Elves of Deep Shadow
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Oldschool 93/94 Legal
Pauper Legal
Pauper Duel Commander Legal
Pauper EDH Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Elves of Deep Shadow

Creature — Elf Druid

Gain . Elves of Deep Shadow deals 1 damage to you.

DreadKhan on EDH Merens Reanimator

3 weeks ago

When I built my Meren deck, I found that even with a pretty Black heavy deck, it was nice to run more Green than Black mana sources, since my Green ramp fixed my Black mana. I also cut lands for repeatable (and potentially repeatable) ramp like Diligent Farmhand or the Dawntreader you're considering, these can not only help get Meren out early, they give her something very useful to do with her ability as soon as she's out. There are quite a few now, but I only run ones that can find swamps. I also run a couple cards like Wood Elves, which don't sac themselves but can be sacrificed for value as soon as Meren is out. Using these types of cards allows my fairly low land Meren deck to be extremely rampy if Meren stays out. You can also run lots of 1 mana dorks in Meren, including Elves of Deep Shadow and knock-off Llanowar Elves.

I also find it's hard to run enough card draw, stuff like Grim Haruspex and Midnight Reaper or Beast Whisperer can draw a bunch of cards, and all of them are creatures. This brings me to another point, I found that in Meren that it's hard to run too many utility creatures of various sorts, you can do an astonishing amount of stuff with creatures in Golgari, I presently have 55 creatures in the 99, which makes cards like Lurking Predators insane and Heartwood Storyteller lots of fun, because Meren decks are also pretty good at pressuring the board, it's hard to know how many of the various Demon's Disciple family of cards you should run, but they feel pretty decent in Meren in my experience, if a bit obnoxious. There are also more cards like Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, as well as Savra, Queen of the Golgari, these are all super-obnoxious in a deck that likes to sacrifice stuff. One really weird 'one creature toolbox' is Callous Bloodmage, this can do a bunch of stuff and can be worth recurring if you can get it killed.

Not sure if you've ever come across these, they are old and rare even in Commander, but I find Ritual of the Machine and Helm of Possession can do work in Meren, the Helm is a sac outlet that grabs the best creature on the board. It rarely lasts too long, but it's a very strong effect if you're not worried about running artifacts. Ritual is nice and compact, you sac something you want dead to steal the best thing in a way that's hard to interact with for many decks. Final Parting is an interesting card in Meren, you can put a Protean Hulk or Razaketh, the Foulblooded, maybe Sheoldred into the graveyard and a Reanimate into hand, so it's 6 or 7 mana to put your best creature into play from the library.

If you want any ideas about infinite (or non-infinite) combos that can win games, I read a lot of Meren deck Primers, so I might have some ideas if you want to have that option.

Very good deck so far, hope you enjoy testing it!

BishopAtavist on Abzan Graveyard Recursion Help

5 months ago

Gidgetimer I very much appreciate the attention and in-depth feedback you and multimedia have been giving this deck. This is my first deck, I started building it back in June. I will eventually slot in non-tap duals, but I'm on a fairly restrictive budget and don't have a large personal card pool to pull from yet.

I 100% agree about Crop Rotation. In this stage of the deck, it's doing nothing for me. I'm not sure I agree about it not being a dredge deck (yet). It's hard to know right now, but when I do get my Fauna Shaman Golgari Grave-Troll engine running, it feels pretty good. Fauna Shaman can tutor for Eternal Witness and Shigeki, Jukai Visionary and allow me to pull cards back from the yard, it might be a little slower than a cantrip, but the number of cards I have my pick from is much better than just peeling off the top of the deck.

Back to budget, I probably can't swing for Mesmeric Orb right now. I also eventually plan to swap out Diabolic Tutor for Vampiric Tutor, but I'm building at the speed of cash. I like Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire though and might be able to find a spot for that! I like that it also has the option to be used diplomatically if someone else has an answer to a bigger threat at the table.

I see the potential for mana dorks and I'm particularly keen on Elves of Deep Shadow. As far as one land per turn, If I get my Fauna Shaman engine going, I can be playing two lands per turn as early as turn 4. Of course, it's nice to have backup since getting the ideal opening hand and first two draws is very low.

multimedia there's a lot of good information in your post as well. Sun Titan seems really promising and a flash enabler would be great here too. I'll keep working this over in my mind and see what make sense!

Gidgetimer on Abzan Graveyard Recursion Help

5 months ago

In the current deck the problem with running Crop Rotation to sac a basic for a dual/tri land is that you don't run many untapped ones. This makes that move incredibly slow. You are tapping a mana to get a tapped land and not going up on land count. Even if you had more untapped duals it would be pretty slow just fixing off of it. Something like Utopia Sprawl would be way better until you get the Coffers.

The more I think about it the more I am convinced that this deck in it's current state is not a deck that wants to dredge. There are not nearly enough additional draws to stay relevant while filling the yard. I think this might be a deck that wants Mesmeric Orb. The good cards that let you tutor it are monetarily expensive, but it might be worth checking out a build with some number of Diabolic Tutor, Mastermind's Acquisition, a Fortnight Grim Tutor (actually a good card, but eww Fortnight), or Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire and the Orb. Then you could focus on ramping into the commander and passively mill while still being able to draw. The downside is that if your friends also run graveyard strategies you are feeding them.

