Thanks for all of your wonderful suggestions! Your comments are invaluable to me, and I have taken every single one of them into much consideration.

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

First of all, I would like to thank Shrodinger very much for providing me the link to his Elven Empire deck. Indeed, it was his deck that I read up on awhile before, and his idea that I borrowed in order to construct the specified sideboard combo. I would also like to show my appreciation for MLoukaz and Jimmeh92, for explaining the 'Elfball' process in detail and providing me with a card list on how the deck should be properly oriented respectively. Your help has been invaluable to me.

I have given this 'Elfball' combo idea very much thought and concentration over the past two days. I think that the concept itself is something extremely potent and advantageous, and through this process I have realized the true ingenuity that was poured into the evolution of 'Magic the Gathering' by the folks at 'Wizards of the Coast'. It just so happens that this potentially self-sustaining domino combination seems neither frustratingly nerfed nor game-breaking. It is rather obvious that the advantages of pulling off a strategy like this will essentially guarantee the player's victory more often than not. On the other hand, in my opinion only, the chances of running into lands or non-creatures while using Glimpse of Nature is rather high, if a normally sufficient number of lands is dedicated to the deck. It is also in my opinion that if the number of lands is lowered, the chances of mana drought will probably rise to a slightly uncomfortable level. Balancing this mana situation probably requires a lot of thought and experimentation in itself, although I have not devoted very much time into this particular factor.

Continued Below

In this light, I would like to take the time to point out Jimmeh92's Extended Elf Deck. It is true that when aiming for this combo, one should only need two lands at most. At the same time, it seems to me that Jimmeh92 has devoted an extraordinary amount of time and resources in consideration of the possible mana issue, and has spent an incredible amount of effort in balancing this issue while keeping the deck orientation of the 'Elfball' combo in focus. The cards and strategy exploited by his decklist certainly generate the maximum amount of use and effect out of a minimum number of lands. Additionally, his experience in this particular combo is invaluable, and thus for those who are extremely interested in the workings and possibilities of this particular strategy, I recommend you check out his deck DragonElf combo.

Another element that is particularly intriguing about this tactic is the number of working parts that it requires. It was made quite obvious to me that, in order to properly initialize the combo, either Heritage Druid or Birchlore Rangers and two copies of Nettle Sentinel must all be on the battlefield at the same time. Meanwhile, it is imperative that a copy of Glimpse of Nature lies in the player's hand. That totals up to four initial pieces. Additionally, the 'chain reaction' must cut down and reach the endgame, 'win-con' component in order for the process to be deemed entirely successful, whether it be Brain Freeze or the popular Predator Dragon . It is further recommended, as benevolently mentioned by Sam_I_am above, that this process also reach (and play) Concordant Crossroads , such that the mana abilities of the deck's elves be utilized at their full potential (and, I suspect, in order to add to the intimidation of the endgame situation).

Continued Below

If we do a quick mathematical computation, probability suggests that there is a maximum of 0.404% chance of drawing two copies of Nettle Sentinel in the opening hand. Factoring in the need for Glimpse of Nature , there is then a 0.02886% of success. Lastly, when the final component of drawing either a Birchlore Rangers OR a Heritage Druid , we end up with the final product of 0.00405% opening success (my math maybe entirely wrong, so if there are any math whizzes out there, it would be awesome if you could run a computational check). In the event that an unsatisfactory hand is established, probably one or more mulligans will be necessary. The probability figure shown here indeed seems reasonably manageable, but in my opinion a deck that is completely oriented around this combo might be slightly risky.

However, this concept indeed presents itself as extremely advantageous and reinforcing. When played well, Glimpse of Nature could really be the final determinant of success. This has been proven in history time and time again, both in PT Berlin as mentioned by Jimmeh92 and in the experiences of many casual/tournament battles fought by other players. Thus, I would very much like to capture the essence and concept of this combo, only to a slightly smaller scale. It may not be necessary to orient an entire deck around this 'Elfball' concept, but treating a copy of Glimpse of Nature to a portion of the deck can reveal untold advantages to the player. The use of a "mini chain reaction" can prove extremely useful in reinforcing a player's creature acceleration during early, mid, or even late game. The focus of creature acceleration in an Elf deck is so essential, that the neglecting of Glimpse of Nature , a cards feeds so well into such a strategy, seems like an act of stupidity to me. Rest assured, the update/edit this week will strongly reflect the time, thought, and knowledge that I have spent and learned in considering this matter.

