You're missing something DLCK, tap 2 forests for 2 mana, untap one of them and get a 3rd mana. Second turn 4/5.
wolfbear2
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(6 votes)
I believe this is almost deffinitly better than llanowar elves. The only reason for running the llanowars is if you are using only nonbasic lands for green sources.
Ravnica duel lands, enchanted lands, the treefolk land from morningtide, ect.
wolfv
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(3 votes)
i like it, it does alot, and is quite nice... tho i will say i don't know if i will not run llanowars for these... meh we will see.
bram-s-wallace
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
In mono-green this and llanowar elves are about equal. If you play the green zendikon or something; this becomes better. If you play multi-colored; llanowar elves is better. It all depends on the situation
RHS
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Pretty much a Llanowar elf, just with art that looks ok (instead of that obnoxious drawing from M10...)
Gaussgoat
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(8 votes)
Combo this guy with a Forest enchanted with Wild Growth and you've got a 4 mana battery... or hit a Vastwood Zendikon after it has attacked to make sure you've got a beefed up blocker.
4/5
arcology
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Why does llanowar elf have a 4.7 rating and this 3.9? This is equal if not better..
Khaztr
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
So this card pretty much means you can put 8 Llanowar Elves in a deck now. Very nice!
HairlessThoctar
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Almost strictly better than Llanowar elves for fixing when you're running Rav duals.
All them extended and legacy decks got a new toy.
Lestat13
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Extended tapping for multiple colors with an Elf creature type for one green.
JaxsonBateman
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(8 votes)
While it depends on the deck as to which is better out of this, Llanowar, Birds or Noble Hierach, a lot of people seem to be missing the point - this was designed with the manland enchantments in mind. The Vastwood Zendikon (6/4 with no abilities) seems like it'd be the best one to untap, given that it's not bad at attacking or defending, but the Corrupted Zendikon (3/3 with no abilities) isn't bad either and can come out much earlier.
If for some reason you're running Keeper of Progenitus or anything else that boosts mana produced by forests then Arbor Elf is also going to be superior. Basically, this would probably be my primary pick in an elf mono-green deck over Llanowar - it just has much more utility, with the only drawback being if you happened to start with 4 Oran-Riefs in hand and no forests.
Oh, and did we mentioned that by untapping a forest it opens up mana that can be used later, rather than Llanowar requiring to use it immediately? Not generally a big deal, but it could be handy if the elf becomes the target of spot removal - you'll have more chance at getting a final benefit out of Arbor Elf.
True_Mumin
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
This guy is actually extremely powerful when you think about the possibilities. Combine him with Wild Growth/Utopia Sprawl and Garruk. Things get pretty insane. As soon as turn two! :D
S1lent
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
This replaces Noble Hierarch in Eldrazi Green in my opinion. The Elf synergy can be important when paired with Elvish Archdruid. Not just for the mana but that extra +1+1 boost can put Arbor Elf just out of reach of direct damage removal. It's been mentioned but should be stressed, that untapping a forest leaves that mana available during their turn as opposed to only being able to float one during your turn in response to removal. This could be very important considering the match up and what instants, activated abilities, etc. you have available to cast.
its not mana ability so it can be stopped by some cards
GooberSnotpants
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I am using this guy in a killer bees deck combined with overgrowth in order to crank out the {g} like a motha ***!
He also allows some insane turn 3 drops, because it ramps you up to 6/7 cmc by then, granted it's easiest in mono green.
Eved
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
The ravnica lands are the obvious combo, but this also combos with Imperiosaur in a way that Llanowar Elves never could.
kotor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everybody says that now you can have 8 Llanovar elves in deck. Correct me if I'm wrong, BUT: Arbor's ability can be countered somehow, and Llanovar's can't (because it's mana ability, while in Arbor it isn't)?
BrutalJim
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You don't need Overgrowths or Utopia Sprawls to make this guy better than Llanowar Elves. If he gets bolted or something you can use his effect before he dies so you can still play your Giant Growth when your opponent attacks. So long as you use forests as opposed to nonbasic lands as your source of green mana he's almost always better. His only possible downside is if all your lands manage to get destroyed or something.
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Oh come on... R&D... you could have asked me. Really, you could have just asked me about the whole set!
This is my comment I've wrote about 1 year ago, where I have mentioned this elf on a response to an article by Mark Rosewater. I should call my lawyer... just kidding! I don't care about it... open source, open knowlegde, free & open thoughts = one free humanity.
