True, though I'd go so far as to say the most important part of the Seer-Vizier-Finks combo is not the Finks, but the Seer: making Searing Blaze and Path to Exile fizzle is great when we run plenty of Eternal Witnesses. Granted it is a bad top deck and really only works in one combo.
True, though I'd go so far as to say the most important part of the Seer-Vizier-Finks combo is not the Finks, but the Seer: making Searing Blaze and Path to Exile fizzle is great when we run plenty of Eternal Witnesses. Granted it is a bad top deck and really only works in one combo.
You're reading searing blaze wrong. It doesn't fizzle, it has two targets.
Seer sucks right now. It's a bad topdeck and doesn't protect you from anything except path pretty much. It has fringe uses against pulse which sees basically no play now and it's good against living end (which also sees almost no play now).
You're reading searing blaze wrong. It doesn't fizzle, it has two targets.
Seer sucks right now. It's a bad topdeck and doesn't protect you from anything except path pretty much. It has fringe uses against pulse which sees basically no play now and it's good against living end (which also sees almost no play now).
My apologies: for some reason I thought that if you sacrificed the creature targeted by Searing Blaze, it would no longer have a valid target for that part of the spell and thus would fizzle overall. Helps to actually know how a card like that functions, eh?
Having said that, perhaps Seer is not the right sac-outlet? Varolz is kinda clunky as a combo piece, but at least it's better in top deck mode and can potentially dodge Bolt and Push given the right conditions.
Might be a little messed up, but I use Athreos to combat heavy removal. For some reason my meta isn't seeing many Anger of the Gods so it's really just down to Path that hurts. He really makes UW control sweat when you also get Leap down early. Maybe worth a shot for other metas, but it's been doing well in mine. It's a one of that adds another 2ish combos and synergy with great inevitability.
Funny that we're sort of riding the "Seer sucks" train right now. As soon as I added Seer/Finks/Vizier my win rate jumped against just about everything. Then again this could also have been me giving up on bant for images and coming back to sanity (sort of) with abzan.
Yeah, the main advantage of seer is that it's 1 CMC in a deck starved for 1 drops. I wish there was a sac outlet on a body in another color, as I don't think the B adds much to the deck.
I am not sure what's right in black.
For my build, I am considering trying to figure out more searing blaze hate. I'm seriously tired of getting savaged by that card. Maybe 2 or 3 forge-tenders and see what's up
Might be a little messed up, but I use Athreos to combat heavy removal. For some reason my meta isn't seeing many Anger of the Gods so it's really just down to Path that hurts. He really makes UW control sweat when you also get Leap down early. Maybe worth a shot for other metas, but it's been doing well in mine. It's a one of that adds another 2ish combos and synergy with great inevitability.
Funny that we're sort of riding the "Seer sucks" train right now. As soon as I added Seer/Finks/Vizier my win rate jumped against just about everything. Then again this could also have been me giving up on bant for images and coming back to sanity (sort of) with abzan.
Seer by itself is bad right now, and there are plenty of other options for a sac-outlet. However, it probably provides the best additional infinite combo outside of infinite [combat/non-combat] damage and infinite life (that being infinite scry 1s). However, that does compete with 3-card combo of Druid+Vizier+Recruiter.
As much as I want to like Seer, maybe those other sacrifice outlet options should be explored?
EDIT: Yes, I'm well aware that I'm going back and forth on this issue; but new arguments are constantly being brought up that affect my stance on the matter.
I think playing just one seer is probably right. But if you have at least 7-8 other 1-drops I would consider swapping it for Varolz or Cartel Aristocrat to see how that works out.
The nice thing about the 1 seer is the level of commitment there is very low; it's super easy to chord for.
I might have to hop back on the finks if the whole burnination of my meta keeps up (there were down to 1 burn player for a while last week 3:P).
Yeah the Finks are pretty key at the moment imo with so much interaction floating around and UW Control being tier 1 again, beside the obvious of making burn a much better MU clearing up precious SB Slots.
I went 10-5 at GP Birmingham and actually ended up somewhat salty since my losses were mostly due to variance. After participating in a trial the day before and 5-0'ing to start with 2 byes things started out well and I won my first three rounds against DSJund, Burn and the Mirror, to then get wrecked by a godhand out of Living End.
