Have an irrational hatred of Ezuri, Renegade Leader, but nevertheless love Elves? Looking for a combo deck that lets you go wide and go big? Try out this Selvala, Heart of the Wilds deck and don’t become target #1 at the table upon resolving your commander!
Decklist – Mono Green Elves with Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
| Selvala, Heart of the Wilds |
Creatures (40)
| Allosaurus Shepherd | |
| Arbor Elf | |
| Copperhorn Scout | |
| Elvish Mystic | |
| Elvish Reclaimer | |
| Fyndhorn Elves | |
| Llanowar Elves | |
| Skyway Sniper | |
| Elvish Clancaller | |
| Elvish Visionary |
| Elvish Warmaster | |
| Fauna Shaman | |
| Gala Greeters | |
| Incubation Druid | |
| Leaf-Crowned Visionary | |
| Priest of Titania | |
| Scavenging Ooze | |
| Wildborn Preserver | |
| Circle of Dreams Druid | |
| Elvish Archdruid |
| Elvish Champion | |
| Ezuri, Renegade Leader | |
| Fierce Empath | |
| Imperious Perfect | |
| Marwyn, the Nurturer | |
| Nissa, Vastwood Seer | |
| Numa, Joraga Chieftain | |
| Reclamation Sage | |
| Rishkar, Peema Renegade | |
| Viridian Corrupter |
| Beast Whisperer | |
| Canopy Tactician | |
| Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen | |
| Norwood Priestess | |
| Oracle of Mul Daya | |
| Whiptongue Hydra | |
| Craterhoof Behemoth | |
| End-Raze Forerunners | |
| Decimator of the Provinces |
Planeswalkers (3)
| Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury | |
| Nissa, Who Shakes the World | |
| Vivien Reid |
Artifacts (4)
| Magewright’s Stone | |
| Coat of Arms | |
| Vanquisher’s Banner | |
| The Great Henge |
Enchantments (2)
| Sylvan Library | |
| Guardian Project |
Instants (4) with 1 mfdc
| Heroic Intervention | |
| Chord of Calling | |
| Khalni Ambush | |
| Obscuring Haze |
Sorceries (13) with 2 mfdcs
| Hurricane | |
| Green Sun’s Zenith | |
| Nissa’s Triumph | |
| Bala Ged Recovery | |
| Cultivate | |
| Genesis Wave | |
| Natural Order | |
| Tempt with Discovery | |
| Whirlwind | |
| Overrun | |
| Primal Command | |
| Desert Twister | |
| Turntimber Symbiosis |
Lands 36 with 3 mfdcs
| Arch of Orazca | |
| Boseiju, Who Endures | |
| Castle Garenbrig | |
| Cavern of Souls | |
| Deserted Temple | |
| Field of Ruin | |
| Myriad Landscape | |
| Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx |
| Oran-Rief, the Vastwood | |
| Path of Ancestry | |
| Pendelhaven | |
| Scavenger Grounds | |
| Wirewood Lodge | |
| Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth | |
| Forest (19) |
Primary Game Plan
The deck is similar to Elf decks found in Legacy or Modern. We are looking to make a bunch of mana and flood the board with cheap creatures and lords in order to pump our team and overrun our opponent in one attack. It is as much a combo deck as it is a tribal deck since we need a critical mass of creatures, many of whom impact each other, to work together in order to kill our opponent through combat.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
Given our primary game plan, it is a fair question to ask why Ezuri, Renegade Leader is not our commander. I don’t think you’d be wrong in picking the Elf Warrior over the Elf Scout, so let’s talk about the benefits and drawbacks of each.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds functions as guaranteed mana ramp, which can be relevant in a deck that runs only 36 lands. Furthermore, on the turns we go off, we want a lot of mana and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds plays a key role in generating it, since her ability scales up as our creatures get more powerful. The card advantage she offers us is also important, as one of the weaknesses of the deck is flooding out with small creatures and/or lands and not being able to find an Overrun effect in time. The main drawback is that many of our creatures will not trigger her card draw, and instead, she will be drawing cards for our opponent. Given this effect’s neutrality, our opponent will oftentimes not want to kill her, which means we get to abuse her mana ramp ability and hopefully win the game.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader protects our team, while providing us with a repeatable Overrun ability. What’s not to like? His chief drawback is that he will be an immediate target and, depending on the game state, likely make us enemy #1 at the table.
