Premodern Elves Deck Guide (2026)
Premodern Elves is a green creature deck: mana Elves and Gaea's Cradle make a lot of mana, and Survival of the Fittest finds the creature each game needs. It wins with Deranged Hermit's Squirrels, which attack the turn they arrive when Anger is in your graveyard and you control a Mountain. Elves is a smaller part of the field than last winter, under 2 percent of MTGTop8 lists since April against about 3 percent from November to March, but Iván de Castro won the European Masters in Valencia (110 players, October 11) with a Natural Order build, Pablo Suárez Fernández finished fifth to eighth at the Eurofest main event the day before (272 players), and Ben Bauer made the top eight of the North American Championship at Lobstercon (326 players, May 1). Its hardest common matchups are Goblins, Enchantress and Replenish.
How the deck wins
- The mana comes first: Llanowar Elves and Fyndhorn Elves, plus Birds of Paradise in about a quarter of the lists, lead into Priest of Titania, which taps for one green mana for each Elf on the battlefield, and Gaea's Cradle, which taps for one for each creature you control. Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote untap the Priest so it taps twice, and Multani's Acolyte draws a card when it enters and again each time Symbiote returns it to your hand.
- Survival of the Fittest turns spare creature cards into whatever the game needs, for {G} each: Squee, Goblin Nabob is a discard you get back from your graveyard each upkeep; Anger in your graveyard gives your creatures haste while you control a Mountain; Nantuko Vigilante destroys an artifact or enchantment and Masticore shoots creatures; Yavimaya Granger puts a basic land, often the Mountain, onto the battlefield; and Deranged Hermit makes four Squirrels. About half the lists also play Genesis, in the main deck or sideboard, which returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand in each of your upkeeps for {2}{G}, and about a quarter Skyshroud Poacher, which puts an Elf such as Deranged Hermit from your library onto the battlefield for {3}.
- The kill usually comes in one turn: Deranged Hermit makes four Squirrels that are 2/2 while it is on the battlefield, Wirewood Symbiote returns the Hermit to your hand so you can cast it again for four more, and with Anger in your graveyard and a Mountain on the battlefield they all attack the turn they arrive. About half the lists add Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, whose {2}{G}{G}{G} ability gives your creatures +3/+3 and trample. About one list in seven splashes white for Swords to Plowshares and often Armageddon, which destroys your Gaea's Cradle too but not your mana creatures. About one in ten plays Natural Order, which sacrifices a green creature to put a green creature card from your library onto the battlefield, usually Phantom Nishoba or Deranged Hermit; Iván de Castro won the European Masters in Valencia with that build.
Core cards
- 4 Gaea's Cradle
- 4 Survival of the Fittest
- 4 Wirewood Symbiote
- 4 Multani's Acolyte
- 3 Llanowar Elves
- 3 Fyndhorn Elves
- 3 Priest of Titania
- 3 Quirion Ranger
- 3 Deranged Hermit
- 1 Nantuko Vigilante
- 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
- 1 Masticore
- 1 Yavimaya Granger
- 1 Anger
Key cards
- Gaea's Cradle: One green mana for each creature you control, so it taps for more as your board grows and for nothing once a sweeper has emptied it. It is a legendary nonbasic land, not a Forest: Quirion Ranger cannot return it, and Wasteland, Dust Bowl and Rishadan Port can target it. A second copy is a spare or extra mana once: tap the first, play the second as your land drop and keep the untapped one.
- Priest of Titania: Tap her for one green mana for each Elf on the battlefield, the opponent's included. Wirewood Symbiote and Quirion Ranger can untap her for a second activation, which makes her the deck's biggest mana source and the opponent's first removal target, so play other Elves first.
- Survival of the Fittest: Pay {G} and discard a creature card to search your library for a creature card, at instant speed and as often as you have mana and creature cards. It is in almost every list; Duress can take it from your hand, Annul counters it, and Naturalize effects or a Pernicious Deed activated for two destroy it.
