Built for the Battle for Zendikar Prerelease event on 9/26/15.

This is a WG aggro-midrange deck that uses early threats and combat tricks to create a favorable board position, then uses flying creatures and removal to finish off opponents.  Gideon, Ally of Zendikar gives the deck game against focused Eldrazi and Ally decks when it doesn't steal wins outright, and Angel of Renewal and Bane of Bala Ged provide late-game insurance.

I piloted this deck to a 4-0 finish in a Swiss-system tournament with ~50 participants, thanks to exceptional pulls (Gideon and Undergrowth Champion feature in this deck, and Omnath and Lumbering Falls had to be cut to keep the mana base consistent) and solid application of CAB theory.


Opponents:

Round 1 - WG deck with no clear theme.  Typical slaughter round; Gideon crushed all opposition easily in game 1, and the deck survived an attack from Bane of Bala Ged to win game 2.  Good confidence boost, showing that the deck could win without Gideon just by having a solid mix of aggression, evasion, and removal.

Round 2 - WR allies.  Game 1 was a battle of attrition against Lantern Scout, Makindi Patrol, and Zada, Hedron Grinder; life gain from Stone Haven Medic kept us alive while flying creatures ground down the opponent's life for a win on turn 21.  Game 2 was more decisively won with Gideon.

Round 3 - BUG ramp.  Won both games because aggressive strategies with Gideon punish shaky mana bases: Game 1 stuck a turn 4 Gideon and ground down the opponent, while game 3 was won on turn 5 with aggressive creatures attacking into an empty board.  Lost game 2 when ramp was successful at removing much of my board and eventually chipping our life total away with unblockable creatures.

Round 4 - BG Eldrazi ramp, and a real "Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny".  Had 10 pieces of ramp along leading into 6 big Eldrazi, along with a couple of ways to tutor for or recur Ulamog, its primary win condition - which it could reliably cast, due to its exceptional focus.  Game 1 saw Gideon stalled against Scions backed up by a Zulaport Cutthroat to swing life in the opponent's favor, who eventually emblemed twice while the opponent had to dig deep to get Ulamog.  Two all-out assaults (10 against 11 and ~8 against 5) ultimately prevailed just before Ulamog got to attack.  Game 2 saw even stronger ramp into Ulamog, who immediately proceeded to win.  Game 3 saw the opponent stumble in the early game to let aggressive creatures steal a turn 6 win.


Mistakes:

- Given the power of awaken spells like Roil Spout and Scatter to the Winds, there was potentially a UW with higher overall power and a better curve - but I didn't see it through foil Undergrowth Champion
- Holding back flying creatures to protect Gideon more than necessary, especially in rounds 2 and 4.
- Attacking a 3/3 creature into a pair of 2/2 creatures without support, leaving it vulnerable to a double block and an unfavorable trade.  Luckily the opponent didn't call my inadvertent bluff.
- Holding back a Sheer Drop to use on Ulamog, who was indestructible and therefore could not have been destroyed, when it could have been used to clear a Conduit of Ruin to disrupt the opponent's ramp and create a combat opening.
- Making an illegal block against a Menace creature, which neither player realized until it was too late to repair the game state.
- Including Hedron Archive solely for card draw, when a more impactful card such as Cliffside Lookout, Seek the Wilds, or Call the Scions might have had been included.  Specifically, it was almost always better to reserve mana for combat tricks than it was to cast it.  Likely the perception of my sideboard as extremely shallow contributed to this mistake.
- Wasting a turn by failing to cast a Giant Mantis with no compelling reason to hold back mana.
- Failing to concede round 4, game 2 on Ulamog's first attack, thereby giving my opponent near-complete information on my decklist.