Freyalise is my favorite mono green elf commander, and she is my second favorite elf commander, second only to Rhys. She leans tricky for elves. Comparing her to other planeswalkers, if nissa is defensive and Tyvar is aggressive, Freyalise is utility. Plus, it just does things elves want. I mean, everyone does, but Freyalise takes care of your artifact enchantment removal for the deck, and also explodes in a way that is a little less scary than the others
Her ultimate isn't too scary so people always underestimate how powerful it can be especially with circle of dreams druid, or other creatures that tap for tins if mana. Freyalise is amazing
Argothian Elder + Gaea's Cradle & Itlimoc + Wirewood Symbiote to untap Argothian Elder = Oh Lawdy. Great video! Been playing Elves EDH for ten years now and learned some new stuff from this video! Now if only our boy Rofellos was allowed in the 99.
Wow, lol. Just getting into mtg and have been struggling to find a strategy that's compelling and fun for me to play. This video helped me to figure out how I want to play. Appreciate it.
Awesome as always, gents. One quibble: Gruul elves is absolutely a thing, with either skinny Radha or beefy Radha. Beefy Radha extra combat elves is pretty dece. Also, any chance you'd do some sort of remote games with your patrons?
Also there is a newer card from 2024 season which allows you to give a boost to any creature you have with a mana ability and then untaps them, in Gruul colors
I will say you skipped a good one... Immaculate Magistrate + Joraga Warcaller. Use Magistrate to buff Joraga (who you buffed with all your ramp), Jorga then buffs all other elves. I use Omnath (the older battery) as a commander for that deck also.
Craterhoof ability on a budget - have your Immaculate Magistrate out and ready to tap when you send forward the entire team, lead by a Cultivator of Blades (obviously when he enters, give him the 2 counters and don't bother with the Servos). Put all counters on from the Magistrate onto Cultivator. They may not have trample, buuuuuut...! Hey, you could have a Nylea (gives everyone trample), Garruk's Uprising, or Gruul War Plow in play if you wanna give everyone Trample.
Chulane elves/Druid tribal is incredibly good. Llanowar Mentor is also an incredible card for simic elves or Chulane because you can run intruder alarm to constantly make llanowar elves tokens to fuel Gilt-Leaf Archdruid
I’m playing abzan elves right now. I use colfenor as my commander. Truth is I could make my deck much stronger by going mono green or a dual color but right now I’m already far past pushing the limits of the deck power levels of the rest of my group (other than one person) so I’m trying to play what I like without being completely over powered compared to the others I play with.
I'm stuck between lathril, blade of the elves and ezuri for my commander..by the way. I love your guys videos. I just started playing MTG and you guys are my go to for tips.
For mono green i like to toss in karametra's acolyte for one more dumb big ramp (even if its not an elf - its a druid though...) Also immaculate magistrate is nice with joraga warcaller, gyre sage and marwyn. For an extra land that cares about elves - path of ancestry scrys whenever you play an elf. The Kaldheim brought us Elven ambush which is like elvish promenade at instant speed. And for an artifact - Staff of Command with elvish archdruid (or other big mana producers) you can play your entire deck in one turn
Beezy gave a good idea there for a card… something that allows a creature or your creatures to tap for mana that turn or permanently but if they do maybe they lose any other ability … boosting the benefits of playing more vanilla creatures or decks … like an optional cyptrites
You guys are awesome, love your content, am currently working on an elf tribal build, would love to see who you guys choose for a commander rn im thinking of running marwyn
I'm building a Rashmi elf deck with Umbra Mantle and Staff of Domination to stack infinite into an Ezuri or Blue Sun Zenith or just pure value into a Craterhoof. Just the perfect blend of interaction and utility that can win in multiple ways. I just need to figure out enough boardwipe protection.
I’m curious if you guys would be able to make a commander deck around nethroi the apex of death with the companion Kaheera the orphan guard Focusing on the mutate mechanic as well as graveyard return?
I know he doesn’t care about elves per se, but Jarad is a solid elf tribal commander. Golgari elves are quite good, especially since Kaldheim, and cards like Abomination of Llanowar and Heedless One can turn a wide board into a massive creature to sacrifice to Jarad then hurt everyone.
