Quote Originally Posted by Prdgychild View Post
How does this deck beat elves.....?
Deathblade, in general, or my version? I ask because you responded to my posting.

Regardless, we have good interactions wIth their deck. Step 1 is to draw your hand and analyze it and see how it interacts with various types of elves draws.
The next step is to make sure not to be TOO overactive in answering every threat. Obviously, there are a few elves which are better than others, and your timing with how you interact with them is extremely important.
Wirework symbiote is a must-answer because it protects other elves.
Deathrite Shaman can be very dangerous and it interacts with your Deathrite Shaman and Snapcaster Mage.
Finally, Heritage Druid and Nettle Sentinel are obviously the beginning parts of a combo, Heritage Druid should be answered.

In many prominent examples of defeating elves with blade decks, the blade player turns the corner and makes sure to keep the board 100 percent clear. On the play, it is much easier to perform this plan. On the draw, it can be much more difficult and it requires you to play very tight. For example, with Force backup, I'd be very tempted to Thoughtseize first to see what I'm working against, take the most explosive piece and to game plan against the worst case scenerio, then use your sfm and tnn to create a board presence.

Post board, I really dislike Planeswalkers. I like Force of will. I like Zealous Persecution and Engineered Plague. I like Meddling Mage. Leovold shuts down whole lines of play.

An examole game could be:
On the play.
Play drs, pass.
Plays 1 mana elf, pass
T2, cast thoughtseize:
- if you see the nuts, hold up your mana and interact.
- If you see something average, cast Stoneforge mystic. If you don't have Mystic and the first creature they played was drs, hold up your Shaman to block their activations.

T3, you can start easily casting brainstorms and finding more interactions. Hopefully you find a sfm for jitte. Snapcaster Mage to target Swords in your yard.

You can let certain creatures lives depending on your hand and their hand. Also, use your life total as a resource (you may find yourself in a situation where you've prevented them from comboing off but they are swinging for 4 per turn ).

Deathblade should match up versus most combo decks pretty favorably, especially post board.

It's worst matchups are aggroloam, jund, maverick and shardless.