G1 I do not draw Chord/Seer/Scooze and he does his thing. I was pretty confident G2 since my SB is decently equipped and the MD Seer is great being so easy to chord for, but the game basically ended with me CoCo'ing on his EoT with Seer on the battlefield, he was on 2 lands, to then get hit by a SSG Cascade, I sac my board and scry Vizier to the top to go off next turn, he brings back Archfiend of Ifnir, cycles Street Wraith to kill my board except the Druid which would still let me go off on my turn, but he had a second SSG and a Cerodon to cycle and kill my druid. After that sequence I never got back on my feet and ended up losing the game.
My next game was against affinity and there was not much I could do being on the draw against his very solid hands with back up removal, not even Kataki could save me G3 against his Etched Champion with a Plating attached on turn 3.
I finished the day winning against Bant Eldrazi and Storm, both games in which the MD Spellskite won me a match. Against Bant Eldrazi it prevented a Path to stop my combo and against Storm I chorded for Skite then Chorded for Eidolon on my turn and he showed me Echoing Truth and the kill in the end. Spellskite was actually pretty clutch throughout the tournament also winning me round 1 against DSJund since I chorded for it after he alpha striked and went for the Temur Battle Rage.
Day 2 started well with a win against affinity and I actually had great breakers at this stage which kept me solidly positioned for top 8 contention If I won the rest of my rounds but then the nightmare began and I got paired twice in a row vs Dredge which I believe to be our worst MU. The thing is, I managed to maneuver my way into possible game winning board states but luck was not on my side. The first match I lose after CoCo'ing three times and not hitting Druid/Seer the first two times an Seer the third to win me the game on the spot, the second game I needed 1 turn after he Conflagrated my board and I played a second Druid with the combo in hand, but he dredges 4 and finds a second Conflagrate which left me slightly tilted ^^;.
The next round against Dredge was less lopsided and G3 ended with me having infinite mana but no pay-off with 3 draws to find it, 2 canopy and my draw step. At that point I had 7 outs (2 Kessig/3 Chord/1 Rhonas/1 Duskwatch) and 4 CoCo so technically 11 possible outs but it wasn't meant to be.
I included some additional GY hate in the SB since I've always hated our Dredge MU but unfortunately never saw it even with mulliganing more agressively.
The next round against Affinity was also pretty frustrating, after two quick games the third one ended up being grindier, I managed to stabilize at 1 life with him having no creatures on board and 0 cards in hand, and I just needed to untap to have a 2 turn clock beating down with Chord up for either Burrenton/Qasali/Combo piece depending on how the turn went, but he topdecked the Galvanic Blast to lethal me exactly that turn.
After losing three games in a row I decided I'd go for the pro point instead of spending money on side events and ended up winning both, one of which was against Dredge so I at least managed to redeem myself there :P.
Day 1
Bye
Bye
DSJ 2-0
Burn 2-0
Mirror 2-1
Living End 0-2
Affinity 1-2
Bant Eldrazi 2-1
Storm 2-1
Day 2
Affinity 2-0
Dredge 0-2
Dredge 1-2
Affinity 1-2
Mono White Taxes 2-0
Dredge 2-1
Altogether I quite liked my list with a few exceptions I'd change going forward depending on the expected metagame. I feel like we are pretty decently positioned in the meta, the only issue is the classic 15 card SB syndrome in a format as diverse as modern but since we have a possible turn 3 combo this is slightly mitigated.
On the debate of which is the best pay off, either Rhonas/Entity or Ballista they all have advantages/disadvantages but I decided to go for Rhonas since he's solid against UW which I knew was going to be pretty prevalent and is findable off of CoCo which was important since I was only running 1 Recruiter alongside the Kessig Wolf Runs as my pay off. The main advantage of Ballista is definitely in the Ad Nauseam MU since both Rhonas/Entity can't win on the spot through Grace/Unlife while Ballista can ping on our turn and his upkeep if he has the Angel's Grace.
I just came back from GP Birmingham.
Finished Day 1 at 6-2-1 and had a mediore day 2, and ended at 8-4-3.
I don't remember all the matches in detail, but can give a summary and a list. I was actually very happy with my list, and didn't really feel like someone was missing or not pulling its weight. Just a bit dissapointed about my day 2.
I feel 2 of my draws could have been wins if both players played a bit faster. I think I could have sped up a bit, and it sucked having a 100% win boardstate in one match and end up with a draw.
I also lost a couple of great matchups to some bad beats, but then again, I also had some luck in a couple of matches, so it evens out a bit.