A lot of other points stood out in my mind when reviewing these recent comments. However, I felt that by offering my thoughts and commenting on this specific topic, I would add most to the usefulness of this conversation. I will address all of these points, and take all of these ideas into consideration in the log of my next update. I am not trying to present an opinion as to the direction anyone should take when assembling a similar or related deck. I am only trying to expand my research and knowledge in this matter, and to add what I either know or can educationally guess to the forum of information propelled by this discussion.

Thank you guys very much for all of your valuable thoughts and opinions! Your help has furthered my knowledge in understanding this realm of MtG. 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.

The Elf combo really doesn't stand alone in every deck. Most elf combo decks, such as my Legacy Elf Deck can win early without seeing a single Heritage Druid or Nettle Sentinel , and is not dependent on the combo going off.

The good thing about the elf combo is that all of it's cards stand on their own pretty well.

Glimpse of Nature can be sustained multiple ways, including with Elvish Archdruid and Priest of Titania , and even if it's not sustained, if it drew 2 or 3 cards, It did it's job.

if you get a Heritage Druid out, and 2 other elves(normally happens by turn 2), you can then drop another elf or 2 that very same turn, speeding up your deck considerably.

Nettle Sentinel is a 2/2 for 1, and is very effective at keeping the pressure on by itself, especially against control decks.

One of the things to note about this deck is that it doesn't properly math up. For example, correct, you need 2 Nettle Sentinel s to get the 'infinite mana engine' running. But, because the deck has a lot of 1 mana cards, you can use the 3 mana you generate to cast 2 or 3 creatures before you need to tap again. You can also use Birchlore Rangers earlier on. Furthermore, in terms of number of cards of each type, each copy of card:Summoner's Pact is an additional copy of every card you run. It also acts as an untap for Nettle Sentinel . There are so many variables for the deck that doing computations would be a very difficult task. This is a deck that basically just requires testing to get the feel for it. I also recommend testing in person, as this deck is notoriously difficult to work with on testing programs, even on MtGO. The thing to note about this deck is that it, like many combo decks, is a calculated risk. Each time you do anything, there's a risk of it going wrong. Watch Jan Doise playing his Entity Elf variation of the deck against Tomoharu Saito, he cast Glimpse of Nature , then drew 3 lands on his 3 Elves in hand. Et voila, he fizzles. As for the crossbreeding of Elfball with the Elfroller (What I refer to Standard Elf combo builds), it can work, but I find that simply going all out on one or the other provides the better results. Lots of 1 and 2 mana creatures is essential to the deck. The mana generation abilities on Llanowar Elves for example is generally only applicable on turns 1 and 2. After that turn, Heritage Druid is a better mana generator. The sort of 'ideal' starting hand for this deck is 2 Misty Rainforest (Filters lands out), 1 Nettle Sentinel , 1 Heritage Druid , 1 Birchlore Rangers , 1 Glimpse of Nature and 1 card:Summoner's Pact, drawing into any creature, save Predator Dragon . Plays are turn 1, land, fetch, Sentinel, turn 2, land, fetch, Glimpse, Rangers, Heritage Druid, Pact for Sentinel, go nuts. This is optimum for a turn 2 kill, but turn 3/4 kills are much more common and less likely to fizzle.

Thanks for the praise, and anything to help a fellow ComboElf player xD

This is what an arbitrary play-test of Legacy Elf Deck looks like. Note that I am actually handling the physical deck.

