[Deck] Elves Combo

[Anfylion]

Today was my best fucking elf day, i won a Karakas Dci, in 4 Rounds Tournament... with a budget list, that cost less than the prize!!

The Monogreen Economic Gaialess Elves List was:

Criaturas:
1 Emrakul, Aeon Thorns
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Regal Force
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Imperious Perfect
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
3 Elvish Archdruid
4 Priest of Titania
4 Elvish Visionary
2 Llanowar Elves
3 Fyndhorn Elves
3 Quirion Ranger
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Wirewood Symbiote

Conjuros:
2 Glimpse of nature
4 Green Sun Zenith

Tierras:
1 Pendelhaven
1 Dryad Arbor
13 Forest

Sideboard:
1 Krosan Grip
1 Naturalizar
2 Mortarpod
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Fauna Shaman
3 Vengevine
2 Choke
2 Thorn of Amethyst

The matchs:
U/w Miracles: 2-0
Burn: 2-1
Esperblade: 2-0
B/w Deadguy: 2-0

I think the main factor of victory, is that many don't know how to play against a midrange/combo deck like this, whatever the list.
And Symbiote combat and cantrip tricks, Safekeeper/Ezuri protect, take them by surprise.

The MvP was:
Wirewood Symbiote: cantrips, tricks vs batterskull and jitte, protect vs mass removal, this card is simply awesome
Maindeck Emrakul: I cast him in 5 games
Priest/Archdruid: currently unused, but still have to kill them before they lose summoning sickness

[Kayradis]

Are they used to play against Combo elves? Jitte first target for -1/-1 counter should always be symbiote.

Joraga Warcaller? EFFIN SWEET! I love that card! I used to run 4 in my G/b Elves in Zendikar/Scars T2. That card in the late game can simply turn everything around!

I still have the feeling your list want to be more like NO Elves with the amount of lords youre running!

Congrats on the finish tho! Now jam that Karakas in your SB!

[.Ix]

Are they used to play against Combo elves? Jitte first target for -1/-1 counter should always be symbiote.

I'm pretty sure he was talking about preventing counters from ever getting on the jitte in the first place.

Congrats, Anfyllon! That sideboard is interesting. How did the Fauna-Vengevine plan work out for you? What matchups were they for?

[Tangente]

How do you keep track of which creatures have summoning sickness or have their "only once per turn" used already? I find that hard when I have 10+ creatures and play a Craterhoof Behemoth and some creatures have been returned to my hand and played back out.

Marius Morger, who has perfect 1st day at GP Strasbourg, presents nice technique of keeping track. See feature match at 22:00.

[Anfylion]

Congrats on the finish tho! Now jam that Karakas in your SB!

it's already there !!

I'm pretty sure he was talking about preventing counters from ever getting on the jitte in the first place.

This

Congrats, Anfyllon! That sideboard is interesting. How did the Fauna-Vengevine plan work out for you? What matchups were they for?

Vengevines were thought to play against decks like pox, eva green, and other monoblack variants with heavy discard and removal, so frequent at this local. Luckily not faced any such deck, (except B / w in the finals) ... so i don't use the Vines. (I think I have taken Mindbreak Traps in that slot, if I had any)

Instead, i used Fauna Shaman a lot in the games against control, to search for Emrakul, (among other things)


(sry, for the Spanglish)

[.Ix]

Thanks for the response. I've wanted to try Safekeepers in the main/side for a long time but always forget. Was Safekeeper any good?

[Tangente]

I thought about Sylvan Safekeeper too. Beside he protects our creatures he is able to preform some micro-tricks. For example feed a land for Deathrite Shaman or play second Cradle after sacrificing the first one. Too bad he is not an elf.

But I seriously consider adding the new guy Ruric Thar into the sideboard. He is not only lock against storm combo decks but he is both aggresive and defensive creature. Against RUG Delver can block and kill everything an opponent plays and stop him from playing cantrips, bolts etc. He is also great supplement for Empyrial Archangel against Burn. His ability makes him somewhat Terminus-proof, if opponent must play e.g. Brainstorm followed by Terminus. If we are about to cast NO when having one or two creatures on battlefield and not having Progenitus in deck, Ruric is probably the right choice.

[Sylphnir]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and "serious" deckbuilding in general, we don't have tournaments in our area so I mostly play with friends.
Whatever!

I never checked pro results and stuff, normally I tweak my deck browsing the gatherer for some hours.
So sorry when some of my cardchoices are stupid. (omg not another casual list!)
This is my current elfball and I was curious how to improve it further.

// creatures (29)
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Fyndhorn Elves
2x Arbor Elf
4x Wirewood Symbiote
4x Heritage Druid
3x Nettle Sentinel
1x Fauna Shaman
3x Elvish Visionary
4x Priest of Titania
1x Viridian Corrupter
1x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
// other (16)
4x Glimpse of Nature
4x Living Wish
4x Staff of Domination
4x Green Sun's Zenit
// lands (15)
10x Forest
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Dryad Arbor

// wish-/sideboard (15)
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Karakas
1x Taunting Elf
1x Gaea's Herald
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1x Tajuru Preserver
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
1x Viridian Corrupter
1x Eternal Witness
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Arashi, the Sky Asunder
1x Terastodon
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Nobody else seems to run a wishboard so I guess it's generally inferior? What else are bad/suboptimal cardchoices?

[Kayradis]

IMHO, I think you could cut the 2 x Arbor Elves for 2 x Quirion Ranger.
The car is amazing and let you use your fetch into a wannabe-maze of ith with Dryad Arbor.

