Elves of the Swarm (Budget)

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M19 - The Return of Core Sets - Updated 6-23-18 —June 12, 2018

Check out MythicSpoiler for all the revealed cards in M19: http://mythicspoiler.com/.

Core Sets thankfully return to Standard with M19. Official spoilers started today and I'm excited to announce Elves are in the set :) This update like all my previous new set updates is about what new cards I think have a possibility of making the main deck or sideboard of this deck. Of course Elves, but possible new build around cards, mana sinks, or cards that have potential to put me in a new color or combinations of colors.

As always green is the most important color with Elves so lets start with the new Elves, the new green cards and a new green Planeswalker.

The Elves

M19 has really delivered for the tribe. Elves were lacking two drops and we got two powerful rare two drop Elves in the set—I'm ecstatic. I was expecting M19 to have Elves, but I didn't think it would have as many as it has. Getting spoiled here and all the cards of M19 haven't yet been revealed, there might be even more Elves. Seeing as how we're going back to Ravnica for the next set and so far Elves and only Elves have been featured for the Golgari guild. If M19 is this good for the tribe I can't imagine what Guilds of Ravnica is going to have :)

Thorn Lieutenant is a more fair Sylvan Advocate variant. It's a 2/3 who can grow to a 6/7+ with it's +4/+4 ability which costs six. Thorn is the first glimpse of Elves returning to the Elf token theme. Whenever Thorn is targeted by a spell or ability by my opponent I can make a 1/1 Elf token. This guy is going to be hard for my opponent to kill profitably especially when I'm packing Blossoming Defense.

Thorn's +4/+4 ability costs six mana, using his ability doesn't cause him to tap and there's no restriction of the number of times I can activate it. I can pump more than six mana into him and each six mana I pay gives him +4/+4—twelve mana gives him +8/+8. Pumping twelve mana into him will not be a consistent play, that's a lot of mana, but using six mana will be especially with Grand Warlord Radha and other attacking Elves in combat scenarios.

Thorn and Elvish Clancaller have built in mana sinks, each costing six mana, which makes them incredible with Radha and Marwyn, the Nurturer. This is the kind of value I want with Elves; if the mana sinks are on actual Elves which is great with Clancaller, then this doesn't require a lot of other cards, nonElf mana sinks, to make sure I have something to sink mana into. Elves before M19 were clearly in the mana making business, but Thorn and Clancaller now shifts the tribe away from mana and more into being more aggressive and attacking. The irony is that the best Elves in my opinion from Dominaria lend themselves to being aggressive: Radha and Steel Leaf Champion. Thorn and Clancaller reinforces this aggressive nature. Gruul Elves can now have a pretty amazing aggro curve with Llanowar Elves, Thorn, Clancaller, Steel Leaf Champion, Rishkar, Peema Renegade and Radha.

How convenient first a new Simic Elf now a new Goglari Elf is revealed :) These four drop uncommons could be giving us a glimpse of what Elves on Ravnica are going to be. If this is the case I really like this new design philosophy. I hope Wizards continues this trend with future sets. A clear, not hidden taste of what's to come can be a good selling point for a future set. These two being uncommons is also a good sign because they're both good cards for uncommons. More uncommons less rares and mythics can make a much healthier Standard.

Poison-Tip Archer seems very strong, the combination of deathtouch and reach is a welcoming combination for Elves. 2/3 is lackluster stats for a four drop, but deathtouch makes up for this. The most interesting ability of Archer is it's pseudo Blood Artist effect, an aristocrat. I don't gain life like with Artist, but whenever another creature dies my opponent loses life. This triggers when both my creatures and my opponent's creatures die, which is good. Like Skyrider Patrol who can't put a counter on itself Archer also has a drawback. When it dies it doesn't make my opponent lose life.

The best aspect of these new four drop Elves is they give the tribe new directions to play. Each one can be a build around card using various different kinds of strategies. They're both fun cards in great color combinations. Archer to me is the better of the two simply because it's possible to get more value from him the turn he's played. He can block the turn he's played and possibly trade with an opponent's creature or roadblock my opponent from attacking. With a no cost sac outlet I could potentially play Archer and then sac Elves the turn he's played making my opponent lose life. Skyrider can also get value the turn it's played, but it requires more mana including another blue mana and another Elf—more hoops to jump through. Both are worth playtesting and having fun playing.

