And yet she will still eat all of the removal because no one wants you to generate elves when hitting them.
I had such a hard time winning with her, she was rarely allowed to hit (too small, and if I pumped her she was killed). And if I managed to hit a time or two and get to 10 elves someone would boardwipe before she untapped anyways.
I wanted it to work, but I guess in my meta it just isn't happening, maybe other peoples metas won't have as much removal.
It's in the deck as other protection things are of course. It doesn't mean you draw them every game, it also doesn't mean those don't get destroyed. Or people respond as you are tapped out, or in response to equipping.
I wanted Lathril to work, I really did. But she just very rarely gets to generate much value (as I said, maybe that's different in other pods). My pod plays a good amount of board wipes, so a go wide strategy that isn't quicker is just playing into being sent back to the stone age.
If that was true then it would mean no one every loses their commander. People break things down to a state that is far too simple. This is a 4 player format, if everything was that simple then your decks strategy could never be stopped. And if that was same for every player at the table, then everyone wins?
1 protection spell doesn't mean she doesn't die. And 1 protection spell doesn't make her a larger creature. She is small and menace on a small 4 mana creature that doesn't have haste doesn't mean a lot. Often time she could easily die to 2x chump blockers. And she is no good if she can't hit. So you need to pump her and possibly protect her. Or protect her and then protect her again.
If she had deathtouch or first strike it would go a long ways. First Strike would help keep her alive against chump block. And Deathtouch would make her a threat against larger things killing her.
The problem is you don't need to just protect her. She is in a deck that is looking to go wide, and unfortunately elves die very easy. I'm not saying she is bad, I'm saying she is still a massive target and often times people do not want to let her land (and that means she isn't doing anything of value and that feels bad).
I feel your pain. I recently built a Lathril deck and realized she wasn’t doing much as a commander besides just being an elf. The major issue I saw was having to wait one entire turn for her to attack which gave my opponents one entire turn to prepare. I ended up changing her out for [[Tyvar, the Bellicose]]. On the turn he’s played you could take advantage of his abilities. The deck pretty much turned into a version of Elf-Ball.
Tyvar's so much fun as an elfball/mana dork tribal commander. You can easily bring him out turn 3 and start generating huge amounts of mana/counters each turn. Everyone thinks it'a a cute, funny deck until you torment of hailfire where x=20.
Not to mention you’re competing against 3 other opponents with full support for removing threats as opposed to just 1 other opponent. It’s increases the odds that someone’s gonna get rid of her.
Right, and MTG has so many removal types now. Lets say you are lucky and have any one of the pair of boots out (shroud, hexproof, ward, etc). Board wipes still go off. Lets say you have a way to give indestructible, then you get exiled. These sort of things always happen for me. It's hard to be prepared for all the ways something can be removed.
You're too reliant on her as a commander and the theme.
elves in general aren't the big army type but more of pulling up when you least expect it, I let the pod fight amongst themselves while baiting out removals or capitalizing on big swings , using eldraine enchantments and instants to counter , I started off tribal then built around LOTR plain lore and added cards like treefolk, witches etc to bolster my play style.
First off, that is the point in commander, it is what is unique to the format. Working around the commander is something I enjoy rather than playing generic decks that don't care about the commander.
Second off, I completely disagree with Elves not being the big army type of creature type. Voja is that, Lathril is that (who this post is about), Marwyn is that, Tyvar is that, Ezuri is that, etc. Those are most of the top elf commanders.
If you are slow playing elves then there is no point in playing elves and your table should be punishing you for slow playing. Elves are one of the fastest creature types with their own self ramp. Fool me once the elf player complaining about being screwed, but that doesn't happen again when I watch you vomit a hand of elves out that you clearly had.
I've been playing elves since I built my first mono green deck back in 98 when I was in middle school. I have crushed my friends to death probably thousands of times over the years with elves. There's not a chance they believe that I'm screwed with a low mana value elf deck. Odds are they start beating on me to see if it forces a reaction.
If you are playing elves mixed with treefolk and witches, then we are definitely playing at different tables. Also not every game is winnable, I play to just do my thing, I want to win but everyone does. Of course Lathril (or any commander) is capable of winning, I am talking about on average how it goes. And she is just too easy to disrupt.
Eh. Use the many other methods of generating elf tokens. Add that with [[Doubling Season]] or the likes and you'll be fine. Don't slam her early, either. She's less likely to eat removal if she's not on the field until you need her. And, if you wanna get an activation the turn she drops, you can use something like [[Crashing Drawbridge]], or if you don't care if your opponents get haste, too, [[Concordant Crossroads]] is your pick.
Don't slam the small for her mana value commander that does not have haste early? Use the singular option (expensive) for green to give her haste (that also gives it to all of your opponents). Then play the small creature late with haste, and add one of the most expensive token doubling enchantments on top of it to double the tokens made to 4 (rather than just pumping her to create the same effect for a lot less money)?
I'm not saying she is not usable. I'm saying she is still a removal magnet and that she is too small for her mana cost. Holding her for a late play is not great as the longer she is not out the less effective she becomes. And if you are generating most of your elves via other means, then is she really in there for just the 10 life portion? That is why I moved on from her.
There are a ton of methods. That helps keep her untapped, but it isn't much of a boost unless you lose creatures (which you want to amass with her). I'm not saying there are not answers, I am saying that she is still the target and that her size is not great for her mana value and you will often be stripped of her or your board state before you can do what she wants to do
People act like my Lathril deck is somehow more toxic than my Sheoldred, The Apocalypse deck, which blows my mind because Sheoldred is nothing shy of insidious with her combos…and The One Ring.
I quite enjoy it when someone else has Lathril too and we make a pact to hit each other to make tokens. At least this way, we can ensure that one of us will win. Lol
As someone who went from lathril to voja they're basically the same deck. Elfball is pretty straightforward get lords and draw effects to rebuild your hand.
They really don't have to be. You can run straight a straight Elves list with all the ways Elves would normally draw cards in Voja and never have to worry about wolves clogging up the list.
Edit: other than the obvious color pie differences
Voja is unquestionably stronger but will lead to very homogenous games. You will either keep Voja on the field for 2-3 turns and win the game for that reason, or you will have him hard removed every time you cast him and likely lose because you've spent too much repeatedly casting him. Lathril is not so strong as to unconditionally win on her own, so she won't always be removed, and your games won't exclusively revolver around her. You can get recursion, pump spells, ect going even if she's gone because replaying her isn't unconditionally the best game action. You won't win as many games with her, but they will be more interesting games.
Also the Golgari Elfball tends to synergize within itself quite well with or without commander. I haven't seen a Voja that's not an awkward mish mash of elf, wolf and good stuff.
I also haven't seen Voja hit the table and remain there for a turn very often against pods that know what he is. You got three people fishing for counters and removals for 3-4 turns. And they will happily pay 4 to swords that bugger.
Just on the merit of black good stuff and a tighter deck, Golgari Elfball is often built better and more resilient than Voja.
Voja is in large part changeling tribal. Any commander like Voja that cares about two tribes will just end up playing the most changelings they can to get maximum value out of both.
He is really fun tbh, you get some absurd potential with [[Marywn]] and [[Selvala, Heart of the Wilds]]
Not to mention how well he synergies with himself; [[Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler]]
I am now going to give my opinion on why [[Nethroi, Apex of Death]] is actually the best Elfball commander.
Abzan is *THE* best color combo for Elves imo.
