Battle for Zendikar is already shaking up Standard in a big way. Decks playing three, four, and even five colors have become common thanks to the new dual lands. Playing more colors also means the decks are a bit slower on average. They need time to bring their mana together and to leverage the greater variety of spells they have access to. To shore up this weakness, we’re seeing decks playing more removal spells than usual.

In order to take advantage of this, I decided to put together a deck that can win quickly but that can also handle an onslaught of removal without falling apart. To that end, I turned to Elves.

Ally Elves ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Mike Cannon

• Creatures (33)
• 2 Tajuru Warcaller
• 2 Temur Sabertooth
• 4 Beastcaller Savant
• 4 Dwynen's Elite
• 4 Elvish Visionary
• 4 Gnarlroot Trapper
• 4 Shaman of the Pack
• 4 Thornbow Archer
• 2 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
• 3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer

• Spells (6)
• 4 Collected Company
• 2 Ruinous Path

• Lands (21)
• 8 Forest
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Llanowar Wastes

Buy This Deck

For the most part, this deck seems like any of the other Elf aggro decks to come out of Magic Origins. However, there are a few key differences that lead to an entirely different playstyle. You see, this isn’t really an aggro deck at all. In fact, most of the time, it works more like a combo deck.

The Cards

Shaman of the Pack is your primary win condition. This deck can easily assemble enough Elves to take out half your opponent’s life in one stroke, and it’s not hard to have a second shot to finish him off.

Tajuru Warcaller is your other main way to win the game. At first glance, paying 5 mana to give your team +2/+2 seems like a lot, but the key is that Tajuru Warcaller’s ability is repeatable. Beastcaller Savant is an Ally as well, so playing one with a Warcaller on the battlefield will trigger the ability again, giving you another chance to deal some serious damage. You can even get two in the same turn with Collected Company to give your creatures an even larger boost.

Beastcaller Savant does much more than just trigger Tajuru Warcaller. If you have one early, it can help you cast the Warcaller as well, giving you the extra mana you’ll need in a deck with this few lands. Since it has haste, it can effectively be cast for 1 mana if you have another creature you want to play. That lets you vomit your hand onto the battlefield more quickly.

Collected Company’s main purpose is to find a Shaman or two and take a big chunk out of your opponent’s life. It can also serve as a better version of Inspiration when you grab two copies of Elvish Visionary, and I already mentioned what you can do with Beastcaller Savant. Basically, you’re always going to get something out of it, and much of the time, it will be something awesome.

Temur Sabertooth allows you to win games without even attacking. By returning a Shaman of the Pack to your hand multiple times, you can easily drain your opponent of all his life. You can also bounce Beastcaller Savant to trigger the Warcaller multiple times in one turn. One important note is that against decks with heavy removal, you’ll want to wait to cast the Sabertooth until you can activate it as well, ensuring you get something out of it no matter what.

Dwynen's Elite is the best way to quickly build up your Elf count for the Shaman. It’s also another card that still gives you value if killed immediately, and bouncing it with Temur Sabertooth isn’t too bad either. I would hesitate to play this without another Elf on the battlefield, unless you have a compelling reason.

Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen serves two purposes. First, she makes your tiny Elves big enough to actually deal some damage in combat if necessary. Second, her life-gain ability can help you race more aggressive decks like Atarka Red. She’s also a pretty good blocker if you need to go that route.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer helps alleviate the strain of playing so few lands in the deck. Collected Company in particular can be difficult to cast on time since neither of your mana-producing creatures can be used on instants. Although she won’t often become a Planeswalker in this deck, turning your 2/2 into a 4/4 and more is a nice bonus late in the game.

Elvish Visionary continues the theme of Elves with enters-the-battlefield effects, and “draw a card” is a pretty good one. It helps keep the creatures flowing, and it brings you one step closer to drawing a Shaman of the Pack.

Gnarlroot Trapper may be a poor replacement for Elvish Mystic in most decks, but in this one, it’s quite powerful. Almost everything you’re casting is an Elf, taking most of the pain out of that particular drawback. In addition, giving an attacking creature deathtouch is more valuable than you might think in the current format since many decks play only a few high-value creatures. If your opponent isn’t willing to trade, you can deal couple free damage every turn.

Thornbow Archer is . . . Well, it’s all we have right now. It’s honestly not very good in this list, but having another 1-mana Elf is absolutely crucial. Since the deck isn’t trying to aggro out, the life-loss ability loses a lot of value. Fortunately, it does say Elf on the card, so it’s good enough.

Since this list works a lot like a combo deck, most of the time, you don’t really care what your opponent is doing. For those occasions when you do care, Ruinous Path is your answer. It’s certainly no Hero's Downfall, but being able to take out both creatures and Planeswalkers is incredibly valuable for a deck like this. Just make sure you save it for the threats that are truly important.

The Strategy

Rather than attack with your various creatures and try to kill your opponent before he has enough blockers, this deck is just fine biding its time and waiting for the right moment to strike. You certainly can and should attack if your opponent can’t stop you, but even trading creatures in combat is often going to hurt you in the long run.

Your main goal is to assemble a critical mass of Elves, usually between six and ten. Then, you use Shaman of the Pack and Tajuru Warcaller to take out huge chunks of your opponent’s life total. Collected Company can find more Shamans and Beastcaller Savants, but don’t be afraid to use it early to build up your Elf army if you need to. If you can’t quite make it there naturally, Temur Sabertooth will finish the job.

It’s also important to treat your life total as a resource. Don’t be afraid to take some damage in order to keep your Elves alive—they’ll be much more useful later on. Remember: The only life point that matters is the last one (unless you’re playing against Atarka Red, in which case you should probably be preserving your life total when possible to avoid being blown out by Become Immense). See ya!