Playing Elves this week was my way of having some fun while I am waiting for Shadows over Innistrad, and a new Standard, to be released in paper and online. The deck itself did become a little better when Oath of the Gatewatch came out, as Hissing Quagmire is some much-needed mana-fixing, and Sylvan Advocate is possibly the best creature possible for the deck, being both an Elf and an Ally. I hope you can tell that playing the deck was a good time from the videos!

B/G Elves ? Oath of the Gatewatch Standard | Morgan Wentworth

• Lands (23)
• 4 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Hissing Quagmire
• 11 Forest
• 4 Swamp

• Creatures (34)
• 4 Dwynen's Elite
• 4 Beastcaller Savant
• 4 Elvish Visionary
• 3 Sylvan Messenger
• 4 Shaman of the Pack
• 4 Gnarlroot Trapper
• 4 Sylvan Advocate
• 3 Tajuru Warcaller
• 2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 1 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
• 1 Thornbow Archer

• Spells (3)
• 3 Collected Company

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Duress
• 1 Oblivion Strike
• 3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 2 Eyeblight Massacre
• 2 Murderous Cut
• 3 Evolutionary Leap

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Match 1 vs. Abzan

The above-curve creatures from Abzan are tough for Elves to face one on one, so being able to go wide really benefits the deck, as Abzan does not typically play sweepers.

Match 2 vs. Esper Control

Without access to 4-mana sweepers, Esper has real trouble answering what I am doing. Trading removal spells for Elves is risky business when each Elf killed has four buddies avenging its death.

Match 3 vs. RUG Ramp

Kozilek's Return is a heckuva card. When a deck’s top end all double as sweepers, its Elves matchup tends to be very good. This especially true when the front end of Kozilek's Return also sweeps my board.

Match 4 vs. Chandra Ramp

This matchup is much the same as the RUG Ramp matchup. If my deck had access to better mana and more 1-drop mana Elves, I may have had a chance at getting on board fast enough to overpower my opponent before Chandra, Flamecaller or Ugin, the Spirit Dragon hit the table.

One thing I really noticed while playing my matches was how awkward Sylvan Messenger was. Sure, the trample is cute, but the card is not very good when I could just be casting a Collected Company instead. The sideboard is mostly still going to be legal, but regardless of rotation, I would have preferred Ultimate Price over Murderous Cut. There were never enough cards in my graveyard to make Cut very efficient. Because Kozilek's Return is such a problem, it may also be worthwhile to play Transgress the Mind over Duress.

Shadows over Innistrad’s green tribe is Humans, rather than Elves. This means this deck will not be gaining new creatures. However, it does gain some fun tools. It seems Ulvenwald Mysteries will be a cool sideboard card against removal- and sweeper-heavy decks, although it may be too slow for some matchups. Loam Dryad is not an Elf, but it is a 1-drop accelerant in a deck that produces a lot of creatures very quickly. Asylum Visitor is possibly overrated, but I found I was able to empty my hand with relative ease. When very few cards had been spoiled, I saw an Elves build splashing white for Eerie Interlude, which seems really cool. Eerie Interlude is just an all-around cool card, and I have already preordered my play set.

Thanks for watching! See you next week with another nearly-new Standard deck.