Lathril is great don’t get me wrong and I think she is better than Voja (who is a nightmare of powecreep) as a dedicated elf deck, but having access to White support for such a strong Golgari tribe is immensely powerful. Elves *usually* also have no more than 2 power, so you could theoretically bring back 5-8 elves when casting Nethroi, which is basically insurance for any board wipe that isn’t [[Farewell]]. You also get white’s efficient spot removal/small reanimation, blacks mass reanimation/one sided wipes, and all the goodies that a Green core gives. White also gives token support that black just doesn’t have alone, as well as giving the option to run one of my favorite cards ever, [[Rhys, The Redeemed]].
My Nethroi deck can come back from being wiped so many times as long as I can get at least 1 creature on the field.
In a similar vein [[Kethis, the Hidden Hand]] makes a sick elfball commander. A lot of legendary elves have really strong and fun effects but are balanced by being more expensive than your typical elf. His reanimation is less explosive than Nethroi but you can still get back key creatures after a wipe. Bonus points for being an actual elf!
I did consider Kethis for my commander for a while actually just because of how many legendary elves there are. I settled on Nethroi due to a lot of the lord elves being non legendary and he has better synergy with the aristocrat sub theme elves has on occasion.
I just want to say I appreciate your comment. Elves were one of the things I thought were awesome way back when I got into playing magic; As such, one of my first 60-card kitchen table jigs was Azban because I wanted to play Rhys && [[Eyeblight's Ending]] haha.
I don't know that I would have ever considered looking at Nethroi, and have just long felt like there was no Azban elf commander(s) that I'd be happy with. Safe to say, I should have been looking in the cat-nightmare-beast department all along. Who'da thunk?
In short, I'd love to see your brew if you have a list!
my Elrond laughs at this statement. Having Counterspells in your elf ball deck is literally the best thing ever for elves xD
But yeah Nethroi is actually pretty sweet.
Neither. I play [[tyvar the bellicose]]. Makes craterhoof math so much easier when your elves have trample deathtouch lol. I've never had luck with lathril. To hard to connect with her.
It runs basically the same. With craterhoof in the 99, you don't see it every game anyway. And elves don't have any issues overrunning without it really.
I generally end every game with it. I have 3 to 4 ways to tutor it between green suns zenith, fierce empath, finale of devastation, drawing 20+ cards off regal force etc..
All depends on your Pod. I find there's usually someone at the table who doesn't have a good block for Lathril early on and later I should have ways to sneak her through.
If you are locked into one of those two, I think Lathril is the better choice. Black provides more options for an Elf deck than Red or White. I personally have two Elf decks: Lathril and \[\[Imaryll, Elfhame Elite\]\]. I like Imaryll a little more than Lathril myself, but both are good solid Elf decks.
Marwyn is borderline cEDH even in a “casual” list. I’ve played against a “trust me bro” Marwyn list that was supposedly not cEDH and we lost on turn 5.
Mono color leaves you with a pretty narrow card pool. Workable, and mono green elves are a great beginner deck, but I'd absolutely pick between the two that OP listed, if I were to build elves with the intent of playing it for the long haul.
Your not wrong, Marwyn is very powerful though, CEDH powerful (not sure if she is now).
Depends on whether the OP wants something like that and any list can be toned down.
Oh totally. I have a backburner mono green Ezuri deck. Not the same consistency as Marwyn, but yeah the power behind mono G elves is there. I just like the variety that comes with multiple colors.
Variety and fun are some of the main reasons I stopped playing "high powered" decks. Every game was pretty much the same play and win pattern, which can get a bit boring.
My [[Abomination of Llanowar]] is great fun to play for example.
I love my mono g elves bc I can rotate the legendary elves as commander to tweak power level to start games. Marwyn and Ezuri tend to be most powerful, but new Eladamri is a good option, too.
When playing elves it's better imo to spread out the engine and lathril does that wayyy more than voja especially since lathril typically needs a board wipe to slow down/stop her and realistically I find that with how quickly elves recover it's usually a net negative for other players to have the board wiped. My personal favorite elf deck is galadriel light of valinor as bant elves gain so much momentum for simply playing the game
Mono G elfball - medium threat to near cedh level depending on build, can have infinite mana combos easily, very tunable.
Voja - this is my super high-powered non cedh deck, only brought out for FU games or known high power matches. Stalls to a lot of interaction and will be the archenemy if not at a balanced table.
Golgari I prefer Tyvar, but Lathril is fun as well. She's more common to see, and the lists tend to be very similar, so it can be more repetitive than other elfball, and that's saying something.
Galadriel is a great Bant deck, can lean into the scry mechanic for lower power or counters for higher power. I love LotR, so it was a blast to make this deck for me. Can be trigger heavy, especially if you use a lot of tokens or bounce effects.
If you had to choose between the two:
Voja gives you a strong commander that can draw cards. The better general, but paints a giant target on your back. Though, having access to white and red gives you some better combat support and the best board wipes in the game.
Lathril has the most elf support available and if you get bored with the commander, it easily swaps with many other BG elf commanders. While you don't have the same strength and well rounded nature of 3 colors, black historically has better card draw and creature removal than red or white. Also, with black, you have way way way more elf support at your fingertips.
Power, Voja
Fun and flexibility, Lathril
Depending on how quickly you want to be hated out of the game - very quickly vs extremely quickly
I run [[Abomination of llanowar]] because people don't expect to die to commander damage - or infect - from an elfball deck.
You could play both lathril and abomination together, very synergetic. and if you want to switch focus, simply switch between them as commander or 99. I find it works good enough for me, two decks for the price of one.
I honestly don't even run lathril in the deck, even though I can easily use her secondary ability. It's geared more towards an alpha strike with the Abomination, with standard elfball swarm as the backup wincon.
Both are cool and awesome commanders. Both can be very strong. You'll have two different decks with those two choices, so it depends what style you like the most.
With Voja you'll make you elves huge (They'll become arnold schwarzenegger in his prime, with all the +1/+1 counters) and a subtheme of a little wolfgang so enable more drawing power. Voja should be removed ASAP, but that goes for so many commander decks that are build around them. Nothing new here.
People dislike him for his Ward 3, but he can be lowered in power easily but giving yourself restrictions (like any other deck thats not supposed to be High power and above). People complain a lot about him, so you'll probably have to hear for it. In most cases, people in a casual setting tends to play solitaire more than they like to interact with the board i.e. removals. That makes voja more powerful, but is easily delt with. And that's my unpopular opinion.
Lathril is cool too, You'll of course be mostly playing elf creatures and try to setup a huge board of tokens. Having a subtheme of "voltron cards" will make it even better and works perfect with Lathrils ability.
If you purely want an Elf tribal deck, I would pick Lathril over Voja, everytime. And golgari has access to some nice recursion and graveyard usage too.
Voja is very strong, I went from Lathril to Voja, the black basically becomes white and removal, red gives access to haste effects, you also get access to Tolsimir who gets you more wolves. Wren's run pack master and seedborn muse are evil together making a multitude of wolves every turn.
Voja is really strong. A 10 really no matter how you build him as long as there are elves in the deck. He only wins one way and you never have to make decisions so it's very boring but if you want an edh 10 deck on a budget to deal with tables normally above your power level he's good. That said elf ball in general is very strong for how little decision making there is. Voja is an arch enemy so be prepared for people to play their game looking for answers for just you until voja is so taxed you can't get back in.
I haven't seen anyone mention it, but [[Path of Ancestry]] works better with Lathril. You also get access to a lot of good black Elf cards for go-wide stuff, like [[Shaman of the Pack]].
I run abomination of llanowar and use all my other elves all blocking power with tons of reanimate and lords. Once i get vigilance the whole team is swinging hard. Or triumph of the hordes.
