[Standard] Abzan Midrange Standard before PT in the making

[G. Moto]

 So playing this deck the way it is, have you found that you feel comfortable playing it? Or do you feel as though there is more you can do to it?

[VayChow]

Still feels something is lacking in the flow of the deck and definitely there is more to do with this.

Belows are the things will do to make the deck more fluid.

2 copies of Dusk and Dawn down to 1 copies : - Drawing this early is not too great but still ok keeping it in hand for ermengency back up. However, drawing another 2nd copy early can be castastrophic.
Replaced by 1 piece of Aethersphere harvester : Increasing Artifacts count for Spire Industry and re-charge energy for Aether Hub as well. Increase mana consistentcy. Eldrazi Scion from Catacomb Sifter can crew this.

3 copies of Scrapheap : Not feeling great with this selection. But couldn't find any better 2-drop that is artifact based. Perhaps reducing down to 2 copy and replacing it with 1 Heart of Kiran.

1 Ishkanah removed : Doesn't feel great to draw it early and casting it on 4th turn without the spiders. Will be replacing this with Angel of Invention.
Angel of Invention: Drop early create wide Board presence to activates Oketra, and Bontu. The +1/+1 ability synergise really well with other creatures to activate Rhonas, crew Kiran.

Below are the things that need to check agaisnt Meta Deck
a) Unchecked : Agaisnt Marvel Ulamorg - 2 Gideon's Intervention. Still lacking 3 more cards
b) Unchecked : Against Mardu Vehicle - 2 Mangle Horn.  Nothing against Gideon. Racing (on the draw) against Mardu  is not a great way of wining.
c) Checked Against Black Green Constrictor / Delirium - Basically, this is a mirror of Black Green with better curve and better utility support. 
d) Checked Agaisnt Most of the Control decks : Control decks need to have answer for our big 4th turn and 5th turn play. Auto-win when we can resolved Dawn late game which generate a lot of card advantage.
c) Checked. Agaisnt Human / Zombies / Winnie rush Decks - Side Board 3 Fumigate should nail them.
d) Unchecked : Against Combo decks that win on 6th turn : e.g. Paradox engine. 2 gideon's Intervention somehow not enough.

Above are my thoughts of this deck at the moment, if any one has any suggestion , feel free to write it out 

[VayChow]

Revision 6

Added/removed cards:
-1 Hazoret the Fervent
-1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
+1 Aethersphere Harvester
+1 Fetid Pools
+2 Heart of Kiran
+1 Kefnet the Mindful
+1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
+1 Woodland Wanderer
-3 (SB) Fumigate
+1 (SB) Dispossess
+3 (SB) Yahenni's Expertise

Changed amounts:
+1 (Main) -1 (SB) Angel of Invention
-1 Catacomb Sifter
-1 Evolving Wilds
+1 (Main) -1 (SB) Gonti, Lord of Luxury
-1 (Main) +1 (SB) Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
+1 Liliana, the Last Hope
-1 Prepare // Fight
-1 Scrapheap Scrounger
-2 Servant of the Conduit
-1 Verdurous Gearhulk
-1 (SB) Manglehorn
+1 (SB) To the Slaughter

Tested on FNM, successfully won and found out a little tweak.

Shifting from ramp into Vehicle Archtype. Ramp can be very good sometimes, but inconsistent. Sometimes, just very bad when luck is not on your side. Vehicle archtype provides more consistentcy and early game control towards planeswalker.

Servant of Conduit down to 2 : Early is very good, mid game to recharge Aether Hub and provide 2nd plain mana type to cast Dusk, Angel Invention, etc. Late game is practically no use except to crew vehicle and as a food for scrapheap scrounger.
Catacomb Sifter down to 2 : Synergy well around the deck, but drawing the 3rd copy is not good overall.
Added Aether Sphere Harvester : Recharge Aether Hub, Vehicle for unactivated god to crew. Basically, this deck is more like a vehicle deck, running on 2 Kiran, 1 Caravan, 1 AetherSphere and 1 Sky Ship. In early game, dropping a God to crew Vehicle seems fair enough.
Kefnet replacing Hazoret: Drawing Hazoret early can be irratating because most of the time, we are only able to clear out our hand on 6th turn onwards. Most of the time we will be keeping Instant speed card and answer card like Dusk  for proper timing. Prefer to have Kefnet on play for draw card ability and crew vehicle instead.
WoodLand Wanderer: Another Synergy piece with Dusk.
Yaheenni Expertise Replacing Fumigate in Sideboard: Need faster and on curve answer against Zombies deck, Rush decks.

a) Unchecked: Against Marvel Ulamorg only 2 Gideon's Intervention. Perhaps the hardest amongst all. Just hope for the best.
b) CHECKED : Against Mardu Vehicle. Why? Having 4 Gods are better than having 4 Gideons in a deck. 6/6 Woodland Wanderer CHECKS Gideon big time. AetherSphere Harvester Checks Kiran. Prepare // Fight is too good against Mardu in Racing.