Yeah I’m needing to mention that Each elf in play is different from Each elf you control, and in games where each tiny mana edge is crucial, my Lordy does that difference win games and matter! Check your opponents elves too please.
If ya playing no non- permanents, what about Primal Surge? Been thinking about mono green elves eventually. Been building Marisi atm. For another tribe, what about Humans?
Primal surge is a good wincon, but if it's your only spell you do have to worry about decking yourself because any non-may draw abilities from the stack of permanents will kill you right away
I am honestly shocked that I’ve never seen anyone combine Voice of the Woods (2G 3C 3/3, [No Tap of Voice], Tap 5 Elves to create a 7/7 Trample Elemental Token) + Doubling Season. If you throw in Lathril as a Commander, you’re tapping 5 1/1 Elf Tokens to generate (2) 7/7’s. With all your Elf Warriors Tokens already being doubled as created…. Edit: Also surprised Seeker of Skybreak got no love. It was the original synergy w/ Priest of Titania when they came out together.
Old video, new comment, lots of cards have come out since, but can confirm B/G elves are fun, Lathril is my main commander deck. But also sadly can confirm it really doesn't care about the graveyard. Still fun AF tho
Im commenting during intro to say I play Yorvo at the top of my elf deck. Go wide and Voltron Yorvo at same time, it's fun!!! Wonder if he'll be mentioned during the video...
@@NitpickingNerdsit's like psuedo Voltron with the elfball constantly triggering his counters making him bigger. You don't usually get the second counter trigger, but you play so many little elves you get plenty big. So you're building up a massive Yorvo, while also going wide with elves. Trample enablers like rancor a must tho, or elvish herder a top picks when in elves! Love the content, thanks for responding to my comment!
Hey guys, looking to dip a toe into magic I’ve never played before and elf’s have took my interest. Just wondering if this list of cards are still playable or if they’d be cycled out🤷🏼♂️
Hey Dan! In commander pretty much all cards playable beside a few bans. Google to find the ban list and you can search up cards in scryfall.com using the advanced search. You can choice elf for the type line and it will show you all elves! 😊 Hope this is helpful.
I have a black green elf themed deck, it is nath. I play things like leyline of the void so when my opponent discards the card go into exile not to the graveyard sadistic hypnotist is awsome, mind slicer is great as well I also have a few just discard your entire hand spells and stuff like painful quandary so it's not friendly
@@NitpickingNerds hahaha yup that was the first deck I built from scratch, I consider it my baby pretty much, I will agree that sometimes he can be slow but when everything goes well its hilarious. I also like using memory jar with him it's an interesting card. What I think is interesting is that hes the exact opposite of nekusar
Hi! Love these videos you are putting out. Have you thought about placing a cardlist form tappedout with you favorite elf tribal deck or something similar?
Idk about there being no good level up cards. Lighthouse chronologist is "good" in probably a similar way that rhystic study or consecrated sphinx is good. Also Hexdrinker from Modern Horizons, the second card to get protection from everything
I think this is the best elf tribal video I have seen. Only problem you guys legitimized Karl gruul elf deck you need to edit you should never play gruul elves as they are beyond the worse nobody even Karl should not be playing gruul elves ever!
Also of note since ashaya treats your creatures as forests it goes off with evolution sage making playing both lands and playing creatures or blinking them gives you a proliferate so infinite blinks gives you infinite proliferation
I specifically watched this to get insight into cards for a Kethis Elf Tribal. Then I found out you guys have no insight at all into Golgari elves. You really should. Black and Black/Green elves are a significant portion of the total.
@@NitpickingNerds I appreciate the reply. What with the new batch of Commander Legend black elves, perhaps an addendum episode at some point if you haven't already on how elf tribal can play across the B/G spectrum?
