[Deck] Elves Combo

[lavafrogg]

Has anyone tried Sylvan Messengers against blue based decks? BUG and Miracles should have a hard time stopping Messengers, Visionaries, glimpses and symbiotes reusing the creatures...

[lord182]

You can go infinite with an elvish visionary, 2 nettle sentinels, wirewood symbiote, mirror entity, and a forest. I still don't recommend using mirror entity though

We are talking about infinite draws not mana ... You may be confused Elvish Visionary with Heritage Druid also you need only 1 Sentinel

[Neil]

We are talking about infinite draws not mana ... You may be confused Elvish Visionary with Heritage Druid also you need only 1 Sentinel

Oh duh :facepalm:. Yeah I messed up the two cards.

I think Koby is right you can't go infinite draw with just Mirror entity and no glimpse.

[JanoschEausH]

This would be the changes I am going to be making:

-4 Llanowar Elves / +4 deathrite shaman

Side board:

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Vexing Shusher
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Emrakul, the Aeons torn
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Regal Force


Hope my report is actually useful. This is only my second tournament report. If you guys have any questions or suggestions I will be checking this thread often.

How are you planning to change your manabase? If you play Abrupt Decays and discard, i assume that you need to play at least one Bayou + Fetchlands, right? Or does it work without Duals + Fetchlands? I'm testing a similiar Deck right now. My maindeck difference would be -1x Birchlore Ranger, -1x Fyndhorn Elves +2x Green Sun's Zenith, and 3x Elvish Archdruid instead of 3x Priest of Titania.

[Neil]

How are you planning to change your manabase? If you play Abrupt Decays and discard, i assume that you need to play at least one Bayou + Fetchlands, right? Or does it work without Duals + Fetchlands? I'm testing a similiar Deck right now. My maindeck difference would be -1x Birchlore Ranger, -1x Fyndhorn Elves +2x Green Sun's Zenith, and 3x Elvish Archdruid instead of 3x Priest of Titania.

Oh right, I am running 8 fetchlands, 3 forests, and 2 bayous. It seems to be working well. Our decks look quite similar. Not sure if you know about this card, but you might want to try out 1 Dryad Arbor since you run GSZ.

[civet five]

I just picked the deck up and was playing a bunch of goldfish games to get the feel for it. I have to say that I feel like a total n00b for not realizing how good Mirror Entity is with Symbiote. I just had the following game state that looked like total crap, but turned out to be a win:

In play to begin the turn is Savannah, Dryad Arbor, Cradle, Priest of Titania, Wirewood Symbiote, Birchlore Ranger, Heritage Druid; Mirror Entity is in hand. Tap Savannah and Cradle to play Entity, activate for 1 and now Dryad Arbor and Wirewood Symbiote are Elves. Priest makes 6, activate Symbiote returning itself to untap Priest, recast, activate Entity, cycle rinse repeat. Attack with Dryad Arbor, Priest, Ranger, Druid for 3.2 Billion.

This line of play has come up several times in goldfishing, and makes me think that Emrakul really isn't necessary at all.

[jjflipped]

Finally decided that I will just elf people in Denver (instead of playing some 4 color monstrosity)

Things of note:
-Emrakul still does nothing. not playing it.
-Deathrite Shaman isnt that good. Might play one to zenith for.
-Unsure on SB, but decent chance it will contain 4 buried alive 4 vengevine. No, this does not lose to deathrite shaman.
-Mortarpod is likely going to be maindeck.
-DEATHRITE SHAMAN ISNT THAT GOOD. QUIT CUTTING LLANOWARS FOR HIM. SERIOUSLY.
-On the verge of cutting the crop rotation, but the deck really wants a third cradle...
-Mirror entity does everything.
-If I play a DRS, its going in over a heritage druid.
-Energy storm is still hilarious.

[Koby]

Finally decided that I will just elf people in Denver (instead of playing some 4 color monstrosity)

Things of note:
-Emrakul still does nothing. not playing it.
-Deathrite Shaman isnt that good. Might play one to zenith for.
-Unsure on SB, but decent chance it will contain 4 buried alive 4 vengevine. No, this does not lose to deathrite shaman.
-Mortarpod is likely going to be maindeck.
-DEATHRITE SHAMAN ISNT THAT GOOD. QUIT CUTTING LLANOWARS FOR HIM. SERIOUSLY.
-On the verge of cutting the crop rotation, but the deck really wants a third cradle...
-Mirror entity does everything.
-If I play a DRS, its going in over a heritage druid.
-Energy storm is still hilarious.

Good luck with that.
Hint: I went 6-2 at the Invitational with G/b Combo Elves, with Emrakul, with 4 DRS, with zero Mirror Entity. I highly recommend my version, mostly for the SB options.

Buried Alive -> Vengevine isn't that impressive against Miracles; where we want it most.

[jjflipped]

I know you went 6-2. that because elves are good.

