Adam Haggerty's Abzan
 
Type: Deck Idea
Format (invalid) staStandard
Approx. Value:
$219.44

0 Likes 0 Comments
Avg. CMC 3.57
Card Color Breakdown
Card Type Breakdown

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Main Deck - 61 cards, 21 distinct
Columns
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (18)
4 Knight of Autumn
$0.41 Creature - Dryad Knight
4 Knight of Grace
$0.19 Creature - Human Knight
4 Knight of Malice
$0.12 Creature - Human Knight
2 Lyra Dawnbringer
$4.57 Legendary Creature - Angel
2 Resplendent Angel
$3.96 Creature - Angel
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
$1.97 Legendary Creature - Angel
Instant (6)
2 Assassin's Trophy
$2.44 Instant
2 Cast Down
$0.59 Instant
2 Status // Statue
$0.09 Instant // Instant //
Sorcery (4)
4 Flower // Flourish
$0.05 Sorcery // Sorcery //
Artifact (1)
1 The Immortal Sun
$14.57 Legendary Artifact
Enchantment (10)
2 Arguel's Blood Fast // Temple of Aclazotz
$0.26 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land
4 Conclave Tribunal
$0.08 Enchantment
4 History of Benalia
$0.87 Enchantment - Saga
Land (22)
1 Forest
$0.08 Basic Land - Forest
4 Isolated Chapel
$1.46 Land
3 Overgrown Tomb
$11.76 Land - Swamp Forest
4 Plains
$0.06 Basic Land - Plains
4 Sunpetal Grove
$2.23 Land
4 Temple Garden
$11.15 Land - Forest Plains
2 Woodland Cemetery
$0.94 Land
Sideboard - 101 cards, 92 distinct
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (51)
1 Aryel, Knight of Windgrace
$0.20 Legendary Creature - Human Knight
1 Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
$0.93 Legendary Creature - Angel
1 Beast Whisperer
$2.30 Creature - Elf Druid
1 Benalish Marshal
$0.49 Creature - Human Knight
1 Bishop of Rebirth
$0.39 Creature - Vampire Cleric
1 Blood Operative
$0.14 Creature - Vampire Assassin
1 Carnage Tyrant
$3.41 Creature - Dinosaur
1 Charnel Troll
$0.09 Creature - Troll
1 Conclave Cavalier
$0.10 Creature - Centaur Knight
1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon
$1.01 Legendary Creature - Human Knight
1 Darigaaz Reincarnated
$0.63 Legendary Creature - Dragon
1 Dauntless Bodyguard
$0.13 Creature - Human Knight
1 Deadeye Tracker
$0.32 Creature - Human Pirate
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
$0.36 Creature - Human Pirate
1 District Guide
$0.15 Creature - Elf Scout
1 Doom Whisperer
$1.83 Creature - Nightmare Demon
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
$2.38 Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
1 Gleaming Barrier
$0.07 Artifact Creature - Wall
1 Golgari Findbroker
$0.10 Creature - Elf Shaman
1 Hatchery Spider
$0.30 Creature - Spider
1 Jadelight Ranger
$0.46 Creature - Merfolk Scout Ranger
1 Kitesail Freebooter
$0.12 Creature - Human Pirate
1 Mentor of the Meek
$0.20 Creature - Human Soldier
1 Merfolk Branchwalker
$0.09 Creature - Merfolk Scout
1 Midnight Reaper
$0.32 Creature - Zombie Knight
1 Militia Bugler
$0.08 Creature - Human Soldier
1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide
$5.21 Legendary Creature - Elemental Avatar
1 Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner
$0.42 Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon
1 Pelakka Wurm
$0.14 Creature - Wurm
1 Pelt Collector
$0.33 Creature - Elf Warrior
1 Poison-Tip Archer
$0.55 Creature - Elf Archer
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
$0.23 Creature - Beast Horror
1 Remorseful Cleric
$0.20 Creature - Spirit Cleric
1 Seekers' Squire
