5 Best Tribal Elf Commanders in MTG Magic: the Gathering

Golgari, Naya, Bant, and Mono Green fill out the color identities for the 5 best tribal elf commanders in MTG. These commanders for an Elf tribal deck can win in a variety of ways from tokens to Voltron. They can create massive armies, draw you cards, provide incredible amounts of mana, and in one case, even have built-in Overrun.

From Magic originals to Lord of the Rings characters, these are the top 5 tribal elf commanders, along with what makes them stand out and some synergistic cards and combos.

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1. Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Lathril combines elf synergy with a potent life-drain effect. The Golgari colors allow for most of the great elves from Magic's history to be included in this tribal elf commander deck.

Each time Lathril deals combat damage, you create that many 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens.

When you tap Lathril and ten untapped Elves you control, each opponent loses 10 life and you gain 10 life, putting a clock on things and offering game-ending capability.

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Check out this Black and Green Dragon Shield Nest commander deck box for your Lathril deck!

High Synergy Creatures with Lathril, Blade of the Elves as Your Elf Commander:

Elf creature anthems, tokens, and lots of bonus mana. These are the best of the best creatures that you'll find in almost any Lathril deck, and most other elf decks.

• Elvish Archdruid
• Marwyn, the Nurturer
• Imperious Perfect

High Synergy Spells for Lathril, Blade of the Elves:

Elven Ambush and Elvish Promenade are both great and while their rules text does the same thing, they're great for different reasons.

Ambush is instant speed. Drop a bunch of elves at the end of someone else's turn and then be ready to swat on yours!

Promenade is a Tribal Sorcery – Elf, meaning it can be tutored for and affected by things target and affect elves.

Elderfang Venom is awesome in Lathril even though it can't be used in most other Elf commander decks due to color identity. Deathtouch and a drain life on elf death is something elves can't get too many other ways.

• Elven Ambush
• Elvish Promenade
• Elderfang Venom

Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Lathril, Blade of the Elves:

No real surprises here. Lodge for the untap ability. Yavimaya comes in handy several different ways, and of course the epitome of draw with elf tokens, or most tokens for that matter, Skullclamp.

• Wirewood Lodge
• Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
• Skullclamp

Don't overlook the new Bloomburrow card Three Tree City either. This is a perfect land for tribal elves.

If you have a Gaea's Cradle lying around to throw in your tribal elf commander deck, sure, why not?! But honestly it's not really necessary in elves. Some of the best elves and new cards that keep dropping like Three Tree City will do the job just fine.

Combos for Lathril, Blade of the Elves:

• Elvish Archdruid + Staff of Domination

Line up this combo if you can tap the Archdruid and have at least 5 elves in play.

Using the 3 mana ability for untap target creature and the 1 mana ability for untap Staff of Domination, you can repeatedly tap the Archdruid for net +1 green mana. In other words, infinite green mana! Oh the possibilities.

Just the Staff's other abilities allow infinite lifegain, infinite tapping creatures, and infinite draw with this combo.

You can pull off the same/similar combo with other elf cards like Marwyn, the Nurturer, Priest of Titania, and Circle of Dreams Druid along with the Staff of Domination. (Notice all their creature types are Elf Druid.)

2. Voja, Jaws of the Conclave

What can we say about Voja? 5/5 vigilance, trample, ward 3, for 5 mana. Draw a card for each wolf you control won't be a huge help in an elf tribal deck, but it does trigger for at least one wolf with each Voja attack.

Then we come to this incredibly sick ability of put X +1+1 counters on EACH creature you control, where X = the number of Elves you control. Voja may not be an elf, but it's one heck of a companion to them!

High Synergy Creatures with Voja, Jaws of the Conclave as your Elf Commander:

Archdruid and Mystic are pretty straightforward. Swap Mystic out for Llanowar Elves if you wish. But then because we have a Naya commander, we can use Shalai and Hallar.

This is a killer combo with Voja in play as you're now adding counters to all your creatures equal to your elves, AND doing damage to an opponent of your choice for EACH +1+1 counter added to EACH of your creatures. POW! Right in the kisser.

• Elvish Archdruid
• Elvish Mystic
• Shalai and Hallar

High Synergy Spells for Voja, Jaws of the Conclave:

The synergy between Rhythm of the Wild and Voja is undeniable. Heroic Intervention will save your guys from a board wipe.