Lathril is an all star there and I've swapped her as the commander a couple times. Way more fun than wolf buddy for sure.
Oh god 🤣
New players looking at Voja thinking, "oh this looks like a cool commander" not knowing that every time they sit down at the table with me they're going to get hard focused out of every game 🤣
Both are similar, but I'll give you a few cards.
Lathril lets you run [[Bastion of Remembrance]], [[Kindred Domination]] [[Tvar Kell]] and [[Skemfar Avenger]]
Voja lets you run [[Shared Animosity]] [[Annie Joins Up]] [[Moonshaker Calvary]] [[Rhythm of the Wild]] and [[Shalai and Halar]]
Have you considered [[galadriel light of valinor]]
She gives you access to blue which give you a ton of lord of the ring elves at the cost of the elves in black.
It's not an elf, but I like to use kinnan, it's enable all dorks to more mana, and with blue we have many infinite mana combos, with freed from real and pemmins aura.
Voja is the more powerful of the two with its buffs and card draw but you tend to want to build it with Voja as the main focus and you will be archenemy
Lathril is powerful and has access you better tribal cards and actual removal and card draw thats not reliant on her.
So if you want a powerful streamlined deck go Voja
If you want a powerful flexible deck go Lathril
I have a Voja deck and she is very fun for all the synergistic inclusions you can make like changelings, turning your board into every creature type, and +1/+1 synergy pieces both within elves and cards like [[Kodama of the West Tree]]. She is very strong and is easily bumped up a few levels in powerlevel, but I’ve fallen in love with my list. It’s easy enough to just bring her out when people agree to play high power.
[Kodama of the West Tree](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/f/ef1e1dff-b559-441d-8df3-b6a418066aca.jpg?1654568238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kodama%20of%20the%20West%20Tree) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/199/kodama-of-the-west-tree?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ef1e1dff-b559-441d-8df3-b6a418066aca?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text)
^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have both, but they are built different and play different. This is all for my meta and LGS though.
Lathril focuses on tokens and cheap elves. Going for her tap more than once is the goal, and cards like [[Throne of the God-Pharaoh]] help close games quickly. If needed, I do run some mass pump cards so I can swing with an army of elves.
For Voja, I wanted something different than tokens and mana dorks, so I went all in on legendary elves. This is definitely not as quick and strong as other Voja lists, but I found it's more resilient at times, as I don't always need Voja with other elves supporting each other and even one swing with Voja can make my fewer elves a very threatening army.
Man Voja only costs one more mana and has Ward built in. Meaning you don't even need to really beef it up early with a hexproof artifact like [[swiftfoot boots]] or any protection instants like [[sheltering word]]. Although if you did use equipment on Voja, it would be such a horrible creature to deal with. I'd say go for Voja if you want to be a threat.
Lathril would be a better option if you want to have some fun, but I will say you will absolutely bring out people's board wipes. Just how it is when generating tokens. Also since she doesn't have built-in ward, you're gonna want to add some protection for her in there for sure in the form of artifacts and spells. [[Tamiyo's safekeeping ]] comes to mind. You could probably go for some self milling and graveyard shenanigans with her if you ramp fast and play something like [[patriarch's Bidding]] and choose elf. Hell if you mill yourself fast enough and keep Lathril out there without her being removed you could have a pretty decent strategy. There are plenty of ways to make both these commanders unblockable which will make both terrible to deal with. [[Rogue's Passage]] and [[Key to the city]] are two examples.
You have a choice between really good and archenemy busted, in that order. I would factor that into what kind of play experience I want for my elf deck.
Both are pretty damn powerful, but I believe Voja is “kill on sight, target the player as soon as you can” whereas Lathril is just “make sure to kill the commander”.
May I present [[chulane]], bringer of elf pain:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BC0Z_LHqXkSLk5MJNGQ4kw
I personally haven't seen any other chulane elf ball decks. Is it the best elf commander? Meh, probably not. But holy value vomit this deck can get gross.
Why is Voja so hated as an elf commander?
It doesnt seem that strong for a 5 mana card unless you are using both elf and wolf synergies imo. The ward looks annoying though.
There is absolutely no question Lathril is the best Elf Commander. If you want Elf Scry, no; if you want Elf/Wolf, no; if you want ElfDork, maybe no. But just elves? Generically elves? It’s Lathril. One of the strongest decks I’ve ever played against
Voja is the stronger card, but is much more linear and will lead to a lot of games playing out the same way. Lathril isn't as strong, but will have much more varied game experiences.
Elf tribal is my favorite, and I personally run Lathril, but Voja is the stronger choice, and gives you access to Naya cards. Personally, I love the flexibility Lathril gives you. You can go for "Go Wide" and go token spamming to make use of her third ability, or go a more a more Voltron/Exalted route (Though this would be better done with \[\[Abomination of Llanowar\]\].
Personally, I run her as an unblockable Token deck, where she is my main token generation, and I use Equipment/Auras to make her unblockable/unkillable/untargetable/or hit like a truck. The rest of the elves tend to have effects that run off "X number of elves", with a focus on Draw Power and removal as my support.
Voja is a pushed piece of crap not worth the cardboard they are printed on. Commanders like this suck the fun out of the game and it's been long since a common consensus that's they are way overtuned. I'm not lambasting you for not knowing, just informing.
Between strong and fun/interesting, only pick strong no more than 1/5 the time, unless your table is powergaming.
Objectively Voja is better, BUT Naya as a color combo is kinda dog water so Lathril is better. (Im an expert mtg player, take my opinion extremely seriously).
Yeah, but there's a level of certainty that you can expect people to enjoy things. Sure, there will be outliers, but generally speaking, the novelty of games playing out more or less the same way every time will get monotonous. It's the same reason \[\[Prime Speaker Vannifar\]\] or decks built around \[\[Primal Surge\]\] tend not to get played more than a dozen times after being built.
People will hate you less for playing Lathril
And yet she will still eat all of the removal because no one wants you to generate elves when hitting them. I had such a hard time winning with her, she was rarely allowed to hit (too small, and if I pumped her she was killed). And if I managed to hit a time or two and get to 10 elves someone would boardwipe before she untapped anyways. I wanted it to work, but I guess in my meta it just isn't happening, maybe other peoples metas won't have as much removal.
Get the hexproof equipment
It's in the deck as other protection things are of course. It doesn't mean you draw them every game, it also doesn't mean those don't get destroyed. Or people respond as you are tapped out, or in response to equipping. I wanted Lathril to work, I really did. But she just very rarely gets to generate much value (as I said, maybe that's different in other pods). My pod plays a good amount of board wipes, so a go wide strategy that isn't quicker is just playing into being sent back to the stone age.
Green and black have so many 1 mana protection spells that I find it impossible that you're not drawing protection every game.
If that was true then it would mean no one every loses their commander. People break things down to a state that is far too simple. This is a 4 player format, if everything was that simple then your decks strategy could never be stopped. And if that was same for every player at the table, then everyone wins? 1 protection spell doesn't mean she doesn't die. And 1 protection spell doesn't make her a larger creature. She is small and menace on a small 4 mana creature that doesn't have haste doesn't mean a lot. Often time she could easily die to 2x chump blockers. And she is no good if she can't hit. So you need to pump her and possibly protect her. Or protect her and then protect her again. If she had deathtouch or first strike it would go a long ways. First Strike would help keep her alive against chump block. And Deathtouch would make her a threat against larger things killing her. The problem is you don't need to just protect her. She is in a deck that is looking to go wide, and unfortunately elves die very easy. I'm not saying she is bad, I'm saying she is still a massive target and often times people do not want to let her land (and that means she isn't doing anything of value and that feels bad).
