Pyroshade The problem with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is that it's a later game card. It shines in the late game, where you can just get something like 6 mana off of it, but at that point, why haven't you won? If the board is a standstill, and you just need to get an Archangel down, it works great, but I find that's just about it.

It's a very poor card to have in the first 4 or so turns, because it generates colourless mana until you have 3/4 non-land permanents out. The lack of consistency is really painful, and unlike Elves, we can't use mana dorks to generate heaps of mana to pump our team 5 times.

Run it against a field of slow decks, but in a field of aggression, it's sub-optimal.

For the desc, instead of putting Mirage Plains, you can put [Plains (MIR)] which turns out like this: Plains

Maringam I'll do that, but I like people to know what set I use. Many people don't recognise older set symbols.

Yeah =3 just me being finnicky.

You know you are becoming a token deck now. You should reconsider Martyr of Sands's true value now. I am thinking more health dorks might make more sense.

landstalker10 If 5 token spells makes it a token deck, I guess Abzan midrange is also tokens. We're running token generators because the value they provide against various strategies is very, very good. Resolving a Secure against control will force a board wipe, or if they can't do anything, you win. Procession is one of the best cards to put underneath a Windbrisk, because it can pump Pridemate pretty well. The tokens play into our strategy, rather than detract from it, and Martyr is still important to give us early advantage.

" becoming "

Maybe you should add in [Aegis of the Gods] as a good low mana replacement for the leyline

ThatGuyWhoSucksAtLOL The point of Leyline is that it can't be Lightning Bolt'd, and it's free on T0. It's also good under Windbrisk, and is definitely castable. Aegis dies to everything and is not a popular option because of this.

JexInfinite Ahhh I see your point. I love this deck a lot; Do you have any tips on how to make this deck budget?

ThatGuyWhoSucksAtLOL I would recommend wholeheartedly to not make this deck if you are on a budget. There are some cards you can do without, like Leyline, and expensive sideboard cards, even Archangel isn't necessary for the decks' success, but Auriok Champion, Serra Ascendant, Ranger of Eos and Path to Exile are all necessary parts for the deck to function.

You can make a cheaper version of this list, totally, but don't go on a budget, because you miss out on cards vital to the strategy.

I think its time to reconsider 4 Flagstones of Trokair. Note that they can ramp you 1 floating mana in a round as well as increase your draw advantage.

landstalker10 With 2 GQ, it's a lot better. I may go up to 3 GQ, in which case, Flagstones is required for mana filtration.

keep in mind that in a pinch, GQ Flag, and you get 3 white mana. (in a pinch where you have 1 colorless and 1 white)

I know its a miracle card, and if you dont get if off for the miracle it can be challenging.

What about Entreat the Angels for one Secure the Wastes

If I don't hit the miracle, it's a dead card, and if I do have the miracle, I better have 4 or more mana open. This deck doesn't have enough library and draw manipulation to miracle it consistently, so more often than not, it'll be a dead card. The same can be said for Secure, but I'm not unhappy to cast it for x=2 or x=3.

fair point

I'm surprised to see a Soul Sisters deck not running Intangible Virtue. Any reasons for its exclusion?

canterlotguardian Honor of the Pure affects all my creatures, whereas Intangible Virtue affects only my tokens, of which I run 6 cards which generate them.

Ah that makes sense.

Seeing that Hangarback Walker can be fetched from Ranger of Eos have you considered running it? It seems quite insane.

AdmiralAbzan I can't sink a heap of mana into Hangarback to make it worthwhile over a Procession. I don't want to have to dedicate effort to my cards for them to be good. It's a good card for something like affinity which can drop it as early as T1, but on T2, when it's castable, I want to make a bigger impact on the board than a Doomed Traveler.

Also worth noting that Honor of the Pure doesn't affect it, and that's big.

This is a great deck and I've played against the exact setup locally a few times. The only thing I had going for me, to win the game was to drop a well timed Blasphemous Act and shoot down follow up recovery cards. I believe you made a great decision with removing the old lady. As you said, if it doesn't pan out perfectly at the start it really does not add value later on. The deck gets out of control super fast as is already and I can see it winning loads more. Nice one man :)

Hi. Really like your SS build. SS is my deck of choice as well. My main varies by 6 cards. OUT: 4 Honors & 2 secure the wastes. IN: 4 oblivion rings and 2 planeswalkers Elspeth Knight-Errant and Ajani Goldmane.

On the sideboard, 3x Rest in Peace, 3x Mark of Asylum, 3x Stony Silence, 3x Mirran Crusader, 3x Brave the Elements.

For the main board, O Rings are just great general hate and offer excellent versatile protection. The Goldmane has the honor of pure ability, can also make a big creature and Elspeth can let our Ajani Pridemate fly or make some tokens to help Windbrisk resolve.

For the side board, Crusader can replace the Auriok Champions in the case Elves are our competition. Rest In peace is graveyard shut down. Mark of Asylum stops our creatures from being bolted and pryroclasmed or lightning helixed.

Brave is my only iffy sideboard card.

O rings and Auriok Champs, are the cards of choice to substitute for side board cards.

For Lands, 4 Ghost Quarters for hate, 4 Flags of Trokair no down side (no blood moon is played where I am), 4 Windbrisk Heights, 1 Pendelhaven to protect a sister from early death. 9 plains.

a.stebel

I'd argue that Oblivion Ring is a weaker card than Honor because it's hard on the curve and doesn't help you win faster, however, more removal is always good. For your planeswalkers, Ajani Goldmane is pretty mediocre, and you should just use another Elspeth. Elspeth is better when you're behind, and better when you're ahead, but sticking at 1 is probably easiest on the mana base.

Sideboards are entirely subjecting depending on meta, but you are correct that Brave the Elements is the weakest one. It doesn't really help you win, and only really is useful against Merfolk, which we've good a pretty decent chance against. Your other cards are all fine options.

I'm definitely not a fan of Pendelhaven at all. It's useless with Honor of the Pure, which I'd consider one of the better cards in the deck, and while you're not running Honor, it's still not stellar. It doesn't produce any white mana, which I see as the biggest problem. It's somewhat justifiable if you have Sundering Growth in the sideboard, but mostly bad for mana.

You should consider running mainboard Leonin Arbiters to make your GQs better; maybe take out some O Rings for these. It really, really helps against Tron, and can nerf fetches, or divert removal away from a more important creature.