At Announcement Day Elves were revealed to be Golgari using a concept of life or death in Guilds of Ravnica which is depicted with mushrooms and fungi. Archer's aristocrat ability I think is giving a clue that Elves could be paired with Saprolings and Fungi in Guilds of Ravnica. Slimefoot, the Stowaway is another clue because he's Golgari and like Archer he also has an aristocrat ability with Saps.

Skyrider Elf is back. Skyrider Patrol is the first Simic Elf spoiled in M19. It's part of an uncommon cycle of allied and enemy colored four drops. Skyrider is unique because it's a flying Elf and it's ability gives another Elf flying until EOT. At combat I can put a +1/+1 counter on another creature, this Hadana's Climb  ^Flip effect can be really good, but it can also be lackluster if I don't have another Elf in play. The nice thing about Skyrider's ability is I don't have to actually attack with him to be able to use the ability. It happens at beginning of combat not when Skyrider attacks. I don't like that +1/+1 counters are back as a mechanic for Simic I think this is lazy design. Just about every set recently has a mechanic that uses +1/+1 counters—ridiculous and boring. Simic is such an interesting color combination, there has to be other types of mechanics that can be designed—more effort by Wizards is wanted.

Skyrider is a four drop this conflicts with Grand Warlord Radha and I don't think it's better than Radha because Radha has haste letting me do potential damage as well as make mana the turn she's played. Giving an Elf flying such as Marwyn, the Nurturer or Steel Leaf Champion could be very nice as a sideboard option for midrange matchups such as Green Stompy or Dinos able to fly over all the ground pounders.

After all this time Standard is finally going to have a two drop Elf lord who gives all other Elves I control +1/+1 and she's not legendary. Elvish Clancaller is the first two drop Elf lord who gives all other Elves +1/+1 not just in Standard in all of Magic. Some Elves are close like Bramblewood Paragon, Joraga Warcaller and others give abilities to Elves like Eladamri, Lord of Leaves, etc, but Clancaller is the first true two drop Elf lord.

Not only is Clancaller an Elf lord she's also a mana sink with Marwyn, the Nurturer. For six mana and Clancaller I can tutor for another Clancaller and put it right onto the battlefield, that's quite powerful. Six mana is a lot for this ability, but when I can potentially do this more than once over a course of many turns than it's most likely worth it. Many times with Marwyn and Grand Warlord Radha I simply can't use all the mana they produce. Clancaller's ability is what I can use the mana with at the same time increasing my army of Elves and giving it more power.

Clancaller adds to the aggressive nature of Steel Leaf Champion and Radha they get a pump from her. I also very much like the interaction with Radha's mana ability and Clancaller's mana sink ability. Since I can use the tutor ability at instant speed I can use mana Radha and other creatures create after they attack to get another Clancaller. Because this play will add more pump to my entire team I can theoretically just attack with all my Elves except Clancaller. Make enough mana with the attack, lands and tutor for another Clancaller while in combat. I expect I will be doing this play quite a bit in the future :)

Clancaller's ability is yet another reason to play white Radiant Destiny with Elves because with the city's blessing all my Elves get vigilance. Vigilance lets me attack with Clancaller and then tap her to tutor for another Clancaller. Her ability as a mana sink is the same cost as Shalai, Voice of Plenty. These two combined can give Elves a lot more options for mana sinks. Combining Clancaller and Destiny gives me more anthem effects which are wanted because of Goblin Chainwhirler.

Clancaller has a big drawback she's only a 1/1, not good in a Chainwhirler infested Standard. I don't understand why Wizards couldn't of just made her a 1/2 then this whole problem could be avoided, but alas it's a problem that could hurt her effectiveness. Chainwhirler is not going to stop me from playing Clancaller—waiting for her for a long time.

