Overview

Lorwyn was defined by its tribal identities, but no creature type captured the block's elemental chaos quite like Elementals. Dance of the Elements leans into that chaos fully: it is a five-colour ETB machine that uses evoke as its primary resource engine, extracting massive value from creatures that most decks would only play once and send to the graveyard.

Ashling, the Limitless is a Flamekin shaman whose power grows with each elemental that enters and leaves the battlefield. She is a threat that demands removal but also an engine that rewards keeping the board in constant motion. With 35 elementals in the 99, including some of the most powerful ever printed, the deck rarely runs short of material.

Key Cards

These four cards form the backbone of the deck's strategy and are worth understanding before sitting down to play.

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Mulldrifter
Card Draw · Evoke Pioneer
The original evoke staple. Cast it for its evoke cost of two mana to draw two cards and get the ETB trigger, or cast it normally for a flying body that keeps drawing. With Ashling, the evoked version is never truly wasted.
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Horde of Notions
Graveyard Recursion · Tribal Lord
Lets you pay five mana to play any elemental from your graveyard without paying its mana cost. After evoking creatures into the bin, Horde of Notions retrieves them at a discount, turning your graveyard into a second hand.
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Risen Reef
Land Ramp · Card Advantage
Every elemental entering the battlefield lets you look at the top card of your library and put it into play if it's a land. With 35 elementals in the deck, Risen Reef generates absurd amounts of mana and card advantage in the mid game.
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Omnath, Locus of Rage
Landfall Payoff · Removal Engine
Creates a 5/5 elemental each time a land enters. When any elemental dies, it deals 3 damage to any target. With Risen Reef accelerating land drops and evoke creatures dying constantly, Omnath generates an unending stream of 5/5s and lightning bolts.

Playing the Deck

The first priority is colour fixing. Five colours on a precon budget means the mana base is doing heavy work: Chromatic Lantern, Timeless Lotus, Faeburrow Elder, and Jegantha, the Wellspring are your key pieces for getting all five colours online. Prioritise these in the opening hand.

Once your mana base is stable, look to land Risen Reef before your first major elemental play. Each subsequent elemental cascades into land drops and card selection, quickly generating enough resources to chain multiple plays per turn. Incandescent Soulstoke gives all elementals haste and lets you cheat creatures into play, accelerating your clock significantly.

The late game revolves around Horde of Notions recurring evoked elementals and Omnath converting land drops into a board full of 5/5s. Maelstrom Wanderer and Avenger of Zendikar serve as finishers that close games quickly once your engine is running.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: Exceptional raw card advantage through elemental ETBs. The deck gains value even when its creatures die, making it frustrating to interact with in the traditional sense. Five-colour access provides an answer to virtually every type of threat. Individual cards like Omnath, Avenger of Zendikar, and Maelstrom Wanderer are legitimately powerful.

Weaknesses: The mana base is a genuine liability in the early game; inconsistent colour fixing can strand powerful cards in hand. Ashling is a high-priority removal target, and the deck's engine slows meaningfully when she is off the battlefield. The strategy is also slow to establish, giving faster decks time to develop threats you'll need to interact with before your engine comes online.

Verdict
Dance of the Elements is one of the most powerful precons in the Lorwyn Eclipsed lineup. The raw quality of individual cards is high, and the evoke mechanic generates a kind of cascading value that makes every game feel dynamic. Mana inconsistency is a real limitation out of the box, but adding a few dual lands immediately raises the deck's ceiling. Players who enjoy resource-positive gameplay and watching their board snowball will find this deck deeply satisfying. The Oracle will help you push the elemental engine to its limits.

Want to push the elemental engine further? Build a fully synergy-optimised upgrade with the Oracle.

✦ Build with The Oracle

Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Dance of the Elements precon, enriched with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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