Annie Joins Up will double your legendary creatures' triggers. Swing away with Voja for double the tokens!

• Rhythm of the Wild
• Heroic Intervention
• Annie Joins Up

Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Voja, Jaws of the Conclave:

Maskwood Nexus is an interesting card paired with Voja in an elf tribal deck, because now all of your elves are wolves too. That's a LOT of draw!

Use the Greaves to give your dudes haste and shroud, and Reliquary Tower for no maximum hand size!

• Maskwood Nexus
• Lightning Greaves
• Reliquary Tower

Combos for Voja, Jaws of the Conclave:

• Aggravated Assault + Selvala, Heart of the Wilds

If you've got Aggravated Assault and Selvala on the board able to tap, with a creature of power 7 or greater, you've got infinite mana of any color, and infinite combat phases.

• Grand Warlord Radha + Aggravated Assault

This combo is basically the same except that we're relying on number of creatures that can attack instead of a single creature's power. Create infinite red/green mana and combat phases if you have at least 6 creatures that can attack and don't drop below 6 during attack.

• Turntimber Ranger + Maskwood Nexus

Maskwood Nexus makes all your guys Ally triggers for Turntimber Ranger. Play it from hand, create a wolf/ally, give Ranger +1+1, create another wolf/ally, give ranger +1+1, rinse, repeat.

Enjoy infinite changeling tokens, enter the battlefield triggers, and an infinitely large Turntimber Ranger.

3. Marwyn, the Nurturer

*Mono Color Magic Alert!* Our first option for a classic mono green elf tribal commander is Marwyn, the Nurturer.

Marwyn is excellent at generating large amounts of mana quickly. She gets a +1/+1 counter every time another Elf enters the battlefield, and taps for green mana equal to her power. This makes her ideal for casting big spells or activating costly abilities.

Marwyn is also a great Voltron option since she's pumping for every elf drop.

Grab some awesome Dragon Shield green sleeves for your new Marwyn deck!

High Synergy Creatures with Marwyn, the Nurturer as Your Elf Commander:

Elvish Archdruid and Imperious Perfect could make another appearance on this list, but lets give you a few others with great Elf synergy.

Leaf-Crowned Visionary is one beautiful Elf anthem and draw creature.

Priest of Titania is everywhere because of the Staff of Domination combos.

I have a feeling we'll see Ezuri again later, too! That overrun ability baked in is too good to pass up.

• Leaf-Crowned Visionary
• Ezuri, Renegade Leader
• Priest of Titania

High Synergy Spells for Marwyn, the Nurturer:

We've covered some of these awesome mono green draw cards in other articles. Here they have some practical application. Beast within stands out because it's excellent creature removal, which green decks are usually lacking.

• Beast Within
• Shamanic Revelation
• Return of the Wildspeaker

Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Marwyn, the Nurturer:

Mantle shows up in a lot of combos for elves. Lodge will always be synergistic and the new Tree City is simply an excellent land for elves.

• Umbral Mantle
• Wirewood Lodge
• Three Tree City

Combos for Marwyn, the Nurturer:

• Marwyn, the Nurturer (or Elvish Archdruid, or Priest of Titania, or Circle of Dreams Druid) + Staff of Domination

Of course the Staff of Domination combos make another appearance. Pump Marwyn on your way to infinite untap, green mana, lifegain, draw, and tap target creatures.

• Marwyn, the Nurturer (or Elvish Archdruid or Priest of Titania or Circle of Dreams Druid) + Umbral Mantle

Slap the Mantle on Marwyn when you've got her up to at least 4/4. Tap her for mana, untap her for +2+2. Repeat. Infinite green mana. Infinitely large Marwyn.

• Ashaya, Soul of the Wild + Quirion Ranger

You'll need both of these cards in play, plus another non-token creature that you can tap for green mana. Return the Ranger to hand as a Forest thanks to Ashaya, and untap your mana guy. Tap guy for mana again and replay the Ranger. Repeat.

This combo drops an infinite enter the battlefield, leave the battlefield, landfall, and storm possibility on your opponents

4. Galadriel, Light of Valinor

Galadriel stands out for her Bant color identity as a tribal elf commander. Adding white and blue to the usual green elves unlocks a zillion possibilities. So, as Samwise Gamgee said, “We're going to see the elves!”

