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By: Tarmotog, Naoto Watabe
Nov 03 2008 11:26am
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Watching the Pro Tour live with 6 elf decks in the top 8, I had a small chat with my friend about the Pro Tour. I was quite amazed how the top 4 were playing the same type of deck and had played with life totals in the 3 digit regions. Keeping of token numbers and life totals looked tremendously tedious!

As the games went on, I began to wonder whether or not the "elf" deck  could be translated into Singleton. Obviously I wouldn't have access to 4x Glimpse of Nature but I slowly became convinced that I could capture the essence of the deck and throw it into Singleton (not 100 card Singleton of course!).

Elves! in Singleton?

Watching the games, I identified that the deck revolved around these cards, in no particular order:

Heritage Druid - Allowed every elf to become Llanowar Elves with haste.
Nettle Sentinel - Combos with Birchlore Rangers to generate 1 mana per elf cast.
Birchlore Rangers - Lets you cast off color cards (and works with Nettle Sentinel).
Wirewood Symbiote - Mana and spell count.
Glimpse of Nature - A key card in the extended deck but the Singleton version works fine without it having the need to draw you insane numbers of cards.
Chord of Calling - Lets you search out key cards or pull out the finisher.

Heritage Druid

The main idea of the deck was therefore to have access to these cards as soon as possible so Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal were the first to come in, so I would follow a typical BG manabase which is not very difficult to do.

As a safe guide, I decided to throw in every card that was found in the deck which included the 5 cards mentioned above and these:

Llanowar Elves
Elves of Deep Shadow
Essence Warden - 1 mana life gaining elf to let the black cards work and give more time to survive.
Wirewood Hivemaster - Helps to make Chord of Calling work.
Elvish Visionary 
Viridian Shaman
Eternal Witness
Regal Force - Draws tons of cards
Summoner's Pact - A card that worked in a very different way from what I imagined, allowing me to search out Heritage Druid and pay the upkeep cost on 1 land.
Weird Harvest 
Thoughtseize - A card that displayed its power very well in the Pro Tour games. A key card to secure the small window of time needed to win in.

Next, Ranger of Eos, Congregation at Dawn and Worldly Tutor came to mind.

Ranger of Eos is the key 'tec' in the Singleton deck which would be able to fetch out a number of the key creatures that cost 1 mana to be put into the hand. I don't expect to make any turn 2 kills so consistency is more of my goal and Ranger of Eos helps alot there.
Congregation at Dawn was another card that would let you set up into the cards you want. If you have Heritage Druid in play, you can definitely put a Regal Force on top of your library and draw a ton of cards after you untap.

With these 2 cards, the deck's manabase shifts to a GBW manabase.

Natural Order

 

Natural Order was another 'tec' card to support the deck since it was able to fetch out Regal Force when there given access to 4 mana and a creature.

After looking at these cards, the next in the to-do list was to find elves to fill the deck with.
Priority was to be given to elves that costed 1 mana so that they could be chained into following a
Glimpse of Nature.

Boreal Druid - A bad Llanowar Elves but it would have to do in this scarse environment.
Fyndhorn Elves - Llanowar Elves no #2!
Elvish Hexhunter - I had no idea what else to put so I put this creature in thinking that its ability might come in handy in some situations but this card was mainly there as a 1 mana elf.
Quirion Ranger - A 1 mana elf that can untap a mana elf.

Next, I put in elves that would let the deck run in a different direction, to a more traditional "elf" deck so that the deck could at least apply some pressure on the opponent, masking the 'combo' style of the deck. The main reason this had to be done was probably because there just aren't enough cards to push for the 'combo' playstyle without being too vulnerable.

Devoted Druid - A card to just help to boost mana.
Bloodline Shaman - A card drawing engine.
Wren's Run Vanquisher - The more classic elf beater.
Wolf-Skull Shaman - Again, it does not benefit the main strategy for the deck .
Wirewood Herald - A stopper elf that tutors. A card to slow down aggressive decks.
Elvish Harbinger - A 3 mana elf makes it unfavored but it is useful if the game drags into the mid-game.
Imperious Perfect & Elvish Champion - The 2 elf lords that make attacking a good option.
Elvish Spirit Guide - After initial testing, I found that I always ran out of mana to cast spells so this elf made it into the decklist and I am happy to say that it works splendidly. It works with cards like Weird Harvest as well.
Sylvan Messenger - The elf ringleader that allows the deck to churn out gas in a weaker draw.
Allosaurus Rider - This is a card that works like another Elvish Spirit Guide in the deck when the hand gets choked with the larger elves.
Allosaurus Rider

Finally, the last 2 cards are spells to push for a larger number of elves:

Hunting Triad - This card has a dual purpose in the deck. It increases elf count and can be used to reinforce a big elf to mess up the math of the opponent. If you do so, you will probably win on the back of the fat creature.
Elvish Promenade - When played with a good number of elves and with Heritage Druid in play, Elvish Promenade is a super dark ritual that sets up for a lethal Predator dragon immediately.

