I'm describing a perfect hand where you have two copies of Hardened Scales in play before you cast Ornithopter and Servant of the Scale. It starts with the initial +1/+1 counter triggering 2 more counters. Then if you can make Servant of the Scale die before they can 'nuke' your zero drop, you can move the 3 counters to the Ornithopter triggering one more counter from each Hardened Scales. The total would be 5/7, pretty sure about it.

Ajani, Mentor of Heroes Is great! I've played a lot of games with an earlier version of this deck along with all the other big Planeswalker's; 2x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes 1x Ajani Steadfast 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1x Nissa, Worldwaker. Any of them would work if you expected the games to go long enough. I'm now more focused on being able to reliably make multiple plays every turn, keeping the mana curve low...

I like Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is the best for this deck. Its the -2 ability can be epic, especially with thopter tokens and the +1 ability is perfect whenever you have a big creature.

Ok I see, I put together a Bant "U/G/W" version of this I think the blue splash for Anticipate gives you some card advantage, I'd also suggest Display of Dominance for any deck that is creature heavy; a turn 4 languish is devastating to your board state, as well as any removal really. Dromoka's command is hilarious in these +1/+1 counter decks, for example you have just one Hardened Scales in play and an attacking Managorger Hydra; before blocks cast Dromoka's command choosing fight a creature and +1/+1. Triggering the hydra's ability which triggers hardened scales; then +1/+1 triggering scales again automatically a 5/5 if it wasn't anything already.

I'd drop Evolutionary Leap and Gleam of Authority or at least a few creatures for Display of Dominance definitely it's sooooooo underrated. Not only does it stop removal by it kills enchantments/planeswalkers and any of the relevant planeswalkers at that with the exception of Ugin of course.

ArmyJM07, Display of Dominance does not protect you from board wipes like Languish.

Anticipate is interesting, but I don't think I'd splash blue for it. It's not really card advantage, I'd say it gives you card choice. If I were to splash anything it would be black for any of the super powererful Abzan cards.

I think Valorous Stance and Feat of Resistance and Dromoka's Command are better then Display of Dominance in this deck. I get that most people would play more removal/protection spells in the main deck, it's just not my preferred style.

Oops, earlier I meant to say I like Ajani Steadfast but typed Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit ?

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit would be great except the mana base won't support it in the early game and that's when I'd want to play a card like that to get value out of it. It's not so good as a late game card especially if you draw multiple copies.

You could build a similar deck with more white cards, but this is all about playing green cards turns 1 and 2. Hardened Scales and Servant of the Scale

I really like this deck, I had been playing a couple Feat of Resistance in the main board instead of Gleam of Authority, and Daghatar the Adamant instead of Ajani. I think I will try out the Gleam's tonight at FNM!

I play tested this deck and love it. I have been looking to work with +1/+1 counters for a while, and this deck does well against my Abzan heavy meta. I don't have 4 walkers, so I'll try Abzan Battle Priest until I finish picking them up. Also, did you try Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit? I want to like that card here.

The Hangarback Walker's are awesome! There really isn't anything I can think that could replace them, this is the deck they were made for. But, they are crazy expensive, they were some of the most expensive cards I've ever bought.

Abzan Battle Priest could replace Ajani Steadfast.

It's just the double white cost of Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit that's a problem, otherwise it would be perfect.

I agree about Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit. If you could cast it, it helps the creatures become huge beasts very fast, but most of the time I couldn't cast it in time.

Also, Ajani Steadfast will be gone next month, so there have to be some replacements.

