Who Doesn't Like Drawing Cards?

Commander / EDH* Competitive Elves GW (Selesnya) Infinite Combo Multiplayer

like70bunnies

Land (28)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gaea's CradleGC
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Savannah
• 5x Snow-Covered Forest
• 5x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Removal (8)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Force of Vigor
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Utility (5)

• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Road of Return
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sylvan Library

Wincon (3)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Approach of the Second Sun
• 1x Walking Ballista

Tutor (16)

• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Congregation at Dawn
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sylvan Tutor
• 1x Worldly Tutor
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

Combo (8)

• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Marwyn, the Nurturer *f-pre*
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Seeker of Skybreak
• 1x Umbral Mantle
• 1x Viridian Joiner
• 1x Vizier of Remedies

Other (5)

• 1x Mobilize
• 1x Quirion Ranger
• 1x Staff of Domination
• 1x Vitalize
• 1x Wirewood Lodge

Haste Enabler (4)

• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Instill Energy
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Commander (1)

Ramp (12)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Wild Growth

Protection (6)

• 1x Allosaurus Shepherd
• 1x Dosan the Falling Leaf
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Silence
• 1x Veil of Summer

Stax (4)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Drannith MagistrateGC
• 1x Root Maze

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Introduction

This Description is a continuing work in progress. Please pardon our appearance.

This deck centers itself around the strong power of Green-White, using all available resources as a fast-paced mana engine to pump out creatures, draw cards, and win games faster than your opponents can set up to take you down. Costing only 3 mana, Selvala, Explorer Returned is an incredibly underrated general that can easily come down on turn 2 and doesn't use the stack in her Parley ability, holding significant potential to draw more cards than any other spell that may see if used properly. This deck has seen many changes and forms, ranging from Elf tribal to Stax to Goodstuff to Combo, and it's been one hell of a ride. It currently focuses on a strong early-game strategy that aims to win as early as turn 3 or sustain until the proper moment later in the game. The deck is very fast, usually making it the first threat in a game. As such, my build plays into a theme of redundancy so you can bounce back and steal the game later if disrupted early. I'm very interested in suggestions, and would love to keep the train moving on who I believe may just be the most criminally underrated CEDH general in the game.

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The Primer

Overview

Reading this decklist

Reading this decklist

I've decided to break this deck into custom categories in order to clearly convey each card's specific primary purpose. I've broken them down into the following categories:

Utility: Things that come in handy when necessary. Inclusive of card draw and recursion effects.

Haste Enablers: The cards in the deck that grant haste, allowing you to speed your game up with all your untap effects.

Combo: The pieces that enable and facilitate combos that get me to the end of the game.

Removal: The things that interact with the threats on the board.

Untap: Items that are specifically geared towards untapping my creatures. There are other effects in the deck but these are the dedicated ones.

Ramp: The cards that allow me to cheat on mana and play Selvala as soon as possible.

Tutor: What cards let me search for what?

Protection: Items that protect myself from removal and interaction that keep my engine going.

Wincon: Those special few items that seal the deal.

Deck colors

Deck colors

I think that Selvala, Heart of the Wilds is a fantastic general but I've always thought that she missed that extra color to really break her. Instead of going for massive mana and launching big creature kills on our opponents, the addition of white allows for more protection, interaction, and most importantly wincons. I'm very fond of Approach of the Second Sun as a way to just end the game off of the infinite Selvala loop, but white brings in some other important pieces, namely Stoneforge Mystic, which fetches Umbral Mantle, arguably the best card in the deck. Adding white allows for stronger protection and combo assurance with Grand Abolisher and Silence.

Deck strengths

Deck strengths

The main perk to this deck is how low to the ground it is. With such a low curve, a healthy amount of mana dorks like Fyndhorn Elves, Llanowar Elves, Avacyn's Pilgrim, and Birds of Paradise, or ways to cheat the beginning of the game with Mana Crypt, or Chrome Mox, Selvala can easily hit the field on turn 2 or even 1 with the right lineup. From there, gauging threats, waiting for protection pieces, and jumping at the right opportunity will send your opponents packing.

