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Deck Comments / Re: Abzan Aggro Anti-Aggro - Comments

« il: Febbraio 12, 2015, 08:27:32 pm »

Example sideboard strategies

• RW Aggro: +1 Sorin, +1 Ajani, +1 Back to Nature, +1 Murderous Cut |||| -1 Tasigur, -1 Anafenza, -2 Roc
     
• RW Token-Burn: +1 Bile Blight, +1 Nissa, +1 Sorin, +1 Glare, +1 Back to Nature, +1 V. Stance, +1 M. Cut |||| -1 Elspeth, -2 Downfall, -1 Tasigur, -3 Lion
     
• Temur Aggro (w/o SBD): +1 Bile Blight, +1 Murderous Cojut, +1 Sorin |||| -1 Downfall, -1 Tasigur, -1 Elspeth
     
• Temur Aggro (w/ SBD): +1 Bile Blight, +1 Murderous Cut, +1 Sorin |||| -2 Wingmate Roc, -1 Tasigur
     
• UB Control: +2 Nissa, +1 Ajani, +4 Thoughtseize, +1 V. Stance |||| -3 Bile Blight, -3 Drown, -2 Wingmate Roc
     
• Four-Color Delve: +1 M. Cut, +1 Sorin, +1 Nissa, +1 Ajani |||| -3 Drown, -1 Tasigur
     
• W/U Heroic: +1 Ajani, +1 Sorin, +2 Nissa, +3 Thoughtseize, +2 Glare, +1 V. Stance |||| -3 Drown, -3 Bile Blight, -4 Downfall
       - We have to decide whether we want to race or control. IMHO, it's almost always best to choose to race them.
     
• Sultai Ramp: +2 Back to Nature, +1 Valorous Stance, +4 Thoughtseize, +1 Ajani |||| -3 Bile Blight, -2 Sorin, -3 Drown
       - Yes, I realize drown / blight kill their queens... but they quite possibly took those out, and running them makes us more vulnerable to their other threats
     
• Jeskai Aggro: +1 Bile Blight, +1 Sorin |||| -1 Elspeth, -1 Wingmate Roc
     
• Abzan Midrange: +4 Thoughtseize, +1 Ajani, +2 Glare |||| -3 Drown, -3 Bile Blight, -1 Seeker
     
• Abzan Aggro: +1 Ajani, +1 Sorin, +2 Glare, +2 Thoughtseize |||| -3 Drown, -3 Bile Blight
     
• Sultai Control: +1 Ajani, +1 Sorin, +2 Nissa, +4 Thoughtseize ||| -3 Bile Blight, -3 Drown in Sorrow, -1 Tasigur, -1 Seeker
     
• Green Devotion: +1 Back to Nature, +1 Sorin, +1 M. Cut, +1 V. Stance, +4 Thoughtseize |||| -1 Bile Blight, -1 Tasigur, -2 Drown (if you think they might drop their mana dorks), -3 Courser of Kruphix, -1 Seeker
     
• Temur Ascendancy Combo (would be a great time to have Abzan Charm): +2 Back to Nature, +1 Sorin, +1 M. Cut, +1 V. Stance, +4 Thoughtseize |||| -1 Bile Blight, -1 Tasigur, -3 Drown (if you think they might drop their mana dorks), -3 Courser of Kruphix, -1 Seeker of the Way
  

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Deck Comments / Re: Abzan Aggro Anti-Aggro - Comments

« il: Febbraio 12, 2015, 08:24:05 pm »

Card choices:

• Fleecemane Lion - chose this card over Raskshasa because it survives drown without needing to be pumped. Its ability is also more relevant vs the field than Raskshasa, since exile effects are quite common in standard right now.
  
• Seeker of the Way- lifelink + prowess gives us more game against other aggro players. It survives a drown (only if we cast it) and if you swing into or block a Rhino, it survives if you cast Bile Blight.
  
• Courser of Kruphix - incremental life-gain, a big butt, land-thinning... what more could you want?
  
• Anafenza the Foremost - this is only a two of because we don't want to be stuck holding one in our hand. It's amazing when it lives.
  
• Brimaz, King of Oreskos - Brimaz is better on an empty board than Anafenza and plays better defense.
  
• Tasigur, the Golden Fang - This legendary is at his best when he comes down early (which we can't really do), when he lets you play an extra spell in a turn, or when you can play him and keep mana open to activate his ability as well. He's a great blocker, a reasonable attacker, and his ability can be good if you plan for it with your delving.
  
• Siege Rhino - It goes without saying that this card is good against aggressive decks.
  
• Wingmate Roc - "Abzan Aggro matches are typically decided by whoever plays the most raided wingmate rocs" - BBD. The life gain is solid, the two bodies are great, and fitting a solid flier in is nice. It's weak if we don't manage to pull off raid, though (but we have enough creatures that this shouldn't be hard). Against UB Control we'd rather have Dromoka, but we can drop it and bring in Nissa instead.
  
