Maralen, Fae AscendantMaralen, Fae Ascendant | Art by Steve Prescott

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that QuicklingQuickling is the only flash Faerie that can return another creature to your hand?)

MaralenMaralen. If you've ever played against her, the very name makes you groan. What could possibly renew the image of one of the most loathed cards ever printed?

Oh, hey, a Sultai versionSultai version that steals all your opponents cards and lets you play them for free! I mean, folks are still gonna hate me for it, but who cares? It'll be fun for me! There is an issue, though. A lot of those cards are going to be instant-speed nonsense like CounterspellCounterspells and protection pieces that aren't going to do much on my turn.

I wonder, is there a way to mitigate that?

Top 10 Elves and Faeries With Flash

Criteria: Permanents with the creature type of Elf, Faerie, or both, that can be played at instant speed. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Nymris, Oona's TricksterNymris, Oona's Trickster

(Helms 1,811 Decks, Rank #1,013; 19.6K Inclusions, 1.04% of 1.89M Decks)

NymrisNymris fits the bill, being all about playing spells on opponents' turns. Even better, after she's done triggering MaralenMaralen, the free spells you play as a result will then trigger Nymris, letting you mill and draw a card.

While I'm not crazy about the idea of holding up five mana in blatant fashion that will alert the entire table that I have tricks, the truth is, I don't even know if I do have tricks. It'll all depend on what's on top of my and my opponent's library.

9. Scryb RangerScryb Ranger

(23.8K Inclusions, 0.68% of 3.52M Decks)

Is Scryb RangerScryb Ranger just discount Quirion RangerQuirion Ranger? Yep! This does bring up a good point, though. I'm talking about Maralen today in casual, but there is an argument for her to be a full-on cEDH commander. The reasons?

Well, she has an enters trigger that can be repeatedly abused, meaning that she's picture perfect for Food ChainFood Chain nonsense. Combine that with her also being great with a Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror that's already made infinite mana with a bunch of fast mana rocks, and the fact that she can go fetch one with Eldritch EvolutionEldritch Evolution, and I've got a pretty solid base to build on.

Adding to that pile? The Quirion RangerQuirion Ranger I'm already going to be playing because it's a one-mana Elf that triggers Maralen and also ramps me, and the fact that it combos with Ashaya, Soul of the WildAshaya, Soul of the Wild for infinite Maralen triggers to exile all of my opponents' decks. All of which is to say, this is absolutely a viable deck, despite Maralen costing five mana with three pips.

Maralen, Fae Ascendant cEDH Deck List

But what does all of that have to do with Scryb RangerScryb Ranger? Well, as you can see, it made the final list, and there's a couple reasons why.

First off, the whole reason for this top ten list is flash-speed Elves and Faeries, and Scryb is one, allowing for instant-speed Maralen triggers. Second, while Scryb Ranger can't go infinite with Ashaya like Quirion Ranger can (at least, without the assistance of KinnanKinnan), it can still go a lot, and it can do it at flash speed.

In other words? If I've managed to acquire a lot of mana and also an Ashaya with Scryb, I can repeatedly bounce Scryb to hand with its own ability, untap a creature that just so happens to be able to tap for a green, and then pay a single generic mana to replay Scryb Ranger at instant speed. I can do this as many times as I have mana, and I can do it anytime I please, meaning I'm going to get triggers during each player's turn to respond to whatever they're doing, not to mention being able to interact with top-deck tutorstop-deck tutors and a very high likelihood of exiling everyone's win-cons.

None of which answers the question of whether Scryb RangerScryb Ranger is good in the casual Maralen deck I'm building today. The short answer? Yes.

8. Malleable ImpostorMalleable Impostor

(28.4K Inclusions, 0.75% of 3.78M Decks)

Apologies to the Elf fans; it's another Faerie, and it's not the last one. Malleable ImpostorMalleable Impostor, however, is also a CloneClone I can play at instant speed that still manages to keep its Faerie form to trigger Maralen. In other words, I get one more Faerie in play to up my count to play spells for free, while also getting a copy of whatever the best creature is my opponents' control.

That there? It sounds like a pretty great deal to me.

7. Spellstutter SpriteSpellstutter Sprite

(30.1K Inclusions, 0.80% of 3.78M Decks)

Let's see... Yep, so far every card on this list has been a Faerie, as is my commander. Meaning, if I play this down, it's likely it will be able to counter a reasonable amount of spells without too much trouble. Even if it can't, it could still flip interaction off the top of my opponent's deck with Maralen.

Honestly, I'm only at number seven on our list, and I already have a reasonable contender for best card in the deck.

6. Obyra, Dreaming DuelistObyra, Dreaming Duelist

(Helms 2,522 Decks, Rank #801; 29.6K Inclusions, 1.56% of 1.89M Decks)

The more typical Faerie commander, Obyra, Dreaming DuelistObyra, Dreaming Duelist provides a sorely needed win-con for this pile, assuming I'm not going to go full cEDH-Food ChainFood Chain-Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror-Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle.

