“Never give up. Never Surrender."
-Buzz Lightyear

How many times have you started off your tournament 0-2 or 1-2 and dropped immediately? We all have done that many times. Depending on the event you are playing in, you may or may not actually be out of contention, but often once we reach that point in the event, we would rather move on than battle through. Often continuing to press on will result in still missing the cut, but once in a while your efforts will be rewarded. This is that story.

This past weekend I was able to attend my first Pre-Pro Tour Qualifier. I’ve been too busy with work, kids, and my business to travel around and play in these types of events. From what I’ve heard, they have not been well supported by the stores hosting them either which doesn’t incentivize players to drive to play in them.

As someone who regularly thinks about prize support, from the player side as well as the owner side, I believe giving good incentives for players to make the drive is crucial to your tournament success. Even though attendance at these events is not what Wizards predicted it would be, stores can still create a good experience for players.

Going into the event I did not have my hopes up about my success because I was not confident in any decks I’d been working on. The night before, I didn’t even play in FNM to test any decks. For a while, I’ve been playing various token decks but mainly Jeskai Tokens. It is a potent weapon but despite my confidence in the deck, I was not having success with it.

Before Fate Reforged, I was tinkering around with Abzan Aggro just as it was becoming a real deck so I decided to give that a whirl. I let a friend borrow it for FNM and he did poorly, but it’s what I wanted to play. Sometimes you have to go with your gut. Sometimes you have to play the deck you think is the best in order to prove to your friends (and yourself) that it is the best.

The List

So despite my friend 1-2-dropping FNM with my Abzan Aggro deck, I registered 70 of the same 75. His one suggestion was to make sure I had four Valorous Stance between main deck and sideboard. I thought that was a great idea so I tweaked the numbers a bit to make room for those cards and changed the sideboard a little as well. Here’s the list I played.

First things first, I need to talk about the deck. Don’t think this is a random deck list--much testing, tuning and theorizing went into its construction.

One way I found myself losing with this deck was to opposing Bile Blights. You have two choices when your opponent could have the efficient removal spell in their deck. You can only ever have one copy of a creature in play at a time, or you can play your creatures as aggressively as possible and hope they don’t draw that card.

Usually it’s better to play around Bile Blight, but I found that many times you don’t have that luxury. For example, if you have two Fleecemanes and no other threats, how will you actually pressure your opponent if you don’t play both? So you’re stuck in this situation of getting punished for any actions you take which does not lead to many victories.

One way to avoid that scenario is to build your deck in such a way that you won’t draw those creatures in multiples. This is not a typical way you would construct your deck but with Bile Blight and lots of good creatures to choose from, we have the opportunity to do just that.

Of the three-drops, Rakshasa Deathdealer is the weakest in the first couple of turns of the game. It happens to be much better in the late game because you have lots of mana at your disposal. The fact that you can cast it on turn two makes it quite the versatile threat. I never want to have two of them in play at the same time because my opponent can always set up profitable blocks or force me to expend my mana every turn in order to keep them from attacking. With this archetype, in most matches, you want to be playing another threat each turn. Spending your turns pumping or regenerating your Deathdealer is a way to lose a lot of games. I’ve found two copies to be the perfect number for this card.

Many players have moved on from Heir of the Wilds, but that seems like a misevaluation of the metagame to me. Not only is it an aggressive threat, it always has the ability to trade up for a better creature. This concept is subtle and can easily be undervalued. There are many times when your opponent is unwilling to block with any of their creatures because they don’t want to trade with your 2/2 or 3/3. Against the midrange decks, this creature is often key to your success.

Another interesting aspect of my version is including Reclamation Sage maindeck. I’ve seen a couple players hedge and play one copy, but I went a step further and said that because it has targets in the majority of matchups, I want two copies main and another in the board. As you’ll see below, that paid off in a big way. I really like the two maindeck copies and highly recommend you make room for them in your build.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang was an interesting one-of all event. He was great the times I drew him but I didn’t find myself wanting him often. Tasigur is obviously bad in multiples so drawing one is almost never bad. Sometimes he is extremely cheap while other times you are happy to pay four or five mana. If there was something I wanted to cut, I would consider running a second copy but I think one is the correct choice. Maybe the second copy could be in the sideboard but I don’t think there is room there either.

