^ thats another good reason.

Barney i'm gonna try your suggestions as soon as you get back to me on the additions, because currently its not adding up

I removed too much land!!

Put a Forest back in and a Swamp back in. Sorry about that.

Man, you were seriously short on land in your original build, holy crap. Good thing I took out that Bellower.

the bellower is so good, no questions asked. The deck does seem like it needs a mana adjustment for sure though.

The archers and the deadbridge shamans I'm not sure of.

awesome, let's lose them.

Man, there's going to be so many situations with 6 mana where you could winning the game by not playing Bellower

I'm trying out your build card for card right now

oh boy! Can't wait to hear how she does. Remember to set up engine and then crush them quickly.


I should mention that of my nine decks, this is the one I play the most. Probably why I like talking about it so much.

It's not NEARLY as good as Thopters or Golgari Control or even mono-red. I'd put it on par with Jund Control on how much it disappoints me. But when it wins, it wins big.

I think the main reason I'm playing so much Elves is that I'm trying somehow to get this angel's attention:

Alright after 10 games I noticed a few things. The bone splinters are often very dead and so are the fleshbags. There usually aren't enough targets to kill for even the 3rd copy of bone splinters(I drew 3 of them 3 out of the 10 games). The new manabase has been working pretty well allowing me to curve out, but my hand has been cluttered with too many single target removal spells.

I went 6-4 btw

That removal package is absolute overkill for a deck that wants to swarm.

It's just too far towards control, and needs more Elves.

My 2 cents -

I've been against thornbow and in favor of removal most of the season, but now that the meta and decks-to-play/beat are more defined, I am playing Thornbow and less removal. Elves doesn't have good midrange compared to Gruul and Golgari and the removal is weak against Thopters. Thornbow is basically a 2/2 for 1 if your opponent doesn't drop early elves, and that life loss is important since most of the wind come down to Shaman math. That is another reason not to play 4 splinters anymore. Sacking your elves is bad if you planned to use them for shaman damage.

My elves gameplan for the last few weeks has been cast shaman many times, so I make space for necro summons to give me one more shaman trigger. Also works great if they reave soul on Dwynen. So that's where I'm at with elves. Sorry Barney.

Ohh man.. now we're gonna see a grown man cry

Thornbow also sets up turn 2 Dwynen's Elite so you can get the token.. then turn 3 Jagged Scar Archers being a 4/4.. turn 4 Dwynen, buffing the team.. Archers are a 6/6.. face is being beaten.

Great points I agree, I just wanted to test out his ideas to see how it worked.

I'm trying out elvish assasin in the Deathbridge shaman slot currently. What are your thoughts on that change?

K cool, thanks for trying out the build. Yeah, the version I play has a ton of control cuz other than Languish, certain creatures like Lilly are problems for me and I want the solution to get rid of them always. I feel like with removal in my hand, the elf army's victory is an inevitability.

It's funny cuz Covert was the guy who totally convinced me on the Bone Splinters in the first place. He has so much more experience than me playing this deck (and I have PLENTY believe me), that I would defer to this judgment over mine in this.

I'm THIS close to giving up on elves completely. I think the only way they win is if they can be consistent and the more I tighten my grip on the consistency, the more matches slip through the fingers of this pointy-eared toy-makers.

They're not that kind of elf you say? They are soliders you say? THEN WIN ME SOME BATTLES. 6-4 is terrible and I don't doubt Coexist's piloting skillz for a second. This archtype has been more and more disappointing as of late. They're a poor man's Thopters. This deck would kill for a little evasion. Where's that elf lord that grants Forestwalk?? Everyone is running trees for crissakes

The wierd thing hearing is "there's aren't targets for this removal package". I don't know how you aren't winning games when there is nothing to kill.

I'm not even going to bother to improve my build (which clearly can be improved). I am waiting to unlock the final boosters so I can run the build i want, then the second I start a new MP session and lose my first game with it. BAM. I'm sending the elves to Valinor, the Undying Lands, across the sea to the West. Hobbits probably think that's like the farm up north where your parents said your favourite pets ended up. But we all know where they're really going.

or you know there is the situations where bellower does just win the game.

I'm gonna harp this until Orgins ends but bellower is a freaking green sun's zenith for x=3 with a 6/5 attached. it's better then a tutor in a game where people are complaining about the lack of tutors. play a 6/5 and get your choice of a x/x where x= your number of elves, the ability to do x damage to the opponent, kill an enchantment, put a dwynen's elite in play and get even more elves on your board, or you can draw a card using visionaries. Bellower is pure card advantage, and like I've said before will make any deck with better

Barney if you feel Elves need evasion and removal then maybe you should look at the Elf that provides both + a 4/3 body in Gilt Leaf Winnower. You're all like 'you can do better for 5 mana' but in Duels.. can you REALLY do better than that? I don't think so.. unless you're talking Outland Colossus.

Elves ARE NOT Avacyn's Glory or White Weenies from last year.. they're elves.. they're slower. Trying to make THESE creatures a hard charging aggro deck.. I just don't see it.

That's cuz you're playing one creature for five mana. I'm playing 2-3 creatures for five mana.

Anyway, I just don't think elves are that powerful anymore but this was, what I thought, the best way to run them

But a lot of those creatures suck.

It's a 5 turn clock with evasion that kills something. It's worth 5 mana in this meta. Again.. Elves is not RDW. Did Elves in 2014 have many turn 5 kills?

Hakeem wanted me to tell you, "Barney's inclusion of Fleshbag implies fetal alcohol syndrome."

Elvish assassin (eyeblight assassin I think you mean) is a shot in the dark. Sometimes you leave the dream and kill something good like consuls lieutenant. Most of the time you kill creatures you didn't care about anyway (visionary). I don't know who I dislike more, eyeblight assassin or deadbridge shaman. I run with neither.

I use both but my deck is more midrange stally (which I think does better but preferences and all that)

Gah! How am I supposed to report a post not even made by him???

Anyway now I'm thinking that I might be wrong about fleshbags in elves

@Black Barney I pm'ed you