Abzan Rites (Modern)

Maximum Rhinos. Graveyard based value.

Basically, you stall with Thoughtsieze and Satyr Wayfinders as speedbumps T3, you hope to play some sort of removal / play or flashback lingering souls. T4, you rhino either from hand or from graveyard with rites. The deck digs a lot with Satyr Wayfarer and Grisly Salvage. It does not care too much about graveyard hate although Daulthi Voidwalker would makes life hard - ultimately you do not want someone to get a free rhino.

Serra's Emissary is there because giving yourself protection against creatures is game over for some decks. I need to test it to see if it's effective. Ashen Rider is in for Knight of Autumn because of the rise of Kaldra Compleat and needing an effective answer for that equipment. I could have played Anguished Unmaking or Masked Vandal but Ashen Rider was in a previous version of the deck, so it feels right to test that again.

This deck will play through a leyline of the void for the win because it is actually fairly value based. It does not require the graveyard to win. The Graveyard just makes everything more efficient. This deck will struggle against fast combo because it does not have enough disruption before SB to actually stop it unless you get lucky on a thought seize. Even then, the clock is not fast enough.

The deck got Priest of the Fell Rites which is a cheaper reanimate option that can be used twice at the drawback of hurting yourself. I'm going to have to watch this card whether it is actually just killing us by bolting us in the face when we use it.

This deck should be able to do well against control or aggro matchups because it is difficult to disrupt midrange deck.