[Primer] Elves!

[Echelon]

We do have Deathrite Shaman maindecked still. We also have Ooze in the side.

Manaless is a fine MU for Elves!. Also, it doesn't need to cast any spells to win so Ruric Thar is pretty useless there. Your best bet would be to either outrace them or set up DRs and/or Ooze and just take control of their yard. It's pretty easy to dismantle that deck.

[Brentane]

This is my current build. I am struggling on figuring if I should stay with 19 lands or if it is too greedy and I should go back to 20 lands. I am also thinking of adding Ruric Thar, The Unbowed into the maindeck, although I don't know if I want to cut a Craterhoof or Natural Order. Any tips?

Creature (31)
2x Birchlore Rangers
2x Craterhoof Behemoth
4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Elvish Visionary
4x Heritage Druid
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Quirion Ranger
1x Reclamation Sage
4x Wirewood Symbiote

Land (19)
2x Bayou
2x Dryad Arbor
2x Forest
1x Taiga
4x Gaea's Cradle
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills

Sorcery (12)
4x Glimpse of Nature
4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Natural Order

Sideboard
3x Abrupt Decay
4x Cabal Therapy
1x Wren's Run Packmaster
1x Null Rod
1x Progenitus
1x Ruric Thar
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Surgical Extraction
2x Thoughtseize

[Lemnear]

This is my current build. I am struggling on figuring if I should stay with 19 lands or if it is too greedy and I should go back to 20 lands. I am also thinking of adding Ruric Thar, The Unbowed into the maindeck, although I don't know if I want to cut a Craterhoof or Natural Order. Any tips?

Creature (31)
2x Birchlore Rangers
2x Craterhoof Behemoth
4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Elvish Visionary
4x Heritage Druid
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Quirion Ranger
1x Reclamation Sage
4x Wirewood Symbiote

Land (19)
2x Bayou
2x Dryad Arbor
2x Forest
1x Taiga
4x Gaea's Cradle
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills

Sorcery (12)
4x Glimpse of Nature
4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Natural Order

Sideboard
3x Abrupt Decay
4x Cabal Therapy
1x Wren's Run Packmaster
1x Null Rod
1x Progenitus
1x Ruric Thar
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Surgical Extraction
2x Thoughtseize

cut a Heritage Druid if you need space. Pretty simple

[Echelon]

This is my current build. I am struggling on figuring if I should stay with 19 lands or if it is too greedy and I should go back to 20 lands. I am also thinking of adding Ruric Thar, The Unbowed into the maindeck, although I don't know if I want to cut a Craterhoof or Natural Order. Any tips?

You look at your lands the wrong way. As far as you're concerned, Dryad Arbors are creatures and Gaea's Cradles are spells.

Of the lands you are running, only 13 can give you mana on your first turn. That means that in 16,3%, or 1 in roughly 6, of your hands there will no land capable of making mana and so you'll have to take a mulligan. Most builds run 14 non-Arbor, non-Cradle land, bringing the percentage down to 14% or roughly 1 in 7 hands. In the past I've gone as low as 12 land, but I honestly think 14 is the sweet spot.

[Brentane]

cut a Heritage Druid if you need space. Pretty simple

Heritage Druid is a key Druid for Elves though aren't they? They help you go infinite mana / draw.

[Echelon]

Heritage Druid is a key Druid for Elves though aren't they? They help you go infinite mana / draw.

With the current build you never go infinite, just incredibly-large-but-surely-finite-amounts. Also, having 1 copy of the Druid on the battlefield is enough. Having extra copies on the field doesn't do a thing. Nettle Sentinel is what you want multiples of when going off.

[Brentane]

With the current build it's never infinite. Also, having 1 copy of the Druid on the battlefield is enough. Having extra copies on the field doesn't do a thing. Nettle Sentinel is what you want multiples of when going off.

Hmm. That makes sense. Thank you for that. Also, is 19 lands to greedy? I haven't been having problems yet but I am curious.

[Echelon]

Hmm. That makes sense. Thank you for that. Also, is 13 lands to greedy? I haven't been having problems yet but I am curious.

Fixed that for you. And I honestly do think it is.

[Zombie]

Heritage Druid is a key Druid for Elves though aren't they? They help you go infinite mana / draw.

Nah, it's the worst card in the deck, easy. You play 4 if you want to emphasize the combo deck angle in some metagames, but if it's a more midrange friendly meta they're pretty bad. Too much removal flying around to play a card that does flat nothing by itself.

[Lemnear]

Trust the Terrorist of Titania, the Zombie and Poppa Bear Pete on the 3-off Heritage and 14 initial mana lands, pal ;D

[Echelon]

Trust the Terrorist of Titania pal ;D

OMG lol :D I changed it back like 2 months ago, hahaha

[Lemnear]

OMG lol :D I changed it back like 2 months ago, hahaha

Don't deny your true self

[Absolutflipz]

Dragonlord Atarka seems like a potentially sweet NO target out of the board to clean up Pyromancer/tokens, Delvers, etc.

[Brentane]

Dragonlord Atarka seems like a potentially sweet NO target out of the board to clean up Pyromancer/tokens, Delvers, etc.

I love this suggestion. Although, I can only see this being good when you have not enough creatures for a leathal hoof. Is that enough though?

[Dice_Box]

Winning outright seems like a better choice over a 7 drop Lava Axe.

[Lord_of_Rivendell]

Well, I suppose it's not surprising to find ourselves back off the DTB list. It's been a rough season. But I'm not giving up hope for WotC to give us a few tools to make the deck a touch more resilient to some of the dominant strategies.

My games against OmniTell haven't been so bad, I'm had more difficulty with U/R Delver and Miracles (and, of course, I still a punching bag for R/G Lands).

[Dice_Box]

I still a punching bag for R/G Lands

Even when I put Elves down, I still love them... Maybe it's the sadist in me...

Given the fluctuations in the meta right now, I am sure you will bounce in and out for a bit but when the dust settles, Elves will end up where it belongs. The deck is just too strong and resilient. If it was not so much more complex than it first appears, I doubt it would ever leave the DTB section.

[Echelon]

Dragonlord Atarka seems like a potentially sweet NO target out of the board to clean up Pyromancer/tokens, Delvers, etc.

@Lemnear: It's monday morning. I say it's time for one of your wonderful raps!

[Brentane]

Moved out of Decks to Beat again? Sigh. Still one of the best decks, considered in the top 8 decks in the whole format. Can't remember where it is placed though in that 8. Think it was 5.

[Lemnear]

@Lemnear: It's monday morning. I say it's time for one of your wonderful raps!

Guess with all the "We run NO/GSZ so every green fatty ever printed has to be considered!" would make a pretty long one. I have a few new rhymes in the drawer just looking for an excuse (reads: topic) to stick 'em together. ;)