- Squee, Goblin Nabob: At the beginning of your upkeep you may return him from your graveyard to your hand, so one Survival activation a turn costs only its {G}. Against decks that trade one for one this is a free search every turn; Tormod's Crypt, Phyrexian Furnace and Withered Wretch can exile him from your graveyard first.
- Wirewood Symbiote: Return an Elf you control to its owner's hand to untap target creature, once each turn. It untaps Priest of Titania for more mana, returns Multani's Acolyte or Deranged Hermit to cast again for another card or four more Squirrels, saves an Elf from removal in response, and avoids an echo payment you don't want to make. It is an Insect, not an Elf, so it cannot return itself and survives Engineered Plague naming Elf.
- Quirion Ranger: One mana: return a Forest you control to your hand to untap target creature, once each turn. It untaps Priest of Titania for more mana, or an attacker so it can block. If you have not played a land this turn, tap a Forest for mana first, return it and play it again untapped for a second mana. In response to Armageddon it saves one Forest.
- Deranged Hermit: Five mana for a 1/1 Elf that makes four 1/1 Squirrels; while it is on the battlefield, Squirrels get +1/+1, so the five creatures have nine power. In your next upkeep you pay its echo of {3}{G}{G} or sacrifice it, and the Squirrels are 1/1s again; Wirewood Symbiote can return it to your hand before that so you can cast it again for four more Squirrels. Most lists play two or three.
- Anger: Rarely cast, usually discarded: while Anger is in your graveyard and you control a Mountain, creatures you control have haste. Nine in ten lists play one Anger and one Mountain, which Wooded Foothills or Yavimaya Granger can find; Karplusan Forest is not a Mountain. Discarding Anger to Survival of the Fittest costs {G} and still finds you a creature.
- Nantuko Vigilante: In more than nine of ten main decks, one or two copies: cast it face down for {3} as a 2/2, then turn it face up for {1}{G} at any time to destroy target artifact or enchantment. Cast face up for {3}{G}, it destroys nothing. Turning it face up is not a spell, so counterspells cannot stop it, though Stifle can counter the trigger. It answers Solitary Confinement, Powder Keg, Stasis, Oath of Druids or Tangle Wire from the main deck, and Survival finds it.
Mulligan guide
Keep
- A one-mana Elf, a second land or another mana creature, and something to spend the mana on, such as Survival of the Fittest, Multani's Acolyte or Deranged Hermit.
- Survival of the Fittest with two lands and a creature card to discard: it finds the mana creature or the answer the hand is missing.
- Hands with only one or two Forests are better with Quirion Ranger: on a turn without a land to play, tap a Forest, return it with the Ranger and play it again for a second mana.
Ship
- Hands without a one- or two-mana creature: without early mana, Survival of the Fittest and Deranged Hermit come too late.
- Hands of expensive creatures, such as Deranged Hermit, Masticore and Caller of the Claw, without mana creatures to cast them early.
- Hands with a single Forest and neither Quirion Ranger nor a second land: one Armageddon, or a Rishadan Port that taps the Forest in each of your upkeeps, can keep you off mana.
Count the mana for your third turn: a good hand makes five or more with Priest of Titania or Gaea's Cradle. Hands with several expensive creatures and few mana creatures are the ones to send back.
Play tips and sequencing
- Play one-mana Elves before Priest of Titania: she taps for one mana per Elf on the battlefield, and removal spent on a Llanowar Elves is not spent on her.
- Discard Squee to Survival of the Fittest as early as you can, since he comes back to your hand each upkeep. Search at the end of the opponent's turn when you can, so Squee is back in your hand by your upkeep and you know what their turn showed.
- Use Wirewood Symbiote's return for value: return Multani's Acolyte to draw its card again, or return an echo creature, such as Deranged Hermit, Yavimaya Granger or Multani's Acolyte, in response to its echo trigger instead of paying.
