A Storm in the Woods

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Elves Mono-Green Ramp Toolbox

bradore

Creature (38)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Boreal Druid
• 1x Caustic Caterpillar
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Dwynen's Elite
• 1x Elvish Archdruid
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fierce Empath
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Great Oak Guardian
• 1x Heritage Druid
• 1x Karametra's Acolyte
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Manglehorn
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Quirion Ranger
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Regal Force
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Scryb Ranger
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Somberwald Stag
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Sylvan Safekeeper
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Wirewood Symbiote
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Woodland Bellower

Land (33)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 18x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Pendelhaven
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wirewood Lodge
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Instant (7)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Benefactor's Draught
• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Vitalize

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Natural Order
• 1x Sylvan Scrying

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Garruk Wildspeaker

Commander (1)

Artifact (10)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Paradox Engine
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1x Umbral Mantle
• 1x Winter Orb

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Elvish Guidance
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Wild Growth

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Sideboard

Creature (10)

• 1x Argothian Elder
• 1x Elvish Harbinger
• 1x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Joraga Treespeaker
• 1x Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Sylvan Ranger
• 1x Sylvan Safekeeper

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Abundance
• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Mirri's Guile

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
• 1x Nissa, Vital Force

Artifact (4)

• 1x Doubling Cube
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 2x Umbral Mantle

Instant (2)

• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Worldly Tutor

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Introduction

This was originally my Elf tribal deck led by Ezuri, Renegade Leader. I decided to change it to deal with board-wipes and to deal with a slightly more competitive playgroup online, and so after much trial and error, I settled on Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, and oh boy is he strong.

He has an answer to almost every problem on the field. The deck is extremely resilient to board-wipes and removal. What some Yisan decks lack is speed, they make up in removal and control. I've decided to go for a more speedy approach.

This deck has gone through a lot of changes, and so far the current set-up is very consistent and a ton of fun to play. There are many haste enablers, which allows you to combo off (Without cheesy infinite's) early in the game.

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Playing the Deck

For your opening hand, you want a mana dork like Arbor Elf or a Wild Growth so you can play Yisan by turn 2 at the latest.

Double Versing:

Let's say you have 1 Verse counter on Yisan. You tap him to put a verse counter on him (Now on 2 counters). While holding priority, you respond by bouncing a land with card:Quirrion Ranger, pay 3 and add a 3rd counter on Yisan. Now you can tutor for 2 creatures with CMC 3 instead of a 2 drop and a 3 drop.

Disgusting isn't it? You can also tripple verse or quadruple verse. There's so much potential for creative combos.

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Verse 1:

The ideal verse 1 would be Arbor Elf. He can untap a land that's enchanted with either Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl or Elvish Guidance. It benefits you the most when you have a Winter Orb out.

OR Quirion Ranger. She is an elf, and lets you bounce a land to untap Yisan.

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Verse 2:

Priest of Titania is simply amazing in the deck, since it has so many elves.

Scryb Ranger for untapping Yisan.

Dwynen's Elite is 2 elves in 1. I use her with Heritage Druid for an easy 3 mana.

Sylvan Ranger fetches you a basic land. [Very useful since lands can be a problem]

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Verse 3:

In no particular order:

Azusa, Lost but Seeking helps you play the lands you've bounced with Wirewood Symbiote and generates you tons of mana.

Elvish Archdruid

Elvish Harbinger

Eternal Witness

Fierce Empath

Manglehorn helps disrupt combo's like Isochron Scepter andDramatic Reversal

Marwyn, the Nurturer

Ramunap Excavator helps return Strip Mine and Wooded Foothills

Reclamation Sage

Wood Elves

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Verse 4

Argothian Elder untaps your Gaea's Cradle and Wirewood Lodge generating you infinite green.

Karametra's Acolyte generates you insane amounts of mana.

Oracle of Mul Daya lets you play extra lands. Very useful!

Temur Sabertooth can bounce your commander for protection or a card:Quirrion Ranger and replaying it to use Yisan's ability repeatedly.

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Verse 5

Seedborn Muse nuf said.

Somberwald Stag fight those meanies.

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Verse 6

Bane of Progress

Great Oak Guardian untaps all your creatures! Sweet.

Soul of New Phyrexia great protection. Use the turn after Seedborn Muse to ensure permanent protection throughout the game.

Woodland Bellower can fetch you a Elvish Harbinger who fetches you a Fierce Empath who fetches you a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth Juicy.

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Verse 7

Meteor Golem for removal (I may swap him out for a Hornet Queen

Regal Force draws you tons.

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Verse 8

Craterhoof Behemoth functions as a win-con.

Terastodon more removal! Yay.

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Verse 9

Yeah, you'll get to Verse 9, it ain't a dream, but you can't stop here! You need to push forward.. It's time for the Titans.

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Verse 10!

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is here!

I know, you won't be drawing cards if you use Yisan. He's in here because you can cast him by turn 4 if he's in your hand. And with all our haste enablers, he'll be out swinging before your opponents can say "wtf".

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Verse 11!

If you've made it this far, people are probably shaking their heads at you. I hope you have a Lightning Greaves because here comes Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre !!

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The Combo's

I don't enjoy infinite combo's, but we can loop Yisan all the way to 11 counters if you have cards like Paradox Engine, Benefactor's Draught, Birthing Pod, Concordant Crossroads, Lightning Greaves, Thousand-Year Elixir and a Vitalize

For example, you have a card:Quirrion Ranger out and a Vitalize in hand, you verse 2 for a Priest of Titania, bounce a land and verse 3 for Elvish Archdruid, equipping them with Lightning Greaves as they enter, generate a lot of mana, bounce another land, play Karametra's Acolyte, tapping for insane amounts of mana and playing Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre on turn 4. People don't expect it, and it's just savage.

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Ramp and Filtering

Birthing Pod is just a fantastic card in the deck.

Chord of Calling an easy tutor at instant speed.

Chrome Mox and Lotus Petal (I'm considering removing 1 of them)

Concordant Crossroads this gives all creatures haste, but it's very valuable in the deck.

Dryad Arbor with a Green Sun's Zenith is 1 of many ways to get Yisan out on turn 2.

Garruk Wildspeaker an invaluable part of our engine. Untaps Gaea's Cradle and Deserted Temple while gaining us an advantage while Winter Orb is on the field.

Elvish Guidance, Utopia Sprawl, Wild Growth are fantastic with Arbor Elf.

Exploration I'm a bit skeptical about having this in here. I don't have many lands, but it will help with cards like Wirewood Symbiote

Scavenger Grounds for graveyard hate. Feel free to swap out a card with a Scavenging Ooze.

Song of the Dryads and Beast Within, great sources of removal.

Thousand-Year Elixir fantastic addition to the deck.

Winter Orb my only stax card. It hardly affects us, but hurts everyone else.

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Notable Exclusions

Defense of the Heart can't always bet on your opponents having 3 creatures but tutoring for 2 Titans is always fun.

Hornet Queen combo'd with Regal Force draws you a lot of cards, but card draw isn't an issue in this deck.

Noxious Revival definitely could use a place in the deck.

Umbral Mantle if you like going infinite. I'm not a fan.

Worldly Tutor I feel there are enough tutors in here, but it won't kill to add another.

Phyrexian Revoker is also great, but it's a bit too mean for me.

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More to come later!

Feedback would really be appreciated. Thanks for reading. :)

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 3 Mythic Rares 34 - 9 Rares 20 - 10 Uncommons 15 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.93
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3/3 G, Elf Druid 1/1 G, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Emblem Nissa, Vital Force, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch
Folders	Excellent Primer