Type: Deck Idea
Format (legal 👍) modModern
Approx. Value:
$404.12

0 Likes 0 Comments
Avg. CMC 2.35
Card Color Breakdown
Card Type Breakdown

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Main Deck - 60 cards, 28 distinct
Columns
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (27)
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
$0.21 Legendary Creature - Spirit Soldier
4 Birds of Paradise
$5.35 Creature - Bird
2 Eternal Witness
$1.25 Creature - Human Shaman
2 Flickerwisp
$0.12 Creature - Elemental
4 Kitchen Finks
$0.52 Creature - Ouphe
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
$3.91 Legendary Creature - Human Scout
2 Noble Hierarch
$8.84 Creature - Human Druid
1 Orzhov Pontiff
$0.17 Creature - Human Cleric
1 Restoration Angel
$0.74 Creature - Angel
1 Scavenging Ooze
$0.35 Creature - Ooze
1 Spellskite
$4.03 Artifact Creature - Phyrexian Horror
2 Viscera Seer
$0.32 Creature - Vampire Wizard
3 Voice of Resurgence
$2.13 Creature - Elemental
1 Wall of Roots
$0.29 Creature - Plant Wall
Instant (10)
3 Abrupt Decay
$2.82 Instant
3 Chord of Calling
$4.91 Instant
4 Collected Company
$9.01 Instant
Land (23)
2 Forest
$0.08 Basic Land - Forest
2 Gavony Township
$1.76 Land
1 Godless Shrine
$10.13 Land - Plains Swamp
1 Marsh Flats
$14.65 Land
2 Overgrown Tomb
$11.36 Land - Swamp Forest
1 Plains
$0.09 Basic Land - Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
$2.99 Land
1 Swamp
$1.22 Basic Land - Swamp
2 Temple Garden
$12.41 Land - Forest Plains
4 Verdant Catacombs
$15.92 Land
4 Windswept Heath
$20.04 Land
Sideboard - 15 cards, 11 distinct
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (7)
1 Aven Mindcensor
$0.63 Creature - Bird Wizard
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
$0.36 Creature - Vampire
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
$0.71 Enchantment Creature - Spirit
1 Garza's Assassin
$0.64 Creature - Human Assassin
1 Murderous Redcap
$0.29 Creature - Goblin Assassin
1 Reclamation Sage
$0.17 Creature - Elf Shaman
1 Sin Collector
$0.22 Creature - Human Cleric
Instant (2)
1 Abrupt Decay
$2.82 Instant
1 Path to Exile
$1.03 Instant
Sorcery (6)
2 Creeping Corrosion
$0.55 Sorcery
4 Thoughtseize
$11.49 Sorcery

Notes
 
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12538&mc_cID=708ce12b80&mc_eID=50f70ad55a

This list has a lot of similarities to that of Rutherfords, but there are certainly some different choices as well. When considering to play a deck like Abzan Collected Company it is necessary to realize that the deck hasn't been around for very long, and it is likely that the optimal build hasn't been found yet. This makes the fact that the deck has been so successful even scarier, because the players doing well with it are likely playing a suboptimal version of it. Let's start with the cards which Rutherford and Colegrove agree on, as they are likely the cards that definitely should be in the deck.

The four Bird of Paradise are a must, having a turn one mana accelerator which can produce all of your colors is the best possible start the deck can have. Birds of Paradise can be found off a Collected Company but isn't usually what you are looking for. As far as Noble Hierarch goes Rutherford isn't playing it at all while Colegrove has two. Noble Hierarch has the same problem as Birds of Paradise in that it isn't what you really want to find off Collected Company, though it also can't produce black mana. With that said when compared to the old Birthing Pod decks those decks generally played six or seven turn one mana producers, and deviating from that may be a mistake. I would recommend playing three copies of Gavony Township because you are actually more likely to have the mana dorks later in the game, because of Collected Company, and turning Birds of Paradise into a threat is a real thing.

As mentioned earlier Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit does seem like where this deck wants to be as far as two-drops are concerned. The reason why Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is so good in the deck is that it allows you to combo off by simply continuously bolstering onto a Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap and, along with a sac outlet, the persist creatures just won't die. I doubt Wizards was thinking about this interaction when printing Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, and I think Colegrove should be playing four copies, as the card is completely busted in the deck. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit might actually just be strictly better than Melira, Sylvok Outcast.

Playing four copies of Kitchen Finks and a Murderous Redcap should be self-explanatory, as with Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit those cards might be even better than they were in the old Birthing Pod decks. You do need to play more sac outlets though with Birthing Pod no longer in the deck. Two Viscera Seers may be enough but the Varolz, the Scar-Striped in Rutherford's deck seems pretty sweet. Besides Anzafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Rutherford and Colegrove seem to be disagreeing about the other two-drop in the deck. The choice is between Voice of Resurgence and Tarmogoyf. Voice of Resurgence was of course a mainstay in the old Abzan Pod decks, but it does seem like it might not fit as well in the Collected Company deck. Personally I like having the option to just go on the beatdown plan with a cheap and large creature, and Tarmogoyf is exactly that.

Both versions have opted to go with different one-ofs which carry over from the Birthing Pod decks. Colegrove has Orzhov Pontiff, Restoration Angel, Scavenging Ooze, Spellskite, and a single Wall of Roots. It is hard to say exactly which one-ofs should make the cut but since Colegrove also has two copies of Flickerwisp, he might be overdoing it a bit on blink effects with the Restoration Angel. With that said in both versions there are two Eternal Witness which is a great card to blink. Rutherford has gone up to three Wall of Roots as he seems to think they are better than the Noble Hierarchs. Rutherford has also opted to include the Archangel of Thune combo where Colegrove hasn't. It is unclear to me if that combo is necessary since, as noted earlier, playing a five mana creature has Diminishing Returns. Still Spike Feeder in this deck is likely better on its own than it was in Birthing Pod.
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