Cloudy with a Chance of Elfball (Primer)

Modern filthyc4sual

SCORE: 26 | 69 COMMENTS | 3762 VIEWS | IN 10 FOLDERS


Oloro_Magic says... #1

Even with the reasoning you have expressed for playing 4 Ezuri, Renegade Leader I would cut down on the number to 2-3 copies. Your opponents don't know he is your win-con in as much that they know he is your only wincon, this means you have to broaden your ways of winning as currently you can lose to a Surgical Extraction, Joraga Warcaller and Craterhoof Behemoth are good alternative win-cons in elf ball, other than that the list looks pretty stock, is there a specific area you want feedback on?

August 18, 2017 12:30 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #2

Thanks for the suggestions! I added a Craterhoof, but the reason I don't want to add Warcaller is that it doesn't give trample or any other form of evasion, and I don't want to go below three Ezuri because he dies too often, and his regeneration can be very useful-with Archdruid it regenerates your whole team, and with mana creatures you get tons of free chump blocks. I see a lot of lists playing Chord of Calling, and I've expressed why I prefer Pact, but another thing I see a lot of is Lead the Stampede. I was partially wondering which you thought would be better. Thanks for the suggestions!

August 18, 2017 12:46 a.m.

Omnath9 says... #3

How has Craterhoof Behemoth been working for you? I have found that once I play Craterhoof Behemoth then I usually tapped a good deal of my creatures to play him anyway and I can't use him the to the best that I could, only swinging with 1-2 creatures instead of 5-8.

August 18, 2017 7:15 a.m.

Oloro_Magic says... #4

I personally like the Chord of Calling plan but there is a serious argument for Lead the Stampede as in elfball it is basically another Collected Company seeing how elves are so cheap.

August 18, 2017 7:18 a.m.

Omnath9 says... #5

Is Eidolon of Rhetoric mainly against Storm?

August 18, 2017 7:20 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #6

ModernStormPlayer996 I actually just added Craterhoof yesterday, but it's always worked when I've played Legacy elves so I see no reason why it shouldn't work in here. Eidolon is mainly good against Storm and Living End, but it also stops Snapcaster Mage

August 18, 2017 9:30 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #7

Oloro_Magic Yeah, I guess I see the logic behind that. I like having the tutors because it means I can grab silver bullets out of the board and play maindeck Reclamation Sage to beat cards like Chalice of the Void. Thanks for explaining that though.

August 18, 2017 9:33 a.m.

Opifex says... #8

Heavy mono-colored, what is your plan for discard and hate-bear decks?

August 20, 2017 2:28 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #9

Opifex I beat hatebears by having the mana to search, pay Thalia's taxes, etc. Pretty simple.I beat discard decks with raw threat density. "If I take Heritage Druid it slows down his deck, but he'll get to keep his Archdruid and Ezuri! If I take one of those he gets a fast start! What do I do?"

August 20, 2017 3:12 a.m.

Opifex says... #10

What about for board wipes? Mutilate, Pyroclasm.

August 20, 2017 9:51 a.m.

shaistyone says... #11

I've been having great results in my mono-green deck with Heroic Intervention
Also, Guttural Response has been killing it out of the sideboard against blue decks.

Other than that, I can't think of anything too much better. Triumph of the Hordes as an additional win-con?

August 20, 2017 10:52 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #12

I can survive most wraths with Ezuri. Can't regenerate wraths are almost always too slow.

I don't like intervention or triumph because you can't hit it of CoCo or Pact. Response is worse than Choke against Merfolk.

August 20, 2017 5:24 p.m.

Winmigapor says... #13

With how you are using this it wouldn't be the worst idea to try to fit 2 Elvish Promenade into your deck to have a massive amount of elves to hit with also if you have them out before you use the craterhoof you can overrun even the strongest other aggro decks

August 22, 2017 5:51 p.m.

filthyc4sual says... #14

I don't like Promenade because I can't hit it of CoCo or Pact, and usually I have chump blockers for days anyway.

August 22, 2017 6:37 p.m.

PickleNutz says... #15

There's several concerns I have with this deck. The first, it is really slow for an Elf deck in modern. You have dedicated a good amount of focus on mana dorks (guys who tap to add mana), but don't appear to have a solid win condition. Even Summoner's Pact is a slow card. So, I'll explain why everything is slow. Your mana dorks add mana, but you only have one large creature to really use that mana on. So, you'll likely be able to play a hand full of mana dorks while your opponent is really developing a game winning strategy. Summoner's Pact is pretty slow too because it's costing you four mana the next turn, which either taps out your dorks or taps out your mana. Since you are running 17 mana, you may not even have 4 or 5 mana free until mid game, a bit later than you really want. So, I would suggest changing your focus and creating a very fast paced deck, if you're wanting this to be competitive. Second, running more than 2 Ezuris in the deck is pointless in my opinion, you have plenty of tutors and it's legendary, so you can't play more than one at a time anyways. I would drop one of them.

Summary - drop the mana dorks, you don't really need them with elves. Go up to 19 mana, drop 4 Summoner's Pact for 2 Chord of Calling. Then add in 4 Vines of Vastwood. Add in cards that will help flood your battlefield, like Imperious Perfect, Joraga Warcaller, Metallic Mimic, Fauna Shaman, and Immaculate Magistrate.

