This deck goes big or goes home, you will make bigger creatures than your opponent, protect those creatures with spells like Inspiring Call, and grow them even bigger with Hardened Scales until you overrun you opponent. The deck can win fast as well as survive into the midgame if need be.
-Why play this deck?-
You will enjoy playing this deck if you like having big efficient creatures to smash face with. If you enjoy the the look of despair on your opponents face as you have a 6/5 on turn 3. But most of all you should play this deck if you like a synergy based aggro deck that stays relevant at any point of the game.
-Cards to consider-
-Creatures-
1 CMC Elvish Mystic: Gets you to your 3 drops faster and will overall accelerate your deck. Soldier of the Pantheon: If you go the more aggressive route this guy can be hard to block and powerful in his own right. Doesent have any synergy with the game plan but he is good enough on it's own too consider. Servant of the Scale: I highly recommend you run this card, it plays nice with Hardened Scales and adds more beef to your other creatures when he dies. Hero of Leina Tower: This card can actually be quite good if you go the more targeted/heroic approach to getting counters. Kytheon, Hero of Akros: Kytheon is the real deal in any white based aggro decks, he protects himself and flips to a planeswalker that is all upside. Warden of the First Tree: I find this card hard to rate personally, but if you need a mana sink that keeps relevant at all points of the game this guy is perfect. Honored Hierarch: Getting this guy in for damage instantly makes him quite good, but late game top decks of him is abysmal.
2 CMC
Avatar of the Resolute: This card does exactly what this deck was designed to do, get big and gather counters. This card is a good 2 drop as well as a good drop on turn 6. Run 4. Den Protector: There is a reason this card is seeing lots of play, a 2/1 body that will get a counter and bring the best card in your graveyard back to your hand is nothing to scoff at. Ainok Bond-Kin: First strike is a decent keyword to have but with the size of our guys it is rarely THAT important. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit: Bolstering everytime you play a creature is all kinds of good in this deck and tack that on a respectable body and you have a good card. The only sad part is that :symw::symw: is hard to work with if your running Avatar of the Resolute as well. Fleecemane Lion: Good body that can get bigger with the added benefit of being almost impossible to kill once monstrous, very efficient beat stick. Lightwalker: If you can consistely get some counters on this guy he a two drop 3/2 flyer which is pretty damn good. Undercity Troll: Regenerate attached to a possible 3/3 body for 2 is respectable. Hangarback Walker: Builds himself up, resistant to removal, and castable as a 2/4/6 drop. What is not to love about this great creature?
3 CMC
Managorger Hydra: This card gets big FAST it is a mistake to run less than 4 of this monster. Abzan Falconer: Giving your team flying is a neat trick, not as fast as I would like but this guy could be good against decks that have a lot of ground blockers. Citadel Castellan: The upside of hitting renown on this card is worth the risk as a 4/5 vigilance creature for 3 tends to be good. Deathmist Raptor: If you run this guy with a few more morph creatures he will put in quite a bit of work for you. Very good in the control matchup. Reverent Hunter: In a more green focused list this guy is a powerhouse. Chronicler of Heroes: It will draw you a card 90% of the time and is a 3/3 body himself making he a viable option if you want some more CA. Salt Road Quartermasters: Makes blocking hard for your opponent as well as being a decent size himself. Tuskguard Captain: Trample is good in the deck trust me, now if it's worth running a small slow creature, I am not sure.
-4 CMC-
Abzan Battle Priest: Lifelink can be a lifesaver in the aggro mirror. Daghatar the Adamant: This guy is efficient and makes blocking quite hard for your opponent, with vigilance as the cherry on top! High Sentinels of Arashin: I dont know if you noticed but we have a whole lot of +1/+1 counters floating around, which makes this guy a huge flyer that adds even more counters with your extra mana. Dragonscale General: Continual bolster is good even if he has a small body himself. Polukranos, World Eater: In a more midrange build this guy is a beat stick with removal tacked on. Surrak, the Hunt Caller: If you need to speed up the clock in which you kill your opponent this guy is what you want to run, giving haste to your new creatures on top of being big himself is a good combo.
-5 CMC-
Dromoka, the Eternal: Remember what I said about continuos bolster? well it is still good on a 5/5 flying body. Patron of the Valiant: More counters for all your creatures on a 4/4 body is not bad at all.
