                     The ELF's Guide to the Forests
                          Supplement 2, Part I
                      version 1.1; July 29th, 1994

The ELF is waiting in his forest glade as other wizards tune in their
crystal balls or file into his presence. A light breeze whispers through
the great trees of the forest as he waits for everyone to be settled. At
last that time has come, and he begins.

"Today, my friends, I will talk of how the Magick of the Forests works
 with and against the other forms of Magick. I am particulary concerned
 with how you may counter other colours using Forest Magick alone.

"If you are seated comfortably, I will begin."

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

                       The Forests and the Plains
                       ==========================

The Plains are the source of White Magick, which is mostly concerned with
defense and healing. To the user of the Forest Magick, there is one great
flaw with White Magick, which makes it vulnerable to the power of the
Forests. It is this: Too much reliance on enchantments.

If you consider the basic spells of White (Common and Uncommon), you
discover that 9 of the 15 uncommons are enchantments, 7 of the 15 commons
are enchantments. Remove these spells with a Tranquility, and White is
left exposed.

The following creatures are of note in the Plains:
    Serra Angel
    Wall of Swords
Unenhanced they prove the most danger to Green's creatures. The only
unenhanced creature which can destroy the Wall of Swords is the Craw Wurm.
All the other normal green creatures will die. (Obviously, specialist
creatures, such as the Force of Nature will also destroy a Wall of Swords).

Green has no natural defense against the Serra Angel except Hurricane -
or the combination of a Giant Spider and a Giant Growth. A Giant Spider
enhanced by a Unholy Strength or Aspect of Wolf will hold the Angel at
bay forever, even possible killing it.

White's Castle enchantment is very much a problem for the creatures of
Green. It enhances the defenders enough to make them near unkillable.
Tranquility is required in this case.

Banding against the forces of Green is almost laughable - it only is of
use if White has more creatures than Green. It is also subject
to the greatest killer in Green's arsenal: the Thicket Basilisk. White's
creatures have no defence against the Lured Basilisk, save perhaps a
Death Ward.

Casting an eye over the Rarer spells of White, we find the following:
    Armageddon hampers White more than Green, as Green has alternate mana
        sources - use those Llanowar Elves & Birds of Paradise.
    Balance is more of a threat to Green, as most of its strength comes
        from creatures.
    Island Sanctuary is a great problem for Green - use Tranquility to
        get rid of it as soon as possible - not enough of Green's creatures
        can fly.
    Personal Incarnation is vulnerable to the Thicket Basilisk, doubly so
        once a Lure has been cast on the Basilisk.
    Reverse Damage is of lesser usefulness against Green - no 20 pt fireballs
    Veteran Bodyguard should die quickly under a mass of creatures
    Wrath of God will hurt Green, but should also hurt White. However, as
        many enchantments may be left around on White's side, try to get
        rid of them with Tranquility - White can be deadly with these
        enchantments.

There is no spell to cause great concern in Arabian Nights or Antiquities.
Most of the spells in Legends follow on from the principles outlined above,
and most are vulnerable to Tranquility.

The creature enchantments of White work well in concert with Green's
creatures. In particular, Lance, as Green has the powerful creatures
(such as the Craw Wurm), which White lacks.

When White and Green work together, Tranquility takes a back seat to the
more specific Disenchant, which also acts on artifacts.

White and Green are the opponents of Black - are are the natural choice
to go together against an opponent who is playing a mainly Black deck.
However, you must take care with this strategy that you have enough
countering magicks to stop Black - as it can easily dominate your 
combination with Glooms and Deathgrips, leaving you helpless.


                        The Forests and the Isles
                        =========================

Without a doubt, the best item you could use in a conflict between these
two opposing forces is the Glasses of Urza. Blue has too much countering
magick to go unaware of the potential this item can swing in your favour.
    
Blue is also the master of the sky. Against such a foe, the Giant
Spiders, Webs and Cockatrices come into their own, as they break down
Blue's flying creatures.
    
Tranquility is once more of use against Blue's warping and damaging
enchantments. A single Control Magic spell from Blue, can totally destroy
Green's chances - especially if cast upon such a creature as the Basilisk.
Spells such as Energy Flux and Feedback can also cause much havoc among
the spells controlled by Green. Tranquility will remove these problems.

Blue is a slower colour than Green to play, in the normal course of affairs.
Many of its powerful spells require two or more Blue mana to cast, in
addition to any other spells. A good tactic against Blue is to use cheap,
fast creatures such as Scryb Sprites. They are too much trouble for Blue
to control, and can win you the game as your opponent struggles to find the
right spells.

In addition, Blue's spell Power Sink is made less useful against the Green
player - it does not force the useless tapping of the alternate power sources,
such as the Elves and Birds.

As the Forests and the Islands are opposing magicks, there are are number
of spells designed specifically to aid the warfare between the colours.

Tsunami is Green's greatest attack against Blue. If you know what your
opponent is going to be using, this is extremely valuable. In addition
to destroying all of your opponent's islands, it will have the side effect
of destroying all creatures dependent on those islands, such as the Sea
Serpent and the Island Fish Jaconius. As the Blue mage relies on a large
amount of mana, this can cripple him.

Two spells are arrayed against the devastating might of Tsunami. Lifetap
is by far the most common of the two. For each and every forest you tap
while Lifetap is in play, your opponent gains one life. However, the elder
wizards of the forests do not rely only on forests to provide their mana,
instead using creatures and artifacts to give more mana.

From Dominia's Legends, we also have Acid Rain. A thousand curses upon the 
wizard who crafted this spell! When cast, all of your beautiful forests will 
be destroyed! Of course, this will not finish you, but it can cripple you.
Be thankful that it is largely unknown at the present time.

When combining the two colours, Blue can help fill Green's gaping hole in
air power, and Green can provide much of the mana to power Blue's spells.
Blue can also provide a good reason for using the Forestwalking creatures:
Phantasamal Terrain.

Unstable Mutation is also a fantastic spell to cast on Green's small
creatures in the early part of the game, while they can slip past the
defenses to do a lot of damage: Scryb Sprites come to mind.
 
                           --------------------

As the ELF continues his lecture on the Forests, a bird spirals down from
the canopy of leaves over head, and chirps something in the ELF's ear. A
look of mild annoyance passes over his face, and he turns to face his
audience once more.

"I must apologise, but I am called away to aid some other fellow who has
 got himself into strife. I have sworn to help him, so I must now depart.
 I shall continue this at a later date.

"Once again, my apologies."

The ELF hastens away, vanishing into the forest as his garb blends perfectly
with his surroundings.


============================================================================
"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. :-)
