Never Trust an Elf

Commander Deck Help forum

Posted on Aug. 5, 2020, 11:43 a.m. by JarringTiger

Hello friends, Because I'm impossible to please and have commitment issues, I'm frequently struck with the intense desire to build new decks around mechanics/interactions/creatures that I've never experienced before. I've only been playing for around 10 months, so there's plenty of decks and archetypes that I have no prior games with that catch my wandering eye quite easily. Whether because of Jumpstart or a random YouTube gameplay video or a story I was reading, I was struck with the overwhelming desire to build an elf deck. I obviously know that elves have a long and storied history in "traditional" formats, I've ever played against them in commander, so I had nothing to go off of besides a list of elf cards. So, I turn to you all- is my elf deck any good? The only strategy is to generate preposterous amounts of mana, empty my hand, and overrun.

Never Trust an Elf

Note: due to budgetary restrictions, Allosaurus Shepherd and Craterhoof Behemoth have been sidelined, but once Jumpstart actually reaches its full print run, they'll hopefully be cheap enough to slide in.

hejtmane says... #2

never mine I missed him

August 5, 2020 1:44 p.m. Edited.

Gidgetimer says... #3

Not really budget friendly because of a few of the cards, but this is a brutal elf deck that I have played against.


Wife's Elf Commander Deck

Commander / EDH* PookandPie

356 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER


August 5, 2020 4:54 p.m.

Daveslab2022 says... #4

Hey you like brewing new ideas and decks?! You’ve come to the perfect place!

SynergyBuild and TypicalTimmy are my go to whenever I have a new idea. They’re both excellent deck builders and always have a unique spin on whatever I’m thinking.

August 5, 2020 7:20 p.m.

Yisan says... #5

I applaud you for choosing Marwyn.... Love her. Looked at your list and your maybes. Looks like you got the idea. The only thing I would add would be Umbral Mantel and Staff of Domination.

August 5, 2020 10:21 p.m.

JarringTiger says... #6

Yisan I can't afford staff lol. Since I already have Sword of the Paruns, I'm not sure about the mantle, just because I really want to lean into the overwhelming elves aspect, not necessarily the infinite mana part (even though I know infinite mana gets me all my elves, but I think you get it haha).

August 5, 2020 10:28 p.m.

Yisan says... #7

Mantle is way better than sword of the paruns in my opinion. But I hear ya.

August 5, 2020 10:34 p.m.

JarringTiger says... #8

Yisan I agree mantle is better, but sword is what I had lying around haha. I should probably stop cheaping out and replace it :p

August 5, 2020 10:37 p.m.

Azdranax says... #9

JarringTiger I'm glad you made this post as I've been needing to update my Marwyn tribal deck for quite a while based on a lot of updates over the last few months, so what better time than to potentially help you with your build. Here is my decklist for your reference, hopefully you find some things of interest.

Elves Tap and Slap (Marwyn Tribal Counters)

In playing the deck the last few years, I've found two consistent themes I'm always happy to see in my hand...cards with an untap creature ability and card draw options. Finale of Devastation, God-Eternal Rhonas and Genesis Wave are generally game-ending plays, Rishkar's Expertise and Soul's Majesty are nearly as good as well. One of my recent favorites, though, is Colossification, as with any untap ability you either immediately cast a game-ending bomb or one-shot an opponent with commander damage in most situations.

Additional redundancy is also helpful, as you can work around Marwyn being targeted by making an equally large Selvala or Viridian Joiner in many cases. I hope you find this helpful and enjoy brewing the elves, it's a classic that never goes out of style.

August 6, 2020 2:44 a.m.

smackjack says... #10

Maybe you can find some inspiration from my Marwyn EDH deck? Its not very budget tho, Gaea's Cradle is pretty much the only card i refuse to buy, but there are some budget gems in there.. Malachite Talisman for example. With enough counters on Marwyn you can untap her every time you play a green spell. Its like a baby Paradox Engine :)

August 6, 2020 3:02 p.m.

Please login to comment