Solo MTG: Learning to Build a Deck of Elves! 🧝


I have decided to teach myself how to build a Commander deck!

I am building a deck of Elves all revolving around my commander, Lathril, Blade of the Elves. This is a pretty common (and relatively cheap, which is nice) commander to build a deck around since her abilities quite simple:

1. She has menace, so she can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.
2. When she deals combat damage to a player, she can create that many 1/1 Elf creature tokens.
3. And when you tap her and 10 Elves, each opponent would lose 10 life points and you GAIN 10 life points!

I've been researching cards that can protect my commander, give her trample, and cast cheap elves that can get easily bulked up by equipments, artifacts, instants, etc. and I've been learning a lot! I don't have my full deck made just yet, definitely not trying to rush the process and I'm slowly acquiring the right cards and testing ones that I already have in my collection. 

I have decided to create a standard 60-card deck out just to test out the mechanics. I've been using the Challenge Deck: Battle of the Horde and I learned to create some really cool combos!


1st Win!

My first few games against this deck was brutal lol. I learned to adjust my deck quite a few times. I either had too many cheap elves or basic lands. I ended up adding some utility lands in my deck, removed a few elves and then added some enchantments... oh boy... Beastmaster Ascension was an amazing addition to my deck. I was able to slowly add up quest counters unto Beastmaster Ascension and when I got it up to 7, my creatures all got +5/+5! My Elf Warrior and Elf Druid worked perfectly together too. I got +1/+1 too as a benefit to playing more elves! So, this was my very first win understanding how that enchantment worked.


2nd Win!

So, for this win, I was close to just accepting defeat... UNTIL, I remembered I could sacrifice my Mimic! I was left with 6 life points and my opponent had 13... yup. ouch. And I was soooo stuck on trying to figure out how to generate more black mana, and I just needed 1 more... I slowed myself down and looked at all my cards again and REMEMBERED I could sacrifice my Mimic for that 1 black mana I needed!!! After that, I had enough to cast Sorin's Vengeance which gave me 10 life points back and my opponent lost 10! Then finally as I entered into my combat phase, I cast my Circle of the Moon Druid which turns into a bear form (4/2) which brought my opponent down to -1 life points. A SWEET SWEET victory for my elves!

Learning all this stuff about combos and synergy has been so fun. I really hope to continue learning and maybe even document this stuff on YouTube! Which by the way you can follow me there too, https://www.youtube.com/@soloistventure. I just have one video up and messed up the HDR settings lol sorry, but stay tuned for more content!



Comments

  1. FaustFebruary 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM

    I like the 60-card approach on this. You can explore which should be the main win approach of your deck. For the most part, at least in my experience, the rest of the cards in commander are just there for redundancies and to get to that main wincon anyway. Good luck with your build!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Soloist VentureFebruary 4, 2025 at 6:42 PM

      Yeah! Exactly, I'm honestly trying to just familiarize myself with my cards and mechanics and making sure I know what to do when certain cards up. Thanks for that input! Good to know. Thank you!

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