Deck weaknesses

Deck weaknesses

This deck can be very fast, and quickly becomes notorious between playgroups as an extreme early game threat. When that happens, you find yourself eating constant Thoughtseize effects, which picks apart your fragile line. It happens every now and then and it's painful. If Selvala gets removed before she can untap, or if you spend all of your resources to no outcome, you could find yourself dead in the water with everyone watching you carefully. On top of that, with the amount of cards you give your opponents, the combo often either wins for you or someone else. Seal the deal or take the L.

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The Strategy

General strategy

General strategy

The whole deck revolves around your general. Selvala is so versatile in her ability to generate insane amounts of mana, draw cards, and drop big threats early. With a good lifegain ability added on, this build doesn't care much for damage save for large swings, and can easily recover insane amounts of life out of nowhere. Ultimately the plan here is to get Selvala out early and start drawing extra cards. The key is to utilize as many untap effects as possible so you can draw into a huge threat early before anyone can deal with it and generate a load of mana. Pairing in cards like Umbral Mantle to complement infinite mana generators allow for an infinite parley, infinitely large creatures, and an easily sealed game. You can also use your insane amounts of mana to drop Approach of the Second Sun super early and turbo it back out before your opponents can stop it.

Early game

Early game

The early game follows a pretty straight line. You want to try and keep a hand that allows for a turn 2 Selvala, which is not impossible. A significant portion of the deck consists of mana-dorks (think of Fyndhorn Elves), and mana-cheats (Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Wild Growth). You obviously need to keep a hand with both colors if possible. You only really need to keep 2 lands in your opening hand, as you generate so much mana in alternative means, so your other 5 cards have some flexibility. The ultimate idea is to try to win by turn 3-4, so depending on the generals in play, you can adjust your aggression accordingly.

Mid game

Mid game

If you don't snag the win early, the midgame tends to grind out a little bit. If Selvala gets removed, it's a good idea to leave her out of the game until you're able to get a haste effect on board (Instill energy, concordant crossroads, or Lightning Greaves) so you can sweep back in. The middle of the game is also prime time to set up some infinite mana engines- just don't go all-in unless you're able to drop everything and go. Cards like Ranger-Captain of Eos and Grand Abolisher are huge in the mid-to-late game, and it's usually not recommended to try to go off without them. If all else fails, you can try to sneak a Yisan in and hit a line that gets you your mana pieces, your tutor creatures, and ultimately your win if necessary.

Late game

Late game

If you're here, you're in trouble. This deck really excels in the early game and can be super sensitive to removal, so the longer time your opponents stick around, the more answers they'll have. The plan stays the same though. Get your pieces together and try to slam down. Best time to try it is right after a big board wipe, and if the rest of the table finds themselves tapped out, like they would be after a good counter war. Hopefully by now your opponents have seen you try and whiff, and will leave you mostly alone. You can still come out of nowhere and win though, it's just maybe a little rougher. Playing your protection spells properly here is key, and can definitely make the difference between a win for you or for someone else.

Contingency plan

Contingency plan

The deck has a few contingency plans. First and foremost lies in Approach of the Second Sun. I've won quite a few times after the big pieces have been removed and while it's not a full combo card, you can insta-win with it. Alternatively, you could make infinite mana and laser the table down with Walking Ballista. While the main win con is a mill strategy, you may notice that the deck doesn't run any titans or graveyard loopback strategies. This is where Regrowth and Noxious Revival come in. They'll keep you from milling out while you drown your opponents in cards.

Mulligans

Mulligans

"MULLIGANS" TEXT GOES HERE.

Matchups and sideboarding

Matchups and sideboarding

"MATCHUPS AND SIDEBOARDING" TEXT GOES HERE.

Combos and synergies

Combos and synergies

"COMBOS AND SYNERGIES" TEXT GOES HERE.

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Card Choices Explained

Lands

Lands

"LANDS" TEXT GOES HERE.

Creatures

Creatures

"CREATURES" TEXT GOES HERE.

Other cards

Other cards

"OTHER CARDS" TEXT GOES HERE.

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Other Information

Building this deck

Building this deck

"BUILDING THIS DECK" TEXT GOES HERE.

Event record

Event record

"EVENT RECORD" TEXT GOES HERE.

Change log

Change log

"CHANGE LOG" TEXT GOES HERE.

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Feedback

"FEEDBACK" TEXT GOES HERE..

The coding for this primer was developed by Epochalyptik here.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.85
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3-3 G
Folders	My decks!, The Selesnya Deckbuilding Challenge