-Enchantments-
Hardened Scales: This card is the backbone of the deck makes every single creature bigger every single turn, run 4. Gleam of Authority: If you can get this to stick and are not worried about removal this card will give you alot of value. Citadel Siege: Gives you options and both are quite good in the right situation. Ordeal of Heliod: Makes races against other aggro decks just unfair, I would run this in the sideboard. Banishing Light: Removal for literally anything that is giving you trouble.
-Spells-
God's Willing: With all the removal going around, keeping your 8/8 Managorger Hydra from hitting the graveyard is pretty important. Hunt the Hunter: Great sideboard card to get ride of green blockers. Abzan Advantage: Pumping a creature and getting rid of an enchantment for 2 is exactly what we want from this sideboard card. Display of Dominance: Another prime sideboard spell that you will need to protect your creatures or get rid of a permanent. Dromoka's Command: A nice toolbox card that will help you in a few different matchups as well as adding more counters for your creatures. Feat of Resistance: If targeted removal is giving you trouble I highly recommend this card. Solidarity of Heroes Looks great, but in reality it can be a dead draw as well as a win-more card. Valorous Stance: Removal and protection in one card makes this card very appealing. Wildcall: This card can be really good especially if you get the right creature off the top. Inspiring Call: This will draw you a lot of cards most of the time as well ass being anti-sweeper tech. Reap What Is Sown: With three targets and Hardened Scales out this card is absolutly nasty at 3 mana. Collected Company: With the right build (meaning minimum none creature spells) this card will give you a whole lot of value most of the time. Scale Blessing: Expensive but with the effect of pumping you whole team and bolstering it just might be worth it. Sunbringer's Touch: Hard to say if this is good but trample is good in this deck and so is a big bolster.
-Planeswalkers-
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes : Works well with the counter theme and can get you the creature you need off the top of your deck, a bit expensive for my tastes but not bad in a slower build. Ajani Steadfast : The +1 is good against aggro matchups while the -2 is just good for the deck in general.
This is what I have come up with personally and I am testing it right now to work out the kinks in the list and refine the numbers.
Alright since this is also relevant to this deck I have been running the collected company aggro varient of this type of idea. (New set has me looking at some shenanigans with hangarback though)
This deck fares very well against most of the decks in the format. It has some issues with quality creatures.dec (I think a varient of abzan that beats you with big baddies every turn.)
With origins there are several new and very interesting stratagies that can be ran with.
hangarback walker
this card is bananas. even without counter support he is usually going to be a 2+ for 1. With counter support he will be a must answer fatty with a huge downside to being killed. In my opinion he is a card that will be broken soon and will make for an interesting format
anafenza, the foremost
this card is a very solid body at 3, generates counters and counteracts several popular deck stratagies.
pharika, god of aflfiction
this card is nice in that it protect your enchantments from dromoka's command which is huge. It also recycles bodies into instant deathtouchers.
Hardened scales is a great momentum turner, but the problems I had with it in testing was that it never directly won the game, it just made blowouts even more so.
This can be done with more of an emphasis on W and Heroic. There is an archived thread that discusses that approach. This post has an aggro version that I worked up. There might be some value in combining some of the old stuff with the new.
This can be done with more of an emphasis on W and Heroic. There is an archived thread that discusses that approach. This post has an aggro version that I worked up. There might be some value in combining some of the old stuff with the new.
I agree, and I think discussion on all kinds of build that revolve around the theme would be great to have added to this thread.
@Triv I like the mono green list, it trades reliable removal for more pure power. I was considering adding Sarrak as that guy just adds a lot of speed to the deck in general as his ability will almost always be online. I will add both your suggestions with my rating.
@Stormie How does Chroniclers of Heroes work for you? I was considering testing him but have not yet because of the already good CA we have in the deck, though I suppose a 3/3 that draws you a card is never really bad.
He effectively almost single handily wins matches against control. Once he gets on the field its a downhill slope for them. Otherwise it is a free 3/3 body that replaces itself in hand. The main thing is 95% of the time his trigger goes off, which is huge.
Yeah I highly recommend Phalanx Leader if you go the more white heavy route in conjunction with Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and some solid targeted cards that give counters.
Don't Anafenza and Phalanx Leader kind of play a different game? With one wanting creatures cast and the other to cast spells? I mean you can get around that with Bestow creatures but those aren't particularly great in green or white, the most playable ones are black.
