Abzan Midrange (2a in series of 10) (Frontier)

I'm doing a series of classic good stuff midrange decks in each of the 3 color pairs. I'm starting by doing the wedges. I want to build the decks on curve and try to balance out threats with removal.

For this deck i'm looking at Abzan. There are so many ways you can go with Abzan: stompy creatures, control based midrange, however I am building decks here that are simply balanced good stuff midrange.

(1) Unlike any other archetype, instead of starting with creatures or removal or with some theme I'm simply starting with the four drops. I'm playing 6 in the main and I know from playing a lot of abzan which 6.

(a) Siege Rhino. 4 copies. There is rarely a time you do not like drawing a Rhino.

(b) Sorin, Solemn Visitor. 2 copies. Wrecks aggro. Also, swings midrange match-ups like few other cards in the format. Gaining high amounts of life, every turn, while applying lots of pressure can be crippling against midrange.

(2) The best part of this deck is the versatility in the removal package.

(a) Abzan Charm. 3 copies. We can play 3 copies because of all the life gain at 4cmc. It exiles basically everything we need to take care. Drawing two cards is a pretty solid backup plan.

(b) Dromoka's Command. 2 copies. We will be playing some decent creatures to target and it is a nice bonus to play main deck enchantment removal since Ixalan block has been released.

(c) Fatal Push. 3 copies. Just so good with fetch lands.

(3) I want to play some cards that allow me to cut some lands. I'm not the biggest fan of mana dorks (well the one's available for frontier at least). I'd rather play cards that let us grab an extra land in order to curve out.

(a) Nissa, Vastwood Seer. 1 copy. Body that always grabs a land. The main selling point is how amazing this card is late game once you can flip it.

(b) Jadelight Ranger. 2 copies. Either you are getting a juiced up creature or a land, maybe even two.

(c) Merfolk Branchwalker. 3 copies. Either a solid creature with a scry or a land.

(d) Oath of Nissa. 2 copies. Grabs something you need, often a land on bad opening hands.

there are others to consider, but I think this is the best way to go. I think Oath is better than Traverse in a deck not focused on playing all the card types or a graveyard theme. Rishkar is also worth a look since you are in total control of his outcome, where as Ranger is more of a gamble. Rishkar loses out due to the grave scry built into Ranger.

(4) In my opinion a good midrange deck needs some form of recursion. There has to be a way to get cards back we lose, often these effects are better than drawing a card as we get to pick and choose our card. *Note: we are playing 5 cards with explore as well, so dumping the top card into our graveyard is a possible play.

(a) Liliana, the Last Hope. (1 copy) We are playing some fantastic creatures, and Lily is awesome at getting them back for us. That double black would be scary except for the fact we are not looking to play her on turn 3. Her +1 can also kill a lot of valuable creatures in the format.

(b) Nissa, Vital Force. (1 copy) Getting any permanent back is big. At this stage of the game it is unlikely our opponent can kill of our threat a second time. In addition Nissa is a big threat herself. That land beat down can be intense (and many people forget the land can hang back to be a blocker). You can ultimate on the second turn she is out, against control drawing a card every time you play a land is back breaking for them. If you draw more cards versus control than they do, you are probably going to win since your threats are so much better.

(c) Scrapheap Scrounger. 3 copies. A nice creature to apply some early game pressure that the opponent will have to exile to permanently remove.

(d) Den Protector. 2 copies. Still a good card. Very flexible in how you play it, returns any card, and has a little evasion built in.

(e) Deathmist Raptor. 2 copies. A good card on its own, but when paired with Den protector it becomes a great card. Deathtouch is also very important when playing the fight mechanic on Dromoka's Command as it lets you fight up and still kill your target.

(5) The deck needs to have more options for turn 1. I do not like wasting a turn. In the past I rarely played turn 1 cards, as they are so underpowered, however not playing a card turn 1 is a turn wasted. There are two Oath's right now, there will be a few lands to play tapped, and if you are on the draw you may choose to play Fatal Push on their turn 2 creature. The deck. Narnam Renegade vs Elvish Mystic.

