Dionus, Elvish Archdruid Is an Incredible Upgrade for Elf Commander Decks

Spoiled today from Foundations Jumpstart is Dionus, Elvish Archdruid, and wow, is this a banger for any Elf Commander deck!

We’ve seen playable Elf Commanders printed virtually every year, such as Tyvar, the Pummeler in Duskmourn and Eladamri, Korvecdal in MH3, but the strongest and most synergistic Elf of 2024 is by far Dionus, Elvish Archdruid.

Here’s the newly spoiled Foundations Jumpstart Elf: Dionus, Elvish Archdruid.

Don’t be fooled by the uncommon rarity; this ability is mythic level in an Elf deck and can make for a formidable Commander.

Dionus, Elvish Archdruid has multiple key synergies with Elf decks. Let’s take a look:

Dionus Ramping Synergies

A typical Elf deck will run a dozen or so Elves that tap for mana. Common inclusions are:

Thanks to Dionus, Elvish Archdruid, we get to untap and put a +1/+1 counter on any of these Elves whenever they become tapped. This essentially doubles up each of their mana abilities every turn in the early game, while making them bigger threats in the late game.

The synergy gets even more insane with additional cards, such as Beast Whisperer, which will draw you cards when you play those green creatures out. Combine this with cards like Heritage Druid to tap the new Elves you just drew and played with Beast Whisperer. These kinds of Elf combinations will make for explosive turns out of nowhere.

Dionus Elf Tapping Synergies

Mana tapping is an obvious synergy with Dionus, but let’s not forget about Elves that tap for other abilities.

My favorite, and perhaps the most powerful of these in the 99, is Voice of the Woods. Assuming you have at least 3 other Elves in play with Dionus and Voice of the Woods, you can tap to make two 7/7 green trample creatures every turn!

In a Lathril, Blade of the Elves deck, this is nuts, helping you end the game twice as fast. Dionus also makes a compelling inclusion in Rhys, the Redeemed decks. If you have 6 mana worth of Elf mana generation and Rhys in play, you can double your token count twice per turn.

Dionus Plus One Counter Synergies

Dionus, Elvish Archdruid would be an incredible Elf commander for simply untapping Elves on your turn. But no, that wasn’t enough for Magic: The Gathering. They went ahead and said that when you untap them with Dionus’s ability, they all get a +1/+1 counter.

There are loads of green creatures and Elves that can synergize with the counter ability, and you’re likely already running a few of them in your Elf deck. Here are some of the best to consider:

If Dionus is your Commander, combat tricks like Inspiring Call are nuts. It can save your entire board and draw you 5-10 cards for only three mana.

Dionus, Elvish Archdruid – The Best Elf Commander?

We’ve mentioned that Dionus, Elvish Archdruid can double your mana and tapping abilities as well as proliferate and +1/+1 counter strategies. Finally, Dionus can enable you to do all these things and attack with your creatures.

It allows you to get a combat step in, in addition to any tapping abilities or mana abilities you use. Likely, you’ll want to attack after the counters are on the creatures so you can dish out more damage per turn.

Overall, the culmination of Dionus’s synergies is enormous. It could become one of the best Elf Commanders not banned in the format (sorry, Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary).

Marwyn, the Nurturer is certainly powerful at ramping and is widely considered the go-to Elf Commander at present, but Dionus’s synergies are much deeper and numerous. Whether you want to run this as your Commander or not, you should consider it heavily in at least the 99 of any EDH deck.

Stay tuned to MTG Insider for more Commander analysis and breaking news from Magic’s latest sets!

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