- Against Wrath of God, Pernicious Deed and Pyroclasm, keep some creatures in hand instead of the whole team on the table, and hold Caller of the Claw with three mana open: cast with flash after the sweeper in the same turn, it makes a 2/2 Bear for each of your nontoken creatures that died. After a sweeper Gaea's Cradle makes no mana, and a Pernicious Deed activated for two also destroys Survival of the Fittest.
- Winter Orb, in about a third of the sideboards, and Armageddon in the white build hurt the opponent more than you: your mana creatures untap and tap for mana as usual. Under Winter Orb, Quirion Ranger can return a tapped Forest that you play again untapped as your land drop; Armageddon also destroys your Gaea's Cradle.
- Discard Anger to Survival early, and get a Mountain onto the battlefield with Wooded Foothills or Yavimaya Granger: from then on every Deranged Hermit, Squirrel and creature you find can attack the turn it arrives.
Matchups
- Stiflenought (even): Chump blocks barely slow a trampling 12/12, their Stifle counters Survival of the Fittest activations and Deranged Hermit's Squirrel trigger, and Powder Keg sweeps your one-drops. Nantuko Vigilante and sideboard Naturalize destroy Dreadnought or Powder Keg, though Stifle can counter Vigilante's trigger when you turn it face up. MTGDecks: 51 percent over 78 matches.
- UG Madness (slightly favorable): Your mana engine goes bigger and wider than their tempo creatures, Deranged Hermit's Squirrels block the ground, and Masticore shoots down Waterfront Bouncer and an unpumped Basking Rootwalla. Their outs are a fast attack in the air with Wonder in their graveyard and Circular Logic on Survival of the Fittest or Deranged Hermit. Limited data: 57 percent over 14 matches.
- Goblins (unfavorable): Two tribal swarms, but theirs carries removal: Goblin Sharpshooter and Gempalm Incinerator pick off your one-toughness elves, and every creature that dies untaps Sharpshooter. Hermit Squirrels block the ground, and Masticore, in most lists, kills their X/1 Goblins for {2} each; keep {2} open to regenerate it against Goblin Tinkerer, Naturalize, kicked Overload and Pyrokinesis. Kill Sharpshooter first and win before Ringleader refills their hand. MTGDecks: 42 percent over 59 matches.
- Sligh (favorable): Their burn kills one-toughness mana elves and Earthquake after boarding sweeps them, but Gaea's Cradle and Deranged Hermit rebuild faster than one-for-one burn, Masticore picks off their creatures, and in some lists Ravenous Baloth after boarding gains the life back unless Sulfuric Vortex is out. Caller of the Claw rebuilds after a sweeper. MTGDecks: 60 percent over 40 matches.
- Enchantress (unfavorable): A race: kill before Solitary Confinement lands, because it prevents all your damage, and Elephant Grass makes every elf cost {2} to attack. Nantuko Vigilante answers one piece from the main deck unless Sterling Grove gives it shroud; after boarding Naturalize and Tranquil Domain help. MTGDecks: 41 percent over 56 matches.
- Landstill (even to favorable): A control deck struggles against a deck that rebuilds for one mana a creature: they need Wrath of God early and against a big board, and Squee with Survival of the Fittest grinds through one-for-one answers. Their Powder Keg on one counter destroys your one-drops, about half their lists play Humility, which turns off your mana Elves, and Dust Bowl can destroy Gaea's Cradle; Nantuko Vigilante destroys Powder Keg, and after boarding Naturalize and Tranquil Domain answer Humility. Commit a few threats at a time and bring Caller of the Claw to flash in on the turn of a Wrath. Limited data: 64 percent over 25 matches.
- Mono Black (favorable): Game one their one-for-one removal loses to the swarm, and Masticore shoots down Hypnotic Specter, Ravenous Rats and Withered Wretch, though Snuff Out kills it and Wasteland can destroy Gaea's Cradle. After boarding they bring Engineered Plague naming Elf and Perish, which destroys every green creature: destroy Plague with Naturalize, Tranquil Domain or Nantuko Vigilante turned face up, find non-Elf creatures such as Masticore or Ravenous Baloth with Survival, and flash in Caller of the Claw after a Perish. MTGDecks: 60 percent over 45 matches.