[G. Moto]

  IT seems that you've made many improvements to this deck and I am proud of you for the progress that you are making. In both appearance and play ability do you feel that this deck is more centered around Amonkhet or Kaladesh? The reason I ask is because obviously every set has its own mechanics and synergies. So knowing where your deck sits will help the base foundation of the deck. That way when you add new cards to the deck and side board it does not throw off the harmony of your deck.

[VayChow]

Revision 7

Added/removed cards:
-1 Fetid Pools
-1 Kefnet the Mindful
-2 Servant of the Conduit
-1 Verdurous Gearhulk
+3 Channeler Initiate
+1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
+1 Scattered Groves
-1 (SB) Ajani Unyielding
-1 (SB) Declaration in Stone
-1 (SB) Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-2 (SB) To the Slaughter
-3 (SB) Yahenni's Expertise
+2 (SB) Fumigate
+1 (SB) Gideon of the Trials
+1 (SB) Lost Legacy
+3 (SB) Transgress the Mind

Changed amounts:
+1 (SB) Dusk // Dawn

Thank you for all the supports and opinion. Couldn't be able to brew this deck without you.

In appearance it feels like a mix of a little bit from every block to make the decks ticks right. We want to have early game presence and this is provided by the Vehicles. But it wouldn't be possible if there is nothing to crew it. Liliana, Nissa, and God from other blocks provide really solid crew to do this. Then, moving into Mid Game and Late Game, this deck will get crushed by decks that focus on ramping (e.g BG Constrictor) and focus on Width Strategy (e.g Zombies), Dusk from Amonkhet provides answer to this problem. Previusly, there is a Fumigate but Fumigate sweep everything including our own creature which doesn't give us any advantage. So, in the Midgame now, we can maintain our board presence by have our Grim Flayers (EM block), Vehicle (Khaladesh) and Gods (Amonkhet) on board , at the same time sweeping the board with Dusk (Amonkhet). This couldn't be done before Amonkhet.

Then coming to Combo decks, like AetherWorks and Newsperspective or any other decks that doesn't win by beat down. Abzan has the answer (check out the sideboard for this). Ever wonder why Abzan able to survive in modern with all the combo decks around, because Abzan has the ability to attack hand before the combo kicks off. So, in standard we are able to do that withlower mana curve piece (Transgress The Mind) against normally 4 CMC and higher combo piece (Aetherworks Marvel and New Perspective). Therefore, in standard, Abzan can still manage combo decks really well (with those low curve hand attacks piece) even without counterspell that is only opened to blue.

Abzan is not really strong before Amonkhet but with all the pieces coming together from Amonkhet, Abzan can finally be a well-balance-rounded deck that can answer many things like how it is supposed to be in the Modern Abzan.

[G. Moto]

  Personally I feel that abzan has always been a strong color combo even before the amonkhet block was introduced. It just depends on the deck build and the consistency of your hands and power plays. For example;
  Zendikar Kor/ Ally Abzan deck.  cards such as retreat to emeria, unified front, kalastria healer, bloodbond vampire, and perhaps even swell of growth would all be good cards to go in combo in a deck such as this. In this sort of deck you'd have a token engine but you'd also have life gain as a means of keeping you alive AND powering up your creatures in the process . It just all depends on the deck build and the overall focus during game play.

[VayChow]

Revision 8

Added/removed cards:
-1 Aethersphere Harvester
-1 Angel of Invention
-2 Catacomb Sifter
-3 Channeler Initiate
-1 Cultivator's Caravan
-2 Heart of Kiran
-2 Prepare // Fight
-2 Scrapheap Scrounger
-2 Shambling Vent
-1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
-4 Spire of Industry
-1 Woodland Wanderer
+1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
+4 Cast Out
+2 Fortified Village
+2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
+2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
+4 Start // Finish
+1 To the Slaughter
-2 (SB) Gideon's Intervention
-1 (SB) Lost Legacy

Changed amounts:
+1 Aether Hub
+1 Concealed Courtyard
-1 Fatal Push
+1 Hissing Quagmire
-1 Liliana, the Last Hope
+1 Plains
+1 Scattered Groves
-1 Swamp
+2 (SB) Dispossess
+1 (SB) Manglehorn

Deck Speed: Good
Deck Power: Good
Deck Versatility: Good

Abzan Standard MidRange, (DUPLICATE VERSION OF MODERN ABZAN?!)
This is the final version of Abzan that I personally have a lot of success in my local FNM's and Events and very satisfied at where it is now.
- Fast deck speed, aiming for 3rd or 4th turn delirium, 95% 5th turn Ishkanah drop with delirium!
- Well-balanced deck, win rate against Aetherworks Marvel, 50%-50% and 70% post side-board.
- Can answer a lot of thing in the current format.