Elves! is a deck, like most, based around card and mana advantage. It is best to play the cards that do the most for the smallest amount of mana. In legacy the cheapest way to win with elves is mirror entity, also creating many more scenarios where winning is possible (the aggro plan, as well as symbiote loops). I've played elves in vintage as well, and cut one entity for the more efficient time walk. Emrakul is the most expensive win condition, that ONLY is a finisher.

On the topic of deathrite shaman, So far its added green mana. sometimes.

Also buried alive is awful vs miracles. Thats not why its there. Its there to efficiently beat discard and E.Plague.

-Jon

[Koby]

I know you went 6-2. that because elves are good.

Elves! is a deck, like most, based around card and mana advantage. It is best to play the cards that do the most for the smallest amount of mana. In legacy the cheapest way to win with elves is mirror entity, also creating many more scenarios where winning is possible (the aggro plan, as well as symbiote loops). I've played elves in vintage as well, and cut one entity for the more efficient time walk. Emrakul is the most expensive win condition, that ONLY is a finisher.

On the topic of deathrite shaman, So far its added green mana. sometimes.

Also buried alive is awful vs miracles. Thats not why its there. Its there to efficiently beat discard and E.Plague.

-Jon

If the plan is to beat both Discard and EPlague, then run Wilt-leaf Liege. I don't feel like B/x disruption is that difficult to fight through, and is exactly where you want to have a full set of DRS. Scavenging Ooze also gets around this problem just fine.

[MD.Ghost]

If the plan is to beat both Discard and EPlague, then run Wilt-leaf Liege. I don't feel like B/x disruption is that difficult to fight through, and is exactly where you want to have a full set of DRS. Scavenging Ooze also gets around this problem just fine.

I agree with Koby. I test 2 Scavenging Ooze Maindeck and it is very good (sometimes one ooze dies/is exiled, but never both). Ooze win every Deathrite Battle and is an perfect answer, if your opponent kill all elf dudes (plague etc.). With BUG on the rise, E.Plague is back in business (mainly vs goblins..) and without a lord effect, it is hard to combo off. Mirror Entity can't fight plague, so you need some other options. I prefer 3 Abrupt Decay and 1 Thrun from Sideboard, together with 2 Maindeck Oozes and some Deathrites, you don´t need Comboturns to smash your Opponent.

I also thought about Wilt-leaf Liege, because besides BUG, Jund, Deadguy and everyones Mothers playing Deathrites...
Wilt-leaf Liege is a Lord, with 4/4 immun to Lighning Bolt (and most Red Removal), Engineered Plague and most important Abrupt Decay (Sidenote, it needs more Jittecounters to kill Wilt-leaf Liege )
On Paper very good - with a Metashift (less White Decks with Swords to Plowshards). Maybe i give it a try and find 1 Sideboard Slot.

[trevaftw]

Hey guys! Just joined The Source earlier today after hearing about it from one of the guys in my playgroup. Been playing/reading about combo elves since last summer. Here is my current decklist:


4 llanowar elves
4 deathrite shaman
4 nettle sentinel
4 heritage druid
4 birchlore rangers
4 wirewood symbiote
4 elvish visionary
1 quirion ranger
1 elvish archdruid
1 eternal witness
1 regal force
1 craterhoof behemoth
1 emrakul. The aeons torn

4 glimpse of nature
4 green sun's zenith
2 crop rotation

4 misty rainforest
4 verdant catacombs
4 forest
1 temple garden
1 overgrown tomb
1 cavern of souls
1 gaea's cradle

My biggest problem is I'm terrible at sideboarding. My typical sideboard looks like this:

3 mindbreak trap
1 gaddock teeg
1 dryad militant
1 gaea's herald
1 abrupt decay
2 krosan grip
1 oblivion ring
1 viridian shaman
2 rest in peace
1 beast within
1 bojuka bog

Mt LGS has weekly legacy every Thursday and one of my worst match ups is UW miracles. Something I want to try is adding in 4 envelop and adding a tropical island. The idea is when I combo off I can then use it to counter their terminus or if I fizzle I can stop their suprece verdict. Also, I would like to add a maze of ith or karaks to the sideboard too.

[lord182]

Hey guys! Just joined The Source earlier today after hearing about it from one of the guys in my playgroup. Been playing/reading about combo elves since last summer. Here is my current decklist:


4 llanowar elves
4 deathrite shaman
4 nettle sentinel
4 heritage druid
4 birchlore rangers
4 wirewood symbiote
4 elvish visionary
1 quirion ranger
1 elvish archdruid
1 eternal witness
1 regal force
1 craterhoof behemoth
1 emrakul. The aeons torn

4 glimpse of nature
4 green sun's zenith
2 crop rotation

4 misty rainforest
4 verdant catacombs
4 forest
1 temple garden
1 overgrown tomb
1 cavern of souls
1 gaea's cradle

My biggest problem is I'm terrible at sideboarding. My typical sideboard looks like this:

3 mindbreak trap
1 gaddock teeg
1 dryad militant
1 gaea's herald
1 abrupt decay
2 krosan grip
1 oblivion ring
1 viridian shaman
2 rest in peace
1 beast within
1 bojuka bog

Mt LGS has weekly legacy every Thursday and one of my worst match ups is UW miracles. Something I want to try is adding in 4 envelop and adding a tropical island. The idea is when I combo off I can then use it to counter their terminus or if I fizzle I can stop their suprece verdict. Also, I would like to add a maze of ith or karaks to the sideboard too.

