[Deck] Crystalline Elves

[Kronicler]

Yeah, I guess you are right about Harbinger. On another note, the problem with playing discard is that it makes both Bloodline Shaman and Sylvan Messenger much weaker. Same with Thorn of Amethyst of whatever it is called.

Kronicler

[Illissius]

On the other hand, you don't really need the staying power of Shamans and Messengers against combo, so the question is really how much of the disruption to play maindeck, and then you bring all the rest in from the sideboard. I also think we should stick to discard and graveyard hate for now rather than Thorns and Spheres, as long as Breakfast and Ichorid are in vogue as opposed to various flavours of Storm. I'd personally use Thoughtseize and Therapy in the main with a sideboard something like:

SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Planar Void
SB: 4 Choke
SB: 3 Gaddock Teeg

[kicks_422]

My only problem with this deck is that it suffer's from Meathooks' problem in that it can easily be forced to over extend. Now granted this deck has infinity more card advantage than Meathooks which will allow it to recover much faster from a mass removal spell, but it still seems like a pretty big weakness.

Then splash black for Prowess of the Fair. It also gives you room for Cabal Therapy (synergy!) and the ever-so-mentioned Thoughtseize. Maybe even Lys Alana Scarblade (gotta love that card name) for a pseudo Gempalm Incinerator.

I think going the Vial route with mana denial (Ports and Wastelands) to mirror what Goblins did in its prime deserves some testing, at least. This deck basically takes the synergy of the Goblin tribe and now mashes it with the pump and untargetability of Slivers... Pretty nice once you think about it.

I'll test it once I get back from our championship party...

[thefreakaccident]

I was thinking perhapes a GB survival/ELVES! thing to go on here...


4 cabal therapy
4 thoughtseize
3 eternal witness
4 llanwar elves
4 survival of the fittest
2 quirion ranger
1 roffellos, llanwar emissary
1 veridian shaman
1 squee goblin naboob
1 genesis
2 priest of titania
1 masticore
1 ravenous balath
4 elvish champion
4 Eldarami, lord of leaves
1 derranged hermit
3 imperious perfect

4 bayou
1 swamp
2 overgrown tomb
4 wooded foothills
2 windswept heath
2 bloodstained mire
4 forest

[Jak]

Personally, I can only see this deck doing well in a vial goblins shell. The better thing about elves is that the colors G and B are colors goblins would love to have. Being able to kill artifacts and enchantments and cheaply disrupt the opponent is amazing. It is also able to disruot the mana bases better. I think elves! is just bad when you have faster combo decks with more protection.

[Happy Gilmore]

Yeah, I guess you are right about Harbinger. On another note, the problem with playing discard is that it makes both Bloodline Shaman and Sylvan Messenger much weaker. Same with Thorn of Amethyst of whatever it is called.

Kronicler

I'm not sure the messenger, shaman package is needed. In many ways Eladamri allows for elves to out-agro thresh and prity much every other deck (except ichoird). Wirewood Herald is your best form of search and works well with Cabal Therapy. The timing is such that you get to play your disruption first anyway. And besides, paying for Thoughtseize/Duress/Cabal Therapy is fine assuming your opponent is affected more by the thorn then you are. You can easily turn this deck into a very effective agro control deck with a very solid threshold plan.


4 Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
4 Skyshroud Elete
4 Wirewood Herald
3 Gempalm Strider
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
3 Elvish Champion
4 Llanowar Elves

4 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Thorn of Amythyst

4 Bayou
4 Chrome Mox
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Windswept Heath
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Forest


SB:
4 Yixlid Jailer
4 Krosan Grip
3 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Engineered Plague

I put this together last night after reading about Eladamri. I like how it stomps thresh into the ground if they are not main decking CB. You might not even need to run the mana elves at all.

[Kronicler]

You know what, that actually seems like the most interesting direction to take this deck. If we go the Vial / Waste / Port route, it will most likely be inferior to gobos, and if we go the balls to the walls card advantage / pump elves it will still most likely be inferior to gobos. This type of build on the other hand is new and fresh. While I don't really have anything to input on your list, Happy, are you sure that 2x Shockland is better than 2x Gilt Leaf Palace? While the palace can't be fetched, why would we ever fetch a shockland when we can just fetch a dual land? In other words, who cards if it can't be fetched.

Kronicler

P.S. Wirewood Herald + Cabal Therapy = tech

[Curby]

Eladamri is indeed awesome with the subtype change, but I wouldn't rule out Wirewood Symbiote entirely. Its only targeting requirement is that the target is a creature, so you can have it target itself. In other words, even when Eladamri is in play, you can bounce elves for combat tricks (put damage on the stack and bounce what would die) or just to recast them and trigger coming-into-play effects. He can also protect an Elf from sweepers.

When Eladamri's not in play, he can do all of that and untap your elves.

Instead of Prowess of the Fair, what about Caller of the Claw? You need to run mana elves and/or remember to leave mana open, but you can search for a 1-of Caller when your Wirewood Herald dies to a sweeper, and your tokens are twice as big. Herald also adds a surprise factor, but the fact that he makes Bears and not Elves is pretty significant unless you can swing for the win the next turn. Whether or not you can do that depends on whether he can handle a horde of bears and whether you've been playing a ton of elves to get the 10 or so tokens.

I like how it stomps thresh into the ground if they are not main decking CB.

Pardon the newbie, but CB?

[Mordenkain]

Pardon the newbie, but CB?

Counterbalance. (At least thats what I think).

