MTG Best Elves

Of the many, many creature types in Magic: The Gathering, few are more iconic than Elves. Since Alpha, Elves have been associated with ramping mana and going wide on the board, and they still do both better than most creature types today. They’re especially deadly in Commander, where the extra breathing room of a multiplayer format really gives them the chance to build up to full strength.

Today, we’ll be going over the very best Elves for MTG Commander: those that fit well into the 99 of decks of all types, and those that serve as the best Elf Typal Commanders.

The Best MTG Elves in the 99

5 | Bloom Tender

Mana dorks that produce more than one mana have a long history of being broken in Magic, and Bloom Tender is a prime example. Since it only cares about the colors of your permanents, popular Commander engines like Rhystic Study and Smothering TitheSmothering TitheWhenever an opponent draws a card, that player may pay {2}. If the player doesn't, you create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") can contribute to its mana production. It’s also terrifying alongside cards that grant all colors, like Leyline of the Guildpact and Tam, Mindful First-Year, which let it tap for a whopping five mana right away.

Thanks to these synergies, Bloom Tender is a staple in all manner of decks. In any Commander deck with three or more colors, particularly three-mana ones like Glarb, Calamity’s Augur, it’s good enough to run fairly. Tender also sees a ton of play in high-level combo lists like Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, where you can repeatedly untap it with cards like Derevi, Empyrial Tactician for infinite mana. Appearing in around 425,000 Commander decks in total, Bloom Tender is an undeniable staple of the format, at all levels.

4 | Allosaurus Shepherd

We’ve seen a lot of anti-countermagic measures in recent years, from Hexing Squelcher and Frenzied Baloth, to Samut, Tyrant of Naktamun and Mistrise Village. Even with all this competition, however, Allosaurus Shepherd remains one of the best cards in the category because of its extremely cheap one-mana cost. This lets you cast it on curve early in the game, or tutor it up later with something like Nature’s Rhythm without spending too much mana.

Once it’s out, Shepherd protects all of your green spells from countermagic, not just your creatures. This means you can fire off combo starters like Natural Order, or protection like Veil of SummerVeil of SummerDraw a card if an opponent has cast a blue or black spell this turn. Spells you control can't be countered this turn. You and permanents you control gain hexproof from blue and from black until end of turn. (You and they can't be the targets of blue or black spells or abilities your opponents control.), with no fear of reprisal. This makes it particularly good in green decks that win via combo lines, such as Chatterfang, Squirrel General. Add in a dangerous Overrun effect for Elf decks, and Allosaurus Shepherd is, unfortunately for our wallets, well worth its $50+ price tag.

3 | Beast Whisperer

Beast Whisperer is an all-time classic among Commander card draw engines, giving green great draw long before it became the norm. While triggering only off of creature casts is a bit of a drawback, that’s still fantastic in plenty of decks. Low-to-the-ground lists like Elves or Fynn, the Fangbearer can easily chain through their deck with this, especially with Cryptolith RiteCryptolith RiteCreatures you control have "{T}: Add one mana of any color." in tow. It also works well with decks that can re-cast their creatures from the ‘yard, like Karador, Ghost Chieftain.

Beyond its fair applications, Beast Whisperer is also a key part of many juicy combo lines. Discount Ancestral StatueAncestral StatueWhen this creature enters, return a nonland permanent you control to its owner's hand. down to zero in Animar, Soul of Elements, for example, and you can cast and bounce it repeatedly to draw your whole deck with Whisperer out. You can also loop two one-mana dorks using Cloudstone Curio and a Haste Granter for the same result. While it faces a lot of competition in the green draw-engine slot nowadays, Beast Whisperer remains one of the best Elves in all of MTG.

2 | Formidable Speaker

While it’s very much on the new side, Formidable Speaker is so pushed that its place on this list is undeniable. Right off the bat, getting to trade a card in your hand for any creature in your deck is a fantastic deal. Both Survival of the Fittest and Fauna Shaman have been green staples for years, and this is arguably even better since you can discard any card, not just another creature. While it’s not repeatable on its own, being a creature, you can easily blink or reanimate it to get more tutor triggers.

This ability alone would likely earn Formidable Speaker a slot in countless green Commander decks, but it offers even more. Untapping any permanent for one mana is a fantastic add-on here, letting you generate a bunch of extra mana with something like Gaea’s CradleGaea’s Cradle{T}: Add {G} for each creature you control., or draw more cards with The One Ring in a pinch. Both abilities are useful almost everywhere, but together they make the card a banger, even in cEDH, where decks like Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy use both to the fullest.

1 | One-Mana Mana Dorks

Elves in MTG are best known for their one-mana dorks, and for good reason: they are the main reason to play green in most formats, Commander included. Jumping straight to three mana on turn two gives you a huge edge, letting you power out Commanders like Slimefoot and Squee, or draw engines like Tribute to the World Tree. They can also start an immediate snowball effect, ramping you into more ramp like Cultivate to pull even further ahead.

These one-mana dorks are so good, in fact, that the main question most green Commander decks need to answer is how many they want to run. Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves and Elvish Mystic are best in low-color lists, since they only give you more green. Elves of Deep Shadow, on the other hand, fixes for black in exchange for life, making it a serious Golgari staple. Arbor Elf may be the most interesting of them all, working like the first group with regular Forests, but offering fixing alongside Shocklands and the like, or even double ramp with land enchantments like Utopia Sprawl.

