I woke up way too early and couldn't go back to sleep, so why not brew a deck?
I've been trying for far too long to come up with an Abzan Rock deck I actually like, and I think I might be onto something here. The general premise is to eke value out of every play until you accrue enough resources to bury your opponents. As the thread prefix suggests, this is a casual deck designed to play with newer players and/or lower powered decks. I opted against including tutors, overpowered card draw, and infinite combos. This deck is designed to play fair and win through combat damage, which is pretty weird for me, so I'm positive I've made some missteps along the way.
I chose Tymna the Weaver and Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper as my commanders because they most synergize with what the deck is trying to do. They're both effectively combat damage triggers, so you're going to want creatures getting through to fuel them. To that end I included a lot of evasive creatures to hopefully get as many Tymna trigger as possible. Ikra is definitely the runt of the litter here, but for more casual tables the life gain adds a lot of sustain to the deck and lessens the pain from my card draw. She's more useful than the other partner options, though Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa comes close.
Creatures: This is not my area of expertise. I'm used to killing creatures, not playing them, so it took me a while combing through decklists here, my old depreciated Abzan decks, EDHREC, and Scryfall to assemble what I think are decent inclusions. I tried to go for either evasive creatures or efficient token produces to get as many combat damage triggers as possible. I also tried to stay away from generic bombs like Craterhoof Behemoth or Avenger of Zendikar to focus on more incremental advantage. That said, I kind of wonder how I'm realistically going to win if I don't use those bombs. In my head the deck works, but in practice I have no idea.
Manlands: After a board wipe I can toss out Tymna and attack with one to start rebuilding my hand and board. In a pinch, they can serve as emergency blockers, too. I figure if they're good anywhere, they'd be good here. I also happen to be a big fan of them. Land is my favorite card type and Mishra's Factory is probably my favorite card.
The card draw/removal packages: I think I may have gone overboard, here. Blowing stuff up is second only to drawing cards as far as my favorite things to do in Magic go, but all that 1 for 1 removal will add up if my draw package isn't up to snuff. I'm considering Tymna a pseudo-Painful Truths in the command zone, so I'll only be casting her when I know I can get hit at least 2 opponents. If she and my creatures happen to stick around, that's just gravy.
Ramp: I'm running seven pieces of ramp and my curve excluding lands is 3.59. Each of them besides Sol Ring are simply +1 mana available. I have no idea what the right ratio here would be since I don't have any particular thing I want to ramp into, but coming from a very mana hungry deck it seems light.
Any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm somewhat out of my element, here.
I've been trying for far too long to come up with an Abzan Rock deck I actually like, and I think I might be onto something here. The general premise is to eke value out of every play until you accrue enough resources to bury your opponents. As the thread prefix suggests, this is a casual deck designed to play with newer players and/or lower powered decks. I opted against including tutors, overpowered card draw, and infinite combos. This deck is designed to play fair and win through combat damage, which is pretty weird for me, so I'm positive I've made some missteps along the way.
I chose Tymna the Weaver and Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper as my commanders because they most synergize with what the deck is trying to do. They're both effectively combat damage triggers, so you're going to want creatures getting through to fuel them. To that end I included a lot of evasive creatures to hopefully get as many Tymna trigger as possible. Ikra is definitely the runt of the litter here, but for more casual tables the life gain adds a lot of sustain to the deck and lessens the pain from my card draw. She's more useful than the other partner options, though Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa comes close.
Anyway, here's the decklist:
1 Tymna the Weaver
1 Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
Creatures: 30
1 Angel of Finality
1 Archon of Justice
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Bane of Progress
1 Doom Whisperer
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Emeria Angel
1 Eternal Witness
1 Grave Titan
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Kalonian Hydra
1 Kinjalli's Sunwing
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Restoration Angel
1 Runic Armasaur
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sun Titan
1 Tendershoot Dryad
1 Vizier of the Menagerie
1 Abzan Charm
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Beast Within
1 Generous Gift
1 Heroic Intervention
1 Moment's Peace
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Teferi's Protection
Sorceries: 17
1 Austere Command
1 Command the Dreadhorde
1 Cultivate
1 Damnation
1 Farseek
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Nature's Lore
1 Night's Whisper
1 Painful Truths
1 Rampant Growth
1 Read the Bones
1 Reanimate
1 Rishkar's Expertise
1 Seasons Past
1 Vindicate
1 Wrath of God
Enchantments: 4
1 Holistic Wisdom
1 Legion's Landing
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Sol Ring
Lands: 36
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Brushland
1 Caves of Koilos
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
7 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hissing Quagmire
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mana Confluence
1 Murmuring Bosk
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Path of Ancestry
5 Plains
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Shambling Vent
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunpetal Grove
4 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Woodland Cemetery
Here's a few thoughts.
Creatures: This is not my area of expertise. I'm used to killing creatures, not playing them, so it took me a while combing through decklists here, my old depreciated Abzan decks, EDHREC, and Scryfall to assemble what I think are decent inclusions. I tried to go for either evasive creatures or efficient token produces to get as many combat damage triggers as possible. I also tried to stay away from generic bombs like Craterhoof Behemoth or Avenger of Zendikar to focus on more incremental advantage. That said, I kind of wonder how I'm realistically going to win if I don't use those bombs. In my head the deck works, but in practice I have no idea.
Manlands: After a board wipe I can toss out Tymna and attack with one to start rebuilding my hand and board. In a pinch, they can serve as emergency blockers, too. I figure if they're good anywhere, they'd be good here. I also happen to be a big fan of them. Land is my favorite card type and Mishra's Factory is probably my favorite card.
The card draw/removal packages: I think I may have gone overboard, here. Blowing stuff up is second only to drawing cards as far as my favorite things to do in Magic go, but all that 1 for 1 removal will add up if my draw package isn't up to snuff. I'm considering Tymna a pseudo-Painful Truths in the command zone, so I'll only be casting her when I know I can get hit at least 2 opponents. If she and my creatures happen to stick around, that's just gravy.
Ramp: I'm running seven pieces of ramp and my curve excluding lands is 3.59. Each of them besides Sol Ring are simply +1 mana available. I have no idea what the right ratio here would be since I don't have any particular thing I want to ramp into, but coming from a very mana hungry deck it seems light.
Any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm somewhat out of my element, here.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK