Elfball: need some advice Apr 28, 2016, 11:31 PM
stopostit Hello!
I'm new to the archetype (and to peasant in general, I'm more of a Modern player ). I've looked at a good amount of decklists in order to discover the specificities of this format, and elfball is what i've chosen to get into it. I've goldfished on cockatrice to see how the deck is rolling but some help from peasant veterans would be truely appreciated, especially regarding sideboarding. I'm taking for reference what appears to be a "stock list" . I'm also surprised by the 61st card. I really enjoy the gameplay and this is what I wanna bring to the upcoming events in Strasbourg.

Thanks
Stopostit <Peasant is coming>

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GalacticPresident Apr 29, 2016, 8:37 AM Hi!
New players are always welcome, get ready to battle with some oldschool cards! ;-)

Elfball is a cool deck, be aware that there are versions without Melody as well, I don't know if you've seen them (http://mtg-peasant.com/top8/200/1/), Sylvan Messenger is also a very strong draw option.
I'm not an Elfball expert, but let's see what you need to be worried about. If you want to prepare against other decks, I'd recommend you to start with:
- Mono Black Devotion/ Ghostly Devotion
- Affinity Control
- Faeries
- RDW
- Infect

They are big players in the format and either interact with you a lot or are potentially faster than you, pressing you into the control position. There are other Tier1 decks as well, for example Thopter Combo and Familiars, but I wouldn't worry as much about them, since you are the faster combo deck here. Having played against them certainly helps a lot though, obviously!

First of all, I would check out the SB article that I've written (https://peasantvienna.wordpress.com/the-peasant-sideboard/) to get an overview what possibilities there are and also what other decks might bring in against you. That said, the sideboard of the decklist you postet is very good I think. Let's see.
Regarding the decks above, cards you need to have on your radar are:
- Engineered Plague, Cuombajj Witches
Plague is played in a lot of black decks because it's so effective against the Thopter Combo and Aggro decks in general. Without Spidersilk Armor you can't compete.
- Affinity Control runs a lot of burn and if they get Ghiraput Aether Grid online, you are done. That's why some sort of Artifact destruction is absolutely necessary, which can also screw with their artifact mana. Gleeful Sabotage seems like the best choice with so many green creatures.
They also play Krark-Clan Shaman as their sweeper of choice, so watch out for that. Spidersilk doesn't do anything here, the only thing to do is not to overextend if you don't have to.
- Faeries are troublesome because they fly over and counter your business spells. Therefore Scattershot Archer is a good option to have more action spells and overload the counters. Note the untap ability of Quirion Ranger is key here to get around Favorable Winds! (Quirion Ranger is absurd in the Elf deck btw)
- RDW will race you and bring in Electrickery, so Spidersilk seems decent here. Some RDW go with the Goblin plan, other focus on Kiln Fiend + pump. Spidersilk makes blocking the little Goblins favorable, against Kiln Fiend it's not really hot. Wellwisher is very strong here, if they can't remove it you just win right there. (+Quirion Ranger again) More than one could be useful, have seen them in maindecks as well. Damage based decks just have a hard time against it!
- Infect is the deck your linked version seems a little weak against. Longbow is a decent option, but you need it from the start otherwise it's too late. Once you have it in play they can't win anymore though. If you want to be prepared better, I'd go with Moment's Peace. It is super powerful against Infect and any other deck that tries to race you. With the amount of mana Elves can provide, having 2 mana open in their turn isn't too obvious too. (Quirion untap Mana Elves in their turn)

Relic is a generically powerful hate card that will be useful against Reanimator and a little against Familiars (because you can interrupt the Ghostly Flicker Combo. Note that they can get around that fairly easily but it's at least something you can do). I don't think it's a very high priority though.
With these things in mind you are quite well prepared for the decks to beat. There is a lot more to say but for the start this should do! If you have further questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!

stopostit Apr 29, 2016, 9:21 AM Thank you very much That answered a good part of my questions. However, as the deck is really synergistic what would you take out to bring in sideboard elements without diluting too much the main gameplan ?

GalacticPresident May 2, 2016, 7:23 PM That's not an easy question and you'll soon be able to tell better than me if you practice with the deck. It's also something to think about when designing the SB, as you don't want too many cards to bring in in any matchup, but rather a couple of silver bullets in a lot of matchups.
In general I'd guess you can take out a couple of mana elves is the MU is not a race, reduce the symbiote+visionary combo when the MU is about speed only and longbow if the opponent doesn't have creatures worth killing and can reliably be killed by combat damage. Maybe taking out blue is a thing in a pure race, -4 Melody, -4 Ranger, -1 Island, +4 Archer, +? Wellwisher, +? x. You'll have to find out yourself as I don't have any experience with the deck.