I think Consul's Lieutenant may almost be better. As a 2/1, he's going to get bolstered by Anafenza and also boosts your team when renowned.
It's true that they don't have direct synergy with each other but Anafenza is just good in a deck where you are running more than 20 creatures and phalanx leader works well with hardened scales and all our protection and pump spells.
I meant to put Feat of Resistance in the sideboard, but forgot. I really wish I had. Toughest match was against Goblins (mono-red).
Any ideas how to make it better? Scale Blessing seems interesting, but not sure when it costs 4.
I meant to put Feat of Resistance in the sideboard, but forgot. I really wish I had. Toughest match was against Goblins (mono-red).
Any ideas how to make it better? Scale Blessing seems interesting, but not sure when it costs 4.
Interesting list man. Any specific reason you leave out Hardened Scales? I feel the card really give the deck the explosivness the deck needs to close out games.
Also how did Abzan Falconer work for you? I can definetely see the appeal of giving your creatures evasion to push the last few points of damage through. I agree with you on Feat of Resistance being a great sideboard card considering our weaker match ups are decks with a good amount of removal.
Honored Hierarch does seem hit or miss, but is great in opening hand. Abzan Falconer has been great. Given all my creatures flying has one some games.
I haven't tried Hardened Scales in the deck, I might try it this week. It just seems like a win more, or do nothing.
Curious if Evolutionary Leap works for you. But I think Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is better late game to get card advantage.
After having looked at the lists here, I'll probably pull Feed the Clan in favor of Ordeal of Heliod to help with racing situations. I'm also definitely pulling the third Blossoming Sands for a second Mana Confluence or possibly just another basic Plains. I didn't think that 7 CiPT lands would hinder me too much, but it was definitely noticeable when trying to curve out. Dropping to 20 green sources shouldn't be much of an issue.
All in all, the deck felt great. I consistently felt like I was doing proactive things that were simply more powerful than my opponent, and post-sideboard I could run through mono-removal.dec with the Deathmist Raptor & Mastery of the Unseen package. I ended up beating the following decks: GW Collected Company (2-0), Jeff Hoogland's UW Thopter Control (2-0), Temur midrange (2-0), BG Elves (2-1), and BR Dragons (2-0).
I agree on cutting some Blossoming sands in favor for more not ETB tapped lands, your deck seems like it can really blow out of the gates quick and you don't need your lands slowing you down. Fleecemane Lion seems like it is the 2 drop I never knew I wanted, what is your take on how he fits and plays in the deck?
I have had mixed results with my 4 drops of choice personally, as High Sentinels of Arashin is a large evasive creature that can help grind out games, while Surrak, the Hunt Caller can be the final nail in the coffin for slower decks.
I agree on cutting some Blossoming sands in favor for more not ETB tapped lands, your deck seems like it can really blow out of the gates quick and you don't need your lands slowing you down. Fleecemane Lion seems like it is the 2 drop I never knew I wanted, what is your take on how he fits and plays in the deck?
I have had mixed results with my 4 drops of choice personally, as High Sentinels of Arashin is a large evasive creature that can help grind out games, while Surrak, the Hunt Caller can be the final nail in the coffin for slower decks.
Thanks, bruh. I had to make one of my friends (went with 3 other pretty serious grinders, we all typically play established tier 1 decks) eat crow for mocking my deck choice, lol.
Fleecemane Lion is just a rock solid, high floor, low ceiling type of card. It's lost some luster as a result of Languish, but this deck outgrows that card pretty quickly. When I was looking at the curve of the deck, I knew I wanted another 2-drop, and the Lion provides one that's both resilient and efficient on it's own. It's not nearly as sexy as making an 8/7 reach/trampling Avatar of the Resolute, but a Watchwolf on two just stonewalls a lot of other aggro decks, and a 5/5 or 6/6 hexproof indestructible is something that most grindy decks have a hard time answering sans-Ugin. Just make sure to play around edict effects!
Pros: Provides another mana sink, great blocker and early pressure that doesn't rely on Hardened Scales. Safe place to put counters once it gets monstrous.
Cons: No evasion. Doesn't have the high upside of an Avatar of the Resolute.