Reclamation Sage is back. A staple of Commander will now be a staple of Standard. This guy will be amazing to combat Vehicles, Sagas, Seal Away, Cast Out, Walking Ballista, etc. Sage is the perfect card for a core set; cards like him are the reason to have the core set for Standard. Efficient hate cards to slow down certain archetypes or help to stifle oppressive cards. If only Wizards printed Sage in the last five sets many problems we've had with artifacts in Standard wouldn't have been as bad. I'm very happy Sage is back he'll be great with Marwyn, pumping her and destroying something when ETB. As a sideboard card he's replacing Thrashing Brontodon might even main deck a few, but he's yet another three drop Elf...

Druid of the Cowl is also in M19. Druid is lackluster and the first two drop Elf spoiled. The best thing about Druid is another two drop mana Elf to go along with Elfhame Druid for post rotation. Knowing that there's another mana Elf option to replace Servant of the Conduit is nice.

The new special card frame for these promos is very nice I hope more green cards have this frame in the set. Elvish Rejuvenator is a new twist on a land ramping Elf. Like Wood Elves and Farhaven Elf he's a three drop who puts a land if I find one with his ability right into play. The difference is Rejuvenator doesn't tutor for a land from my library like Wood and Farhaven do. Instead I have to reveal a land in the top five cards of my library and if one is revealed I can put it into play tapped. The big difference though is I can choose to put any one land, not just a basic land, I reveal from his ability. This means I can put a Check land such as Rootbound Crag, Rainbow land such as Unclaimed Territory or a utility land such as Hashep Oasis, etc. Rejuvenator has potential in Standard because he can find and land ramp with dual lands.

Rejuvenator is a good overall card, very good for a common, his ability is worth three mana, if I reveal a land in the top five, but he doesn't fit right now in this deck. He's another three drop—too many three drops. This deck needs two drop Elves not more three drops. He could possibly be a replacement for Rishkar, Peema Renegade when he rotates this October. What Standard needs to make Rejuvenator's ability truly playable are creature lands such as Hissing Quagmire or strong utility lands such as Kessig Wolf Run. If lands like these especially creature lands are in M19 or Guilds of Ravnica then Rejuvenator becomes a much better option.

Green

Vine Mare is the green Horse in the Horse cycle. It's a card to keep an eye on; 5 power hexproof four drop is no joke. Mono black Zombies looks like it will be a new archetype in Standard after M19 with Death Baron and Graveyard Marshal. Vine could be a great sideboard card for this matchup. I'm not sure how Zombies will deal with Vine. It has hexproof and can't be blocked by a black Zombie. Vine pairs very well with Talons of Wildwood. Giving the Horse 6 trample power and 4 toughness with hexproof.

Runic Armasaur can be a sideboard card to roadblock red aggro. 5 toughness on a three drop which can be potentially played turn two with Llanowar Elves's help is very good. 5 toughness is wanted because both Glorybringer and Chandra, Torch of Defiance can't outright kill it. Runic's ability to draw a card whenever opponent activates a nonmana ability from a creature or a land seems excellent in current Standard. This guy is a counter to Walking Ballista, Scrapheap Scrounger's reanimation, Hazoret the Fervent, Bomat Courier's draw, The Scarab God's embalm, Glint-Sleeve Siphoner's upkeep draw, Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin  ^Flip, etc. Any time my opponent uses the activated abilities of these cards I can draw a card.

Full card gallery of M19 is up and among the last few cards is Talons of Wildwood. It's an interesting, more fair Rancor variant. For three mana I can get it back from the graveyard at instant speed. It can't really be removed unless it's exiled which is strong and a pain in the ass for my opponent to deal with. If the creature I'm enchanting is killed in response to an aura it's not good, really the main reason that auras are risky to play even Rancor. In this case however it's not as bad because I can get Talons back from the graveyard. A card like this can give me an advantage in midrange and token matchups, but not sure if it's needed as there's many other good cards with trample.

