[Deck] Elves Combo

[Godmode]

Elves deck playing vs Merfolks to qualify for the SCG INDI top8

http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...is.html#Legacy

[Koby]

Chris Andersen just blew it by attempting to interact. He had the win if he took all the dmg and went off to combo.

[Branches]

Elves deck playing vs Merfolks to qualify for the SCG INDI top8

http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...is.html#Legacy

hahahahaah the guy makes me wanna cry. i understand losing storm when u cant do anything but when ur playing crop rotation to get pendelhaven u know ur doing it wrong. He even drew the cradle to attempt to kill him and just chose not to go for it.

this is why nobody thinks elves is good its so sad.

[Godmode]

He didnt got much luck in the 1st and 3rd game, and the deck itself its not the best version elves has to offer IMO.

[Branches]

He didnt got much luck in the 1st and 3rd game, and the deck itself its not the best version elves has to offer IMO.

i wouldnt blame the decks consistient poor performance on the deck. just saying.

[Godmode]

Elves needs a top notch elves player in order to stand out on the meta. Like a Nicholas Malatesta or "theross" (sry, forgot ur name dude :D). I'm biased but the reason I've been playing and suporting this deck for so much its because I believe its one of the most underrated decks in legacy.

And the deck its constantly evolving and getting stronger, thats whats so cool about it. It would be awesome if a guy with the best list possible and a lot of experience made top4 in a big tournament like a SCG, a GP or something... I haven't seen anyone do that since Nick Malatesta, David Vo and "theross" who got very close to top8 in the GP Providence.


EDIT:

Heres the Elves list from Christoffer Andersen, who placed 11th @ SCG Indianapolis: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=41103

Top16: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...y=Indianapolis

What do you guys think about the list? Looks pretty good, but I prefer Emrakul's.

[theross]

After looking at the results of the SCG, it seems as though the two decks I was most fearful of outperformed everything else: ANT/TES and Reanimator. The rest of the field looked like byes though, so that's nice. I didn't get a chance to watch the Elves-Merfolk match but I've only dropped one game to Merfolk in sanctioned matches so I'm fairly confident his draws were either terrible or he was not playing well. I really don't find Elves to be too difficult, as with most combo decks it just takes some experience so you're able to accurately judge when to go off and what cards are most important in a given hand.

I'm still not sure how to deal with ANT and Reanimator, and that is probably too much for me to want to play Elves right now. Hopefully the metagame adapts with various fair decks (I particularly like the BUG lists AJ and GerryT played) as Elves preys upon these strategies.


Lastly, my name is Ross, for those that are unaware.

[Astrix]

The list that top 16ed was far from optimal in my opinion.
I believe a stronger list and top player can top 8 easily in this meta...

[catmint]

After looking at the results of the SCG, it seems as though the two decks I was most fearful of outperformed everything else: ANT/TES and Reanimator. The rest of the field looked like byes though, so that's nice. I didn't get a chance to watch the Elves-Merfolk match but I've only dropped one game to Merfolk in sanctioned matches so I'm fairly confident his draws were either terrible or he was not playing well. I really don't find Elves to be too difficult, as with most combo decks it just takes some experience so you're able to accurately judge when to go off and what cards are most important in a given hand.

I'm still not sure how to deal with ANT and Reanimator, and that is probably too much for me to want to play Elves right now. Hopefully the metagame adapts with various fair decks (I particularly like the BUG lists AJ and GerryT played) as Elves preys upon these strategies.


Lastly, my name is Ross, for those that are unaware.

I did not like AJ's/Gerrys BUG build, however I don't think elves preys upon a deck that runs heavy discard, counter and 4 deed in the SB...

[NihilObstat]

I just never get why people would play Qasali over Viridian Zealot. I can't find any reason to do it, specially if you are playing them MD where their abilities might not even be needed.

[Koby]

I just never get why people would play Qasali over Viridian Zealot. I can't find any reason to do it, specially if you are playing them MD where their abilities might not even be needed.