Finally, the removal suite is set up in a similar fashion to that of the two-cost creatures. My goal with my removal was to have a diverse set of answers at my disposal. You may not have what you want in hand but you should always be drawing to an answer. I know that Abzan Charm is supposed to be the epitome of this concept of versatile removal, but I found it to be the worst of the bunch and often I wished for more Hero's Downfalls instead.

I think Abzan Charm is awkwardly placed in the metagame right now and outside of a couple matchups, don’t think it’s very good. I think a miser's one-of is fine, but the second copy should just be another Downfall.

The Rounds

So how did my crazy-looking deck list fair at the event? Let’s dive right in and find out.

Round 1: Outlast Lifelink

I’m not going to write about how this was a great deck and that it’s going to revolutionize the format. Sometimes you get lucky enough to play against an easy matchup like this. Granted, he did have some nice synergies with Ajani's Pridemate plus lifegain triggers, but otherwise it wasn’t a very competitive deck.

Match 2-0
Record 1-0

Round 2: R/G Monsters

My friend Josh, who has been to the Pro Tour a couple of times, drove down for this event. While I was happy to see him, it’s always unfortunate to play against your friends. You’ll have that sometimes with five-round events though because there are not that many players at the event. Despite the low attendance, the quality of players was definitely above average. We had a bunch of players who have had trips to the Pro Tour as well as players who regularly make day two of GPs.

Both game one and game two were complete blowouts for each of us. Game one, he played threat after threat as well as multiple Stormbreath Dragons and I couldn’t keep my head above water. Simlilarly, in game two, I had removal for every threat he played and easily won with my two creatures.

Game three, I mulliganed to six and kept a sketchy hand based on Warden of the First Tree living. Warden overperformed all weekend and this game was one such time. Despite drawing all the land, eleven total, I still had a chance to win the game. Many players still don’t know that you can double-pump the Warden and I put myself in a situation to win if blocks didn’t line up perfectly. Unfortunately Warden was blocked in a very conservative manner and I didn’t have nearly the resources to win from that point.

Match 1-2
Record 1-1

Round 3: R/W Midrange

In game one, I was not sure exactly what deck I was playing against. There are many decks that can start on Seeker of the Way, and it was hard to deduce which version he was playing. As it turns out he was playing a burn-heavy R/W Midrange and not the Jeskai Tokens I suspected.

I was never really in this game because I was cramped on mana and I had two useless Abzan Charms in hand. I took a risky line and lost some life to draw cards in order to try to dig myself out of a bad situation but he had the burn to punish my decision. It was unlikely I was winning from such a life total against a deck with burn spells but I took my shot and it didn’t work out.

Game two was a different story. I boarded in more removal spells and I was easily able to keep his board in check while I beat face with Anafenza, the Foremost. She was a real beating for many opponents this weekend.

Game three was a crazy affair. We both had strong hands. My opponent fought through my double Drown in Sorrow, Doomwake Giant, Siege Rhino, and triple Sorin, Solemn Visitor with creature after creature. He was able to get in some damage with Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker before I could kill it as well as some other random hits from creatures. He also dealt quite well with all my Sorins which is hard for those types of decks to do.

At the end of the game, I was at four life and my opponent was at two. He had one draw step to find his burn before I killed him. He drew Wild Slash, which wouldn't have been enough except for the Lightning Strike he also had in hand.

I had no regrets from this match. It was an epic adventure filled with lots of adrenaline. We both played great the entire match and unfortunately it ended with me on the losing end.

Match 1-2
Record 1-2

So, after three rounds, I found myself in a precarious position. The perpetual dilemma. But I thought to myself, “Never give up, never surrender.” And pressed on.

