It's been a little over a week since I posted this build and though I worked on it for quite some time, I now sadly realize after having to type out my explanation, this still isn't the best it can be. I'm going to update this one day and make it very elf tribal and more efficient. However it will be a long time from now as I've elected to build a similar but still different Kamahl, Fist of Krosa deck instead. Any recommendations for elf tribal cards would be greatly appreciated.
I recently competed in my first EDH tournament (actually, my first one of any kind ever) with an Elf deck that was much less shall we say... efficient than this one. I haven't played enough to understand my playgroup's meta, I think this makes me more open to suggestions. There are a number of cards I feel could be replaced with a better selection, my average cmc is usually a little higher than 3 and I'd like it to be at 3 or below.
My previous build was made for a 1v1 format since I usually only played against a couple of friends individually. I took a lot of time looking at other Elf EDH deck builds and made some pretty rigorous adjustments (I would estimate switching at least 30 or 40 cards) in hopes of making it much more viable in multiplayer duels.
The older design focused on acquiring hexproof and big creature by tutoring and then pumping out a bunch of those green stompies with Elves. This design is a lot less original and works like a lot of other Elf decks you might find. While I don't always like it I've found people build similar-ish decks because some ideas are just better than others.The primary idea of this deck is to come across one of the infinite mana combinations:
Umbral Mantle + a big mana dork + 3 other elves
Staff of Domination + a big mana dork + 3 other elves, or
Maze of Ith + Argothian Elder
These all endlessly pump Ezuri, Renegade Leader.
There's a decent amount of drawing so hopefully you find at least one of these.
Alternatively, while it's not a lot in comparison to swinging for infinity, you can generally create 20 - 60 mana in a turn with ease and hit your opponents with several big, green, Elf meat sticks until you win.
Mana producers that can go infinite are:
- Priest of Titania
- Elvish Archdruid
- Wirewood Channeler
- Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
- Karametra's Acolyte
- Viridian Joiner
The idea of a board wipe when I've got any of my important mana dorks out is really sickening but I was quickly told (and shown) that they happen quite often in commander. I tried to fix this problem by making the deck less reliant on elves as the primary source of mana. Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, Extraplanar Lens, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger and Mana Reflection all help double the mana my lands normally produce. Importantly, Mana Reflection will double even the mana my mana dorks are creating and Caged Sun will double Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. If your 4 forests produce 8 mana instead and your awesome board state got wiped the odds of an easy recovery I think have gotten much higher. I replaced the
Resuscitate
I had in the deck with the suggested Heroic Intervention because of Damnation and Wrath of God, I'd also really like to find a suitable replacement for Wrap in Vigor.
The other problem I tried to solve was running out of cards in my hand. Elves make is very easy to produce a ton of mana and play out everything you've got. Prior to adding Harmonize, Slate of Ancestry, Collective Unconscious, Primordial Sage, Regal Force, Shamanic Revelation and Glimpse of Nature I was consistently having empty hands. Slate of Ancestry backfires occasionally when you have things like Wrap in Vigor or Caller of the Claw in your hand but I find it's generally a good utility for drawing.
I think I've added more draw and more mana-doubling than any of the other elf builds I've seen so I think that's about all that separates this from the other elf decks out there. I also don't know why everybody sleeps on Siege Behemoth. He's like a much weaker, green version of Odric, Master Tactician that I feel combos great with Ezuri, Renegade Leader and Craterhoof Behemoth.
I use an application on my phone to constantly build and test decks, of course there are no intervening forces like a regular Magic game but it still gives me a good feel for how it runs. Often I try to account for things like counters, burn spells, and board wipes because there are clearly some cards worth targeting more than others and hardly anything ever goes the way you want it to. I'm trying to not write like I've played this against real decks a million times because I haven't but still I have tested it thousands of times and am confident I know what it'd be like to play against others.I don't actually own all of the cards for this deck yet, I'm still having to save money for some of the replacement cards, but again I am able to see what it's like/how it runs through the app.
Anyways for now that's all I've got to say. I really appreciate any suggestions or help.