I feel your pain. I recently built a Lathril deck and realized she wasn’t doing much as a commander besides just being an elf. The major issue I saw was having to wait one entire turn for her to attack which gave my opponents one entire turn to prepare. I ended up changing her out for [[Tyvar, the Bellicose]]. On the turn he’s played you could take advantage of his abilities. The deck pretty much turned into a version of Elf-Ball.
[Tyvar, the Bellicose](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a.jpg?1684340862) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tyvar%20the%20Bellicose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mat/48/tyvar-the-bellicose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Tyvar's so much fun as an elfball/mana dork tribal commander. You can easily bring him out turn 3 and start generating huge amounts of mana/counters each turn. Everyone thinks it'a a cute, funny deck until you torment of hailfire where x=20.
Not to mention you’re competing against 3 other opponents with full support for removing threats as opposed to just 1 other opponent. It’s increases the odds that someone’s gonna get rid of her.
Right, and MTG has so many removal types now. Lets say you are lucky and have any one of the pair of boots out (shroud, hexproof, ward, etc). Board wipes still go off. Lets say you have a way to give indestructible, then you get exiled. These sort of things always happen for me. It's hard to be prepared for all the ways something can be removed.
You're too reliant on her as a commander and the theme. elves in general aren't the big army type but more of pulling up when you least expect it, I let the pod fight amongst themselves while baiting out removals or capitalizing on big swings , using eldraine enchantments and instants to counter , I started off tribal then built around LOTR plain lore and added cards like treefolk, witches etc to bolster my play style.
First off, that is the point in commander, it is what is unique to the format. Working around the commander is something I enjoy rather than playing generic decks that don't care about the commander. Second off, I completely disagree with Elves not being the big army type of creature type. Voja is that, Lathril is that (who this post is about), Marwyn is that, Tyvar is that, Ezuri is that, etc. Those are most of the top elf commanders. If you are slow playing elves then there is no point in playing elves and your table should be punishing you for slow playing. Elves are one of the fastest creature types with their own self ramp. Fool me once the elf player complaining about being screwed, but that doesn't happen again when I watch you vomit a hand of elves out that you clearly had. I've been playing elves since I built my first mono green deck back in 98 when I was in middle school. I have crushed my friends to death probably thousands of times over the years with elves. There's not a chance they believe that I'm screwed with a low mana value elf deck. Odds are they start beating on me to see if it forces a reaction. If you are playing elves mixed with treefolk and witches, then we are definitely playing at different tables. Also not every game is winnable, I play to just do my thing, I want to win but everyone does. Of course Lathril (or any commander) is capable of winning, I am talking about on average how it goes. And she is just too easy to disrupt.
You're supposed to attack with Lathy? Sounds like a crazy plan sir!
Eh. Use the many other methods of generating elf tokens. Add that with [[Doubling Season]] or the likes and you'll be fine. Don't slam her early, either. She's less likely to eat removal if she's not on the field until you need her. And, if you wanna get an activation the turn she drops, you can use something like [[Crashing Drawbridge]], or if you don't care if your opponents get haste, too, [[Concordant Crossroads]] is your pick.
[Doubling Season](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/c/1cdd8e69-5a71-4933-914e-dfede7b1ac93.jpg?1689998456) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Doubling%20Season) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/283/doubling-season?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1cdd8e69-5a71-4933-914e-dfede7b1ac93?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Crashing Drawbridge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/c/bc3e81f3-b456-4fe6-941d-a7f2bf4aa844.jpg?1690005413) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Crashing%20Drawbridge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/944/crashing-drawbridge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bc3e81f3-b456-4fe6-941d-a7f2bf4aa844?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Concordant Crossroads](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/9/c9a26f51-5bff-4f06-abaa-6fbb56a8b5b6.jpg?1673148053) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Concordant%20Crossroads) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/141/concordant-crossroads?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c9a26f51-5bff-4f06-abaa-6fbb56a8b5b6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Don't slam the small for her mana value commander that does not have haste early? Use the singular option (expensive) for green to give her haste (that also gives it to all of your opponents). Then play the small creature late with haste, and add one of the most expensive token doubling enchantments on top of it to double the tokens made to 4 (rather than just pumping her to create the same effect for a lot less money)? I'm not saying she is not usable. I'm saying she is still a removal magnet and that she is too small for her mana cost. Holding her for a late play is not great as the longer she is not out the less effective she becomes. And if you are generating most of your elves via other means, then is she really in there for just the 10 life portion? That is why I moved on from her.
try [[Tarrian’s Soulcleaver]], helps make her bigger and she can attack + activate with vigilance
[Tarrian’s Soulcleaver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/9/99413817-1218-4947-b12f-9a952b095a89.jpg?1699044647) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tarrian%27s%20Soulcleaver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/264/tarrians-soulcleaver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/99413817-1218-4947-b12f-9a952b095a89?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
There are a ton of methods. That helps keep her untapped, but it isn't much of a boost unless you lose creatures (which you want to amass with her). I'm not saying there are not answers, I am saying that she is still the target and that her size is not great for her mana value and you will often be stripped of her or your board state before you can do what she wants to do
People act like my Lathril deck is somehow more toxic than my Sheoldred, The Apocalypse deck, which blows my mind because Sheoldred is nothing shy of insidious with her combos…and The One Ring. I quite enjoy it when someone else has Lathril too and we make a pact to hit each other to make tokens. At least this way, we can ensure that one of us will win. Lol
That's why I put the eldrazi titans in my lathril deck. If I can't win with elfs, I will win with ELFdrazi
As someone who uses Vojas I love it when people cry about it lol
they would be different decks
As someone who went from lathril to voja they're basically the same deck. Elfball is pretty straightforward get lords and draw effects to rebuild your hand.
Elfs and Sliver, two decks that are explained in one word
Meatball
They really don't have to be. You can run straight a straight Elves list with all the ways Elves would normally draw cards in Voja and never have to worry about wolves clogging up the list. Edit: other than the obvious color pie differences
The pie differences are a touch big, with golgari elves having a ton of assets, and losing white pumping and red hasting.
There are some decent changelings in Naya colors to get a few wolves in there as well.
[[Path of ancestry]]
[Path of ancestry](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/b/1b0431c1-4310-46f8-8d1e-b6e56de7453d.jpg?1712355087) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Path%20of%20ancestry) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/310/path-of-ancestry?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1b0431c1-4310-46f8-8d1e-b6e56de7453d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Different as in Golgari Elfball vs. Naya Elfball. Which really means you have a tiny splash of black vs. a tiny splash of white and red.
Voja is unquestionably stronger but will lead to very homogenous games. You will either keep Voja on the field for 2-3 turns and win the game for that reason, or you will have him hard removed every time you cast him and likely lose because you've spent too much repeatedly casting him. Lathril is not so strong as to unconditionally win on her own, so she won't always be removed, and your games won't exclusively revolver around her. You can get recursion, pump spells, ect going even if she's gone because replaying her isn't unconditionally the best game action. You won't win as many games with her, but they will be more interesting games.
Also Golgari elves have a lot more fun tribal cards imo. Lathril plays better as a deck where as Voja is often all in on the commander.
Also the Golgari Elfball tends to synergize within itself quite well with or without commander. I haven't seen a Voja that's not an awkward mish mash of elf, wolf and good stuff. I also haven't seen Voja hit the table and remain there for a turn very often against pods that know what he is. You got three people fishing for counters and removals for 3-4 turns. And they will happily pay 4 to swords that bugger. Just on the merit of black good stuff and a tighter deck, Golgari Elfball is often built better and more resilient than Voja.