Engineered Plague is about the only card I can think of where the different matters. Also is much easier than , or rather for QPM versus for Zealot via GSZ. I dont think the different matters much in game play outside of the one extra mana.

[Branches]

I did not like AJ's/Gerrys BUG build, however I don't think elves preys upon a deck that runs heavy discard, counter and 4 deed in the SB...

have u ever played with vengevine?

I just never get why people would play Qasali over Viridian Zealot. I can't find any reason to do it, specially if you are playing them MD where their abilities might not even be needed.

E.Plague
I played sylvok replica in my last event to dodge e.plague and it ended up being relevant.

o and the minor corner case of attacking w/ vv into a 3/4 or 3/1

i like the interaction between lord, symbiote and mirror entity but..........mayb im being stubborn.

off to test.

[NihilObstat]

Right, sorry. I forgot about E.Plague. Haven't played Elves for the whole summer and it flew from my mind. I also used to play Sylvok Replica with Living Wish for the same reason.

Qasali definitely seems awesome next to GSZ since we don't need to pay W for it. Sorry about the last comment, again ;)

[Godmode]

I did not like AJ's/Gerrys BUG build, however I don't think elves preys upon a deck that runs heavy discard, counter and 4 deed in the SB...

VV + BA demolishes Team America/BUG lists

[catmint]

I agree that VV is a powerful strategy versus BUG. But if you guys say "demolish" or "prey upon" I imagine a 80:20 or 70:30 matchup. Don't think thats the case...

Most aggro-control players bring in GY hate. So first you have to resolve BA and the opponent is not allowed to have gy hate.

[catmint]

I agree that VV is a powerful strategy versus BUG. But if you guys say "demolish" or "prey upon" I imagine a 80:20 or 70:30 matchup. Don't think thats the case...

Most aggro-control players bring in GY hate. So first you have to resolve BA and the opponent is not allowed to have gy hate.

[Absolutflipz]

First, Chris Andersen is a pretty decent player with several T16/T8 finishes in the SCG Opens. So while I didn't see the full match (I saw parts of game 2 and 3), I wouldn't write off his not winning as completely attributable to bad play/poor player. He also mulled to 5 in 2/3 games.

Second, I'd like to figure out why one runs Mirror Entity over the Emrakul plan. I only have experience with Emrakul, and I'm not sure of the pros that would lead one to play Mirror Entity instead. Would be good to understand the reasoning between the two.

Third, as Catmint said...while Vengevine/Buried Alive is good against BUG, it is in no way demolishing BUG. That matchup is still pretty abysmal for elves. They have counterspells, removal (mass and targeted), and discard such that while they can't exile a Vengevine, there's definitely no guarantee that vengevines get there. And combo'ing off against the deck is extremely difficult.

Mentor of the Meek seems like a decent glimpse #5-x. Maybe a build that utilizes Chord of Calling?

[1maarten1]

Second, I'd like to figure out why one runs Mirror Entity over the Emrakul plan. I only have experience with Emrakul, and I'm not sure of the pros that would lead one to play Mirror Entity instead. Would be good to understand the reasoning between the two.

Mirror Entity allows you to go infinite, which can be very viable. Also Mirror Entity gives you a very strong option to aggro. But yes, Entity builds usually use Chord because Chord can easily tutor for it. I can see a build (pretty old school tho) with GSZ+a split of Chord/Pact Wirewood Hivemaster and Mirror Entity/ a singleton Mentor as GW build. Don't know if its better but there certainly are benefits.

[Neil]

I haven't paid much attention to a buried alive/ vengevine build but the more I think about it, the better I think it is. Could someone post a build for a deck list with Buried alive and vengevine?

[unemployer]

I usually don't use GSZ for entity build because gsz cannot fetch entity. I run 3 pact and 3 chord. I don't use hivemaster anymore. I think the build has enough elves and having nettle sentinel helps the chord.