As for the top-end on the deck, I found that I wanted evasion and another mana sink (noticing a trend here? I played a lot of Abzan Aggro during KTK-FRF-DTK) more-so than the 'gotcha' effect on Surrak, the Hunt Caller. Synergy feels pretty important in this deck, and the Sentinels definitely contribute to that. As a full disclaimer, I'll note that I never actually tested Surrak. I might just be completely wrong, lol
Getting back in to Magic after a long spell out of the game. I was browsing through the post-rotation card list (I know...) and came across this fun little archetype. I built the above to go around or through other decks. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is my current problem card, since it's rough getting to WW that early. The original list had Citadel Siege in it, but I found it to be too slow when playing and a hit to the creature base for Collected Company.
Plan on testing out this out at some FNMs in the coming weeks
Collected company could end up being really good in this deck yet I have still not tested it personally. The problem your having with anafenza is gonna be rough since your sunning both Avatar and Anafenza in the same list. If you dont care about having to drop anafenza turn 3-5 instead of turn 2 then it's fine, but if you are relying on it coming down on turn 2 I think you might be better off dropping Avatar or Anafenza and only run one.
Collected company could end up being really good in this deck yet I have still not tested it personally. The problem your having with anafenza is gonna be rough since your sunning both Avatar and Anafenza in the same list. If you dont care about having to drop anafenza turn 3-5 instead of turn 2 then it's fine, but if you are relying on it coming down on turn 2 I think you might be better off dropping Avatar or Anafenza and only run one.
Avatar shows up really big if it comes in late with Collected Company and I'm more in G here than W, hence it being on the cut list. Current thoughts for replacement are Den Protector (Can return CoCo, Megamorph works with the counter synergy) or Hangerback Walker (Gets big, replaces itself, great counter synergy, misses horribly with CoCo.)
For land, are Blossoming Sands worth playing with a lower curve version here? I was thinking of switching the land package as so:
I recommend Both Den Protector and Hangarback Walker personally but I could see only running 1-2 of the Walker due to it having bad synergy with CoCo. I would run Temple of Plenty before considering Blossoming Sands but if you are just thinking about rotation then Sands does a decent impression.
@ Trivmvirate
I agree that Surrak has not been the hero this deck needs as he does end up getting chump blocked for days. Splashing into white for the Sentinels and Dromoka's Command is way to strong to pass up in my opinion, both of those cards add a lot of power to the deck.
Updated the main post with Ken Yukihiro's Decklist that he ran to a 6-3 finish at the pro tour. The decklist has some interesting choices and ended up confirming my suspicions that targeted protection spells are going to be important for this deck.
So I did some more testing today and finally found the chink in the armor. I was consistently smashing U/x control, aggro, devotion, and midrange decks... and now I've figured out why none of the pros are really on this deck: it simply cannot beat Abzan Control. Abzan Charm matches up really well with Hangarback Walker. Monstrous Fleecemane Lion can be chumped for days. Dromoka's Command can rot in hand when they remove all of your threats. Even the sideboard plan didn't work out. I squeeked out a single game out of 6, and didn't have the stomach to continue.
I'm really at an impasse here. There were a ton of aggressive Mono Red and UR Artifact decks at the pro tour. If that translates to a ton of copycat aggro decks this next weekend, I'll have a very real shot at winning this tournament. If people are sleeving up Abzan Control to prepare for Foundry Street Denizen and friends, I'll be dead in the water.
Life choices.
Edit: On a positive note, I played 8 games (4 pre-board, 4 post-board) against Devotion and only lost 1 where he stabilized against a slow draw at 1 life behind back-to-back Dragonlord Atarkas. All in all, that matchup feels like a 90/10 laugher.
Yeah Abzan Control seems to have been something like 30/70 in their favor when I was testing which is quite bad if it makes up a decent amount of the decks at your local store. I found the best way to combat decks like that is to run a combination of Valorous Stance (as a combination or removal and protection) and Gods Willing to protect your creatures from their pretty overwhelming removal suite. Gods willing will deal with everything outside of Languish, and Valorous Stance is good at keeping your creatures alive from anything that is not Abzan Charm and Languish. Though the thing with languish is that our creatures get out of range of it pretty quickly, leaving them to have it on turn 4 or bust.