Nissa has left the Gatewatch, opening up a roster spot for a new green Walker—welcome to Magic Vivien Reid. Vivien's abilities are like a toolbox for Elves. Her +1 can find in the top four a potential Elf or a creature mana sink such as Rhonas or any land. Her -3 is a Naturalize or a Plummet. Three options for a single use of 3 loyalty is good. Elves have trouble with flying creatures, looking at you Glorybringer, having a Walker that can kill them is a big bonus. Her -8 is a supercharged Song of Freyalise third chapter ability because it's an anthem emblem that lasts the rest of the game not just one turn like Song. I don't usually evaluate Walkers by their ultimates, but Vivien's ultimate is extra good with Elves. After +1ing her she can start at 6 loyalty this is high enough to have potential to consistently ultimate her.

For a Planeswalker to be a playable option in Standard it needs to be able to protect itself the turn it's played. Vivien can't do this which is a huge drawback and could doom her in Standard. She seems so good with Elves that I would like to look past this drawback. Viven seems like an excellent card with Marwyn, the Nurturer's ramp. With this ramp I could play her, +1 her find an Elf, play the Elf which can help to protect her. She can also be potentially played turn three with combinations of Llanowar's and Servant's or turn two Rishkar's help.

Currently she doesn't replace Nissa, Vital Force because all of Nissa's abilities especially her +1 are so good in control matchups. Viven could also be good in control matchups; her +1 is potential card advantage, her -3 can destroy a Seal Away, Cast Out or Torrential Gearhulk and her ultimate gives indestructible protecting Elves from nonSettle board wipes and nonexile/-1/-1 counters removal. Vivien may not replace Nissa right now, but she's fine along side Nissa :) Post rotation is where Viven may shine.

Pelakka Wurm is in the Vivien Planeswalker deck. Pelakka can be a really good ramp target for Elves mana. As a sideboard card 7 life when ETB is very good so is 7/7 trample stats and best of all it draws a card when it dies. Overall Pelakka is just a really efficient creature. I get a lot of value for seven mana.

Gigantosaurus is Ghalta, Primal Hunger's and Rhonas's new best friend. With only a single Giganto in my control Ghalta costs . A 10/10 for five green mana can give mono green decks in Standard a huge boost. Rhonas can give his guy trample. It's not as mana efficient as Ghalta, but few cards are. Still a 10/10 five drop with trample is nuts. Mono green can now have two three drop 5 power creatures, a five drop 10 power creature and a possible two drop 12 power creature. This is a lot of power for very little mana cost.

Giganto is worth playtesting he's a fine ramp target with Marwyn or Radha's mana and he has major potential with both Ghalta and Rhonas both are currently in this version. A drawback of this Dino here is he's not a mana sink and he's not better than Ghalta, not sure if he makes the cut because of this.

Besides the completely lackluster name, Aggressive Mammoth is interesting because it gives all creatures I control trample. Mammoth is a rare in the Vivien Planeswalker deck. Like Pelakka Wurm it's another potential playable card for Standard in one of these decks—good step in the right direction. One reason, of many, I'm playing Rhonas is to give Elves trample, but to do this it costs three mana each activation. Mammoth for six mana I get an 8/8 with trample who gives all my Elves trample this seems good especially in midrange matchups and token matchups if they become viable. I don't think Mammoth replaces Rhonas because Rhonas is busted for three mana and this card is not busted for six mana. Mammoth however has potential to fight along side Rhonas and Steel Leaf Champion while giving each trample. For a budget ramp target Mammoth is excellent.

White

The white Horse in the Horse cycle is Shield Mare. It has potential to have a big impact on red aggro. Gain 3 life when it ETB and gain 3 life when it's target so it can't block or killed by burn - fine trade in this matchup. It can't be blocked by red creatures is very nice, but less nice then the life gain. I won't be surprised if Shield is the number one sideboard card for white decks in Standard.

At Radiant Elves the cost of Shield prevents me from playing it with Elves, but if I could some how configure the manabase to work then I would play this card in a heartbeat.

New Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants in M19 looks good—best Ajani artwork. He has potential to single handedly make white creature strategies viable in Standard because of his -2 reanimation ability. This ability is great with Knights because of Knight of Grace, Knight of Malice and Dauntless Bodyguard three very strong Knights who have 2 or less CMCs. Curving History of Benalia into Ajani also seems nuts.

