(Galadriel, Elven QueenGaladriel, Elven Queen | Art by Axel Sauerwald)

Hello friends! And welcome back to EDHREC for another Scrap Trawlers Precon Upgrade Guide. Today we’re looking at the Elven Council deck to see if we can solve its identity crisis for just a few pieces of gold.

As you saw in my Precon Primer, this deck plays smoothly out of the box, but doesn’t exactly know what it wants to be. So with this upgrade guide we’re going to cut some of the cards that served the story but hurt the strategy, while adding cards to beef up the Elf aggro. And in true Scrap Trawlers fashion, we’re gonna do it for cheap.

But don’t worry! If you’ve plundered the Lonely Mountain and are looking to spend a few extra coins to upgrade this precon, I’ve got you covered too.

Head of the Council

Leading the deck is Galadriel, Elven QueenGaladriel, Elven Queen, who kicks off a vote when we enter combat, but only if an Elf has entered our battlefield this turn. Based on the votes, we either get a Ring temptation and a +1/+1 counter on our Ring-bearer, or we just draw a card.

As you saw in my primer, I’m not thrilled with this version of Galadriel. But I’m going to leave her in charge for now, and rely on her ability to pump our Ring-bearer to add more oomph to our supporting Elves.

Here’s the original decklist:

This deck has five alternate commanders who can lead the deck. But as you’ll see shortly, not all of them are continuing on this journey.

More Elves to Die Side by Side With

One of the biggest things the deck was lacking was consistent ways to drop Elves every turn. We’re correcting that oversight with two cards that can do just that: Imperious PerfectImperious Perfect and Wolverine RidersWolverine Riders. Wolverine Riders gives us the tokens for free, on each upkeep, and Perfect just needs a green mana.

But we can make more tokens than that, right? Let’s add in Elven AmbushElven Ambush and Elvish PromenadeElvish Promenade to get massive amounts of Elves for our army of tree-dwellers.

Want even more Elves? How about Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the Nurturer? She gets bigger whenever we make an Elf, and she gives us a ton of mana. Beast WhispererBeast Whisperer draws us a card whenever we cast a creature spell, and is one of the most egregious oversights in the precon list. We’ve also got the fancy, and underrated, box topper from Streets of New Capenna, Gala GreetersGala Greeters. Make a treasure each turn just for bringing more Elves to the party? Why not? Or maybe just boost our life total if we’re getting low.

Since we’re going to have all these Elves at this soirée, why not draw a bunch of cards because of it? Enter Distant MelodyDistant Melody.

Of course we want some more voting happening here too, so we’re adding Split DecisionSplit Decision. And to make sure the vote goes our way, we’ll give a slot to Illusion of ChoiceIllusion of Choice.

And last, we can't forget those beautiful modal spells. Return of the WildspeakerReturn of the Wildspeaker can either draw us a bunch of cards, or help us close out the game. Either way, I'm happy.

I Shall Diminish, and Go Into the West

You know the drill. Cards go in, cards gotta come out. 

First to abandon the journey are our two Wizards, Gandalf, Westward VoyagerGandalf, Westward Voyager and Radagast, Wizard of WildsRadagast, Wizard of Wilds. These merry fellows have no business being in this Elven Council, since they’re not, you know, Elves. But more importantly, as you’ll see, we’re cutting several of the high MV cards in the deck, so they no longer had a role to play in this tale.

We’re cutting Colossal WhaleColossal Whale. Because…seriously. Why is this here? Okay, it’s got a high MV, so it triggers the Wizards. And it fills a removal spot, sure. But….there are no Whales in the forest. I’m 90% sure of that.

Hornet QueenHornet Queen is going too. While the Queen can more logically find a home in the forest than a Whale, we have no need of bees (although we may regret not having a flyer or two in the deck on occasion).

I’m cutting two other new cards, because, frankly, they suck. Sail into the WestSail into the West and Travel Through CaradhrasTravel Through Caradhras may be here for more voting, but in both cases we can’t consistently get enough benefit from either of them.

Seeds of RenewalSeeds of Renewal isn’t really necessary in the deck. We’ve already got a couple of other recursion cards with Learn from the PastLearn from the Past and Mirkwood ElkMirkwood Elk. I don’t think the deck is looking to dig through the grave that much.

And last we’re cutting some mana sources. Commander’s SphereCommander’s Sphere is going because we already have enough ramp, and we’re also cutting one Forest and one Island. I think we’re safe going down to 36 lands due to all the extra ramp we have, and a very low average mana value of 3.10 after the upgrade.

Splendorous Elves

Okay, we’ve seen the cheap upgrades. Now it’s time for you hoarders of jewels and gold to show off your excess. 

We’ll start with the expensive Elves. Eladamri, Lord of LeavesEladamri, Lord of Leaves makes sure your army can swing in unopposed by fellow green players. Circle of Dreams DruidCircle of Dreams Druid does a decent impression of Gaea’s CradleGaea’s Cradle. And Allosaurus ShepherdAllosaurus Shepherd protects your green spells and turns your Elves into Dinos. Who wouldn’t want that?

RealmwalkerRealmwalker is an honorary Elf that lets you cast Elves from the top of your library. And Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth just ends games when you have a large army of any kind of creature.

Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms will have your Elf hordes pumping some serious iron to get those gains, while Freyalise, Llanowar’s FuryFreyalise, Llanowar’s Fury is like a Swiss army knife in the deck.

Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery and The Great HengeThe Great Henge can both draw you a ton of cards, while Kindred SummonsKindred Summons can snatch a bunch of Elves from the top of your library.

And of course we can’t forget the voting! Selvala’s StampedeSelvala’s Stampede gets you all kinds of fun stuff into play from either your hand or your library. And let’s not forget the grandest voting spell of all, the friendship killer, ExpropriateExpropriate.

The Time of the Elves is Over

Here’s the final upgraded decklist:

We added way more Elves to punch through with our aggro strategy. There’s not a whole lot we could do to increase the voting power of the deck, but honestly that wasn’t a huge concern for me.

We lowered the average mana value from 3.31 to 3.10, which was enough to allow us to cut some lands and add more fun cards to the deck.

All in all, I’m still not a huge fan of Galadriel, but we definitely made some great improvements to the way the deck plays, while also staying true to the deck’s Elven roots.

We’ve got three other decks to talk about for this set, so make sure you stay tuned for those articles as well! 

From your friends in the Scrap Trawlers, take care. And remember to budget…before you buy it.

Scrap Trawlers

Scrap Trawlers is a Magic: The Gathering budget EDH streaming and video group, with gameplay, deck techs, chats, and more. Catch our videos at youtube.com/scraptrawlers. Andy, Lenny, and Bert.