Thranduil, the ElvenkingThranduil, the Elvenking | Art by Magali Villeneuve

One of my favorite commanders is Mairsil, the PretenderMairsil, the Pretender, a Grixis Wizard who lets us combine multiple activated abilities onto one card. Mairsil is super cool, and lets us do some really unique things, but he's actually pretty balanced. Since we can only activate each unique ability once per turn, it's pretty tough to combo with him.

This new commander, Thranduil, the ElvenkingThranduil, the Elvenking, has no such restrictions and can combo with anything, as long as it's an Elf. And you know how Elves are. Let's see what ridiculous things we can do with this legend.

The Jankiest Way To Use Thranduil, the Elvenking

Fun Fact: I thought for sure Elves were the creature type with the most activated abilities, but turns out it's Humans! To be fair, this is really just because there are way more Humans than Elves, or any other creature type. I suppose it's natural that humans are going to create a lot of Human cards. But why do I mention this? Because there exists a way to make Thranduil care about Humans rather than Elves, Artificial EvolutionArtificial Evolution. It's a one-of-a-kind card, which we'll have to tutor for, but once we get it, we can edit Thranduil's text to be any creature type we want!

The funny thing about this though, is that Elves are already the best creature type to use. They have a ton of activated abilities that synergize well with each other, and a ton of infinite combos as well. While we have way more options with Humans, the synergy just isn't there. We're not somehow improving the deck with Artificial EvolutionArtificial Evolution, we're objectively making it worse. Buuut... It is really funny. This is absolutely the jankiest way to play with Thranduil, and I would be so very amused if someone pulled up with the Crab version of the deck.

The Most Evil Way To Use Thranduil, the Elvenking

It's definitely Iron-Shield ElfIron-Shield Elf and Underrealm LichUnderrealm Lich.

Every single Thranduil deck is going to run these cards and it's going to be so unbelievably annoying. Thranduil is just going to be horrendously difficult to remove. Is it evil to run these cards? Not really, but they're so frustrating, and they're gonna be in every single deck because Iron-Shield ElfIron-Shield Elf is like 20 cents. Have you ever had the experience of playing against Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide and Spore FrogSpore Frog? You'll try to hit the Spore FrogSpore Frog with removal, they'll just sacrifice it and have it right back next turn. You can kind of play around it, but there's next to no way to permanently kill the Spore FrogSpore Frog.

It's just infuriating, and I know Thranduil + Iron-Shield ElfIron-Shield Elf is gonna be the same thing. It's so good, there's no excuse not to play it, but it's gonna make the deck so, so annoying. I'm already getting frustrated thinking about it.

The Best Combo With Thranduil, the Elvenking

Sooo, there are a lot of options here. Comboing is kind of this deck's whole thing and most of them just win the game, so it's hard to define a clear winner. But while there isn't a clear best combo, there is a best card to combo with.

I mean, duh, obviously it's Devoted DruidDevoted Druid. That card goes infinite with everything, and this is no exception. To go infinite, we need Devoted DruidDevoted Druid in the graveyard along with any creature that can tap to give itself +2/+2 or more. Then we can add a -1/-1 counter, untap Thranduil, and activate him again. He'll grow huge, and then we can use Devoted Druid's abilities to make infinite mana. It's not an instant win, but any mana sink in the graveyard will change that.

The Most Competitive Way To Use Thranduil, the Elvenking

I think this is the first time I've talked about a cEDH-level card in this series. To be clear, the cEDH bros are still debating whether Thranduil is actually good enough for the format, and you can find an awesome evaluation here, but it's clear that Thranduil is quite powerful. Any commander that can hit the board and instantly win the game is pretty nuts. If we want to build a domineering deck with Thranduil it's quite simple, and not even that expensive! We really just need the combo pieces, some mill, a few graveyard tutors, and we're set. We even have the color blue to back us up with CounterspellCounterspells. It's one of the easiest Bracket 4 decks to build I've ever seen. I definitely foresee Thranduil becoming a frustratingly strong presence at the table.

The Worst Way To Use Thranduil, the Elvenking

For whatever reason, every single time there's a Typal commander, someone decides to build it with only Changelings. Yes, even for decks that have a strong creature type. For commanders like Reaper KingReaper King, it makes a ton of sense, because Changelings are just straight-up better than Scarecrows, but I assure you, Changelings are not better than Elves, especially when those Changelings need activated abilities! And yet, I just know that someone is gonna do it. I don't know if it's a bit, or a challenge, but there will be a Changeling-only Thranduil deck out there, and it's gonna be absolutely terrible.

That being said, Mothdust ChangelingMothdust Changeling is one of the better ways to give Thranduil flying. But that's not an excuse!

The Worst Way To Use Thranduil, the Elvenking, Part 2

While I was looking for a bad way to build Thranduil, I noticed something. The most unique abilities, and the ones that synergized the least with other Elves, were the abilities on legendary creatures. Selvala, Heart of the WildsSelvala, Heart of the Wilds is usually an amazing card, but it's kind of terrible here because Thranduil doesn't play cards with high power. It's the same deal with Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the Nurturer, and then there's Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain, who wants us to sacrifice black creatures. And those are the top three legendary Elves with activated abilities! Why does Thranduil even ask us to play legendary Elves? Surprisingly, I've come to the conclusion that the version of this deck that focuses on legends is quite bad. Yes, they draw cards with our commander, but the majority of them don't synergize nearly as well as nonlegendary Elves. I bet that build is fun, but it's definitely a downgrade.

Welp, that's Thranduil, the ElvenkingThranduil, the Elvenking. There aren't too many ways to build this fella, but I think we got a good peek into the possibilities. A cEDH contender who can also support Crab typal. That's quite the résumé! Let me know if y'all decide to build the Crab deck, or any other creature type, and stay so far away if you're running Iron-Shield ElfIron-Shield Elf!