Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave | Art by Valera Lutfullina

Wolves and Elves and Counters, Oh My!

Have you ever wanted to build a deck that grows Elves and Wolves out of control? Then this new Murders at Karlov Manor commander, Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave, is the perfect friend for you! VojaVoja has never been printed as its own card before, but has been hitting the table as a Legendary Token since all the way back in Ravnica, City of Guilds as the loyal companion to Tolsimir WolfbloodTolsimir Wolfblood. But now that the Friend to WolvesFriend to Wolves died protecting TrostaniTrostani, Voja is on his own, and he is no slouch as a lone ranger. VojaVoja's first card to himself is an absolute powerhouse, rewarding you handsomely for controlling both Elves and Wolves. On attacks, he puts a +1/+1 counter on the whole team for each of your Elves, and then draws a card for each of your wolves. If that doesn't end games quickly, I don't know what will.

Commander players love building kindred decks, so who could resist the offer of building around two of the top creature types in the game? Or, well, at least one of them... Elves are the second most built around type on EDHREC, with a whopping 53,822 decks. Wolves, on the other hand, are sixty-fifth, with only 1,026 decks. Wolves have long been overshadowed by their more supported Werewolf cousins, but they still have their die-hard fans, and Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave is an incredible new tool. However, the Elves players are definitely making the most use of VojaVoja. 4,332 of his 5,095 decks are built around Elves, compared to only 233 built around Wolves, and it's not hard to see why. Adding +1/+1 counters to your whole team is a ridiculous payoff, which threatens to end the game in short order, and drawing cards too is just as ridiculous. Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave is a Wolf himself, and will always draw at least one card. It's not like drawing cards will ever be bad, and we are definitely going to play some powerful Wolves in this deck, but adding +1/+1 counters just plays so well with the go-wide strategy that Elves lend themselves to.

Deckbuilding From the Ground Up

In decks like these, I like to start with cards that act as the foundation of the strategy, and then branch off from there. One of the reasons Elf decks are so powerful and popular is that the foundational package is so strong. Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves and friends start the game on turn one, and accelerate into even more powerful plays. Six of the top ten most played creatures in Commander on EDHREC are manamana dorksdorks for good reason, and Elves decks can take advantage of these cards better than anyone else. Cards like Priest of TitaniaPriest of Titania, Elvish ArchdruidElvish Archdruid, and Circle of Dreams DruidCircle of Dreams Druid continue the theme of mana production, and have the power to make absolute heaps of mana. And some of the most powerful utility creatures in green just happen to be Elves, from Reclamation SageReclamation Sage to Beast WhispererBeast Whisperer.

This is a great start, but what's great about Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave is that he isn't just a generic Elf commander. He offers a great cross-section of synergy with Wolves and +1/+1 counters as well. My next step was to look up every card that says both "Elf" and "Wolf," and there were quite a few heaters in that list. Wren's Run PackmasterWren's Run Packmaster and Wolf-Skull ShamanWolf-Skull Shaman are receiving new life from this commander, and everyevery versionversion of TolsimirTolsimir fits into this deck like a hand in a glove. Just like the old saying goes, "A wolf is an elf's best friend." Or something like that.

There are also some seriously powerful crossovers between Elves and +1/+1 counters. Gyre SageGyre Sage and Incubation DruidIncubation Druid both add oodles of mana once they're carrying some counters, and Devoted DruidDevoted Druid can convert +1/+1 counters into untaps, which it can then turn into mana. Who knew that what Elves really needed was more mana dorks? In another vein, Joraga WarcallerJoraga Warcaller goes absolutely nuts with Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave. It can give itself some counters, and buffs all your other Elves for each +1/+1 counter on it. But it doesn't care where it got those counters, so when [elVoja, Jaws of the Conclave[/el] buffs the whole team, Joraga WarcallerJoraga Warcaller will make that buff count double on all the other Elves. It's only played in 18% of VojaVoja decks, and I think it's being slept on; it's an incredibly powerful lord in this strategy.

There is also a small subset of Elves that can produce mana equal to their power, and which function similarly to Gyre SageGyre Sage. Alongside the massive pumps that VojaVoja deals out, these cards can pop off. Marwyn, the NurturerMarwyn, the Nurturer is an Elves staple, but I also found Selvala, Heart of the WildsSelvala, Heart of the Wilds on VojaVoja's EDHREC page. One card I did not see was Viridian JoinerViridian Joiner. This unassuming common can make gobs and gobs of mana, and deserves its slot.

