Description
Here is my Green Black Golgari Elf Tribal deck from Guilds of Ravnica (GRN) Standard. Below are my thoughts on why I chose certain cards over others. The sideboard is mostly speculatory, but will be updated once the meta becomes established. I will also be doing an undergrowth-focused deck and a Green White Elf Tribal deck, with more of a focus on going wide.
I wanted to add some of the instants/sorceries from GRN such as the split cards, or some other pieces, but was unsure what creatures could be cut. Feel free to input your thoughts.
The Deck
Llanowar Elves x4 A staple in pretty much any green deck, this sweet little piece will help us ramp up into our bigger creatures, playing ahead of curve. They eat removal left and right but removing these instead of our more impactful creatures is fine by us. They fit the elf-tribal which is a great benefit, also.
Necrotic Wound x2 The first new card, this creature removal is quite good, especially in graveyard-focused decks. This isn't one of those, however. There is a little dumping into the graveyard, enough to make this work. We have another removal piece for the big daddies, but this is great for smaller things and scales very well into the late game, as we lose pieces of our elves.
Elvish Clancaller x4 An elf-tribal only piece, this one is a must-have in our deck. Giving us a lord to make even our 1/1s a threat is fantastic, and in the late game we can pump mana in to find more of these (at instant speed; can be important and has been for me in the past). If you're adding these, they're a 4-of or none. We're going with 4.
Thorn Lieutenant x4 I love this card. Thorn lieutenant is such a threat, leaving a body if they target removal at it, having a solid body itself being a 2/3 for 3 mana. It also, if that wasn't enough, has a 6 mana dump to give itself +4/+4 until end of turn. This is such a good sneaky piece if the opponent is unfamiliar with it. I've won many games on Arena with this card, and for a 2 drop in tribe it's a definite 4-of for us.
Glowspore Shaman x4 Another new card, it could be questionable. I think the fact this card can help fix a land draw if you're stuck early, and that it can quite easily trade up with even 3 or 4 drops, it's definitely a strong creature. This gets pumped by our lords, and adds fuel to the graveyard for the few cards that synergise like that. This might be one of the first cuts I would make but I will try this; I think it could be a secret gem.
Marwyn, the Nurturer x3 This card is such a fun one. She can get huge, fast, and can run away with the game if she's left unchecked. She adds mana and gets big with elves, I think she's a must have. 3-of to try get her early enough to benefit from her ability to scale, but 4 might be too many so I put in 3.
Steel Leaf Champion x4 The king of stompy, this bad boy deals with many strategies, but unfortunately in GRN, Lava Coil is a thing which will eat us alive. I still think Steel Leaf Champion is enough of a house that he is still worth a 4-of in the main, as unanswered, he will end games fast. He's even on tribe, what more can we ask for?
Reclamation Sage x2 A potential to swap into the sideboard, this guy hates enchantments and artifacts; can you blame him? If we were ballers we would probably swap him with Assassin's Trophy, however having the body is also not nothing, helping with our Marwyn and Necrotic Wound.
Vraska's Contempt x2 Contempt is another removal piece, and is quite important. The exile is an important clause on this card, and being able to target planeswalkers is helpful. With all the graveyard shenanigans coming up, I think contempt will be very strong, if a little heavy on the mana.
Beast Whisperer x2 This guy is probably under-represented in the deck as only a 2-of. He will draw a lot of cards with all the creatures we play, and is an elf to boot. I could see swapping a Glowspore Shaman for another one of these, I just don't want to flood the top end too much. I'll definitely experiment with this slot some more, however.
Underrealm Lich x3 What a beast. This Lich is just so good in Green/Black. We have a couple of synergies with the dumping to the graveyard, but even with so few he is very strong. An elf that can help limit dead draws late game, which have been the bane of my existence in M19 Standard elves decks I've played. The fact you can pay 4 life to make him indestructible is such a fantastic thing, I wanted to squeeze in 4. Having lots of these early isn't the best thing so I had to make it 3, but this is another thing I with which I will be experimenting.
Vivien Reid x2 This girl is a beast. We are going to see a lot of cards with Lich, Glowspore and now Vivien's +1. Most of our deck is creatures and lands, and being able to dig to find the ones we want most is such a strong ability. The -3 is also helpful as another piece of removal for enchantments, artifacts and even flying creatures, which isn't a thing to scoff at. One of our biggest weaknesses is the air, and being able to pop their biggest flappy thing is useful. The ultimate is worth mentioning, as it is possible to get to it, and will win games. Don't expect it but don't discount the ultimate.
The land base is a straight forward one; all the duals and a 6/8 split of Swamps/Forests, due to needing the green earlier than the black for Llanowar Elves. I could see going 5/9 but having the black early is also important so I chose for a closer split.
