Modern Elves and Bonfire of the Damned

Modern forum

Posted on Oct. 21, 2021, 5:37 p.m. by StoryArcher

I've always been a big Elves fan, and while there are any number of generally accepted iterations there really is nothing new under the sun. As such, I try to experiment a bit and I've come up something a little different that has been working really, really well.


Damned Elves!

Modern StoryArcher

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The first and most significant difference is the inclusion of Bonfire of the Damned. The arrival of Realmwalker makes it a little easier to manage while maintaining the surprise factor. With all the mana that Elf decks tend to generate there is little difficulty hard-casting it and swarming an empty board with weenies is every bit as effective as if they were pumped up by Ezuri, Renegade Leader. Moreover, it's nice to actually have some interaction options with an elf deck for a change. If you manage to draw it and pay its miracle cost, it's basically a finisher but that's just lagniappe.

The next significant change is the addition of Elvish Harbinger, which deserves serious reconsideration gievn the advent of Realmwalker. Seriously, this card let's you set up draws (or actual plays with the 'walker or CoCo), it gives you an additional source of any colored mana for those shamans and bonfires and will let you tutor up a toolbox of sideboard cards when needed, all while giving you another elf body you can hit with CoCo. I've found it to be superior to Chord of Calling despite not (usually) functioning at instant speed.

Between 3x Elvish Harbinger, 3x Realmwalker and 4x Collected Company, I've found that this deck stalls less than other Elf decks I've played in the past. I also run six fetch lands, not just to help thin the deck but also to give you some extra shuffles when you've got the Realmwalker out.

There are a few other little tricks in the deck, and I'm considering a couple of other elves but at the moment this is what I'm running with an I'm having a lot of fun. I wanted to post it here for those who might be curious and offer it up for critique by more experienced players.

RyuSama420 says... #2

Elvish Harbinger isnt really superior to chord. Chord gets the card to the field which is way better than the top of the deck, especially when searching up Shaman of the Pack.

October 21, 2021 9:17 p.m.

StoryArcher says... #3

RyuSama420 Yes it does... but it also has a higher mana cost, doesn't give you an additional elven body for everything to trigger off of and doesn't give you an additional source of multi-colored mana. It also dilutes your deck with non-creature spells, working against the efficiency and effectiveness of both Collected Company and Realmwalker.

October 21, 2021 11:42 p.m.

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