Won't post "bad beats" stories, as it doesn't really matter, but I really liked the deck, and I felt the margins for finishing much better was extremely small and close in day 2.
So, as for individual cards choices etc.
(my memory is not good enough for a full tournament rapport:)
Mainboard: Banewhip Punisher: Wanted a maindeck removal spell and fiend hunter is too fragile. It was actually great, it killed everything from Death's shadows to other big things, but it also killed so many relevant 1 toughness guys while sticking around, like bob, delver, clique, flickerwisp and mana dorks. Even ended up witnessing it back instead of a coco a couple of times. Rhonas the Indomitable: Was great all weekend. Pressured controlish decks, fast clock, hard to kill. I've said it before that I dislike ballista, so bad against the top decks (Valakut, Death's shadow, eldrazi tron, different control decks). Qasali Pridemage and Selfless Spirit: Both were good. Some random blood moon/ensnaring bridges in game 1s, and having outs to it won me at least 2 games. Spirit is just a good creature, against control and also affinity and other random things. Not a bad maindeck card and saves a sideboard spot.
I like having a couple of utility maindeck cards, and it gives me allmost a 18 card sideboard.
Sideboard: Maelstrom Pulse: Did so much work! That card is great. I think people playing abrubt decay and not pulse are doing it wrong. Modern is so diverse, just being able to hit either a Kalitas, grafdiggers, Nahiri, blood moon, Bridge, Death's shadow, Lingering Souls, Delve threats etc makes it so flexible and it's never dead to bring in against allmost any deck, unlike decay and path. Pharika, God of Affliction: Did great work against control and DS. Anafenza, the Foremost: Worth it for dredge alone imo. Also good in the mirror and some other matchups (big resilient threat that doesn't use the GY) Eidolon of Rhetoric AND Ethersworn Canonist: Eidolon is the better card of course, no doubt. But I like having 2 of theese effects, and Eidolon is too slow to chord for against storm. It also has value against other combo decks. Sin Collector: This card did WORK. Single handedly won 2 games that I would have lost without. Maybe playing more is correct, or having it main. Distended Mindbender: IMO this card is underplayed. It helps in our worst matchups, and it comes in against several good decks.
Against control, it's a good resilient threat that attacks from a completely different angle than they are prepared for. It will rip a removal and/or boardwipe and attack hard. Cast triggers are OP. Against Ad Nauseam and GR breach it will rip their hand apart, and take the payoffs. Against eldrazi tron and normal tron it can both discard good stuff, but it also survives UGIN, all is dust, and it can rumble with thought knots, smashers etc. Valakut and Eldrazi tron are popular decks that are bad matchups, and I feel this card is one of the few things that helps. Auriok Champion: This was a new addition for the weekend and it performed really well. It did great work against delver, deaths's shadow and dredge. Being basicly unkillable by those 3 decks, except for flaying tendrils or actually blocking with a snap. Bought me a lot of time and life and got in for damage.
If I went to another GP this weekend I'd submit basicly the same 75. I might cut the Canonist for something like a 2nd Sin collector as they can do similar things, but Sin Collector is better in more matchups, while Canonist can be a bit narrow. I was thinking about dropping the swamp for a 3rd township, but I met so many path decks that I don't think I want to go down on basics right now. 3 Horizon canopy was great.
I like your list a lot man. I think you would probably wind up doing better with the 3rd township than the swamp but it's a close thing.
Banewhip punisher looks really really good on paper to me. Kinda surprised people are sleeping on hard removal on a cocoable creature tbh. It does tax your B production a little but not overly since you can split it up.
I think the second sin collector over the canonist is possibly wrong given how much storm is around and how bad a match it is g1. We really have to win game 2 and 3 as they are probably gonna take 1 (probably 70%? Even with the new combo it has to be favored). But tis a tough call for sure.
Again, really well crafted list. I am almost surely gonna copy it if I try Abzan again
That looks like a Bant Vizier Knightfall list.... I think there is a dedicated thread to that deck build somewhere on this website. I appreciate it is called 'Counters Company' and there is some cross over with this deck.
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@Pokken: Banewhip Punisher is good as hard creature removal (even good in the mirror against Finks and Dorks until Vizier hits the field), but I'm still fond of the temporary yet ubiquotous nature of Flickerwisp.