- Replenish (unfavorable): They win this race more often than not: a resolved Replenish returns Opalescence and Parallax Wave, and Parallax Wave exiles your attackers and blockers. Nantuko Vigilante answers one piece; after boarding bring Naturalize, Tranquil Domain and Tormod's Crypt, since Replenish returns whatever you destroy unless the Crypt has emptied their graveyard. Limited data: 25 percent over 28 matches.
- The Rock (even): Pernicious Deed is the problem: activated for two, it destroys every creature with mana value 2 or less and Survival of the Fittest with them, and for four Masticore too. Keep some creatures in hand, cast Caller of the Claw after a Deed, and remember that Gaea's Cradle makes nothing after one. Their Duress and Cabal Therapy take Survival, Smother kills Priest of Titania, and Dust Bowl, in most main decks, can destroy Gaea's Cradle. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Elf, in almost nine of ten sideboards, kills every Elf with toughness 1; Wirewood Symbiote and Masticore survive it. Limited data: 58 percent over 24 matches.
- Deadguy Ale (even before boarding, unfavorable afterward): Game one their removal is one for one: Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate in almost every list, Hypnotic Specter and Gerrard's Verdict empty your hand, and Priest of Titania, Survival of the Fittest and Wirewood Symbiote are their first targets. Gerrard's Verdict lets you choose the two cards, so discard Squee or Anger. Exalted Angel, in almost every list, flies over your board and gains them life, though Masticore can shoot it while it is a face-down 2/2, and Wasteland goes after Gaea's Cradle. After board Engineered Plague naming Elf, in almost every sideboard, and in about two of three Perish are a large upgrade for them, and a few lists add Wrath of God or Dystopia, so the plan has to be a fast start rather than a long game. No match data.
- Aluren (even to slightly favorable): You can race, and Aluren lets you cast creatures with mana value 3 or less for free and at instant speed too: mana Elves, Wirewood Symbiote, Multani's Acolyte and Squee arrive during their combo turn. Man-o'-War, in almost every list, returns Priest of Titania or Symbiote to your hand, some lists add Ghitu Slinger or Bone Shredder, and the black lists bring Engineered Plague naming Elf. Nantuko Vigilante turned face up, or Naturalize after boarding, destroys Aluren itself. MTGDecks: 33 percent over 6 matches, very limited data.
- Zombies (even before boarding, unfavorable afterward): Go over the top: a Cradle turn or a Survival chain beats any number of 2/2s, and their main-deck interaction is discard, Withered Wretch and Wasteland for your Cradle. Protect Survival of the Fittest from a turn-one Cabal Therapy by not keeping it as your only engine, and after board respect Engineered Plague naming Elf, which kills every one-toughness Elf, Deranged Hermit included; Birds of Paradise, Wirewood Symbiote (an Insect), Masticore and the 2/2 Yavimaya Granger survive it. No match data.
- Terrageddon (favorable): Armageddon does not stop mana creatures: Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves and Priest of Titania keep producing mana after it, which also destroys your Gaea's Cradle. Deranged Hermit's Squirrels block Terravore, but it has trample. Wasteland, in every list, and Rishadan Port go after Gaea's Cradle, so tap it for mana in response when you can use the mana, and Swords to Plowshares takes Masticore or Deranged Hermit. About a third of their lists play Earthquake or Pyroclasm in the main deck; after boarding, expect Pyroclasm and Cursed Totem, which shuts off every mana Elf. Masticore survives Pyroclasm, and Nantuko Vigilante or Naturalize destroys Cursed Totem. MTGDecks: 62 percent over 42 matches.