Initially, I had forgetten to put in a win condition so after a game of testing with a real opponent, I found myself unable to win. I soon realised that I needed something that would let me actually win the game before the deck could work. I didn't want to but ended up getting Predator dragon for a ticket to serve as the win condition for the deck since I had no idea what might have been better. (If I could, I'd probably be in Berlin now wouldn't I?)
A lone 
Taiga in the deck would serve to support the dragon to lessen the burden on Birchlore Rangers if I ever had to hard cast the dragon.

The lands were simply a mix of lands that:

-could produce G / W / B mana
-didn't come into play tapped (except for
Murmuring Bosk)

Here is the full decklist of the current version:

Singleton - Elves!

Creatures:

Wirewood Symbiote
Llanowar Elves
Quirion Ranger
Birchlore Rangers
Elvish Hexhunter
Elves of Deep Shadow
Essence Warden
Nettle Sentinel
Heritage Druid
Boreal Druid
Fyndhorn Elves
Devoted Druid
Bloodline Shaman
Wren's Run Vanquisher
Wirewood Hivemaster
Wolf-Skull Shaman
Elvish Visionary
Wirewood Herald
Elvish Harbinger
Viridian Shaman
Imperious Perfect
Eternal Witness
Elvish Champion
Elvish Spirit Guide

Sylvan Messenger
Ranger of Eos
Predator dragon
Regal Force
Allosaurus Rider

Sorceries:

Thoughtseize
Glimpse of Nature
Imperial Seal
Natural Order
Hunting Triad
Elvish Promenade
Weird Harvest

Instants:

Summoner's Pact
Vampiric Tutor
Worldly Tutor
Congregation at Dawn
Chord of Calling

Lands:

5 Snow-Covered Forest
Wooded Bastion
Brushland
Gilt-Leaf Palace
Llanowar Wastes
Taiga
Savannah
Murmuring Bosk
Windswept Heath
Temple Garden
Twilight Mire
Horizon Canopy
Overgrown Tomb
Wooded Foothills
Pendelhaven

 

How to play the deck:

Depending on your draws, you may want to alter the playstyle of the deck.

Sometimes, you get the aggressive start so you should try to attack for the win or when the hand allows, you should try to try to combo into as many creatures at possible.

Let us take a look at a sample hand:

Looking at Wirewood Symbiote and Wirewood Hivemaster, it would be a sound plan to try to generate tons of insects in the next few turns and use Ranger of Eos to find Nettle Sentinel and Heritage Druid to have tons of mana to cast whatever you might draw.

Let us take a look at another sample hand:

Turn 1 Heritage Druid and turn 2 Wirewood Herald can lead into a turn 3 Sylvan Messenger or Ranger of Eos if you draw a 2 mana elf and a land. Looking at the hand with both Sylvan Messenger and Ranger of Eos, it is highly likely that Chord of Calling can call for a large number and put the game highly in your favor.

Next up, we take a look at a hand that looks very strong.

Turn 1 Llanowar Elves, turn 2 Vampiric Tutor into Glimpse of Nature and a 2 mana elf and try to spam cards on turn 3?

Below is what happened on turn 3 with this hand:

I somewhat screwed it up by failing to notice Devoted Druid earlier and ended up casting (Allosaurus Riders) earlier than I should have. I lay Murmuring Bosk into play tapped and have 15 creatures that can deal damage. This is a turn 3 goldfish by the way. Without mass removal or attacking the cards on turns 1 to 2, the game would probably end on turn 5 with 2 attacks.

Again, I wouldn't say that this is the best ever deck but it is no doubt strong enough to try out in Singleton.

The deck is quite strong against aggro decks (with blockers and Essence Warden and may get tough to beat for control if it manages to go into turbo mode early in the game. The main problem with playing the deck is learning how the individual cards interact with each other and that may take some time. Of the many cards, I feel that Nettle Sentinel needs to be played abit before one can grasp how to use it properly.

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Special Update: Jace VS Chandra

We now know the contents of the two duel decks:

Chandra's deck has Fireslinger that's coming out in Tempest and Flametongue Kavu too...

On the other hand, Jace's deck has Terrain Generetor from Nemesis... DAZE and GUSH !!!!!!

Daze and Gush are more than enough reason for you to buy the duel decks! I'm lost for words! Not 1 gem but 2! The Fact or Fiction and Ancestral Vision is just gravy. These two are the main course!

Daze allows turn 1 Force Spike when tapped out and is a mainstay in Legacy decks while Gush is one of the most powerful Vintage spells. I will definitely be enjoying these cards to the fullest.

Verdict: Buy Jace VS Chandra the day it goes up!!! The value of the duel decks is very much worth the price and you get to play with the most powerful blue spells! After some time, the individual cards would rise to let you simply cover the cost of the duel decks when people stock up on playsets of Daze and Gush so I would say that they are a good investment to put your money in since the Masquarade block is not going to be online in the near future.