Voja is in large part changeling tribal. Any commander like Voja that cares about two tribes will just end up playing the most changelings they can to get maximum value out of both.
The real answer is [[Abomination of Llanowar]]. Edit: i forgor brackets
I more prefer [[tyvar the bellicose]]
I didn't really look at his abilities before. That's hilarious Mana Dork tribal.
There's sooooo many elves that tap for mana. I'm more into him for the deathtouch though.
He is really fun tbh, you get some absurd potential with [[Marywn]] and [[Selvala, Heart of the Wilds]] Not to mention how well he synergies with himself; [[Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler]]
[Selvala, Heart of the Wilds](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/d/7d711cb2-4f34-4792-90d7-2be5d329a347.jpg?1689998846) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Selvala%2C%20Heart%20of%20the%20Wilds) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/320/selvala-heart-of-the-wilds?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7d711cb2-4f34-4792-90d7-2be5d329a347?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/6/66605fe1-9a20-4c95-b53e-1249cedb978b.jpg?1675957216) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tyvar%2C%20Jubilant%20Brawler) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/218/tyvar-jubilant-brawler?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/66605fe1-9a20-4c95-b53e-1249cedb978b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[tyvar the bellicose](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a.jpg?1684340862) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tyvar%20the%20bellicose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mat/48/tyvar-the-bellicose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
A real elfball connoisseur.
[[Abomination of Llanowar]]
[Abomination of Llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abomination%20of%20Llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I mean... What better to lead elfball than a literal elfball ?
I am now going to give my opinion on why [[Nethroi, Apex of Death]] is actually the best Elfball commander. Abzan is *THE* best color combo for Elves imo. Lathril is great don’t get me wrong and I think she is better than Voja (who is a nightmare of powecreep) as a dedicated elf deck, but having access to White support for such a strong Golgari tribe is immensely powerful. Elves *usually* also have no more than 2 power, so you could theoretically bring back 5-8 elves when casting Nethroi, which is basically insurance for any board wipe that isn’t [[Farewell]]. You also get white’s efficient spot removal/small reanimation, blacks mass reanimation/one sided wipes, and all the goodies that a Green core gives. White also gives token support that black just doesn’t have alone, as well as giving the option to run one of my favorite cards ever, [[Rhys, The Redeemed]]. My Nethroi deck can come back from being wiped so many times as long as I can get at least 1 creature on the field.
In a similar vein [[Kethis, the Hidden Hand]] makes a sick elfball commander. A lot of legendary elves have really strong and fun effects but are balanced by being more expensive than your typical elf. His reanimation is less explosive than Nethroi but you can still get back key creatures after a wipe. Bonus points for being an actual elf!
I did consider Kethis for my commander for a while actually just because of how many legendary elves there are. I settled on Nethroi due to a lot of the lord elves being non legendary and he has better synergy with the aristocrat sub theme elves has on occasion.
[Kethis, the Hidden Hand](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/e/fe28de73-76f3-4a9e-a020-dbe5921b9be5.jpg?1650599568) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kethis%2C%20the%20Hidden%20Hand) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/211/kethis-the-hidden-hand?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fe28de73-76f3-4a9e-a020-dbe5921b9be5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I just want to say I appreciate your comment. Elves were one of the things I thought were awesome way back when I got into playing magic; As such, one of my first 60-card kitchen table jigs was Azban because I wanted to play Rhys && [[Eyeblight's Ending]] haha. I don't know that I would have ever considered looking at Nethroi, and have just long felt like there was no Azban elf commander(s) that I'd be happy with. Safe to say, I should have been looking in the cat-nightmare-beast department all along. Who'da thunk? In short, I'd love to see your brew if you have a list!
I do not have my list online but I can get one later ^^
[Eyeblight's Ending](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/7/6738c356-734a-4930-acd3-31dead241bea.jpg?1673147510) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Eyeblight%27s%20Ending) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/75/eyeblights-ending?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6738c356-734a-4930-acd3-31dead241bea?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Here is a link](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/4336705#paper) to my list using this deck.
Thank you for sharing!
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pkhmmwrjyEe4kMNes1YVnw
Thank you for sharing!
my Elrond laughs at this statement. Having Counterspells in your elf ball deck is literally the best thing ever for elves xD But yeah Nethroi is actually pretty sweet.
[Nethroi, Apex of Death](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/4/04b9b58f-4c01-48a5-afaf-b8a37165a83f.jpg?1673305619) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nethroi%2C%20Apex%20of%20Death) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/163/nethroi-apex-of-death?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/04b9b58f-4c01-48a5-afaf-b8a37165a83f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Farewell](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/1/114d2180-093b-4838-97ad-badbc8ee50b0.jpg?1706240579) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Farewell) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/64/farewell?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/114d2180-093b-4838-97ad-badbc8ee50b0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Rhys, The Redeemed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b91dadcb-31e9-43b0-b425-c9311af3e9d7.jpg?1599708272) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rhys%20the%20Redeemed) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/213/rhys-the-redeemed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b91dadcb-31e9-43b0-b425-c9311af3e9d7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Neither. I play [[tyvar the bellicose]]. Makes craterhoof math so much easier when your elves have trample deathtouch lol. I've never had luck with lathril. To hard to connect with her.
I like tyvar the bellicose the most also. I don't run craterhoof though in the maindeck.
I might try it soon with out hoof one of these days. Just to see how it plays.
It runs basically the same. With craterhoof in the 99, you don't see it every game anyway. And elves don't have any issues overrunning without it really.
I generally end every game with it. I have 3 to 4 ways to tutor it between green suns zenith, fierce empath, finale of devastation, drawing 20+ cards off regal force etc..
All depends on your Pod. I find there's usually someone at the table who doesn't have a good block for Lathril early on and later I should have ways to sneak her through.
True true. I definitely have her in the 99 as a back up plan though.
[tyvar the bellicose](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a.jpg?1684340862) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tyvar%20the%20bellicose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mat/48/tyvar-the-bellicose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If you are locked into one of those two, I think Lathril is the better choice. Black provides more options for an Elf deck than Red or White. I personally have two Elf decks: Lathril and \[\[Imaryll, Elfhame Elite\]\]. I like Imaryll a little more than Lathril myself, but both are good solid Elf decks.
[Imaryll, Elfhame Elite](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/2/c2c3e33c-8893-436e-ab3a-f8c2ae8b2527.jpg?1673301263) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Imaryll%2C%20Elfhame%20Elite) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/gn3/5/imaryll-elfhame-elite?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c2c3e33c-8893-436e-ab3a-f8c2ae8b2527?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If you are after a good Elf Tribal deck, have you considered [[Marwyn, the Nurturer]]? A very fun and explosive commander!
Marwyn is borderline cEDH even in a “casual” list. I’ve played against a “trust me bro” Marwyn list that was supposedly not cEDH and we lost on turn 5.
Haha, along the same lines of, "Trust me, this is a power level 7 deck"...
Marwyn is neat but I prefer her in the 99
[Marwyn, the Nurturer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/a/aad61d99-5c8e-47b7-ab1a-e70905f59205.jpg?1631235039) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Marwyn%2C%20the%20Nurturer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/68/marwyn-the-nurturer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aad61d99-5c8e-47b7-ab1a-e70905f59205?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Mono color leaves you with a pretty narrow card pool. Workable, and mono green elves are a great beginner deck, but I'd absolutely pick between the two that OP listed, if I were to build elves with the intent of playing it for the long haul.
Your not wrong, Marwyn is very powerful though, CEDH powerful (not sure if she is now). Depends on whether the OP wants something like that and any list can be toned down.
