Joraga Treespeaker > Heritage Druid . Gives 2 mana per instead of one and doesn't do in increments of 3 elves. With mana ramp the level up abilities should be near irrelevent. Up Rofellos to 2. He will be killed fairly quickly since he draws hate and his ability is insane. Maybe even 3 of him. You lack win cons also. You theoretically could get I guess get enough good creatures but it seems unlikely. You are currently not really ramping into anything except for 1 Riptide Replicator. Grab some large cost spells like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn .

holy god.. this deck scares the crap out of me.. +1

just tre world.Glimpse of Nature .30 elves down at 2nd turn isn't bad, yeah? : )

I really like this deck, but I agree with mozerdozer. The deck needs some large spells.

Glimpse of Nature would do nothing unless they had haste. I assume the idea is that they self-replace their mana cost. Also he could easily draw a non-creature card.

Nice Deck! Maybe use Strength of the Tajuru with Joraga Warcaller ?

hey man Heritage Druid or Birchlore Rangers + Nettle Sentinel + Glimpse of Nature mean infinite mana and drawing ;)

Thanks for all of the thoughtful comments! I greatly appreciate all of your suggestions.

Without further ado, an update!

8/28/2011-

I have developed an opinion in designating several pieces of the main deck as non-critical. These components will probably be the first choices to swap for cards in the sideboard. They are: Earthcraft and Door of Destinies.

In the sideboard, there also exist several cards which seem (to me) like weak points, which appear neither to complement the deck's strategy nor prevent it from being compromised by other deck types. These cards are (at the time of 8/28/2011): Concordant Crossroads and the two Wellwisher s.

As such, I have replaced Door of Destinies with (great recommendation, thanks!) a single copy of Strength of the Tajuru . Not only does this card complement well with multiple Joraga Warcaller s, as mentioned in the comment below, but as an instant it serves as an excellent "stomping" component. When coupled together, the combo 'Strength of the Tajuru + Joraga Warcaller (s)' provides a creature boost that serves as an excellent win condition, a crucial elements that this deck probably needs.

I have declined to replace Earthcraft for now, since its mana acceleration abilities may yet prove to be critical in the coming future.

I have also declined to replace Wellwisher in the sideboard, since I lack of ideas for alternatives as of right now, and since its life-replenishing abilities may prove useful to counter opposing deck strategies in the future.

I have replaced Concordant Crossroads in the sideboard with Door of Destinies . It is an unsure move, since neither of those cards have proven to be very crucial to the deck's strategy (I've mentioned the two before as both weak points). If anyone has better suggestions as to what I can use the space for, please do mention below.

On the maybeboard, I have listed several cards as possible replacements for the "weak points" of the sideboard (those are Wellwisher and Door of Destinies as of now). For now, the board is dedicated to providing ideas for additional win conditions that this deck can best handle. These include the following:

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (great suggestion, thanks!), an "ultimate creature" that utilizes well the mana acceleration properties of this deck and may prove itself to be a win condition.

Epic Struggle , itself an alternative win condition. This enchantment well utilizes the creature acceleration properties of this deck.

Helix Pinnacle , itself another alternative win condition. The enchantment best utilizes the mana acceleration properties of this deck.

Any further suggestions for the Maybeboard will be extremely appreciated.--

I will update this deck again as soon as possible (probably on a weekly or biweekly basis depending on the number of running ideas) until I feel that it is perfected. Thanks!

deck:elven-empire

maybe Wild Growth for a litte more acceleration

You could always go along the Extended Elf deck that tore up PT Berlin, only with Vintage card pool complimenting it. I actually played the Extended Elf deck myself, and it won with a combination of Chord of Calling out a Predator Dragon after chaining Glimpse of Nature with the Elf mana engine (That being Birchlore Rangers , Heritage Druid , Nettle Sentinel , Wirewood Symbiote , plus however you choose to manipulate the build, since it's a very mutable build.) I can make my exact list from Extended if you wish, but essentially, the mana engine combined with the card draw of Glimpse means that the deck can win turn 2, turn 3 fairly consistently, provided you keep a workable hand. Might be preferable to use a different creature, as you do in fact have the Vintage card pool to work with, rather than Extended as of PT Berlin. The thing with the Elf deck is that generally, with the Glimpse and the mana engine, you don't NEED to explicitly combo into anything. You can just go for a Wirewood Hivemaster based aggro strategy, depending on the deck you play against. It also depends exactly on how competitively you want to play, but Elves is a solid deck for Legacy and Vintage. So yeah, I can make my DragonElfBall list up for you if you're interested in seeing some of the mechanics of other Elf decks.