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I'm so looking forward to the duel decks. Anyway, do have fun beating people with little green men like your everyday pros.

Being able to make a focused deck is one of the pros of the Singleton format and while I tend to play more Singleton 100 nowadays, one would be able to see from this example that Singleton is definitely a more fun to play format.

Until next time, this is Tarmotog, making many decks with many different card names in them.

Anything you want to discuss with me privately can go to tarmotog@hotmail.com.

 

9 Comments

by Anonymous(Unregistered) 170.148.198.157 (not verified) at Wed, 11/05/2008 - 03:01
Anonymous(Unregistered) 170.148.198.157's picture

"to anonymous 0, I originally intended to cover a Singleton 100 deck this week but the PT somehow changed my mind because it was too interesting not to try and I could not make the deck in Singleton100. =x"

Fair enough.  It was more a long term request than a reaction to this specific article.  Sadly, the fact that you could not make the deck work in Singleton100 speaks volumes about the gulf between the two formats!  Anyway, keep up the good work in either of the two formats. :)

under_the_hammer's picture

I really dont understand why there is not the option to join either singleton100 or singleton75 in the 4man queues! Let the player decide which event fires. I would play singleton75 4mans in a heartbeat!

by Tarmotog at Tue, 11/04/2008 - 10:26
Tarmotog's picture

to anonymous 0, I originally intended to cover a Singleton 100 deck this week but the PT somehow changed my mind because it was too interesting not to try and I could not make the deck in Singleton100. =x

to under_the_hammer, I'd agree with you but for some reason or another, singleton100 4 mans are the only things around =(

To isotope, I would think that caller of the claw would belong to the sideboard for the plan you mentioned. The main idea is to have low casting cost elves to chain into when glimpse is played which is the reason why the deck looks like that. I have given some thoughts about various cards like some of the cards you mentioned but dismissed them after I decided to keep the focus of the deck to allow it to play like the extended deck.

to anonymous 1, the duel decks will be in the online store soon, just like how the gobs vs elves were so don't worry

to anonymous 2, the portion of the duel decks is just an update to let pple (esp singleton players since we play with the classic pool) know that it's something they should be looking forward to getting. it's not the focus of the article at all.

 to anonymous 3, thank you. I'd love to see more love for Singleton but the way things look, singleton100 4 mans are the only events running. I will be testing more in that format unless I think of something interesting i want to make like the above deck

by Anonymous(Unregistered) 170.148.198.157 (not verified) at Tue, 11/04/2008 - 08:34
Anonymous(Unregistered) 170.148.198.157's picture

Whilst I actually think that Singleton is a much much better format than Singleton 100 (*) it's a sad fact of WotC Life that the 4-man queue onine supports Singleton 100. I wish it was the other way around but for us online players it's the only game in town.

Would it be possible to have a litte more Singleton 100 focus in some of your articles? 

(*) Clarification:

I'm sure that Singleton 100, when used to support EDH multiplayer games, is fine and I'm not meaning to be disrespectful to all who play and enjoy that format.  I'm just saying that for a competative queue of single player duels I think normal Singleton is better.

by Tarmotog at Wed, 11/05/2008 - 06:19
Tarmotog's picture

with singleton sidelined on mtgo, I've been playing much more 100c singleton than singleton so you can be sure that I'll be writing more on the format. =)

What about...? by Isotope(Unregistered) 74.39.232.97 (not verified) at Tue, 11/04/2008 - 07:54
Isotope(Unregistered) 74.39.232.97's picture

Caller of the Claw - with Wirewood Herald in play, you can float 3 mana in response to mass removal and tutor up Caller to seal the deal.

Coat of Arms/Overrun/Gempalm Strider/Tribal Forcemage/Immaculate Magistrate/Timberwatch Elf/Voice of the Woods - Alternate win conditions

Elvish Guidance - another way to generate big mana, once you have a few elves in play.

Elvish Harbinger - another tutor.

Wellwisher - Another way to stave off aggro

by Anonymous(Unregistered) 212.100.59.137 (not verified) at Mon, 11/03/2008 - 18:09
Anonymous(Unregistered) 212.100.59.137's picture

Very good example for the Singleton format and a good description of your building process. This original Singleton format needs more love, Singleton100 (with no SB especially) is for multiplayer, anyway!

by Anonymous(Unregistered) 139.133.7.37 (not verified) at Tue, 11/04/2008 - 01:48
Anonymous(Unregistered) 139.133.7.37's picture

I dont see the relevance of the duel decks in this article.  You should have left this to be discussed by others.  The whole decklist bears very little on singleton and nothing to do with elves in singleton.  Stick to topic and let others cover this material in a more relevant article!

by Anonymous(Unregistered) 84.31.97.59 (not verified) at Tue, 11/04/2008 - 05:23
Anonymous(Unregistered) 84.31.97.59's picture

Will these duel decks also become available on MTG online? Or just in stores?