[Deck] Elves Combo

[Atikin]

Currently running:

1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Harmonic Sliver
1x Viridian Shaman
4x Cabal Therapy
3x Abrupt Decay
2x Gaddock Teeg
1x Wilt-Leaf Liege
1x Natural Order
1x Progenitus

Can't think of anything else the sideboard really needs. My meta hasn't needed Mortarpod once, though I understood the original merit of it. Teeg shuts down Miracles, which is why he's worth two in my opinion.

It certainly depends on your meta, and in a miracles infested meta I guess it has its merits. Running a card like zenith though makes 1 of's that much more efficient, I would cut it and try out a dryad arbor in the board. What deck is liege going in against/what for?

[nudon]

Can anyone give me a decent mono green list?

I'm assuming you're running mono green due to a budget. Here's a budget version that plays out similarly to LSV's list. You can then add the DRS, NO, fetches, duals, and cradles over time.

http://deckstats.net/deck-1976126-3f...d457d4486.html

//Creatures
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Wirewood Symbiote
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Heritage Druid
4 Quirion Ranger
3 Llanowar Elves
3 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Birchlore Rangers
3 Priest of Titania
2 Elvish Archdruid
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Regal Force
1 Craterhoof Behemoth

//Sorceries
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Crop Rotation

//Lands
13 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor

//Sideboard
SB: 4 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 1 Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 Qasali Pridemage
SB: 4 Faerie Macabre
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Mortarpod
SB: 1 Meekstone

[Hencules]

How do you guys go about beating stoneblade preboard? I often find it hard to grind them out, perhaps i'm doing it wrong?

[andrebonotto]

How do you guys go about beating stoneblade preboard? I often find it hard to grind them out, perhaps i'm doing it wrong?

I guess that, if you do not have Viridian Shaman or another artifact hate mainboard, you could try to "stall' his Jitte / Batterskull through abusing the bounce ability from either Quirion Ranger + Dryad Arbor or Wirewood Symbiote + another elf.

For it, you could search for these cards as main targets for your GSZ's (and Fetch Lands).

This could buy you enough turns in order to try to combo him out - or grind him out, if it is the case.

(Unless he's able to get both Batterskull, Jitte and Sword of X and Y [pro. Green] rapidly online, which is something that happened to me once. Then there's no bounce that can save you...)

[Hencules]

I guess that, if you do not have Viridian Shaman or another artifact hate mainboard, you could try to "stall' his Jitte / Batterskull through abusing the bounce ability from either Quirion Ranger + Dryad Arbor or Wirewood Symbiote + another elf.

For it, you could search for these cards as main targets for your GSZ's (and Fetch Lands).

This could buy you enough turns in order to try to combo him out - or grind him out, if it is the case.

(Unless he's able to get both Batterskull, Jitte and Sword of X and Y [pro. Green] rapidly online, which is something that happened to me once. Then there's no bounce that can save you...)

That's my strategy as well, to delay his equipments. However, I often find myself getting stomped by Clique's carrying swords or (in case of esper) Lingering sould tokens with a weapon..

[Godmode]

If you guys want to get some info about the "2013" Elves list wich was used by LSV and Matt Nass originaly, go here and scroll down to about the middle of the page. I've made a decent comment with some useful info about that list.

[Kyle]

It certainly depends on your meta, and in a miracles infested meta I guess it has its merits. Running a card like zenith though makes 1 of's that much more efficient, I would cut it and try out a dryad arbor in the board. What deck is liege going in against/what for?

Liege is for if this deck has to suddenly turn Aggro and is great against the amount of Hymn to Tourach I'm seeing these days. Pox is really popular in my meta.

[georgjorge]

I've played the deck for some time now, but find myself wishing for a 3cc- or 4cc-creature which impacts the board state to fetch with Zenith when I can't afford the "big" targets, aka I'm not comboing off but have Cradle or some mana elves down and Zenith in hand. I'm leaning towards Wren's Run Packmaster, or are there better targets you can suggest?

[nudon]

I've played the deck for some time now, but find myself wishing for a 3cc- or 4cc-creature which impacts the board state to fetch with Zenith when I can't afford the "big" targets, aka I'm not comboing off but have Cradle or some mana elves down and Zenith in hand. I'm leaning towards Wren's Run Packmaster, or are there better targets you can suggest?

Assuming you have 4-5 mana for gsz, my favorite targets are symbiote and visionary when I already have the other in hand/play since I like drawing cards. If you want to push your board position, I'd recommend Elvish Archdruid as a 1-of. He essentially is a priest and pumps all your elves, which is good against things like engineered plague and darkblast.

[lavafrogg]

I've played the deck for some time now, but find myself wishing for a 3cc- or 4cc-creature which impacts the board state to fetch with Zenith when I can't afford the "big" targets, aka I'm not comboing off but have Cradle or some mana elves down and Zenith in hand. I'm leaning towards Wren's Run Packmaster, or are there better targets you can suggest?