• Sorin, Solemn Visitor - Sorin is amazing in a creature dense deck like this. On an empty field, he makes a vampire and leaves behind a planeswalker. On a full field, the lifelink can swing a game in your favor. And his ultimate can be pretty amazing against non-token non-whip decks (especially vs UB Control, but I've never seen him live that long vs them).
  
• Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Why is Elspeth in the main now? Because I'm okay having one dead card that can win us the game if it comes down late. How many times have you been at 6 life while your opponent has 2 Stormbreath Dragons and too much life for you to win by swinging across? How many times would 3 chump-blockers a turn have kept your opponent at bay indefinitely? How freaking ridiculous is the Elspeth + Sorin combo? Also, we're rocking Courser now, so Elspeth is more reasonable to cast, due to Courser helping us get through our lands faster.
  
• Drown in Sorrow - Drown is great against every aggro deck except Abzan, and that's what this deck is for. Drop vs Abzan (unless they're running Heir + Rakshasa + Soldier + Champ...) and non-aggro non-token decks. This kills our own Sorin and Elspeth tokens, but otherwise we can cast it with near impunity.
  
• Bile Blight - Bile Blight is amazing, even if it doesn't kill stuff outright. The mere threat of it lets you swing with your 1/1 Soldier into a Courser or with any non-token creature into a 4/5 or even bigger. Drop vs non-aggro / non-token decks.
  
• Hero's Downfall - Ugh. I really wish we could fit Abzan Charm instead. This is here to take out Ashiok and Stormbreath. No other piece of targeted removal that we can run, aside from Silence the Believers, can hit those targets. Ashiok is so rough for us that if Dark Betrayal hit planeswalkers, I'd run it (in the sideboard).
  

Sideboard:

• Nissa, Worldwaker - bring this in vs UB Control, Sultai Control, Heroic, RW Token Burn, and 4-Color Delve
  
• Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - bring this in against any deck that's slower than us   
  
• Sorin, Solemn Visitor - bring this in whenever we really need a flier or when lifegain is a big deal. It might make sense for this to be a Whip of Erebos instead.
  
• Thoughtseize - for control and planeswalker-heavy match-ups
  
• Valorous Stance - bring in vs midrangey black decks, Black control, and probably the mirror
  
• Glare of Heresy - for the mirror, jeskai, UW Control, and RW aggro
  
• Abzan Charm - bring in vs anyone running Ashcloud Phoenix and for the mirror. Bring in as card draw for grindy match-ups, like UB Control or midrange decks.
  
• Murderous Cut - bring in vs non-token creature decks (RW Aggro counts, too)
  
• Bile Blight - bring this in vs pretty much every aggro deck except the mirror
  
• Back to Nature - bring in vs RW Aggro (Outpost Siege + Chained to the Rocks), Whip decks, and Ascendancy Combo decks (if you think they're going to keep the combo pieces in)
  

Lands:

• 17 black sources, 2 of which are Urborg. 8 of those sources are untapped.
  
• 16 green sources, 9 of which are untapped.
• 16 white sources, 10 of which are untapped (so you can more easily hit Seeker on 2, Brimaz on 3, Sorin on 4, and Roc on 5)
  

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Deck Comments / Re: Abzan Aggro Anti-Aggro - Comments

« il: Febbraio 12, 2015, 08:10:37 pm »

Omitted spells

• Warden - This card used to be in the deck, but I dropped it in favor of 3xCourser, +1x Tasigur. It's solid as a 1 drop vs aggro decks; it can trade with Frost Walker, for example. Better as an effective two drop, since it can swing for 3 on turn 2 - and it's even better once you're able to give it lifelink.
  
• Rakshasa Deathdealer - Rakshasa Deathdealer was not chosen because he dies to Drown in Sorrow unless you pump him.
  
• Heir of the Wilds - Heir is great vs Heroic and alright vs midrange... not so great vs Aggro decks. And it's harder for him to survive a drown in sorrow (you have to already have Anafenza, Rhino, or Tasigur out, and you have to cast it post-combat).
  
• Dromoka - Dromoka would be good in certain matchups - particularly vs RW Aggro - but I'm not convinced that he's better than a 3rd Sorin or 2nd Wingmate Roc... or any of the other cards that we're running.
  
• Herald of Torment - Chose the 3rd Sorin, 2nd Wingmate Roc, and Tasigur over this guy. I'm not sure what I would drop to run him, but he might deserve a board position vs Green Dev / Elspeth decks. He's realistically a 5-costed enchantment that can sometimes end the game.
  
• Mistcutter Hydra - Ha. The only reason this is in my other deck is because control is literally 40% of the metagame. It's not good in any non-warped metagame; don't run it.