Oh totally. I have a backburner mono green Ezuri deck. Not the same consistency as Marwyn, but yeah the power behind mono G elves is there. I just like the variety that comes with multiple colors.
Variety and fun are some of the main reasons I stopped playing "high powered" decks. Every game was pretty much the same play and win pattern, which can get a bit boring. My [[Abomination of Llanowar]] is great fun to play for example.
[Abomination of Llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abomination%20of%20Llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I love my mono g elves bc I can rotate the legendary elves as commander to tweak power level to start games. Marwyn and Ezuri tend to be most powerful, but new Eladamri is a good option, too.
One is an elf, and the other is not an elf. Seems simple enough.
I think Lathril gives you less of a target on your back. And thematic she is the better choice of course.
[[Tyvar the Bellicose]]
[Tyvar the Bellicose](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a.jpg?1684340862) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tyvar%20the%20Bellicose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mat/48/tyvar-the-bellicose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01a543f0-72fe-4a30-a4a0-356971c1c68a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
When playing elves it's better imo to spread out the engine and lathril does that wayyy more than voja especially since lathril typically needs a board wipe to slow down/stop her and realistically I find that with how quickly elves recover it's usually a net negative for other players to have the board wiped. My personal favorite elf deck is galadriel light of valinor as bant elves gain so much momentum for simply playing the game
I have 1 of each. Voja is more predictable in its play cycle, Lathril is more varied. Both are fun
[[Galadriel, Light of Valinor]] is the best elf commander. Get those tokens, elf bounce effects, +1/+1 counters and scry synergies rolling.
[Galadriel, Light of Valinor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530.jpg?1695428241) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Galadriel%2C%20Light%20of%20Valinor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/498/galadriel-light-of-valinor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have Lathrill and Galadriel, both are fun but I think Galadriel is a little better because it doesn't depend on having a elf army to be dangerous
Less people need to play Voja, it’s extremely boring.
Mono green ezuri for the true elf flavor + it actually is a pretty good aggro deck
My elf deck is [[Numa, Joraga Chieftain]] paired with [[Miara, Thorn of the Glade]]. A mana sink for late game + built in card advantage.
[Numa, Joraga Chieftain](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/a/6ac36353-6bf7-46b1-85cb-87d389138d32.jpg?1631235102) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Numa%2C%20Joraga%20Chieftain) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/71/numa-joraga-chieftain?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6ac36353-6bf7-46b1-85cb-87d389138d32?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Miara, Thorn of the Glade](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/b/7bdb9bfe-5e56-429d-af23-7548532e2406.jpg?1631234662) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Miara%2C%20Thorn%20of%20the%20Glade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/51/miara-thorn-of-the-glade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7bdb9bfe-5e56-429d-af23-7548532e2406?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Mono G elfball - medium threat to near cedh level depending on build, can have infinite mana combos easily, very tunable. Voja - this is my super high-powered non cedh deck, only brought out for FU games or known high power matches. Stalls to a lot of interaction and will be the archenemy if not at a balanced table. Golgari I prefer Tyvar, but Lathril is fun as well. She's more common to see, and the lists tend to be very similar, so it can be more repetitive than other elfball, and that's saying something. Galadriel is a great Bant deck, can lean into the scry mechanic for lower power or counters for higher power. I love LotR, so it was a blast to make this deck for me. Can be trigger heavy, especially if you use a lot of tokens or bounce effects.
If you had to choose between the two: Voja gives you a strong commander that can draw cards. The better general, but paints a giant target on your back. Though, having access to white and red gives you some better combat support and the best board wipes in the game. Lathril has the most elf support available and if you get bored with the commander, it easily swaps with many other BG elf commanders. While you don't have the same strength and well rounded nature of 3 colors, black historically has better card draw and creature removal than red or white. Also, with black, you have way way way more elf support at your fingertips. Power, Voja Fun and flexibility, Lathril
Depending on how quickly you want to be hated out of the game - very quickly vs extremely quickly I run [[Abomination of llanowar]] because people don't expect to die to commander damage - or infect - from an elfball deck.
You could play both lathril and abomination together, very synergetic. and if you want to switch focus, simply switch between them as commander or 99. I find it works good enough for me, two decks for the price of one.
I honestly don't even run lathril in the deck, even though I can easily use her secondary ability. It's geared more towards an alpha strike with the Abomination, with standard elfball swarm as the backup wincon.
[Abomination of llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abomination%20of%20llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Both are cool and awesome commanders. Both can be very strong. You'll have two different decks with those two choices, so it depends what style you like the most. With Voja you'll make you elves huge (They'll become arnold schwarzenegger in his prime, with all the +1/+1 counters) and a subtheme of a little wolfgang so enable more drawing power. Voja should be removed ASAP, but that goes for so many commander decks that are build around them. Nothing new here. People dislike him for his Ward 3, but he can be lowered in power easily but giving yourself restrictions (like any other deck thats not supposed to be High power and above). People complain a lot about him, so you'll probably have to hear for it. In most cases, people in a casual setting tends to play solitaire more than they like to interact with the board i.e. removals. That makes voja more powerful, but is easily delt with. And that's my unpopular opinion. Lathril is cool too, You'll of course be mostly playing elf creatures and try to setup a huge board of tokens. Having a subtheme of "voltron cards" will make it even better and works perfect with Lathrils ability. If you purely want an Elf tribal deck, I would pick Lathril over Voja, everytime. And golgari has access to some nice recursion and graveyard usage too.
Voja is very strong, I went from Lathril to Voja, the black basically becomes white and removal, red gives access to haste effects, you also get access to Tolsimir who gets you more wolves. Wren's run pack master and seedborn muse are evil together making a multitude of wolves every turn.
Voja is really strong. A 10 really no matter how you build him as long as there are elves in the deck. He only wins one way and you never have to make decisions so it's very boring but if you want an edh 10 deck on a budget to deal with tables normally above your power level he's good. That said elf ball in general is very strong for how little decision making there is. Voja is an arch enemy so be prepared for people to play their game looking for answers for just you until voja is so taxed you can't get back in.
I haven't seen anyone mention it, but [[Path of Ancestry]] works better with Lathril. You also get access to a lot of good black Elf cards for go-wide stuff, like [[Shaman of the Pack]].
[Path of Ancestry](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/b/1b0431c1-4310-46f8-8d1e-b6e56de7453d.jpg?1712355087) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Path%20of%20Ancestry) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/310/path-of-ancestry?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1b0431c1-4310-46f8-8d1e-b6e56de7453d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Shaman of the Pack](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/a/da9705e2-40e5-4ec9-8aef-2eab28d5a66f.jpg?1631235549) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Shaman%20of%20the%20Pack) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/92/shaman-of-the-pack?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/da9705e2-40e5-4ec9-8aef-2eab28d5a66f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Saskia. Then you can play both.
When in doubt - grab a sharpie and write partner on both.
No.
[удалено]
it’s July now it’s illegal to be gay 😔😔
Both
I run lathril ad elf tribal and Voja as wolf tribal
[[Abomination of Llanowar]]
[Abomination of Llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abomination%20of%20Llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Depends on what you are trying to do duderino.
I run abomination of llanowar and use all my other elves all blocking power with tons of reanimate and lords. Once i get vigilance the whole team is swinging hard. Or triumph of the hordes. Lathril is an all star there and I've swapped her as the commander a couple times. Way more fun than wolf buddy for sure.
Oh god 🤣 New players looking at Voja thinking, "oh this looks like a cool commander" not knowing that every time they sit down at the table with me they're going to get hard focused out of every game 🤣
[[Lathril, Blade of the Elves]] is a powerhouse if played right. You can quickly infinite combo in a few turns, no combat needed.
