Comments on: Deck of the Week: Grim Flayer Abzan

By: BsledgeW

BsledgeW — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 13:54:09 +0000

Honestly at this point I’d rather play against rhino abzan again than hear another person go “response to your end of turn, CoCo, hey, look, two Reflector Mages”

By: Luca Ceresani

Luca Ceresani — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 09:52:15 +0000

In reply to William Sabato. Which maindeck configuration did you choose? I am struggling with my own build of Mardu midrange and it would be interesting to hear about your findings, if it does not bother you.

By: Jonathan Buwalda

Jonathan Buwalda — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 02:52:15 +0000

Hey Jason! I like to fashion myself as a pretty experienced burn player, and was wondering if you already had someone doing that write up? I’d be willing to try, at the bare minimum! Thanks for all the great content!

By: William Sabato

William Sabato — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 23:48:57 +0000

Are you guys going to do an article for the upcoming banlist? Also, in Mardu modern, I have been currently testing a very strong tokens version, essentially BW tokens with a more midrange twist and some better removal over a more all in tokens strategy. Has Mardu been getting any attention in modern because Im starting to see more of it pop up.

By: Jason Schousboe

Jason Schousboe — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 17:00:09 +0000

In reply to Roland F. Rivera Santiago. My mistake on the lack of Dark Confidant in Abzan; I did not realize that. I will say, though, these aren't the first people to play Grim Flayer in Abzan or Jund, and pros of this caliber playing the card is a strong endorsement, regardless of the specific surrounding circumstances.

By: Roland F. Rivera Santiago

Roland F. Rivera Santiago — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 16:51:38 +0000

The comparison between Bob and Grim Flayer for an Abzan shell is a bit odd – Abzan hasn’t been running Bob for quite a while, mainly because it has a significantly higher curve than Jund, which makes Bob riskier. Swapping Bob out for Rhino does ameliorate some of Abzan’s durdliness, but it does so by leaning even harder on the graveyard, which exposes it to splash damage from Dredge hate. This seems like a metagame-specific call, and I’m not sure that metagame truly exists outside of Worlds. Collective Brutality and Liliana, the Last Hope are legit, though (much more so than I had assumed), so I would expect to see them in Abzan 75s going forward.