Ajani, the Prisoner of Abzan (Standard MTG Deck)

Ajani, the Prisoner of Abzan

Standard* BGW (Abzan, Junk) Counters

Luvas

Creature (18)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

Land (22)

Enchantment (4)

Artifact (1)

1x Bow of Nylea

Instant (14)

Sideboard

Creature (6)

Instant (9)

Maybeboard

Creature (3)

Artifact (2)

2x Armory of Iroas

Instant (7)

Sorcery (3)

"With the departure of his beloved comrade-in-arms, the revered hero known as Ajani could no longer feel the bond of Theros in his mind, and - leaving the now-largely-peaceful land in the hands of his new-found cat-kin, departed for greener pastures and other Planes. But of course, wandering the Planes can be like wandering a Desert, and the Goldmane shaman would find himself in the clutches of both before he knew it. He would indeed happen upon the tall, imposing doors of the Arashin complex, destitute of mana and nourishment. These desert-dwellers - though cautious at first - were unusually quick to accept the Leonin into their fair city, under the watchful eyes of the Khan, of course. Perhaps he may be a respected guest on the surface, but lost in an unfamiliar territory and unwittingly thrown into the civil war by the only actions he saw available, Ajani Goldmane feels forcefully bound to the Abzan Houses, and only hopes he has made the right choice..."

A major point of Abzan Creatures is their exploitation of +1/+1 Counters, and this is my take on the concept within the Standard card pool. It has a couple of things going for it over Heroic, though perhaps the two could have some type of awesome synergy. Still, I don't want to waste too many cards buffing up single creatures, and thus Favored Hoplite is the only Heroic here, and even then for lack of better 1-drops that are not Black.

The Outlast mechanic seems very fun, and more importantly, allows the Deck to function without Creatures with a high Mana Cost (and also, incidentally, allows Return to the Ranks to have more targets). I want to take as much advantage of that as possible, for any extra Lands and Mana I have at my disposal will always have a use in this sense.

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Updates Add

Lessons learned from Sneak Peek — Sept. 20, 2014

Edit

I've learned a couple of things as I went to the Khans sneak peek and introduced myself further to my desired Clan. It was a fun time, pulls could have been (much) better, but I've learned a few things:

First and foremost, it has come to my attention that tragically, Ajani, Caller of the Pride cannot co-exist with Khans in Standard. I shall have to find me a Mentor of Heroes in the future.

Number two: Mana Ramp cannot be ignored, even with Creatures that buff themselves up for any leftover Mana. The "tap to activate Outlast" thing really hurts more than I first imagined. I doubted the usefulness of Fog before and put it in as an afterthought, but to be honest, I feel like it'll be a necessity with a Deck such as this one. In order for the Abzan people to outlast the enemy, their Planeswalker who commands them must also outlast the enemy...Who knew? For now, I'm trying to find alternate ways to put Counters on faster, such as Phalanx Leader but do see myself going back to Fog in the future if it does not work out.

Lastly and more importantly, I never want to see Salt Road Patrol's disappointing mug ever again. May Abzan Falconer drown this failure of a soldier in crusty white bird turds till rotation,

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Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 12 - 9 Rares 13 - 3 Uncommons 24 - 3 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.05
Folders	abzan standard ideas, Need to try!, cool ideas
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