Elves of the Swarm (Budget)

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Hour of Devastation - Updated: 7-1-2017 —July 1, 2017

Hour of Devastation(HOU) spoilers are over and the entire set has been revealed. This update is about what cards in HOU I think could make the main deck or sideboard of this deck. I thought I was pretty much set on Energy Elves being Temur using the energy theme until the next set Ixalan, but a green card or a Golgari split card in HOU may change things. Are mono-green or Golgari Elves set for a return? Amonkhet is a plane with no Elves, but besides that the first set Amonkhet gave this deck some great cards with the standouts being Glorybringer and Magma Spray a long with some fantastic sideboard cards in Manglehorn and Rhonas the Indomitable. For a set that didn't have any Elves I feel this deck did benefit from Amonkhet.

HOU continues with no Elves, but has some spells that look surprisingly powerful with them that could possibly make this deck or be the base for new strategies now as well as later on. The Gatewatch is finally defeated by Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh and their defeat cards look like great sideboard cards, color hate is finally back in Standard. Other than the defeat cards, removal in red looks good in fact the few standouts in the set are removal spells. Let the Devastation begin!

Spells that give trample to all my creatures as well as other abilities are finally back. These spells are traditionally used with Elves to give them enough reach to win a game, attacking with a large army of Elves with trample lets the damage that's even blocked still get through. Since Battle for Zendikar Elves have had an Elf that can pump them all Tajuru Warcaller the problem is there was no way for these Elves to also get trample which they need along with the pump for it to be a viable strategy. Not having enough Ally Elves was also a problem with using Warcaller, but I won't go into that. Overcome is the new Overrun and I can see it being a terrific spell with Elves especially with Rishkar, Peema Renegade because he and other Elves with counters can help to cast it. This spell alone could possibly make mono-green Elves viable. Because Overcome also pumps all my creatures it can be the curve topper that Elves need to be able to successfully push damage through. Elves have a lot of pieces already in Standard, but they lacked that extra push they need to dominate board states, Verdurous Gearhulk has tried so has Decimator of the Provinces, but both so far have failed. Overcome as well as another split card in HOU could possibly fill these needs.

Drive / Despair is another spell that gives all my creatures trample while also giving them if they do damage the ability to draw for each one. Drive doesn't pump my creatures like Overcome does instead it only costs which is amazing. This is a powerful two drop spell because it effects all my creatures and not just one. An Elf swarm followed by Drive seems very fun and very good. Drive is a split card with Despair as the aftermath side. Despair cost and could be just as good as Drive and since it's also a two drop spell for four mana I can cast both on the same turn. Giving my army of Elves trample and menace with the ability to draw cards and make my opponent discard cards at the same time seems pretty devastating for only four mana. Drive with Despair has the makings of a build around card for the very reason that as a four drop spell it has the ability to win a game or put me so far ahead that it will not matter. Drive is a sorcery, but both parts of the card are fine being cast on my main phase rather than at instant speed because they're both for attacking. This is not a trick spell that I want to surprise my opponent with on their turn. The only problem with Drive and/or Despair are they require creatures in my control to do anything. If I don't have a creature and I top deck this it's bad. Could Drive in combination with Despair mean the return of Golgari Elves?

Appeal / Authority is yet another split card that can give an Elf trample. It's different because it doesn't give all my creatures trample only one, but it also pumps the creature, it can pump it a lot. The biggest appeal of Appeal is it only costs . For one mana it's effect is very good, but it's not instant, it's a sorcery which hinders it a lot because this card should be used as an instant trick targeting the lone attacking creature who isn't blocked. Appeal is like Strength in Numbers, but with a small difference it doesn't care that my creatures are attacking, the amount of pump is equal to all creatures I control which is much better. Authority is the aftermath side and other than being white is also a good spell for only two mana. It too is a sorcery just like Appeal which hurts it a lot for what it does.

Bolas kicked the shit out of the Gatewatch and their sweet defeat cards welcome color hate back to Standard. All the defeats other than Nissa's Defeat all look like excellent sideboard cards that will change Standard for the better. Chandra's Defeat makes playing red creatures a real liability and is great to kill Glorybringer at instant speed. Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Chandra, Flamecaller are some of the best Planeswalkers in Standard this defeat can kill them for only one mana at instant speed. Jace's Defeat is a new better Gainsay which will be great at combating Control with Torrential Gearhulk. Nissa's Defeat is the worst of the cycle and is the only one that doesn't do something to a creature. A green Planeswalker or Nissa, Steward of Elements or enchantment will really have to become a force in Standard for this defeat to do anything. Not sure why it's the most mana expensive, three mana and a sorcery.

It's interesting because green is now the safest of the colors in Standard to play because none of the Defeats in the cycle can kill green creatures and Nissa's Defeat is in my opinion really not a threat at all to green.

These two defeats Gideon's Defeat and Liliana's Defeat are unfortunately not in Temur colors which sucks as they are some of the best of the cycle. Gideon's Defeat exiles an attacking or blocking white creature which can include Gideon, Ally of Zendikar or Gideon of the Trials if it attacks for one mana at instant speed. This isn't very viable right now with Ally of Zendikar since he can just make tokens and never attack, but when he rotates at the next set then of the Trials is kept in check by this defeat. Other than swarming aggro strategies with black or tokens such as Zombies Liliana's Defeat alone can keep black creatures in check. For only one mana this defeat can kill Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh or Liliana, Death's Majesty, it's the only defeat that can outright kill Bolas that alone makes it pretty powerful and depending on the playability of the new Bolas this defeat might be a staple in Standard sideboards.