- MUD (even): Mana elves keep making mana under Winter Orb and Sphere of Resistance, though Tangle Wire taps them and Rishadan Port taps Gaea's Cradle. Triskelion and, after boarding, Pyroclasm kill elves. Nantuko Vigilante and Naturalize answer the lock pieces; Goblin Welder swaps an artifact out in response, and your Masticore shoots Goblin Welder. MTGDecks (Tinker Welder): 43 percent over 7 matches, very limited data.
- Full English Breakfast (unfavorable): Their combo runs through Hermit Druid, Survival of the Fittest and graveyard recursion with Unearth, Animate Dead and Volrath's Shapeshifter. You are faster, and your interaction is narrow: Masticore shoots Hermit Druid and Birds of Paradise, Nantuko Vigilante, or Naturalize after boarding, can destroy their Survival or an Animate Dead, which then takes the creature with it, and Tormod's Crypt, in three of four of your sideboards, exiles their graveyard in response to Unearth or Animate Dead. Their Cabal Therapy takes Survival, Triskelion, once they cast or reanimate it, shoots three of your X/1s, and after boarding Pyroclasm and Ghitu Slinger kill your mana Elves. Limited data: 39 percent over 18 matches.
- Stasis (favorable): Stasis has a hard time locking you: Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote each untap a creature once a turn, a Priest of Titania untapped that way makes a lot of mana, and new creatures, Squirrels included, enter untapped; Deranged Hermit with Anger ends games fast. Gaea's Cradle is a land, so under Stasis it stays tapped, and Root Maze, in about half their main decks, makes lands enter tapped, even a Forest that Quirion Ranger returned. Nantuko Vigilante and Naturalize destroy Stasis; Tranquil Domain does too, but it also destroys your own Survival of the Fittest. Their Counterspell, Daze and Thwart, and after boarding Annul, aim at Survival of the Fittest, and Cursed Totem, in about two of three of their sideboards, stops your mana creatures, Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote. MTGDecks: 76 percent over 21 matches, limited data.
- Oath of Druids (slightly unfavorable): Their Wasteland takes Gaea's Cradle, and while you control more creatures, Oath of Druids gives them a Terravore in each of their upkeeps that soon outgrows anything Survival finds. Destroy Oath with Nantuko Vigilante, or with Naturalize and Tranquil Domain after boarding, before the second Terravore arrives, and block an early one with Masticore, which can regenerate. Expect Cursed Totem after boarding, which stops your mana elves, Wirewood Symbiote, Quirion Ranger and Masticore. Limited data: 52 percent over 23 matches.
- Psychatog (slightly favorable): Their counterspells trade one for one, and Survival of the Fittest with Squee finds a new threat every turn, but Sickening Dreams, in most of their main decks since September, deals 1 damage to each creature for one discarded card and kills every mana Elf, and Smother kills Priest of Titania or Wirewood Symbiote. After boarding they bring Engineered Plague naming Elf, in nine of ten sideboards since September, and Annul for Survival. Bait counters with the cheaper creatures, cast Survival or Deranged Hermit when they are tapped out, and turn Nantuko Vigilante face up on the Plague; that is not a spell, so they cannot counter it. Limited data: 47 percent over 17 matches.
- Reanimator (unfavorable): An early Akroma, Angel of Wrath or Phantom Nishoba from Reanimate, Exhume or Animate Dead outclasses your board. Race with Deranged Hermit and Anger, and keep Tormod's Crypt, in three of four of your sideboards, to exile their graveyard in response to the reanimation spell. Exhume also returns a creature card from your graveyard, so a Deranged Hermit or Masticore you discarded to Survival comes back with theirs. Their Cabal Therapy takes Survival of the Fittest, Sickening Dreams, in nine of ten main decks since September, discards their reanimation targets and kills your mana Elves, and each time damage would be dealt to Phantom Nishoba, it is prevented and Nishoba loses a +1/+1 counter, so Masticore and chump blocks shrink it. Limited data: 0 percent over 7 matches.