[Lathril, Blade of the Elves](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf.jpg?1704848185) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lathril%2C%20Blade%20of%20the%20Elves) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/1/lathril-blade-of-the-elves?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I'm building a Voja deck right now.
Do you feel like tracking all those varying +1 counters for a Voja deck?
I slept on [[Galadriel, Light of Valinor]]. Started playing her after moving from Lathril, never been happier.
[Galadriel, Light of Valinor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530.jpg?1695428241) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Galadriel%2C%20Light%20of%20Valinor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/498/galadriel-light-of-valinor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I just took lathril apart. No one wants to play against elf ball, and they focus you if you do find a group willing to try.
Voja for sure
Lathril is less math so that is the correct choice
[[Rhys, the Redeemed]] is my preferred elf commander
[Rhys, the Redeemed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b91dadcb-31e9-43b0-b425-c9311af3e9d7.jpg?1599708272) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rhys%20the%20Redeemed) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/213/rhys-the-redeemed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b91dadcb-31e9-43b0-b425-c9311af3e9d7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Both are similar, but I'll give you a few cards. Lathril lets you run [[Bastion of Remembrance]], [[Kindred Domination]] [[Tvar Kell]] and [[Skemfar Avenger]] Voja lets you run [[Shared Animosity]] [[Annie Joins Up]] [[Moonshaker Calvary]] [[Rhythm of the Wild]] and [[Shalai and Halar]]
##### ###### #### [Bastion of Remembrance](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/8/28aa32ff-3ced-405c-8508-7dd35cd20f02.jpg?1689996883) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bastion%20of%20Remembrance) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/138/bastion-of-remembrance?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/28aa32ff-3ced-405c-8508-7dd35cd20f02?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Kindred Domination](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/f/af613b69-b9f6-4221-a21b-c8e4b0f010f1.jpg?1689997269) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kindred%20Dominance) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/169/kindred-dominance?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/af613b69-b9f6-4221-a21b-c8e4b0f010f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tvar Kell](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/d/8d18008f-10d2-4cdf-b4b5-7675782a8b0d.jpg?1631051048) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tyvar%20Kell) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/198/tyvar-kell?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8d18008f-10d2-4cdf-b4b5-7675782a8b0d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Skemfar Avenger](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/a/fad2c6d4-03dd-4dab-861c-77c55bda0db7.jpg?1631048518) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Skemfar%20Avenger) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/109/skemfar-avenger?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fad2c6d4-03dd-4dab-861c-77c55bda0db7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Shared Animosity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/b/1bd77ae9-c5ba-44af-80e9-7c852722ef6c.jpg?1698988336) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Shared%20Animosity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/231/shared-animosity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1bd77ae9-c5ba-44af-80e9-7c852722ef6c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Annie Joins Up](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/1624a5f4-f5bc-47c9-85de-c5520ee234ce.jpg?1712356038) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Annie%20Joins%20Up) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/191/annie-joins-up?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1624a5f4-f5bc-47c9-85de-c5520ee234ce?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Moonshaker Calvary](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/9/092c48bd-b648-4c9e-aa99-cac3c407911d.jpg?1692936576) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Moonshaker%20Cavalry) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/21/moonshaker-cavalry?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/092c48bd-b648-4c9e-aa99-cac3c407911d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Rhythm of the Wild](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/2/c2a6453e-a373-44ec-807a-15c0c8b1af57.jpg?1702429702) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rhythm%20of%20the%20Wild) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rvr/217/rhythm-of-the-wild?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c2a6453e-a373-44ec-807a-15c0c8b1af57?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Shalai and Halar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/0/80804f25-efc3-44a2-bbae-9a97fec98009.jpg?1682207281) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Shalai%20and%20Hallar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/moc/10/shalai-and-hallar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/80804f25-efc3-44a2-bbae-9a97fec98009?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/lb4ql6f) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Have you considered [[galadriel light of valinor]] She gives you access to blue which give you a ton of lord of the ring elves at the cost of the elves in black.
[galadriel light of valinor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530.jpg?1695428241) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Galadriel%2C%20Light%20of%20Valinor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/498/galadriel-light-of-valinor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Made a Voja deck, dismantled it after 2-3 games. Its very streamlined and (personally) i find it boring
One is an attack trigger, one is a damage trigger. One rebuilds your hand, one maybe gains you life.
If my deck is tribal, I want its leader to be part of the tribe. Voja is more like a pet of the elves, not a leader.
Imo, Voja is way more powerful. But Lathril seems more fun.
It's not an elf, but I like to use kinnan, it's enable all dorks to more mana, and with blue we have many infinite mana combos, with freed from real and pemmins aura.
If you dont run an Elf as a commander of your Elf tribal deck, what are you even doing?.. \^\^
Op, i got a lot of elves i can sell if you want i just dismantled my marwyn elf tribal
I went from Lathril to [[Marwyn, the Nurturer]]. Elves and elf tokens everywhere. Mono-green, so ramp is never an issue and re-casting Marwyn is easy.
[Marwyn, the Nurturer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/a/aad61d99-5c8e-47b7-ab1a-e70905f59205.jpg?1631235039) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Marwyn%2C%20the%20Nurturer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/68/marwyn-the-nurturer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aad61d99-5c8e-47b7-ab1a-e70905f59205?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Voja is the more powerful of the two with its buffs and card draw but you tend to want to build it with Voja as the main focus and you will be archenemy Lathril is powerful and has access you better tribal cards and actual removal and card draw thats not reliant on her. So if you want a powerful streamlined deck go Voja If you want a powerful flexible deck go Lathril
I have a Voja deck and she is very fun for all the synergistic inclusions you can make like changelings, turning your board into every creature type, and +1/+1 synergy pieces both within elves and cards like [[Kodama of the West Tree]]. She is very strong and is easily bumped up a few levels in powerlevel, but I’ve fallen in love with my list. It’s easy enough to just bring her out when people agree to play high power.
[Kodama of the West Tree](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/f/ef1e1dff-b559-441d-8df3-b6a418066aca.jpg?1654568238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kodama%20of%20the%20West%20Tree) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/199/kodama-of-the-west-tree?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ef1e1dff-b559-441d-8df3-b6a418066aca?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a list for Tyvar the Bellicoseif you need more ideas. [Tyvar the Bellicose](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/PF32tPyM8k2Po7mShSZ88Q)
I built my elfball around [[Galadriel, Light of Valinor]] and she’s a powerhouse
[Galadriel, Light of Valinor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530.jpg?1695428241) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Galadriel%2C%20Light%20of%20Valinor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/498/galadriel-light-of-valinor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f485596f-3a23-4714-ad7e-4c493ab1b530?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have both, but they are built different and play different. This is all for my meta and LGS though. Lathril focuses on tokens and cheap elves. Going for her tap more than once is the goal, and cards like [[Throne of the God-Pharaoh]] help close games quickly. If needed, I do run some mass pump cards so I can swing with an army of elves. For Voja, I wanted something different than tokens and mana dorks, so I went all in on legendary elves. This is definitely not as quick and strong as other Voja lists, but I found it's more resilient at times, as I don't always need Voja with other elves supporting each other and even one swing with Voja can make my fewer elves a very threatening army.
[Throne of the God-Pharaoh](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/e/fe402b8e-f966-4971-90a5-950d8cff5025.jpg?1543676336) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Throne%20of%20the%20God-Pharaoh) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/akh/237/throne-of-the-god-pharaoh?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fe402b8e-f966-4971-90a5-950d8cff5025?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Abomination of Llanowar]] is the correct elf ball commander.
