Thanks for the suggestions!1. I don't play black mostly for budget reasons. I used to, but the budget mana was very awkward, and I think white adds more.2. Pact has worked very well for me. Chord feels clunky and can get stuck in your hand, but in my experience Pact is more explosive and fits my playstyle better.3. I think I'm going to try Krosan Grip and Lead out of the board. I don't love Messenger because it feels too low impact for a four-drop. What do you think I should cut for them?

Since I don't really know hoe essential the cards are given your meta, your best picks are likely going to be taking out something like a Life Goes On, Choke and/or Path to Exile since you can't get them by tutoring. (That and unless you are playing against jeskai control, most blue decks have ways to get rid of it)

Another thing that might interest you is to play something like Fiend Hunter or Banisher Priest in your sideboard as a one-of removal spell, as while yes, they are not elves and don't fit the tribal theme, you can actually tutor them up when you need them. This is more of a meta dependent choice if you need the removal or not but I've seen it work in elfball before.

I play against a lot of UW control and in that matchup if I can stick a Choke, it's usually GG. I think I will cut Life Goes On, and I like the Fiend Hunter idea alot, thanks for that!

filthyc4sual,
In addition to the standard disclaimers (I've goldfished but haven't played the deck IRL, I have no idea on your meta, etc), I need to mention I play Ponza and Infect, not Elves. Nevertheless, here are some thoughts from on the other side of the table ...

• Burrenton Forge-Tender is REALLY good against me.
• I don't know how your Affinity/Blue Steel/etc matchup are, but I like the idea of having some fetchable Artifact hate rather than just the Fracturing Gusts. Kataki, War's Wage, maybe?
• If you bring in Kitchen Finks regularly, you might also consider Melira, Sylvok Outcast. It's probably too inconsistent unless Infect is seeing a resurgence in your meta. But it's REALLY tough to deal with.
• With the White sideboard, I'd expect to see Path to Exile. If Fiend Hunter is enough though, cool!
• Seems like Essence Warden would be insane in a bunch of match-ups.
• I ran Choke for quite a while and found it to be really good. My only caution is to beware of Spreading Seas on your Lands. It probably doesn't matter with all your Dorks though.

Draw well!

Looks pretty solid.

As far as sideboard, the meta is very graveyard heavy right now so with that in mind

Ground Seal

Relic of Progenitus

Grafdigger's Cage

Tormod's Crypt

Sometimes Bow of Nylea can be useful game 2 also

Feed the Clan is another great way to keep your life total high, and if you are splashing white Path to Exile is a great sideboard answer to most modern threats such as Death's Shadow, Tarmogoyf or Master of Etherium

Lastly, Beast Within is one of the best mono green removal spells in modern, it answers a surprising amount of cards id recommend 2 in the side

Hope that helps!

Ah you have rest in peace, ignore the graveyard hate part

R.I.P. Is trashed by Abrupt Decay in modern. Use Leyline of the Void instead.

Void doesnt Bojuka Bog on cast and in this deck its dead card if its not in your opening hand. plus, its twice as pricy and not able to be hard cast. Not to mention it also dies to decay.. rest in peace does more for half the mana with the same weaknesses as void but within his decks colors.

If you look at the modern meta on mtggoldfish you wont see any leyline of the voids.

Current modern meta decks by usage %

You're right. Sorry, saw the comment and knee-jerked on the comment.

However, you are mistaken about Leyline falling to Decay. It does not, as it's CMC is >3.

Right, forgot it was cmc specific

Also, if you look at the average elf deck you see rest in peace

Elfball average modern decklist

It does die to decay but it does the job much better in this deck, and at least the decay is wasted on rip instead of one of his elves

LOL, can't argue with that logic!

Thats not an average oops its a top 8 elfball placer

Still though

TheSurgeon I thought Abrupt Decay wasn't very popular right now? good idea, though. I think it might take up too much space, you really want 3-4 copies.

goblinguiderevealpls What is Bow of Nylea good against? It seems very slow. I don't run Feed the Clan because I usually don't have big creatures, I would need to pump them with Ezuri, Renegade Leader which doesn't seem consistent enough. I like Kitchen Finks in part because I can tutor for it. I might try Beast Within, but what matchups is it better than Fiend Hunter or Reclamation Sage? Also, what do you think I should cut to add it in?

clayperce Is Burrenton Forge-Tender really better than Selfless Spirit? As affinity hate goes, I have Fracturing Gust and Stony Silence, and a Reclamation Sage in the maindeck, along with tutors. I think Melira, Sylvok Outcast seems too narrow, but if Infect becomes popular, I will probably add it in. I like Fiend Hunter because I can tutor for it. I do want to try to fit Essence Warden in somewhere, but it seems like it would just get bolted. What do you recommend cutting for it?

