Chapter I
The Design
what this deck wants
Lathril is an Elf tribal deck that goes wide fast and drains hard. The core plan: flood the board with Elves and Elf Warrior tokens, then either connect with menace-Lathril to double your board (every point of combat damage makes an Elf) or, more reliably, tap ten Elves for Lathril's activated ability to drain each opponent for 10 and gain 10 — a repeatable, uninteractive-ish game-ender in multiplayer. Behind that sits a deep Elf mana engine and a token-death aristocrats layer (Poison-Tip Archer, Mirkwood Bats) that turns a board wipe into your opponents' problem, plus three real Staff of Domination combos for the games where you want to fire off a cleaner kill.
Win Conditions
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Chapter II
Vital Signs
power, speed, and what the deck is made of
- Power
- 7.5 / 10
- Above its bracket · bracket 4
- Speed
- fast
- threatening by turn 4–5
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Lands
- 36
- of 100
- Avg. MV
- 2.88
- nonland
- Spells
- 64
- nonland
Power is the Analysis tab’s score. The six deck-health scores below are the same ones the deck page and the Familiar use.
Deck health · the same six scores as the deck page
Computed from deck data
Chapter III
The Arsenal
the cards that carry the deck
Computed from deck data
Chapter IV
Sequence
how the game unfolds
EARLY (T1–3): drop a mana dork every turn — Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Elves of Deep Shadow, Priest of Titania, Heritage Druid — and get Lathril down on curve at four. MID (T4–6): the Elf count snowballs. Lys Alana Huntmaster, Elvish Warmaster, and Imperious Perfect spit out tokens every time you cast an Elf, Marwyn/Circle of Dreams Druid pour out green, and Beast Whisperer/Leaf-Crowned Visionary/Guardian Project refill your hand as you dump creatures. Once you have ten untapped Elves, Lathril's tap ability drains 10 per opponent per turn. LATE: close with the drain loop, an Exsanguinate/Shaman of the Pack burst, a Craterhoof Behemoth alpha strike, or a Staff of Domination infinite. Mirkwood Bats + Poison-Tip Archer mean every token and every death chips opponents too.
Ramp is the deck's best pillar and it's almost all Elves, which is the point — every dork is also a body toward Lathril's ten-Elf tap and toward token triggers. Repeatable ramp (11): Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Elves of Deep Shadow, Priest of Titania (scales with Elf count), Circle of Dreams Druid (scales with creature count), Marwyn (scales with power), Heritage Druid, Elvish Harbinger, Sol Ring, plus land ramp Nature's Lore and Three Visits. Burst mana is essentially just Tyvar Kell turning your Elves into black mana rocks — this deck accelerates every turn rather than buying one explosive one. The curve is low and dense (avg 2.88; ten 1-drops, seventeen 2s, seventeen 3s), so the dorks convert directly into a smooth string of on-curve plays. Card flow stays live through Beast Whisperer, Guardian Project, Sylvan Library, The One Ring, and Skullclamp.
Ramp
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Chapter V
The Opening
what to keep, what to ship
Keep 2–3 lands with at least one turn-1 mana dork (Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Elves of Deep Shadow) or Sol Ring — a dork on one plus lands is a green light because it accelerates Lathril and feeds token/drain triggers. Ideal is lands + a dork + a token engine or payoff (Lys Alana Huntmaster, Elvish Warmaster, or Lathril herself). Ship no-dork three-landers that are all high-drops, and ship one-landers even with dorks — the deck wants both. A hand with only ramp and no way to make bodies or draw is a soft keep at best.
Ramp
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Chapter VI
The Close
how it ends
- Lathril's activated ability: tap ten untapped Elves to drain each opponent for 10 and gain 10 — repeatable each turn, and Wirewood Lodge/Quest for Renewal/Seedborn Muse can untap Elves to fire more than once.
- Combat with Lathril: connect with menace to create a token per damage, then swing wider next turn; Champion of Lambholt and Eladamri, Lord of Leaves (forestwalk) make the whole board hard to block.
- Alpha strike: Craterhoof Behemoth or Ezuri, Renegade Leader's overrun on a wide Elf board ends the game in one attack.
- Drain/reach: Exsanguinate for X, Shaman of the Pack (loses life = Elf count) on ETB, and passive drain from Poison-Tip Archer + Mirkwood Bats as tokens are made and creatures die.
- Staff of Domination infinite loop with an Elf mana dork for infinite draw, life, and mana.
Lands
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Chapter VII
Assemblies
pieces that lock together
Staff of Domination + Priest of Titania → infinite mana, infinite card draw, infinite lifegain
- Resolve Priest of Titania with enough Elves that its tap adds at least 5 green mana.
- Cast and resolve Staff of Domination.
- Tap Priest of Titania for a big chunk of green mana.
- Use {3}, {T} on Staff of Domination to untap Priest of Titania, netting mana each cycle.
- With infinite mana, use {5}, {T}: draw a card (untapping Staff with {1}) to draw your deck, then win via Exsanguinate or the ten-Elf drain.
Staff of Domination + Marwyn, the Nurturer → infinite mana, infinite card draw, infinite lifegain
- Resolve Marwyn, the Nurturer grown large enough that her tap adds 5+ green mana.
- Cast Staff of Domination.
- Tap Marwyn for mana.
- Spend {3}, {T} on Staff of Domination to untap Marwyn, netting mana each loop.
- Loop to infinite mana, then {5}, {T} to draw your deck and close with Exsanguinate or Lathril's drain.
Staff of Domination + Circle of Dreams Druid → infinite mana, infinite card draw, infinite lifegain
- Resolve Circle of Dreams Druid with enough creatures that its tap adds 5+ green mana.
- Cast Staff of Domination.
- Tap Circle of Dreams Druid for mana.
- Use {3}, {T} on Staff of Domination to untap the Druid, netting mana per cycle.
- With infinite mana and infinite draw via {5}, {T}, empty your deck and finish with Exsanguinate or the ten-Elf tap.
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Chapter VIII
Handling
counsel and common errors
- Count your Elves before combat: sometimes it's better to hold Lathril back and tap ten for the guaranteed 20-life swing than to attack into two potential blockers.
- Sequence Elf spells after Lys Alana Huntmaster/Elvish Warmaster/Beast Whisperer are down so each cast maximizes tokens and draws — a turn of ordering can double your board.
- Hold Heroic Intervention for the sweeper, not for spot removal on a single dork — your whole board is the wincon.
- Name Elf with Kindred Dominance and (if you must) survive Damnation/Toxic Deluge knowing Poison-Tip Archer + Mirkwood Bats punish the table for the deaths.
- Use untappers — Wirewood Lodge, Seedborn Muse, Quest for Renewal, Staff of Domination's untap — to fire Lathril's drain twice or reset dorks for a bigger mana turn.
- Don't overextend into an open board wipe if you're already lethal via the tap ability; ten untapped Elves + Lathril is often enough without dumping your whole hand.
- Protect Lathril with Lightning Greaves before you rely on her activated ability — she's the primary target at the table.
Token Generation
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Chapter IX
Marginalia
the owner's own hand
Built with the Deck Coach AI assistant.
Written by the deck's owner