- Tron (unfavorable): Wrath of God, in most of their lists, kills your board, Powder Keg on one counter takes every one-mana creature, Masticore shoots one creature for every {2}, and Mana Leak, Prohibit and Miscalculation counter Survival of the Fittest. Race before the Urza lands come online, keep Deranged Hermit and Caller of the Claw for the turn after a Wrath, and turn Nantuko Vigilante face up on their Masticore or Powder Keg, which are artifacts. No match data.
- Clerics (unfavorable): Withered Wretch, in almost every list, exiles Squee and Anger from your graveyard, Cabal Therapy takes Survival of the Fittest, Smother kills Priest of Titania, and Rishadan Port taps Gaea's Cradle in your upkeep. After boarding they bring Engineered Plague naming Elf, in more than nine of ten sideboards, and in about half Perish, which destroys every green creature, or Dystopia, which makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps. Race before the Plague, keep Deranged Hermit and Caller of the Claw for after a Perish, and use Nantuko Vigilante or Naturalize on Plague or Dystopia. Masticore is colorless and survives Plague and Perish, but every Cleric it shoots gives them a 2/2 Zombie from Rotlung Reanimator. No match data.
- The Solution (even): Pyroclasm after boarding sweeps your mana creatures, and Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice pick off Priest of Titania, but an unanswered Survival of the Fittest finds Masticore, whose colorless damage kills Mother of Runes and Meddling Mage through her protection, and Meddling Mage can name only one card. No match data.
- Dromar Control (even): Before boarding their removal is one for one: Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Diabolic Edict and Dromar's Charm, which can also give a creature -2/-2 or counter a spell. Exalted Angel, in almost every list, flies over your board and gains them life, and Meddling Mage can name Survival of the Fittest, so cast Survival before the Mage arrives; once Survival is on the battlefield, the Mage does not stop it. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Elf, in nine of ten sideboards, kills every Elf with toughness 1, and some lists add Perish. No match data.
- White Weenie (slightly favorable): You go wide faster: Gaea's Cradle, Priest of Titania and Deranged Hermit's Squirrels outgrow their board, and Masticore shoots their X/1s; it is colorless, so Mother of Runes cannot protect them from it. Elves cannot block their shadow creatures, and only Birds of Paradise can block Exalted Angel, in four of five lists. Swords to Plowshares answers Masticore or Deranged Hermit, Wasteland goes after Gaea's Cradle, and their Armageddon, in more than half their lists, destroys Gaea's Cradle too but leaves your mana creatures. After boarding about a third of their lists bring Cursed Totem, which shuts off your mana creatures and Masticore but also their Mother of Runes and Whipcorder. Very limited data: 100 percent over 7 matches.
- BW Control (even): They hold Wrath of God, in almost every list, and some add Infest or Decree of Pain, whose cycling gives all creatures -2/-2 at instant speed, so don't overextend: Wirewood Symbiote can return an Elf in response to a sweeper, Caller of the Claw comes in after it, and Survival of the Fittest rebuilds with Deranged Hermit. Exalted Angel, in almost every list, blocks your Squirrels and gains them life, Vindicate and Swords to Plowshares trade with Survival and Masticore, and Phyrexian Furnace and Haunting Echoes exile Squee and Anger from your graveyard. Their Dust Bowl can destroy Gaea's Cradle, and Engineered Plague naming Elf comes in after boarding. Very limited data: 56 percent over 9 matches.
- Gro-a-Tog (slightly favorable): Go wide before their counters matter. Fire // Ice kills two mana Elves, Swords to Plowshares takes Deranged Hermit or Masticore, and after boarding Pyroclasm and Engineered Plague naming Elf come in, but Deranged Hermit's Squirrels and Gaea's Cradle outgrow a single Quirion Dryad. Their Armageddon, in about two of three main decks, destroys Gaea's Cradle but not your mana creatures. Bait Counterspell with a cheaper creature before you cast Survival of the Fittest, keep {1} open for Daze, and expect Meddling Mage, in about half their lists, to name Survival or Deranged Hermit. Limited data: 60 percent over 10 matches.
