Elves Deck Discussion

Reposting my Elves email here, since it seems we're moving.

Here's my elf build:
Lands:
16x Forest
4x Tectonic Edge

Non-Creature Cards:
4x Lead the Stampede
2x Nissa Revane

Creatures:
4x Llanowar Elf
4x Arbor Elf
4x Joraga Treespeaker
4x Elvish Archdruid
3x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4x Joraga Warcaller
4x Vengevine
4x Fauna Shaman
1x Molten-Tail Masticore
2x Nissa's Chosen

Potential SB cards:
Leyline of Vitality
Autumns's Veil
Nature's Claim
Eldrazi Monument
Some other cards

First, I have 4 Fauna Shaman in the main. I know that we seemed to
agree last night that it wasn't the most useful card in the deck, but
the more I thought about it the more I like it. Vengevine is a lot
better in multiples, I do like 1x Masticore, and there's one thing we
missed: there are not other eleves to put in that slot with equal
utility. I think Shaman is just as useful as Chosen, and can get
busted cards when necessary. I think we've been thinking of Fauna
Shaman as a tutor first and a guy second, but that may be flawed. What
if we thought of him as a 2/2 Elf who is a creature first, and a tutor
second? The ability doesn't have to be used every turn, and there are
a number of situations where using him as a tutor may not be the right
play- it's something to keep an open mind on.

Warcaller is better than Monument in the LtS build- I agree with
Kevin, it does almost the same as Monument with the potential for much
more. It also can be played as a 1 drop for VV purposes.

Nissa is the most controversial card in the deck- I kept her because
of both her ability to get an elf and because I seem to remember the
life gain buying a couple of turns sometimes in the Valakut matchup-
it makes them deal you 30 or 40+, which may not slow them down a lot,
but Elves doesn't need more than an extra turn or two to set up
lethal. Tom and Kevin, you guys know Valakut better than I, what are
your thoughts on this?

Tec Edge vs Warzone: Warzone has more limited usefulness in the Elf
deck- the extra 4 or 5 damage doesn't seem that relevent in a deck
with Archdruid, Warcaller, and Ezuri. Tec Edge can help a lot more in
terms of killing Valakut, and slowing control decks down enough that
cards like BSZ won't be as effective.

I don't have any fetches in the deck now, largely because I only have
20 land (which is still more than Nass's most recent build). I still
think we may want to play 4-6 fetches, its something I want to look at
during actual playtesting.

Sideboard:
Autumns Veil seems good enough to be a 3 of, same with Nature's claim
to handle Ratchet bomb/potential other artifacts. Monument is good
against creature decks for the flying, as well as possibly the mirror
or deck with DoJ.
Noticeably absent from my list is Obtinate Baloth. Elves has a good
enough matchup against aggro that I'm not sure how adding another
non-elf 4 drop helps more than it hurts.

Again, after playing tonight we came up with a different list

4x Verdant Catacombs
14x Forest
4x Tectonic Edge

4x Arbor Elf
4x Llandowar Elves
4x Joraga Treespeaker
3x Joraga Warcaller
1x Copperhorn Scout
4x Elvish Archdruid
3x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
3x Fauna Shaman
2x Vengevine
2x Wolf Elemental
1x Molten Tail Masticore

3x Eldrazi Monument
4x Green Sun's Zenith

22-31-7 = 60

Man, no one played Elves to a high finish at the Pro Tour (if anyone played it at all).

Seriously under the radar right now....

I think only 3 people played Elves in the Pro Tour. What player would win a Pro Tour with Elves? Not even Matt Nass can do that.

Boros is more consistent, which is why it was played by more players.

cavanaghlegato wrote:Boros is more consistent, which is why it was played by more players.

I love how we go from Boros being very inconsistant... to fairly consistant. <3

Hero of Oxid Ridge after a Day of Judgment is hot.

Random note.. Someone playing elves I forget who played Green Sun's Zenith for a Masticore. You cant do that. Just making sure you know that.