To be honest, it’s been slim pickings for Elves players recently in Magic: The Gathering. We’ve had the release of Tarkir Dragonstorm and Aetherdrift and seen a total of two new Elves.

Normally, I’ve been reviewing every set as it comes out. Enough cards worth considering in Elves decks would get printed (even if they weren’t actual Elves). However, for the last two sets, I’ve only found a single card I want to talk about. So, let’s get Tarkir Dragonstorm out of the way (and also cover the two Elves from Aetherdrift while we’re at it). Then we can all move on to the Final Fantasy set and see what Elves the future has in store for us.

Tarkir is a plane without Elves, although it does contain maybe the most exciting card of recent times. On the other hand, Aetherdrift is set on a plane with Elves, but everyone is so focused on cars, that they’re barely present. Let’s scrounge together what we can.

As always, this review focuses exclusively on a card’s application in Elves decks across Magic‘s many formats. If you think there’s a cool card for a Dragon Racing EDH deck, this isn’t the review for that. (That card’s still cool though, whatever it is.) The rating given at the end of each entry is out of five Trees and applies to whichever format the card suits best.

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The Elves

Elvish Refueler and Greenbelt Guardian

Here are our two offerings from Aetherdrift. Two cards to support the Exhaust limited archetype. They really don’t do anything for us at all.

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Everything Else

Nature’s Rhythm

Now this is the card that made me actually review Tarkir Dragonstorm.

Magic has a plethora of Green X-spell Creature Tutors. So what makes this new one from Tarkir so interesting?

Well, my favourite thing to do with these kind of cards in Modern is to search up parts of the Devoted Druid infinite combo. Once you have it assembled, you have access to as much Green mana as you could ever need. However, you sometimes run into the situation where you’ve assembled a Devoted Druid and a Vizier of Remedies. You’ve made several million Green mana. And what have you got to do with it? Nothing.

Yes, Nature’s Rhythm finds you the combo. Then, once you’ve got all that mana, you can cast it again with that mana to find something that actually wins the game. This is genuinely the missing piece that the Devoted Druid combo piece has been after for a while. It’s a shame we’ve only just got it as Modern has become a place that’s extremely hostile to Elves.

It’s also funny to me that they unbanned Green Sun’s Zenith and then I immediately dropped it to use this new card instead. GSZ is still more powerful in a vaccum, but can’t find half of the combo, which this can.

It’s also legal in Standard (obviously), as are many other Elves, such as Elvish Archdruid. There’s enough of a shell to play Standard Elves present. Although you might want to be careful about dying to Mice or Cori-Steel Cutter decks.

They even redprinted our eternal friend and wincon, Craterhoof Behemoth in Tarkir Dragonstorm. Maybe go search up that.

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Parting Thoughts

Well, that’s it for now. It’s odd, I’ve only had three cards to talk about. Two are complete duds and one is an absolute game changer.

If you want to catch some Tarkir cards being tried on stream, head over on a Thursday evening (UK time). We’ve already had fun trying out Nature’s Rhythm in Modern and been casting Craterhoof in Standard. Always happy for new viewers in chat to talk about these new cards with.

If you’re interested in previous sets, you can find all of our older Elves All The Way Down reviews here. I’ll catch you for the next one. I’m still holding out hope for Lorwyn, but that’s a while away.