Ezuri, Renegade Leader

Legendary Creature — Elf Warrior

: Regenerate another target Elf.

: Elf creatures you control get +3/+3 and gain trample until end of turn.

Discussion (49)

laurensvannijvel on Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

2 weeks ago

Decent budget version of the deck. I would suggest adding more good Elves to it though. For that reason I recommend Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen , Yeva, Nature's Herald (especially nice with an untapper like Seedborn Muse or Mobilize ) and basic things mana dorks like Llanowar Elves , Elvish Mystic etc. To make room for them I'd take out some of the higher CMC common and uncommon elves that don't have a huge impact, such as Lys Alana Bowmaster and Eyeblight Cullers, maybe Revenant too.

Consider Ezuri, Renegade Leader as well. Elves don't like board wipes!

Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 5: Mono-Green …

4 weeks ago

Ah, my favorite color. Not coincidentally, my wife hates it. I love ramp, I love the utility, the pervasive value, and I even like the shortcomings because I feel they're sporting. I have three mono-Green decks. My oldest deck is a Green deck. I have been watching Green so closely as each set comes out that I didn't even need to research the legends available in order to write this.

But enough squeeing about my preferences (for now). Let's talk turkey. Picking a best color is highly subjective: while I'd like to say that all five colors are equal in strength, it can't be said honestly. Black has the tutors and thematic viciousness to fight for the top. Blue's strength in control and draw make its long-debated position as most competitive highly secure. White and Red are solidly trailing the others. Where does this leave Green?

Green has a unique capacity to destroy (or fight) anything, but not all the thing: Beast Within and Acidic Slime are great, but unless you're an enchantment, artifact, or bird, then you don't need to concern yourself with Green boardwipes. The utterly absurd advantage that comes of Green's affinity for ramp is often shattering. However, all arguments for Green's strength are undercut by an unfortunate fact: if you can't smash face in the combat phase, you can't usually win. Helix Pinnacle . Epic Struggle . Against these two cards and the odd sorcery referencing some sort of windy calamity, the other colors have actual themes: Black has vampirism, Blue has milling, and Red has burn. Even White has a small but potent spread of alternate wins, generally tied to life totals.

However: a jack of all trades is a master of none, but ofttimes better than a master of one. Let's consider whether Green is a specialist or a generalist: Blue has control and draw, but Green has a fine well of draw effects to pull from, a true wealth of hexproof and... and whatever keyword they'll eventually assign to "can't be countered." The sheer scope of creatures with game-changing effects that Green can tutor, while comprehensive, isn't quite the same as tutoring anything (shut up, Black). That said, a well-placed Tooth and Nail can win the game just as readily. Green can't burn players but can fight any creature and Terastodon any party of super-friends. No, Green isn't a powerhouse on the stack or outside the combat phase, but the raw versatility of Green isn't something the other colors can readily match.

Personally, I can't comfortably argue that Green is the most competitive mono-color in commander. However, I will argue that it's the most generally capable, and like all the colors a powerhouse in the right hands. Whether my hands are the right ones isn't the question: Green is the color I'm most comfortable with, the color I feel most capable with, and my answer to the most important question in any game: "What are you happiest playing?"

Today, we discuss three most prevalent trends in Green. Chonks: the biggest beasts on the battlefield. Ramp: mana for days. Land: all the land (bear with me, I know those last two are rather close). As always, please bear in mind that our focus here is not necessarily competitive but rather on thematic, archetypical commanders.

Chonks

There are a lot of ways to make creatures threatening. Artifacts like Coat of Arms or Argentum Armor , auras like Green's own Blanchwood Armor , and everything in between. Green has another approach as well, tending toward, rather than making creatures threatening, instead making threatening creatures. Just look at the Primordial Hydra (or pretty much any hydra). Other colors have their own fatties, to be sure, but until the Eldrazi came Green's only real rival for the Bigger-is-Better Belt was Blue's theme of large, typically overpriced fish (Colossi also bear mentioning). Colored kaiju tend to come with additional costs beyond mana once they reach a certain size, examples being Death's Shadow or Jokulmorder . The only cost Green generally asks is mana, and frequently at a discount. Hehehehe...

Sometimes you just need a hulk, and at a trampling 12/12 Ghatla is the hulkest legend there is, provided you don’t go poking around the Blind Eternities for plane-eating spaghetti monsters. Like a certain strange woman lying in a pond, you might never have to pay full price for this general. That is a great, beautiful, thundering apex predator of a wonderful thing.

I love Selvala, but do her grievous wrong: I rarely remember the card draw because of all that sweet, sweet mana. In justice, this magnificent beast would be cozy in the ramp section, but filling your hand by dropping one chungus after another, then getting what’s likely a full refund on the mana? That’s what I call incentive! I'd consider her for a commander any day, except... well, we're coming to that.