Yeah Abzan Control seems to have been something like 30/70 in their favor when I was testing which is quite bad if it makes up a decent amount of the decks at your local store. I found the best way to combat decks like that is to run a combination of Valorous Stance (as a combination or removal and protection) and Gods Willing to protect your creatures from their pretty overwhelming removal suite. Gods willing will deal with everything outside of Languish, and Valorous Stance is good at keeping your creatures alive from anything that is not Abzan Charm and Languish. Though the thing with languish is that our creatures get out of range of it pretty quickly, leaving them to have it on turn 4 or bust.
The Pro Tour list looks really interesting. Sideboarding into a heavy planeswalker plan and trying to actually Elspeth them to death seems intriguing, and I love the maindeck Citadel Sieges. I feel like he was being really greedy with his creature package, running 4 Abzan Falconer in the main, Honored Hierarch over Elvish Mystic , and only 22 total creatures being really light on action. The absence of Den Protector is also curious, since I've found it to be so excellent. That being said, I think that the deck having some degree of success on the Pro Tour is evidence that it can be played at more than just FNM's and other casual REL events. If I can get the Abzan matchup to even/favorable post-board, I'll feel extremely confident in taking it to this invitational.
I'll be testing something like this leading up to Saturday:
I like the changes, tell me how Citadel Siege is working for you because I mean it either gets our creatures huge every turn, or helps us race by locling down an opponents creature.
I agree some of the card choices by Ken seem odd but I am starting to understand why he runs the Honored Hierarch's as they are really good on turn one and are a much more aggressive option than mystic elves.
I'm interested to see how the Citadel Siege do for you as well, especially since you're not running Collected Company. If I'm considering dropping Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, it might be worth testing out Siege over Company since I'll be better on mid-game mana.
The tap for any color on Honored Heirarch is also a positive when running more than Dromoka's Command in GW if you can get it renowned.
This deck goes big or goes home, you will make bigger creatures than your opponent, protect those creatures with spells like Inspiring Call, and grow them even bigger with Hardened Scales until you overrun you opponent. The deck can win fast as well as survive into the midgame if need be.
-Why play this deck?-
You will enjoy playing this deck if you like having big efficient creatures to smash face with. If you enjoy the the look of despair on your opponents face as you have a 6/5 on turn 3. But most of all you should play this deck if you like a synergy based aggro deck that stays relevant at any point of the game.
1 CMC
2 CMC
3 CMC
-4 CMC-
-5 CMC-
-Enchantments-
-Spells-
-Planeswalkers-
This is what I have come up with personally and I am testing it right now to work out the kinks in the list and refine the numbers.
4 Servant of the Scale
3 Honored Hierarch
4 Avatar of the Resolute
3 Den Protector
4 Managorger Hydra
3 Hangarback Walker
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
Enchantments:4
4 Hardened Scales
4 Dromoka's Command
2 Valorous Stance
3 Gods Willing
Planeswalkers:2
2 Ajani Steadfast
Lands:22
4 Windswept Heath
4 Temple of Plenty
1 Blossoming Sands
10 Forest
3 Plains
3 Ordeal of Heliod
1 Abzan Advantage
2 Feat of Resistance
2 Abzan Falconer
3 Banishing Light
2 Inspiring Call
2 Unravel the Aether
Ken Yukihiro's List that ended up 6-3 at Pro Tour Origins
4 Honored Hierarch
2 Servant of the Scale
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Managorger Hydra
4 Abzan Falconer
Instants (6)
4 Dromoka's Command
2 Gods Willing
4 Hardened Scales
3 Citadel Siege
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Lands (23)
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Windswept Heath
3 Mana Confluence
7 Forest
5 Plains
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Valorous Stance
1 Ajani Steadfast
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Hornet Nest
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Hallowed Moonlight
Feel free to comment on cards you think would be good additions or ask why certain cards are included.
4 servant of the scale
4 avatar of the resolute
4 elvish mystic
4 chronicler of heroes
4 den protector
4 deathmist raptor
2 warden of the first tree
4 collected company
4 dromoka's command
2 inspiring call
22 lands
10 forest
5 plains
3 nykthos
4 windswept hearth
This deck fares very well against most of the decks in the format. It has some issues with quality creatures.dec (I think a varient of abzan that beats you with big baddies every turn.)
