Elves stompie/staff combo

4got · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 16

So i have been out of magic for quite a while but played for the past month or so again and remembered getting good advice here in the past.

my local tourneys meta has some milling deck, reanimator, a cephalid breakfast variant, some sort of living end cascade, a stoneforge mystic deck... and then some random stuff and goblins.

so my proposed list is as follows.

Deck

lands
10x forests
2x gaea's cradle
4x wirewood lodge
4x land grant

Elves
4x Llanowar elves
4x Qurion Ranger
4x Joraga Warcaller
4x Taunting elves
4x Priest of Titania
4x Wellwisher
4x Sylvan Messenger

Non-elf creatures
3x Wirewood Symbiote
2x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Other spells
1x Hurricane
3x Staff of Domination
3x Green Sun's Zenith

comments

lands
if i find some green fetch lands i might take out some forests and put those in for deck thinning which is why i use the land grants
and the others are pretty obvious

The situations i find myself in often without taking any regard to the decks i'm facing:

i usually find myself with about 3-4 elves that can swing turn 3 or 4-6 turn 4, with a priest in play that can drop a really big joraga.

or i can drop emrakul turn 3-4.

then other times i land up with 4-5 elves and the staff in play with a priest. (that combo needing 5 elves in play to make the infinite mana/life/damage combo... i.e. instant win if no disruption)

I'm guessing the 2 emrakuls stop the milling guy straight out and makes for a nice finisher.

and the others i can normally out race depending on how lucky the two of us end up being.

the cephalid out right beats me unless i gain lots of life before they go off or i get lots of elves out to swing for leathal damage.

the reanimator hurts alot cos of that white guy... dont know its name... 7/7 choose a colour... cards of the chosen colour can't be played.

well thats about it. any advice is welcome Smile

except for adding natural orders and progenitus... i can't find those and can't really afford them either, at the moment at least.

Oh and as for the sideboard so far the only things i have in mind are:
3x Naturalise
2x tormods crypt

kane2 · Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 94

give me a little time and ill whip up a better version for you.. care to explain the hurricane?

4got · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 16

well the hurricane gives me the infinite damage when get the 5 elves with priest and staff of dominance.

kane2 · Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 94

kane2 · Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 94

Here you go(just a basic staff/elfball deck):

// Lands
16 Forest
2 Gaea's Cradle
2 Wirewood Lodge

// Creatures
2 Joraga Warcaller
2 Timberwatch Elf
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Wood Elves
4 Wirewood Channeler
4 Quirion Elves
4 Priest of Titania
4 Llanowar Elves

// Spells
3 Staff of Domination
2 Collective Unconscious
1 Banefire
4 Sylvan Scrying

// Sideboard
SB: 2 Harmonize
SB: 4 Wellwisher
SB: 3 Reprisal
SB: 3 Krosan Grip
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt

For your problem with Iona, I went with reprisal even though there are other things you can use(swords to plowshares, terror, etc) play them off the birchlore ability or the quiron's ability.. I moved the wellwishers to the board as they aren't essential unless you are in a matchup where you absolutely NEED to gain life otherwise it would just slow the combo down. Timberwatch I left in but at 2 just so you have another way to win, but you dont need to rely on it. Collective Unconsious is a great draw spell for an elf deck since by the time you play it it will completely refill your hand.

The tormod I left for the reanimator, but switched the nat's for krosan grip(1 more colorless to get split second making it uncounterable). Harmonize is in the board just in case you need more draw.

Anyway.. give it a try and lemme know what you think.

4got · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 16

i like the idea of the birchlore rangers to give me access a multi colour tool box for swords and banefire (when i combo with staff to do the banefire i can draw into and play the birchlores so its not a problem with multi colours). sure i don't really need the life gain from well wishers. so i think thats a good replacement

the rate at which my original deck generated mana was better for the extra 2 joraga warcallers over the timberwatchs since i could cast them for 1 mana or multi kick them for the overwhelming effect.

wirewood channeler seems too expensive for the mana gen slot since you pay 4 and he generates at max 4-6 mana since there is no way of untapping him in your build since no symbiotes and qurion rangers.

taking out the green sun's zeniths takes away a lot. being able to grab just the right elf you need was a big thing, for example 3 mana for a priest, 2 for a symbiote or ranger or llanowar or birchlore. and it shuffles back in making it any elf you need again.

for the card drawing advantage i found the sylvan messengers had really nice synergy with the symbiotes. since it got me 2-4 elves each time and didn't cost 6 to play and doesn't require me needing creatures on the field, eliminates the problem of the field being reset by a WoG effect which is when you actually need the hectic drawing effects otherwise drawing is just a nice bonus.

i ran the green sun's zeniths so that i could have 7 of each elf in the deck in effect. i could at times even fetch a joraga and bounce it with symbiote and play it with a nice multikick.

the wood elves seem a little expensive for what they do considering you could rather just play a fynhorn elves ? or even my taunting elves, since they open the way for nice damage with a big joraga in play.

the sylvan scrying seems nice for a cradle but i dont really need that much land considering half my elves produce mana or allow me to bounce and protect my lands. 1-2 land is all i need to get going.

the krosan grip idea seemed good. never thought of it, what happens when you don't play for a while.

the reprisals are nice but like you suggested i will rather run the swords, costs less and they can't just reanimate the iona again.

i think i will also get my hands on some green white dual lands (not sure which ones quite yet depends on prices...) that will also make casting the swords easier.

maps · Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Posts: 42

4got · Joined: 08 Nov 2008 Posts: 16

and you quoted all that because ?

kane2 · Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 94