Modeled after Jund with a bit more of a control bend. Play similar early removal and later threats than Jund but take over with bigger creatures. More life gain against aggro decks thanks to white giving
Knight of Autumn
and
Siege Rhino
, since Red-White is currently the biggest deck in the meta game. The win conditions are varied, with a normal beatdown strategy from
Tarmogoyf
,
Siege Rhino
,
Hexdrinker
, and
Grim Flayer
; The classic zombie flood with
Liliana, Waker of the Dead
; and a newer win con "Remove Target Player from the Game", supplied by
Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
and backed up with
Path to Exile
,
Scavenging Ooze
, and
Nihil Spellbomb
. The manabase is budgeted, with less fetch lands than other midrange decks, and lacks the powerhouse
Liliana of the Veil
. Suggestions for sideboard and mainboard swaps against certain matchups are greatly appreciated.
Control Sideboard:
Fatal Push
out,
Scavenging Ooze
out,
Knight of Autumn
out.
Choke
in,
Surgical Extraction
in,
Collective Brutality
in,
Fulminator Mage
in. Focus on taking out
Cryptic Command
with Surgical if you have the chance, and use Planeswalkers to draw focus away from creature beatdown. This matchup is the one I am most inexperienced in.
Aggro Sideboard:
Thoughtseize
out,
Phyrexian Arena
out,
Raven's Crime
out.
Wrath of God
in,
Collective Brutality
in,
Plague Engineer
in. Remove creatures and take spells from hand to get to turn four or five, then turn the corner with life gain. Make the most of blockers like
Hexdrinker
and
Knight of Autumn
in the early game, and use
Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
to take over and tick up while gaining life.
Tribal Sideboard:
Thoughtseize
out,
Phyrexian Arena
out,
Nihil Spellbomb
out, 1
Grim Flayer
out.
Collective Brutality
in,
Plague Engineer
in,
Tocatli Honor Guard
in,
Wrath of God
in. Like aggro, focus on life gain and keeping creatures from attacking with blockers. There is a little misplay potential with Knight of Autumn/Siege Rhino and Tocatli Honor Guard, but removing an
Aether Vial
or stopping a
Reflector Mage
or a
Spell Queller
are both very good. Plague Engineer can keep Thalia from having a nice day, and stop various spirits and humans from existing.
Tron:
Fatal Push
out,
Lingering Souls
out.
Fulminator Mage
in,
Collector Ouphe
in,
Eladamri's Call
in,
Surgical Extraction
in. For tron, try to break their tutor cards like
Expedition Map
,
Sylvan Scrying
, and
Ancient Stirrings
with artifact hate and hand disruption. The decks can become locked if you have Collector Ouphe in play while your opponent uses the
Karn, the Great Creator
and
Mycosynth Lattice
combo. However, Abzan has the potential to remove up to 3 cards from the Tron player's library with Surgical, meaning if the decks go to turns you will have more cards to draw.
Storm: My least knowledgeable matchup. Expensive single target removal can be removed, leave in removal for Baral and Goblin Electromancer. Maelstrom Pulse should stay so
Empty the Warrens
can be dealt with. Use
Surgical Extraction
,
Weather the Storm
,
Collective Brutality
and
Plague Engineer
to deal with storm stuff, and
Choke
to stop them from untapping.
Artifact Decks: Another weak match for me.
Collector Ouphe
is all I would know to use.
