Lathril Elves in the Shadows (Budget)

Commander / EDH multimedia

SCORE: 30 | 9 COMMENTS | 4157 VIEWS | IN 16 FOLDERS


griffstick says... #1

Did you think of Mobilize and Vitalize as a suto High Tide effect?

February 23, 2021 11:11 a.m.

multimedia says... #2

Hey griffstick, thanks for the suggestions. I like Vitalize because it's an instant and less expensive price. I want to add it, but what should I cut for it? Not sure if it's good enough being a one time effect to cut a current card.

February 23, 2021 11:45 p.m. Edited.

griffstick says... #3

The cards that are the least effective cards in the deck are. Elvish Visionary , Wood Elves , Farhaven Elf , Paradise Druid , and Nature's Lore . The deck has tons of ramp TONS. Cutting a small ramp card for a game changing card like Vitalize and/or Mobilize can put you so far ahead for 1 mana.

February 24, 2021 2:40 p.m.

multimedia says... #4

griffstick, thanks for the ideas. I made some changes and Vitalize is a card I added.

February 26, 2021 12:25 a.m.

justavictim82 says... #5

of the top of my head cards that will help:

Beastmaster Ascension to give you another win con. Shapers' Sanctuary to help recover from spot removal Harvest Season to ramp especially with all the elves that turn sideways Lifecrafter's Bestiary for cheap card draw

March 8, 2021 10:16 p.m.

multimedia says... #6

Hey justavictim82, thanks for the suggestions, but also please suggest cards to cut :)

I made some changes and Beastmaster Ascension has been added. Harvest Season is included in the precon and I cut it for a mana Elf who I can untap. In an early version I had Lifecrafter's Bestiary , but I cut it for Realmwalker .

March 10, 2021 12:24 a.m.

ionlyplayelves says... #7

Hi multimedia, as a new player to mtg I have a question on your statement below:

"Quest for Renewal lets me untap all creatures I control at each opponent's turn which with Lathril means each opponent loses 10 life on each opponent's turn. Being able to tap Lathril on each player's turn to make all opponents lose 10 life can equal with four players a loss of at least 40 life for each opponent for one cycle of players' turns."

As far as I know, Lathril's second ability (tapping for 10 dmg/life) can only be played during your turn. Can you explain how this combo would work and how I can tap her during my opponents turns?

March 11, 2022 8:50 a.m.

multimedia says... #8

Hey ionlyplayelves, here's the MTG Wiki that explains activated ability.

If a creature has an activated ability, the cost has and it doesn't have summoning sickness then you can tap it to activate at any time of the game (your turn or any opponent's turn) at instant speed. However, if the effect of the ability specifically says "activate this ability only during your turn" or "activate only as a sorcery" then there's some restrictions of when you can activate. You can only activate at those times of a game, only on your turn, but Lathril doesn't have these restrictions for it's effect.

The creature who to activate can't have summoning sickness since that prevents a creature from tapping and all creatures get this when they first enter the battlefield (ETB) and keep it until your next turn. Haste such as from Swiftfoot Boots when equipped removes summoning sickness letting a creature tap the same turn it ETB or on any opponent's turn that follows after.

Instant speed means being able to tap to activate at any phase of the game on any player's turn when you have priority or in response to another trigger that a player puts on the stack. Just like any instant spell, activated abilities can happen at this same speed. "Activate only as a sorcery", sorcery speed is different, can activate only on your turn and only on one of the two main phases, just like a sorcery spell. "Activate this ability only during your turn" doesn't means sorcery speed it means you can activate the ability at any time only during your turn. Activate on your turn at any phase, a main phase or any other such as in combat phase at instant speed.


Lathril's activated ability has a cost and then an effect. The cost must be paid before the effect can happen and that cost is tapping 10 other Elves. Lathril can't have summoning sickness, but any or all of the 10 other Elves can, to still tap them to pay for the cost. Tapping the 10 other Elves is an action not an activated ability. You're simply tapping the Elf to pay a cost and the tapping is not activating anything.

Another example of this here is Birchlore Rangers, summoning sickness doesn't matter to activate it's ability since to pay the cost you don't have Rangers. It can tap along with any other Elf even the same turn it enters the battlefield to make one mana. If you control other Elves, any two can tap to make one mana.

Quest for Renewal takes advantage of being able to untap Lathril once on each player's turn. If Lathril doesn't have summoning sickness, you control 10 other Elves who are untapped and she becomes untapped then you can tap to activate her again. Repeatedly do this as long as you can keep untapping Lathril and have 10 other Elves to tap. Because Renewal untaps Lathril and 10 other Elves once at each player's turn then Lathril can tap/untap at least that many times in a full cycle of all player's turns.

Staff of Domination with infinite mana is a good example of repeatedly tap/untap Lathril and 10 other Elves all on one turn which can happen on any player's turn. Because like Lathril, Staff can tap to activate it's ability at instant speed and artifacts don't have summoning sickness.

March 11, 2022 12:38 p.m.

ionlyplayelves says... #9

Thanks for the explanation!

March 12, 2022 1:08 p.m.

Please login to comment