Pick between these commanders based on your play style. Do you want to force your opponent to have an answer? Do you want to become the main target? Or do you want to help your opponent while you build your board state to the point that resolving an Overrun effect wins you the game the same turn? Ezuri, Renegade Leader allows you to do the latter with his second ability, but everyone will see it coming. With Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, you’re everyone’s friend until you’re not and, while no one will be surprised when you stick a Craterhoof Behemoth, your opponent won’t know it’s in your hand until you cast it, whereas Ezuri, Renegade Leader will be a constant threat that will keep you a target.
The Deck
Besides ramp and Elves, the deck is made up of answers, card draw, tutors, and a handful of utility creatures and Planeswalkers.
Mana Ramp
Other than our commander, we play 23 spells that effectively ramp us or produce extra mana. The deck runs four lands that perform similar functions.
Mana Dorks
They tap for mana. Sometimes they do more. They are essential to our plan of ramping and then winning in one, elf-on-steroids attack.
So good, Wizards printed three of them!
Arbor Elf – the deck has played Utopia Sprawl in the past, but I eventually cut the second half of Modern’s most favorite ramp combo in favor of other elves.
Canopy Tactician – 4 mana is a lot for a mana dork, but this one is worth it. She pumps our team while tapping for 3 mana, all on a not irrelevant body.
Elvish Archdruid – the OG Circle of Dreams Druid, Elvish Archdruid only counts the number of elves we play. We play a lot. It’s also a lord and so pumps our team. This elf does it all! As an Archdruid, I expect no less. By the way, both of these creatures are great targets for our Wirewood Lodge.
Elvish Mystic – somewhere, someone at Wizards pitched the idea that Magic needed another Llanowar Elves and Fyndhorn Elves and someone else agreed…
Elvish Reclaimer – our most flexible ramp creature if it sticks around, as it allows us to search up whatever land fits our needs at the moment. Playing control? Let’s get our Cavern of Souls. Annoying utility land getting us down? Fetch up our Field of Ruin. Ready to make a ton of mana and win? Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx time! One of our best targets is Wirewood Lodge, depending on our board state.
Fyndhorn Elves – taps for a single green. Llanowar Elves’ brother by a different mother.
These are basically the same, right?
Incubation Druid – a mana sink for the late game that gives us a repeatable Black Lotus on a medium-sized body. The deck has ways of getting counters on the druid without paying the 5 mana.
Gala Greeters – a treasure a turn if we cast a creature…that counts as ramp, even if the Elf Druid itself doesn’t tap for mana!
Llanowar Elves – the poster elf for mana dorks.
Circle of Dreams Druid – taps for at least one green, but often far more, it also adds three to our devotion count to help us abuse Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
Marwyn, the Nurturer – she can grow to a 4/4 or 5/5 the turn after you play her with the right draws, giving us access to even more mana to grow her. At the very least, though, she will tap for a single green.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer – her ETB ensures we make at least one more land drop, while her Planeswalker side offers the kind of value you want from a quality Walker – card draw, protection, and a game-ending ultimate.
Oracle of Mul Daya – another mana dork that does a lot of what we want – ramp and card draw, assuming we see lands on top of our library. If we don’t, well, we are probably looking for action anyway.
Priest of Titania – enables busted turns by tapping for a for each elf in play. You never know when you’ll pick up some extra mana from your opponent’s elves.
Rishkar, Peema Renegade – can grow our team, provide us with two mana dorks for the price of one, or, let us abuse cards like Incubation Druid and Marwyn, the Nurturer.
Ramp Spells
We are a deck that is looking not just to make a lot of mana, but to have a critical mass of creatures to pump, give trample to, and beat our opponent’s face in. For this reason, we have prioritized mana dorks over ramp spells. Still, variety is the spice of life. That, and sometimes our opponent annoyingly boardwipes us or sticks a Linvala, Keeper of Silence that ruins our day if we can’t make our land drops.
