Imaryll, Elfhame Elite Stompy Elves

Commander Overview

Imaryll is a card I had never seen before browsing the web and just checking out commanders, in a crowded creature type like Elves, I think it’s pretty easy for Imaryll to get lost in the fold, as they are one of many great elf commanders, but they are powerful. Elves’ game plan and abilities let them go crazy, and it’s not tough for us to one-shot opponents with commander damage. The fact that they can assign commander damage as they weren’t blocked is just unbelievable. Combining a huge commander ability with the overall gameplan of elves is just busted. This deck is a blast to play and extremely strong.

How to Play the Deck

If you have ever played an elf deck before, you’ve played this one, too! I kid, but the gameplan is very simple, dump as many elves as we can and swing hard with our commander, that is how you play the deck, because of that this is a deck that is great for a player of pretty much any skill level, as long as they can tap elves for mana and turn creatures sideways they can pilot this deck.

Synergy’s in the deck

Since this is an elf deck all of our elves synergize with each other, some of my favorites are huge mana producers like Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid these can produce a crazy amount of mana and can go even crazier if we have cards like Beast Whisperer. Since our commander cares about how many elves we have I also have had a ton of success with Ambush Commander while it does leave our lands vulnerable it can easily give us enough to one-shot an opponent.

Phases of the Game

Early-Game: We have a very strong showing in the early-game, with cheap elves like Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, and Fyndhorn Elves in the deck, we often can cast elves on turn one and start ramping. We almost always cast Imaryll early and get to swinging quite quickly. Our deck synergizes so well with itself; Elves are just amazing at doing that.

Mid-Game: Since we have so much mana ramp within the deck and in the early-game, we can start going a little wild in the mid-game. I have hit opponents for 15-20 damage with Imaryll in the mid-game, and with buffs like Tyvar’s Stand or Wirewood Pride, we can easily commander damage kill an opponent.

Late-Game: In my testing games, I very rarely reached the late-game, but the core gameplan stays the same: flood the board with Elves and swing hard.

Card Breakdowns

Ramp

I think this goes without saying, but we are extremely good at ramping. While we have no traditional ramp spells, we truly don’t need them with cards like Priest of Titania in the deck. We also have a pretty low overall cost in the deck. I have never had trouble with mana in this deck. As is expected with Elf-focused decks, we are just great at producing mana. I also want to mention Growing Rites of Itlimoc, which is essentially a copy of Gaea’s Cradle when we flip it, which is criminally easy to do in the deck.

Card Draw/Card Advantage

Card draw is actually great in this deck, Beast Whisperer is one of the most consistent sources in the deck since we cast so many creatures, and with all of the mana production and pretty cheap elves, we can easily chain creatures and cards a ton. One source of card draw that works beautifully with our commander is Hunter’s Insight, getting our commander buffed up. Since they are guaranteed to hit, we can draw a crazy amount of cards. I’ve drawn nearly twenty cards in one turn with Hunter’s Insight, just a busted source of card draw that works beautifully with this deck.

Removal

This is by far one of the weakest parts of our deck. Still, based on the composition of our deck, we do have to be quite selfish. We do have Beast Within, which can target any permanent and is quite good for us, but it is just one source; we also have Krosan Grip, which is pretty good. We do have Lignify and Song of the Dryads, which are both great ways to take out creatures and, more importantly, ruin a commander, great against decks that rely heavily on their commander. Well, these are allstrong spells. We don’t have a lot of sources of removal in the deck, so it’s something to keep in mind here, and be mindful that we don’t have a lot of removal in the deck.

Protection

While our removal package is certainly a weak point within the deck, we are pretty good at protection, and for good reason. Imaryll draws a lot of ire from our opponents; it’s totally expected. Still, we do have to be ready for it, which is we have cards like Tyvar’s Stand, which is a two-fold card in the deck, giving it hexproof and indestructible, which is strong, but with all of our mana production being able to buff up Imaryll a ton is just icing on the cake. We also have Snakeskin Veil and Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, just cheap and easy ways to keep our commander on the board. It is worth noting that even if Imaryll dies, we do have so much mana production in the deck that we can easily recast them.

Utility / Support

One card that’s very cheap and is great for the deck is Emerald Medallion. We can drop it really early, and it works for nearly all of the cards in the deck. Another card that works wonders for the deck is Alpha Status. I’ve taken down nearly 40 damage with this card in one combat, just a broken card for our deck. Since our commander is such a removal magnet, we do have some additional ways to protect them, like Asceticism, which not only protects all of our creatures from targeted removal but also regenerates them. Just an amazing card for the deck.

I also want to highlight some of my favorite creatures in the deck with cards like Eladamri, Lord of Leaves, just another strong piece of protection for our elves and allowing us to keep Imaryll on the field. Lys Alana Huntmaster is another strong creature; the token production is amazing for Imaryll and allows us to deal a ton more damage. Lastly, I want to talk about Dionus, Elvish Archdruid allowing us to buff our elves that tap and more importantly untap them once a turn, allowing us to reactivate bombs like Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid multiple times.

Mana Base

Even though the majority of our deck is forests, we do have some nonbasics that are worth highlighting, especially Evendo, Waking Heaven, which can easily and quickly become a copy of Gaea’s Cradle. We do need even more mana production! We also have Three Tree City, which can be a ridiculous piece of mana production for the deck. I think you all see the main theme: more and more mana! Big mana aside, I had no trouble with this mana base.

Win Conditions

Imaryll is our main win condition. If they, for some reason, can’t be cast, we can win with just our normal elves, but Imaryll is the primary plan.

Strengths of the Deck

Our opponents are effectively reduced to twenty-one life.

We can produce so much mana that we can fill our board and make Imaryll strong very quickly.

Weaknesses of the Deck

We are absolutely a one-trick deck and are much weaker without Imaryll.

Our small amount of removal can be tough, especially in elf mirror matches.

Deck Testing/Matchups

I tested this deck against three different decks

Game 1: Vs Lathril, Blade of the Elves. Matchup Record: 3-1

A mirror match! And a very interesting one: our biggest advantage in this matchup is Imaryll here. While we often do the same things, the commander damage kill is quite easy for us, as long as we have a good hand and can ramp. I had very little trouble with this matchup.

Cards that worked really well in this matchup:
Priest of Titania, Asceticism and Tyvar’s Stand.

Game 2: Vs Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph. Matchup Record: 1-3

I struggled quite a bit with this one. We have no way to stop Imaryll from being countered, and they can be bounced quite a bit because they’re in Izzet. This was a tough one, especially if they have a control-heavy starting hand. They can deal damage very quickly, and if we stumble, this is a rough one.

Cards that worked really well in this matchup:
Alpha Status, Wirewood Pride and Ezuri, Renegade Leader.

Game 3: Vs Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy. Matchup Record: 3-2

This matchup really is just a race; we are both pretty quick, and Kinnan can drop some gnarly stuff very quickly. This matchup is truly all about speed, so look for those early-game dorks like Llanowar Elves or Elvish Mystic.

Cards that worked really well in this matchup:
Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves and Windswift Slice.

Conclusion

Thanks so much for reading to the end! I hope you all enjoyed this one. Imaryll is a commander I feel is largely forgotten, and they shouldn’t be. They aren’t the number one elf commander, but they are quite strong and great against a lot of decks. Imaryll suffers from being in a creature type that is extremely crowded with great commanders, and I think they need a lot more love.