If you're going for a heavy creature base, I say you could put Collected Company in the deck.

I also think the removal you have in the mainboard is too much for creature heavy decks. Murderous Cut, Abzan Charm and Kolaghan's Command are all fine. Utter End and Crackling Doom are worth having in the sideboard, but Crackling Doom I think is also fine to ditch in this kind of build. You want to be able to choose what creature dies so that you can get the right damage through.

All of your creatures are also too valuable I think to sacrifice to Butcher of the Horde so I say you should replace him with Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury. The dash will save him more often and it can actually end the game in a single swing potentially. Sorin, Solemn Visitor could also be viable to the deck as well.

I honestly think you can ditch Zulaport Cutthroat and Butcher of the Horde for same reason that IzzetGod mentioned: your creatures are too valuable. This makes the Cutthroat not worth running either because without a proper sac engines and creatures that give you value by getting sacced he is better off being something else. I also think you can get rid of Heir of the Wilds.

I also agree that Sorin can have a home here, and Gideon too if you have the budget for him. I would also try running Hangarback Walker, not only is it a good creature period but it can also synergize with Drana if anything.

I would highly suggest keeping Crackling Doom in the mainboard though. It's one of the best removals out atm in my opinion. It's great against mirror, and other aggro decks, to get rid of the biggest threat, but it also hits control decks like Esper Dragons hard since it gets around hexproof and other similar protections.

ok so I know this looks completely different now, and unfortunately I didn't even get to test it friday cause I was running so late I knew I wouldn't make it in time so I just brought commander decks to play on the side. Anyways, the more I looked at it I knew it needed to be changed. I'm hoping you guys will be kind enough to take a look again. Granted I'm just brewing and going over things in my head, but I feel like this will be good in a meta like mine. There are usually 15-30 people, there are regularly a couple of control decks, there are a few tier 2ish type decks (being kind) that are budget elves and similar, then the rest is made up of people playing slightly budget versions of some of the top decks like jeskai black and esper tokens. I feel like I have enough removal and direct damage to go along with value creatures to deal with creature based decks. I also feel like this deck can be aggressive enough early to pair with the direct damage to get ahead of the control decks. This way I'm never just dead in game 1 of a round and I can always improve with boarding. What are your thoughts?

If you want some ideas on how to make Abzan better with the red splash...see my deck, it has won 5 weeks in a row at 2 different locations at FNM and MNM. A Red Rhino's Doom

Some initial suggestions is that you should first find your splash color and limit it as to not make your deck pull into 2 different directions. It's almost as if you're trying to make a Mardu deck with a splash of Green but your green splash is very abundant, therefore not making it a splash color and now you have to focus on getting all 4 colors out and rely on them. Whereas if you had a splash color, the color isn't needed to win overall, but definitely adds some extra "flavor" or overall power to the deck. For example: My Abzan Red deck is a minimal splash of red as to where I don't need it to completely function, but when I do, it works wonders in the long game. With that minimal splash, I am able to play my cards how I want to play them and not how my land base makes me. Just a thought you should keep in mind. This looks like it's trying to be an aggressive build of Mardu with Siege Rhino and Abzan Charm for your splash. In which case, Den Protector is better suited in the sideboard for grindier match ups. And Dromoka's Command is a hard card to justify in the main because you're green is the splash.

Also, in a 4 color deck, you want to steer away from, or minimize, the amount of spells that have double casting costs of 1 color, example: Exquisite Firecraft having double red in it's cost. This restricts the likelihood that you will actually be able to cast it without screwing up your mana base on board, which could result in you not being able to cast the rest of your spells.

@UpperDeckerTaco, I see where the name is confusing. I have been playing abzan in standard since before it was abzan, so originally I wanted to splash red in my abzan deck. I've been wanting to play mardu for a while because there are a lot of mardu cards I like, so the deck has definitely turned out more of a mardu splash green. I didn't have the full deck so I was using Anafenza, the Foremost in place of Drana, and it makes an obvious difference in testing now that I have the Drana's. I think I like the mardu splash green and see your point about Dromoka's Command, so I could see changing that as a sideboard option.

Some things I noticed in testing are that while I have a decent amount of basics to help my battlelands come in untapped, I don't really have a lot of untapped red sources for a turn 1 Monastery Swiftspear. Also, while Abzan Charm is there for the obvious utility and because things need to be exiled. I just got Painful Truths and even though I haven't done a lot of testing, it may help the mana base if the charms were replaced with some other cheap removal or direct damage spell since Painful Truths fills one of the utility roles that the charm served.