One of these is clearly the superior ramp spell.
Nissa’s Triumph – quite possibly the best 2-mana ramp spell in Magic (shots fired, Farseek!). Yes, the lands don’t get put on the battlefield and thus, it’s technically not a ramp spell, but ensuring we make our land drops in a deck that runs so few lands is what we’re looking for from a ramp spell in this deck. Given how few lands we run and the nature of our deck, 2-land hands will be the norm. Having a way to ensure future land drops is crucial.
Cultivate – ramp and another land drop. Sounds good!
Tempt with Discovery – overpriced in French Commander, underpriced in traditional, this card lets us fetch up at least one utility land, and we have a lot of great options (see below).
Artifact Ramp
Yes, we could follow the traditional deck-building approach and fill this slot with cheap mana rocks, whether they be the pricey ones – Mana Vault or Mana Crypt – or the affordable ones – Arcane Signet or Sol Ring – but then we just end up with a lot of Commander decks that run the same cards. Read here for my philosophy on this. Instead, I’ve prioritized artifacts that synergize with what this deck is doing.
Magewright’s Stone – untapping an Elvish Archdruid to double up the mana we make from the first activation is twice as powerful, in case math isn’t your strong suit… We also happen to have a commander we can target, so we will almost always get value out of it.
The Great Henge – the two green we get from this legendary artifact is still important, even if we don’t resolve it until the late game. Also, given how many creatures we run, we have the potential to draw a lot of cards with this artifact. In a deck with so few truly impactful creatures in a format that sees haymaker after haymaker, our key to victory is more often than not a critical mass of dorks followed by an Overrun effect. For that we need a critical mass of cards.
Planeswalker Ramp
Ramp isn’t just for the early game! Our winning turns, not to mention our most fun, will almost always involve making a ton of mana. These Walkers do just that.
Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury – her +2 makes a mana dork, which advances our game plan nicely.
Nissa, Sage Animist – the backside of Nissa, Vastwood Seer, she is our weakest ramp Walker. Of course, if we play a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx off the top with her +1, she might just be our best!
Nissa, Who Shakes the World – doubling up each of our Forest s is amazing; the rest is just gravy.
Land Ramp
Some of our most busted turns will be thanks to these lands.
Castle Garenbrig – tapping 4 mana to get 6 may not seem like much, but it’s enough to get an activation out of both Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and Ezuri, Renegade Leader. Do it correctly and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds will reward you with an additional 5 mana, at the very least.
Deserted Temple – 1 mana to untap our Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Wirewood Lodge is easy math, even for those of us who struggle with it…
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx – what more is there to say about this card? It can turn 2 mana into 20.
Wirewood Lodge – besides doubling up our mana from Elvish Archdruid and her little brother, this land will frequently net us at least 2 additional mana. It also allows for some sneaky combat tricks by instant-speed untapping a big elf to block unsuspecting attackers.
Lord Effects
The deck runs 10 ways to increase our team’s power and/or toughness. Most of these cards do something else, too, which makes them that much more powerful for us. That being said, sometimes an additional +1/+1 on turn 3 or 4, plus 4 or 5 creatures is enough to finish an opponent off before they get going.
Canopy Tactician – comes with the added bonus of tapping for 3 green.
Coat of Arms – our best pump effect. Five elves each get +4/+4; 10 elves get +9/+9; etc.
Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen – has reach, which will help stop some damage in a tribe traditionally weak to fliers. The lifegain she offers can help us stabilize and/or win the race.
Elvish Archdruid – one of our best ramp creatures, assuming we have a few elves.
Elvish Clancaller – a 2-mana lord is worth it, even if we won’t use her other ability.
Elvish Champion – pumps our team while giving us a surprise win with Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth.
Imperious Perfect – a 1-elf army maker that pumps them as well.
Leaf-Crowned Visionary – another 2-mana lord that also draws us cards. This is exactly what the deck wants to be doing – growing our board while keeping our hand full of action.
The Great Henge – not a true lord effect, it does pump creatures it sees enter the battlefield. And, unlike the other cards on this list, it gives +1/+1 counters, which will stick around even after The Great Henge is gone.
