Preconstructed Decks

Elvish Rage

A lot of players enjoy using Preconstructed decks as a way to get a deck together quickly and for a low cost. As a general rule, Pre-cons are weaker than individually constructed decks, but do give you a good base to start out with for casual players, and also a good base to build up from by adding your favorite more powerful cards. Most pre-cons run from $5 - $12, and you get a complete deck, ready to play with everything you need, straight out of the package!  This month, I'd like to go over the Pre-cons offered from the Legions set, and give you a bit of an overview of their strengths and weaknesses.

The following is the deck list (and card links) for the Elvish Rage Pre-con:

#	Name	Rarity	Cost
1	Birchlore Rangers*	C
3	Defiant Elf	C
1	Elvish Pioneer*	C
1	Elvish Scrapper*	U
3	Patron of the Wild	C
1	Taunting Elf*	C
1	Bloodline Shaman*	U
2	Gempalm Strider	U
3	Stonewood Invoker	C
1	Tribal Forcemage	R
1	Wellwisher*	C
2	Wirewood Elf*	C
2	Wirewood Hivemaster	U
1	Elvish Warrior*	C
2	Everglove Courier*	U
2	Timberwatch Elf	C
1	Elvish Pathcutter*	C
1	Heedless One*	U
2	Wirewood Channeler	U
2	Elven Riders*	U
1	Elvish Soultiller	R
25	Forest*	L

Hmm... the deck is definitely focused. Its strong points are centered around getting some pumpers available, because in and of itself, though Elves are nice low costed creatures, they are still weak as an army unless you can play off of their tribal nature.

Wizards included a few cards that will help, such as Timberwatch Elf, which gives a target elf  +X/+X for the number of Elves in play. This card is a must to hit the board. Otherwise, your low powered army is easy pickings. I'd absolutely buy or trade to bring your number up to 4 in your deck. He's a common, so it should be fairly cheap to buy or easy to trade for.

Heedless One is another card you should focus on. Unfortunately, there is only one included with this build. It's a decent uncommon, so a bit more expensive to buy, or you could trade for it. Again, 4 would be an ideal number to include.

Elvish Soultiller is an interesting inclusion, and if you're having to throw your elves out as chump blockers until you can build a stronger board, it would definitely be helpful.

Wellwisher, if it sticks on the table, will help keep you alive while you build your army. I would absolutely try to get 4 into this deck, as it is otherwise weak to large attackers until your table is built. Another common, so should be easy to obtain.

Elven Riders is a possible win condition, as it is unblockable except by flyers or walls.

Cards to consider for cutting, or the generally weaker cards in your deck, include:

Birchlore Rangers
Stonewood Invoker
Elvish Pioneer
Elvish Scrapper
Elvish Pathcutter
Wirewood Channeler

Important!  Be sure to keep your deck right at 60 cards. When you add a card, remove a less useful one from your deck. The smaller your deck, the more it increases your odds of drawing a good card.

Compared to other Precons, I'd rate this one a 3.5 out of 5 as is, and go up to 4 when modified.

Remember that you can also go outside of the cards used here by Wizards. You can use the Pre-cons as a base for a deck, and then add some of your favorite stronger cards that you feel will be helpful. Remember not to stray too far away from the focus or theme of a deck, as that will generally weaken it.

Most of all, have fun with it!  Be constantly on the lookout for cards that you can add to your deck to make it better. If you are a good trader, you should be able to do it all for a small investment, and eventually have a much improved deck!

For those of you that are interested in the list of Precons, you can check them out here: www.ShuffleAndCutGames.com. That will give you an idea of the different decks available and their pricing. I'll review a new deck each week this month, so...

Until next time...

 ~ Christine

www.ShuffleAndCutGames.com