I would like to keep the Den Protector and Siege Rhino in the mainboard. The rhino's for obvious reasons and then chaining a Den Protector into an Exquisite Firecraft or Kolaghan's Command (which then returns a creature) is very powerful and I think the Den Protector give the deck some sustainability (along with k-command). So with this info, what kind of suggestions would you make knowing that Monastery Swiftspear, Abzan Charm, and Dromoka's Command could all potentially be cut or moved to the sideboard. I only say the swiftspear because currently its not easy to make it a turn 1 play, but with changes will come mana fixing so that may change.

Well, if you had the fetches to support it, Swiftspear would be fine. As far as removal goes, Mardu Charm as a 2 of isn't a bad option. It's a decent Charm!!! It is virtually good against any deck. Good against control = hand disruption, at instant speed mind you, or create dudes (which work well with Kolaghan). Good against aggro = 4 damage to creature. Other removal: Murderous Cut is very good! Fiery Impulse is superior to Wild Slash even though Slash can hit the face, sometimes you just need to kill a Mantis Rider for 1 mana. Wingmate Roc is an awesome threat and can be game ending if they do not remove it the turn you play it. Even then, you still get a 3/4 dude left. Basically, you have to ask yourself, do I want to be a midrange deck, an aggro deck and smash face quick, or be a controlling/midrange-y brew. Once you figure that out, and which direction you want to go in, I'd be able to help you out more. It's tough to say you want to be aggressive when you aren't playing that many aggressive threats. Another route that you might think about trying is JUND splashing White. That would be very aggressive. And your white splash would be Siege Rhino and Crackling Doom. Also, if you wanted to go to a Tokens route, you can viably do that. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar naturally fits into most type of builds: Aggro, Midrange, Control...

That's probably another reason I'm willing to cut the swiftspears, I typically play more midrangy decks and that kinda feels like the direction this deck is heading. The reason for Wild Slash over Fiery Impulse is because there are a couple of control decks that show up regularly whereas Mantis Rider rarely makes an appearance so being able to go to the face is very relevant in my local area and having slash over impusle means less dead cards against control while still triggering prowess (also Abzan Charm deals with mantis, but obviously that could get cut). I think I wanted to go the more aggressive route because of the control decks and my hate for them, but I think naturally I build midrangy decks so that's probably going to be the easiest way to upgrade the deck. I'd say stick with mardu because I've had an obsession with k-command and Crackling Doom since seeing them, but always played abzan so I really want to finally take them for a spin lol. I've also been in love with Butcher of the Horde as well, but it's hard to find room for it over Siege Rhino, especially since they fill the same slot in the deck. I'd be curious to see what your jund splash white suggestion would be since that's probably my best mana base (i have all the standard fetches but only have the battle lands listed in the deck list), but that means losing things like Seeker of the Way. Which I like being able to mitigate the life loss from something like Painful Truths or drawing off of a charm with the lifelink it gets. One thing I'm avoiding though is Gideon. Not that I don't like him or think he's bad, I just don't currently have any and with the holidays and everything I'd rather not invest that heavily into something right now. I'm not opposed to having to pick up a few cards if I feel they're needed, just not for that pricetag and not for the full playset I'd need/want.

@UpperDeckerTaco forgot to tag you so I figured my response got lost in your notifications or something

Sorry, yeah I didn't get the notification. I'm driving at the moment. Actually to go to a local Wednesday night edh tournament. When I get a chance I'll go more in depth with my suggestions. But for now, I'm going to leave this for you to "Ponder" over... Brad Nelson played a four color deck last standard utilizing both Butcher and Rhino and it was a very midrange-y deck and worked quite well. It could be a potential possibility for the direction of your deck. I wouldn't run both A Charm and P truths in the main. One or the other. I'll be back later with more suggestions.

Thanks, I appreciate the help and suggestions. I guess depending on what the deck looks like in the end, some combination of both rhino or butcher would be possible. I've been looking over the deck and I said I want to keep it mardu, but I'm having a hard time figuring out worthwhile early creature playes. Obviously swiftspear and seeker are good, but even with a lot of non creature spells prowess doesn't trigger reliably since most of it's used as removal. That was one reason I liked the charm and the command because adding counters and triggering prowess wasn't a bad option if my opponent was off to a slow start. I just feel like they're better with more aggressive spells even though the charm and command provided a lot of utility. So I'm becoming more interested in your jund/white options. I think midrange would definitely be the way to go, it's my natural mindset when deck building and playing. Looking forward to brewing.

So there's a potential Jund Midrange brew that can be very aggressive or just bring the beats. Splashing white mostly for Siege Rhino. This was the idea I wanted to convey. Basically, creature list is heavily influenced by green, therefore green being a main color.

