Magic: The Gathering - Voja, Jaws Of The Conclave Commander Deck Guide

It can be a lot of fun to build a Magic: The Gathering deck around a specific creature type, and Elves are an example of a great creature type to build around, being one of the most frequently printed types with a deep card pool to draw from, and tons of support. Even so, the best Elf commander might not be an Elf.

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Voja, Jaws of the Conclave is a Wolf, but he's a friend of Elves. Thrown in front of a solid Naya (red/green/white) deck stuffed full of inexpensive Elves, you'll quickly find yourself snowballing to victory. So cry 'Voja!' and let slip the dogs of war!

The Commander

Voja, Jaws of the Conclave, is a 5/5 legendary Wolf. He costs two generic mana, and one each of red, green, and white. Five mana may seem steep for your commander, but don't forget that you've got access to all the green ramp spells and mana dorks. He's also got some built-in protection to keep your opponents from sending him back to the command zone right away.

Voja has the Vigilance, Trample, and Ward 3 keywords, so you can attack through blockers while keeping him untapped to block on your opponents' turns, and any spell your opponents play that targets him directly will cost three more or be countered automatically.

Even if you can't get him out until your fifth turn, it'll be your opponent's sixth turn before they can cast Murder on him.

Those keywords would make Voja a strong candidate to add to your main deck, but his unique ability makes him an overwhelming commander: Whenever you attack with Voja, you get to put one +1/+1 counter on every creature you control for each Elf that you control, and draw a card for each Wolf that you control.

This happens when you declare attackers, so you'll draw cards and buff your whole board before your opponents declare blockers and well before dealing combat damage. So if you attack with Voja and just three 1/1 Elves you have in play, you'll draw one card and put three +1/+1 counters on each creature, turning your swing for eight into a stampede for 20.

None of Voja's colors have outstanding draw effects, so it's tempting to pack a deck with both Elves and Wolves, but Voja will provide card draw every turn he's in play, and plenty of Elves provide their own draw effects, so you're probably better off using a whole army of unstoppable Elves.

Building The Deck

Vaja's attack ability encourages you to diversify your deck, including both Elves and Wolves (and may make you sad that there are no Elf Werewolves). However, only the Elf buff has the potential to really get out of hand, so we're going to focus on Elves and splash in a few Wolves for extra draw opportunities.

As a result of the Elvish focus, this build will lean heavily towards green, but it does have access to red and white. Outside the recommended cards, look for red and white staples to protect your growing army of creatures and enable extra attack steps.

Ramp

Green has access to a lot of spells that search your library for land cards to put into play. Since many play groups have an unwritten rule against land destruction, this makes for a relatively safe, stable mana base.

Use Nature's Lore, Three Wishes, and Farseek to search for lands by the second turn, and Cultivate and Kodama's Reach on the third. Springbloom Druid also searches for a couple lands, while giving you another Elf on the battlefield.

Several Elves also serve as efficient mana dorks, providing mana and increasing your Elvish board presence to boost Voja's ability. Llanowar Elves is a staple 1/1 green Elf that only costs one green mana and taps for one more, but Elvish Mystic and Fyndhorn Elves are functionally identical, so make sure you run all three for a fairly reliable first-turn ramp.

Other Elves, like Elvish Archdruid, Circle of Dreams Druid, and Priest of Titania, will produce more mana as your Elf army grows, while Knotvine Mystic, Druid of the Anima, Bloom Tender, and Quirion Elves will all fix your mana by providing green, red, or white.

Since Voja is looking to make Elves grow, you can take advantage of the Elves that produce more mana as they get bigger! Gyre Sage, Incubation Druid, Marwyn, the Nurturer, and Viridian Joiner will all produce more mana as they get more +1/+1 counters, and Devoted Druid can trade +1/+1 counters to untap.

Voja won't need nearly as much mana as these Elves can produce once he's in play. Make sure to add all the ones that cost a single green, and the mana fixers, and maybe pick three or four of the others just to be safe. You can always add more if there's room after building the deck.

Elves Together, Strong

Elves tend to be on the small side, but they work together to become stronger than the sum of their parts. Look for Elvish "lords," creatures that provide a bonus to all Elves that you control, to lead your army to victory.

Elvish Champion is the most basic Elf lord, giving all other Elves you control +1/+1 and forestwalk. Leaf-Crowned Visionary gives the same +1/+1 bonus, and allows you to pay one green mana to draw a card whenever you cast an Elf spell.