I used this with Murmuring Bosk as an example to make myself more clear about how opposite colors should get opposite effects. Although my own "color wheel" has evolved a bit (mass-mill effects now should be red in my opinion Book Burning), the mentioned combos with Wild Growth here with Arbor Elf wouldn't work in my version.
I mean how could a natural forest be improved with Wild Growth?? Shouldn't this be the case in the first place? Only humans think that a dead tree should be cleaned up by a forester, removing all underwood to make forests look bright, clean and secure. For me, Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl should be white cards typifying parks, mono-culture cornfields or vegetable patches. There are imrpoved versions with an irrigation system, without weed / pest, mowed grass and contained & cultivated flowerbeds. With a higher output, an organized structure but unnatural and vulnerable.
Whyhellothere
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Let's see here.. Turn one: Forest, Arbor Elf
Turn two: Forest, Arbor Elf, Instill Energy on your new Arbor Elf, untap your lands (a total of three times), cast Overgrowth on any of those forests
Turn three: Well, it looks like you've got thirteen mana, the question is, what the hell are you going to do with it? Hardcast Krosan Cloudscraper, and then slap a Canopy Cover on him?
Obviously this is a deliciously nice situation, but even so, it's nice to dream. In any case, I absolutely love this guy because of, well, everything everybody else said.
EternalLurker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
What on earth are all you people smoking? The Ravnica bouncelands that tap for two mana are NOT FORESTS. The only Ravnica lands you could target with this, aside from basic Forests, are the shock lands, and that...doesn't really make this particularly advantageous.
Also, Whyhellothere, your math is completely wrong.
This card would be nice in a beggining game phase other than that it just slightly helps ur mana and creature play. This would be good in a high mana green deck like treefolk or Beast
redcap04
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
As of standard today the only card which can stop Arbor Elf's ability and not Llanowar Elves' is Pithing Needle.
Linvala and Ice Cage shuts down both creature's abilities.
Awakener Druid's pet gets an advantage from this card as well as plenty other cards.
zeyette
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(8 votes)
WithUtopia Sprawl on your forest(adding blue), freed from the real on this guy, you can untap the forest as many times as you want for infinite mana.
Nikeyeia
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@EternalLurker: What on earth are you smoking? Noone mentioned the bouncelands. Untapping shocklands gives you two choices of mana instead of one. Actually, this turns a Stomping Ground into a Gruul Turf that doesn't unsummon a land and have the choice to enter the battlefield untapped, in addition to having more combinations of mana. Also, Whyhellothere's math isn't wrong. You got...
1 mana from your forest
3 mana from your enchanted forest (4)
3 mana from 1st untap (7)
3 mana from 2nd untap (10)
3 mana from 3rd untap (13)
I don't see anything wrong here. Nice one, Whyhellothere, btw.
This card is good because Llanowar Elves have never been bad, and he kinda resembles it pretty much. In case you are driving a multicolored deck, Llanowar may be better, but this guy got the ability to untap the old Dual Lands, Ravnica shocklands and Murmuring Bosk, in addition to untap any enchanted land. In many cases he is stronger than Llanowar, and the best part is, that you can drive a playset of both in a single deck!
He may not be tournament stable in most decks, but he is very well suited for casual. 4,5.
Painguin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
On top of helping with things like Wild Growth, this also synergizes with Imperiosaur, which is something that Llanowar can't do.
ddde
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Wow, Zeyette! Nice job. You can actually get infinite mana on turn 2 with only 5 cards used with her recommendation. With Helix Pinnacle as a 6th card you could turn that into a turn 2 win.
edited to add: Whoops, my bad. That's a turn 3 win. You would need something like Veridian Longbow to turn that into a turn 2 win.
kittyspit
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
hmm i'd try awkener druid and arbor elf together..
Green isn't my forte so it might be a dumb idea..
RareCardHunter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Works good with Dawn's Reflection. Tap the enchanted Forest by casting a Green spell (particulary one that requires you to tap a Forest in order to cast) to get 2 colored mana, use Arbor Elf to untap the enchanted Forest you tapped earlier, then tap the enchanted Forest again for mana to get another 2 colored mana.
Huh. I was very surprised that people weren't going on about how this is so much worse than Llanowarr elves. I play worldwake, so I run this, but I figure it's {G} either way.