$0.03 Creature - Human Scout
1 Sumala Woodshaper
$0.06 Creature - Elf Druid
1 Tajic, Legion's Edge
$0.19 Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
1 Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
$0.40 Legendary Creature - Bird Cleric
1 Thrashing Brontodon
$0.03 Creature - Dinosaur
1 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
$0.20 Legendary Artifact Creature - Construct
1 Trostani Discordant
$0.38 Legendary Creature - Dryad
1 Trusty Packbeast
$0.02 Creature - Beast
1 Twilight Prophet
$1.39 Creature - Vampire Cleric
1 Underrealm Lich
$5.69 Creature - Zombie Elf Shaman
4 Untamed Kavu
$0.04 Creature - Kavu
1 Vine Mare
$0.07 Creature - Elemental Horse
1 Vona, Butcher of Magan
$0.36 Legendary Creature - Vampire Knight
1 Wayward Swordtooth
$3.78 Creature - Dinosaur
1 Zacama, Primal Calamity
$1.21 Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Instant (8)
1 Moment of Craving
$0.04 Instant
1 Murder
$0.08 Instant
2 Price of Fame
$0.14 Instant
1 Risk Factor
$0.55 Instant
3 Settle the Wreckage
$2.95 Instant
Sorcery (17)
4 Adventurous Impulse
$0.03 Sorcery
1 Call the Cavalry
$0.02 Sorcery
1 Camaraderie
$0.25 Sorcery
1 Circuitous Route
$0.77 Sorcery
1 Cleansing Nova
$0.40 Sorcery
1 Discovery // Dispersal
$0.12 Sorcery // Instant //
1 Duress
$0.04 Sorcery
1 Fight with Fire
$0.02 Sorcery
1 Find // Finality
$0.09 Sorcery // Sorcery //
1 Grow from the Ashes
$0.17 Sorcery
1 Mephitic Vapors
$0.04 Sorcery
1 Severed Strands
$0.07 Sorcery
1 Sprouting Renewal
$0.11 Sorcery
1 Thought Erasure
$0.17 Sorcery
Artifact (3)
1 Crucible of Worlds
N/A Artifact
1 Gilded Lotus
$1.58 Artifact
1 Sigiled Sword of Valeron
$0.21 Artifact - Equipment
Enchantment (13)
1 Gift of Paradise
$0.03 Enchantment - Aura
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
$3.48 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land
1 On Serra's Wings
$0.11 Legendary Enchantment - Aura
1 Path of Mettle // Metzali, Tower of Triumph
$0.28 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
$1.12 Enchantment - Saga
1 Profane Procession // Tomb of the Dusk Rose
$0.48 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land
1 Radiant Destiny
$0.41 Enchantment
1 Shapers' Sanctuary
$0.85 Enchantment
1 Song of Freyalise
$0.40 Enchantment - Saga
1 The Eldest Reborn
$0.27 Enchantment - Saga
1 The Mending of Dominaria
$0.20 Enchantment - Saga
1 Triumph of Gerrard
$0.05 Enchantment - Saga
1 Urban Utopia
$0.07 Enchantment - Aura
Planeswalker (3)
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
$9.15 Legendary Planeswalker - Teferi
1 Vivien Reid
$1.16 Legendary Planeswalker - Vivien
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
$1.33 Legendary Planeswalker - Vraska
Land (6)
1 Arch of Orazca
$0.24 Land
1 Golgari Guildgate
$0.14 Land - Gate
1 Island
$0.12 Basic Land - Island
1 Mountain
$0.09 Basic Land - Mountain
1 Selesnya Guildgate
$0.07 Land - Gate
1 Swamp
$1.71 Basic Land - Swamp

Notes
 
Definitely want to put some work in here. Might be the best color pairing to build a midrange base white deck that can utilize Resplendent Angel and Lyra as well as settle/Cleansing Nova. Incidental lifegain and midrange value cherry picking the best and most synergistic cards is just excellent. Double WW, but how do I do the other colors? Jadelight Ranger? Doom Whisperer? History of Benalia is got to be banging, and we can play those sweet ass knights if we want. Definitely got find the most busted/least cute option.