Round 4: G/B Constellation

These midrange green decks can be a real tough nut to crack. Game one, I remembered the weakness of this particular strategy. Sometimes you kill a couple of their threats and they are left with some mana guys and not much action.

Game two, I went down to five cards. Despite a valiant effort on my part, my hand was slow with no removal to back me up with. I had no answer to Hornet Queen or either of the Doomwake Giants, so onto game three we went.

For our final game, I had my opening of Heir of the Wilds into a couple Reclamation Sages and a Doomwake Giant after his Hornet Queen. He didn’t have much gas left in the tank after that and my creatures mopped up the rest of his life total.

Doomwake Giant proved essential to my tournament success. I sideboarded him in many different matches and he was great all day. Any time your opponent could have Hornet Queen, this is your best answer. It not only removes their toughest threat, but it also gives you a great body to battle with. Make room for a couple of these in your sideboard.

Match 2-1
Record 2-2

Round 5: 4cc Control

Another friend and another close matchup. My friend is a rogue deck build like myself and today he was playing his non-green control deck. His list featured Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Goblin Rabblemaster, Tasigur, the Golden Fang as well as black removal spells, some counters and a couple burn spells. It was a potent mix. If he would have had some more threats in his sideboard to better match up against a true control deck, I think he would have top-eighted this event.

As for our match, his mana base helped me quite a bit. In order to play this type of four-color deck, you need Mana Confluence as well as pain lands and fetches. His lands dealt him too much damage and but he was able to stabilize with Dig Through Time and a solid stream of threats and answers. Despite his low life total, I was unable to finish him off after the End Hostilities.

Game two, I jammed threat after threat and while he did have answers for almost all of my threats, he was always a turn behind and was unable to catch up. That’s one of the great things about this deck. Not only does it play significant early threats, but it also has lots of removal to back them up so you can keep connecting with them.

Game three was very close, just like game one. Unfortunately, he was stuck for colored mana. He had both white and blue mana but no red or black mana to kill my creatures. So he was able to cast his Brimaz, but after I killed it, he didn’t have much else to do and even though he could Dig Through Time, it was too little too late and I finished him off.

Match 2-1
Record 3-2

So, just like that, after starting 1-2, I fired back two wins in a row and had a shot for Top 8. The only thing you can do is your best. Once you’ve done your best, it’s up to the numbers to tell you whether that was good enough or not. As it turns out, all of the x-2’s made it in and I squeaked into the Top 8 in 8th place. Although I would be on the draw for every game one in the elimination rounds, I still felt confident that my skills and deck could win any matchup.

Quarters: GBw Constellation Whip

Even though I played against a similar version and beat it earlier in the day, this is still a tough matchup and this version is better than the one I faced before. Not only does it have Whip of Erebos for lifegain and reanimating shenanigans but also it has its own compliment of Siege Rhinos. Playing this match out felt a lot like a mirror match even though it wasn’t.

Game one seemed close at first but my mull to five on the draw didn’t have the staying power it needed to overcome my opponent's double Doomwake Giant draw and we were quickly onto game two. In this game, I never lost tempo or control of the game. My Reclamation Sages did heavy lifting and I had double Rhino on top of a Doomwake Giant of my own. Clearing your opponents hornet tokens is a clear path to victory in this match so keep your Bile Blights in and bring in your Doomwakes.

Game three was much closer. We both were casting Rhinos and then the board got clogged up with lots of creatures. I had a number of threats including Heir of the Wilds that my opponent didn’t want to block, so while the board was stalled, I was able to keep attacking for a little bit until I could chain a couple removal spells together to force through the last couple points of damage.

Semis: U/B Control

After taking some damage from my lands, I spewed out a steady stream of attackers. My diverse threats like planeswalkers and cheap creatures got in a bunch of damage but the opponent had every answer at the right time. He had early removal spells for my early threats, then a counter or two to disrupt me. Finally he cast Dig Through Time to find a removal spell plus Crux of Fate to clear up my board and Ugin to demolish any chances of me winning.

