Of all the themes to choose from in Commander, Elf Typal remains one of the most popular strategies. Capable of swarming the board by generating tons of mana, Elf Typal hits the ground running and ends games in a flash.
Thanks to an overwhelming number of choices, there are plenty of powerful Elf Typal options that don’t get the respect they deserve. If you’re looking to incorporate some potent upgrades to your Elf Commander deck, these underutilized tools deliver on the cheap.
Voice of the Woods
While Elf decks can make tons of mana and go wide fast, it’s sometimes difficult to find a way to end the game, especially if your opponent throws out a big blocker. Fortunately, Voice of the Woods does an excellent job solving this problem.
When paired with Elf token makers like Lathril, Blade of the Elves, and Elvish Promenade, Voice of the Woods threatens to flood the board with 7/7s in no time. Any mass untap effects, such as Seedborn Muse or Dionus, Elvish Archdruid, help speed up the Elemental token production process even further.
If that weren’t enough, if you’re playing in Simic, Voice of the Woods can go infinite with ease. Just pair this Elf Lord with four other untapped Elves and Intruder Alarm, and you’ve got infinite tokens on your hands. With all of this upside and a price tag near $0.20, Voice of the Woods is a steal.
Wirewood Hivemaster
Interestingly, Voice of the Woods isn’t the only old Elf that spits out non-Elf creature tokens. Wirewood Hivemaster is super efficient, and once on the battlefield, every subsequent Elf you play will come with a 1/1 Insect buddy. Obviously, these Insects aren’t super threatening on their own, but there are plenty of ways to maximize their presence.
First and foremost, Commanders like Ezuri, Claw of Progress and Galdriel, Light of Valinor can repay you immediately when your puny Insect tokens enter. If you’re trying to go late, Rhys the Redeemed‘s second activated ability gives you a ton of inevitability. For those who want to go above and beyond, you can even pair Wirewood Hivemaster with Maskwood Nexus, making the Insect tokens Elves. That way, each token you create will still trigger the abilities of High Perfect Morcant or Marwyn, the Nurturer.
Even without any direct Commander-focused synergies, simply incorporating Beasmaster Ascension, Cathar’s Crusade, and other go-wide payoffs will help Wirewood Hivemaster pull its weight. This Elf doesn’t ask for much, and the creature’s $0.30 price tag makes it well worth acquiring.
Ambush Commander
Despite its inability to make tokens, Ambush Commander is another powerful tool that helps you create a wide board in short order. This creature’s static ability makes it easy to fuel the abilities of Voice of the Woods, Lathril, Blade of the Elves, or Voja, Jaws of the Conclave. Alternatively, with Dionus, Elvish Archdruid, you can tap all of your Forests twice for mana to accelerate out any huge haymakers.
The downside to cards like Ambush Commander is that they leave your lands vulnerable to board wipes, but there are workarounds for this issue. Pairing this $0.44 Elf with Yedora, Grave Gardener, for example, ensures that any Forests that die will come back to play. If you’re lucky enough to find a free sacrifice outlet like Phyrexian Altar, you can even generate infinite mana, death triggers, and Landfall triggers on the spot.
Kithkin Mourncaller
As you continue to advance your side of the battlefield, Kithkin Mourncaller does a great job making your attacks as profitable as possible. With a board full of small attackers, even if a few creatures get blocked down, this Kithkin Scout keeps the cards flowing to help you rebuild. You can also use Rhys the Exiled and other sacrifice outlets to proactively generate card advantage.
Despite this versatility, though, Kithkin Mourncaller remains quite underrated. The good news is that the creature’s overall lack of demand has prevented its price from rising despite its lack of reprints. Valued at under $0.30, Kithkin Mourncaller is a bargain.
Harald Unites the Elves
While its applications are a little narrower due to its Golgari color identity, Harald Unites the Elves is an extremely strong card. Right off the bat, the Saga’s first chapter alone can be very threatening if you have some beefy Elves like Wolverine Riders to resurrect. The Mill effect is a nice bonus, further maximizing the power of Morcant’s Eyes and other graveyard-focused payoffs.
On top of that, however, you also get additional chapters that stack the board to your advantage. Chapter II perfectly enables Proliferate cards like Evolution Sage, while Chapter III can clear away a slew of tokens at once. Add up all of Harald Unites the Elves’ utility and factor in its roughly $0.35 price tag, and you’ve got a fantastic budget upgrade to any Golgari Elf Typal deck.
Lys Alana Scarblade
Another underrated black addition to Elf Typal decks, Lys Alana Scarblade addresses one major flaw that plagues Mono-Green Elves. That, of course, is the inability to remove problematic threats.
Activating this ability does come at a cost, but in the late game, converting one-drops you topdeck into Murder is worthwhile. Plus, you can even use Lys Alana Scarblade as a discard outlet to set up Harald Unites the Elves and other reanimation effects. Getting this upside on a $0.20 card is the icing on the cake.
As a whole, even though the archetype is extremely popular in Commander, there are plenty of elite budget cards that Elf Typal enthusiasts can turn to. So, if this style of deck is up your alley, consider giving these cards a shot at your next Commander FNM.
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