Ajani doesn't really fit with this deck right now because he's . At Radiant Elves this casting cost makes him too hard to consistently play with Elves without some real deck changes: including more white land sources and cutting Steel Leaf Champion. His +1 ability has potential with Marwyn, the Nurturer and Rishkar, Peema Renegade. His -2 only has one good target Narnam Renegade. Two drops are what Elves are lacking and unfortunately two drops are what Ajani is good with - being able to reanimate one the turn he's played to help protect him. Three drops are overwhelming; curving any of the Elf three drops into Ajani seems good, but Ajani can't reanimate a three drop. He's fighting with Shalai, Voice of Plenty as the four drop in white with Elves and I don't think he's better than Shalai. In other strategies yes, but not with Elves because Shalai is a mana sink.

What Elves want with Ajani is a strong 3 toughness two drop such as Sylvan Advocate. Metallic Mimic has potential with Ajani because he can reanimate it. I'm not a fan of Mimic it requires set-up because of this it's only good turn two and it's very fragile with only 1 toughness. Reanimating Mimic though has potential because this speeds up the set-up that Mimic requires. If I get a Mimic onto the battlefield for free from Ajani then I can use mana to play other Elves for the turn and get the counter bonus right away. Mimic is however not a very good two drop to reanimate to protect Ajani, but I think it's worth playtesting.

Mentor of the Meek is reprinted in M19. Wow, Mentor can be a powerful card draw engine with Elves because all of them except Steel Leaf Champion and Grand Warlord Radha ETB with 2 or less power. Having to add only mana cost to each Elf to draw a card is very good. Mentor can definitely be a reason to play white with Elves. Selesnya or even Naya if I'm brave, are worth playtesting.

Lifecrafter's Bestiary has a very similar ability it's also a three drop, but it cares about Elves who are cast. Mentor cares about Elves who ETB, big difference. Right now this doesn't mean much, but we don't know about the rest of the Elves in M19 or Guilds it's possible there's a token theme with Elves. If this turns out to be the case then Mentor becomes a great option.

Currently Mentor doesn't replace Bestiary because Bestiary is one of my go-to cards for control matchups because it's not a creature, much harder for control to stop and the scry 1 is great. Mentor and Bestiary however could combine for even more draw power, although this may be overkill for this draw effect. A drawback of Mentor with current Elves is he's another three drop who's not an Elf. Too many three drops not enough two drops... I've been looking for more reasons to play Radiant Elves with Shalai, Voice of Plenty and Mentor is worth considering.

Blue

Man-o'-War will again be in Standard. Exclusion Mage is a War variant that's a Wizard—good for that tribe. Only thing she can't do that War can is bounce one of my own creatures, but this is the reason that War is such a good card, a Cube staple. Mage is an efficient creature, great card for a core set. I'm really liking M19 so far, strong cards at uncommon are what Standard needs.

Black

At Announcement Day Wizards revealed we are returning to Ravnica again for three sets in a row starting this fall. It was also revealed that Elves are in the first set, Guilds of Ravnica and the tribe is Golgari. For these reasons black is an attractive color in M19 to keep an eye on. The problem with black cards in recent sets is the best cards are which is a problem when I want to play Steel Leaf Champion and now Elvish Clancaller. These two Elves along with Llanowar Elves will be part of the core of just about any Elf deck I make moving forward and they all need a heavy green manabase which is not friendly with double black cards.

Isareth the Awakener could be a powerful sideboard card with Elves, as nonSettle board wipe insurance because she's a mana sink who can reanimate them. She can also be a roadblock for my opponent in midrange matchups who can help to give me a battlefield advantage with her reanimation. When Isareth attacks I can pay , the CMC of an Elf in the graveyard and it will be reanimated. Her ability uses colorless mana not black mana meaning I can use green mana. Isareth's a three drop and this low CMC and deathtouch is what makes her a playable card because I can attack with her more freely. Opponent is not going to block her if they can't kill her or trade in combat. Even if Isareth dies after combat I at least killed my opponent's blocker, whatever creature it was and I potentially also got to reanimate an Elf.