- Pit Rack (even): You empty your hand fast, which turns on their Rack, and Bottomless Pit, in most lists, makes you discard at random each upkeep, though a discarded Squee comes back and Anger works from the graveyard. Funeral Charm, Smother, Cursed Scroll and Diabolic Edict kill your mana Elves, and Wasteland goes after Gaea's Cradle. Gaea's Cradle's mana and Deranged Hermit's Squirrels put out more creatures than their removal can handle, but after boarding expect Engineered Plague naming Elf and Dystopia, each in almost every sideboard, and in some lists Perish or Plague Spitter. Dystopia makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps; Nantuko Vigilante and Naturalize destroy it and the Plague. Limited data: 54 percent over 13 matches.
- Rebels (slightly favorable): Your board grows faster than their searchers can answer it: Deranged Hermit and Gaea's Cradle give you more creatures than Whipcorder and Defiant Vanguard can handle, and Masticore shoots Ramosian Sergeant and Defiant Falcon one at a time; it is colorless, so Mother of Runes cannot protect them. Swords to Plowshares goes after Priest of Titania or Masticore, and the blue lists, about two in five, also counter Survival of the Fittest and the Hermit, so lead with the cheaper creatures. No match data.
- Contamination (slightly favorable): Contamination makes every land tap for one black mana, Gaea's Cradle included, but Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Priest of Titania and Birds of Paradise still make green mana, enough for Survival of the Fittest and for turning Nantuko Vigilante face up to destroy Contamination. Smother, Innocent Blood, Powder Keg and Sickening Dreams kill the mana creatures, and Wasteland and Rishadan Port go after Gaea's Cradle. After boarding expect Engineered Plague naming Elf and Dystopia, each in almost every sideboard, and in some lists Cursed Totem. Very limited data.
- Turbo Lands (unfavorable): Glacial Chasm, in some of their lists, prevents all damage that would be dealt to them, Squirrels and other attackers alike, so the game is a race before it lands. Few of your cards get rid of it: Kamahl, Fist of Krosa can turn it into a 1/1 creature for {G} and Masticore then shoots it, some lists play Orcish Settlers, and the white build brings in Armageddon. Attack early and turn Nantuko Vigilante face up on Horn of Greed or Seismic Assault; until then Horn of Greed draws you a card for each land you play too. Their Seismic Assault kills a mana Elf for every land card they discard, though Wirewood Symbiote can save one a turn by returning it to your hand. Their Wasteland goes after Gaea's Cradle, and after boarding most lists bring Oath of Druids, which gives them a creature in each of their upkeeps while you control more creatures, and some Cursed Totem; Nantuko Vigilante and Naturalize destroy both. No match data.
- Fluctuator (even): A race between two fast decks. You have no counters, and their removal for your creatures is Expunge, in about two of three main decks, and the Drain Life they also need for the kill; either one kills Priest of Titania or Deranged Hermit. Nantuko Vigilante, found with Survival of the Fittest and turned face up, destroys Fluctuator, and Naturalize and Tormod's Crypt come in after boarding. Twilight's Call from their sideboard returns all creature cards from each graveyard to the battlefield, yours included; Tormod's Crypt exiles theirs in response. Kill before their turn-three or turn-four cycling turn. No match data.
- RG Zoo (even): Zoo carries Sligh's cheap removal, Mogg Fanatic, Seal of Fire, Lava Dart and Grim Lavamancer, for your mana Elves, Lightning Bolt and Incinerate for Priest of Titania or Deranged Hermit, and Naturalize, main deck in almost every list, for Survival of the Fittest or Masticore; Elephant tokens and a grown Quirion Dryad outsize your board, and the Wild Mongrel build, most of their lists since September, plays Wasteland for Gaea's Cradle. Deranged Hermit and Gaea's Cradle still go wider, and Masticore picks off Jackal Pup, Mogg Fanatic and Grim Lavamancer. After boarding they bring Simoon, which deals 1 damage to each of your creatures and kills Deranged Hermit together with its Squirrels; bring Ravenous Baloth. Limited data: 47 percent over 17 matches.
