From mblack@mdw015.cc.monash.edu.au Fri Jul 22 16:36:18 1994
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 08:34:55 -0400
Subject: The ELF's Guide to the Forests (v1.1)

                ===== The ELF's Guide to the Forests =====
                    --- Version 1.1, July 22, 1994 ---

                The forest's green, in beautiful spring,
                And all is good, and all will be:
                A marvel to behold!
                A marvel to behold!

"Greetings, Traveller," says the figure from the heart of the glade.
"Welcome to my Sanctuary. Do you seek wisdom? For if you do, then you have
come to the right place. I am known as the ELF, and to me, knowledge of
the forest magicks is granted. Stay a while, and learn of the High Magick
you can find in places of life."

The figure emerges from the shadows, and is revealed as a young-appearing
elven man, clad in a cloak of leaves. He smiles as his clasped hands part
revealing the wonders within.

                                -------

The forests are best characterized by two things: Creatures and Mana.
They have other abilities as well, but I will begin by showing the
possibilities with just these things. Please note that I will restrict
my attention here to the more commonly available cards - I'll deal with
the others later.

No other colour has more common creatures. Black has five, Blue has three,
Red has seven, White has four. Green, the colour of the forests, has nine
separate common creatures, ranging from the small creatures costing little
mana, to the Craw Wurm - the most fearsome commonly available creature.

As a result of Green's nature, creatures are generally cheaper to summon
than those of the other colours. The Grizzly Bear, a 2/2 creature, costs
a total of 2 mana. White, Red and Black each have 2/2 creatures, which
cost 3 mana to summon. This is typical of all creatures made by Green.

The common spells to produce mana using Green are these: Wild Growth,
and the Llanowar Elves. Using a judicious amount of these spells, it is
possible to summon such creatures as the Craw Wurm extremely early on in
the game. The only other colour with this capability is Black, and it
gains its mana generally by self-destructive means. There is no Black
PERMANENT which will provide mana. Only the magick of the Forests can
do this. Channel and the Birds of Paradise are the less common ways
of producing mana - the Birds one of the most useful creatures there
is.

This ability of Green's, allow it to survive the common tactic of
Land deprivation - especially if it uses lots of cheap creatures.

In addition to the creatures and mana, the common green spells are
concerned generally with creatures. The two exceptions are Stream of Life,
and Tranquility. Stream of Life is an extremely useful spell - anything
which gives you life helps in duels - and combined with Green's mana
producing capabilities is indeed potent. No mostly Green deck should
be without at least one Tranquility, for it can remove those enchantments
which totally block Green's abilities. Coming to mind are such spells
as the Circle of Protections, Weakness, and Control Magic.

As Uncommon spells, Green has the most widely applicable spells in the
game: Desert Twister and Regrowth. Desert Twister will destroy ANY
permanent in the game, Regrowth will bring back ANY card from your
graveyard. Indeed some useful abilities.


I believe you should never attempt to play a purely green deck - at least
not in serious duels. All of the other colours have defenses against
Green's abilities. White has the Circles, Black has anti-creature magick,
Blue can twist your abilities against you, and Red has many creatures
and destructive magicks to defeat you. If you do play a solely Green
deck I give you this advice: Hit hard, hit fast. Use the quick mana
aspects of green to summon the creatures, and use them to destroy the
opponent as fast as possible. Lots of Elves, Sprites & Bears in this deck.


When combining Green with other types of magic, what are the options?
My friend, I will attempt to elucidate on this fascinating subject, for
indeed, it is by this choice that your style is defined.


                   White/Green: The High Magick of Life
                   ====================================
This combination is very strong on defense. At this point, your only way
to do damage is through Artifacts or Creatures. When this occurs, you must
find ways to get through your opponent's creatures. Green has only one way
of being certain of doing so. It is the enchantment Lure.

Lure should be cast on one of three types of creatures - a creature
destroyer, such as the Thicket Basilisk; a regenerating creature,
or a banding creature. On any other choice, you will lose one creature
without gaining any permanent advantage. Lure is one of those spells which
every serious Green player should have - it is too useful to do without.

Green is, let it be noted, a little light on air-defense. Against Blue and
Black it can really find itself in trouble. For this reason, the White
spell Wall of Swords is truly useful. Unlike Hurricane, which will destroy
all flying creatures, including your own, the Wall of Swords will stay around,
and with one Holy Strength or a Regenerate on it can stop most of the
toughest creatures. Enhance its toughness to destroy even the most potent
of creatures - Giant Growth is a good surprise spell for this.


     Blue/Green - The High Magick of Misdirection and Confusion
     ==========================================================
Much has been said of the Blue permission deck. Once you combine Blue
with Green you begin to look at other tactics for the colour. No longer
have you free access to the counterspells, as too much of your time and
mana is spent it creating creatures. (It is possible to still play in
a countering mode, but you do not use much of Green's capabilities).

Blue has some wonderful enhancements for creatures. Can you say "Flight?"
Blue controls the air, and a single Flight spell on a Ironroot Treefolk
turns it into a Wall of Swords. More expensive, I'll grant you - but this
Wall can attack. And the Flying Craw Wurm. Just watch it become the target
of every anti-creature spell in the deck. For this reason you should
attempt to have at least one Counterspell or similar in hand before doing
something as nasty as this.

One of my favourite tactics with Blue/Green is to use Phantasamal Terrain
on my opponent's lands to bring my Forestwalking creatures to bear. 
Playing with Green also allows you to quickly garner the mana to summon
such expensive creatures as the Sea Serpent. One Blue mana, Five other.
This is not hard at all when you use Green.

Tranquility loses much of its power when combined with Blue - you rely
on your own enchantments too much. But you have access to spells such
as Wanderlust, Psychic Venom, Energy Flux and Power Leak - which cover
the entire range of anti-card magic.


         Black/Green - The High Magick of Death and Decay
         ================================================
I cannot say how surprised I was when first I tried this combination.
Black has one of the most deadly creature enhancers of all time: Unholy
Strength. When placed upon such creatures as the Elvish Archers or the
War Mammoth, it can quickly cause the end of the game. When combined with
White & Blue, Green tends to the longer games. Not so with Black. You
can use Terror, Fear and Paralyze to stop your opponent from blocking,
and quickly romp home to win. 

Howl From Beyond is almost essential in the Black/Green deck, as a way
to get rid of all that excess mana, and it quickly converts all of it
to damage. There is not much more I can say about Black/Green, except
that a Lured, Regenerating Sengir Vampire is a true nightmare to behold.

When playing Black/Green, go for the quick kill. Creatures are extremely
useful here - not only for their damaging ability. Use Sacrifice to
destroy your own creatures, such as the Craw Wurm and Ironroot Treefolk,
when otherwise they would be blocked, and convert the Black Mana thus
gained into fuel for a Drain Life directly on your opponent.


             Red/Green - The High Magick of Destruction
             ==========================================
As opposed to Black/Green, where deadly creatures rule the day, Red/Green
can be a slightly longer deck to play, as you wait behind a screen of
creatures waiting for the opportunity to let loose with a devastating
Fireball or Disintegrate. Such creatures as the Kird Ape - the
most wonderful thing in this combination, are very useful as blockers,
and slightly less so as attackers.

Red/Green is a fast combination. The direct capability of Red, as well
as some of its enhancing abilities cause your opponent to quickly be
jumping behind the nearest CoP for cover. The mana producing abilities of
Green are very useful in augmenting the Red destruction spells.

Tranquilities are the order of the day with Red/Green. Indeed, you will
often need them, as few enchantments will be cast by yourself. Most often,
a Lured Uthden Troll will be all that you need, while your hordes of
creatures roll on by.

Shatterstorms and Shatters are also mainstays of the Red/Green deck. You
have the anti-artifact abilities - use them. With the Legends expansion
set, you can also have the Dwarven Warriors & the Florral Spuzzem.
Destroy an artifact every turn - an extremely useful ability.

The Keldon Warlord is the most useful creature in the Red/Green deck.
He is easily & quickly surrounded by hordes of followers, and when
one of his followers is Lured (hopefully something that regenerates),
he does an amazing amount of damage.

Also extremely useful are the Dwarven Warriors - as many creatures are
small enough to pass by unblocked, and then can be enhanced by other means.


                       ----------------------------

The ELF looks back at you, as you absorb the knowledge he has imparted.
"There are many other aspects of the forests, but those are the ones
 I consider most important at the present time. Please, if you wish
 to ask more questions of me, do so, and please correct me if anything
 seems wrong or a trifle unclear. I would be indeed interested in knowing
 of other strategies pursued by other wizards - particularly in the field
 of Blue/Green magic.

"Until next we meet, my friend... may the forests preserve and protect you."

With a rustle of leaves, the Defender of the Forests is gone.

============================================================================
"The ELF's Guide to the Forests" is a document intended as an aid to new
and old players of Magic: The Gathering. It is written by The ELF, a.k.a.
Merric Blackman, who is very interested in people's opinions of the work,
and whether he should continue to revise and expand upon his examination
of the forests. He is quite happy to have people copy and use this document,
as long as his name is always attached to it. :-)

=== The ELF === mblack@mdw015.cc.monash.edu.au === The ELF ===
        "The forest's green, in beautiful spring,
         When all is good and all will be:
         A marvel to behold! A marvel to behold!"
