A modern Abzan Aristocrats deck.
Our strategy is the same as most aristocrat builds: using Viscera Seer and Carrion Feeder to sacrifice creatures while Blood Artist or Zulaport Cutthroat are in play to drain the opponents life. Viscera Seer's scry payoff is particularly potent as I've found myself utilizing it many times to dig for key combo pieces.
Cards like Rally the Ancestors and Return to the Ranks bring back creature cards from the graveyard, ready to be sacrificed again at instant speed to win the game.
Rally the Ancestors is especially great, as you can utilize your sacrifice outlets to send any resurrected creatures back to the grave before having to exile them. This 4-mana bomb can win you the game, provided you've filled your graveyard.
Satyr Wayfinder is an MVP in this deck as it fixes our mana, mills creatures into the graveyard to be Rallied/Returned, and is a body that we can use the drain our opponent's life.
Because of Satyr's mill ability, I've decided to run 3 Lingering Souls over Doomed Traveler, as flashback provides extra value and buffs our Voice of Resurgence token if we need to switch to a midrange strategy post-board. Souls also assists with the Convoke cost of Return and is any midrange opponents worst nightmare.
Tidehollow Sculler serves as our hand disruption and has the potential to permanently exile a card from our opponents hand if a sacrifice outlet is in play. (Ruling)
I've also chosen to run Fatal Push in my mainboard. Revolt is triggered by basically everything in this deck and makes easy work of removing pesky threats from our opponents. While I only have 2 copies mainboard, I'll be relying on a combination of Push and Grist, the Hunger Tide to help get through Game 1.
Grist, the Hunger Tide is literally a gift from WoTC themselves for this list. This new 3 mana walker does everything our deck wants to be doing: Self-mill while creating tokens; sacrifice to destroy target creature or planeswalker; and finally, a devastating ultimate that can potentially win on the spot - or used just before a rally/return to ensure victory. Not only this, but being a creature in any other zone besides the battlefield means that we can grab Grist with Collected Company or Rally the Ancestors. Grist is an easy include; 3 may be too much still.
Agadeem's Awakening
is one of our flex land slots for obvious reasons: it's either a land or it can return 2/3 creatures from the graveyard to the battlefield, including Grist, the Hunger Tide. While 5/6 mana is a high cost for 2/3 creatures respectively is a little underwhelming, Awakening has potential to turn the game around in our favor.