@Pokken: Banewhip Punisher is good as hard creature removal (even good in the mirror against Finks and Dorks until Vizier hits the field), but I'm still fond of the temporary yet ubiquotous nature of Flickerwisp.
I'm pretty happy with wisp but I'd definitely try punisher in abzan to see
@Pokken: Banewhip Punisher is good as hard creature removal (even good in the mirror against Finks and Dorks until Vizier hits the field), but I'm still fond of the temporary yet ubiquotous nature of Flickerwisp.
Vizier is probably the worst creature in the deck outside of doing unfair stuff with it.. I am never happy to see it if I dont have a druid or plan to combo with finks..
Having the druid actually survive is the difficult part, not getting vizier. Besides, you allmost never want to play vizier first before other stuff, so having 4 can be really awkward, since you'll often just hold it untill you are ready.
If your druid survives, you have basicly 7 copies (with chord) + coco to find it.
Sometimes even the threat of the combo is even better than the combo itself, since everyone just kills druid on sight.
So having 3 has been great, haven't been wanting a 4th.
This build is almost identical to mine, although I gotta admit his sideboard plan is much better. There were counters companies managing top8 in both GP São Paulo and GP Burmingham.
btw @Pokken which versions of storm are you referring to? Puresteel Cheerios or Gifts in Flames?
The latter Im looking at Yixlid Jailer myself to consolidate some sideboard space since it does prevent PiF from having Flashback in the yard, while also slowing down Dredge. The former however neither Jailer nor Canonist do much.
I have been seeing Gifts storm everywhere lately. 2-3 at my shop alone which is nuts.
So far I've beaten them by comboing first and sticking sideboard cards but it's just been luck. there're many times I woulda been dead to any interaction.
I don't consider cheerios to be a real deck atm, not really worth worrying about.
Re: Vizier
I 100% agree with 3 vizier/1 anafenza in abzan decks. Vizier is an atrocious magic card on its own. Drawing multiples in my deck causes a lot of bad games. Anafenza is a legitimately OK card at least.
Avatar and Signature by XenoNinja via Heroes of the Plane Studios
You're reading searing blaze wrong. It doesn't fizzle, it has two targets.
Seer sucks right now. It's a bad topdeck and doesn't protect you from anything except path pretty much. It has fringe uses against pulse which sees basically no play now and it's good against living end (which also sees almost no play now).
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
My apologies: for some reason I thought that if you sacrificed the creature targeted by Searing Blaze, it would no longer have a valid target for that part of the spell and thus would fizzle overall. Helps to actually know how a card like that functions, eh?
Having said that, perhaps Seer is not the right sac-outlet? Varolz is kinda clunky as a combo piece, but at least it's better in top deck mode and can potentially dodge Bolt and Push given the right conditions.
Avatar and Signature by XenoNinja via Heroes of the Plane Studios
Funny that we're sort of riding the "Seer sucks" train right now. As soon as I added Seer/Finks/Vizier my win rate jumped against just about everything. Then again this could also have been me giving up on bant for images and coming back to sanity (sort of) with abzan.
"Reveal a Dragon"
I am not sure what's right in black.
For my build, I am considering trying to figure out more searing blaze hate. I'm seriously tired of getting savaged by that card. Maybe 2 or 3 forge-tenders and see what's up
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
Seer by itself is bad right now, and there are plenty of other options for a sac-outlet. However, it probably provides the best additional infinite combo outside of infinite [combat/non-combat] damage and infinite life (that being infinite scry 1s). However, that does compete with 3-card combo of Druid+Vizier+Recruiter.
As much as I want to like Seer, maybe those other sacrifice outlet options should be explored?
EDIT: Yes, I'm well aware that I'm going back and forth on this issue; but new arguments are constantly being brought up that affect my stance on the matter.
Avatar and Signature by XenoNinja via Heroes of the Plane Studios
The nice thing about the 1 seer is the level of commitment there is very low; it's super easy to chord for.
I might have to hop back on the finks if the whole burnination of my meta keeps up (there were down to 1 burn player for a while last week 3:P).
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
I went 10-5 at GP Birmingham and actually ended up somewhat salty since my losses were mostly due to variance. After participating in a trial the day before and 5-0'ing to start with 2 byes things started out well and I won my first three rounds against DSJund, Burn and the Mirror, to then get wrecked by a godhand out of Living End.