Duuuuuuude.....I'm surprised you didn't dive into the Immaculate Magistrate and joraga warcaller combo. Yeah, the Magistrate is a little weird by itself with your typical elf strategy of just making alot of Mana and swinging in. Still good, but not amazing. But if you use warcaller along with it, it becomes pretty damn amazing. ALL your elves get +1/+1 equal to how ever many counters are on warcaller. You kick it twice on entry giving it 2 +1/+1 counters and your elves get +2/+2 as a result. You have the Magistrate out along with, let say conservatively just 5 other elves and put 6 more counters on the warcaller since you control 6 elves. All your elves now have +8/+8 not counting any Lord's you have out, or potential overrun effects from ezuri, or if you cast craterhoof behemoth on top of this. And they only get bigger the more counters you throw on warcaller. I've won so many games with this. Magistrate and warcaller is ssssssooooo much fun and is ssssssooooo good lol Definitely awesome video, I was just surprised you didn't touch on this when you talked about Magistrate.
Important note: priest of Titania taps for G for each elf IN PLAY
And Multani's Acolyte is similar to Elvish Visionary
Freyalise is my favorite mono green elf commander, and she is my second favorite elf commander, second only to Rhys. She leans tricky for elves. Comparing her to other planeswalkers, if nissa is defensive and Tyvar is aggressive, Freyalise is utility.
Plus, it just does things elves want. I mean, everyone does, but Freyalise takes care of your artifact enchantment removal for the deck, and also explodes in a way that is a little less scary than the others
Her ultimate isn't too scary so people always underestimate how powerful it can be especially with circle of dreams druid, or other creatures that tap for tins if mana. Freyalise is amazing
Argothian Elder + Gaea's Cradle & Itlimoc + Wirewood Symbiote to untap Argothian Elder = Oh Lawdy.
Great video! Been playing Elves EDH for ten years now and learned some new stuff from this video! Now if only our boy Rofellos was allowed in the 99.
You didn't really have a tutor section, but Finale of Devastation does double duty as a tutor or finisher. It's budget to Craterhoof if needed.
Thank you so much for being the only content creators to correctly pronounce Rhys
Ayyy we got there! #special
Yet mispronounced Fyndhorn lol
Its FindHorny Elves
I would also suggest the great henge in a elf ball deck. Draws you cards and gives mana. That life game is just gravy!
Grand Warlord Radha is a great Gruul Commander anda can be build into a realy cool and powerful Elf deck
Wow, lol. Just getting into mtg and have been struggling to find a strategy that's compelling and fun for me to play. This video helped me to figure out how I want to play. Appreciate it.
Nath of the Gilt Leaf+Sadistic Hypnosis = Game infinite Discard
Great video. Glad to see some attention to the best tribe.
Yeah I think elves are the strongest by a wide margin
@@NitpickingNerds ...slivers?
Maybe making too many recommendations, but Demons would be suuuuuper cool too
tab021 we are fine if you comment a new tribe in each video 🙂
minotaurs! lol but if you are ever running out of tribes do minotaurs
Awesome as always, gents. One quibble: Gruul elves is absolutely a thing, with either skinny Radha or beefy Radha. Beefy Radha extra combat elves is pretty dece.
Also, any chance you'd do some sort of remote games with your patrons?
When I made red green Elves I used Ruric Thar. 70 creatures/30 lands. It was pretty fun
Also there is a newer card from 2024 season which allows you to give a boost to any creature you have with a mana ability and then untaps them, in Gruul colors
It is called Raggadragga apparently
I would like to request these tribes:
Beast
Rebels
Wurms
Kavu
.... and Druids
I will say you skipped a good one...
Immaculate Magistrate + Joraga Warcaller.
Use Magistrate to buff Joraga (who you buffed with all your ramp), Jorga then buffs all other elves.
I use Omnath (the older battery) as a commander for that deck also.
Craterhoof ability on a budget - have your Immaculate Magistrate out and ready to tap when you send forward the entire team, lead by a Cultivator of Blades (obviously when he enters, give him the 2 counters and don't bother with the Servos). Put all counters on from the Magistrate onto Cultivator. They may not have trample, buuuuuut...! Hey, you could have a Nylea (gives everyone trample), Garruk's Uprising, or Gruul War Plow in play if you wanna give everyone Trample.
Great job. Such a helpful video. Thank y'all.
Chulane elves/Druid tribal is incredibly good. Llanowar Mentor is also an incredible card for simic elves or Chulane because you can run intruder alarm to constantly make llanowar elves tokens to fuel Gilt-Leaf Archdruid
I’m playing abzan elves right now. I use colfenor as my commander. Truth is I could make my deck much stronger by going mono green or a dual color but right now I’m already far past pushing the limits of the deck power levels of the rest of my group (other than one person) so I’m trying to play what I like without being completely over powered compared to the others I play with.
