Thanks for this. Im running almost the same set up and have been trying to find a way to make it stronger. Almost the same creatures I just need to switch around with my instants and sorcerys

Why no Obelisk of Urd

I really like this deck! if I were you, though, I might sub in 2 Thornbow Archer. their just really strong in this kind of deck.

Obelisk of Urd is great if it can go off early enough, but it is another high mana cost card that can potentially cause me troubles if I get a hand of 4+ drops. It's also a card that generally takes up an entire turn, not creating more elves. Again, it is VERY strong in the right situation, but my personal play style does not like it very much. At least in testing so far. I might try it again, perhaps replacing 1 Might of the Masses?

Thornbow Archer is definitely awesome, but is it awesome enough? It's a good card to get out early and swing for some damage, it's even good for some early blocks. My only problem with it is that it doesn't do a lot for my ultimate goal. All other creatures either draw me cards, create more elves, or generate more mana. (And then Dwynen and Shaman are my win conditions) I would rather play mana dorks turns 1-2, and I'd rather have something else late game.

When you get your playest of Collected Company, what will you swap out to put it in?

Hey there. I bought and sleeved up this deck today (Monday, the 27th) and after an hour of testing the shell I can already tell you that I absolutely love this deck. It's fast, powerful, has a hint of combo, and is very consistent. In your description you say that the direct upgrade to the deck would be Collected Company, but after sleeving them up, I've found that more often than not I'm looking for a specific card, be it Shaman of the Pack to close out the game or Reclamation Sage to blow up opposing artifacts. On that note, I decided to cut those for a full set of Chord of Calling. I've found that it's a million times more consistent, it hits the four drops you want, and it's nowhere near a challenge to cast. It's obvious that you'd cut the Gather the Pack set for Chord or CoCo, but I thought that it was worth telling you what I've discovered. Also, Obelisk of Urd isn't very good. It's powerful, but you'd really rather have the 4th Might of the Masses (which is also a card that I absolutely love, btw) or convoking for chord to go and get Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen.

Apologies for the double post, but I'll tell you how my matches go after the tuesday night standard tourney tomorrow. Hopefully I end up battling some metagame decks so I can come up with some opinions on what would be better for the sideboard against them.

Thank you for the response, Davik100. Your testing on CoCo versus Chord is very interesting. I can imagine Chord would do wonders for consistency. I'm stubborn enough that I'll still have to test it myself. Yes, Gather the Pack is my first choice for the swap, but I'm not sure it'll be a 4 for 4. I like having fuel for murderous cuts, and gather doesn't suck. I might swap out some Sylvan Messenger to keep a few gather the pack. Messengers are great, but are not hit by CoCo and I'd rather spend my 4 mana on CoCo. I will have to test. Also yes, Might of the Masses is just too good. Obelisk of Urd is fun, but I still don't like it for the reasons stated above.

What about throwing in some Foul-Tongue Shriek

dethangel201 I have tested Foul-Tongue Shriek, and lemme tell you, it's awful. I can not think of any probable situation where I'd rather have it than Might of the Masses. Might is a much better card with a lot more utility. Running both shriek and might is a bad idea- too many win conditions that require a good state, not enough cards to actually build up to that state.

I disagree Foul-Tongue Shriek is amazing, when you play Might of the Masses the creature it targets can just be killed in response, while Foul-Tongue Shriek will get through anyways, i think it's better against the abzan midrange decks that have so many kill spells, plus Foul-Tongue Shriek gives you life back from it, it can also be used when your opponent has blockers, for example if you're game is going a bit long (turn 6-7) and your opponent has his field set up, 1-2 Foul-Tongue Shriek ends the game even if everything is blocked, it has a bit more variability than Might of the Masses, I'm honestly considering running both in my elf deck, they're almost like having extra Shaman of the Packs in your deck, which is the real win condition of the deck.

Mlasko It's true that Foul-Tongue Shriek has its uses, but my problem is that those uses are only when you're well established. Might of the Masses doesn't have to wait for your creatures to lose summoning sickness, they just need to exist to add to the damage. (this is important- It is not uncommon to play 2-3 creatures the turn you might for the win) You can even use might in a pinch to kill a blocked or blocking creature. I also stick by what I said about not running both. A hand full of shrieks, mights, and shamans with little to no other creatures is just death for you.

How do you feel about Brutal Hordechief? I feel like he's a better way to close out the game than the lord, or might of the masses, and is a solid chord target

PenguinCrusader I disagree pretty strongly. The first problem with Brutal Hordechief is that he's not an elf. This means he is not hit with Sylvan Messenger and will not add to Shaman of the Pack's life loss. The next problem is that his ability is basically Foul-Tongue Shriek, and I explained above why I prefer Might of the Masses. He also costs 3 more mana than shriek. Yes his ability happens every turn after you play him, but your poor little 1/1 and 2/2 elves are not going to survive to attack several turns in a row. I am not running red or white, so his activated ability is worthless to me. All in all, I'd much much much rather have Dwynen or Might.

Ever considered Bow of Nylea?

I've been playing a variation of your deck, i have to say the added Might of the Masses wincon has greatly increased my winrate. Thanks for the inspiration!

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/22-07-15-evil-elves/

Thanks for posting this! Great budget deck. Going to try this deck out at FNM and Origins Game day.

How do you think it fairs against Burn and Thopter decks? Would Nissa, Vastwood Seer  ^Flip make this better? And would you replace Sylvan Messenger with Chord of Calling/Collected Company

Thanks again! :)

I feel the best way to answer your question is to link to a deck tech fairly recently released by the Mana Source. I agree almost completely with their list. If you have no budget limits, this is the deck to build.

This is the Mana Source's Elf Tribal Deck

If you don't want to watch the video, I'll answer your specific concerns. They run a playset of Nissa, Vastwood Seer  ^Flip. I love Wedge's explanation as to why, it's worth the watch. The one thing I disagree slightly with is the lower number of Sylvan Messengers. I understand they just didn't have room for more, but this card is one of the best ways to snowball out of control, or even recover.

Definitely a good watch... I also like the use of Nissa as a scapegoat to draw removals.

Funny you say that about sylvan messengers. Just played a round where I played 4 messengers and the only reason I won was by drawing 2 shamans at the last minute with them. They're capable of changing the outcome in a heartbeat (although it's a little like playing roulette).

I'll let you know the results of this weekend. Hopefully it helps with this deck build.