From my testing of Elves decks, I found that Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx was pretty win-more most of the time, and it could be pretty bad when you really just needed an untapped source of . I'd advise moving on from it and adding more lands that can produce . The reason why I'd do that is that Elves has a bunch of incentives to run the Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies package - 2 Devoted Druids and an Ezuri, Renegade Leader are infinite pump for your team as well as infinite , and Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies + Ezuri, Renegade Leader also achieves the same result. To make room for that, I'd part with the Craterhoof Behemoth (which is good, but not great in Modern) and the toolbox creatures (which you just don't need when you can threaten to kill people in so many different ways). Lastly, Chord of Calling is pretty much just better than Summoner's Pact for this deck.

As far as the sideboard goes, I question the inclusion of Choke (there are only 2-3 major blue decks in the format, and your matchup against all of them seems fine to me), and I would rather see more Lead the Stampedes to help outlast grindy opponents.

This elf deck went 5-0 at a Competitive event, it might be a good resource as it looks very similar to yours

What would you suggest I replace Craterhoof Behemoth with? I like it because it beats decks that can Surgical Extraction my Ezuri, Renegade Leader. I tried a Devoted Druid package, but I didn't really like it. I also like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx as extra copies of Elvish Archdruid, but what would you replace it with?

Nykthos can just be more Temple Gardens. You could maybe have a 1-of Westvale Abbey  ^Flip, though that didn't test all that well for me either. In general, most Elf decks rely on Ezuri or Lord buffs to get through - a 1-of Elvish Champion is popular in some sideboards, and I've seen some versions opt for Joraga Warcaller in a bid to make their Elves massive (though I don't recommend that now that Fatal Push is the removal spell du jour).

Looking at that list it ran nonr of my first suggestions, what i would recommend from that list is definitely 1-3 Cavern of Souls mainboard, its actually a huge lifesaver in tribal decks liek elves, goblins(yay guide), faeries and merfolk.

Plus, cavern does what Choke wants to do for no mana or sideboard space

He also runs most of the mentioned white cards like Path to Exile Vizier of Remedies and Temple Garden,

as far as Burrenton Forge-Tender vs Selfless Spirit the 5-0 elves from August 22 o linked runs 1 of each in side, so i would reiterate to run both

As far as what to cut, Craterhoof Behemoth is really more of an edh powerhouse and too slow for modern, dont let the set reprint fool you, and Path to Exile definitely seems like a must-have in sideboard

I'm saving up for Cavern of Souls, but for now I'm just gonna keep it slightly budget.

I guess I could try a Vizier of Remedies package again, but I think that it seems different from what the deck is trying to do at the moment.

I can usually cast Craterhoof Behemoth around turn 4, and I almost always win after casting it.

filthyc4sual,

On Burrenton Forge-Tender vs. Selfless Spirit: It's not that one is better than the other. They're different. E.g., Selfless Spirit protects your dudes. Burrenton Forge-Tender protects your face and sometimes (or often, depending on your meta) your dudes.

I missed the maindeck Reclamation Sage, as you had asked me to focus on your sideboard.

As far as what to pull for Essence Warden, it's all about your other sideboard choices, and what you need most. Without a detailed understanding of your win percentages and meta, I have no idea. Here's a great article though, on generic sideboarding philosophy.

You're welcome.

Hey friend! I'm glad to help out -- I'm by no means an Elfball player, but I've lost against the deck enough to get my sea legs (:

As usual, I'm with clayperce on Kataki, War's Wage as a fetch-able artifact hate. It also pairs pretty well with your other hate. Between the Sage, Stony, Gust, and Kataki, you'll be equipped to hate on all manner of artifacts.

I'm thinking on what could be better than Craterhoof Behemoth... Chorus of Might seems like it could be good. Creeperhulk as a non-elf Ezuri. Either of those could be brutal if you played them right.

Either way, this deck is extremely tuned! I can't suggest sideboard slots any more specifically unless I were in your meta with a papered deck, so great work! Be sure to mention me if I can be of further service!

I prefer Craterhoof Behemoth over Chorus of Might because it can be tutored for. Is Kataki, War's Wage really that good? Against Affinity it seems like they would just sac everything to Arcbound Ravager, and Lantern really just needs to keep one artifact in play (Ensnaring Bridge) and keep me away from my Reclamation Sage. Thanks for the advice though!

I like the direction you've taken with elves even though it's my second least favorite deck to play against. Curious to know how to do in games 2&3 vs wraths. I recently played an elves deck and Radiant Flames worked out very well for me. I would suggest Heroic Intervention if it is a problem. +1 from me!

It tends to not be a problem, I have Pacts and Selfless Spirit out of the board as well as Ezuri in the maindeck. I also just kill faster than some wraths come online.