Hidden Gems for Voja, Jaws of the Conclave
On behalf of
The first step to building this deck is to find the best Elves and Wolves. Duh. I recommend focusing on the Elves, since there are a lot more of them and you really don’t need to draw that many cards from Voja each turn to really grind out the value. The pool of Wolves is a bit shallow (and filled with wolf hair), so a quick look at EDHREC will show you all the ones that are worthwhile.
Step two is to take advantage of combat. Extra combat steps can get you multiple triggers, but I’m gonna throwback to the original
#1. Master Warcraft
Not a lot of spells let you tamper with combat as much as this little trick. This effect lasts the whole turn, which makes extra combat steps even more safe for our Good Boy to pump the team and draw some cards. But Master Warcraft isn’t just about manipulating combat to protect your creatures; you can play it on an opponent’s turn to control their attack to prevent a big threat from entering combat, or even take a value engine creature that would normally sit on the sidelines of combat and throw them into the fray (like
#2. Marath, Will of the Wild
Let’s say everything is working well—your Elves are getting you counters and your Wolves are getting you cards. Now what? Just combat? While that’s a great Plan A, it’s always important to have a backup. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to spend +1/+1 counters. Marath gives you a lot of utility. It can create an army, shoot down creatures, planeswalkers, battles, and players, and move its counters to somewhere more useful. Just remember—X can’t be 0. So there’s no easy trick to pull with the likes of
#3. Resourceful Defense
The biggest threat to creature-based decks is board wipes. With mass exile effects like
But there are more specific tools for Voja. In case you missed it,
Play Voja again. Load him up with counters and suddenly you’re back in the game. Plus, Voja has trample. One swing might just be enough to kill someone with Commander damage.
#4. Realm Seekers
Lastly, let me remind you about this little card. It’s at a nice intersection of being an Elf, caring about +1/+1 counters, and card advantage. Use it to tutor for any land card—
| Master Warcraft | ||
| Marath, Will of the Wild | ||
| Resourceful Defense | ||
| Realm Seekers |
Until next time, enjoy wearing elf ears and wandering into the woods to befriend a wild animal, or whatever it is you kids are doing these days. Just don’t forget to check out our Premium membership for more entertainment and Magic market insights!
Further Reading:
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Adam Berg
Adam started playing Magic on his 14th birthday, when Judgment just released and the game's first Gorgon was born (It's a girl!). Since then, he's delved deep into Commander, written for television and film, and learned how to drive. He's published two YA Fantasy novels, Rainbringer and The Broken Pantheon. His favorite card is Repay In Kind, which is really all you need to know.