Red got two very good removal spells in HOU. Abrade may become a staple card in Standard red decks as long as Mardu Vehicles is such a powerful deck. It's really excellent to combat Vehicles because it can kill either the Vehicle such as Heart of Kiran or the creature that's going to crew it for two mana at instant speed. One the problems in the matchup is if the Mardu Vehicles player thinks it's not safe to attack with Heart they will not crew it which is a problem if I'm holding a Harnessed Lightning and not artifact removal. Abrade is a real answer to this problem because it can kill either a non-crewed Heart or a creature in the matchup. I will start out with main decking Abrade in place Magma Spray because these options are too good to pass up.

Hour of Devastation the namesake card of the set depicting the defeat of the Gatewatch by Bolas looks good. Other than Glorybringer, red doesn't have a lot of answers to Planeswalkers that can hurt/kill them. This Hour helps with that was well as doing five damage to each creature which is on par for five mana.

Two cards from the Last cycle have peaked my interest, Rhonas's Last Stand and Bontu's Last Reckoning. The Last cycle are cards depicting the last hurrah of each of the Amonkhet Gods before they die. Last Stand and Last Reckoning are the best of the cycle because both have the ability to turn on their represented Gods although not on curve because they do this then the drawback of not getting to untap my lands the next untap step is some what relieved. These spells are very up in the air right now because of the not letting my lands the next untap step untap. This might very well make these spells unplayable, playtesting will determine this. Creature ramp such as Rishkar, Peema Renegade are not effected by this restriction, using creatures to pay the mana cost for Last Stand can then untap the next untap step. It's possible that Last Stand in combination with Rhonas the Indomitable, Rishkar and Elf ramp can be the starting of a core for a mono-green Elves beat down version of Energy Elves.

The green Last makes a 5/4 Snake token for only which are huge stats for only two mana. If non-black aggro becomes a problem in Standard then I can see this spell being an excellent at defense because four toughness is hard for aggro to deal with and getting a four toughness creature possibility turn two is a nightmare for aggro. I say non-black aggro because Fatal Push owns the Snake token for only one mana giving my opponent the upper hand in this exchange.

It's more likely that I lose to Last Reckoning much more than play it, haha, but if I'm choosing to play black again then it seems very good in the sideboard for swarming aggro matchups where tokens are a problem such as Zombies. Both Last Stand and Last Reckoning actually have some synergy with each other. For five mana I can first wipe the board and then second put a 5/4 creature in play. If I already have Rhonas in play before doing this then I have recovered very fast from a board wipe.

Unsummon is back in Standard! Any time that there's one mana instant removal even if it's pseudo removal like bounce it will see play. I expect Unsummon to see a lot of play because it's very good in any matchup where my opponent is putting counters on their creatures especially Golgari Energy midrange with Winding Constrictor. Unsummon is also excellent to combat the Gods of Amonkhet, Rhonas, who are indestructible and the new HOU Gods who are even more overcosted mana if they're just getting bounced.

Supreme Will is the blue card in the same cycle as Abrade. This cycle is only Grixis colors, there's no green or white card in this cycle. Two of the three in the cycle are very good, in my opinion some of the best cards in the set because they give me options. Like Commands and Charms having options on a single card is very powerful. The biggest thing Will has going for it is the single blue in it's mana cost. The option to counter something unless my opponent pays three additional mana in the early to mid game or later on when that's not helpful I can use the same card to dig four cards deep for something to help me stabilize or win a game.

Uncage the Menagerie just misses the playability meter for me and I'm confused why Wizards choose to make it so under power as compared to what it could of been. Uncage is a green mythic of the set, but unfortunately it's a little too restrictive for what it does. First I can only search for creatures who's mana cost equals X, not X or less which would of been so much better, next I can only get one of each creature, they have to be different and last the creatures I get go into my hand not right onto the battlefield. These are a lot of restrictions for a mythic spell. Five mana is the best this card can do; this lets me search for three possible different three drops and put them into my hand. The problem is three drops are what Elves lack right now in Standard, in fact there's only one, Rishkar, Peema Renegade. If Wizards ever prints another three drop Elf lord or Shaman of the Pack equivalent at the same mana cost then Uncage can become much better. The best thing Uncage has going for it in this deck's case is at five mana it can get Rhonas the Indomitable, Tireless Tracker and Rishkar, Peema Renegade or Rogue Refiner and put them all into my hand. This seems good for five mana, but at this stage of the game do I really have time to spend five mana that doesn't effect the board in any way? A better case scenario although also not ideal is ramping and playing Uncage turn four as a five drop spell. Giving me a good turn five play?

Mirage Mirror is another playability miss because it doesn't effect the board in any way the turn it's played unless I have five mana. For it's mana cost of three I get nothing and have to wait until turn four to use it's ability. Mirror should of entered the battlefield as a copy of something than for two mana it can copy and change into something else later. It's copy ability doesn't include enter the battlefield effects of the permanent it's copying since it's already on the battlefield and doesn't re-enter when copied. Mirror could be nice to copy a lord such as Lord of the Accursed, but Elves don't have a lord in Standard. If and when Elves get a lord then maybe I can revisit Mirror, but most likely not. I may be missing a huge broken interaction with Mirror and other cards in Standard, but I just think it's too slow for what it does.