Vanquisher’s Banner – draws a card on the cast trigger, as well as pumps our team. It’s hard to compete with The Great Henge, but Vanquisher’s Banner does a fair job at it.
Overrun Effects
Build up a board full of elves, make them huge, then swing in…that’s our game plan. These are the ways we have to make our team giants.
Allosaurus Shepherd – it’s not often a 1-drop functions as a finisher, but this elf shaman does. Turning all of our elves into 5/5 dinos would be a nonbo, except that they stay elves. That means they stay pumped from whatever lords we have on the battlefield. They will also keep their counters, as it is just the power and toughness of each elf that becomes 5/5.
Craterhoof Behemoth – the premier overrun creature, Stompy McStomples does more than leave the lakes of tomorrow behind. He also leaves your opponent’s face smashed in. Craterhoof Behemoth has allowed me to swing in for more than 500 points of damage in a single turn.
Decimator of the Provinces – the “fixed” version of Craterhoof Behemoth, this Eldrazi Boar is usually enough to do the trick.
Elvish Warmaster – 7 mana is a lot and, honestly, we are typically more interested in getting 1/1 tokens out of him, but the deck can make a lot of mana. It is not out of the realm of possibility to get two activations out of him in a single turn. +4/+4 and double deathtouch means your opponent’s creatures are doubly dead, right?
End-Raze Forerunners – another less-broken Craterhoof Behemoth, but one that will either kill your opponent or take a huge chunk out of their life total. Since our team has vigilance the turn we play this and attack, we don’t have to worry about losing to the backswing.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader – 5 mana to give our team +3/+3 and trample AND we can do it as many times as we can pay the cost? This is why Ezuri, Renegade Leader is usually Elf Tribal’s commander.
Numa, Joraga Chieftain – a great mana sink that can turn our mana dorks into giant threats. That we put counters on our elves, rather than pump them once, makes this card one of our best win conditions.
Overrun – a sorcery that gives us a 1-time Ezuri, Renegade Leader effect.
Finishers and Fatties
When an army of elves aren’t enough, we have ways to pump them to kill our opponent. And when that’s not enough, we have a few large creatures and spells that can put us over the top or quickly rebuild after a boardwipe. I’ve slowly whittled the number of these down as new elves have been printed, but a few remain.
Genesis Wave – the most fun you’ll have with a single card! X = 8 and we’re guaranteed to put any permanent we find onto the battlefield.
Turntimber Symbiosis – the least powerful of these effects, it’s a free inclusion, since the backside is a land.
Whiptongue Hydra – against some decks, this will function as a 1-sided boardwipe on a massive body. It doesn’t target, so even killing a single hexproof angel will often be worth it. It has reach, which is both a win and a flavor win.
Utility Creatures
Tapping for mana isn’t the only thing creatures in our deck can do.
Copperhorn Scout – untapping all of our creatures on the attack trigger will at the least give our team vigilance, while at its best, will untap our mana dorks to let us do busted things during our second main phase.
Gala Greeters – the flexibility this card offers coupled with being on a 2-drop, meaning we can start getting value from it early, makes this elf a powerful option. We will more often than not make a treasure with each trigger, but the life gain can be relevant. I originally misread the card and thought we got to put a counter on any creature, but, alas, it only grows itself.
Norwood Priestess – lets us play a creature for free each turn.
Reclamation Sage – really good at destroying artifacts and enchantments, while synergizing with our elf strategy.
Scavenging Ooze – every good Commander deck needs some graveyard hate.
Skyway Sniper – a 1-drop that advances our game plan while offering us late-game value. Elves don’t fly well, so having a way to kill flying creatures is important.
Viridian Corrupter – gives us a sneaky way to 1-shot our opponent while destroying an artifact on the way down.
Wildborn Preserver – flash and reach are nice, but it’s that third line of text we want to abuse. Turning our late-game 1-drops into X counters on Wildborn Preserver is a way to make mana dorks relevant in the late game. My record so far is 32 counters on this unimposing elf.
Yeva, Nature’s Herald – for the control decks out there, not to mention a way not to overextend into sweepers.