With origins there are several new and very interesting stratagies that can be ran with.
hangarback walker
this card is bananas. even without counter support he is usually going to be a 2+ for 1. With counter support he will be a must answer fatty with a huge downside to being killed. In my opinion he is a card that will be broken soon and will make for an interesting format
anafenza, the foremost
this card is a very solid body at 3, generates counters and counteracts several popular deck stratagies.
pharika, god of aflfiction
this card is nice in that it protect your enchantments from dromoka's command which is huge. It also recycles bodies into instant deathtouchers.
Hardened scales is a great momentum turner, but the problems I had with it in testing was that it never directly won the game, it just made blowouts even more so.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
I agree, and I think discussion on all kinds of build that revolve around the theme would be great to have added to this thread.
@Triv I like the mono green list, it trades reliable removal for more pure power. I was considering adding Sarrak as that guy just adds a lot of speed to the deck in general as his ability will almost always be online. I will add both your suggestions with my rating.
@Stormie How does Chroniclers of Heroes work for you? I was considering testing him but have not yet because of the already good CA we have in the deck, though I suppose a 3/3 that draws you a card is never really bad.
It's true that they don't have direct synergy with each other but Anafenza is just good in a deck where you are running more than 20 creatures and phalanx leader works well with hardened scales and all our protection and pump spells.
4 Honored Hierarch
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Avatar of the Resolute
3 Den Protector
4 Managorger Hydra
4 Abzan Falconer
4 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Dromoka's Command
4 Valorous Stance
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Ajani Steadfast
Lands
4 Windswept Heath
4 Temple of Plenty
10 Forest
6 Plains
I meant to put Feat of Resistance in the sideboard, but forgot. I really wish I had. Toughest match was against Goblins (mono-red).
Any ideas how to make it better? Scale Blessing seems interesting, but not sure when it costs 4.
Interesting list man. Any specific reason you leave out Hardened Scales? I feel the card really give the deck the explosivness the deck needs to close out games.
Also how did Abzan Falconer work for you? I can definetely see the appeal of giving your creatures evasion to push the last few points of damage through. I agree with you on Feat of Resistance being a great sideboard card considering our weaker match ups are decks with a good amount of removal.
Abzan Falconer has been great. Given all my creatures flying has one some games.
I haven't tried Hardened Scales in the deck, I might try it this week. It just seems like a win more, or do nothing.
Curious if Evolutionary Leap works for you. But I think Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is better late game to get card advantage.
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Servant of the Scale
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Managorger Hydra
3 Den Protector
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
4 Hardened Scales
4 Dromoka's Command
1 Bow of Nylea
Land (22)
4 Windswept Heath
4 Temple of Plenty
3 Blossoming Sands
1 Mana Confluence
1 Plains
9 Forest
4 Deathmist Raptor
1 Den Protector
2 Mastery of the Unseen
2 Hunt the Hunter
2 Feed the Clan
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Abzan Falconer
After having looked at the lists here, I'll probably pull Feed the Clan in favor of Ordeal of Heliod to help with racing situations. I'm also definitely pulling the third Blossoming Sands for a second Mana Confluence or possibly just another basic Plains. I didn't think that 7 CiPT lands would hinder me too much, but it was definitely noticeable when trying to curve out. Dropping to 20 green sources shouldn't be much of an issue.
All in all, the deck felt great. I consistently felt like I was doing proactive things that were simply more powerful than my opponent, and post-sideboard I could run through mono-removal.dec with the Deathmist Raptor & Mastery of the Unseen package. I ended up beating the following decks: GW Collected Company (2-0), Jeff Hoogland's UW Thopter Control (2-0), Temur midrange (2-0), BG Elves (2-1), and BR Dragons (2-0).
I agree on cutting some Blossoming sands in favor for more not ETB tapped lands, your deck seems like it can really blow out of the gates quick and you don't need your lands slowing you down. Fleecemane Lion seems like it is the 2 drop I never knew I wanted, what is your take on how he fits and plays in the deck?
I have had mixed results with my 4 drops of choice personally, as High Sentinels of Arashin is a large evasive creature that can help grind out games, while Surrak, the Hunt Caller can be the final nail in the coffin for slower decks.
Thanks, bruh. I had to make one of my friends (went with 3 other pretty serious grinders, we all typically play established tier 1 decks) eat crow for mocking my deck choice, lol.
