Dear Squee Vol. 1

Dear Squee,

Which is the best tribe in magic and why is it Goblins? Thank you.
— Chuck the Slice (@chucktheslice)

Dear Mr. Slice, 

As this is the first volume of Dear Squee I find it fitting that we discuss the tribes of Magic. From Goblins and Merfolk to Homorids and Kithkin, there are too many synergies to count… but we both know there is only one tribe to run the rest.  

Elves. 

I am basing this off of the following categories: Mana Ramp, On Board Synergy, and Squee’s Personal Bias.

Mana Ramp

It is hard to deny that green is the premier ramp color in Magic. Fueled primarily by Elves and land ramp spells, building a deck that can move quickly is an easy task. With access to cards like Priest of Titania and Exploration, life is good.  What is interesting about green however is the (controversially) underrated access to premier removal. Song of the Dryads anyone? When you take elves that ramp mana, combine them with early game removal, then splash in your choice of go wide and/or tall, you have a winning combination.  

On-Board Synergies

As far as on board synergy goes, there is a better tribe than Elves.  It’s not Goblins… it’s not Cats… its Slivers.  Slivers synergize across the board beautifully. For that matter, Goblins are no slouch here.  There are all sorts of Goblin team effort mechanics including haste, tokens, and power buffs but Goblins lack solidarity on the battlefield(for better or worse). Enter a strong No. 2. Elves.  With Elves that tutor and ramp at the same time like Elvish Harbinger, and the newly printed Allosaurus Shepherd that protects your spells and buffs your elves for 1 CMC… what’s not to love?

Squee’s Personal Bias

Now on to Squee’s personal bias.  This will be short. Across all of the creatures on the commander ban list… there is a tie for the most tribal mentions.  Elves with 2, and Humans with 2.  No Goblins nor Slivers to be seen.  It is possible that Wizards knows Elves(and I suppose now Humans) are the best tribe, and have awarded them more unfair cards.

Thank you Mr. Slice for the great question!

Love,

Squee

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