The splash is pretty easy beyond the next color when your using the green fixing. Abzan red or Abzan blue might be possible. Part of my discovery is that in these protracted midrange battles, keywords are everything. I think thats why we are getting an inflated taste of boros, all the creatures are key worded. Flying is great, first strike is great, incidental lifegain is great. The busted keyword is vigilance. Creatures that can attack in can also block, and creatures that have vigilance can do both. It's just so powerful to brick our opponents options for damage while still maintaining an aggressive stance. i think that's why History is shining (among other thngs). The interaction between vigilance and covoke is busted. And what I think is going to be trully busted is Song of Freyalise, which gives all your creatures convoke for everything, and has the "Free pumped attack mode". Makes re-evaluating all the vigilance cards worth it, two of which to stand out are Areyl and Vona. Areyl seems stacked in a way it never did before in this light. If playing the splash blue version, then muldrotha let's this just roll through recursively. Pelakka Wurm actually seems like an awesome payoff for this strategy, as does Darigaaz.

I've divided it into 4 deck lists. Both splash blue and splash red versions, a vigilance/song of freyalise pushed version, and this will be for raw consistency and power. I will compare all the lists, see if there is any exportable packages, and build the best one.

I think the rough shell I want is:
4 Knight of Malice
4 Knight of Grace
4 Knight of Autumn
4 History of Benalia
2 Resplandent Angel
2 Shalai,Voice of Plenty
2 Lyra Dawnbringer

3 Assassin's Trophy
4 Conclave Tribunal
4 Find/ Flower
2 Cast Down
2 Status

2 Arguel's Blood Fast

21-23 land

This is basically a full list and we have so many more options to consider. The deck has a lot of 2 and three drops so it shouldn't be too difficult to curve out. This base does some really great effective stuff and is basically splashing green. Flower fixes early mana. The first strike knights are great early presence as first strike trumps many of the other decks T1 and 2 plays. T3 I have Knight of autumn which is what it's needed to be every time, history of benalia to put on the pressure, and Resplendent Angel as an efficent threat and lategame engine. Shalai is a great mana sink, 3/4 flying angel, and the first ability is a better tajic in a lot of ways. Lyra tops the curve as just an incredible finisher, and even synergizes with the other angels. Then Flourish turns into overrun. The removal is completely versatile. Assasin's tropy as the ultimate catch all, tribunal as the same and allows us to double spell off the back of vigilance. A mixture of cast down and status which deals with most early creatures and eventually status turns into statue. Arguel's bloodfast rounds it out, as this deck is hungry for cards and selection, and the back side is totally servicable.

What this core highlights is what I believe to be the way to assess building midrange decks in the new meta. The creatures attack/block/and apply pressure reliably. This is done by the keywords vigilance, first strike, hexproof, and flying/trample/indestructable. The deck is highly consistent and interacts at all points of the curve and most cards scale to become more effective or a threat. Intrinsic synergies push already value cards further. Intrinsic life gain and versatility allow the deck to pivot and control the tempo. Mana sinks allow the deck to continue to go over the top or close.

This version packs more punch than the explore deck that Brad was brandishing. But I really want to build a surveil/explore version as it's such a powerful engine. The deck has a great curve already, but doom whisper is the truth, and I think we can incorporate it. I'm going to tinker around with it to try to pack in more card advantage/selection and more breakinggame parity options, but I don't want to stray to far from this base. In the other versions, using red as an outlet to closing the game unexpectedly or blue to creature recursive loops and card advantage are interesting. Pushing the vigilance mechanic as hard as we can is also very promising, and I can't wait to see what that deck is capable of.
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