Fleecemane Lion is just a rock solid, high floor, low ceiling type of card. It's lost some luster as a result of Languish, but this deck outgrows that card pretty quickly. When I was looking at the curve of the deck, I knew I wanted another 2-drop, and the Lion provides one that's both resilient and efficient on it's own. It's not nearly as sexy as making an 8/7 reach/trampling Avatar of the Resolute, but a Watchwolf on two just stonewalls a lot of other aggro decks, and a 5/5 or 6/6 hexproof indestructible is something that most grindy decks have a hard time answering sans-Ugin. Just make sure to play around edict effects!
Pros: Provides another mana sink, great blocker and early pressure that doesn't rely on Hardened Scales. Safe place to put counters once it gets monstrous.
Cons: No evasion. Doesn't have the high upside of an Avatar of the Resolute.
As for the top-end on the deck, I found that I wanted evasion and another mana sink (noticing a trend here? I played a lot of Abzan Aggro during KTK-FRF-DTK) more-so than the 'gotcha' effect on Surrak, the Hunt Caller. Synergy feels pretty important in this deck, and the Sentinels definitely contribute to that. As a full disclaimer, I'll note that I never actually tested Surrak. I might just be completely wrong, lol
4 Abzan Falconer
4 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Managorger Hydra
4 Servant of the Scale
4 Tuskguard Captain
4 Collected Company
4 Dromoka's Command
3 Inspiring Call
Land (22)
11 Forest
7 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
3 Hardened Scales
3 Arashin Cleric
3 Feat of Resistance
3 Naturalize
3 Plummet
3 Radiant Purge
Getting back in to Magic after a long spell out of the game. I was browsing through the post-rotation card list (I know...) and came across this fun little archetype. I built the above to go around or through other decks. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is my current problem card, since it's rough getting to WW that early. The original list had Citadel Siege in it, but I found it to be too slow when playing and a hit to the creature base for Collected Company.
Plan on testing out this out at some FNMs in the coming weeks
Avatar shows up really big if it comes in late with Collected Company and I'm more in G here than W, hence it being on the cut list. Current thoughts for replacement are Den Protector (Can return CoCo, Megamorph works with the counter synergy) or Hangerback Walker (Gets big, replaces itself, great counter synergy, misses horribly with CoCo.)
For land, are Blossoming Sands worth playing with a lower curve version here? I was thinking of switching the land package as so:
11 Forest
7 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
10 Forest
6 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
3 Blossoming Sands
@ Trivmvirate
I agree that Surrak has not been the hero this deck needs as he does end up getting chump blocked for days. Splashing into white for the Sentinels and Dromoka's Command is way to strong to pass up in my opinion, both of those cards add a lot of power to the deck.
Updated the main post with Ken Yukihiro's Decklist that he ran to a 6-3 finish at the pro tour. The decklist has some interesting choices and ended up confirming my suspicions that targeted protection spells are going to be important for this deck.
I'm really at an impasse here. There were a ton of aggressive Mono Red and UR Artifact decks at the pro tour. If that translates to a ton of copycat aggro decks this next weekend, I'll have a very real shot at winning this tournament. If people are sleeving up Abzan Control to prepare for Foundry Street Denizen and friends, I'll be dead in the water.
Life choices.
Edit: On a positive note, I played 8 games (4 pre-board, 4 post-board) against Devotion and only lost 1 where he stabilized against a slow draw at 1 life behind back-to-back Dragonlord Atarkas. All in all, that matchup feels like a 90/10 laugher.
The Pro Tour list looks really interesting. Sideboarding into a heavy planeswalker plan and trying to actually Elspeth them to death seems intriguing, and I love the maindeck Citadel Sieges. I feel like he was being really greedy with his creature package, running 4 Abzan Falconer in the main, Honored Hierarch over Elvish Mystic
I'll be testing something like this leading up to Saturday:
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Servant of the Scale
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Avatar of the Resolute
3 Den Protector
4 Managorger Hydra
Spells (12)
4 Hardened Scales
4 Dromoka's Command
3 Citadel Siege
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
4 Temple of Plenty
2 Blossoming Sands
4 Windswept Heath
1 Mana Confluence
7 Forest
5 Plains
4 Ordeal of Heliod
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Den Protector
2 Valorous Stance
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
I agree some of the card choices by Ken seem odd but I am starting to understand why he runs the Honored Hierarch's as they are really good on turn one and are a much more aggressive option than mystic elves.
The tap for any color on Honored Heirarch is also a positive when running more than Dromoka's Command in GW if you can get it renowned.