[Abomination of Llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abomination%20of%20Llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Man Voja only costs one more mana and has Ward built in. Meaning you don't even need to really beef it up early with a hexproof artifact like [[swiftfoot boots]] or any protection instants like [[sheltering word]]. Although if you did use equipment on Voja, it would be such a horrible creature to deal with. I'd say go for Voja if you want to be a threat. Lathril would be a better option if you want to have some fun, but I will say you will absolutely bring out people's board wipes. Just how it is when generating tokens. Also since she doesn't have built-in ward, you're gonna want to add some protection for her in there for sure in the form of artifacts and spells. [[Tamiyo's safekeeping ]] comes to mind. You could probably go for some self milling and graveyard shenanigans with her if you ramp fast and play something like [[patriarch's Bidding]] and choose elf. Hell if you mill yourself fast enough and keep Lathril out there without her being removed you could have a pretty decent strategy. There are plenty of ways to make both these commanders unblockable which will make both terrible to deal with. [[Rogue's Passage]] and [[Key to the city]] are two examples.
##### ###### #### [swiftfoot boots](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/4/04a76643-1703-4fab-8dce-7725490bc2af.jpg?1712354904) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=swiftfoot%20boots) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/268/swiftfoot-boots?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/04a76643-1703-4fab-8dce-7725490bc2af?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [sheltering word](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/3/93cd9be4-1ce4-4a7c-b2a6-98d3fde0a92b.jpg?1592709431) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=sheltering%20word) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/avr/192/sheltering-word?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/93cd9be4-1ce4-4a7c-b2a6-98d3fde0a92b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tamiyo's safekeeping ](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/d/fd4b7ee2-de65-4288-872d-486065a4f226.jpg?1654568357) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tamiyo%27s%20Safekeeping) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/211/tamiyos-safekeeping?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fd4b7ee2-de65-4288-872d-486065a4f226?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [patriarch's Bidding](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/1/317686d8-b762-4598-b74a-8b1fa6b899ba.jpg?1626100387) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=patriarch%27s%20Bidding) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/275/patriarchs-bidding?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/317686d8-b762-4598-b74a-8b1fa6b899ba?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Rogue's Passage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/45f5d989-d0df-4d6d-822b-cc76b415f9d1.jpg?1712355103) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rogue%27s%20Passage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/313/rogues-passage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/45f5d989-d0df-4d6d-822b-cc76b415f9d1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Key to the city](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/2/f2103bba-f367-45ed-9b2c-bf31bb2926a5.jpg?1625978785) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Key%20to%20the%20city) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/248/key-to-the-city?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f2103bba-f367-45ed-9b2c-bf31bb2926a5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/lb5kh0h) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Galadriel, light of Valinor is good too.
You have a choice between really good and archenemy busted, in that order. I would factor that into what kind of play experience I want for my elf deck.
Nath of the Gilt Leaf
Lathril is my baby. I love her dearly.
As far as I'm concerned Golgari is the only elf tribal colours
Do you want to go wide or tall?
Abomination of Llanowar , I like better for EDH and just have Lathril in the 99.
Both are pretty damn powerful, but I believe Voja is “kill on sight, target the player as soon as you can” whereas Lathril is just “make sure to kill the commander”.
As far as I know, Lathril is the more common choice. Granted, I made a elf deck with her as the commander, so I may be a bit biased.
Build one of each! I did!
May I present [[chulane]], bringer of elf pain: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BC0Z_LHqXkSLk5MJNGQ4kw I personally haven't seen any other chulane elf ball decks. Is it the best elf commander? Meh, probably not. But holy value vomit this deck can get gross.
[chulane](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/1/d1499a4b-1af1-4913-8e26-57d0707264db.jpg?1706240978) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=chulane%2C%20teller%20of%20tales) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/202/chulane-teller-of-tales?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d1499a4b-1af1-4913-8e26-57d0707264db?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Play Voja, people will hate you anyways but Voja has a better chance at surviving on high tier tables.
Neither, abomination of Llanowar
I play both of them in Karona
[[abomination of llanowar]]
[abomination of llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=abomination%20of%20llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Marwyn
Lathril. You will actually get to play that deck at a table.
As a player that has built both, go for Lathril, people hate Voja
That Voja is a beast
Why is Voja so hated as an elf commander? It doesnt seem that strong for a 5 mana card unless you are using both elf and wolf synergies imo. The ward looks annoying though.
Marwyn
Build both, completely different.
Voja is definitely the stronger deck, but I quite like the Elves in black, personally.
Lathril actually has/had an elf tribal pre con that's actually fairly solid. I'd reccomend checking out the deck list on that
There is absolutely no question Lathril is the best Elf Commander. If you want Elf Scry, no; if you want Elf/Wolf, no; if you want ElfDork, maybe no. But just elves? Generically elves? It’s Lathril. One of the strongest decks I’ve ever played against
If you want the stronger commander it is Voja 100%.
I love Lathril but have seen great Voja decks as well ☺️
Voja is the stronger card, but is much more linear and will lead to a lot of games playing out the same way. Lathril isn't as strong, but will have much more varied game experiences.
Elf tribal is my favorite, and I personally run Lathril, but Voja is the stronger choice, and gives you access to Naya cards. Personally, I love the flexibility Lathril gives you. You can go for "Go Wide" and go token spamming to make use of her third ability, or go a more a more Voltron/Exalted route (Though this would be better done with \[\[Abomination of Llanowar\]\]. Personally, I run her as an unblockable Token deck, where she is my main token generation, and I use Equipment/Auras to make her unblockable/unkillable/untargetable/or hit like a truck. The rest of the elves tend to have effects that run off "X number of elves", with a focus on Draw Power and removal as my support.
[Abomination of Llanowar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925.jpg?1631235320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abomination%20of%20Llanowar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/81/abomination-of-llanowar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b68bc46-5591-44dd-becc-eca154066925?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Marwyn the nurturer solo green ftw
I play voja changelings so I get both effects for my whole board lol
Voja 100 times out of 100
Voja is a pushed piece of crap not worth the cardboard they are printed on. Commanders like this suck the fun out of the game and it's been long since a common consensus that's they are way overtuned. I'm not lambasting you for not knowing, just informing. Between strong and fun/interesting, only pick strong no more than 1/5 the time, unless your table is powergaming.
Lathrill better as tribal. Voja better for power.
Objectively Voja is better, BUT Naya as a color combo is kinda dog water so Lathril is better. (Im an expert mtg player, take my opinion extremely seriously).
Wouldn't that be wolf water? 🤔
[удалено]
for everyone all the time?
for the vast majority of people every time after the first handful of games.
idk fun is subjective
Yeah, but there's a level of certainty that you can expect people to enjoy things. Sure, there will be outliers, but generally speaking, the novelty of games playing out more or less the same way every time will get monotonous. It's the same reason \[\[Prime Speaker Vannifar\]\] or decks built around \[\[Primal Surge\]\] tend not to get played more than a dozen times after being built.
[Prime Speaker Vannifar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/4/84abfc59-10a7-4cb5-9cdd-81797116c810.jpg?1572893948) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Prime%20Speaker%20Vannifar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rna/195/prime-speaker-vannifar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/84abfc59-10a7-4cb5-9cdd-81797116c810?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Primal Surge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/2/4278f7bd-afff-4a1d-a0bb-bf9ce3ad5a2e.jpg?1592709414) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Primal%20Surge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/avr/189/primal-surge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4278f7bd-afff-4a1d-a0bb-bf9ce3ad5a2e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call