The original mama-bear brings a fine pair of goodies to the table: a discount for your hefties and overrun-lite on the charge for such big boys, ensuring they heft even more heftily. Arm & Hammer owe her an endorsement deal. Hefty!

Ramp

Anyone with a pile of rocks can manage fast mana. Black and Red both have decent options. Green, though, has been the ramp champ for time immemorial. Since mana burn is a thankfully dusty memory, you can flood that pool to your heart's content without the risk of accidentally frying yourself. Whether your taste runs toward slamming lands down with Cultivate effects, boosting the output of those lands with Mana Reflection , or tapping dorks like Priest of Titania , glorious excesses of mana can be yours!

Readers may recall I mentioned an Ashling deck with 99 mountains in the red article. Sometime after seeing it, I noticed a copy of Sasaya in my collection. 64 lands and a handful of mana dumps later, I had a deck that either died quietly or detonated into splendid, jaw-achingly excessive victory (seriously, it’s always one or the other). Wakeroot Elemental , Helix Pinnacle , and Sprouting Vines are just a few of the fabulously facetious options available to this, my favorite kamigawan commander. Nothing will be the same after your first opponent gets smacked in the face with Killer Bees for absurdly lethal damage. I have this deck built, and adore it. However, my favorite, to which we are by degrees coming, is not Sasaya.

I miss Rofellos, but since he’s banned we might as well talk elves somewhere in here. Boy howdy are there a lot of good elves: the tribal synergy in ramp alone is good enough that they get played where other decks would play rocks, and there’s more than that up their pointy-eared sleeves. Rewarding oneself for playing elf-ball with the mana to make said ball bigger is just good sense. However, slapping something like Strata Scythe on her will get some fine results too. Enjoy that general damage, or the effects of Umbral Mantle . And, if general damage isn't your thing but elfball is, pour all that mana into Ezuri, Renegade Leader .

It's the simple things in life you treasure, and Azusa is nothing if not simple. There many ways to ramp, but doing so in the true green style means dropping lands faster than your opponents. Fill your hand, empty your hand, repeat. The raw advantage that Azusa represents is incredibly intimidating. Just be sure to bring a Horn of Greed so you don't run out of steam.

Land

I acknowledge that this is somewhat under the "Ramp" umbrella. Again, bear with me. If you check the phrase "Search your Library" on Gatherer, Green has more cards than any two other colors combined, the catch being that most of those cards tutor basic land. If you consider a color's tutor strengths as thematic commentary (shut UP, Black), this suggests that Green has a lot to say on the matter of land. Whether tutoring, untapping, or animating and wrecking face a la mana base, no other color is as tied to the land as is Green. Just think on the implications of, say, Life and Limb and the aforementioned Coat of Arms (or any boardwipe, especially if Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is out).

What's the opposite of a conniption? Whatever that is, I had one when they printed this glorious godsend to all green combo players. The sequoia-sized middle finger Ashaya sends to Cyclonic Rift is only the beginning. Consider that Kamahl, Heart of Krosa becomes Keywords-on-a-Stick with our girl out. Consider that anything which untaps lands now untaps your mana dorks too. Consider that Argothian Elder UNTAPS ITSELF. The only reason Ashaya isn't heading one of my Green decks is because, degenerate as she is, she doesn't have Partner, turn into a broke-ass enchantment, or... we're coming to that. Nearly there.

"Screw your boardwipes" about sums it up. Both Khamals can animate lands and buff them, but this one's wording is much, much meaner if you've got to teach some trigger-happy nuker a lesson.

One of my favorite Green cards is Constant Mists . There are enough other sacrifice effects in Green, as well as lands that drop themselves, that Titania can become a real menace in short order. Bring Glacial Chasm , a few effects like the Oracle of Mul Daya , and the all-important Crucible of Worlds . Trust me. It works. There's a guy in the local playgroup who does this with a most politely evil smile.

And, for my personal favorite:

Ok, is anyone who's made it this far actually surprised? Omnath is all that is Green, and I've been gleefully running this stompy monstrosity for over a decade. Who needs Voltron when you can simply turn on a glorious green engine of mana, throw out some trample (I prefer Nylea, God of the Hunt , and turn an opponent into so much paste? Don't feel like attacking? Save it for next turn! The banking mechanic alone would be enough: an early Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger is the best you can hope for if you're silly enough to let Omnath sit on unspent mana for even a turn. That he gets bigger with each mana in the pool is just a treat. A vicious, opponent-killing, delicious treat.