Game two was much more in my favor. I had a turn one Warden of the First Tree to apply the most pressure as well as threats after his removal spells and Hero's Downfall for his planeswalkers.

Game three, there was a debacle where he cast a Downfall when he didn’t have the available mana to do so and we had to back the game state up a turn. Either way it went, I had a clear board presence, he was mana light and didn’t have enough time to kill enough of my creatures before I finished him off.

Finals: R/G Monsters

In the finals, I was matched against my friend again from earlier. This time I not only knew what he was playing a lot better, but hopefully I wouldn’t have to draw all of my lands. Game one seemed quite tense but I got him to a rather low life total. I got in some early damage with creatures but then his Xenagos, the Reveler clogged up the board for him. I thought my maindeck Reclamation Sage on his Courser was going to put me too far ahead, but that Xenagos foiled those plans quickly.

He had the Xenagos in both games and it was surprisingly effective. You may have to sideboard them out against any deck with Mantis Rider, but against every other deck, the planeswalker is just as good as he always was. After that, the board got majorly clogged once he played a maindeck Soul of Shandalar.

If you have not played against this card, man it’s tough. It does die to every removal spell but when your opponent is playing R/G Monsters, they have a plethora of beefy guys to overload your removal. The first strike on that guy is also amazing because nothing fights through it.

I was in a position where I needed to force through damage in order to win this game. Often we are hesitant to sacrifice our creatures to get through damage but that’s something you need to do depending on the situation. So, I played and ticked up my Sorin and then sent my team in. He did get a free kill on my Siege Rhino, but I forced through exactly eight damage leaving him at three life. Conveniently, my second Rhino dealt exactly that much damage. Although it took some correct sequencing and good combat math, I was able to take a turn or two and set up the right situation for me to win even though his board was becoming better and better.

After winning the first game one in the Top 8, I was feeling confident in my deck and my sideboard plan to get me through to the win. Again, because I knew he had Hornet Queen somewhere in his deck, I left in Bile Blight and Brought in Doomwake Giants. Hero's Downfall is also great in this match so it came in as well.

I started with a turn one Warden into leveling it and then a scry land on turn three. This decision was perhaps the hardest of the event. I did not have a fourth land but I did have two spells I could cast with my three mana. I also had two Siege Rhinos in hand so hitting my land drops was rather important.

The scry revealed a third Rhino! I tanked for a minute about whether I should bottom the Rhino, but who can beat three Rhinos?! In actuality, it was a close decision. I kept the third one on top because I had two other plays with my available mana which meant more turns for me to draw my lands. All of my threats are good so I would not be losing out on any missed plays and as long as I eventually draw a fourth land, I was certain of victory. Despite my opponent's strong Monsters draw including the Soul again, I was able to sequence my plays correctly.

My sequence went like this. Deathdealer, Reclamation Sage to kill Courser, draw Downfall to kill Stormbreath, finally find land to start the Rhino stampede. I did play two Rhinos in consecutive turns but instead of jamming the third one, I left it in my hand for two turns so I could set him up. I needed to find a second removal spell to kill the Soul of Shandalar. If I could do that, his defenses were not very intimidating.

I was patient and waited until the end of his turn. That way, he would have to decide whether to use his mana to kill my Heir of the Wilds or tap his lands to further his board position. After he used his mana, then I killed the Soul and that left him open to my attack plus Siege Rhino after combat to finish him off. Of course, he felt I got lucky top-decking the third Rhino, but in actuality, I set that up at the beginning of the game and had it in hand for half the game.

Overall it was a great tournament filled with great games of Magic. The deck performed above expectations and I would definitely recommend this version going forward. All of my maindeck choices were great except for switching one Downfall for one Abzan Charm.

Until next time,
Unleash the Abzan Aggro Force!

Mike Lanigan
MtgJedi on Twitter
Jedicouncilman23@gmail.com