Draw 4xForest , Heritage Druid , Elvish Visionary , Lead the Stampede . Decide to mulligan. too much land

Draw Llanowar Elves , Arbor Elf , Forest , Heritage Druid , 2x Joraga Warcaller

Turn 1:play Forest , drop Llanowar Elves

turn 2: draw Priest of Titania , Play Priest of Titania (using llanowar elves for 1)

turn 3: draw Heritage Druid , play Heritage Druid , play Arbor Elf , float 4 with Priest of Titania play Heritage Druid (3 mana left, tap 3 elves to make 3 mana for a total of 6, and play Joraga Warcaller kicked twice

turn 4: draw Forest , play it, tap Priest of Titania , 2 forest, and Llanowar Elves to play Joraga Warcaller kicked 4 times, (all elves now have +6, +6), I attack for 28 damage. If blockers, I attack for twice that much next turn.

I got only 1 part of the combo, but I still won by turn 4, and made great use of Heritage Druid .

That's the beauty of the Elf deck in general. You don't HAVE to combo. It's what broke the average Zoo player in Extended, they wait for you to combo, and all you do is making guys, swing, make guys, swing. Wirewood Symbiote is tremendously good in that respect as well for combat tricks and preventing targetted burn. Half of the games I won with the Elfball deck were without the Predator Dragon , whether it be insect or Elf beats. It's a very flexible deck, only weakness really is the low mana costs being susceptible to Chalice of the Void , Mental Misstep , and Spell Snare shutting off between them, probably 90% of the deck. Engineered Explosives is also horrendously effective against the deck, so being able to switch to a beatdown strategy is vital. In the current meta, possibly not the best deck in terms of competitive play, but still a great deck.

Wow... just wow... My mind is blown from this deck and all the suggestions to make this deck that much more deadly (shudder). Although, there is one suggestion that I haven't seen yet (which actually surprises me after reading everything on here lol.).

Timberwatch Elf

Enough said. ;)

+1!

How about the following:Eladamri, Lord of Leaves to give the Shroud and Forestwalk (some defense and ofense)

Oracle of Nectars : for life gaining, specially with the Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary + Wirewood Lodge combo you're running

Changing two Priest of Titania for two more Elvish Archdruid , they do cost 1 more to cast but give an additional +1/+1 to all elves

Nissa Revane : Even if you have no card:Nissa's Chosen to look for she can still give you tons of life and all your elves as an ultimate ability

Also some traditional Copperhorn Scout + Ezuri, Renegade Leader + Elvish Archdruid combo is always great to finish your opponent

Coat of Arms is great but cards like Eldrazi Monument or card:Akroma's Memorial give your creatures abilities that'll make your opponent's cry (and most probably die)

Finally, even though Riptide Laboratory is great, I don't think it fits this deck, it's too slow creating tokens, specially with Rhys the Redeemed there to create crazy amounts of them.

Anyway, these are just suggestions coming form an elf deck I use, yours looks pretty amazing as it is

So, I just attacked with 4x 73/73 Elf Warrior tokens with two coat of arms, a joraga treespeaker with 5 +1/+1 counters, a strength of the tajuru for 13 counters on each of the elf warriors, and a total of 28 elves on the battlefield on turn 5. Is that good?

No offense, this deck is built wrong. You can put 20 elves onto the field turn 2.

Glimpse of Nature + Heritage Druid + About 16 lands only + 40 1-Drop elves = Empty your entire library turn 2.

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

Without further ado, an update!

9/2/2011-

I have changed opinions in designating certain pieces of the main deck as sub-optimal. These components will probably be the first choices when I consider a swap for cards from the sideboard, or when I contemplate card replacements in order to improve this deck. They now consist of: Elvish Guidance and Riptide Replicator . In light of both recent and further past comments (from Sam_I_Am and deathseraph, thanks for your input!) that have suggested the card as being on the slower side, I have considered replacing this card with a faster alternative. Since Riptide Replicator is one of the two endgame pieces that I have chosen to utilize in this deck (the other being a firmly anchored Strength of the Tajuru ), it is important for me to be absolutely certain of its disadvantages, and the superior benefits that other alternatives will offer, before I replace this card for good. Since I have designated the Maybeboard as a dedicated site for win-cons, it is likely that (when the decision comes) I will be replacing Riptide Replicator with a card from that list. Thus, it would help me in the most if there can be further suggestions as to what I can add to the Maybeboard list.

