By Mike

Modern is an incredibly diverse format. The list of the Top 8 decks from the Oklahoma City Grand Prix on September 13th is a great showcase for this diversity. Lantern Control won, with a good showing from Titan Bloom and Scapeshift! The Elves list in particular has gotten me excited, so I’ve decided to make some changes to the deck I’ve been throwing down with during our Wednesday Modern sessions. Let’s start with what I’m currently working with.

4 Elvish Archdruid
3 Elvish Champion
2 Ezuri Renegade Leader
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Dwynen’s Elite
4 Shaman of the Pack
29 Creatures

This is pretty typical of Modern Elves. Archdruid not only pumps your dudes, they also provide massive mana acceleration mid to late game. The Champion provides conditional evasion in the form of Forestwalk, in addition to the pump for your dudes. Ezuri is your finisher. He has a built in Overrun, along with the ability to regenerate your other combatants should the need arise. Visionary is straight forward, as are the mana dorks. They just make your game that much faster. The Shaman is the exciting card here. Even if you cannot get in with the elves, she provides a way to get damage through. 5 damage for three on turn 3 or 4, plus a 3/2 body (minimum) is hardly weak.
4 Collected Company
4 Chord of Calling
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
14 Non-Creature Spells

Abrupt Decay is among the best removal in the format. Company is meant to dump whatever elves you need in to get the job done. Yeah, it occasionally misses, but more often than not, you are putting an Archdruid and another elf into play. Chord is the one that makes sure you get the one you need. Got the open mana and ready to win on your turn? Chord for Ezuri or Champion during your opponent’s turn. Get it done. The Inquisition is there for early game control. Liliana of the Veil is absolute devastation to this deck when paired with removal. Get rid of her. If not her, removal cards or Goyf are good hits.

2 Cavern of Souls
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Overgrown Tomb
6 Forest
17 Land

Those are the lands I use. Nykthos is nearly as good as Archdruid, but isn’t eliminated due to removal spells. Cavern protects my key creatures from Remand or Mana Leak. It isn’t the best deck in our environment, but I’m happy with how it was working for a while. Seeing this new variant of Elves piloted by Andrew Sullano has gotten me a bit excited to try some changes. For reference, here is his list.

6 Forest
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Pendelhaven
19 Land
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Dwynen’s Elite
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Heritage Druid
3 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
3 Sylvan Messenger
34 Creatures
4 Collected Company
3 Lead the Stampede
7 Non-Creature Spells

I don’t have all of this, but I can get pretty close, while keeping to a fair budget. A deck’s mana base is among the most important parts of the design. Forests are obvious, and in my testing 6 came up to the correct number. Mr. Sullano seems to agree. I do not have Horizon Canopy at all, and considering that it is breeching the $60 mark, I will not have them any time soon. Plus, the white isn’t all that relevant outside of the sideboard. I have fluctuated between 1 and 2 Nykthos for a few months. In this build, 2 seem right. I don’t have 4 Cavern of Souls to devote here, so I will keep with my 2, at least for now. Having black available is important for the Shaman of the Pack, so the black/green package has to stay.

6 Forest
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Pendelhaven
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Verdant Catacomb
4 Overgrown Tomb
Total: 19 Lands

Next up is the creature line up. I had the Heritage Druid / Nettle Sentinel combo in my original build, but pushed it aside in favor of some of the black cards in the build I was working with. This has been a questionable choice the entire time, and I am going to rectify it with this new build. The whole group is in the pot. Shaman has won me too many games to cut. In addition, there was a second elf deck that came in 12th place that was more similar to my own build, run by Chris Lopez. All 4 stay for now. The next lump was covered earlier. You can’t cut these, as they are the core of the deck. I don’t know how he gets away with 3 Ezuri. It has always felt like too many, and they sat dead too often. 3 may end up being the correct number, but for the time being I will stick with 2. I am iffy on the Sylvan Messenger. On one hand, it helps dig toward more elves. On the other, it is another miss with Collected Company. I am going to experiment with 2.

4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Shaman of the Pack
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Dwynen’s Elite
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
2 Sylvan Messenger
Creatures: 36

That may be a bit high, but I’m going to roll with it for the present. Finally, we have Collected Company. The creatures may be the core, but this is how the deck functions. All 4 go in. This leaves me a single card short of the 60 minimum. I don’t have Lead the Stampede at the moment, but it seems like a viable option. Both Mr. Sullano and Mr. Lopez were running the card, albeit at differing totals.

4 Collected Company
Non-Creature Spells: 4
1 Other?

For now, I am going to leave that spot open as a flex spot. If you want to see what I choose to play, you’ll just have to join us on Wednesday evenings and test your luck against it. Come in and test your home brew builds against meta staples like Twin and Affinity, as well as other home brews.