@Jimmeh92 i agree with ur vision of this deck : ) Birchlore Rangers + Nettle Sentinel + Heritage Druid + Quirion Ranger + Wirewood Symbiote with obviously Glimpse of Nature is the strongest draw engine in magic : ) but is a different kind of deck, the man here is looking for pump a lot lot of elves, not play all them in 2nd turn! but every suggestion here is creative and minded : )

True, but you can still use the mana engine to fuel this deck I guess, you just don't get the advantage of a nuts card draw engine. You could combine the two for an Elf beatdown strategy based around Coat of Arms and the usual creature enhancement strategy.

in my metagame there is an elfball combo (the one you mentioned) that win at 2nd turn with a 20+ storm of Grapeshot and in fact is a powerful deck; if anyone combines the Glimpse of Nature combo with the pumper yet here there will be a ban deck with a lot of 20/20 at the third turn :)

The great thing about the Elfball combo is that it really doesn't matter exactly how you finish it. I've seen Brain Freeze versions, versions with Predator Dragon , with Mirror Entity , with Blasting Station , through beatdown, the Grapeshot , and a whole host of other things, like icing the board with an Ethersworn Canonist , Tar Fiend to tear your hand open, Gaddock Teeg to further ice the board. The deck is just so mutable, that you can really go nuts as to the finishers. Some other fun additions include Momir Vig, Simic Visionary , who was in my DragonElf deck as my 'security' option. Made the deck unfizzleable.

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all of the thoughtful comments! I very much appreciate all of your suggestions.

A quick response to the recent discussion. I will follow up with an update soon this week.

I think this Elfball/Elf Engine concept is very interesting. I had never thought of a self-sustaining creature-play method before, but then again I am not very experienced. The discussed ways in which this strategy can be accomplished (along with great win-con suggestions, by the way!) are in fact eye-opening for me.

From what I gather, however, it would seem most beneficial to optimize the combo using a combination of Glimpse of Nature (great suggestion!) and Concordant Crossroads . That way, Elves played on the same turn can not only be tapped for mana (regardless of the existence of Heritage Druid ), but can attack and deal damage as way. In the case of Priest of Titania , Elvish Archdruid , or Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary , these Elves can be tapped for significantly more mana (compared to Heritage Druid 's ability).

Wirewood Symbiote (great suggestion!) and Nettle Sentinel (another great suggestion!) could both further catalyze this mana engine, but since its ability can only be played once per turn, I do not believe that it will be optimal. Still, stringing this card with Priest of Titania , Elvish Archdruid , or Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary could prove to be extremely beneficial nevertheless.

After going through most of the deck using Glimpse of Nature , the player may build a suitable endgame component in order to take full advantage of the number of creatures and mana in play. This can be, as generously suggested by Jimmeh92 and MLoukaz, Predator Dragon , Brain Freeze , Mirror Entity , Grapeshot , or (I think) any other useful non-creature spell employing the Storm ability.

Also, I personally believe that Helix Pinnacle and (especially) Epic Struggle would serve as suitable win-cons.

There probably already exists many decks oriented around this concept, by maximizing the amount of elves in play using Glimpse of Nature and balling everything up into an explosive win.

As suggested by Jimmeh92, this concept is certainly very mutable, and definitely deserves much consideration. I applaud you and MLoukaz for your thoughtful comments. If you don't mind, Jimmeh92, I would very much appreciate if you could compile the Extended Elf Decklist for me. I'm always looking to expand my knowledge in this area.

My comment doesn't really express an opinion, I'm only attempting to add to this discussion. I will take all of these great comments into great consideration when I update the deck this week.

Thanks for all of your valuable opinions! As I am still relatively new to Magic the Gathering, I would very much appreciate any further suggestions and/or constructive criticism that you may have to offer.

Solomon i dont know you but im loving your innovative and open-mind to learn those tactis : ) you seem to be a good player that not limit his research for the right card for the right deck! ; )

just to synthetise the elfball

Glimpse of Nature +Heritage Druid +Nettle Sentinel

start the combo. when u, playing lot of creatures, draw another glimpe you'll just draw 2 cards for creature and then when u draw the 3rd you'll draw 3...

Elvish Visionary help you keep on the combo.

remember some math.. if you have out 2x Nettle Sentinel + the one random elf played that just untapped the nettle and Heritage Druid you will get 3 mana for another elf that will untap the nettles that mean another 3 mana..

this mean that a started combo you will full your mana pool in an incredible speed cause the most elves you will play during the combo costs 1 mana, in other world every time you will play a cc1 elf during combo you will draw another card, add +1 to all storm's spell and add 2 green mana in your pool. consider what this mean in case of a Fireball .

This just to say that a good made elfball with all manacost 1 or 2 have all the chances to win surely in 2nd, 3rd turn. Just to you, my friend, the decision to how really finish your future oppos ;)

Peace

and all this in 2nd, 3rd turn max : )

I'll compile the list and put in some helpful hints in the information section, I played Elfball decks of various guises for the best part of 2 years, and I will tell you now, you HAVE to put the work in to get this deck to not simply explode in your face. Lots and LOTS of playtesting an absolute must.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/dragonelf-combo/

There's the list, note that it only runs a bare minimum of lands. You should only ever want or need 2 lands.