While they’re more vulnerable to removal than other forms of ramp, like mana rocks and Farseek et al, one-mana dorks are still an integral part of the Commander format. The day that this is no longer true will be the day we know power creep in Magic has really gotten out of hand.

The Best MTG Elf Commanders

5 | Maralen, Fae Ascendant

While it works with both Elves and Faeries, theoretically allowing for a dual-typal deck, Maralen, Fae Ascendant is far better as an Elves Commander. Elves swarm the field better than most other types in Magic, both with their low-cost creatures and token generators like Imperious Perfect. Because of this, you’ll be stacking up triggers constantly with Maralen, and stealing a huge number of cards. This tendency to go wide also ensures you’ll get to cast whatever you’d like from among those cards, too.

Maralen is great when played straight, but you can also get funky by bringing in Flash granters like Radagast of Rhosgobel and Vedalken Orrery. These let you deploy your Elves at instant speed and cast anything they exile on opponents’ turns, quadrupling your value. Thanks to these instant-speed shenanigans and Theft synergies like Gonti, Night Minister, Maralen offers a different kind of Elves experience than most other top Commanders in the category.

4 | Thranduil, the Elvenking

While it’s one of the newest Elves Commanders in MTG, arriving earlier this year in The Hobbit, Thranduil, the Elvenking is still one of the best. You’re essentially getting a Necrotic Ooze for Elves in the command zone here, which opens up a ton of possibilities.

If your opponent removes your heavy-duty mana producers like Elvish Archdruid and Priest of Titania, Thranduil can give you access to them from beyond the grave. It can also inherit protection from cards like Iron-Shield ElfIron-Shield ElfDiscard a card: This creature gains indestructible until end of turn. Tap it. (Damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy it. If its toughness is 0 or less, it still dies.), or Overrun effects from cards like Tyvar, the Pummeler.

This gives Thranduil a ton of utility, especially if you’re running a lot of legendary Elves to maximize its looting ability. On top of this, it’s also a terrifying combo enabler, easily generating infinite mana with Devoted Druid and a buff Elf like Immaculate Magistrate in the graveyard. Though Elf decks typically care more about the board than their graveyard, Thranduil flips that idea on its head to devastating effect.

3 | Voja, Jaws of the Conclave

Voja needs little introduction, being one of the most notoriously powerful Elf Typal Commanders released in the past few years. With just a few Elves in play, a single swing from Voja can buff your board to nigh-unstoppable heights, especially paired with trigger doublers like Firebender Ascension. You’ll also get some incidental card draw from Voja’s Wolf typing, which you can push further with cross-typal cards like Wolf-Skull Shaman and Wren’s Run Packmaster.

While this is really the extent of Voja’s synergy potential, it still works incredibly well as a Commander due to its raw efficiency. Ward 3 makes it hard to remove Voja without a board wipe, so it’s likely to stick around for at least one attack. On top of that, access to red lets Elves tap into a deep suite of Haste granters like Rhythm of the Wild and Samut, Hazoret’s Champion, which unlocks some wild lines via accelerated mana production. Overall, while it’s less problematic in higher brackets, Voja is undeniably one of the best Elf commanders in MTG.

2 | High Perfect Morcant

Magic’s Elves are generally more creative than destructive, but High Perfect Morcant is a very notable exception. Whenever an Elf enters with her around, which happens all the time, your opponents have to Blight 1, which will quickly start eating into their creature count. While this can be a little slow to get going at first, it’s notable removal that bypasses pretty much every form of protection. Indestructible creatures can still die from -1/-1 counters, after all. Since Blight doesn’t target even creatures with Hexproof and Shroud aren’t safe.

This ability alone would likely make Morcant a strong Elves Commander, but it also lets you Proliferate on demand by tapping three Elves. This lets you stack up more -1/-1 counters following a Blight trigger, which in turn lets you reap a ton of value from synergy pieces like Blowfly Infestation and Necroskitter. It also lets you branch out into different subthemes, like bumping up poison counters with Glistener Elf or immediately nabbing ultimates on planeswalkers like Tyvar Kell.

Add in a scarily easy on-curve infinite combo with Flourishing Defenses, and High Perfect Morcant really is the whole package. Whether you want to play traditional Elves or a funky counter-based offshoot, you can’t go far wrong with this modern Lorwyn classic.

1 | Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Since its debut back in 2021, Lathril has been the top dog among Elves Commanders, for multiple reasons. First of all, it’s one of the best Elf token generators in the game by itself, easily generating a couple per turn without support. This goes much further, however, with buffing effects Crown of Skemfar or Timberwatch Elf.

This, in turn, lets you get a lot more out of the usual Elf Typal payoffs, generating a ton of mana with Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the NurturerWhenever another Elf you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on Marwyn.
{T}: Add an amount of {G} equal to Marwyn's power., or setting up lethal swings with Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof BehemothHaste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control..

What really makes Lathril exceptional, however, is the fact that it comes with its own Elves payoff built in. Once you’ve got 10 Elves in play, which is trivial for Lathril, you can tap them down to deal a whopping 10 damage to each opponent. Add in untappers like Seeker of Skybreak, and life loss doublers like Bloodletter of Aclazotz, and this can legitimately end the game in a single turn.

While it’s quite a simple design overall, Lathril is undeniably effective in the command zone. No other legend balances Elf production and Elf payoff better, and its abilities are generically useful enough to serve an Elves deck well at every stage of the game. Despite many challengers over the years, the crown of ‘Best MTG Elves Commander’ still very much rests on Lathril’s head.

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