(a) Narnam Renegade. 2 copies. 1/2 is ok, 2/3 is really good. The deathtouch is why we play this card as some extra removal on a stick can be pretty sweet. NR can potentially get in 4 early damage and then sit there being a deterrent for the rest of the game. Even late game it serves a purpose as a really good blocker. That's why I never went Elvish Mystic. EM is such a dead draw in the midgame on and even if it does cut a land slot, but you need to play a full four to get value. I'd rather get an extra threat in.

(6) I want to bring the turn two creatures up from six to eight. So I'm looking at my options.
In green Sylvan Advocate has great upside early and late. Black has Glint Sleeve Siphoner that might draw you a card, but we are not working with energy. White's best option is Selfless Spirit since it has evasion and protects all of our threats.

(a) Selfless Spirit. 2 copies. It just has more upside and can lead to a game win in certain situations. having some board protection in the main deck is a big bonus.

(7) The deck has the room and the acceleration to play a few more mid-game threats.

(a) Tasigur, the Golden Fang. 1 copy. With all the fetch lands this will be a cheap cost play in the mid game. Provides some card draw that the deck is a bit light on. Having 5 toughness and having a high casting cost means Tasigur avoids most the removal in the format.

(b) Wingmate Roc. 1 copy. I looked at a lot of different cards here, but was not happy with the choices. Archangel Avacyn has the best upside, but I feel would require a couple more slots as it is not really a one of type of card. I just feel that, in a deck that applies pressure such as this one, Roc will always produce the token. Two 3/4 flyers for 5 mana is hard to deal with.

(8) Building up a sideboard plan. This deck plays against aggro pretty well straight up, so I will not be putting much focus there. The deck could use a little hand disruption and higher end removal for decks higher up the curve. The deck has no answer in the main for planeswalkers, other than running them over. The deck needs a way to control graveyards for those shenanigans decks. Lastly, it would be nice to be better equipped to face Company and Cat combo decks.

(a) Hallowed Moonlight. 2 sideboard. Helps with cat combo and Company. There are also other situations that pop up where cards are cheated that it helps with.

(b) Sorcerous Spyglass. 2 sideboard. Turns of a target planeswalker, Marvel, Scarab God, and about a dozen other annoying cards. It comes in versus a lot of matchups.

(c) Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. 2 sideboard. Sorin does not do a lot against control and Gideon is so hard to remove.

(d) Anafenza, the Foremost. 2 sideboard. Shuts off the opponents graveyard for creature recursion or reanimation while also just being a beast of an attacker. The difficult mana restrictions to cast her keep her in the board.

(e) Murderous Cut. 1 sideboard. Straight up cheap destroy a creature at instant speed for when we need something a little bigger taken care of.

(f) Transgress the Mind. 2 sideboard. It just catches all the major threats.

(g) Reclamation Sage. 2 sideboard. Aetherworks Marvel's trigger still goes off even if it is killed at instant speed, and there is no major benefit to killing vehicles or God Pharoah's Gift at instant speed. So playing Naturalize has no upside, while at least RS has a 2/2 body to leave behind.

(h) Duress. 2 sideboard. Good against a lot of decks. Can be a replacement for Fatal Push
when Push does not have any targets.

(9) The mana base is typical of a wedge in frontier and I will not get into too much detail. We need at least 18 green sources (reduce by one by mana fixing cards), 14 white, and 14 black. With Field of Ruin and Settle the Wreckage in the format against us we need to play some basic lands.

(a) Sandsteppe Citadel. 2 copies. Help to cast three colored spells on curve.

(b) Fetch lands. One's that get all three colors.
Wooded Foothills. 4 copies.
Flooded Strand. 4 copies.

(c) Battle Lands.
Canopy Vista. 3 copies.
Sunken Hollow. 1 copy.
Smoldering Marsh. 1 copy.

(d) Basics
Forest. 3 copies. Needed for Nissa to be effective.
Plains. 1 copy.
Swamp. 1 copy.

(e) Need 2 Green sources and one extra. Going for dual lands to help three colored spells.
Sunpetal Grove. 2 copies.
Hissing Quagmire. 1 copy.

Final Thoughts
(A) This is a playable deck. There are different ways in which you can win and some powerful cards at different points of the game.
(B) The removal package is very strong.
(C) The deck is strong against aggro and midrange, but is a little too weak against control and combo decks even after sideboarding.