High Synergy Creatures with Galadriel, Light of Valinor as your Elf Commander:

Your normal high synergy elves like the Archdruid fit here too, but here are a few others to consider. It's awesome to see some of the other Lord of the Rings cards fit right in with Galadriel.

• Elvish Warmaster
• Galadhrim Brigade
• Arwen, Weaver of Hope

High Synergy Spells for Galadriel, Light of Valinor:

Having access to white and blue make cards like Galadriel's Dismissal and Raise the Palisade, some incredibly powerful removal mass removal, available to a tribal elf commander.

• Galadhrim Ambush
• Galadriel's Dismissal
• Raise the Palisade

Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Galadriel, Light of Valinor:

Three Tree City fits here again too, so don't overlook it! But how could we look at Lord of the Rings elves and not include Rivendell? Scry 2 every turn you have a blue and a colorless open before your upkeep when you have a legendary creature. Delicious!

• Rivendell
• Lightning Greaves
• Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Combos for Galadriel, Light of Valinor:

All of the Staff of Domination combos work great with Galadriel as well, but lets take a look at some she has more unique access to with her Bant color identity.

• Emiel the Blessed + Peregrine Drake

Obviously not elves, but a nasty combo for Bant colors.

With both these guys on the battlefield and lands that can produce at least 4 mana, you can infinitely blink out the Drake for infinite mana off Emiel.

• Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake

Another way to produce infinite mana from blinking Peregrine Drake.

• Intruder Alarm + Imperious Perfect + Llanowar Elves

You could use any mana producing elf here, and if you're using one that produces more than a single mana this combo will net you infinite mana as well. But, as shown…

Tap Llanowar Elves and pay for Imperious Perfect to create a token. Intruder alarm untaps all your creatures. Repeat! Infinite elf warrior tokens, all 2/2 due to Perfect's anthem.

5. Ezuri, Renegade Leader

*Mono Color Magic Alert!* Another mono green tribal elf commander option, Ezuri is all about offensive capability, providing crucial protection and overwhelming force.

He can regenerate another target Elf, defending your board from some board wipes. His built in Overrun ability gives all elves +3/+3 and trample, turning even modest elf boards into lethal threats.

High Synergy Creatures with Ezuri, Renegade Leader as Your Elf Commander:

Ezuri decks will benefit from the same elves as several others we've discussed, Archdruid, Marwyn, Imperious Perfect, but lets take a look at a few others that fit in an Ezuri tribal elf commander deck.

It's a wonder Lys Alana and Elvish Champion at least haven't shown up anywhere else. There are a few previous combos where throwing in a Lys Alana Huntmaster would result in an additional infinite number of 1/1 elf warrior tokens.

Pair Elvish Champion with Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth and all your elves become unblockable.

Joraga has an extremely potent anthem ability off that multikicker!

• Lys Alana Huntmaster
• Joraga Warcaller
• Elvish Champion

High Synergy Spells for Ezuri, Renegade Leader:

Priest of Titania on a land. Yes please Elvish Guidance! Of course Promenade and Ambush make a return in another mono green tribal elf commander.

• Elvish Guidance
• Elven Ambush
• Elvish Promenade

Artifacts and Land with Synergy for Ezuri, Renegade Leader:

Three Tree City belongs here for your elves decks again! And a few others we've seen before, plus a new artifact. Vanquisher's banner goes great with elves for both the anthem and the card draw. Elves be playing a lot of elves. Without the card draw it's easy to find yourself top decking!

• Wirewood Lodge
• Umbral Mantle
• Vanquisher's Banner

Combos for Ezuri, Renegade Leader:

• Elvish Archdruid(or Marwyn, or Priest, or etc) + Staff of Domination

See above if you don't remember how this one works!

• Circle of Dreams Druid (or Archdruid, or Marwyn, or…)+ Umbral Mantle

We've seen this one before too. No need to repeat the steps here.

• Priest of Titania + Sword of Paruns

If your mana-producing elf can produce at least 4, here's another piece of equipment that can make it go infinite!

I really do love elves. I'm sure you can see now why they're one of the top commander tribes. As an elves player since Onslaught, we go waaaaaaaay back. They're one of the most synergistic tribes in Magic. I keep a mono green elf tribal 60 in my bag to teach new players with. Even casual decks based around elves can jump up and win games with new players piloting them.

I hope this helped you find your next tribal elf commander so you can bring the fury of the forest to your next commander night.

Credit to EDHREC for compiling the current usage stats for the above cards in commander decks!

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