Oh well,
CAN'T FIGHT THE WORLDWAKE POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ROBRAM89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is as close as Wizards will probably ever get to printing a Llanowar Elves that is better than Llanowar Elves.
Macsen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy, Llanowars, Findhorns: make my elf deck with 10 lands.
Vinifera7
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy has more diverse use cases than Llanowar Elves, though he's more annoying to use as a simple mana accelerant, since you can't just tap him for mana.
GodWars
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ok question about the first ability of Garruk Wildspeaker and others with that ability like Arbor Elf, let’s say you have a card in your hand that cost 5 mana but have only 3 lands and you have Garruk out. Could you use his first ability to play the card? Same question with the elf if you hand four lands.
TheMurderousKitten
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
This guy just has so many possible combos in casual it's ridiculous.
Turn 1: Forest, Arbor Elf. Turn 2: Island, play Utopia Sprawl or Fertile Ground on Forest, use Arbor Elf to untap Forest, use your extra mana for whatever you want (Mana Leak would be a fun way to use that mana, just to add insult to the coming injury). Turn 3: Freed from the Real or Pemmin's Aura on Arbor Elf, tap him to untap Forest, tap Forest for and , use to untap him, repeat as many times as you would like.
You could then play the biggest, nastiest guy you could possibly want from your hand, or if you happen to have Green Sun's Zenith in hand, you could play any green creature in your deck. Turn 3 Progenitus, anyone? The combo options make this guy better than Llanowar Elves, in my opinion.
Verdantforever
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1: Forest, Arbor elf Turn 2: Forest, Utopia sprawl on untapped forest and choose blue, tap for U+G, untap with Arbor elf and tap again for 2U+2G then play "Freed from the real" on the elf with U+2G and use the last U-mana for untap and infinite green is due, with it u pay for a "Wildheart invoker" pump your arbor elf to endless/endless trample and attack for lethal.
Sounds like a pretty fast combo to me... If your hand of 7 + 1or2 draw(s) excists out of them keycards. 2 Forest, Arbor elf, Freed from the real, Utopia Sprawl and Wildheart invoker.
A lot of luck but then u are sure to see some jaw drop :D
Place
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Arbor Elf is awesome, plays smoothly in my G/U mana/enchantment deck..!
1 turn: Play; Forest and Arbor Elf 2 turn: Play; Island and Overgrowth 3 turn: Play; land and tap for 8 mana, use 4 for Garruk Wildspeaker and enjoy your mana! I like War Tax, for this type of deck.
Marlo12345
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1: forest followed by Arbor elf
turn 2: forst followed by Utopia Sprawl or Wild Growth you now have {G}{G}{G}{G} or {G}{G} and two of the color you would like and then play Garruk Wildspeaker followed by Omnath
Turn 3: forest followed by tapping all lands, Omnath is now a 9/9 which you then attack with if its advantageous.
Turn 4(if they have not scooped by now): Kozilek
Lueseto
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is insane, allows many turn 2 stuff. example:
I'm disappointed in all of you. How come no one has mentioned the power of this with Elvish Guidance? That combo is equivalent to two Priest of Titania. Use Wood Elves to help throw down some extra forests with an Ambush Commander, and all of a sudden you can hardcast just about anything.
@Khaztr: right on! an easy way to put two llanowar elves in an edh deck, if you so choose
kiseki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card. Everytime I make a deck with green in it, I get to weigh the pros and cons of this versus llanowar elves and birds of paradise. How many colors? Does the deck want fewer than 12 forests? Does the deck want utopia sprawl? Does the deck need creature-created mana? I love cards like this because they give me additional tools to optimize my mana base.
It helps that I'm also running Tropical Islands and Breeding Pools, which brings up the point that dual lands from those cycles make Arbor Elf rival Birds of Paradise in terms of utility, and it already surpasses the mana birds in terms of combo-ability. It's also great in multiplayer, if you have an ally who is also playing Forests.
The only real drawbacks to Arbor Elf compared to other 1 CMC mana-dorks are: 1) You might not have a Forest to untap; 2) The ability is not a mana-ability, meaning players can respond to it before you get mana from it (such as by destroying your targeted Forest).
Only real disadvantage is that his ability is not a mana ability, and thus can be responded to. "What if you have no forests" is not a disadvantage, that's a problem with your deck. Why would you run this if you have no forests? Granted, maybe an opponent destroyed all your lands or you sacrificed them for a wood elemental or something. Might be best to have those llanowars as a backup in case of that.