And in case you're wondering, the third green deck is Kamahl, Heart of Krosa and Kodama of the East Tree . No instants. No sorceries. Just draw and ramp.

That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back next week for Azorius!

Prior Articles:

Mono-White

Mono-Blue

Mono-Black

Mono-Red

Guerric on What to Do with Yavimaya, …

1 month ago

seshiro_of_the_orochi I do have those in my Ezuri deck, so if nothing else I have a great new evasion piece. And plakjekaas I can untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun with it and Arbor Elf , which are also in my Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck (Found here, haven't written a primer for it yet Little Green Men Unite!). Not quite Cabal Coffers , but pretty good still.

Guerric on What to Do with Yavimaya, …

1 month ago

1empyrean Nice! I am also just realizing that it makes all lands forests, including my opponents'. If nothing else, that enables forestwalk in my Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck.

Guerric on State of Mono-Colored Decks in …

1 month ago

Unlife I definitely agree that building properly is key, and it seems that you have quite a bit of experience in mono-colored decks! I play mono-green Ezuri, Renegade Leader and its busted. It was tougher when I've played with white though. I do have to say that white decks are more resilient than they used to be, with Cosmic Intervention and Flawless Maneuver type cards helping you to preserve your board state, which does help when card draw isn't great. One of the big liabilities with the lack of card draw in white used to be that when the board wipe hit you were basically out of the game, since you wouldn't be able to rebuild due to poor draw. And I have to say, I expected my Trynn, Champion of Freedom and Silvar, Devourer of the Free deck to be bad because its creature-based aggro, and those strategies struggled more in the past. But I have found it to be super resilient, and that I have lots of ways to recover, and as a result I've won more games than I should have. I'd still like to see more draw in white though, even if it pushes us in a certain direction.

MTGBurgeoning on Morophon/Changelings & the MTGBurgeoning Community

1 month ago

I agree with your assessment of Morophon, the Boundless ! Your suggestion of Ezuri, Renegade Leader is great and is an upgrade over the current Elf tribe representative, Elvish Archdruid . Although the needed to activate his ability may be tricky in a five-color deck, I think the benefit outweighs the risk. Crux of Fate over Day of Judgment is a flavor win, and Seshiro the Anointed is included in our Changeling Pool as the current Shaman tribe representative. This deck is FAR from being finished at this moment and will include a host of revisions to the 99 and the Changeling Pool. I love your suggestions and your vision for Morophon, the Boundless !! Thank you!!

Guerric on Lathril, Blade of the Elves

1 month ago

I've been playing elves for some time in both commander and modern, so I was excited to see Lathril spoiled. If I didn't already have a tricked out Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck I'd definitely be building this, because the only thing better than playing mono-green elves is playing green-black elves! I am a bit surprised that you are missing some elf staples such as Llanowar Elves , Fyndhorn Elves , Wood Elves , Elves of Deep Shadow , Farhaven Elf , and Springbloom Druid . These cards may seem boring, but they give you incredible acceleration, and you can also definitely justify dropping your land count a bit because they'll ramp you early and grab your lands for you from your deck. You also really don't need any of the mana rocks other than Sol Ring , they don't synergize with elves' game plan. I'd also heartily recommend Elvish Guidance , and an often-overlooked card that turns one of your existing lands into a Gaea's Cradle but which costs less than a dollar in real-world money. Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip does this as well, but it is more well-known and more expensive. For board wipes I'd recommend Kindred Dominance , which blows everyone else's stuff away while leaving yours intact, and Ezuri's Predation , which was recently re-printed and is now pretty cheap to pick up, as it will likewise leave your elves intact while giving you a bunch of tokens and destroying most of your opponent's stuff. I'd also commend your inclusion of the fabulous new card Haunting Voyage . This card is sheer gold for tribal decks in black!

Guerric on Morophon/Changelings & the MTGBurgeoning Community

1 month ago

When Morophon was spoiled, a lot of people treated him as a generic tribal commander, which I thought was lame. Building a dwarves deck with a changeling as a commander is uninspiring. This is the direction I always thought it should go! Nonetheless, I always thought a good direction was to include some of the best tribal payoff cards. Why not include Ezuri, Renegade Leader so that you can pump all of your changelings (since they are elves) and run your enemies over? Why not use Crux of Fate in place of Day of Judgment ? Since your changelings are dragons it won't hurt them at all. There are of course, many slivers that could provide good options as well. Seshiro the Anointed will pump all your changelings and draw you tons of cards. There are, of course, many more payoff cards, but you wouldn't want so many as to water down your changeling team, but to me its worth considering doing what changelings do best, namely, taking advantage of every tribe's best qualities!