Standard is a very interesting format right now. I have been playing a lot of it over the course of the past month, and have been up against or playing with almost every deck of the format. One of the most prominent pillars of the format of course are the Abzan decks. The Pro Tour showed us that there are two primary versions of the deck to worry about; an aggressive version made popular by Mike Sigrist taking it to a top 8 finish, and the more midrange version which Ari Lax won the event with. Since the Pro Tour, there have been a number of Grand Prix tournaments, and in each one of them, the most heavily played decks have all belonged to the Abzan family. What this means is that if you are looking to play in a Standard tournament, then you better be able to beat this archetype because you’ll certainly be playing against it.

The core strength of the Abzan deck is the versatility and power level which each of the cards possesses. [card]Thoughtseize[/card] and [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card] have been primary format pillars since being introduced to Standard in Theros, and when joined by [card]Siege Rhino[/card] and [card]Abzan Charm[/card] from Khans of Tarkir, you have a simple and powerful recipe for success. All three of the spells provide a clean and powerful answer to a troublesome permanent or spell, while the Rhino is a large body for minimal investment which affects the board immediately with pseudo-haste through a 3 point life drain. It should also be noted that the Rhino is a 4 of in every deck it is played in, and apparently Rhinos are pack animals, so if you see one, you’ll see more. Where the deck goes from there however, is entirely up to the opponent.

“A perfectly fair and balanced Magic card” – Said nobody ever

[deck title=Abzan Aggro]
[Lands]
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Temple of Malady
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Caves of Koilos
2 Llanowar Wastes
1 Temple of Silence
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
3 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Rakshasa Deathdealer
3 Heir of the Wilds
4 Siege Rhino
4 Herald of Torment
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Hero’s Downfall
4 Thoughtseize
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
3 Abzan Charm
3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Wingmate Roc
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Drown in Sorrow
3 Bile Blight
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Despise
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Unravel the Aether
1 Murderous Cut
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Here is the deck I streamed with Mike Sigrist last week.

The aggressive versions of the deck commit to that core tenet and eschew all mana acceleration for powerful early drops like [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card] and ManaDeprived.com’s KTK Spoiler, [card]Rakshasa Deathdealer[/card]. The basis of most of the green decks in the format is fixed upon [card]Sylvan Caryatid[/card] as a 2 drop, and [card]Courser of Kruphix[/card] as the follow up. Both of the aggressive choices in this Abzan deck allow you to attack through or into both of these Standard roadblocks based on the board state. The real standout I think for this list is also the addition of [card]Heir of the Wilds[/card]. Having played a lot of Temur lately, I can tell you that this is definitely a real card. Being a creature with Deathtouch, it has the great benefit of being able to attack through the mana dorks without issue, while late game providing a good blocker which needs to be respected. [card]Sorin, Solemn Visitor[/card] is at arguably his most powerful here, as even on the turn that he hits the board on curve, you should already have a reasonable force with which to send in and gain life from. I was very impressed with him in this build in particular. Also, a monstrous [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card] is no joke from this deck, and should be prevented at all costs. Should a Herald be bestowed onto it at that point, there is very little left that you will be able to do to stop the opponent from winning.

Although this is a very powerful deck with some excellent draws, I really feel like this deck is not well positioned right now. It was initially designed to best the Jeskai decks and the other larger Abzan decks from the Pro Tour. With the recent up rise in Mono red and more importantly, the Mardu midrange strategies, this deck easily gets outclassed by the wider board approach which these decks take through cards like [card]Hordeling Outburst[/card] and [card]Goblin Rabblemaster[/card]. The deck has innate challenges against the token strategies with the plethora of blockers they produce, and when backed up by the larger late game threats, premium removal and discard in Mardu, it can easily be left behind.

There is also another alternative.

[deck title=Abzan Midrange]
[Lands]
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Forest
2 Llanowar Wastes
3 Mana Confluence
1 Plains
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Temple of Malady
2 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Elvish Mystic
4 Siege Rhino
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Wingmate Roc
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
4 Abzan Charm
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
3 Hero’s Downfall
1 Murderous Cut
1 Read the Bones
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
4 Thoughtseize
1 Utter End
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
3 Bile Blight
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Duneblast
1 End Hostilities
1 Erase
1 Liliana Vess
2 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Mass Calcify
1 Murderous Cut
1 Read The Bones
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

I’ve brought some powerful friends along…

This is the deck that Ari Lax and I piloted to a clean 5-0 on Wednesday.

There are only a few updates that have been made to the PT winning list, and it should be noted that they are mostly simple updates to accommodate a changing metagame. This version is the most midrange that a deck can get given the current card set in the format. The only thing preventing this from being called Jund is the color base. Main deck [card]Thoughtseize[/card], into Caryatid, into Rhino, and finally into [card]Wingmate Roc[/card] is really quite a beating. Add to that the best late game in the format that isn’t [card]Pearl Lake Ancient[/card] or [card]Hornet Queen[/card] and you have proof that this is the top deck in the format. The Caryatids and the Coursers tend to make the Mono Red matchup slightly better here than against the aggro version of Abzan, but that is mostly due to the fact that while these two cards actively help to stem damage from the opponent, it similarly ramps you and provides more time to get to the bigger cards like Rhino, Sorin and [card]Wingmate Roc[/card], any of which are capable of shutting down Mono Red quite handily. Post board games give Abzan more ways to interact in [card]Bile Blight[/card] and [CARD]Drown in Sorrow[/CARD], both of which can be very damaging against the Mono Red deck.

I truly feel like this is the single most consistent and powerful deck in the format. If you are looking to commit to one deck in the format to learn, and become proficient in, this is the best pick. It has the highest number of all around good matches and even the “bad” ones are not heavily unfavoured. In fact, the most versatile answers to the format right now I feel reside in this color pairing, making the card pool even deeper than you’ve seen here. You can’t really lose by spending the cycles on this deck.

I played Temur at FNM this week for the first time since rotation, and I did quite poorly. I faced off against Mardu, GB Constellation, Sultai Control and Abzan Aggro. I went to 3 in all games, and fell to some variance in most cases, and ended up 1-3 on the night. There were no shortage of mulligans had, and in a lot of cases, I really felt like the weakness that the deck had was mana. I either got too much of it with too few ways to draw through them or filter them away, or far too few where I died with 2 lands on the table vs my opponent’s 7. I’ll be putting Temur on the shelf for now, until I can put some more work into it, but it’s entirely possible that [card]Temur Ascendancy[/card] is part of the solution. I’m waiting for some players better than I to really give this a look, but it’s on my radar for sure. If only Gerry T would comment on a revision to his FFL list which was posted on the mothership:

[deck title=Temur Fires]
[Lands]
4 Shivan Reef
4 Yavimaya Coast
3 Mana Confluence
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Island
3 Mountain
4 Forest
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Boon Satyr
4 Savage Knuckleblade
4 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Surrak Dragonclaw
[/Creatures]
[Other Spells]
4 Temur Ascendancy
3 Stubborn Denial
3 Crater’s Claws
[/Other Spells]
[Sideboard]
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This seems like it could alleviate the concerns I had about velocity, but the mana base looks so painful that I’m not sure what to do about it.

That’s it for this week, but look out for the raincheck of Pedro Carvalho on Wednesday, and either Mardu or Sultai Whip on stream Monday. If there are any decks specifically which you’d like to see on stream, let me know! I’m always down to play something fun!

Check me out Mondays and Wednesdays at 845pm on twitch.tv/mrscottymac!!