Creatures:

4x Warden of the First Tree

4x Rakshasa Deathdealer

4x Siege Rhino

3x Woodland Wanderer

4x Catacomb Sifter

2x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury

Removal:

2x Murderous Cut

3x Kolaghan's Command

3x Abzan Charm

3x Fiery Impulse

1x Crackling Doom

Planeswalkers:

2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

25x Land

This is a main deck scenario that I have been toying with. I haven't posted it on here yet because I usually try to play test with a deck a bit before posting it. What are your thoughts? Does this look like a build youd like to work on and run? Feel free.

Also, if you feel like sticking with your original deck, which is fine, a great 2 drop for a Mardu deck is Soulfire Grand Master, just very good in Mardu because Mardu has a lot of damage based removal. Plus the fact that you can late game rebuy spells is amazing. Also, Hangarback Walker is crazy good with Butcher of the Horde! Just some low end creatures for you to think of. Also, if you ever want to get aggressive with it, Goblin Heelcutter is still a phenomenal card for pushing through damage.

Or if you really want to use Butcher, in the previous list I presented, swap the Woodland Wanderers for Butcher of the Hordes

@UpperDeckerTaco That does seem like something with potential, just from looking at the list my initial thoughts are you may have slow starts because your 1 and 2 drops both require extra mana investments to really get their full value and curving out actually becomes bad-ish because the creatures are small and vanilla without the extra investment I mentioned. It could play out different or just need some number adjustments but I think you want either Warden or Rakshasa, not both. My second thought was that the deck seems a little top heavy with 7x 4drops and 6x 5drops on paper (two are murderous cut). Just my thoughts from initially seeing the deck list.

I guess I'm just on this mardu/green thing right now because all my ideas sort of come back to that so I've been doing some thinking about things over the holliday and I think I've come up with some changes that help improve the consistency of the deck without sacrificing too much in the control matchup. I've made some the changes to the deck to show you what I'm thinking. I think Mardu Ascendancy is a good addition to the deck because the deck wants to be casting a non creature spell on turn 3 to trigger prowess as it curves out and this would provide an immediate return in the form of prowess triggers and tokens the turn I play it. What do you think, are we getting closer to something playable now?

Seems and looks solid, although I find Mardu Ascendancy a little lackluster. I would prefer to see Abzan Ascendancy because of the pump ability along with the prowess and the creature replacement effect. Also, I would also say you need more 2 drops at least 2 more for this deck because it seems you're going the aggressive route. Which then allows you to ensure you hit a turn 2 threat. I'm still not a very big fan of Exquisite Firecraft in this deck.

UpperDeckerTaco, I just got back from playing this deck at a small end of the year holliday tournament my LGS had. I actually really liked the Mardu Ascendancy. Curving out Swiftspear, Seeker, Ascendancy was a pretty strong line of play, especially when I was on the play. This is almost half their life total by turn 3, then they're dodging burn and Rhinos the rest of the game. I know you said you don't like the Exquisite Firecraft because of the double casting cost but red is actually the easiest color to fetch (all my fetches can hit a land with red), and the double black of Drana, Liberator of Malakir is a little tougher to hit if she's in my opening hand and I want to play her on curve. I wouldn't take drana out because of the value she provides (especially now with the tokens from the ascendancy coming into play), but that is why I run her as a 2 of in this deck. As far as Abzan Ascendancy goes, I can see the value it offers and it would basically be filling the same role as the Mardu Ascendancy, but it would be impossible to cast it on turn 3 if I'm trying to curve out. Needing an untapped red source turn 1 for swiftspear means you can't cast a turn 3 Abzan Ascendancy in this deck. At least not without reworking the mana base to include Battlefield Forge and even then I would have to play that as my land turn 1. It would just take away from the consistency I'm trying to achieve. Plus, I think the tokens from the Mardu Ascendancy lends more toward keeping the deck aggressive early than the tokens I get from my things dying with the Abzan Ascendancy.

To be honest, while playing today, nothing really seemed out of place and got stuck in my hand. For the most part I was able to cast the cards I wanted when I needed to cast them. I did have some color issues but as I play more and learn what to fetch and when I think that will clear that issue up some. The biggest thing I found my self saying today in my matchups was I need to draw a Painful Truths. I had a handful of games today that were a little grindy (control my first matchup of the day) and I found myself top decking more often than I wanted. I'm not sure if I need a 3rd in the mainboard or if I needed to put a 3rd into the sideboard, but overall I was actually really pleased with how things played out today. 2-1-1, with my 1 loss coming in game 3 because of mana issues (no black sources by turn 7) and my tie being some really grindy games against control.