[insertnamehere]

I am currently working on rebuilding the old Elf and Staff combo. You may want to figure in some of these cards:
Staff of Domination Infinate everything
Eladamri to the sideboard only to be used if needed
Tarmogoyf (it is green and only gets bigger)
The new card that gives elves +1/+1 in addition to the champion
Cradles are really not needed because once you get 5 or 6 creatures on the table it becomes useless.
Shyshroud poacher just good as vial except it searches through your library for an elf for 3

[godryk]

@Happy Gilmore: I think your list is the only one that seems a real aggrocontrol one. Though I have to say that Thorn of Amethyst belongs to the sideboard, as well as Duress, because I think the list has enough MD discard. Instead I'd include some extra removal (considering Wren's Run Packmaster as removal), allowing you to kill 'Goyf. I would try something like this:
-4 Thorn of amethyst
-2 Duress
+3 Smother
+3 Imperious Perfect/extra removal

I think that more pumping may result redundant and may be changed. I like a lot the low cost elves. Cabal Therapy+Wirewood Herald rocks. Gempalm Strider seems great in a metagame full of Threshold and Landstill.

Forestwalk+Shroud+Discard+Black Removal=AntiThresh.deck

P.S.: Fyndhorn Elves are cooler than Llanowar Elves.
P.S.2: God will punish us with genital herpes because we're suggesting not playing 'Goyf in a green deck...

[satellites]

Here's a more controllish type elfs deck. Mana denial and whatnot.

// Lands
4 [US] Gaea's Cradle
8 [10E] Forest (4)


// Creatures
3 Tribal Forcemage
3 [VI] Quirion Ranger
4 [10E] Elvish Champion
2 [10E] Gaea's Herald
4 [ON] Elvish Vanguard
4 [UL] Multani's Acolyte
4 [IA] Fyndhorn Elves
3 [TE] Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
4 [LOR] Imperious Perfect
2 [10E] Llanowar Elves
2 [LOR] Lys Alana Huntmaster
4 [US] Priest of Titania

// Spells
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Winter Orb
3 City of Solitude

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [TE] Choke
SB: 3 Seedtime
SB: 3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [PLC] Seal of Primordium
SB: 2 [UD] Compost


I'd want to try Smokestack in here instead of City, see how that works.
What with all the token making elfs, I'd imagine that Smokestack could be very painful.

[Barook]

// Lands
4 [US] Gaea's Cradle
8 [10E] Forest (4)

This seems so wrong - you're effectively running only 8 lands because Cradle is utterly useless without a creature in play.

Topic change - some food for thought:
Mana elves + Thorn of Amethyst + Root Maze

[satellites]

This seems so wrong - you're effectively running only 8 lands because Cradle is utterly useless without a creature in play.

Topic change - some food for thought:
Mana elves + Thorn of Amethyst + Root Maze

Root maze = yes!

Also...aside from the 8 forests, I'm also running mana elves. I tested the list I posted on the first page all weekend, and that ran 9 Forest, 3 Cradle, and 4 Lodge. I think I did OK with it. But for this one, I'm 2 cards over. So, I say, cut the Cities, add a Llanowar Elf.

This way, I've got 11 ways to make mana that aren't lands.

What should be cut for the Root Maze?

[Happy Gilmore]

When you mentioned Rootmaze and gilt-leaf palace it made me wonder about the exact wording on the land just in case it came into play first before the untap affect. Unfortunately it does not work that way. The elf land is still a great idea, especially if your cutting fetches, which you will have to do. I was very impressed with Thorn in the main though, I don't think it should be moved to SB.

[Cait_Sith]

I was very impressed with Thorn in the main though, I don't think it should be moved to SB.

Honestly, Thorn is a pretty bad card. For it to be really good you'd need to run 4+ mana producing creatures. It would have be freaking ELF tribal. Wait...

I really agree with Gilmore here that Thorn is quite a bomb. Your mana producing elves can easily be held back by a creature, so use the them to cast spells around Thorn if nothing else. Between Cradle and 4-8 (Or even more thanks to Priest and the new Lorwyn mana elf).

As a random note, Wren's Run Packmaster is amazing with Cradle and Priest (or just Cradle, hell getting the thing out turn 3 is incredibly simple) but the real bomb is Wren's Run Vanquisher. 3/3 for 2 that can blow up anything? I have held back armies with Thornweald Archer (Which, by the way, could be testable) and it isn't nearly as strong as Vanquisher.

[Happy Gilmore]

I wanted to incorporate some changes that many have suggested so far, but I found it very difficult without posting another deck list. I've been bad about that lately.

4 Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
4 Skyshroud Elete
4 Wirewood Herald
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 Elvish Champion
2 Elves of the Deep Shadow
3 Llanowar Elves

4 Thoughtseize
4 Root Maze
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Thorn of Amythyst

4 Bayou
4 Gilt Leaf Palace
4 Mosswort Bridge (tech!)
4 Forest
3 Overgrown Tomb


SB:
4 Yixlid Jailer
4 Krosan Grip
3 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Engineered Plague

It seems extremely easy to take advantage of Mosswort Bridge in this deck, and did anyone else realize that Wirewood Herald can get Gilt Leaf Ambush?

[raudo]

The more I think of it - Mirror Entity is just sick, sick, sick.

I think I just try the old Elves! list with Mirror Entities filling the random slots (Timberwatch Elf, Multani's Acolyte etc). Concordant Crossroad build gets very fast.

[kicks_422]

This build has been GREAT for me so far:

16 Forest
4 Wasteland

4 Llanowar Elves
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 Elvish Harbinger
4 Elvish Champion
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Sylvan Messenger
4 Wren's Run Packmaster

4 Thorn of Amethyst

SB
4 Caller of the Claw
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Viridian Zealot

EDIT: I'd probably go -1 Eladamri, -1 Packmaster, +2 something... I'd like to keep the sexy curve of 8-12-12-8 though...

[Lemuria]

Maybe some aether vials?