Thranduil wants a deck that throws away its own cards on purpose for a reward. It also suits a deck that is built around one creature type, like Elves or Dragons.
Mana cost
Blue, Black, Green ()
Power / toughness5 / 6
RarityRare
Thranduil has all activated abilities of all Elf cards in your graveyard.
Whenever another legendary Elf you control enters, draw two cards, then discard a card.
Picked for what they do in Thranduil's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Thranduil's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
explain how Thranduil works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast29 Jun 2026
Activated abilities contain a colon. They're generally written "[Cost]: [Effect]." Some keyword abilities are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder text.
Wizards of the Coast29 Jun 2026
If an activated ability of an Elf card in your graveyard references the card it's printed on by name, treat Thranduil, the Elvenking's instance of that ability as though it referenced Thranduil by name instead.
Wizards of the Coast29 Jun 2026
If Thranduil, the Elvenking gains a set of linked activated abilities (for example, one ability that exiles a card and another that refers to the card "exiled with" the object), that link only lasts for as long as Thranduil has those abilities. If it loses the abilities and then regains them, the link is lost.
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUBGPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black, G for green. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Madness/DiscardDiscard decks throw away their own cards on purpose and play cards that reward each discard. Cards with madness can even be cast for a different, usually cheaper, cost at the moment you discard them.Open the Madness/Discard pageLootingDraws and discards in the same breath. Faithless Looting, Frantic Search. It does not gain you cards. It improves the ones you have, and fills your graveyard on purpose, which is exactly what a reanimator card like Animate Dead wants.Open the Looting pageSelf-DiscardDiscards your own cards as a cost or an effect. Filling your own graveyard on purpose is the point: it feeds cards that bring things back, madness and channel abilities, and some cards are worth more there than in hand. Faithless Looting, Boseiju, Who EnduresOpen the Self-Discard pageTypal/KindredTypal decks are built around one creature type, like Elves, Dragons or Zombies, with cards that make that type stronger. The type is printed after the dash on the card's type line, and the strategy is also called kindred or tribal.Open the Typal/Kindred pageTypal PayoffRewards you for playing lots of one kind of creature. That includes "lords" that make every other Goblin or Merfolk you control bigger, and cards that ask you to choose a creature type and then pay you off for it. A creature type is the word on the middle line of the card, like Goblin, Elf or Zombie.Open the Typal Payoff pageElvesElves are mostly green creatures, and many make extra mana, so Elf decks can play lots of creatures very quickly.Open the Elves pageDrawDraws you extra cards. More cards means more choices every turn, and in a 100-card deck it is the main way to find the pieces you need. Rhystic Study, SkullclampOpen the Draw pageLegends MatterCards that care about legendary cards: rewards for casting them, discounts, or bonuses for each one you control.Open the Legends Matter page
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