Tutors
Green has a lot of ways to search up creatures. In a combo deck like this one, each of our tutors functions as another copy of Craterhoof Behemoth or Ezuri, Renegade Leader. And if we’re not ready to win the game, they can find us whatever we need in the moment, from one of our utility creatures to a source of card advantage.
Chord of Calling – putting an Ezuri, Renegade Leader on the battlefield at the end of our opponent’s turn can win us the game. Instant speed + Craterhoof Behemoth after blockers is probably win-more, but sure is fun!
Fauna Shaman – a must-kill threat that allows us to turn our Llanowar Elves into Craterhoof Behemoth, while also adding to our elf count.
Fierce Empath – another elf that lets us find Craterhoof Behemoth. Noticing a trend yet?
Green Sun’s Zenith – a more powerful Chord of Calling in our deck.
Natural Order – at the cost of a creature on the battlefield, we get a Craterhoof Behemoth.
Primal Command – our most flexible tutor, it can deal with problematic noncreature permanents and graveyards. The lifegain is probably the least used mode, but I did once gain 7 life with this spell to put myself ahead of my opponents so that I could cast a game-winning Hurricane on my next turn.
Card Draw
Green has an impressive number of ways to gain card advantage.
Arch of Orazca – a land that could theoretically find a home in any mono-colored deck, we flood the board with creatures so quickly that getting the city’s blessing is never an issue.
Bala Ged Recovery – an unrestricted Revive on the back side of a land is good.
Beast Whisperer – drawing on the cast trigger makes this one of our best card-draw engines.
Elvish Visionary – one of our most vanilla creatures, the elf shaman allows us to keep some risky 7s, knowing we get a redraw.
Guardian Project – we will trigger this each time one of our creatures enters the battlefield. Couple this with Beast Whisperer and it will be hard to run out of gas.
Leaf-Crowned Visionary – a Lifecrafter’s Bestiary effect on a tribal lord.
Nissa, Sage Animist – her +1 either ramps us or puts a card in our hand.
Sylvan Library – drawing two extra cards a turn at the cost of 8 life is almost always worth it, at least once.
The Great Henge – drawing cards on top of all the other stuff this card does is one reason it’s still more than $40, even after a recent reprinting.
Vanquisher’s Banner – again, we draw off the cast trigger.
Vivien Reid – her +1 lets us find a creature or a land.
Including our tutors, that’s 17 cards that effectively draw us a card. Flooding out either with lands or small creatures is one of the deck’s chief weaknesses, so having so much card draw potential is essential to overcoming this problem.
Removal
Elves aren’t great at flying, so much of our creature removal is geared towards this problem. Thankfully, green offers a variety of hate cards targeting fliers. We hope to beat ground creatures by being bigger than them and forcing our opponent to block.
Boseiju, Who Endures – a land that can also kill artifacts, enchantments, or utility lands.
Desert Twister – perhaps green’s only hard removal, I have an Arabian Nights version from my days playing Magic in high school. It costs 4GG, but the 4 is so dark it makes it look like it only costs GG. The text is also great: “Destroy any card in play.”
Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury – her -2 destroys an artifact or enchantment.
Heroic Intervention – protecting our team from sweepers is great, but this instant also allows us to win in combat, even when our opponent thinks otherwise.
Hurricane – ahead on life? This functions as a direct damage spell, as well as a way to kill all fliers.
Khalni Ambush – green has many such fight effects, but I chose this one since it can also be a land.
Obscuring Haze – a 1-sided boardwipe at its best, we can also use this typically free spell to punch through some damage to set up a win on the following turn.
Vivien Reid – destroys an artifact, enchantment, or flying creature.
Whiptongue Hydra – a boardwipe for fliers on a massive body.
Whirlwind – a boardwipe for fliers not on a massive body…you can’t have it all, I guess.
Flex Spots
There are hundreds of elves to choose from when building an elf tribal deck. Many of the above are some of the best and most powerful, but there are surely some good ones out there that I simply don’t have in my collection and thus are not on my radar. Others may combo differently with another set of cards I’m not playing here. Still others, like some of the elves that are combo pieces in Legacy decks (Heritage Druid and Nettle Sentinel, for example) lose much of their power in a 100-card format. The beauty of Commander, of course, is we have the freedom and joy of playing whatever elves we want and for whatever reason.
