Drain & Gain by user9306002

Format: Commander

Commander: Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Bracket: 4

Deck overview

This is a highly tuned Golgari Elf tribal deck that pivots between a token-swarm beatdown plan and a compact life-gain/loss combo finish. The commander, Lathril, Blade of the Elves, generates Elf tokens on contact and can drain opponents for 10 with ten untapped Elves, but the primary path to victory is assembling an infinite loop: Exquisite Blood with Bloodthirsty Conqueror or Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose - any life-gain trigger (from Essence Warden, Dina, Soul Steeper, or Lathril's drain) immediately chains into a win. A secondary loop uses Mindcrank plus Bloodchief Ascension to mill opponents out. The deck is loaded with premium tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Worldly Tutor, Green Sun's Zenith, Fauna Shaman) and powerful draw engines (Necropotence, Sylvan Library, The Great Henge), giving it exceptional consistency. The mana base is solid with fetch lands, duals, and acceleration from elves and Dark Ritual.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blightsoil Druid
  • 1 Bloodchief Ascension
  • 1 Bloodthirsty Conqueror
  • 1 Blooming Marsh
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bontu's Monument
  • 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
  • 1 Buster Sword
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Cast-Off Consort
  • 1 Cauldron of Essence
  • 1 Circle of Dreams Druid
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Crop Rotation
  • 1 Cruel Tutor
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Darkbore Pathway // Slitherbore Pathway
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Deathcap Glade
  • 1 Deathrite Shaman
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Dina, Soul Steeper
  • 1 Dionus, Elvish Archdruid
  • 1 Eladamri, Korvecdal
  • 1 Elves of Deep Shadow
  • 1 Elvish Archdruid
  • 1 Enduring Tenacity
  • 1 Essence Warden
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Expedition Map
  • 1 Exquisite Blood
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fauna Shaman
  • 1 Finale of Devastation
  • 6 Forest
  • 1 Gilt-Leaf Palace
  • 1 Green Sun's Zenith
  • 1 Heroic Feast
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Huu's Reach
  • 1 Kefka's Tower
  • 1 Lathril, Blade of the Elves
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Llanowar Elves
  • 1 Llanowar Wastes
  • 1 Marauding Blight-Priest
  • 1 Mindcrank
  • 1 Mirri's Guile
  • 1 Nature's Claim
  • 1 Necroblossom Snarl
  • 1 Necropotence
  • 1 Opposition Agent
  • 1 Overgrown Tomb
  • 1 Professor Dellian Fel
  • 1 Seedborn Muse
  • 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
  • 1 Sensei's Divining Top
  • 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
  • 1 Shifting Woodland
  • 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spike Feeder
  • 1 Staff of Domination
  • 1 Starscape Cleric
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 Sylvan Library
  • 1 Sylvan Scrying
  • 1 Sylvan Tutor
  • 1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
  • 1 Tempt with Discovery
  • 1 The Great Henge
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Turbulent Fen
  • 1 Twilight Mire
  • 1 Undergrowth Stadium
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Veil of Summer
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Vernal Fen
  • 1 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Wastewood Verge
  • 1 Wirewood Lodge
  • 1 Withering Curse
  • 1 Woodland Cemetery
  • 1 Worldly Tutor
  • 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth