Broken New Elf Combo Commander Could Dethrone Lathril

Last updated on July 20, 2026

Thranduil the Elvenking | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

The Hobbit debut Stream previewed a parade of goodies from the upcoming small set, including a spat of commanders, many of which were typal. One of the most eye-catching is Thranduil, the Elvenking:

An elf-themed Necrotic Ooze with a stellar color identity is very exciting. Though we very recently got High Perfect Morcant as a great elf commander, Thranduil is one of the few legendary elves that could threaten Lathril, Blade of the Elves’s spot as most popular elf commander.

What Makes Thranduil Different from Other Elf Commanders?

Lathril, Blade of the Elves | Illustration by Caroline Gariba

Thranduil isn’t the first Sultai elf commander (I’ll touch on that shortly) but it is a significant color identity because of how it interacts with the elves from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. While elves in Magic are virtually always green, and often black, LTR spun them as a blue-green archetype to express the wisdom and knowledge Tolkien made a prominent feature of their race. Thranduil lets you play most elves.

The Necrotic Ooze text is obviously busted, as such things often are. It enables some combos, but also lets Thranduil acts as protection of sorts for your best elves. It’s no longer enough to kill Circle of Dreams Druid or Priest of Titania; Thranduil must also be killed unless the original card gets exiled. Alternatively, you can tutor up those cards with Entomb effects to get them quickly.

Lastly, I adore the triggered ability that Catalogs whenever a legendary elf enters. I’m pretty high on any ability that cares about legendary permanents because Wizards’ current design ethos pushes so many legendary permanents into print. The card draw also works very well with the archetype as elves are rarely short on mana, so ensuring you have resources to spend it on it invaluable.

What Does Blue Add to Elf Decks?

Swan Song | Illustration by Peter Mohrbacher

The easy, and correct, answer to what blue adds to any deck is top-tier card advantage and countermagic. Seeking combos with cards like Stock Up and Dig Through Time makes the deck more consistent, especially when you have access to as much mana as elves produce. Protecting your board with cards like Swan Song or stopping your opponents from winning with a well-timed Counterspell is why blue so often dominates Eternal formats.

Additionally, blue has some of the best typal support cards in the game. Raise the Palisade is a stellar one-sided board wipe that shaves a few mana from Kindred Dominance. You get excellent card draw from cards like Kindred Discovery, Distant Melody, and Harmonized Crescendo. The best typal support card for elves specifically might be Reflections of Littjara; the token copies work extremely well in an archetype with cards that scale with your board, like Priest of Titania and elvish Archdruid.

Thranduil Versus Maralen, Fae Ascendant

Thranduil isn’t alone as a Sultai elf commander as Maralen, Fae Ascendant came out earlier this year and quickly rose to prominence as one of the best commanders from Lorwyn Eclipsed. I find Thranduil the better elf commander; the Necrotic Ooze text is more interesting and more powerful than Maralen’s theft ability because it makes your threats sticky and assembles wins easily, with or without combos.

That said, Maralen is still perfectly respectable; it’s a better midrange commander and its identity as a dual typal commander makes it much more flexible for players who don’t want to just dump elves into a deck box.

Thranduil Combos

Devoted Druid | Illustration by Kimonas Theodossiou

One of the easiest ways to win with Thranduil, the Elvenking is infinite combos enabled by its activated ability copying ability. It enables a unique infinite combo and piggybacks off existing combos.

The first combo needs Devoted Druid and either Immaculate Magistrate or Timberwatch Elf in your graveyard. You also need at least one other elf in play. Tap Thranduil for , then add a -1/-1 counter to untap it. Tap it again to give it two +1/+1 counters or +2/+2, depending on which other piece you have, and repeat. It takes 2 -1/-1 counters to untap Thranduil to use both abilities, which the other cards negate so you can produce infinite mana. If you add more than 2 power, Thranduil also becomes infinitely large.

Thranduil can also stand in for other elves in infinite combos. For example, Argothian Elder + Ashaya, Soul of the Wild or Imperious Perfect + Intruder Alarm + a mana dork. You could assemble these in one go with Buried Alive or just use use Thranduil as backup once the original combo piece dies.