The basis for this deck is the 2014 and Commander Anthology Guided by Nature Commander Deck. I was going to create an Elf Tribal deck from scratch, but after playing the mentioned deck there were a lot of cards that I’d want for my deck. So I bought a secondhand copy of Guided by Nature to change. Why reinvent the wheel, or most of it?

Like my other tribal decks there are some staples I’m now including in all my tribal decks. This Elf deck particularly generates lots of 1/1 token creatures. These are particularly vulnerable to cards like Blazing Volley, Scalding Salamander, or XXX, that can clear the battlefield of tokens and small creatures. These tribal cards amongst other things buff up my creatures protecting them from such cards. I think the last piece to my jigsaw will be to find an affordable (ie cheap) card that gives all my creatures indestructible.

The game plan for this deck is simple. It goes wide really fast. But the idea isn’t to really to swing in with lots of little creatures. Elf decks exploit this numerical advantage in other ways, like generating lots of mana, life, or buffing a creature. With the tribal cards that swing in with lots of not so small creatures is an option. But in reality it will be swinging in with one or two pumped up creatures.

Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury will remain the Commander for this deck. Her +2 loyalty ability is what we are really after. Getting a 1/1 Elf Druid token that taps for mana. Ramp, and spamming the board with elves perfect. Her -2 loyalty ability is also pretty handy too. It’s there but not sure I’d use the ultimate. Plus I think the ultimate isn’t very threatening. Her +2 is the dangerous ability, and why opponents will target her.

I’ve played around with the decks mana base. Changed one or two of the non basic lands, and reduced the number of basic lands from 25 to 16! Which means I’m playing 28 lands in total. But with a Growing Rites of Itlimoc, a couple of mana rocks, elves that tap for mana I don’t think mana is going to be an issue. Plus there are a fair few cards in the deck that allow me to go search for a land.

Here is the deck list.

Counts : 100 main

Creatures:37

1 Boreal Druid
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Elvish Skysweeper
1 Essence Warden
1 Ezuri’s Archers
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Druid of the Cowl
1 Elvish Vanguard
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Leaf Gilder
1 Priest of Titania
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Steel Leaf Champion
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Wellwisher
1 Adaptive Automaton
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Elvish Branchbender
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Lifespring Druid
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Timberwatch Elf
1 Titania’s Chosen
1 Drove of Elves
1 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
1 Immaculate Magistrate
1 Ivy Lane Denizen
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Masked Admirers
1 Wild Wanderer
1 Wildheart Invoker
1 Yeva, Nature’s Herald
1 Tajuru Pathwarden
1 Elegant Edgecrafters
1 Gladehart Cavalry

Spells:34

1 Glaring Spotlight
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Silent Gravestone
1 Sol Ring
1 Stoneforge Masterwork
1 Emerald Medallion
1 Land Grant
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Lull
1 Moss Diamond
1 Steely Resolve
1 Thought Vessel
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1 Herald’s Horn
1 Nissa’s Pilgrimage
1 Presence of Gond
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Root Out
1 Hunting Triad
1 Whirlwind
1 Coat of Arms
1 Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury
1 Overwhelming Stampede
1 Predator, Flagship
1 Vanquisher’s Banner
1 Desert Twister
1 Grim Flowering
1 Obelisk of Urd
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Wave of Vitriol
1 Zendikar Resurgent
1 Praetor’s Counsel

Lands:28

1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Evolving Wilds
16 Forest
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Havenwood Battleground
1 Jungle Basin
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Slippery Karst
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Thicket