I would cut the 4 x staff of domination and add 1 x Regal Force,1 x Nettle Sentinel(the card is part of the main mana engine after all!) and 2 other picks of your choice.

I like the idea of a wishboard, but you end up always drawing your entire deck, so I dont see the use for it. Nice idea tho!

[imnotbrown]

I would cut the 4 x staff of domination and add 1 x Regal Force,1 x Nettle Sentinel(the card is part of the main mana engine after all!) and 2 other picks of your choice.

I agree, but I would leave in one staff of domination, mainly because he has those two open picks.

Personally, I wouldn't run cavern of souls. You already run few lands, and if you are less likely to draw forests that you need to cast glimpse, you are more likely to tap your elves for it, making it harder to combo off earlier.
Additionally, I would more than definitely mainboard the Cradle, as well as any more if you have them. The advantage of being able to draw it early on is far better than the tempo loss from wishing for it instead.
I would take out at least 2 Priest of Titania, possibly replacing one of the last two with the archdruid in the board. I'd then put the witness and a fourth visionary in place of the Priests.
Finally, the wishboard: While it's definitely a different choice on how to board, it's not a bad choice. I like some of the ideas, such as the metamorph, and it's fun to see your opponent's face when Emrakul says "Surprise, Motherfucker!" But you definitely do not want to dedicate all fifteen cards to it.
I would keep:
Melira
Karakas
Emrakul
Metamorph
and maybe Scavenging Ooze

Then add
Elf lords
Mindbreak Trap
Grave Hate, other than ooze
Maybe a couple Jittes,
Krosan Grip and maybe vexing shusher

[Sylphnir]

Thanks for the replies!
It's weird I never considered Quirion Ranger even though I own the entire Visions set. I'll certainly try him out.
I guess it's really better to cut 2 or 3 of my beloved staffs (it's really annoying to draw more than one anyways) and decrease the wishboard a bit for a more classic sideboard. I don't even know when I used my Tdon the last time for example. ^^"
I'll keep some cards like the Tajuru Preserver though, because I relatively often run into stuff like gate and smokestacks here.

The reason why I never used the Cradle (own 3) main is in fact because this deck runs such a small land count.
I'd hate to be forced to mulligan just because the only land I have for the first turn is my overpriced piece of pomposity.

Should I run Fetchlands to make more use of the arbor? I mostly used it as cc1 zenit option tbh but with the Ranger... let's see.
If yes how many are recommendable?

[imnotbrown]

Fetchlands are optional, but if you do run them, maybe try to find room for Deathrite Shaman. He's been a popular choice lately, and provides some nice utility.
As for the Gaea's Cradle, Infinite yes. If you can, maybe even take out a couple wishes for crop rotation. The cradles are invaluable, and a cradle tapped for a few green rotated into another cradle is a great play. if you have three, you should run them for sure.

[Blastoderm]

Hello everyone, just wanted to ask....what matchups do you side in cabal therapy and what do you side out for it? What cards do you hope to take out with it?
Is it strictly for faster combo decks like show and tell and ANT/TES?

[Tangente]

Hello everyone, just wanted to ask....what matchups do you side in cabal therapy and what do you side out for it? What cards do you hope to take out with it?
Is it strictly for faster combo decks like show and tell and ANT/TES?

Yes. And it comes handy in mirror too, if your are not starting. Against ANT I mostly name LED or Infernal Tutor, and against SnT probably Lotus Petal or Show and Tell. Against combo you can side out Elvish Visionary, maybe even some Symbiote. Then Regal Force, Viridian Shaman/Scavenging Ooze if you are running them in MD, maybe Priest of Titania.

[Blastoderm]

Yes. And it comes handy in mirror too, if your are not starting. Against ANT I mostly name LED or Infernal Tutor, and against SnT probably Lotus Petal or Show and Tell. Against combo you can side out Elvish Visionary, maybe even some Symbiote. Then Regal Force, Viridian Shaman/Scavenging Ooze if you are running them in MD, maybe Priest of Titania.

I don't like priest. I run another llanowar elves just so i can be a bit more consistent with a turn 1 mana dork.

[Tangente]

I don't like priest. I run another llanowar elves just so i can be a bit more consistent with a turn 1 mana dork.

I used to dislike him too. But after some win games where Priest was a key card I have changed my mind.

[Lemnear]

I used to dislike him too. But after some win games where Priest was a key card I have changed my mind.

Isn't Crop Rotation + Gaea's Cradle straight better than Priest here?

[Sylphnir]

But you'd need something like arbor elf to abuse green untap abilities! And cradle doesn't increase your "elfcount" either! D:
All depending on your deck I'd say.

[Zombie]

Isn't Crop Rotation + Gaea's Cradle not straight better than Priest here?

It is. Need to play Elves or something next week, need to test a more hatebearish style.

[igri_is_a_bk]

It is. Need to play Elves or something next week, need to test a more hatebearish style.

I have been playing the usual Teeg, Pridemage, and Ooze in the sb and they're all great, but I also have a single Thorn of Amethyst which I'm going to switch out for a Thalia. Beyond that, I can't think of any hate bears I'd want to add.

I really don't like Sylvan Safekeeper. If you're using GSZ to find Safekeeper to protect your Symbiote, which is the only situation it's better than just finding Symbiote itself, then you're really off track. Sometimes, Symbiote's purpose is to be a removal-magnet. You only need a very narrow window to win and Symbiote taking the fall helps you get there a lot of games. I also think sacing lands isn't very appealing if you are trying to get to four mana against any attrition-based deck.

Priest in that slot has the same "kill me now" imperative as Symbiote, as I guess Safekeeper does too, but Priest actually advances your game plan where Safekeeper does not at all.