Kindred Spirits - Choosing Elf Cards for Commander
April 5, 2024 by
Beth Queen of Cardboard 
(Galadriel, Gift-Giver | Art by Alexander Mokhov)
Hey friends, Beth, Queen of Cardboard here with a new series, Kindred Spirits. If you haven't figured it out from the title, this series is all about Kindred or Typal creatures. Since we've recently been introduced to EDH powerhouse, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave, I thought we'd start with one of the oldest types in Magic: The Gathering: Elves. While Elf as a type was first introduced in Alpha, it wasn't until Onslaught that they showed the potential of their type. While it could be argued the Eladamri, Lord of Leaves was and still is a powerful card in an Elf typal deck, cards like Birchlore Rangers, Bloodline Shaman, and Elvish Pathcutter showed us a glimmer of what Elves could do. Now, in 2024, Elves remains one of the most popular creature types. With new elves coming in almost every set, that doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. So whether you're a lifelong lover of Elves or you're new to them, I'm here to help you pick elves for your deck - but be warned, they might not be ones you've thought of.
Top Commander
No matter your feelings on the Universes Beyond sets, it's clear that The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth brought us a ton of support for Elves. When I'm picking a commander, I'm looking for something that can do a lot where I don't feel boxed in. Galadriel is Bant giving us the much-needed green, as most Elves are green, access to White for protection or a potential blink package and blue for control. We are notably missing access to Black, so our Golgari elves will have to take a seat in a deck with Galadriel, Light of Valinor at the helm. Much like Gala Greeters, Galadriel triggers when a creature enters under your control, up to 3 times. Unless of course, you blink her, something white has plenty of access to. The reason I'm picking her specifically despite her higher mana cost is her triggered ability, which gives you ramp, pump, and card draw all on one card.
Honorable Mentions
Top Noncreature Elf Spell
One of my favorite types of spells are Kindred spells or, spells that really shine when you're playing typal decks. While we may never see typal noncreature spells again, though secretly I wish we would, spells like Prowess of the Fair give you a huge advantage when playing Elves. Not only does this permanent give you the ability to recover after most board wipes, but it counts as an elf when cast. If you have cards like Lys Alana Bowmaster or Tyvar Kell's emblem, this spell will trigger them. As long as your opponent doesn't use Farewell on you, you're golden.
Honorable Mentions
Top Planeswalker
There are many iterations of Nissa that are good fits in green decks, but none so perfect for Elves as Nissa Revane. While Nissa's Chosen isn't the best elf out there by any means, there is no denying that gaining 2 life for each Elf you control is amazing. You also wouldn't be remiss for using the ultimate to bring every Elf in your deck to the battlefield.
Honorable Mentions
Top Common Elf
This was a really hard choice with Priest of Titania and our mana dork Elves as options. The reason Lys Alana Huntmaster is the best elf is simply because of what most Elf decks are trying to do, and that's put more elves on to the battlefield. While this card costs a little more than your average Elf, its also a little bigger than your average Elf at 3/3. Additionally it's triggered ability is priceless. For each Elf spell you cast, you'll get another Elf in play. There's no limit here, play an Elf, get an Elf.
Honorable Mentions
Top Uncommon Elf
One of the biggest complaints I have about several types in Magic is that they're so small! Even when you've got 30 of them, it's not always enough damage to overcome 3 other players. Enter Numa. Numa allows you to pay XX to put X +1/+1 counters on any number of Elves whether you control them or not. I'm not sure why you want to put counters on your opponents elves but if you want to, you can. Elf decks usually don't need much for mana, looking at you mana dorks, so putting a bit away into pumping your board is great and you don't even have to tap this card to use the ability so you can still swing in with Numa if you'd like.
Honorable Mentions
Top Rare Elf
Why is Sages of the Anima so good for an Elf deck? Think of this card as an advanced scry, getting to the meat and potatoes of your deck. Instead of drawing one card, you'll get to reveal the top 3 of your library and then put all creatures revealed that way into your hand. In a deck that is 1/3 creatures, as many Elf decks tend to be, you can't miss (forgive me if the RNG gods frown upon you). The cards not put in your hand this way go to the bottom so you don't need to worry about getting them out of your graveyard. You lose nothing. At 5 mana, you have plenty of lands for most Elf decks to function so no worries about shuffling the rest to the bottom.
Honorable Mentions
Top Mythic
There are only 4 Mythic non-legendary Elves playable in standard, and I'm not including the one Llanowar Elves Mythic printing. Even so, nothing holds a candle to Allosaurus Shepherd, featured in over 50,000 decks here on EDHREC. This Elf is cheap yet powerful, being uncounterable and making all your green spells uncounterable. With this on board you can tell those blue mages where they can stick it as you cast all your Green spells with glee. If that weren't good enough, he ramps your board, making each Elf a 5/5 Dinosaur in addition to it's other types. I don't want to think too hard on that transformation and just thank him for his hard work.
Honorable Mentions
Most Underrated Elves
Best Not Elf
So you're probably throwing your device right now in rage that Voja, Jaws of the Conclave isn't listed here, but when you pick it back up, I'd like to explain. Voja is good, almost too good even, but Voja doesn't work if you can't go to combat, Voja doesn't work if it gets wiped off the board as soon as it enters, Voja doesn't work if your opponents are too incensed to let you play the game. Skyshroud Poacher allows you to get any Elf in your library and put it into play. With a little untap action, you can do this a lot, retrieving as many Elves as you want before your opponents give in to your shenanigans. Simply put, you have a much better chance of landing Skyshroud Poacher and using it to great advantage than you do Voja.
Honorable Mentions
Best Non-Green Elf
It's no secret that most Elves are at home in the forest, but Delina excels in chaos. Delina makes this top ten list because despite being in a color we expect from Elves, creating tokens is a base function for an Elf typal deck and none do it with as much fun as Delina. While you may not see Delina in a lot of Elf decks, there are enough Red Elves that if you were committed you'd be able work something out if you splash another color like one of my honorable mentions, Grand Warlord Radha.
Honorable Mentions
In Conclusion
While Voja didn't make this cut for this article, there are a ton of Elves to pick from in both the top 10 and honorable mentions. Were there any Elves you felt were left off the list? Any Elves you didn't think of but are now considering slotting in? Let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for ranking more creature types in Commander!
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Beth Queen of Cardboard
Beth is an casual Commander player who's passionate about silly decks, creating safe community spaces, and crowns. She loves to travel and play magic with friends. When not playing Magic, she's probably snuggling her dogs or playing some video games.
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