Abzan Soldiers

Standard BGW (Abzan, Junk)

codeflayer

Creature (21)

• 3x Akroan Skyguard
• 1x Anafenza, the Foremost
• 3x Armament Corps
• 3x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 4x High Sentinels of Arashin
• 4x Preeminent Captain
• 3x Vanguard of Brimaz

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Land (23)

• 4x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Forest
• 2x Mana Confluence
• 2x Plains
• 2x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1x Swamp
• 4x Temple of Plenty
• 4x Temple of Silence
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Windswept Heath

Artifact (4)

• 4x Obelisk of Urd

Instant (11)

• 4x Abzan Charm
• 3x Feat of Resistance
• 4x Raise the Alarm

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Sideboard

Enchantment (3)

• 3x Suspension Field

Instant (7)

• 3x Bile Blight
• 1x Murderous Cut
• 2x Naturalize
• 1x Utter End

Sorcery (5)

• 2x Drown in Sorrow
• 1x End Hostilities
• 2x Thoughtseize

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Abzan Falconer
• 2x Ainok Bond-Kin
• 2x Soldier of the Pantheon

Artifact (1)

• 1x Spear of Heliod

Instant (1)

• 1x Hero's Downfall

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Tribes can be good!

Now for something a little different than the Sylvan Caryatid + Courser of Kruphix combo decks that have dominated the first weeks of Standard play.

This deck focuses on early to mid-game interactions, roughly around turns 3-5 to establish a winning board.

The key is Preeminent Captain and it's ability to cheat out larger soldiers while leaving your mana open for shenanigans with Abzan Charm or Titanic Growth.

Of course the deck is good even if you don't draw Preeminent Captain with other three drops like Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Anafenza, the Foremost.

Primary combos:Armament Corps + Preeminent Captain on turn four will turn your Preeminent Captain into a 4/4 first striker and cheat out a 5 drop 4/4 creature.

Preeminent Captain + any other soldier will give you a hasty attacker and mana open to use any of your instants.

Obelisk of Urd turns your Soldier of the Pantheon, Ainok Bond-Kin and Akroan Skyguard into real threats late game.

Mana dumps into Ainok Bond-Kin and High Sentinels of Arashin provide you with card advantage and something to do if your flooding out a bit.

This was tested at FNM against some fairly strong decks and came in second. May have been first if my first match hadn't gone to time and ended in a draw.

What I am looking for is solid sideboard strategy against the common threats out there. So far I've been using:

vs: Mono-Green R/G Monsters - Despise and Thoughtseize in place of Soldier of the Pantheon and Ainok Bond-Kin to pick their hand apart and prevent them from getting a start. This deck is really weak to Stormbreath Dragon so I need a way to get rid of it.

vs: Aggro - Pharika's Cure and Drown in Sorrow in place of Soldier of the Pantheon and Akroan Skyguard

vs: Control - ??? Haven't faced a good control deck yet in the new format so I could really use some help here.

vs: Other - ??? Any help against decks you're seeing a lot of out in the wild.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Key combos	Armament Corps + Preeminent Captain
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 2 Mythic Rares 26 - 2 Rares 12 - 7 Uncommons 11 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.27
Tokens	Cat Soldier 1/1 W, Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Soldier 1/1 W, Vampire 2/2 B
Based on	Devotion to Soldiers codeflayer STD