had any other spells. As for dropping the red, you could always drop the red and replace the goblin with Akroma's Memorial. Has the same effect, and it's maindeck protection from bonfire and other red wrath effects (mutilate will still be a nightmare though).
I did consider Akroma's Memorial at first but then I made it the Goblin as I can use it as a combo piece in the event I draw it. But I totally forgot about it when thinking of changes I could make so thanks for that, I'll be testing it.
Deckbox
Also there were multimple GW Variants running township to facilitate the beatdown plan, essentially running our version of master biomancer.
Here's where I currently am with my version (little to no playtesting other than against some budget aggro decks that my son was piloting)
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Thragtusk
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
2 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Elderscale Wurm
2 Garruk Relentless
4 Bonfire of the Damned
12 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
2 Clan Defiance
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Thragtusk
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
3 Wolfir Silverheart
2 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
yeah, that's probably 61 cards main and just a random assortment of other big nasty stuff to ramp into in the sideboard for now ... as players who've been trying this strategy (but with blue instead of red), what does someone/anyone think? the red cards seem pretty powerful and the deck can win without 'elf-ball.' It's my next FNM deck - depending on how it does there, we'll see - getting tired of being close but not quite with more mainstream choices (Gruul Midrange or the similar Jund Aggro variants) - thanks
I picked Blue originally because this is a craterhoof deck but also a garruk deck. Being able to play Biomancer and Garruk with ramp is a very powerful strategy that puts all your threats out of bonfire range. Blue also gives you access to alot of things in the sideboard.
I'm moving towards a Bant option though for Beck//Call, gavony township, and sphinx's rev.
I probably should've explained that choice a little since it's an aggro card in a ramp deck. I thought Burning-Tree makes it easier to reliably cast an early Domri or get double-red for Thundermaw Hellkite - think more of it as like Manamorphose in this list. An early BTE can also let you set up a free chump block the same turn you're playing Archdruid or Visionary that you might not want to trade for the opponent's x/1 or x/2. It also ups the creature count for Craterhoof 'for free.' I'm willing to change it when further testing against a variety of decks shows it to be a weak card.
EDIT: found a list that was top 8 at a TCG event that included BTE
3 Craterhoof Behemoth
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Gyre Sage
4 Kalonian Hydra
4 Thragtusk
3 Yeva, Nature's Herald
2 Cavern of Souls
20 Forest
3 Fog
3 Ranger's Guile
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Triumph of Ferocity
I guess the question is which color, if any, is worth splashing for?
Red- Kessig Wolf run, Ruric Thar, Bonfire
Blue- Biomancer, Beck, Counterspells in the board
White- Gavony Township, Synergy with Avacyn's Pilgrim.
RUG- Kessig Wolf run a Biomancer, making hulking beast tokens with Garruk.
Bant- Beck//Call Fused with a Biomancer out, GG. Gavony the Biomancer, Sphinxe's Rev for a **** tin with archdruid. This is the direction I'm leaning towards.
I understand where your coming from in regards to there isn't any sort of removal/protection offered in his deck list. I can appreciate decks like this because I'm old as dino-poop. Back in the day, mono-color decks were the theme, mostly because there just weren't so many options to choose from. Not all the colors had the great removal we have today. Decks like this are reminiscent of what I learned MTG with. We called them "Beat Down" decks. RG was the beat down king. Throw a few goblins or elves at somebody, when they went to accept damage dump a handful of blood lusts and giant growths on em.
Right now, one of the good things about mono decks would be that they aren't expected just yet. Throws people off balance, there isn't as much "color" hate, and opponent's creature decks need to decide: remove mana base, or start setting up my own side of the board. It's a love/hate relationship at times, but when something works well, it's worth keeping, we just need to get things to work consistently well.
After watching the San Diego Comic-Con coverage of the MTG panel, we should be seeing more mono decks in the future. http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/257d
Honestly, usually a Turn 3 anything or multiples of anything with a Turn 4 Craterhoof is game. For instance, a Turn 3 Wolfir Silverheart and a Turn 4 CB is also game usually. A Turn 3 Ooze and Mystic followed by a CB usually says game over as well. Even a Turn 3 Thrag followed by a Turn 4 CB usually says 'good game, next?'
yeah, that's the point I'm making in regards to the question of removal. The deck banks on ramping so fast and killing asap that maybe the pilot isn't so worried about removal.
not a 100% brilliant and foolproof strategy, imo, but 16 mana creatures are bound to give you some advantage game 1...
also, looks like it's getting some Spotlight, over at TCGPlayer.
Good point then and I'm glad to see the deck back in some kind of spotlight as well. I've deviated quite a bit from the combo aspect to have a more solid deck and I like where it has taken me. I've had some really horrible games where I drew tons of accelerants with no endgame and some decks have way too easy of a time slowing this deck down. Trying to find the sweet spot.
I've also decided to go GW for now because of some really good SB options as well as some MD options. I still have the archdruid and the one mana elves but Gyre sage really has been underwhelming for me and was cut. Same with cantrip elf and I love my cantrip elf.