On the subject of ramp, I think you could easily cut 3 lands to slot in 1 MV dorks. You are limited to 1 land a turn, but could play any number of ramp that you can pay for. The ones mentioned above are good and if you are wanting a source to fix black Elves of Deep Shadow is also available.

multimedia on Abzan Graveyard Recursion Help

5 months ago

One drop mana dorks, most are budget, is good ramp with Nethroi because they can also be a nonHuman creature to mutate.

Avacyn's Pilgrim is a Human, but I would still play it. Mana dorks are also excellent fodder for Dread Return flashback. If you were to play these green one drop mana dorks then you would want to adjust your deck's budget manabase to make it easier to make green mana turn one. Llanowar Wastes, Exotic Orchard, Necroblossom Snarl and more basic Forests. I honestly think it's worth adjusting the manabase to play these mana dorks.

Llanowar Mentor can repeatedly create a Elf mana dork for ramp or fodder by discarding a dredge card or any other creature to help to setup Nethroi. Having other discard outlets for dredge cards is important to keep being able to dredge. Fauna Shaman is great, but can't count on always having Fauna.

legendofa on

6 months ago

Welcome to the club, JHM921!

For this deck, I see a focus on getting Sarevok, Deathbringer as big as possible, but I also see some bits and pieces that I think can be switched out. Cards like Butcher of Malakir and Grave Betrayal would work better in a more graveyard-focused deck than what I think this deck wants to be. There's some ramp and mana modification, with Nature's Lore, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and similar cards, but I think some more early cards like Elves of Deep Shadow, Golgari Signet, and Elvish Mystic would help accelerate early game into mid game.

Virus Beetle, Ravenous Rats, and Festering Mummy are all kind of underwhelming in this deck. If you want to force discard, you either want to affect every opponent or choose the discard yourself, and Festering Mummy just has too small of an effect that the deck doesn't really have ways to capitalize on. I recommend adding some more targeted permanent destruction. Depending on how much money you're willing to spend, Nature's Claim, Maelstrom Pulse, Abrupt Decay, and Assassin's Trophy are all viable.

Since your commander is a big part of your win condition, you need to be able to protect it. Regenerate effects like Golgari Charm or Wrap in Vigor, indestructibility from Tamiyo's Safekeeping or Heroic Intervention, or simple unkillable-ness from Supernatural Stamina or Undying Malice will help keep Sarevok fresh and deathbringing.

Look through your deck, and for each card, ask yourself, "Why is this card in here? Does it advance my win condition? Does it remove an opponent's specific threat or problem? Does it protect my board?" If the answer to any of these is no, then it can probably be replaced with something more directed to this particular deck.

For some more specific suggestions, I assume Cloak of the Bat is to make Sarevok harder to block. I would switch that for something like Whispersilk Cloak. You don't have a solid Vampire base for Indulgent Aristocrat, and the Vampires you do have don't contribute much to your winning strategy, so I would save the Vampires for another deck.

I think if you tighten up the focus, this deck will become very solid. Happy brewing, and above all, have fun!

multimedia on Meren Current

6 months ago

Hey, good start on a low budget. I think you can optimize what you currently have even more since there's 16 high mana cost cards here.

Some advice to consider, fill the rest of the deck spots with one, two or three CMC cards since the high end part of your deck is done? One drop budget creatures who can sac themselves are excellent support with Meren.

Viscera Seer and Carrion Feeder are sac outlets which could use more of those to get experience counters. There's not much draw here that Meren can take advantage of. Consider more repeatable draw when you sac creature/creature dies?

Morbid Opportunist can trigger on an opponents turn if any creature dies not just your own creature. Body Launderer loots each time a creature you control dies, helps to setup Meren reanimation. Can also get more draw from single effects.

Budget one drop mana dorks can be ramp who can be saced/die later on for experience counters.

Arcane Signet is an upgrade for Golgari Signet and Talisman of Resilience is another Golgari mana rock. Some budget lands to consider adding/upgrades:

Woodland Chasm gives Wood Elves a Golgari Forest land to search for.

Good luck with your deck.

Squee_Spirit_Guide on Golgari Elves (Commander/EDH)

9 months ago

Elves of Deep Shadow is kind of like a Llanowar Elves that taps for , so it might be good to include. I also like Essence Warden for the life gain and Wood Elves for the ramp. Pendelhaven and Pendelhaven Elder might be useful as well.

DreadKhan on green machine

11 months ago

Elves of Deep Shadow are a bit more money than Elvish Mystic, but give you access to Black mana instead, if you're concerned your ramp is mostly in Green.

Vs flying heavy metas, I do like Spidersilk Armor, but I also like Silklash Spider and Squallmonger as repeated answers to as many flyers as they have. I also run Sandwurm Convergence, and am back and forth on Katabatic Winds, which is much less mana but is a Reserved List card, the makers of Magic have 'promised' way back they wouldn't reprint any Reserved List cards (they stopped putting cards on the Reserved List in 1999 IIRC). I haven't fit Winds in anywhere yet, but it's a strong enough effect to look at. If you like the effect, I'd buy it sooner rather than later, it's price could 'spike' hard at any time, because there are so few copies of it that were printed compared to any Modern playable cards. Most Reserved List cards aren't super-good, but the odd effect was underpriced enough to be playable.

Still, Dreadlord is pretty neat, and if you can hit 7 mana it's a pretty good wipe to have around. I think that's a stronger card than Findbroker, which feels really bad when you have no synergy pieces out.

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