I'm doing Abzan Elves I'm getting Bayou and Savannah from Revised when I get paid
Why no mention of joraga warcaller? Especially with Ezuri, claw of progress you can make all your dudes super big!
We were looking at him, he must have gotten left out accidentally. He's a great mana sink!
I'm stuck between lathril, blade of the elves and ezuri for my commander..by the way. I love your guys videos. I just started playing MTG and you guys are my go to for tips.
Awesome video huge help thank you!!
Immaculate Magistrate + Marwyn the Nurturer
Tribal Forcemage is 3/4ths of an overrun on an elf
You mentioned Druid tribal.
I built it with the new Khamal partner as commander and it’s pretty good.
Lots of elf druids
Luv your tribe guides!!
Going to keep pumping them out! It's kind of our new thing
For mono green i like to toss in karametra's acolyte for one more dumb big ramp (even if its not an elf - its a druid though...) Also immaculate magistrate is nice with joraga warcaller, gyre sage and marwyn. For an extra land that cares about elves - path of ancestry scrys whenever you play an elf. The Kaldheim brought us Elven ambush which is like elvish promenade at instant speed. And for an artifact - Staff of Command with elvish archdruid (or other big mana producers) you can play your entire deck in one turn
4 years after this video was made, Gaea's Cradle is now $770
I love these elves so much
Beezy gave a good idea there for a card… something that allows a creature or your creatures to tap for mana that turn or permanently but if they do maybe they lose any other ability … boosting the benefits of playing more vanilla creatures or decks … like an optional cyptrites
The leaf above Beezy's head makes him look like a Chicorita.
You guys are awesome, love your content, am currently working on an elf tribal build, would love to see who you guys choose for a commander rn im thinking of running marwyn
I have really enjoyed playing with Freyalise as commander in the past, but Marwyn is probably better with her combo potential
Great video!
You guys should make this again or an updated one
I'm building a Rashmi elf deck with Umbra Mantle and Staff of Domination to stack infinite into an Ezuri or Blue Sun Zenith or just pure value into a Craterhoof. Just the perfect blend of interaction and utility that can win in multiple ways. I just need to figure out enough boardwipe protection.
Great vid definitely gonna pick up a few of these
Cool! We went over a LOT of stuff in this one
Lots of cards not mentioned that do some work in elf decks. Not just traditional mana rolls.
I’m curious if you guys would be able to make a commander deck around nethroi the apex of death with the companion Kaheera the orphan guard
Focusing on the mutate mechanic as well as graveyard return?
I'm surprised elvish champion wasn't mentioned, and karametra's acolyte is great in elves too even though it is not one itself.
She's a good honorary elf :)
Champion is good but kind of goes against what the rest of the elves are trying to do
@@NitpickingNerds Elvish Champion + Yavimaya Dryad is a pretty good combo though.
Ahhhhhh, elves. Staff of domination and infinite mana on turn 3. I don’t miss these decks at all. Lol
you guys are sooooo awesome!
Our moms think so too!
I know he doesn’t care about elves per se, but Jarad is a solid elf tribal commander. Golgari elves are quite good, especially since Kaldheim, and cards like Abomination of Llanowar and Heedless One can turn a wide board into a massive creature to sacrifice to Jarad then hurt everyone.
Will elves be a playable in standard after Kaldheim
:( Sad no Lathril, Blade of Elves was mentioned
I don't think she existed when we made this :P
@@NitpickingNerds Oh woops. Still new to Magic so I didn't realize she was that new
Perhaps Upside:Upside would be an interesting set of cards to look at (or maybe I just liked hearing that phrase cuz it's a good one)
We have coined it and any other mtg content creators must pay us every time they say it!
Yeah I’m needing to mention that Each elf in play is different from Each elf you control, and in games where each tiny mana edge is crucial, my Lordy does that difference win games and matter! Check your opponents elves too please.
If ya playing no non- permanents, what about Primal Surge? Been thinking about mono green elves eventually. Been building Marisi atm. For another tribe, what about Humans?