Here are some of the elves and support cards that have been in previous iterations of the deck or which haven’t yet made the cut:
| Essence Warden | |
| Quirion Ranger | |
| Clip Wings | |
| Llanowar Tribe | |
| Elven Ambush | |
| Elvish Aberration |
As of publication, the Lord of the Rings set has only just released, giving us several new, powerful elves and support cards that fit both the flavor and our strategy, while others…not so much (Legolas, Master Archer). Here are the ones I’m excited to test out:
| Arwen, Weaver of Hope | |
| Elven Chorus | |
| Galadriel, Gift-Giver | |
| Last March of the Ents |
Of course, The One Ring would give us another card-draw engine, but I’m reluctant to add the busted new mythic to my Commander decks, as it is the kind of card, like Sol Ring, that can be slotted in any deck with little to no drawback (My Commander Philosophy). I also opened an alternate art Deserted Temple (aka, Weathertop) as my box topper and have put it into the deck. This land gives us another way to have some truly busted turns by untapping a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Wirewood Lodge.
I will make ALL the manas!
Green has no shortage of things to do with a lot of mana, so there is ample room for customization here, as well. Many hydras are great cards to pump a lot of mana in to and earlier versions of this deck played more of them as finishers. However, once I built a hydra tribal deck, I cut back on most of them.
Other than trimming an artifact here, or a kill spell there to fit your preferences and your meta, you can cut back on some card draw or a Planeswalker in favor of something you like better or a pet card.
Ideal Hand and Game Play
The majority of our elves cost 3 mana or less, so our best hands will have no more than 3 lands, plus a nice curve of mana dorks and utility creatures, with 1 card-draw engine. Lords are great at getting us off to fast starts and, with the right combination of other elves, can steal us a game if our opponent stumbles a bit. We don’t want to see our finishers until late game, but having one in our opening hand can win us the game if we have enough small creatures and a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. The problem with using our mana dorks to cast a finisher like Craterhoof Behemoth is we lose those creatures for the attack when we tap them for mana and thus it will be more difficult to 1-shot our opponent. Many of our non-lord pump effects are expensive and not impactful if we don’t have the creatures to go with them and so are better drawn later. Our best draws allow us to flood the board quickly without running out of gas, so I would put a primacy on card draw versus finisher in our opening hand.
Weaknesses
Like any creature-based combo deck, we are weak to sweepers, so be sure to play around those by not committing too much to the board. We play only 36 lands, which means if we are relying on a mana dork living to make our hand playable, we may find ourselves out of luck and doing nothing when our opponent bolts the bird, as they say. Luckily, targeted removal on early mana dorks is not as common in Commander as in Modern or Standard, but I’ve had games where I’ve missed several land drops and couldn’t play anything in my hand after my opponent boardwipes my many mana dorks.
Being a combo deck also means that sometimes you just draw the wrong part of your deck at the wrong time. An opening 7 with finishers and artifacts can lead to mulliganing and then mulliganing again. Other times, we have all the pieces ready to swarm our opponent but can’t find a finisher or pump spell. Our late-game draws can be unimpressive to say the least when it’s an Elvish Mystic. Having a critical mass of creatures is essential to our game plan and we often have a small window to find a finisher before everything gets blown up. Luckily, if we have some card draw online, we can build back extremely quickly.
Conclusion
This deck is a blast to play. I’ve had some of my most fun turns in Commander with it. Making a ton of mana and resolving a massive Genesis Wave or swinging in with a bunch of pumped up elves to hit for hundreds of points of damage is unsurprisingly a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a combo-style deck that has explosive turns, then this deck is a great option. However, on the negative side, the deck is basically trying to do one thing and you will be playing towards a big board followed by a finisher every time you pick it up. So far I haven’t gotten bored with this strategy, in part because of the nature of Commander, but also because there are enough cool and unexpected synergies between the cards that make our path towards victory interesting and unique.
What elves am I forgetting about? Are there better elf finishers that I’m missing? Let me know in the comments and, as always, thanks for reading!