Imperious Perfect shares the +1/+1 bonus, but can also be used to make cheap 1/1 Elf tokens, which become 2/2 tokens thanks to her bonus.

Perhaps the best Elf lord to include is Galadhrim Brigade, a 2/2 Elf Soldier for two colorless and one green mana that provides all other Elves with +1/+1. It can be played early to give all of your Elves a little more longevity, or later in the game when you're flush with mana and can pay the squad cost multiple times to make a bunch of copies.

Arwen, Weaver of Hope doesn't give existing Elves a passive +1/+1 like the previous members of this list, but she does provide every Elf that comes into play with +1/+1 counters equal to her toughness, which will only grow with Voja active.

Joraga Warcaller is also a flexible addition, which can be a basic 1/1 Elf Warrior for one green mana, or come into play with extra +1/+1 counters for every time you pay the two-mana multikicker, allowing him to be dropped first turn or held in reserve until he can be a real monster. Best of all, Joraga Warcaller gives all other Elves +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on him.

Elves that empower each other are only good if you have a bunch of Elves to Embiggen. While you could keep casting individual elves from your hand, isn't it better to double the number you already have? And then double them again?

Elven Ambush and Elvish Promenade both double the number of Elves you control by making a 1/1 Elf Warrior token for each Elf you already control. You can use Galadhrim Ambush for the same purpose, attacking with your entire army of Elves and using it to create a second army of untapped defenders, or to catch your opponents by surprise when they attack you.

Wolves: Elf's Best Friend

Earlier we discussed sticking to Elves and skipping Wolves, but there are several Elves that bring their animal companions to battle with them. Tolsimir, Voja's trusty companion, has been printed as three separate creature cards, and each one creates a Voja token, providing the best of both worlds.

Turntimber Ranger and Elturgard Ranger also bring their best friends to the battlefield, but at five mana they probably aren't worth including, unless you stretch the deck out to include the Ally creature type, which is stretching it thin.

Wolf-Skull Shaman and Wren's Run Packmaster are must-have creatures for this deck! Wolf-Skull Shaman only costs one colorless and one green mana, and provides a 2/2 Wolf token at the beginning of each of your upkeep phases if your next card is an Elf or Shaman.

Wren's Run Packmaster, meanwhile, gives you a mana dump for later in the game when you're producing more than you can use, and will allow you to generate Wolf tokens on your opponents' turns if you don't need to use your mana to respond to something. Plus, she gives your Wolves deathtouch, forcing your opponents to think twice before blocking.

Wolf-Skull Shaman also triggers off of Elvish Promenade and other Elf-typal noncreature spells.

You may also consider Anara, Wolvid Familiar, a 4/4 legendary Wolf which makes your commander indestructible during your turn, allowing Voja to attack with impunity. Pyreheart Wolf is another good member of the pack, providing all of your creatures with menace.

Deck Tech

While there are no Elf Wolves, all creatures with changeling count as both, and there are a handful of good ones in Voja's colors. Taurean Mauler is a solid choice, since it triggers both parts of Voja's attack ability and grows with each spell your opponents cast.

Maskwood Nexus will extend both creature types to all of your creatures, leading to enormous draw opportunities and creature growth. Mutavault fits, as well, generating mana until you need it to be both an Elf and a Wolf.

Including token generators with Voja, who will already be producing a ton of counters, means that you need to include Doubling Season and cards with similar effects. With just four Elves in play, you'll be able to swing for lethal damage in a single turn.

Eventually some of your creatures are going to be destroyed. A strong board presence is just begging for a Wrath of God or Blasphemous Act, but you can protect all of your counters by moving them onto The Ozolith when your creatures die. Then, the next time you play a creature you can put all the counters onto it.

If you have Doubling Season in play and a creature with three +1/+1 counters is destroyed, The Ozolith gets six +1/+1 counters. When you move them onto another creature, they'll double again to 12 +1/+1 counters. This can turn a board wipe into a lethal commander damage Voja on the very next turn. Math is amazing!

Roaming Throne is considered a must-have companion for any commander with a triggered ability, like Voja. By declaring Roaming Throne to be a Wolf, when Voja attacks you'll activate the +1/+1 counter and draw ability twice. If you can't find a Roaming Throne, or want a backup, Strionic Resonator also copies Voja's ability at a much lower price point.

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