Behind the Magic - Llanowar Elves

Today marks the start of a new segment brought to you by Game Changers.
In Behind the Magic we will be taking a look through the history of certain cards, the good times and
the bad, highlights and rough patches along with prospects for the future.



Llanowar Elves - (LE)
Host - (AJ)

(AJ) - Hello and welcome to Behind the Magic with me, your host, AJ.
Today, I’m sitting down with Llanowar Elves. How are you doing Llanowar Elves? May I call you Llan?

(LE) - (Smiles and nods) I’m doing well thanks and of course you can.

(AJ) - Before we start Llan, I would just like to say that I’m a big fan of yours, you’ve provided me
with a lot of good memories so I'm really glad I have the opportunity to sit down with you and pick
your brain.

(LE) - Why thank you, I do aim to please.

(AJ) - So, where to start. I think it’s fair to say that you are in a fairly prestigious group, being
one of only a handful that have been with Magic since the beginning.

(LE) - Those first eight sets were a bit all over the place in terms of power level so there was a lot
of chopping and changing with what saw print and what didn’t. I do feel lucky to have been with the
game so consistently especially being an original.

(AJ) - From Alpha to Seventh Edition with no breaks or gaps is definitely something to be proud of,
are there any times in that period that stand out for you?

(LE) - Looking back on it now we had no idea how big Magic was going to be, so being part of it on
the ground floor is certainly a highlight of mine. We were all just having fun with it and didn’t take
ourselves too seriously. As for as stand out points go, I would have to say being part of a Worlds
1999 semi final deck along with a bunch of great guys like Albino Troll and Uktabi Orangutan, we still all stay in touch to this day. It’s a high that I can’t explain. We’d all worked so hard to get there and we were partying long into the night that night.

(AJ) - You got to ride that hype all the way up to Seventh Edition but then you disappeared. What
happened?

(LE) - I got benched for Eighth Edition, simple as that. Birds Of Paradise and I had been in from the
start and we run in similar circles, just turned out that he got the nod and I didn’t. I’ll admit it was frustrating but it wasn’t long until I was back on the circuit.

(AJ) - Indeed it wasn’t, you came back in Ninth Edition and kept up a nice run until Magic 2012.
How did it make you feel though losing out to Birds Of Paradise?

(LE) - BoP and I are good friends so there are no hard feelings. He works better than me in some
situations and I work better than him in others. I don’t think it came down to Bop being better or
anything, maybe a tad more versatile, but as I said we’re still friends and we have a lot of love for
each other.

(AJ) - How did the second surge of consecutive prints do for you? Having all of that attention can
take its toll on people.

(LE) - After the initial buzz wore off it was becoming strenuous but I was doing what I love and it’s
not really fair to complain about that. I had become synonymous with the game of Magic, a staple
pick in limited and was still seeing my fair share of pro level play but there was a part of me that
didn’t feel right. I can’t really explain it but it was almost like something was missing. That was when
I chose to step away from the mainstream scene and got more into the supplementary side of the
game. It was in this period of my life that I found myself at the forefront of something new.

(AJ) - Ah that’s right, you were in the very first Duel Deck, Elves vs Goblins.

(LE) - I was. Being part of that group put me back on track in regards to my mindset. It was one of
the first times I felt at home, not just because I was surrounded by my own kind but I felt more central to the overall plan. It was in that Duel Deck that I reconnected with Wood Elves. Wood Elves and I had been around in Seventh and Ninth Ed together but we’d never really hung out, they were always off doing their own thing.

(AJ) - The Duel Deck call up went down a treat though because that saw me being brought in for the
Commander 2014 cycle, Commander Anthology and Eternal Masters.

(AJ) - Ah yes, Eternal Masters. That must be a proud moment for you.

(LE) - (Chuckles cheekily) Damn straight it was. I was among the elite. Being in a set filled up of
the most sought-after standouts in Magic’s history was a dream come true, 249 made the cut and I
was one of the lucky ones.

(AJ) - (A wry smile) So Llan, Dominaria...need I say more?

(LE) - Seven years. It went by so quickly I’ll be honest it didn’t feel like much time at all. It is good to be back in a mainstream set and what a set to come back in to. I simultaneously felt safe - in a “I’ve been here before” kind of way - and nervous as there were a lot of new faces being brought in for one of the most awaited sets ever.

(AJ) - Fourteen mainstream sets, eight supplementary sets, an icon of the game, some dubious seventh ed art that we don’t talk about… - Llanowar Elves laughs and nods agreeingly - what does
the future hold for you?

(LE) - Honestly, I have no idea. I would love to give you a life plan but at the minute I'm just happy
going with the flow. A lot of what I’ve accomplished I never thought I would, I’ve made a lot of friends along the way and have some really good memories, all I can hope for is more of the same.

(AJ) - Llan, it’s been a pleasure meeting you it really has. I’m sure everything will continue to look up for you in your future ventures and I, along with everyone else I’m sure, look forward to seeing where
life takes you.

(LE) - I appreciate that, thank you. This has been a lot of fun my friend.