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You can see a full Primer for this deck and the "All Elves" version of Modern Combo Elves at:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/610634-combo-elves
As many may know, I have played Combo Elves and Devotion in Modern for a couple years now. I have made many different versions of Elf decks, however I have never been so excited about the competitiveness of Combo Elves until now. The reason:
Shaman of the Pack provided Combo Elf Players with the means to going "all in" on the combo nature of the deck. The deck can now continue to draw cards, play cards, draw cards, and overwhelm the board with elves until the opponent a single win-condition ends the game.
The deck really follows the classic "Extended Elves" combos for infinite mana and infinite card draw; along with some new infinite combos created by new "Origins Elves".
While the deck can "go infinite" on turn three a few ways; most games will be won on turn 4-5. One of the strengths of Combo Elves, however, is its ability to also play a long, grindy game via its huge amounts of card advantage developed mainly by Cloudstone Curio and Genesis Wave
Deck Strategy
The deck strategy is actually pretty simple...you just want to overwhelm the opponent with an army of elves until you hit one of the many win-cons (of course the main one being the infinite combos). The deck ramps so fast and draws so many cards that the opponent can't answer everything thrown at them. You can create infinite mana, infinite draws, and infinite tokens. From here you can hit the opponent for infinite life loss (with Shaman of the Pack, make infinite elves, make an infinitely large Hydra, or infinitely large hasty Beastcaller Savant!
One of the more "unorthodox" ways this deck wins is through abusing ETB triggers. It's something growing in popularity in the Green Devotion "community" (mainly with the printing of Temur Sabertooth)....Cloudstone Curio and Temur Sabertooth both allow you to "bounce" and re-cast (aka "loop") creatures. When ETB triggers begin allowing you to draw cards, deal damage (or life loss in the case of Shaman of the Pack, and recur cards...it can very quickly become a HUGE source of advantage. This is a very important portion of this deck.
The deck's power relies in its synergy. When every card has multiple uses and each card makes the others stronger; a deck can take on the "good stuff" decks of Modern.
*It was extremely important to me, however, that the deck be able to win whether you hit the infinite combo or not...I'm actually a fan of "glass cannon" decks; but I wanted this deck to be more than just another combo elf deck...It needed to be able to win with or without the combo and it had to win through heavy disruption and hate...fortunately, the "devotion" mechanic, Genesis Wave, Genesis Hydra both greatly reduce this; and it can win simply just attacking with Elves!
The Classic Elf Combo
This "Elf Combo" has been around for quite some time. Made famous by LSV in Pro Tour Berlin and in many GP's by Matt Nass; Cloudstone Curio, Heritage Druid, and Nettle Sentinel have been a package for elves for many years now.
For anyone that doesn't know how the classic "Extended" Elf Combo works; it requires a total of four cards (the three above and one additional Elf. Here's a simplified explanation of how it works.
With Cloudstone Curio, Heritage Druid, and Nettle Sentinel on the battlefield, if you cast any other elf you can:
- Tap all three elves at instant speed (via Heritage Druid's activated ability) for 3 green mana (3G)
- Because you played a "creature" you can return a "creature" to your hand (via Cloudstone Curio's trigger. This can be done after tapping the elves for mana.
- Returning the Heritage Druid to your hand, you then re-cast it for 1 green mana. This leaves you with a net of 2G.
- Because you cast a "green spell" Nettle Sentinel's ability triggers and he untaps.
- You've played another "creature" and therefore Cloudstone Curio triggers again. This time you return the remaining tapped elf to your hand.
- You now play that elf again for 1 green mana; leaving you with a single green mana remaining...but all three elves are untapped. This means you can tap them again and continue the process (netting you 1-mana each time).
If, however, that additional Elf is an Elvish Visionary, you will not net mana each "loop" of the combo (as Visionary costs 2-mana so you break even); but you will be able to draw out your entire deck! This allows you to find an additional 1-drop elf with which to develop infinite mana.
Matt Nass's used the Eternal Witness + Primal Command package...LSV used Grapeshot ...Gavin Verhey has used both 2x Primal Command (as they shuffle themselves back in]] or Craterhoof Behemoth...so there are many routes to go. This deck now continues to bounce Shaman of the Pack for near infinite life loss or Kessig Wolf Run to pump one or all of your elves to infinitely large tramplers!
The remainder of the deck, thus, is built around allowing you to "go off" as quickly as possible while allowing you play through a reasonable amount of disruption.
The NEW Elf Combo(s)
One new card provided another "Infinite Combo" for elves:
Dwynen's Elite provided even more gas for Elves to combo with. With just Heritage Druid and Dwynen's Elite along with Cloudstone Curio you can generate infinite elf tokens by the following (assuming Cloudstone Curio is on board):
- Play a Heritage Druid
- Play Dwynen's Elite
- Tap all three Elves for 3-mana with the Cloudstone trigger on the stack.
