Top 10 Elves for Commander
They're one of Commander's all-time classic tribes. But which are the all-time greats? Check out our latest Tribal Top 10 to find out.
Elves
Honorable Mention - Llanowar Elves (and friends)
Llanowar Elves stands in here for the huge number of one drop, 1 mana generating elves that have become a staple of set after set, including Elvish Mystic and Fyndhorn Elves.
They’re outclassed in Commander by stronger mana generating options which is why they don’t make our main list, but the importance of this simple, cheap accelerant in a format that demands big mana should never be underestimated.
Every elf tribal deck will want some number of this family of cards, and they’re still a decent option for green ramp decks of all kinds. So here’s to the elvish mana dorks, and long may they be reprinted!
10. Underrealm Lich
Underrealm Lich will be a prime target for removal given the value it generates, but it has a formidable protection ability that is at its most powerful in Commander. Paying 4 life is a much-reduced price in a 40 life format, and will make the Lich very hard to remove without access to exile-based removal. This card certainly doesn’t need to be in an elf tribal deck to be effective, but Golgari elf tribal decks – and particularly those that use graveyard recursion – will want a copy 100% of the time.
9. Oracle of Mul Daya
Another high mana cost option in a traditionally cheap tribe, Oracle of Mul Daya definitely delivers 4 mana’s worth of benefit.
The ability to play additional lands as well as to play them off the top of the library offers the chance to get far ahead of your opponents in your land base. This will be at its absolute best with cards like Sensei’s Divining Top and Scroll Rack that allow you to manipulate the top of your library to make sure there’s a land (or preferably two lands in a row) sitting on top of it.
Yes you give your opponents an information advantage by being forced to reveal your next topdeck at all times, but you get that information too to help you plan your current and next turn. This is another elf that is easily strong and flexible enough to find a home in many decks outside of elf tribal.
8. Priest of Titania
Llanowar Elves on steroids, Priest of Titania is one of the premier big mana options for elf decks, and the first card on our list that is specifically for elf tribal.
On a large board of elves this card offers massive mana acceleration at a cheap rate, but even in a worst case scenario it still counts itself and will function in the same way as its more limited elvish mana-dork counterparts.
Your opponents will be loathe to use removal on a two-drop 1/1 common, but this card must absolutely be respected because of the sheer acceleration it offers.
In sore need of a reprint despite having been printed at common, if you can get your hands on a copy the priest will always find a place in your elf deck.
7. Heritage Druid
Another very powerful big mana option for elf tribal, heritage druid offers even faster mana than Priest of Titania. This just pips the priest on our list because, instead of having to wait a turn to generate its mana and offer opponents the opportunity to remove it, Heritage Druid offers explosive ramp on the turn it enters play. And it does it at the incredibly low price of a single green mana.
Of course, it has its own drawbacks. This card does nothing without at least two other elves in play, and is incredibly fragile in combat and in the face of removal. But any elf tribal deck worth its salt should be able to fuel this card’s ability, as long as you make sure to time deploying it for a moment when that additional mana will be at its most useful.
There are even draws that allow Heritage Druid to generate three mana, use that mana to deploy at least three more elves, who in turn generate three mana. Rinse and repeat until your entire hand of elves is in play, potentially as early as turn three!
6. Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Not anymore! Ezuri can regenerate other elves at will for only a single green (although sadly not himself) and with access to enough mana he’s an on-board overrun that will transform your army of weedy 1/1s into a trampling stampede. He obviously pairs incredibly well with big elvish mana generators like Heritage Druid and Elvish Archdruid, each of whom can allow him to save an entire board of elves from a Wrath of God effect or to activate his overrun ability multiple times in a single turn.
5. Beast Whisperer
After a rash of dedicated elf tribal cards, Beast Whisperer is a return to elves that can fit into a much wider range of decks. Of course you’ll need to be running a heavily creature-based deck to take full advantage, but if you are, Beast Whisperer generates unrelenting card advantage as long as he’s in play, all while you are simply doing what your deck wants to do – deploying creatures and developing your board.
Needless to say, Beast Whisperer works just as well in elf tribal decks, and arguably better given he'll benefit from all your elf synergies, and because elf decks offer access to many cheap utility creature spells that can allow you to chain-trigger the Whisperer quickly multiple times in a single turn before he can be removed.
4. Reclamation Sage
It’s not big and it’s not flashy, but Reclamation Sage is a guaranteed two for one that answers many of the scariest cards in Commander.
Whether it’s simply slowing down your opponents’ mana by killing a mana rock, or blowing up a Batterskull, Commander is the definition of a target-rich environment for Reclamation Sage.
Green decks of all stripes will want access to this effect, but the card becomes truly absurd in dedicated elf decks that get all the benefits of the destruction effect while also leveraging full advantage from all the synergies of another 2/1 elf body, whether that be for mana generation or for mass pump. Don’t skip a copy of this simple but hugely effective card in your decks.
3. Elvish Archdruid
Elvish Archdruid is a key piece in any elf tribal deck. The lord effect is obviously useful, particularly for elf decks that focus on generating large numbers of token elves. But, as we've already seen with other cards on this list, the true power of the Archdruid lies in his ability to generate big mana.
On a decently wide board of elves, the Archdruid will not only be doubling the power and toughness of most elves, but also tapping for 5 or more mana to deploy yet more elves from your hand or to feed activated abilities. A must-remove target for your opponents and a must-include in any variation of elf tribal.
2. Quirion Ranger
Quirion Ranger offers repeatable untapping for your strongest mana generators and any other cards with tap abilities, all at the measly cost of returning a single forest to your hand. This can lead to absolutely massive amounts of mana to dump into game-ending mana sinks like Ezuri or to chain card draw and board development with Beast Whisperer and a constant stream of creatures.
This unassuming card has massive combo potential, and shouldn’t be overlooked in decks that can use it properly. It can even be used as an enabler for landfall in decks looking to make use of cards like Avenger of Zendikar.
1. Deathrite Shaman
Deathrite Shaman is not just the overall strongest elf for its cost available in Commander, it is also one of the most pushed one drops in the history of Magic. Its sheer flexibility and utility is incredibly hard to match for a single mana, and a hybrid mana at that meaning you don’t even need access to both green and black in your colour identity to cast it!
Let’s go through the full list of what the Shaman offers for a single hybrid mana.
- Above rate 1/2 body for 1 mana in a very relevant tribe
- Ability to ramp with access to land cards in the graveyard
- Ability to directly drain opposing life totals while removing key instants and sorceries from opposing graveyards or your own.
- Ability to pad your own life total while removing key creatures from opposing graveyards
Jonathan Widnall
- Jon Widnall