Welcome!

If you look some list posted no ones MD Eternal Witness anymore because it's not an elf and is not needed, you can move your Viridian Shaman to MD. If you splash white try Mirror Entity, you can do some crazy combos with it . You can't counter Supreme Veredict is uncounterable.

[Infinitium]

All I can say is: read the card. It doesn't have flying so chumpblocking Tombstalker is a no-go. It doesn't trade with Insectile also. You can murder the spirits yes. So if lingering souls is heavily played in your meta, try it out, but I'm not a fan of it. There are better cards to put in your SB.

Somehow convinced myself it had Reach. Somewhat junk in that case then, moving on. Currently having another look at Cavern of Souls since getting counterbalanced on turn 2 is rapidly getting old, and it's not like the manabase can't take it. In a perfect world it would also cover Chalice of the Void, which could conceivably allow me to move the Viridian Shaman SB (the remaining reasons to keep it being Artifact decks, which are already a positive mu, and Equipment which can usually be played around using Symbiotes).

Current manabase:

2 Forest
2 Bayou
4 Cavern of Souls
8 Fetchlands
(1 Gaea's Cradle)
(1 Dryad Arbor)

-DEATHRITE SHAMAN ISNT THAT GOOD. QUIT CUTTING LLANOWARS FOR HIM. SERIOUSLY.

Yes, stop arguing that it gives you oft needed reach and utility whilst simultaneously accelerating your deck. Also, quit offering empirical and anecdotal evidence that it's superior to what was previously the worst card of the deck. This guy seriously doesn't like it you guys! =( =( =(

[Godmode]

GREAT NEWS for Elves this weekend!


After an astonishing 12-1-1 run, Matt Nass made it to the Top8 at the Grand Prix Denver this week with a nicely tweeked and refreshed Elves list! Also, the infamous Luis Scott-Vargas reached the Top16 (if I'm not mistaken) with the same 75 as Matt.

Deck Tech: Elves with Matt Nass from Wizards.com



Matt Nass' Decklist:

2 Bayou
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
4 Gaea's Cradle
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Savannah
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath

1 Birchlore Rangers
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Elvish Visionary
1 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Heritage Druid
1 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
1 Priest of Titania
4 Quirion Ranger
1 Regal Force
4 Wirewood Symbiote

4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Natural Order


Sideboard
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Natural Order
1 Progenitus
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Sylvan Library
1 Thorn of Amethyst


On a side note, another famous Elves player Chris Andersen is playing with the same decklist with only a difference (-1 Gaea's Cradle, +1 Crop Rotation) at the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Columbus.

Deck Tech: Elves with Chris Andersen from StarCityGames.com







Edit: MORE GOOD NEWS...



Congratulations to Riley Curran who made history by winning, for the first time ever, a SCG Legacy Open with an Elves deck! He played with the Matt Nass' list (with the slight -1 Gaea's Cradle, +1 Crop Rotation tweek)!

>>> Riley 's Decklist <<<

StarCityGames.com Legacy Open Columbus » Top16



Get your Natural Orders, your Craterhoof Behemoths, Gaea's Cradles, Deathrite Shamans and Abrupt Decays, because we have a new insane list to play!

[Koby]

Cool, and good for them! Elves was pretty good in the last 3-4 weeks between the Invitational and the GP. Now that it placed high in two tournaments over the weekend, there will be much more hate prepared for it. That doesn't bode well for Elves. Once hate (EPlague, Canonist, Perish, EE, etc) becomes critical mass it's hard to earn easy wins. CFB's list is solid -- I play it differently but mostly the same 90% of the cards. I love Emrakul too much to not play him over Craterhoof, and I'm not a fan of Natural Order.

I don't see Elves doing well in the next month however, because of the exposure already present, and reactionary SB cards making life difficult.

[Atikin]

Im struggling to figure out how to board with this deck. Ive been running it a few times on cockatrice using the latest 1st place list from the SCG open with a nearly identical sideboard bar a couple cards. The list is smooth game 1 but games 2 and 3 I never know what to take out for all the cards i wanna throw in from the side.

[Koby]

Avoid boarding into more than 4 non-creature spells. It really dilutes the strength of Glimpse when you go for it anyway.

[Atikin]

Knowing what I wanna put in is the easy part, its what to take out.

[Koby]

Knowing what I wanna put in is the easy part, its what to take out.

That depends on the matchup and expected "hate" cards. NO/Pro is quite terrible against Perish and Terminus, for instance