How to activate God?
- Rhonas : Grim Flayer Delirium on turn 3 earliest, Bontu, Gideon.
- Oketra : Start tokens, Nissa Plant Token, Gideon's token, Ishkanah token.
- Bontu : Sacrifice Tokens, Walking Ballista, Finish.

Against Mardu Vehicle:
Key card: Ishakanah, resolving a turn 5 delirium spider always guarantee board stability.

Against Aetherworks Marvel:
Key Card: 3 transgress & 3 Disposses. Resolving a turn 3 disposses on Aetherworks marvel will always make oppenent to scope most of the time.

Against Control Decks:
Key Card: 4 Glint Sleeve Siphoner. Draw the cards and swarm the board.

Agaisnt rest of the deck: 3 Cast out (1st cast out is always cycling for delirium purpose), 3 fatal push, 4 finish, 1 to the slaughter, Totaling at 11 removal pieces. 2 Dusk sweeper. Will take care most of the creature in the standard's format.




 

[G. Moto]

Ok so here's a new question for you..how do you think that this deck will perform against mono-black zombies?

[VayChow]

I say this deck will have a very good chance of beating mono zombie decks on 1st game because we are running 2 dusk on main board, and we have a lot of tokens to slow things down buying more time to search for answer using grim flayers, traverse and glint sleeve siphoner. We can also just trade creatures early and later bring back with dusk. But then, the key is still with the sweepers, if we can't draw it out on time to sweep the boards, we will just lose out to the zombies built up eventually.

I found quite a number of successes by running 5 sweepers when up against Zombies and other Agro decks like Red-White Human, Naya Exert, etc. So this is what I normally do Post Board:

1) Out: Oketra , In: Dusk//Dawn
2) Out: Glint Sleeve Siphoner (x2), In: Fumigate (x2)
3) Out: Glint Sleeve Siphoner (x2) , In: Trangress the mind (x2)
4) Out: Gonti, Lord of Luxury (x1), In: Kalitas (x1)

Glint Sleeve will have to go because most of the time oppenent will bring in like 2-3 copies of Liliana, The Last Hope to get these guys.

Let me know what do you think and how to improve on this.

[G. Moto]

  I think that the big thing about Abzan is its ability to build up its defenses and increase the longevity of the player. If you can create your wall (whether its rapidly growing armies or ever increasing health), then you'll have a solid defense. To accompany this you'll need a way to ensure the safety of your creatures who will be initiating the majority of your offensive plays. Maybe introducing the cartouche of strength will allow for some spot removal as well as the cartouche of ambition. They are both 3-drops and they can serve a great purpose for your deck in the long run. What do you think?

[VayChow]

Revision 9

Added/removed cards:
-1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
-1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
+2 Catacomb Sifter

Changed amounts:

Certainly cartouches are very good, but I try not to mess around it in this deck. To run cartouches, we need to have trial. While cartouches and trial are pretty awesome, it still not enough, we need to have a theme to complete it. Hereby, I present a deck that I have been working on around cartouches and trial with Kefnet and Rhonas as the main theme.

Bant Trial Gods
https://deckstats.net/decks/69433/741163-bant-trial-god

[G. Moto]

  Tell you what, put the kefnet/ Rhonas deck in a new thread and I'll comment on that one as well.

[VayChow]

Revision 10

Added/removed cards:
-1 Bontu the Glorified
-2 Catacomb Sifter
-1 Oketra the True
+2 Gnarlwood Dryad
+1 Prepare // Fight
+2 Tireless Tracker
-2 (SB) Manglehorn
+2 (SB) Gonti, Lord of Luxury

Changed amounts:
-1 Cast Out

[VayChow]

Revision 12

Added/removed cards:
-1 Prepare // Fight
+1 Bontu the Glorified
-2 (SB) Fumigate

Changed amounts:
-1 Concealed Courtyard
+1 Evolving Wilds
+2 (Main) -1 (SB) Gideon of the Trials
-2 (Main) +1 (SB) Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+1 Rhonas the Indomitable
-2 (Main) +2 (SB) Tireless Tracker
+1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
-1 (SB) Anguished Unmaking
+1 (SB) Dusk // Dawn

[VayChow]

Abzan Delirium Midrange Standard

Result on this deck recently on my LGS Standard Showdown-Runner-Up:
1st Round: Agaisnt Mono Black Zombies: Won 2-1
Mulligan Hand: 2 times. Post Board 4 Dusks nail this.

2nd Round: Against Black-Green Energy: Won 2-1
Mulligan Hand 4 times. Post Board 4 Dusks also nail this.

3rd Round: Against Unknown: Draw 1-1
After a total of 6 times mulligan in 6 matches, decided just to draw for the day.