Arch druid is most likely the best bet as he will help the beat down and combo aspects of the game, but he is dead mid combo for most parts.

[Hencules]

I've played the deck for some time now, but find myself wishing for a 3cc- or 4cc-creature which impacts the board state to fetch with Zenith when I can't afford the "big" targets, aka I'm not comboing off but have Cradle or some mana elves down and Zenith in hand. I'm leaning towards Wren's Run Packmaster, or are there better targets you can suggest?

Though it's not that big initially, in the situation you just described I often prefer to look of my singleton maindeck Scavenging ooze. It improves your board position and sometimes allows you to win the game.

[.Ix]

I agree, Archdruid is definitely the best 3-drop we can maindeck. If GSZ for Titania turn 2 is a strong play, then Archdruid from the hand is even better. It's good to be able to transition into a very fast clock by turn 3 with a GSZ.

[kirdie]

Is monogreen elves with just one cradle playable too or is that just asking to lose? How different is the powerlevel between 1 cradle and 4 cradles and between monogreen and green/black? My local meta seems to consist of Storm, RUG Delver, Esper and White/Black Stoneblade, Sneak & Show, UW Miracles and and many decks with creatures/discard/liliana/drs and so on.

[nudon]

Is monogreen elves with just one cradle playable too or is that just asking to lose? How different is the powerlevel between 1 cradle and 4 cradles and between monogreen and green/black? My local meta seems to consist of Storm, RUG Delver, Esper and White/Black Stoneblade, Sneak & Show, UW Miracles and and many decks with creatures/discard/liliana/drs and so on.

2-3 cradles are optimal. 1 cradle isn't drawn consistently enough to make a big difference while 4 cradles often leaves you with dead cards in hand. I would recommend getting the 2nd cradle and 2 crop rotations to go with it (effectively cradles 3/4). Drawing crop rotation off glimpse/visionary and fetching a cradle after having played a land drop is a strong play. Rotating cradle into cradle is an INSANE play. Mono green is fine if you're just playing casually. Having black really helps for bad matchups such as fast combo since it opens up sideboard options, namely discard. Abrupt decay can be good against problematic non-land permanents too. Deathrite shaman really helps the reanimator matchup and opens up additional sb slots.

Against your meta:
Good matchups: you'll generally still win
Storm/sneak & show: cabal therapy/thoughtseize/duress helps a lot
UW miracles: abrupt decay helps kill those counterbalances; krosan grip is a possible alternative for mono-green

[lordofthepit]

Is monogreen elves with just one cradle playable too or is that just asking to lose? How different is the powerlevel between 1 cradle and 4 cradles and between monogreen and green/black? My local meta seems to consist of Storm, RUG Delver, Esper and White/Black Stoneblade, Sneak & Show, UW Miracles and and many decks with creatures/discard/liliana/drs and so on.

Monotremes Elves is fine, but slightly weaker.

That being said, don't play Elves at that store. Storm, Esper Blade, Miracles, and Sneak Attack are all very bad matchups. Plus RUG Delver isn't a cakewalk depending on how much hate they have packed (usually 4 Submergr and some combination of Lavamancer or Rough/Tumble).

[Koplinchen]

You can zenith for Joraga Warcaller, bounce it and then play it for a lot...

[nudon]

You can zenith for Joraga Warcaller, bounce it and then play it for a lot...

The problem with this is you need at least 7 mana (gsz for 1 + 2 multikickers) in order to make warcaller stronger than archdruid (4 mana). With 1 more mana, you can go for regal force instead, which will probably win you the game. It also requires that you have symbiote in play. With symbiote and assuming you can't go for regal force, gsz for 2 to get visionary seems better in order to draw you a bunch of cards.

[georgjorge]

Thanks for the feedback. I've tested Packmaster a bit and it won some grindy matchups, but maybe a lord is better, though I'm still torn between Archdruid and Elvish Champion, as forestwalk is relevant in quite a few matchups, and Tarmogoyf one of the more efficient ways to stop this deck in beatdown mode.

Having said that, Zenith definitely is the hardest card to play correctly in this deck. Whether to play it turn one for Arbor acceleration, a bit later for Symbiote/Visionary card draw or Sentinel/Heritage going off, or save it for later and get Force/Behemoth with it is always a hard decision.

[Atikin]

For those wondering about the second dryad arbor in board, here is an example showing why. Skip to about 18:30.

http://blip.tv/scglive/scgcin-lgc-rn...n-duin-6534847

[trevaftw]

For those wondering about the second dryad arbor in board, here is an example showing why. Skip to about 28:30.

http://blip.tv/scglive/scgcin-lgc-rn...n-duin-6534847

So you're saying the point is to play into a wasteland and lose your land? I get that you're saying he could potentially draw another NO and fetch the 2nd drayd arbor but why not wait one turn for a creature then play natural order? He clearly had enough mana to do both. I personally have never been a fan of Dryad arbor as it slows down the deck and doesn't add anything. The only reason I'm going to start running one is because my meta has a lot of jund and pox so i can fetch it to counteract lily and pox