- Recur and replay Heritage Druid (still floating 2-mana)
- Recur and replay Dwynen's Elite (creating another token).
- Tap these three elves and repeat.
At this point, you can play a Shaman of the Pack for Infinite life loss! Never before have two cards been printed that so positively effected a specific existing deck!
WOTC pushed the deck even further, with the printing of this gem:
Beastcaller Savant means that now you not only have infinite , but you also have infinite as well!!!
The card seems custom built for the deck. He couldn't work without haste, he couldn't work if he only tapped for Green mana...he is literally PERFECT for the deck...with infinite green mana, you can keep bouncing him, tapping him for Black Mana and add as much black as you want to your pool....this allows you to then bounce Shaman of the Pack over and over for infinite life loss.
In all honesty, you have infinite of any color for creature spells; so the opportunities are endless; but in this deck in particular, it allowed the deck to "go infinite" from all new lines (as you no longer needed infinite elves to go off as you can bounce Shaman of the Pack as much as you want!!! It was such a big add that got little to no fan fair. It has changed the deck in a very powerful way.
The Importance of Devotion, Genesis Hydra, And Genesis Wave
An important factor of this deck beyond the infinite combo's generated by the elves is the use of green Devotion to:
(a) make the deck far less weak to board wipes(b) speed the deck's first turns up(c) provide a secondary win-condition(d) provide an additional "card drawing loops"
First and foremost, the deck becomes FAR less weak to board wipes than traditional elf decks. Because you can dig to a draw elf, get an auto-2-for-1 with Genesis Hydra , or most importantly just cast a Genesis Wave the turn after a board wipe...this creates a layer of protection the deck HAS to have.
This package actually speeds the deck up. Elves fill up the board with Green Mana Symbols just by their very nature. Nykthos turns into a quasi-Gaea's Cradle VERY quickly.
You get to the combo more quickly. Hydra allows you to either dig to the card you need to hit the combo (including Curio!) or allows you to dig your win con! It also can just let you get to a Sylvan Messenger for more elves! Even more so, a Genesis Wave will often hit the combo outright if you cast it for more than X=4! It is the most powerful card in the deck.
Genesis Hydra gives the deck something other Elf decks didn't have in the past...a Big Body to stall the board. When the opponent has an early Goyf or Tasigur, nothing is better than a 5/5, 6/6, or 7/7 Hydra keeping them from attacking.
With Cloudstone Curio you can actually continue to bounce Genesis Hydra over and over again to dig for more important peices. One thing Elf decks have are creatures and mana...being able to utilize those to hit your combo is HUGE.
Simply put, the deck is faster, more resilient, and more consistent because of the devotion package. Elves are amazing; but there is no point in playing "lesser" elves when there are cheap, efficient, and powerful cards that are better.
Genesis Hydra is the best Tutor the deck can have!
Summary
Being able to "loop" creatures with Cloudstone Curio and Temur Sabertooth to draw multiple cards every turn, being able to ramp faster than nearly any deck in the format thanks to Devotion, and being able to develop multiple infinite combos via elves....and now with the ability to do all of this with both a new infinite combo AND a perfect win-condition card...Combo Elves in Modern is better than it ever has been post-Glimpse!
I will try to post a video if possible (or at minimum a link) to show the power of the loops and speed of the deck. i will also post some "gold-fishing" examples. As always, if you have any questions; please feel free to ask!
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Revision 12 See all
(8 years ago)
| -4 | Abundant Growth | main |
| -4 | Arbor Elf | main |
| +2 | Beastcaller Savant | main |
| -1 | Bonfire of the Damned | side |
| +3 | Cavern of Souls | main |
| +2 | Elvish Mystic | main |
| +1 | Evolutionary Leap | side |
| +2 | Genesis Hydra | main |
| -1 | Genesis Wave | main |
| +2 | Gilt-Leaf Palace | main |
| -2 | Kessig Wolf Run | main |
| +3 | Llanowar Elves | main |
| -1 | Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx | main |
| -1 | Overgrown Tomb | main |
| -1 | Stomping Ground | main |
| -2 | Summoner's Pact | main |
| +3 | Sylvan Messenger | main |
| -1 | Thoughtseize | side |
| -3 | Utopia Sprawl | main |
| +2 | Verdant Catacombs | main |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 8 years |
| Last updated | 8 years |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 3 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 14 Rares 10 - 1 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.12 |
| Tokens | Elf Warrior 1/1 G |
| Folders | 5. Inspirations, best, Decks I like, Favorites, Cool Decks, cool decks, Cool, Other user's decks, Modern Decks, a |
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