Of course, the easiest way to build around two creature types at the same time is to include creatures that are both of those types. Since VojaVoja's attack trigger counts separately for each type, any Elf Wolves will give +1/+1 counters and cards. Sadly, there are no Elf Wolves, but there are some powerful Changelings! Masked VandalMasked Vandal, RealmwalkerRealmwalker, and Taurean MaulerTaurean Mauler are great cards in their own right, and only get better in this deck. Mirror EntityMirror Entity works very well with a team full of +1/+1 counters, as those counters will still add beef to your creatures' stats after Mirror EntityMirror Entity increases their base size. Activating it before attacks will also make Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave dole out counters and draw cards for every creature, regardless of what types it was beforehand. In that vein, both Shields of Velis VelShields of Velis Vel and Volatile ClawsVolatile Claws can turn all of your creatures into every type for a turn, and often act as very cheap ways to draw tons of cards (since the bottleneck in this deck is usually the number of Wolves, not the number of Elves). I had never even heard of Shields of Velis VelShields of Velis Vel before I saw it on VojaVoja's EDHREC page. It's played in 18% of decks, and it fits here perfectly. If you like those one-shot effects, Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus can turn everything into a Changeling, permanently. That gets out of hand fast.

Using Big Mana (aka Winning the Game)

One of the scariest parts of Elves decks is their ability to add ludicrous amounts of mana, and this deck is no different. VojaVoja draws enough cards that using a lot of mana won't be too much of a challenge, but why not try to use it all? If that Priest of TitaniaPriest of Titania is tapping for twenty-five green, you might not be able to spend it all on Elvish MysticElvish Mystics and Beast WithinBeast Withins. Wolfbriar ElementalWolfbriar Elemental plays out very well in this deck, acting as both an X spell and a way to make Wolves. Hangarback WalkerHangarback Walker more straighforwardly turns mana into damage, and can use its ability to repeat that effect if you make it to the next turn without having won. Hollowhenge OverlordHollowhenge Overlord can Flash in as a surprise, and acts as an exponentially increasing Wolf engine, and Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth needs no introduction. It will end games.

Of course, VojaVoja can also end games, especially with an effect that gives Trample. Bramblewood ParagonBramblewood Paragon is an Elf that gives Trample to anything with a +1/+1 counter on it, which every creature will have after one VojaVoja attack. Triumph of the HordesTriumph of the Hordes almost always ends the game immediately by effectively reducing all opponents' life totals to ten.

Finally, there are a couple ways to turn +1/+1 counters into direct damage without attacking. All Will Be OneAll Will Be One is an all-star here, and so is Shalai and HallarShalai and Hallar. Did you know they're also an Elf? I sure didn't before building this deck, but now I do. Get ready to do some math, because these cards combine with VojaVoja to do an amount of damage equal to the number of Elves you control times the number of creatures you control. Luckily for those of you in favor of a more "math is for blockers" approach, this will often be way more than enough.

Sneaky Combo Time

One card I did not see anywhere on VojaVoja's EDHREC page was Turntimber RangerTurntimber Ranger. In most situations, this card works fairly well in this deck. It's an Elf and it creates a Wolf when it comes into play, and it sometimes creates another Wolf when a Changeling enters the battlefield. But alongside Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus, it can make as many Wolves as you want. Since the WolfWolf tokens are also Allies with Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus in play, each will re-trigger Turntimber RangerTurntimber Ranger's ability, until you decide to stop. Watch out, though: if you make more Wolves than you have cards in you library, attacking with VojaVoja will make you lose the game. But if you have an All Will Be OneAll Will Be One or Shalai and HallarShalai and Hallar in play, you won't even need to attack. Turntimber RangerTurntimber Ranger also puts a +1/+1 counter on itself whenever it triggers, so you can use those counters to deal infinite damage.

The Decklist

My goodness, this deck gets out of hand fast. It's not difficult to play VojaVoja on turn three or four, at which point Ward 3 will protect it for at least a turn, and by then it may be too late. VojaVoja adds so much power to the board and so many cards to your hand that life feels easy, and so many of the deck's little cross-synergies really show through when you draw so many cards. I really like including a cheeky infinite combo in a deck like this, since you will often see close to half of your deck, especially after a Shields of Velis VelShields of Velis Vel or Beast WhispererBeast Whisperer. There are so many different angles that VojaVoja rewards, and I know it's going to be a mainstay at tables of all power levels. It turns out that, just as the saying goes, "A wolf is an elf's best friend." Or something like that.

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Jesse Barker Plotkin

Jesse Barker Plotkin started playing Magic with Innistrad. He was disqualified from his first Commander game after he played his second copy of Goblins of the Flarg, and it's all been uphill from there. Outside of Magic, he enjoys writing and running.