He's coming back in M13, much to Llanowar Elves' chagrin.
Comments (55)
2nd turn Leatherback Baloth
You're missing something DLCK, tap 2 forests for 2 mana, untap one of them and get a 3rd mana. Second turn 4/5.
Ravnica duel lands, enchanted lands, the treefolk land from morningtide, ect.
4/5
All them extended and legacy decks got a new toy.
If for some reason you're running Keeper of Progenitus or anything else that boosts mana produced by forests then Arbor Elf is also going to be superior. Basically, this would probably be my primary pick in an elf mono-green deck over Llanowar - it just has much more utility, with the only drawback being if you happened to start with 4 Oran-Riefs in hand and no forests.
Oh, and did we mentioned that by untapping a forest it opens up mana that can be used later, rather than Llanowar requiring to use it immediately? Not generally a big deal, but it could be handy if the elf becomes the target of spot removal - you'll have more chance at getting a final benefit out of Arbor Elf.
He also allows some insane turn 3 drops, because it ramps you up to 6/7 cmc by then, granted it's easiest in mono green.
See:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18910214/3162009_MM:_34;Looking_for_a_Good_Mechanic34;&post_num=114#322532710
This is my comment I've wrote about 1 year ago, where I have mentioned this elf on a response to an article by Mark Rosewater. I should call my lawyer... just kidding! I don't care about it... open source, open knowlegde, free & open thoughts = one free humanity.
I used this with Murmuring Bosk as an example to make myself more clear about how opposite colors should get opposite effects. Although my own "color wheel" has evolved a bit (mass-mill effects now should be red in my opinion Book Burning), the mentioned combos with Wild Growth here with Arbor Elf wouldn't work in my version.
I mean how could a natural forest be improved with Wild Growth?? Shouldn't this be the case in the first place? Only humans think that a dead tree should be cleaned up by a forester, removing all underwood to make forests look bright, clean and secure. For me, Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl should be white cards typifying parks, mono-culture cornfields or vegetable patches. There are imrpoved versions with an irrigation system, without weed / pest, mowed grass and contained & cultivated flowerbeds. With a higher output, an organized structure but unnatural and vulnerable.
Turn one: Forest, Arbor Elf
Turn two: Forest, Arbor Elf, Instill Energy on your new Arbor Elf, untap your lands (a total of three times), cast Overgrowth on any of those forests
Turn three: Well, it looks like you've got thirteen mana, the question is, what the hell are you going to do with it? Hardcast Krosan Cloudscraper, and then slap a Canopy Cover on him?
Obviously this is a deliciously nice situation, but even so, it's nice to dream.
In any case, I absolutely love this guy because of, well, everything everybody else said.
Also, Whyhellothere, your math is completely wrong.
Linvala and Ice Cage shuts down both creature's abilities.
Awakener Druid's pet gets an advantage from this card as well as plenty other cards.
1 mana from your forest
3 mana from your enchanted forest (4)
3 mana from 1st untap (7)
3 mana from 2nd untap (10)
3 mana from 3rd untap (13)
I don't see anything wrong here. Nice one, Whyhellothere, btw.
This card is good because Llanowar Elves have never been bad, and he kinda resembles it pretty much. In case you are driving a multicolored deck, Llanowar may be better, but this guy got the ability to untap the old Dual Lands, Ravnica shocklands and Murmuring Bosk, in addition to untap any enchanted land. In many cases he is stronger than Llanowar, and the best part is, that you can drive a playset of both in a single deck!
He may not be tournament stable in most decks, but he is very well suited for casual. 4,5.
edited to add:
Whoops, my bad. That's a turn 3 win. You would need something like Veridian Longbow to turn that into a turn 2 win.
Green isn't my forte so it might be a dumb idea..
Oh well,
CAN'T FIGHT THE WORLDWAKE POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Turn 1: Forest, Arbor Elf.
Turn 2: Island, play Utopia Sprawl or Fertile Ground on Forest, use Arbor Elf to untap Forest, use your extra mana for whatever you want (Mana Leak would be a fun way to use that mana, just to add insult to the coming injury).
Turn 3: Freed from the Real or Pemmin's Aura on Arbor Elf, tap him to untap Forest, tap Forest for
You could then play the biggest, nastiest guy you could possibly want from your hand, or if you happen to have Green Sun's Zenith in hand, you could play any green creature in your deck. Turn 3 Progenitus, anyone? The combo options make this guy better than Llanowar Elves, in my opinion.
Turn 2: Forest, Utopia sprawl on untapped forest and choose blue, tap for U+G, untap with Arbor elf and tap again for 2U+2G then play "Freed from the real" on the elf with U+2G and use the last U-mana for untap and infinite green is due, with it u pay for a "Wildheart invoker" pump your arbor elf to endless/endless trample and attack for lethal.
Sounds like a pretty fast combo to me... If your hand of 7 + 1or2 draw(s) excists out of them keycards. 2 Forest, Arbor elf, Freed from the real, Utopia Sprawl and Wildheart invoker.
A lot of luck but then u are sure to see some jaw drop :D
1 turn: Play; Forest and Arbor Elf
2 turn: Play; Island and Overgrowth
3 turn: Play; land and tap for 8 mana, use 4 for Garruk Wildspeaker and enjoy your mana! I like War Tax, for this type of deck.
turn 2: forst followed by Utopia Sprawl or Wild Growth you now have {G}{G}{G}{G} or {G}{G} and two of the color you would like and then play Garruk Wildspeaker followed by Omnath
Turn 3: forest followed by tapping all lands, Omnath is now a 9/9 which you then attack with if its advantageous.
Turn 4(if they have not scooped by now): Kozilek
Turn 1. Forest, Arbor Elf
Turn 2: Forest, Utopia Sprawl the other, tap it and untap it, play Natural Order, sacrifice Arbor Elf and search your library for Progenitus. Just make sure your opponent doesn't play Innocent Blood :P
Pretty good. playing Garruk Wildspeaker on turn 2 is awesome too. and you can play Troll Ascetic right afterwards. 4 mana in turn 2 is sweeeet just need Utopia Sprawl too
T1: Forest, Arbor Elf
T2: Forest, Wood Elves+Forest, Arbor Elf
T3: Forest, Elvish Guidance, Ambush Commander, 4x Llanowar Sentinel, (exile Elvish Spirit Guide) Elvish Promenade.
T4: hard cast anything (you should have 24 elves and around 100 mana before doing anything.)
I love cards like this because they give me additional tools to optimize my mana base.
Starting hand:
3 utopia sprawl/wild growth
1 arbor elf
1 forest
2 Instill energy
Draw Lightning Greaves
Play forest and Arbor elf on turn 1
__________________
Turn 2
Draw another Instill energy
Tap forest, enchant it with utopia sprawl/wild growth
Untap forest with Arbor Elf
Tap forest and apply instill energy on arbor elf.
untap/tap Arbor elf as needed Applying the rest of the instill energy's and utopia sprawl's/wild growth's to the forest and arbor elf.
Cast Lightning Greaves and attach to Arbor Elf
__________________
Turn 3
Draw Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Tap forest 5 times total (20 mana)
Hardcast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn on turn 3 with haste/shroud and 5 mana to spare. GG.
Hey.... a man can dream, right?
T1: Forest, Arbor Elf
T2: Forest, Utopia Sprawl (on the untapped Forest), tap for
I've had a deck based around a similar combo for, like, forever. I ran Wild Growth and Krosan Restorer until Arbor Elf was released. Now I've added the elf and replaced Wild Growth with Utopia Sprawl, and it works faster and just as consistently.
It helps that I'm also running Tropical Islands and Breeding Pools, which brings up the point that dual lands from those cycles make Arbor Elf rival Birds of Paradise in terms of utility, and it already surpasses the mana birds in terms of combo-ability. It's also great in multiplayer, if you have an ally who is also playing Forests.
The only real drawbacks to Arbor Elf compared to other 1 CMC mana-dorks are:
1) You might not have a Forest to untap;
2) The ability is not a mana-ability, meaning players can respond to it before you get mana from it (such as by destroying your targeted Forest).
Since I'm primarily a Johnny, Arbor Elf wins out for me.
Oh wait... what's the opposite of "work well with"?
Now to get a forest/land enchant and go crazy.
Only real disadvantage is that his ability is not a mana ability, and thus can be responded to. "What if you have no forests" is not a disadvantage, that's a problem with your deck. Why would you run this if you have no forests? Granted, maybe an opponent destroyed all your lands or you sacrificed them for a wood elemental or something. Might be best to have those llanowars as a backup in case of that.
He's coming back in M13, much to Llanowar Elves' chagrin.