Plague Mare is the black Horse in the Horse cycle. This card is going be nasty to combat Elves. Like Goblin Chainwhirler this Horse wrecks token strategies and X/1 creatures. It's also much easier to cast than Chainwhirler's triple red cost. Obviously, not better than Chainwhirler, 3 power and first strike is a serious roadblock for Elves, but -1/-1 counters are much more deadly then damage to creatures. Play this Horse before attacking or after combat damage has been done and watch it wreck opponent's battlefield. Wizards has some kind of current sick fascination with hosing token strategies and making all X/1 creatures competitively pretty much unplayable or if not unplayable then very risky to play.

Ordinarily, I don't mind cards like Plague and Chainwhirler, hate cards are needed in Standard, but the recent tribes of Ixalan: Vamps, Merfolk, Pirates and Dominaria: Saprolings, Elves, Wizards, Goblins say otherwise. These tribes are not realistic options to play in Standard because of these two cards. Two cards should not cancel out six plus tribes in Standard. A bigger problem is M19 is featuring all these tribes and giving them all new tools, which is great.

Why is Wizards printing cards like Chainwhirler and now Plague if all these tribes are based on X/1 creatures and tokens while also printing a shit ton of other X/1 creatures? Wizards has shown for the last two years they don't know WTF they're doing with Standard; Chainwhirler and Plague are more examples of failure. Don't print high value hate cards that can wreck just about all the tribes in Standard right after featuring a heavy tribal plane (Ixalan) with new tribes and continuing this tribal theme onto the next plane (Dominaria) with returning tribes.

For this deck if or when I play Golgari, Plague could be an sideboard option for token matchups. Can't be blocked by white creatures also seems quite good for future Standard because white is looking like a pretty viable color after M19 and post rotation. Like Isareth the Awakener the mana cost of Plague could be too much strain on the manabase to play, but it's worth playtesting.

Red

The first red card in M19 that I think has potential with Elves is Banefire. An X damage spell can be very good with all the mana Elves can produce especially Marwyn, the Nurturer and Grand Warlord Radha. Banefire can win games out of nowhere, that's good for a mana sink. The single to cast it is nice, would be hard to cast most likely not an option, but only a single red is very doable.

The bonus of Banfire, a huge reason it's played, wins games and is considered one of the best Fireball's variants in Magic is to do 5 or more damage to something it becomes uncounterable and the damage can't be prevented. If not main deck it can be a fine sideboard card for control matchups because control is counting on being able to counter a Fireball and not die to it.

Colorless

Transmogrifying Wand is colorless repeatable unconditional creature removal and it only costs and to do so. This looks to be a fantastic sideboard option for colors that lack removal such as green and blue. The drawback of giving my opponent a 2/4 Ox token is worth only having to pay to kill a creature. Another drawback which could possibly make it unplayable until post rotation is that I can only kill a creature with it at sorcery speed. Haste and Vehicles are is a big part of current Standard and Wand can't interact with these. It's a three drop which is of a higher CMC then I like for an effect like this, but the upside of getting three counters on it when it ETB is very good for a three drop.

For four mana I can play Wand and use it to kill a creature in the same turn. I like the interaction with mana from Grand Warlord Radha and other attacking creatures this doesn't tie up my first main phase mana to play Wand. I can play Wand with Radha's mana second main phase and use it that phase to kill something or wait until next turn to clear a blocker or bigger creature. For midrange matchups Wand seems good; these matchups are slower and really come down to who can slam a big threat onto the battlefield first. Wand can kill my opponent's big first threat and the second and the third.

Diamond Mare is the colorless artifact from the Horse cycle. It's very interesting as a sideboard card with Elves. It's handy to have a sideboard plan of some lifegain for aggro matchups. Cards that gain life that are also creatures are better options because then the creature can be used also as a blocker. That's why Diamond has potential it's a two drop 1/3 creature who can block and whenever I cast a green Elf or another spell I gain one life. The only reason I'm even considering Diamond as an option is because it's a three toughness two drop. Currently, Aethersphere Harvester is my lifegain sideboard plan for aggro matchups, but post rotation Diamond can possibly fill this spot. The drawback of Diamond is it doesn't gain life when it ETB. Most times I'll I have to wait until the next turn to gain life after casting a green spell.