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. However, these cards have since changed a bit since the last time that I have updated the deck. They are now (as of 9/2/2011): Door of Destinies and the two Wellwisher s.

Continued Below

As such, I have replaced Elvish Guidance with Aluren . A more detailed reason for the replacement is as follows:

Aluren brings an Enormous level of creature and mana acceleration to the table. As the new substitute for Elvish Guidance , which was the then substitute for Earthcraft , I believe that the single non-creature, acceleration-dedicated card slot has finally found its winning candidate. In addition to freeing All creature cards of the deck from any casting cost, the 'Flash' attribute given by Aluren grants every one of your Elves a 'Pseudo-Haste' ability. Simply play your creatures during the end phase of your opponent's round, and you are free to attack him relentlessly (or activate tapping abilities) on your immediate turn. Whether insta-blocking in an emergency situation, setting a Power-Fest trap on your enemy using Joraga Warcaller , or simply clearing your hand of useful cards so that you can use Slate of Ancestry 's ability with a peace of mind, the acceleration card Aluren gives you an advantage unlike any other. Of course, these abilities are given to your opponent as well, but it is more than likely that you can make better use of its effects than the guy/gal sitting on the other side of the table. In any event, there's only one copy of the card on the decklist, and since you are the insightful, observant Magic player that your parents made you out to be, you will be able to assess the situation appropriately and make the right decision as to whether you should play the enchantment for its advantages or discard it for a better hand using Slate of Ancestry .

I have also replaced Door of Destinies with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn . Due to recommendations from mozerdozer, kxdow, and Sam_I_Am (thanks for your great suggestion!), I have concluded that this creature is likely the best 'mana-ramp' alternative to Riptide Replicator . Now listed on the sideboard, you can have the #1 alternative in your main deck whenever you please, until a popular, resolute consensus is (hopefully) established to kick out the original endgame component for good.

Meanwhile, I have carefully gone over every suggestion and piece of feedback.

Imperious Perfect (thanks, Sam_I_Am!) is definitely a far more competent spell than Riptide Replicator in terms of token-generating efficiency.

I have considered Eladamri, Lord of Leaves for quite awhile (thanks a lot for your feedback, deathseraph!), but I felt that due to the number of Elves that the deck plans on creating, 'Shroud' may be of lesser significance. I induced (my premise may be wrong, though!) that the card slots could be better used in fueling creature/mana acceleration, instead of protecting the Elves themselves.

Continued Below

Eldrazi Monument and card:Akroma's Memorial can indeed be better versions of Coat of Arms (thanks again for your awesome suggestion, deathseraph!), but I felt that those components can be much better used in fueling the advances of a non-tribal, large-creature beatdown deck, such as those I've seen featuring Beasts and Elementals. It is likely that I'm wrong, but I felt that Coat of Arms maybe slightly more appropriate than its two magnificent alternatives.

Oracle of Nectars (I seriously can't thank you enough for your great constructive input, deathseraph!!) is indeed an Extremely effective way of gaining life, especially since it complements perfectly with the mana acceleration properties of this deck. After considering it for quite awhile, however, I felt that the alternative listed under the current sideboard, Wellwisher , couldprobably be better suited for this purpose.

Copperhorn Scout (thanks yet again, deathseraph!) is one of the best one-drop elves I've seen, and I have seen it expertly used in Noraa's deck, Really.Fast.Elves. It may fit extremely well within the context of this deck, but I thought (again, I could very well be wrong!) that the deck's "one-mana quota" could be better used in fueling its mana acceleration capability. However, if in the future I feel that this creature may come better in handy, I will definitely not hesitate to put Copperhorn Scout in. Thanks for the great card recommendation, deathseraph!