Casting Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit shouldn't be a problem anymore thanks to the new dual lands being fetchable.

i don't think I see how the new dual lands will really help this deck?? I expect to just replace the Temple of Plenty with the G/W land. So if I was going for early game dual lands my fetches would become like a dual land that enters tapped and costs me a life. If that's the plan, wouldn't it be better to just swap Blossoming Sands for Windswept Heath? With this deck I usually try to avoid playing the fetches until I've already seen four lands. Four is the magic number, you don't want to thin lands out of the deck until you have enough. A deck like this wants to play cards every turn, there's eight green one-drops, a ton of two drops and abilities to dump an odd mana into every turn. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit just seems like a trap. If I was to play her I would want no less then three copies because it's a terrible top deck and only worth much if it's played early. I ran Citadel Siege here before and found it tough to reliably hit two plains with my fourth land. So without massive changes I don't think it's worth trying to play Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit. Am I missing something?

No, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit just isn't as good in this deck type as everyone wants her to be unfortunately.

PlagueRats, the new dual lands have Forest and Plains in the subtype, so you can use fetchlands to grab them turn three and put a dual land on the battlefield untapped. If you do Blossoming Sands you can't fetch that. If I wasn't going for budget, I would be putting in 4x Windswept Heath and 4x Canopy Vista as soon as BFZ dropped.

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is a great card in the right deck. This deck is heavy on the green, so I definitely wouldn't recommend it here. I have had great luck with her though because people are scared of leaving her out... you use her almost like a red herring. And if they do leave her, she is pumping creatures pretty much every turn, because you should be playing a creature almost every turn with these kinds of decks.

Nixxava, Either Ajani is valid for different reasons. I think of the two though, Steadfast has the better choices and is one mana less.

I've played Ajani, Mentor of Heroes with an earlier version of this deck, but I think Ajani Steadfast is better in this list. Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is arguably more powerful and more likely to get to ultimate, but that's not really what I'm after. Ajani Steadfast costs less, which is important. It's +1 ability lets me attack into just about anything with my biggest creature and gain a lot of life, That's what this deck needs most often and the -2 is often far better then Ajani, Mentor of Heroes's 3 counters. Eight or more thopter tokens plus a few creatures does actually happen with this deck, so Ajani Steadfast can just win the game the turn he's played. Really either one is great, if they had different names I'd probably play them both.

Harbynger, regarding fetching Canopy Vista, I'm just thinking about turns 1 and 2. There's no apparent way to play Hardened Scales turn 1 and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit turn 2.

I got ya. If I have those two in my starting hand, I normally drop the mana for Anafenza on turn two, and then drop the green mana and hardened scales on turn three and hold the two plains for the feat of resistance to save Anafenza just in case. And then turn four start dropping the creatures. I have gone back and forth on taking her out of my deck, but I've used her to great effect in numerous games, so unless there is an obvious replacement, I've decided to keep her for now.

Hangarback Walker is your obvious replacement. But I know, they're expensive. Lol :)
Just busting balls.

-1 Den Protector

-2 Gleam of Authority

+3 Undergrowth Champion and - a bunch of dollars.

syandell86, I don't think Undergrowth Champion would be very good here. It's really only good if you can play your fourth land the turn you cast it. This deck usually only sees 2-5 lands a game, so it's not likely to get very big. Undergrowth Champion is a great defensive creature, but it's way over costed to fit in this deck. I'm playing Servant of the Scale and Hangarback Walker's for defense already.

The full set of Gleam of Authority is probably unheard of, it's partially just my personal play style. I love big blow out creature buffs that win right away once you gain an advantage. With a full set you can play it early for a big threat that distributes counters with the expectation that you'll draw another one later and/or return it with a Den Protector. The whole mana curve supports playing a new threat every turn and activating any combination of Gleam of Authority, Hangarback Walker, Abzan Falconer, or Evolutionary Leap. The vigilance ability is perfect too.

I've never seen Undergrowth Champion in action, but with this deck and four lands I'd rather flip a Den Protector return and play Gleam of Authority and attack for lethal unblockable damage.

Rot Shambler would be better here than Undergrowth Champion. Especially since you use Evolutionary Leap because now you get another creature AND boost a creature. Plus he is 2 cmc (and cheap to buy lol). I am surprised he isn't getting more attention right now in this kind of deck.

Have you also thought about Endless One as a late game mana dump?