August 22, 2017 10:57 p.m.

PickleNutz says... #16

I think one counter Spell at the climax of your current win condition would literally be the end for you, and mana dorks just can't compete with modern deck weapons. So, maybe turn the focus to budding elves and creating as many as you can.

August 22, 2017 10:59 p.m.

filthyc4sual says... #17

Ok, PickleNutz, that just isn't how this deck is supposed to work. From your comment, it feels like your playstyle with Elves is almost more like Merfolk--A lord-based aggro deck. That's completely legitimate, but this deck isn't "Slow" just because it doesn't, say, run more lords. In fact, if you play the deck, you can get pretty fast kills. And although yes, I only have one huge creature in Craterhoof, I can also pretty frequently sink all that mana into Ezuri and swing for a hundred or so, with trample. Elves is literally a deck built around making mana.

Ok, now here's why I don't play those individual cards Show

Sorry if I come off as annoyed, I just don't like it when people tell me that a completely different style of deck is better or suggest that I'm doing something wrong when it's been very successful for me, and it doesn't feel like my deck anymore.

August 22, 2017 11:24 p.m.

filthyc4sual says... #18

Also, if you haven't tried a deck with the Heritage Druid + Nettle Sentinel combo, I would highly recommend trying it to see how it works, because it feels like you don't understand or respect the combo aspect of elves.

August 22, 2017 11:30 p.m.

PickleNutz says... #19

Just trying to help, I just don't think 16 mana dorks, 14 being solely mana dorks, 4 being lords, is a game winning strategy. Especially since Ezuri can't regenerate himself and is subject to removal by almost any commonly used spell in modern. Spellskite might help out, but I haven't really played a deck like this. I've played the nettle and heritage combos, and yeah they're super overpowered, but also are subject to disruption. I really like the uniqueness this deck has, so I will admit it is nice to see something off the beaten path. You'll just have to explain how you're managing turn 4 wins with these cards, maybe create a more in-depth primer. After that I may be able to reevaluate and better understand what your combos are. Enjoy yourself.

August 23, 2017 12:09 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #20

I'm sorry, I know you were trying to help. I felt like you didn't think my deck was good, which obviously is not the best feeling in the world. I play that many dorks because they help me get a good board presence early on in the game. If you haven't heard about this, I would recommend reading this: . Elves' competitive advantage is their dorks, and being able to explode onto the board early on.

An Example of a Turn 4 Win Show

August 23, 2017 12:26 a.m.

PickleNutz says... #21

Holy cow, but you're really hoping that ideally you start your game with 3 lands in a hand of seven and draw one before turn 4 then. You haven't had issues with just 17 lands doing that? Everything else is really subject to the same "What If" possibilities that any deck runs into to, I would just consider something that protect your Ezuri. Especially since he is the centerpiece to the entire win condition. Vines is still my suggestion, you should really try it out.

August 23, 2017 12:36 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #22

That's an example that I took from a game. Also, even if I had missed a forest there I would've still dealt more than enough.

If you're having doubts, I can't recommend enough just playtesting it. It doesn't take long, it's free, and it answers your questions.

August 23, 2017 12:44 a.m.

PickleNutz says... #23

I have the cards to put this together in paper, and I might just take you up on that offer. I'll sit down tomorrow and put it together, I might be missing the Summoner's Pacts, but I'll make do with Chord until I know for sure. You might just change my mind about Elves.

August 23, 2017 12:47 a.m.

filthyc4sual says... #24

Hope you like it! :)

August 23, 2017 12:51 a.m.

Sargeras says... #25

In response to your question, yes I can take a look.

I always like when people play decks that aren't necessarily tier 1, and actually go for some variance, so +1 from me.

Having played with and against Elves in modern, I can say this is close to what you want to be playing here, I do have some suggestions however.

  1. This is more meta dependent, but if you are going to be playing against decks like combo or control, which are this deck's main enemies, you'll want to be playing an Overgrown Tomb or two combined with some Thoughtseizes in the sideboard. I know you've said that most regenerate wraths are too slow. But I've played against Elfball with UW Control, and I know Wrath of God beats this deck unless you have some sort of interaction beforehand. In addition, Anger of the Gods has also been very effective against this type of deck.

  2. How has Pact worked for you? In my experience Chord of Calling was more effective, as getting something like Ezuri or Archdruid at the end of my opponent's turn was usually enough to win on the next in grindier matchups.

  3. The other main reason I'd suggest adding black to the manbase is to play Shaman of the Pack, as this card used to win me games all the time when I played Elfball, as you don't always need a lord to finish the game, and it makes Chord of Calling ridiculous if it resolves most of the time.

  4. As for the rest of the board, I've seen Lead the Stampede be decently effective, although most of the time, its just another Collected Company which has its own pros & cons, (Which do actually become relevant in some games) I've played Sylvan Messenger, which is usually pretty good for what it does as a one-of. Besides that, sometimes Krosan Grip can be needed, but thats more meta dependent.

Hope this helps,

Cheers!

August 23, 2017 4:52 p.m.

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