Elvish Warmaster MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Elf Warrior
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Token creation with each elf spell cast boosts board presence, a key to sustained advantage.
  2. With seven elves, a small mana investment yields a significant, ephemeral army boost.
  3. Elf spells cast at instant speed can unexpectedly expand forces, enhancing strategic depth.

Text of card

Whenever one or more other Elves enter the battlefield under your control, create a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token. This ability triggers only once each turn. : Elves you control get +2/+2 and gain deathtouch until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Elvish Warmaster is stellar for those who appreciate the value of increasing their board presence. With every elf spell you cast, you’re rewarded with a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token, potentially multiplying your forces and keeping your opponents on their toes. This ability is a fantastic way to sustain or gain card advantage as the game progresses by swelling your army with each elf you bring into play.

Resource Acceleration: The Warmaster isn’t just about quantity; it’s also about quality. By amassing seven elves, which is an achievable feat in dedicated elf decks, you can pay a meager two mana to give your army +2/+2 and deathtouch until end of turn. This kind of boost not only accelerates your resources in terms of board strength but also turns all your elves into significant threats, forcing your opponents to hesitate before blocking or attacking into your newly empowered battalion.

Instant Speed: While Elvish Warmaster itself isn’t an instant, its ability to create tokens is not tied to a particular phase or speed. This means that any elf spell you play at instant speed during your opponent’s turn, particularly from sets featuring elves with flash, will trigger the Warmaster’s ability. The result is a surprise expansion of your forces and an instant-speed increase in your potential to turn the tides during the game, all while keeping mana open for other spells or abilities.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Elvish Warmaster in your deck brings a reliance on other elves to truly capitalize on its abilities. Without a sufficient number of elves in play or in hand, you might find this creature less effective.

Specific Mana Cost: The Warmaster comes with a green mana cost that may not fit into every deck seamlessly, particularly those that run multiple colors and might struggle with mana base consistency.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While two mana isn’t exorbitant, there are alternative two-drop elves that might offer immediate impact or have lower summoning conditions, making Elvish Warmaster a potentially less attractive option in faster-paced games or aggro-heavy metas.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Elvish Warmaster is a flexible card that can cement its position in various elf-centric decks, bolstering both aggro and midrange strategies. Its ability to create elf tokens provides a steady stream of board presence and can quickly escalate the threat level on your side of the field.

Combo Potential: The Warmaster shines when paired with other elf synergies, where its second ability can massively pump your entire squad, leading to overwhelming combat phases. It works wonders with cards that untap creatures, allowing for multiple activations in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: Given the shifting landscapes of metagames, the Elvish Warmaster remains pertinent due to its inherent strength in generating creature tokens and buffing your forces, making it a mainstay in elf decks and a constant consideration in green-based strategies.


How to beat

The Elvish Warmaster is a high-impact card in Magic: The Gathering, particularly in decks that synergize with elves. This card’s ability to create elves and buff your entire squad makes it a must-answer threat on the battlefield. However, there are effective strategies to undermine its influence. Essential to this endeavor is interrupting the Elvish Warmaster’s ability to amass a large board presence.

Targeted removal spells offer a straightforward solution to this problem. Cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can dispatch the Warmaster before it overwhelms you with elves. Board wipes like Wrath of God or Damnation are also excellent counters, clearing the board of any elf tokens and the Warmaster itself. Another angle of approach would be to prevent the Warmaster from entering the fray in the first place, using counterspells like Mana Leak or Essence Scatter. Engaging in combat, you would look to block the Warmaster with creatures that can survive its attack, thus stalling the elf engine’s momentum.

Last but not least, maintaining a faster pace than your opponent can also be key. Deploy aggressive creatures early to apply pressure, forcing them to respond to your threats rather than developing their own strategy with the Elvish Warmaster. By using these tactics, you should be able to keep this formidable card in check and steer the game towards victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Elvish Warmaster is a pivotal card for anyone keen on refining their MTG elf deck. Its capacity to bolster your forces and turn the tide of play swiftly is undeniably valuable. As showcased, board presence and instant speed can be game-changing, while weighing in mana costs and deck synergy is crucial for optimizing its effectiveness. If you’re looking to build a resilient, elf-dominated battlefield or simply enhancing your green strategy, this card is an essential piece of the puzzle. Curious about integrating Elvish Warmaster into your collection? Step into our realm, where deeper insights await to sharpen your skills and deck’s edge against any opponent.


Cards like Elvish Warmaster

Elvish Warmaster is a dynamic creature within the Magic: The Gathering universe that finds its niche in Elf tribal decks. It shares the spotlight with cards like Elvish Archdruid, providing not only a boost to other Elves but also an efficient means to create additional Elf tokens. While Elvish Archdruid focuses on ramping up mana, Elvish Warmaster specializes in swelling ranks each time another Elf enters the battlefield under your control.

Parallel to Elvish Warmaster is Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen, another Elf that provides a static buff to fellow Elves and also has the benefit of gaining life upon attacking. However, Elvish Warmaster’s ability to directly influence the board state by producing Elf tokens gives it a unique position when comparing their battlefield impact. Lys Alana Huntmaster is also akin to Elvish Warmaster, with an activation cost associated with creating Elf tokens, but Warmaster’s ease of automatic token generation as a triggered ability highlights its greater efficiency in most scenarios.

In evaluating Elvish Warmaster’s role amongst its peers, it stands out not only as a force multiplier for Elf-centric strategies but also as a valuable tool for continuously expanding your army, making it a formidable presence in Magic: The Gathering matches centered on synergy and creature advantage.

Elvish Archdruid - MTG Card versions
Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen - MTG Card versions
Lys Alana Huntmaster - MTG Card versions
Elvish Archdruid - Magic 2010 (M10)
Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen - Magic Origins Promos (PORI)
Lys Alana Huntmaster - Lorwyn (LRW)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Elvish Warmaster MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Kaldheim, 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 Warmaster and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Elvish Warmaster Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2021-02-05 and 2023-06-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 883322015normalblackAlexander Mokhov
22021-02-05KaldheimKHM 1672015normalblackAlexander Mokhov
32021-02-05KaldheimKHM 3632015normalblackAlexander Mokhov
42021-02-06Kaldheim PromosPKHM 167p2015normalblackAlexander Mokhov
52021-02-06Kaldheim PromosPKHM 167s2015normalblackAlexander Mokhov
62022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 6542015normalblackAlexander Mokhov
72023-06-23Tales of Middle-earth CommanderLTC 2412015normalblackIlker Yildiz

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Elvish Warmaster has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
BrawlLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-02-05 It doesn't matter how many Elves enter the battlefield under your control. The ability creates only one Elf Warrior creature token.
2021-02-05 Once the triggered ability has triggered once during a turn, it can't trigger again, even if the triggered ability is still on the stack, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack.
2021-02-05 The activated ability affects only Elves you control as the ability resolves. Elves you begin to control later in the turn won't get the bonuses. Creatures you control that become Elves later in the turn won't get the bonuses, and Elves you control that got the bonuses that stop being Elves later in the turn won't lose them.

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