Quote Originally Posted by Viscosity View Post
^ I agree. Elspeth is great. I like to run 2 elspeth. I can't understand not running at least one, and I especially dont understand decklists running 0 els and eternal dragon?! That card is completely dated. It often plays as a plainscycle and is never seen again for the duration of the game. If you do invest the mana to return it, it is way easier to remove than elspeth anyway. I'd run a 3rd decree over 1 dragon also.

In an environment with more evagreen and team america, I cut an elspeth and a decree in favor of 2x smother. Getting the mana for els or dec is difficult in those match ups. And spot removal wins those games. But the deck becomes substantially weaker to stax with those changes.
I thought so too until I re-read this post.