Sideboard guide
- vs Artifacts and enchantments: Enchantress, Replenish, Stasis, Oath of Druids, Aluren, MUD, Fluctuator, Turbo Lands and Stiflenought, and Engineered Plague or Humility: Naturalize, Tranquil Domain, Nantuko Vigilante. Naturalize is in almost every sideboard, usually three or four copies. Tranquil Domain, in about two of three, destroys every non-Aura enchantment at instant speed, your own Survival of the Fittest included, so cast it before Survival is on the battlefield or when you can spare it. A second Nantuko Vigilante gives Survival another answer to find, and some lists add Uktabi Orangutan, which destroys an artifact when it enters.
- vs Graveyard decks: Reanimator, Replenish, Full English Breakfast and Fluctuator: Tormod's Crypt. Free graveyard removal, in three of four sideboards, usually two or three copies. It exiles only the graveyard of the player you target, so your own Squee and Anger are safe.
- vs Sweepers: The Rock, Landstill, Tron, BW Control, and Earthquake, Pyroclasm or Perish after boarding: Caller of the Claw, Masticore. Caller of the Claw, in about three of four lists in the main deck or sideboard, flashed in after a Wrath, Deed or Perish makes a 2/2 Bear for each of your nontoken creatures that died that turn. A second Masticore picks off utility creatures and regenerates through Pernicious Deed, though not through Wrath of God, which says it cannot be regenerated; Perish does not touch it, since it is colorless.
- vs Red decks: Sligh, Goblins and RG Zoo: Ravenous Baloth, Warmth. Ravenous Baloth, in about one in six sideboards since April and two in five since September, is a 4/4 Beast that can sacrifice itself to gain 4 life. Only the white build plays Warmth, which gains 2 life whenever an opponent casts a red spell. Against Sligh, Sulfuric Vortex, main deck in about two thirds of their lists, stops the lifegain from both.
- vs Control and land-based decks: Winter Orb, Armageddon. About a third of the sideboards have two or three Winter Orb, and the white build plays Armageddon in the main deck or sideboard. Your mana creatures untap and keep making mana under Winter Orb and after Armageddon, but Armageddon also destroys your Gaea's Cradle.
Budget and upgrades
Typical cost: $560–$9,400. The reference list is Iván de Castro's, which won the European Masters in Valencia (110 players, October 11). With its sideboard it costs about $9,400 at the Premodern-era printings tracked here. Four Gaea's Cradle are about $6,500 of that, four Survival of the Fittest about $1,750, four Wooded Foothills about $490 and four Natural Order about $160. Most of the Elves themselves cost a few dollars each.
- Start with the Elf core: Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Priest of Titania, Quirion Ranger, Wirewood Symbiote, Multani's Acolyte and Wall of Roots cost under $5 each.
- Add the toolbox: Nantuko Vigilante and Yavimaya Granger under $1, Anger about $4, Phantom Nishoba about $8, Skyshroud Poacher about $9, Squee about $36, Masticore about $37 and Deranged Hermit about $88. In the sideboard, Caller of the Claw is about $19 and three Tormod's Crypt about $90.
- Without Gaea's Cradle, Survival of the Fittest and Wooded Foothills, and with one Deranged Hermit, the 75 costs about $560, including about $160 for the four Natural Order; it plays as a fair Elf swarm.
- Survival of the Fittest next (about $440 each): it is what finds Deranged Hermit, Masticore and Anger.
- Gaea's Cradle last, one at a time (about $1,630 each); until then a Forest takes its place.
Every deck that costs under $500 with reprints is on our budget decks page, priced from a real tournament list.