Just an idea but there is too many landadd in glimpse of nature's, a concordant crossroads and maybe 2 regal forces drop it to around 17 land one being a cradle if available. You can ramp into an emrakul turn 3 more ofthen than not. Some of the better untap effects are quirion ranger and wirewood symbiote.

Im actually working on a Legacy Elf list right now the objective is to win turn 3~4 latestthe list im working on includes8x Llanowar elves/Fyndhorn/arbor and combination of the 3 preferably fyndhorn and llanowarit runs 1 gaea's Cradle with 4 verdant catacombs to limit land draws with 10 forest and 1 dryad arbor.

Rofellos is too slow for this buildit also contains 2 elvish spirit Guides1 Concordant Cross roads4 Green sun's Zenith with 4 summoner's Pacts and 3 primal commands

Heritage Druid Elvish Visionary and nettle sentinels are all 4 ofsheritage with 3 nettle sentinels gets crazy you can throw in a cloudstone curio to get infinte draw with elvish visionary and 2 nettle sentinels and a heritage druid all of this is possible by turn 3 which you would then drop a single emrakul. take extra turn and beat for 20+ damage on your extra turn

+1 for having images in the description. And I love elves.

Just did a play test and was attacking with two 5/5's turn three, three 15/15's turn four and five 20/20's turn five...

Craziness...

+1 :D

Joraga Warcaller + Strength of the Tajuru = Win moar

Slate of Ancestry is not the best drawing engine at your disposal. Once you've used that effect once, you should probably be able to win the game. Collective Unconscious is 2 mana faster, and if you want a real drawing engine, check out Glimpse of Nature (elaborated on later), and if you get your creature count to a respectable level, Lead the Stampede will help too.

put a singleton Concordant Crossroads in your deck It can allow you to win 1 or 2 turns earlerier than you otherwise woudl have been able to. You only need 1. Also, consider Lightning Greaves (again, only 1 or 2), which will accerate your deck considerably.

Riptide Replicator is slow. It costs 4 mana every time you want to make a new creature. If you think you need that kind of token producing engine, Imperious Perfect is the card for you.

also, consider adding 2 more Elvish Archdruid s. the archdruids are good because they are not only mana engines, but they are lords, and they help you aggro out a win earlier, or protect yoru elves from Pyroclasm s etc.

i'd cut Elvish Guidance simply because there aer better alternatives that also have a body attached.

You might want to reduce the amount of Coat of Arms . Sometimes it's just the right card to putt you in winning distance, but most of the time, you'd be better served by holding an elf drop in your hand.

You also want to cut down your land count to less than 15. Elves don't need a lot of land, and reducing the land count gives you more slots to put elves in.

The most effective counter to flying is Winning. A decent elf deck should be able to outrace flying creatures every time.

As for the sideboard, my favorite sideboard card is Caller of the Claw against board wipes. When your opponent Wrath of God s 5 creatures and you respand with Caller of the Claw , you have 10 easy damage on the board. Remember, your opponent just wrathed, so they will probably have no creatures either, your bears are likely to win you the game fast.

I'm now going to comment on the comments, and discuss combo elves

The first comment I see drastically underestimates Heritage Druid . Heritage Druid is the single fastest mana accelerator that you can possibly put into your deck. Heritage Druid can produce mana the turn it comes out, and allows other cards to do the same. If you're to drop your hand on turn 2, Heritage Druid is what is going to do that for you. Birchlore Rangers is another of those kinds of cards.

the reason why Emrakul, the Aeons Torn can be good is because it's uncounterable, and has protection from colored spells, making it a resilient threat. It also flies over Moat s. It's a more reliable win condition, but it won't cause you to win faster per se.

mr. mozerdozer doesn't understand the power of Glimpse of Nature . Glimpse of Nature is the core of the combo elves' combo. It turns all of your elves into cantrips, and can psudo-combo out.

First off, if you play 3 elves after you cast Glimpse of Nature , it's an effective Ancestral Recall (one of the power 9).

The true power of Glimpse of Nature , however, is when you keep it going indefinitely. and there are multiple ways to make this happen1. have a lot of creatures(35+).

1. Heritage Druid makes 1-drop creatures pay for their own mana costs.3. Nettle Sentinel has a strong interaction with Heritage Druid , allowing 1-drop elves to GENERATE mana4. cantrips like Elvish Visionary help you keep it going5. Concordant Crossroads and Lightning Greaves allow your mana elves to produce mana as soon as they come out.6. Quirion Ranger s, in addition to allowing you to use the same forest twice, keep your archdruids and priests going.7. it gets exciting when you have 2 Glimpse of Nature going at once, and once you reach this state, you can normally keep going throughout your entire deck.

After reading the comments, I see that you already know a lot about the elf combo,

Also, Priest of Titania + Staff of Domination + 5 elves on the board, is a true infinity combo, (infinite life, infinite draws, untap everything, tap opponent's stuff) which allows you to pull almost any win condition that you've put in your deck.