Primal surge is a good wincon, but if it's your only spell you do have to worry about decking yourself because any non-may draw abilities from the stack of permanents will kill you right away
I am honestly shocked that I’ve never seen anyone combine Voice of the Woods (2G 3C 3/3, [No Tap of Voice], Tap 5 Elves to create a 7/7 Trample Elemental Token) + Doubling Season.
If you throw in Lathril as a Commander, you’re tapping 5 1/1 Elf Tokens to generate (2) 7/7’s. With all your Elf Warriors Tokens already being doubled as created….
Edit: Also surprised Seeker of Skybreak got no love. It was the original synergy w/ Priest of Titania when they came out together.
How bout knight tribal next?
Knights are very deep; they go way back. Would be a nice chonky video
16:09 lol abomination of llanowar can use it now thank god.
Old video, new comment, lots of cards have come out since, but can confirm B/G elves are fun, Lathril is my main commander deck. But also sadly can confirm it really doesn't care about the graveyard. Still fun AF tho
Im commenting during intro to say I play Yorvo at the top of my elf deck. Go wide and Voltron Yorvo at same time, it's fun!!! Wonder if he'll be mentioned during the video...
What voltron cards work best with Yorvo? Haven't really explored him much
@@NitpickingNerdsit's like psuedo Voltron with the elfball constantly triggering his counters making him bigger. You don't usually get the second counter trigger, but you play so many little elves you get plenty big. So you're building up a massive Yorvo, while also going wide with elves. Trample enablers like rancor a must tho, or elvish herder a top picks when in elves! Love the content, thanks for responding to my comment!
Hey guys, looking to dip a toe into magic I’ve never played before and elf’s have took my interest. Just wondering if this list of cards are still playable or if they’d be cycled out🤷🏼♂️
Hey Dan! In commander pretty much all cards playable beside a few bans. Google to find the ban list and you can search up cards in scryfall.com using the advanced search. You can choice elf for the type line and it will show you all elves! 😊 Hope this is helpful.
Will there be a merfolk version of this guide?
reily dalope yes we will be doing it 🙂
400 for cradle seems like a steal nowadays
Only thing I thought was wrong right away, some elves tap for Mana for elves in play
I have a black green elf themed deck, it is nath. I play things like leyline of the void so when my opponent discards the card go into exile not to the graveyard sadistic hypnotist is awsome, mind slicer is great as well I also have a few just discard your entire hand spells and stuff like painful quandary so it's not friendly
Josh Robin bully lol
@@NitpickingNerds hahaha yup that was the first deck I built from scratch, I consider it my baby pretty much, I will agree that sometimes he can be slow but when everything goes well its hilarious. I also like using memory jar with him it's an interesting card. What I think is interesting is that hes the exact opposite of nekusar
im surprised you didnt say the synergy of Meren of Clan Nel Toth as the comander
Hi! Love these videos you are putting out. Have you thought about placing a cardlist form tappedout with you favorite elf tribal deck or something similar?
We don't really have a favorite list for elves, but we do have the tcgplayer list of every card we mention here!
Intruder Alarm is an elf card right? Yeaaahhhh boy
Oh yeah 🙂
Idk about there being no good level up cards. Lighthouse chronologist is "good" in probably a similar way that rhystic study or consecrated sphinx is good.
Also Hexdrinker from Modern Horizons, the second card to get protection from everything
Hexdrinker is on my bucket list of "cards to play in EDH" -Beezy
So your saying all green enchantments that make creature tap for Mana are op and need a ban?
Absolutely!
Let's have a Beeble tribal video....I challenge you
Sad at no mention of Eladamri, Lord of leaves :*( Probably because everyone just immediately kills it lol
Given that ikoria DOUBLED the total count, Moles seem like a great relevant tribe. Or zombies.
Lol, both equally shallow tribes
Gaea's Cradle is 1300$ CAD now :)
I think this is the best elf tribal video I have seen. Only problem you guys legitimized Karl gruul elf deck you need to edit you should never play gruul elves as they are beyond the worse nobody even Karl should not be playing gruul elves ever!
So all jokes aside, after the coronavirus is done, can i come play cards with you?