Nissa Revane is an excellent card that is often a staple in many Elf decks. However, for some it is often a controversial add, since some players prefer a faster game approach (such as those deeply oriented around the rush Elfball combo), and criticize the Planeswalker as being on the slower side (where have I heard that before? haha :D). It is indeed an awesome card, and well worth the great amount of contemplation that I put into considering it. Many great decks come with their own title Planeswalkers, and I didn't think that this case should merit any exception. Its life-gain properties are exceptionally well-founded in the creature acceleration properties of this deck. However, I ultimately decided that, due to the 60-card limit, and the great likelihood of change in the deck's endgame strategies, it would be best to keep as many variables constant as possible, in order to accurately assess any improvements that may take place as a result of the strategic shift. Any proposed change that didn't seem absolutely necessary or overwhelmingly compelling I would probably resist, because it is incredibly important for me to find and designate the absolute best endgame strategy for this deck.

Continued Below

Of all the suggestions that I have seen so far, the best that I've read is regarding the addition of Timberwatch Elf /Immaculate Magistrate (thanks so much for your recommendation, Nighthawk86!) to the deck. I have definitely considered doing so before, but in light of the current uncertainty of the optimality of Riptide Replicator , Immaculate Magistrate seems like an excellent alternate endgame component, possessing the ability to tack on a ridiculous number of '+1/+1' counters on any attacking, unblocked Elf. As such, I have added the creature card to the Maybeboard. Thanks so much for your thoughtful suggestion, Nighthawk86!

Caller of the Claw , as generously suggested by Sam_I_Am (thanks so much!), is a staple, "safety" Elf card that I have seen on almost every Elf deck in existence. It truly protects the player well from the mow-down effects of Wrath of God and card:Akroma's Vengeance. As Jagged-Scar Archers and Windstorm protect the deck against flying, Caller of the Claw serves the player well against the worst effects of notorious Control. I really can't believe I hadn't thought of the idea before. Since I listed Wellwisher as a previous weak point in the Sideboard, I decided to replace the card with the critical component, Caller of the Claw . Thanks so much for your insightful comment, Sam_I_Am!

Lastly, I fully understand that this deck idea may be a disappointment for those who are hardcore oriented around the effectiveness of the Elfball combo. Believe me, I have given that strategy an extraordinary amount of thought. I've researched tournament history, analyzed through the top ten decklists of PT Berlin, and went through a lot of trouble to figure out what works, and what doesn't work, in a combo so awe-inspiring as the Elfball one. I have come to realize that it is impossible to implement or incorporate this strategy into the listed deck here without completely compromising its current vision. I indeed understand the effectiveness and potential of an Elfball deck, and encourage all of you who wish to better your ideas for such a type by re-visiting the decklists (although I'm quite sure that you've examined them at least a million times) at the tournament info sites: here or here. I'll continue try everything I can to make this deck as best as it can be according to its current (or similar) vision. Thanks everyone in the meantime for your valuable support and suggestions!--

I will continue update this deck periodically (weekly or biweekly) until I feel that it has reached its maximum potential. Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This deck page needs professional bindings in a hardcover.

It may look nice on my coffee table.

Seriously? Your deck page makes the rest of look like lazy low-lifes.It's so organized.

I just thought about this, how about some Seeker of Skybreak s to untap massive mana producers like Elvish Archdruid and Priest of Titania

....pssh. Built wrong?

How can anyone say a deck is "built wrong"?

There is no "right" way to build any deck, as the creator of the deck is ultimately responsible for playing it, thus the way it is built must solely be right for them.

Saying a deck is "built wrong" just seems so out of place and unnecessary.

It's magic snobbiness I guess.

Lol Hipster

no one has mentioned Mentor of the Meek ?

probably because this is currently mono-green.

To the people who doubt Glimpse of Nature - There is a very good reason it was banned in Modern. It can get turn 3 wins very consistently. Even with 20 lands and 40 creatures, which is a proper elf deck, it can get 20 or more creatures out on turn 2.