Junkzaban Tournament-buster! HOU GAME DAY WINNER! (Standard MTG Deck)

This deck is an amalgamation of as many of the best cards in Abzan's colors as I could find. This is midrange to the max, and the deck can play an aggressive role or a controlling role as needed. If my opponent comes out swinging, defensive creatures like Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet along with removal spells will hold the fort long enough to stabilize. If my opponent has all the answers, landing one of the many planeswalkers can provide me with enough card/board advantage to close out the game eventually. It is rare for this deck to have more than 1-3 creatures out at once, so cards like Archangel Avacyn aren't as effective here as they are elsewhere. With 12+ MD removal spells, I have a very good matchup against agro decks. My threats are efficient and are must-answers by themselves for the most part, so opposing removal is taxed heavily.

I'm more than willing to hear suggestions about what you think could make this deck better. Have a nice day, and don't forget to +1!

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3rd at FNM, and this deck's retirement — Sept. 15, 2017

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So I decided to take this deck out for one last hurrah before Ixilan releases and forces practically the whole deck to rotate out of standard. Since we only had 11 people (and the store had a few spares from previous weeks), we were all guaranteed to get a promo Fatal Push.

Round 1 vs. mono-black zombies- I knew that this matchup would be very dependent on how much removal I drew, but the recent changes to include more creatures with deathtouch made a big difference here. I was facing a newer player who made some sub-optimal choices during the match, but my deck was able to hold off the early rush until my Sylvan Advocates turned into Tarmogoyfs along with huge lands and a Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet that was making a small army of zombie tokens that eventually went wider than his. Gideon also helped close out a game fairly quickly before my opponent could get a strong foothold on board.

Round 2 vs RG Pummeler- This match was against my buddy playing my other standard deck, so I knew what to expect. I was able to take the match in 3 games, but it was close. Siding into Doomfalls helps against Bristling Hydra, and the 2nd Blessed Alliance came in handy as well. It was pretty much whether or not my removal lined up with his threats, but there were some misplays on his part too. Once again, Gifted Aetherborn was a champ, and I would always block to call his bluff which paid off when I took out his only threat in game 3 (a turn 2 Cub).

Round 3 vs. Temur Energy- I kept a slow hand game 1, and was punished when I couldn't answer his turn 4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance. I eventually dealt with it, but he had drawn plenty of cards off of it and I was too far behind to get back in the game. Game 2 I started with a quick 2 Gifted Aetherborns, which gained me lots of life and pressured his PWs. I drew into removal for his threats and won handily from there with Gideon beats. Game 3 was close, but I didn't see much removal and he had the answers for the few threats that I played.

Round 4 vs. Jund ramp- This was a deck that I wasn't familiar playing against at all. He had a set of Hour of Promises that he used to ramp out into World Breakers and ulamog along with Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Liliana, Death's Majesty for midrange threats and a bunch of deserts to close out the game and provide utility. I lost round 1 when I couldn't apply enough pressure before his big stuff came down. I was able to Cast Out a World Breaker, but a trio of Walking Ballistas with tones of mana ended the game before I could deal with them. Game 2, we both mulled to 5, but I had the better draw and beat down before he could recover. Game 3 was the best game of the night for me. I sided out Grasp of Darkness for Doomfalls and collected brutality and brought in Transgress the Minds as well. My turn 2 Collective Brutality revealed his hand of lands, Chandra, and Lily. I was then able to play out my threats in a way that didn't get blown out by his PWs, and after dealing with the 2nd Chandra he drew, I used Doomfall to reveal his hand of 2 cards and exiled his Ulamog. He also had a Glorybringer, but I had the removal for it and his topdecked Walking Ballistas couldn't keep up with my Gideon into Ishkanah, Grafwidow with delirium. The round went to turns and I won on the back of an Ishkanah activation coupled with a big attack to barely get there.

Aside from not being familiar with the Temur Energy deck enough to SB effectively against it (Solemnity seems good against it), I think this deck has done great for the year+ I've been playing it. People were always commenting on how they liked that I was doing well with a 'brew', even though it used many of the competitive cards found in popular 'meta' decks. I'm glad that I kept the original idea of the deck intact for all these months- Sylvan Advocate plus creature lands. Other cards have come and gone, but that has been the core that made this deck different from most others as the meta changed but this good idea stayed with me. I never thought I'd like standard since I'm mostly a modern player, but this deck was always fun to play and never had a matchup that was unwinnable if I prepared for it. I'm sad to see this deck rotate, but it's been good for me, winning a few game days and plenty of prize packs.

HOU Game Day Winner! — Aug. 7, 2017

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I won AKH Game Day! — May 22, 2017

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Aether Revolt Game Day Results! — Feb. 13, 2017

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Aether Revolt Testing — Feb. 10, 2017

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Aether Revolt Updates-part 1 — Jan. 25, 2017

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2 Standard Showdowns! — Dec. 12, 2016

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Standard Showdown Results! — Nov. 28, 2016

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Kaladesh Standard — Nov. 16, 2016

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Abzan in a top 8 Open! — Aug. 1, 2016

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Small Eldritch Moon updates — July 25, 2016

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Took this deck to Modern! — May 16, 2016

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How this deck fared- Game Day SOI — May 2, 2016

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Revision 54 See all

(2 years ago)

Top Ranked	Achieved #46 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 3 Rares 13 - 11 Uncommons 4 - 1 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	Clue, Emblem Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Emblem Ob Nixilis Reignited, Knight Ally 2/2 W, Spider 1/2 G, Vampire Knight 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Abzan (Modern/Standard), Interesting decks, Standard, Modern, Ideas, Competitive, Watch, Ideas, Standard Opinions, Cool decks
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