Work TH-cam where are you from Work?
circle of dreams druid now....nutty
There is a great white cleric who levels up. Enlightened master goes 9.9 w lifelink and indestructible
Elves often pair with elementals and spirits so cards like ashaya soul of the wild soul of the harvest primordial sage and the list goes on
Also of note since ashaya treats your creatures as forests it goes off with evolution sage making playing both lands and playing creatures or blinking them gives you a proliferate so infinite blinks gives you infinite proliferation
frorgot wirewood lodge!
Buy the gold border version of Gaea's Cradle. Same card, better price.
Gravity Well and Bower Passage will help elves deal with fliers.
there's also a bunch of elf archers that randomly kill fliers too
That was great, can't wait until you get to less loved tribes like beasts. Please do beasts
Instead of voltron type try to build a combo tempo type elves
Temur Sabertooth is a favourite non-elf of mine, which works very well in an elf deck.
That cat is notorious for making extra mana
There is a 3rd cradle! Circle of Dreams Druid 😂👍👍👍👍👍
All the cradles!!!!
Shaman of the Pack + Journey to Eternity.
Nobody From Nowhere Bully!
Rhys= reece/ its welsh, like the Ll in elves (Llanowar elves)
every creature would be better if it tapped for mana? may i introduce you to ashaya?
Any one remembers Eladamri exist!?
Hello there!
Ahhhh... General Kenobi
literally just slap a bunch of good elves in a deck they automatically synergize XD
No good level ups? Lighthouse Chronologist is friggin' god-tier in Commander.
Do you know King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard the band?
Jordon Pohl I most say I don’t.
@@NitpickingNerds Flying Microtonal Banana is a wonderful album to start with!
Sad eladamri Lord of leaves face :(
Great Video tho
abomination of llanowar is also a good elf commander
I have a rashmi deck that focuses around into the infinite and thassas oracle 🤧
You should do pirates!
Pirates got a lot of support from ixalan!
no mention of rhys the exiled :(
Because he got exiled lol
@@NitpickingNerds haha touchè
Did you see that Grave Titan got a secret lair?
You should make a video about it
We did see that! Very funny, we might have to buy them all so people don't accidentally play them :P
:( yall missed eladamri, lord of leaves!
He's pretty good, and he even spiked recently!
Greetings from the Netherlands
Hello and thanks for the comment!
squirrel tribal next, pls!
Get some more people to comment and we'll see xD
Funny the whole druid deck tech...then I remembered chulane is a druid 😅
what no love for joraga warcaller + immaculate magistrate
Not a huge fan of magistrate, but warcaller is decent when you're trying to get some attacks in
No shepherd ? Literally makes all elves immune from counters
And then Commander Legends came out. And then Kaldheim. And this video now needs updated lol
You right
I specifically watched this to get insight into cards for a Kethis Elf Tribal. Then I found out you guys have no insight at all into Golgari elves.
You really should. Black and Black/Green elves are a significant portion of the total.
We have insight just elves are mostly green. Bg elves are great though
@@NitpickingNerds
I appreciate the reply. What with the new batch of Commander Legend black elves, perhaps an addendum episode at some point if you haven't already on how elf tribal can play across the B/G spectrum?
Duuuuuuude.....I'm surprised you didn't dive into the Immaculate Magistrate and joraga warcaller combo. Yeah, the Magistrate is a little weird by itself with your typical elf strategy of just making alot of Mana and swinging in. Still good, but not amazing. But if you use warcaller along with it, it becomes pretty damn amazing. ALL your elves get +1/+1 equal to how ever many counters are on warcaller. You kick it twice on entry giving it 2 +1/+1 counters and your elves get +2/+2 as a result. You have the Magistrate out along with, let say conservatively just 5 other elves and put 6 more counters on the warcaller since you control 6 elves. All your elves now have +8/+8 not counting any Lord's you have out, or potential overrun effects from ezuri, or if you cast craterhoof behemoth on top of this. And they only get bigger the more counters you throw on warcaller. I've won so many games with this. Magistrate and warcaller is ssssssooooo much fun and is ssssssooooo good lol Definitely awesome video, I was just surprised you didn't touch on this when you talked about Magistrate.
Eladamri is very good aß mono Green commander