The current Standard environment is one of the most lopsided metagames we’ve seen in quite some time. Izzet Prowess continues to dominate, leaving very little room for innovation. As we await the arrival of Final Fantasy MTG cards to Magic Online, we did want to recognize one particular archetype that made a surprise appearance in the format yesterday.
Mono-green Elves, a typal strategy that never really lived up to expectations following the release of MTG Foundations, managed to put up a decent competitive result for the first time in many months. This deck isn’t the strongest option, but it does have some nice things going for it.
Elf Payoffs
In order for a typal strategy to have legs in the first place, you need a handful of payoffs. These are the cards that reward you for building around a specific creature type. This mono-green Elves shell has a few cards that do just that.
First and foremost, you get access to a few different “Lord” effects. These are the creatures that buff all the rest of your Elves in play. Leaf-Crowned Visionary is certainly the best of the bunch.
At two mana, Leaf-Crowned Visionary is extremely efficient. If left unchecked long term, it will run away with the game by drawing you a ton of cards.
In the three mana slot, both Elvish Archdruid and Imperious Perfect add to your Lord count. Elvish Archdruid provides an enormous mana boost. This excess mana pairs well with Leaf-Crowned Visionary, Soulstone Sanctuary, some Planeswalkers (which we’ll get to in the next section), and Tyvar, the Pummeler‘s activated ability. Meanwhile, Imperious Perfect spits out Elf tokens to add to your board.
Beyond the Lord effects, you also have Dwynen’s Elite is a minor payoff. Getting three power worth of stats across two bodies for only two mana is pretty strong, especially when both bodies are getting pumped by other Elves.
Supporting Cast
Most of the rest of the cards in the deck fall into one of two categories: mana production and top end. In the mana production portion of the deck, Llanowar Elves is your strongest option. Playing your three-drops ahead of schedule is one of your best ways to pull ahead.
You’ll also find Citanul Stalwart in the one-drop slot. Citanul Stalwart is much worse, as you need to tap another Creature to get your mana boost. Still, you want access to more one-drop Elves to keep the pressure on, and Citanul Stalwart is the next best option.
Naturally, when playing a pile of small creatures, you need some way to close out the game. You also need cards that line up well in the face of board wipes. Tyvar, the Pummeler is one of your better options here, as it provides you an “Overrun” effect in the late game and can survive through a Wrath.
In addition to Tyvar, you’ll also find three copies of Nissa, Ascendant Animist and one copy of Vivien Reid. Nissa is a solid follow-up to a board wipe, as it can help you rebuild your board.
Some games, you’ll be able to play Nissa as early as turn three off of Llanowar Elves and Elvish Archdruid. Elvish Archdruid makes it more likely that you can pay the full seven mana for Nissa when you’ve built out a big board and immediately use its -7 ability to end the game.
Far From Top Tier
Overall, while it’s nice to see mono-green Elves put up a solid performance in a tournament, there are still a number of concerns that make the deck far from a top tier choice in the metagame. Right off the bat, the fact that you have a poor matchup versus Izzet Prowess and mono-red is problematic.
All of your Lords except for Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen die to Burst Lightning. Paying three mana for a creature that gets answered for one mana is a surefire way to fall behind. Your creatures also don’t block well. A single Monstrous Rage negates your chance to chump block with excess Elves, too.
You don’t even have much in the way of removal to combat a fast start from Slickshot Show-Off or Manifold Mouse. When you’re both slower on average and have less interaction than your opponent, you’re in for a bad time.
Given red’s continued dominance in Standard, there’s a chance a future ban could make mono-green Elves more viable. Final Fantasy MTG could also shake up the metagame in a favorable manner for Elves, but both these matters await to be seen. Elves is a sweet deck, and hopefully it’ll have its time to shine at some point in the near future.
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