Price$3.85 – $20.63
Buy on TCGplayerElves of Deep Shadow
Creature — Elf Druid
LegalRampRank #724
: Add 
. This creature deals 1 damage to you.
1/1
Why is this card good?
A one-mana mana dork that taps for black instead of green, which is its entire identity and its biggest selling point. The self-ping of 1 damage is negligible in a 40-life format — you'll never lose a game to this.
Where it shines is fixing in Golgari (BG) decks that lean black but want green's cheap ramp. It accelerates you into a 3-drop on turn 2 and helps cast double-black spells early, which green dorks like Llanowar Elves can't do. It's also a body for Elf tribal, sacrifice fodder for aristocrats, and recursion target in graveyard decks.
That said, it's a fairly low-impact card. Decks with green can usually run Birds of Paradise or Ignoble Hierarch for better fixing, and the black-only output is restrictive. Skip it in mono-color or fast cEDH lists where one mana of fixing doesn't move the needle.
Best in budget or mid-power BG brews that genuinely struggle with black sources early.
Related cards
Llanowar Elves
Same one-drop mana dork, taps for green.
Elvish Mystic
Classic one-mana green elf ramp.
Fyndhorn Elves
Functional reprint of Llanowar Elves.
Birds of Paradise
One-drop dork producing any color.
Deathrite Shaman
BG elf accelerant with graveyard mana.
Wood Elves
Elf that fetches lands for ramp.
Boreal Druid
One-drop elf druid making colorless mana.
Gilded Lotus
Alternative non-creature mana ramp source.