Mardu Aggro Control - Zurgo's Menagerie [Dragon-Style] (Standard)

My third take on trying to get a Mardu deck going with Zurgo in it (reason for building it in the first place) that works well on a FNM event.

This deck is not built for speed but rather for a win after building up board presence. Depending on the mix of cards on hand, the strategy can be

a.) a control deck able to take out everything including planeswalkers, brining in creatures and tokens to finish
b.) a deck with so much lifegain/deflection that it can survive initial onslaughts and gain the upper hand in the later game
c.) bringing out strong creatures, flanking them with the removal they need in order to get through

Goblin Rabblemaster can feed Butcher of the Horde. Seeker of the Way has enough spells to pump him up. Sorin supports both the lifegain as well as the token theme. Deflecting palm can enable me to leave my defense open for a bigger attack (a pumped-up dragon, a big burn spell), and Feat of Resistance can keep one of my critters in play at a time when the other guy will be sure he's got it out. How often does an Abzan deck get a Hero's Downfall or a Bile Blight countered when playing against a non-blue deck? These last two are cards that most probably, the opponent will not be expecting, and that may be the edge you need. This way, I hopefully can use my attacking force. Butcher can also gain vigilance with a token if needed.

For all intents and purposes, in a deck featuring a lot of creature threats the opponent will want to remove, Feat of Resistance is as close to a counterspell as you can get while not using a blue deck. You know that in many matchups, you will get removal thrown to your head, and as long as it is targeted, Feat effectively counters it for 2 (two!) mana, gives additional power and defense AND may even give you something unblockable, if the removal comes in your turn before combat. It is good both when I draw a creature-heavy hand, as I will get to keep my best one (which will be the obvious target for removal), as well as with a spell-heavy hand, as then I get to "save" maybe the only creature I have for at least one more round of combat damage. And if that creature happens to be Zurgo (oh, please let it be Zurgo), then the opponent has a real problem on his/her hands ...

I will be playtesting this to see if it makes sense outside of my head as well ... :-)

Oh, and in case you're wondering: yes, Zurgo is weaker than Kolaghan, The Storm's Fury, but this IS his menagerie, so he stays. I have so wanted to play him, and by my helm, I will!