An Abzan theme deck built from cards mostly leftover from when I last played standard, pre-Dragons of Tarkir. I'm aware of the multitude of significant options that exist to invest for this particular kind of deck, but whether the build remains toward control, or navigates to more mid-range/aggro style, will determine largely on what does the most work in the burgeoning environment. The current deck is just a shell.
The object of the current deck is oriented toward early discard and mid-game removal, to mid to late game board clears making the way for your mid to late game threats like Siege Rhino, Ob Nix and company. The relatively small number of large cost/p/t creatures are just the few numbers of creatures I had lying around that could fit into this deck. Ob Nix tests decently the few times he's showed up, to say nothing of the rhinos. Scuttling doom engine exists as a finisher and Resolute Archangel a reset button. But in most cases the situation won't call for such a tool, but it's good to have, and another 4/4 flyer doesn't hurt.
There is a significant amount of ramp in this deck, most of which is rather costly. But as this is a deck one should expect to go into the mid to long game, usually long, the Verdant Havens lend an extra boost along with a survivability not had with Elvish Mystic. Though the mystic usually gets things off to their start, they aren't expected to hang around long with the sweepers on board. Nissa's Expedition is a card which piqued my interest some time ago. Explosive Vegetation is a clear upgrade, since the convoke is rarely relevant in this deck, but as mentioned in the introduction I am using what cards I have that fall into the Frontier format for this deck, and I think the ability to clench those extra two lands to crank out those big 6 and 7 cost bombs are worth the inclusion here.
Discard and Removal are fairly straight forward. 4 Duress and 3 Despise take care of the variety of non-land threats that could plague the early game. Utter End and mode 1 of Abzan Charm fill the bill for instant speed spot removal. UE is a bit on the costly side for a 1 for 1 removal spell, but the fact that it can hit everything makes it a clutch spell here. The aforementioned board clears include 2 End Hostilities and 2 Duneblast. EH is especially useful against those U/R/x/y/z Ensoul decks running around with their indestructible 5/5 monsters, but just another wrath effect. Duneblast, a card largely overlooked for it's high cost, works well here as this deck typically doesn't need more than one win condition to tie things up, and by the time that an opponent can recover their board is often too late.
The lands are a bit of a mess with there not being a fetch for Swamps that fits the color scheme, so Evolving Wilds fills those spots. I own but 2 actual Windswept Heath for this deck, but full playsets of Llanowar Wastes and Sandsteppe Citadel. The abundance of taplands makes the early game slower, but this matters less in the long game. 3 Plains and Forests, and 2 Swamps round out the land base.
I aim to take this deck to a local Frontier tournament soon, so while I aim to keep this deck around the current budget area, I do hope to gain a couple extra Windswept Heaths to round out the fetches. Suggestions, comments and criticisms are welcome. This is my entry deck into the format and I am excited to see how it continues to perform.
