At first glance this is an Investigate themed value/aggro deck. Lots of clues, lots of drawing cards with a few cards that can scrap and get big.
What this deck is actually about is Emrakul, the Promised End being cheated out as early as turn 5 with a combination of Briarbridge Patrol and Tamiyo's Journal.
Basically play creatures that make clues. Turn 4 slam Briarbridge Patrol. Turn 5 slam Tamiyo's Journal. Sometime during your turn (or the opponents!) use the ability on Tamiyo's Journal and find Emrakul, the Promised End in your deck. At the end of that turn, because you technically DID sacrifice 3 clues, you get to put a creature from your hand into play via Briarbridge Patrol. Tadah! Hello Emrakul, the Promised End.
It took me a while to decide on Abzan, I do have Naya and Bant lists that I've looked into but this version seemed like the most consistent.
Haven't done much playtesting outside of fishbowling. Any suggestions, comments and +1s are welcome.
Creatures
Hide Briarbridge Patrol - Our Emrakul engine. This is the card that lets us cheat out the big guy, and although he's overcosted, he can make more clues and be a body when need be.
Bygone Bishop
- This card is primarily for generating clues but can also fly over some decks or block problematic creatures in the air.
Selfless Spirit - Cheap, gives us some presence in the air, and protects our creatures from removal and combat tricks. Can force some bad trades in combat as well.
Syndicate Trafficker - One of the major reasons we are running black. It makes huge use out of the clues we make, making it big and hard to handle. Clues used as fodder for this card also count towards our numbers for Briarbridge Patrol
Thraben Inspector - Cheap, makes a clue, let's us use our mana on turn one, good fodder for Scrapheap Scrounger and procs our
Bygone Bishop
. Whats not to love?
Tireless Tracker - Generates clues, especially well with Evolving Wilds. Can get massive from our sac outlets. Also works with
Bygone Bishop
.
Emrakul, the Promised End - Our big guy. He's what's going to finish our games. The whole strategy is about getting him out and having him beat down.
Non Creature Spells
Hide Blessed Alliance - Helps to deal with pummeller and the energy Hydra. Also works against enemy Emrakuls. Can make for some surprise blocks or even just gain a little bit of life.
Grasp of Darkness - Incredibly strong kill spell. Speaks for itself.
Ulvenwald Mysteries
- Good for grindy matchups or for games where you need a lot of chump blocking till you can go off. Works with other sac engines as it doesn't stipulate you use the clue ability.
Declaration in Stone - Handles some of the major issues in the meta, can remove Emrakul as well as anything too big for Grasp to deal with.
Anguished Unmaking - General answer to anything we can't handle with our other cards. Hits things like plainswalkers and specific creatures in wide attacks.
Fumigate - Our answer to enemy Emrakul, the Promised End as well as just being generally strong against midrangy decks. Although it hurts us, generally we can recover much better because of clues!!
Tamiyo's Journal - The second piece of our combo. Using the second ability we can find any card we want. With Briarbridge Patrol out we can then get that card onto the field (if it's a creature) at the end of the turn for free!
Sideboard
