Elves have always had a special place in my heart if I'm being completely honest. In almost every media and lore I find them in they always tend to appeal to me and magic is no exception to this rule.
My personal love of elves aside I do feel in magic that it is almost over done and people will try to make an elf deck more complex than it has to be which I feel is counter intuitive not just to elves but to green in general as green is a color that prides itself on being simple to understand but powerful when applied correctly. That out of the way let's get into the meat of this deck.
The theme is obviously elves and our win condition is to deal enough damage (or poison counters) to an opponent to win. This is not always a reliable way to win mind you but it is the most likely way to achieve a win when doing pure green.
The deck itself is fairly simply so anybody could theoretically play it without prior knowledge of it and be able to use it effectively which was a goal in mind when creating it though unlike some of my other decks it is not incredibly cheap to purchase.
Draw power: Elvish Visionary and Staff of DominationI take a side not to mention that in it's own way Genesis Wave is "draw power" just that it requires set up and isn't strictly defined as drawing
Mana ramp: Llanowar Elves or Elvish Mystic both are turn 1 mana accelerators.Priest of Titania
+
Wirewood Lodge
Elvish Archdruid
+
Wirewood Lodge
, any of those cards on their own can really give ramp as long as you have a decent number of elves out.
Notable Combos: Immaculate Magistrate + Joraga Warcaller
this is coat of arms built on elves. Coat of Arms on it's own has the probability to be better when you have a lot of elves out but this is more in theme and more consistent.
Staff of Domination+ Elvish Archdruid or Priest of Titania assuming proper set up which is 5 elves on field you have achieved infinite pretty much whatever you want. Draw, untap, tap, mana, power b/c ezuri, and yeah...this is an infinite combo.
Win Condition Cards: Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Craterhoof Behemoth, and Triumph of the Hordes, if you have suitable powered elves on field even Akroma's Memorial can become a win condition.
So putting it all together it is at base a simple deck mana ramp, play elves, makes elves huge, attack and win.
Notes on some cards and why they are in the deck or side deck:
Asceticism- Honesty to protect Ezuri and Soul of th e Harvest. I honestly believe Akroma's is way better even though it doesn't give regeneration simply b/c it grants so much through what it gives to your elves.
Coat of Arms- Makes your elves huge in 1 drop it maybe a card I've considered removing but's that only b/c with Immaculate and Joraga or Ezuri plus your ramp potential you normally don't have a problem getting your elves big.
Fog/Tangle- Sometimes you have to stall and Fog is the classic green stall card, I personally like Tangle better though as it is not only nasty stall but is incredibly good at baiting aggressive opponents into have nothing to defend with next turn for an easy victory.
Imperious Perfect-Chances are you will have some extra mana on your turns and elf tokens are a nice thing to have being both elves and expendable at the same time.
Natural End- Honestly in most cases Naturalize is gonna be better but you should have the mana and having extra life is luxury you often want to afford. That being said this is just spot remover and sometimes you don't even need spot remover to win a game.
Nissa Revanae- This planeswalker was the reason I originally decided to make an elf deck. Even understanding the entire deck can function without her I still like keeping her in. The life she gives is really nice too.
Triumph of the Hordes- Some people like to give themselves infinite life or a life total that can't drop below zero...show them that poison counters don't care.
Yeva, Nature's Herald- Playing your stuff on your opponents turn and having all your mana available on your own turn is literally the best condition to be in when playing and when combined with Wirewood Symbiote can lead to some awful shenanigans being done on your opponents turn.
Soul of the Harvest-In light of the fact that I don't just have 4 Staff of Domination's just lying around I can run this card instead; if you have staff of domination though run that instead as it is 100% better at getting you draw power when your ramping well and gives the deck infinite mana and infinite draw power.
*Note: If I had more Staff of Domination's, Glimpse of Nature, Concordant Crossroads, or Gaea's Cradle (so expensive) on hand they'd most likely be in this deck as they are just too good in combination with elves to pass up though your friends will literally stop playing with you if it's what you start running consistently.
Also note worthy cards to look up if you're trying to make a good elf deck:
Quirion Ranger- Allows you to turn the forest you're no longer using for mana into fuel to use your abilities more often.
Wirewood Symbiote- protects your elves (b/c you can return them to your hand when they are about to be popped) and gives you the same ability as Quirion Ranger. This card has great synergy with
Yeva, Nature's Herald
for keeping your cards protected then getting them right back on the field.
Crop Rotation
- If you own Gaea's Cradle or would like to have
Wirewood Lodge
out on the field when you need it this is going to be your solution. Sacing a forest which you aren't going to typically need to get a land that you do need is a more than efficient choice.
Fyndhorn Elves or Elvish Mystic- Honestly it's just another llanowar's elves clone but that is why they are good b/c it's allowing you to run more copies of Llanowar which is something you want since it is always efficient to have Llanowar out.
Cards I suggest avoiding when you try to make an elf deck even though they seem good:
Arbor Elf- It's is just massively out classed by the other 3 turn 1 mana generators elves have. In a true elf deck since your goal is relying less on the idea of using your forest and more on just using the synergy of elves and their own abilities.
Seeker of Skybreak- On the surface what it does seems great but considering all the cards you can use to achieve the same that could take it's place it's overall not the best pick and worth giving a pass; it's a good card just not the best choice.
Timberwatch Elf
- I feel this card is good bait for players running elf decks who see it and think about how strong it can be especially when in combo with a staff of domination or elf untap cards. My issue there in lies with that Ezuri+ramp, Craterhoof on it's own, Jaraga+immaculate are all not only easier to pull off but more effective b/c the effect is either permanent or game winning when used flat out; trample is often game winning and people need to understand that.
As always I am open to suggestions or even for cards I may have missed that could find their way into this deck so feel free to leave suggestions or comments as this deck can be subject to change especially if new and better elves come out if you like the deck or even if you hate it still feel free to say something or if you're a kind enough soul give it a +1.
