My working list for Elsha, not sure tuned at the moment but working to add additional power as we go along. Suggestions are super helpful but also realize I am working with Shaper Savanats Elsha list in mind specifically after seeing it perform well on "Playing with Power", a competitive commander youtube channel, so some card decisions are not my own.
Main Combo
This is a variation of the classic Elsha Top list that relies on the combo interaction between the commander, Sensei's Divining Top, and a single cost reduction card, the best of which being Helm of Awakening.
When assembled, this combo allways you to deck yourself with plenty of storm where the next move is to assemble the Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter to make infinite mana and kill using a massive walking ballista. This is the style win I would say. While it is very clear that this takes a ton of cards to pull off and if any one gets removed things get dicey we have other plans as well, namely Thassa's Oracle to just win the game. It is important to note at this time that this combo is much faster and requires only one card to win which would seem to make it better. However, it is important to consider how absolutely sick it is to deal one million damage with a walking ballista and if you have the option I would go with that one.
Jokes aside, it actually is more important to try to set up Dramatic Scepter if you can because if they try to counter Walking Ballista After you've set up the infinite mana combo and for some reason you cannot counter it than you have the out of going for Thassa's Oracle. Once you have decided to go for Thassa's Oracle there is almost no going back to the Walking Ballista combo due to the mana constraints thus, going for the infinite mana is almost always the better option to draw counters/removal.
Just Going Crazy
While this deck has tons of tutors and other tech to assemble the main combo of Helm/Top there will be times when something goes wrong and breaks your top. While we have planned for that to a degree with the Underworld Breach exile is also a thing that exists which is usually not worth the trouble to try to fix. Fortuneatly Elsha is also just a sick card that can sometimes let you just work through your library. Elsha with the held of cards such as Riddlesmith, Jeskai Ascendency, Krark-Clan Ironworks, and cost reduction usually means you might just be able to get a massive storm count as you run through your deck. This combo is further supported through Underworld Breach that helps out a ton with making sure you dont just brick similar to how Codex Shredder, Ghoulcaller's Bell, and Pyxis of Pandemonium mill unhelpful cards.
This all leads to the finish of Grapeshot and prayer to hopefully kill your opponent. Of course, we still run the Dramatic Scepter combo so its always possible you just get inifinite mana and shoot them with Walking Ballista. Most of these alternate routes exist soley becuase of the hatred that Sensei's Divining Top brings as this deck is played over times.
Building on a Budget
This deck has some expensive stuff but fortunately it can be done for very little cash. The main combo is something I would reccomend looking into the most. The Cost reduction cards are pretty cheap and theres even some more cheap options around that do the job in a slower meta. That being said, you have to buy Sensei's Divining Top. Its pretty expensive but since it was printed in such an old set its really easy to find a damaged version of it for around 20 bucks. While that does sounds as if its a lot, its worth it and it makes the deck much stronger.
Another way to run this deck is the heavier storm version. This version would also use Empty the Warrens as the kill condition and just as many cheap artifacts as you can that make mana and draw cards. Paired with the top combo means that sometimes you just Empty to kill but also sometimes you just stumble your way into killing with top. Also another nice part of this deck is that the tutors that help run the deck are pretty cheap and you can get a few of them without going over 20 bucks.
New Testing
A few days ago, as of writing this, some guys in the Elsha discord started talking about the idea of a combo involving Ghostly Flicker.
Ghostly Flicker + Elsha of the Infinite + mana rock that makes 3 mana + Mystic Sanctuary
All of these together makes infinite mana and infinite storm.
First, cast ghostly flicker using the mana from the rock and Mystic Sanctuary. Then, using Ghostly Flicker, target Sanctuary and the rock. They come back in uptapped, you use the ability of Mystic Sanctuary to put it back on top of your library, rise and repeat generating one mana each time. It is also notable that this can be done with a rock that only taps for two such as Mana Crypt or Ancient Tomb to generate storm. I wouldnt reccomend using Ancient Tomb for more than a few iterations however due to loss of life.
While this combo looks very threatening as it does require four cards its important to consider how little it actually takes. For one, it uses the commander, easy. Second, it uses big mana rocks that we already run such as Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith which we want anyways and are always willing to tutor for; espeically considering the existance of this combo. Third, very important about Mystic Sanctuary and one of the main reasons that its powerful is because of its ability to be fetched by one of the many fetches we get to run that searches for blue. Lastly, Ghostly Flicker can also be tutored by Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, and our last consideration, Intuition.
Intuition is another way to assemble the combo in a solid block. Using intution you have two basic options.
One, you put grab two fetch lands with it, and Ghostly Flicker. This usually lets you have access to Mystical Sanctuary as they would usually give you a fetch, thus, allowing you to go off. One drawback, they could just give you Ghostly Flicker thus setting you back without the addition of sanctuary.
Thankfully, we have the second option. Get Ghostly Flicker, a fetch, and also Sevinne's Reclamation.
This puts you in the spot of ALWAYS getting to every assemble the combo and is a combo that can go in pretty much any budget build thanks to the existance of things such as Gilded Lotus Basalt Monolith that cost very little dollars. Lets consider the iterations.
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Fetch
Lovely, they just gave you the best card. proceed to fetch for Mystic Sanctuary and go off.
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Sevinne's Reclamation
Okay not sure excited this time, but thankfully we can case Sevinne's Reclamation to get back the fetch, crack it for Sanctuary, and go off without too much of a delay.
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Ghostly Flicker
THis is where you're going to wish you just got three tutors to the graveyard becuase this is going to take forver. First, you have to flashback Sevinne's Reclamation to get the fetch, then crack it, then cast Ghostly Flicker for the win.