All kidding aside, it is a bit of a bummer that Obyra only triggers on Faeries, as I'm absolutely going to be playing every one-mana Elf that taps for mana available. All that said, she'll still pressure life totals while Maralen "draws" removal to keep me ahead in the tempo game.

Hopefully all the flying Faeries will do the rest the hard way.

5. Scion of OonaScion of Oona

(33.9K Inclusions, 0.90% of 3.78M Decks)

Oh hey, a Faerie Lord that lets said Faeries swing over the top for more damage while also protecting all of them at instant speed! Yeah, that seems like exactly what I'm looking for to help get to the finish.

4. Yeva, Nature's HeraldYeva, Nature's Herald

(Helms 1,791 Decks, Rank #1,024; 38K Inclusions, 1.08% of 3.52M Decks)

Oh hey, an Elf! Cards on the table, I love YevaYeva, and always have. Playing down creatures with flash is awesome. Luckily, it also happens to be exactly what I'm doing today in building a Maralen control brew, so I don't even need to fight the bias!

3. Brazen BorrowerBrazen Borrower

(45.7K Inclusions, 1.21% of 3.78M Decks)

If we're being honest, the Faerie half of Brazen BorrowerBrazen Borrower is not why it sees play. That said, Maralen loves the idea of interaction early and then a Faerie that can trigger her ability late.

While I'm not as enthusiastic about this card as several others on the list, that in no way means that it's not in the deck.

2. High Fae TricksterHigh Fae Trickster

(97.6K Inclusions, 3.40% of 2.87M Decks)

Step aside, YevaYeva! In all honesty, I do think you play both, but there's no question that High Fae TricksterHigh Fae Trickster is the better of the two.

If you've never played with every spell available to you at any time, all I can tell you is that it's a hell of a drug.

1. Faerie MastermindFaerie Mastermind

(245K Inclusions, 6.48% of 3.78M Decks)

Everything about Faerie MastermindFaerie Mastermind has always been pushed to the limit. As just a 2/1 flier for two, you'd already be first-picking it in Draft. Then tack on flash. Tack on card draw. Tack on an activated ability that draws cards that triggers the other ability to draw more cards.

It's astonishing it ever got to print, really, and it's been a menace ever since it did. In short, it's not just the best flash Faerie, it's the best Faerie.

And if we threw Elves into the conversation? Well, it wouldn't be a slam dunk to win there, but it would still be a conversation.

Honorable Mentions

This is where I'd put my playable flash Elves... if I had any!

Okay, that was a bit quippy. There is one Elf that can come in at instant speed besides Yeva worth playing, although it doesn't technically have flash.

A one-mana Elf at its base, Haunt of the Dead MarshesHaunt of the Dead Marshes can also come back from the dead at instant speed, provided you have a legendary creature. Which, if we didn't have Maralen out, we wouldn't really be interested in bringing back Haunt, would we?

All right, now back to our regularly scheduled Faeries.

It's actually not surprising that QuicklingQuickling didn't make the top ten. While it is a flash Faerie, it's fairly niche in what it does, meaning that it needs a deck that cares about bouncing your own stuff. Well, turns out, Maralen wants to maximize triggers, and one of the ways to do that would be to bounce a cheap Faerie or Elf to hand!

In fact, I think that Quickling will actually be one of the best cards in the deck, even more so than the one-mana sorcery-speed version in Faerie ImpostorFaerie Impostor.

Bitterbloom BearerBitterbloom Bearer would probably end up in the top ten per EDHREC score if I waited a bit longer. Sure, it's not technically a strict upgrade over BitterblossomBitterblossom, given that creatures are easier to remove and it has two pips instead of one, but for pretty much everything else it's an upgrade over Bitterblossom.

A 1/1 flash flier for two that makes more fliers? Yeah, I'd take that even if the extra fliers weren't also Faeries that triggered Maralen.

So. What else is in?

Maralen, Fae Ascendant Commander Deck List

This deck is a high Bracket 3, meaning with both the fact that you play every one-mana Elf that makes mana and the fact that your opponents will be playing high-powered cards you can steal, you'd probably be fairly at home at a Bracket 4 table as well.

More importantly, though, it's fun. Getting down Maralen can be a slog with her five mana and three pips, but once you do, things tend to get nutty almost immediately as you slam down Faeries at instant speed and cast huge haymakers from your opponents' decks in response to their nonsense.

And while I didn't plan it, I can say from playtesting that the way you win with crazy amounts of stuff from everyone tends to be different every time, as you continue to steal things from opponents and snowball into new avenues.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, not my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what is your favorite Elf or Faerie? Does it have flash?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table currently performing a red light shuffle.