Elvish Champion MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 17 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Elf
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. It grants an immediate power boost to elves, intensifying your battlefield presence and pressure on opponents.
  2. Strengthens mana generation, allowing for faster and more impactful spell casting in elf-focused decks.
  3. Instant effect upon play makes Elvish Champion a game-changing card, providing tactical advantages during a match.

Text of card

Other Elf creatures get +1/+1 and have forestwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)

"We've endured your slights to Gaea with the grace of tolerance. Now behold the grace of our ferocity."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Elvish Champion is a key card that can amplify the number of elves on your battlefield. Through its lord effect, every elf you control will get stronger, potentially swaying the game in your favor. This advantage means each elf you play becomes a greater threat, adding to the overall board presence and pressuring your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: By boosting your elf tribe, the Elvish Champion effectively accelerates your resource capability. Elves are known for their mana generating abilities, and when they are strengthened, your mana pool can expand rapidly, allowing you to cast more spells sooner than your opponent can handle.

Instant Speed: While Elvish Champion itself doesn’t function at instant speed, its presence on the battlefield instantly affects all elves. This delivers an immediate impact on the game, as it can turn the tide of battle without warning and when most advantageous during your turn.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Elvish Champion requires both green mana and generic mana, which could pose a challenge for multicolored decks that don’t focus heavily on forests or generating green mana specifically. This could limit the card’s viability across various decks that cannot consistently meet the green mana requirement.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes two green mana and one generic mana, Elvish Champion’s cost may be steep for what it offers. Decks that aim for efficiency and early board presence might find the mana investment into this elf card a bit too high when compared to other lower-cost creatures that could be played sooner.

Discard Requirement: Although the Elvish Champion itself does not have a discard requirement, it is important to mention that the overall deck synergy might suffer in situations where card advantage is key. If included in a deck with other cards that have discard requirements, it may exacerbate the loss of valuable hand resources, which could put the player at a disadvantage.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Elvish Champion offers an impressive boost to your elf-dominated decks. It’s a natural fit in any green deck seeking to capitalize on tribal synergies, enhancing both offense and defense with its forestwalk and elf-buffing abilities.

Combo Potential: This champion works impeccably with other elf-themed cards. It can turn an ordinary group of elves into a formidable force, making it a cornerstone in any elf combo strategy.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where tribal decks are prevalent, or when green ramp strategies dominate, Elvish Champion can shift the balance of power. Its global effect on elves can give you the upper hand against a variety of competitor decks.


How to beat

Elvish Champion is a powerful card that boosts every Elf on the field, making it a staple in Elf-themed decks within MTG. With an ability to grant other Elves +1/+1 and forestwalk, it can turn a modest board of Elves into a formidable force quickly. To tackle this Champion, removal spells are your go-to strategy. Spells that can bypass the Champion’s forestwalk ability, like Doom Blade or Path to Exile, can eliminate it before its power buff becomes a significant issue.

Board wipes are another effective approach. Clearing the board with a card like Wrath of God ensures that the Elvish Champion and the Elves it emboldens are dealt with in one fell swoop. It’s also wise to disrupt your opponent’s mana base, as Elf decks rely on generating a lot of mana. Land destruction or cards that limit mana abilities can slow down the opponent’s game plan significantly, reducing the impact Elvish Champion might have. Lastly, cards that change the creature type or control the battlefield can neutralize the Champion’s influence, making your opponent’s Elves less threatening.

In essence, while the Elvish Champion can be a dangerous asset for Elf decks, there are multiple strategies and cards you can deploy to mitigate or negate its effects, keeping the elven hordes at bay in MTG.


BurnMana Recommendations

Unpacking the appeal of Elvish Champion, we discover a card that’s a staple in elf decks and a booster for forest-dwelling warriors. Managing to synergize with your elven army or thwarting it in your opponents’ lineup is key to modern MTG gameplay strategies. Whether you’re embracing the might of elves or preparing defenses against them, the Elvish Champion serves as a linchpin in countless strategies. We encourage you to further refine your deck-building and in-game tactics by expanding your knowledge with us. Delve deeper into strategies, explore card synergies, and prepare to harness the full potential of your MTG collection.


Cards like Elvish Champion

Elvish Champion is a renowned card within the MTG universe for its unique capability to bolster other elf creatures. Much like Lords of the Unreal which empowers illusion creatures, Elvish Champion offers an anthem effect exclusively for elf kind. A striking difference, however, is the addition of forestwalk granted by Elvish Champion, allowing your elves to potentially become unblockable as long as the opponent has a forest in play.

Another card worthy of comparison is Imperious Perfect, a notable card for elf tribal decks that not only boosts elf creatures but also generates elf warrior tokens. While it lacks the forestwalk ability, it provides consistent token generation. Ezuri, Renegade Leader, presents itself as an alternative with its ability to regenerate elves and, furthermore, offers a massive over-run effect for an aggressive push. What these cards have in common is their innate ability to massively impact elf-based strategies, accentuating strength in numbers and community within the tribe.

In assessing the role of Elvish Champion in the grand tapestry of elf buffs within MTG, its unique blend of empowerment and tactical advantage through forestwalk marks its place as a cornerstone in any deck seeking to harness the full potential of these forest-dwelling warriors.

Imperious Perfect - MTG Card versions
Ezuri, Renegade Leader - MTG Card versions
Imperious Perfect - Champs and States (PCMP)
Ezuri, Renegade Leader - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Elvish Champion MTG card by a specific set like Junior Super Series and Invasion, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Elvish Champion and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Elvish Champion Magic the Gathering card was released in 13 different sets between 1999-12-01 and 2010-06-04. Illustrated by 4 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11999-12-01Junior Super SeriesPSUS 172003normalblackMatt Cavotta
22000-10-02InvasionINV 1861997normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
32001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 240★1997normalblackPaolo Parente
42001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 2401997normalwhitePaolo Parente
52002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 314352003normalblackMatt Cavotta
62003-01-01Japan Junior TournamentPJJT 2N082003normalblackMatt Cavotta
72003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 2412003normalwhiteMark Zug
82003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 241★2003normalblackMark Zug
92005-01-01Junior Series EuropePJSE 2E082003normalblackMatt Cavotta
102005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 238★2003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
112005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 2382003normalwhiteD. Alexander Gregory
122005-08-22Salvat 2005PSAL B492003normalwhiteD. Alexander Gregory
132006-01-01Junior APAC SeriesPJAS 2U082003normalblackMatt Cavotta
142007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 261★2003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
152007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 2612003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
162010-06-04Duels of the PlaneswalkersDPA 602003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
172020-09-26The ListPLST INV-1861997normalblackD. Alexander Gregory

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Elvish Champion has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Elvish Champion card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2004-10-04 It affects Elves controlled by all players, not just yours.
2005-08-01 This card is now an Elf but has been reworded so that it does not give itself the bonus.

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