The main strength of Blue in multiplayer is the ability to play at instant speed. The main disadvantage of Green is that your great creatures can all be swept away with a single Wrath of God. Now what if I told you that you could play all your favorite Green creatures with all the advantages of flash. Yes, you might have battled with Yeva, Nature's Herald in Commander. But your creatures can all still die to one spell. Until now.

In the new casual format of Oathbreaker, instead of a legendary creature, a Planeswalker lounges in the command zone, along with their signature spell. As long as your 'Walker stays alive on the battlefield, you can cast their instant or sorcery spell, taxed two more each time. Our card pair, the Oathbreaker locket, not only gives us the strengths of Blue but also removes the weakness of Green. You can play your creatures at the most strategic moment, and since your mana will most often be untapped, you will can thwart a wrath. Heroic Intervention is even better than countering a Blasphemous Act, as your opponents' creatures will still die.

Before we go onto the goodstuff and elf-themed decklists, I want to go deeper into why instants are so powerful in multiplayer. At their core, casual games with more than two players are more about politics than anything else. The person who plays the strongest cards may not win. In fact, they may die first if they become the archenemy. One of the best ways to win (other than an infinite combo), is to sit back, relax, and encourage your foes to attack each other.

Holing up mana is a great way to discourage attackers. All else being equal, it's scary to commit creatures into a player who is ready to respond. They might kill your darlings, denying the satisfaction of dealing damage. Likewise, it makes little sense to try to destroy a permanent belonging to someone who has open mana to cast Heroic Intervention, perhaps multiple times.

And attacking into blockers who could be made indestructible thanks to that goodie-two-shoes Ajani? No thank you! It would take a coordinated effort from multiple opponents to make a dent in your defenses, and a Mono-Green player should start multiplayer games at the bottom of everyone's treat assessment.

I hope you are beginning to see the tactical and political advantages you can gain by playing this locket in Oathbreaker. And it gets even better. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds covers our bushy Green tail by granting reach and vigilance. No pesky flier can darken our skies. And vigilance is one of the best abilities in this format. Standoffs often develop in Oathbreaker, as it's too risky to commit to an attack and leave yourself vulnerable to three foes. A starting life total of twenty feels very fragile in multiplayer. Being able to defend yourself while attacking with vigilance is wonderful, and Vivien has you covered.

Devoted to Vivien | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
• 1 Heroic Intervention

• Creatures (29)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Bramble Sovereign
• 1 Duskwatch Recruiter
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1 Gigantosaurus
• 1 God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Incubation Druid
• 1 Khalni Hydra
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Llanowar Tribe
• 1 Nightpack Ambusher
• 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1 Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1 Prowling Serpopard
• 1 Rhonas the Indomitable
• 1 Ripjaw Raptor
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Seedborn Muse
• 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1 Somberwald Sage
• 1 Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1 Vigor
• 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald

• Instants (1)
• 1 Beast Within

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
• 1 Quest for Renewal
• 1 Wilderness Reclamation

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Rhonas's Monument
• 1 The Great Henge

• Lands (23)
• 18 Forest
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Tranquil Thicket

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This first list presents powerful Green threats at instant speed. Did you think Ambush Viper was scary? How about an ambush Ripjaw Raptor? Clever girl! Or an end-of-turn Ghalta, for that matter.

You could put most any good Green creature in this deck, and it would become great. If I've left out your favorites, don't sulk. Include them in your own version. I will share some of my selection reasoning.

Card choices:

Questing Beast: This is the most powerful Green creature in the format, though less so in this deck because you will not often want to tap out to play the mythic rare. Now, you could do so then untap your lands at end of turn thanks to Wilderness Reclamation. But I decided if there was ever a deck to exclude this card, it's this one.

Verdict: Cut!

Cultivate: Another Commander staple that makes less sense in Oathbreaker and none at all in this deck. The main reason to accelerate with lands in Green is because they are the least-likely land type to be messed with. But thanks to Heroic Intervention we commit more mana dorks to the battlefield, which are faster, stronger, and better.

Verdict: Cut!

Ramping a mana elf into one of our poweful turn-three plays can put us further ahead than a humble Cultivate. Sure, the sorcery is a two-for one, but then, Somberwald Sage is fifty-percent stronger. The Dana-Fischer special of Llanowar Tribe comes with the bonus of three pips for devotion.

I included a full four Green gods in this deck. They hit hard. The Nyleas provide mana sinks, and again, this deck diminishes their main disadvantage. Gods are weak without devoted followers, and our Heroic Intervention will help keep the acolytes alive and worshipful. Also, Vivien allows divinities like Rhonas the Indomitable to answer prayers at instant speed. And the last god can finish games in a flash.

I selected creatures that are most likely to cause groans. An opponent may attack with a deathtoucher or otherwise strong creature only to run headlong into an indestructible god. Casting your own deathtouchers, such as Acidic Slime, will be satisfying. An instant-speed Vigor is a big yikes. And beat your opponents to the punch with a flashed-in Bramble Sovereign.

We're looking for cards with the high upside and - thanks to Vivien and Ajani - next to no downside. If I missed any, let me know with a comment. And did you catch the most powerful card in the decklist? Diamonds may be good enough for most girls. We know Liliana prefers demons. But Vivien's best friend is Seedborn Muse.

We just built our own Prophet of Kruphix! And speaking of cards banned in Commander, how would you like to at long last cast Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary? Yes, he's legal here.

Elven Ball | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
• 1 Heroic Intervention

• Creatures (33)
• 1 Ambush Commander
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Boreal Druid
• 1 Copperhorn Scout
• 1 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
• 1 Dwynen's Elite
• 1 Elvish Archdruid
• 1 Elvish Champion
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Elvish Vanguard
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Essence Warden
• 1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Heritage Druid
• 1 Immaculate Magistrate
• 1 Imperious Perfect
• 1 Jagged-Scar Archers
• 1 Joraga Treespeaker
• 1 Joraga Warcaller
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Llanowar Tribe
• 1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
• 1 Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1 Priest of Titania
• 1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
• 1 Steel Leaf Champion
• 1 Timberwatch Elf
• 1 Wellwisher
• 1 Wirewood Channeler
• 1 Wirewood Symbiote
• 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald

• Sorceries (1)
• 1 Lead the Stampede

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Descendants' Path
• 1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc

• Lands (22)
• 18 Forest
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Pendelhaven

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Again, if I excluded your favorite elf, include it. That's what casual formats are for. To show you more different elves, I cut Wilderness Reclamation, which might not be correct. I also passed on tutors such as Elvish Harbinger. We get some creature selection through Vivien, Champion of the Wilds, and I was not aiming for a creature toolbox approach.

Last card choices:

Song of the Dryads: This is a strong card but not an instant one. I preferred Beast Within.

Verdict: Cut!

Gaea's Cradle: If you're a Legacy Elf player you might actually own one. I never wish to imply you have to own expensive cards like these to have fun in casual formats, so I don't feature them in the decklist itself.

Verdict: Play it if you got it.

I am confident in this Oathbreaker locket in part because of my prior testing with Elspeth and Faith's Shield. The White knight also relies on vigilant creatures, with a defensive signature spell. Faith's Shield discourages opponents from bothering you and your permanents. It can even prevent combat damage to Elspeth, something Heroic Intervention cannot do. You shouldn't need to. Simply block with your huge Green creatures and, if necessary, give them indestructible. The Green instant also has the distinct advantage of being able to stop an entire board wipe. Giving a creature protection from White won't save them from Wrath of God.

Thanks to Vivien and Ajani, we fear neither god nor man. Go forth and trample over all of them with Green.