G1 I do not draw Chord/Seer/Scooze and he does his thing. I was pretty confident G2 since my SB is decently equipped and the MD Seer is great being so easy to chord for, but the game basically ended with me CoCo'ing on his EoT with Seer on the battlefield, he was on 2 lands, to then get hit by a SSG Cascade, I sac my board and scry Vizier to the top to go off next turn, he brings back Archfiend of Ifnir, cycles Street Wraith to kill my board except the Druid which would still let me go off on my turn, but he had a second SSG and a Cerodon to cycle and kill my druid. After that sequence I never got back on my feet and ended up losing the game.
My next game was against affinity and there was not much I could do being on the draw against his very solid hands with back up removal, not even Kataki could save me G3 against his Etched Champion with a Plating attached on turn 3.
I finished the day winning against Bant Eldrazi and Storm, both games in which the MD Spellskite won me a match. Against Bant Eldrazi it prevented a Path to stop my combo and against Storm I chorded for Skite then Chorded for Eidolon on my turn and he showed me Echoing Truth and the kill in the end. Spellskite was actually pretty clutch throughout the tournament also winning me round 1 against DSJund since I chorded for it after he alpha striked and went for the Temur Battle Rage.
Day 2 started well with a win against affinity and I actually had great breakers at this stage which kept me solidly positioned for top 8 contention If I won the rest of my rounds but then the nightmare began and I got paired twice in a row vs Dredge which I believe to be our worst MU. The thing is, I managed to maneuver my way into possible game winning board states but luck was not on my side. The first match I lose after CoCo'ing three times and not hitting Druid/Seer the first two times an Seer the third to win me the game on the spot, the second game I needed 1 turn after he Conflagrated my board and I played a second Druid with the combo in hand, but he dredges 4 and finds a second Conflagrate which left me slightly tilted ^^;.
The next round against Dredge was less lopsided and G3 ended with me having infinite mana but no pay-off with 3 draws to find it, 2 canopy and my draw step. At that point I had 7 outs (2 Kessig/3 Chord/1 Rhonas/1 Duskwatch) and 4 CoCo so technically 11 possible outs but it wasn't meant to be.
I included some additional GY hate in the SB since I've always hated our Dredge MU but unfortunately never saw it even with mulliganing more agressively.
The next round against Affinity was also pretty frustrating, after two quick games the third one ended up being grindier, I managed to stabilize at 1 life with him having no creatures on board and 0 cards in hand, and I just needed to untap to have a 2 turn clock beating down with Chord up for either Burrenton/Qasali/Combo piece depending on how the turn went, but he topdecked the Galvanic Blast to lethal me exactly that turn.
After losing three games in a row I decided I'd go for the pro point instead of spending money on side events and ended up winning both, one of which was against Dredge so I at least managed to redeem myself there :P.
Day 1
Bye
Bye
DSJ 2-0
Burn 2-0
Mirror 2-1
Living End 0-2
Affinity 1-2
Bant Eldrazi 2-1
Storm 2-1
Day 2
Affinity 2-0
Dredge 0-2
Dredge 1-2
Affinity 1-2
Mono White Taxes 2-0
Dredge 2-1
Altogether I quite liked my list with a few exceptions I'd change going forward depending on the expected metagame. I feel like we are pretty decently positioned in the meta, the only issue is the classic 15 card SB syndrome in a format as diverse as modern but since we have a possible turn 3 combo this is slightly mitigated.
On the debate of which is the best pay off, either Rhonas/Entity or Ballista they all have advantages/disadvantages but I decided to go for Rhonas since he's solid against UW which I knew was going to be pretty prevalent and is findable off of CoCo which was important since I was only running 1 Recruiter alongside the Kessig Wolf Runs as my pay off. The main advantage of Ballista is definitely in the Ad Nauseam MU since both Rhonas/Entity can't win on the spot through Grace/Unlife while Ballista can ping on our turn and his upkeep if he has the Angel's Grace.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
Finished Day 1 at 6-2-1 and had a mediore day 2, and ended at 8-4-3.
I don't remember all the matches in detail, but can give a summary and a list. I was actually very happy with my list, and didn't really feel like someone was missing or not pulling its weight. Just a bit dissapointed about my day 2.
I played this list:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/abzan-devoted-company-20/
I feel 2 of my draws could have been wins if both players played a bit faster. I think I could have sped up a bit, and it sucked having a 100% win boardstate in one match and end up with a draw.
I also lost a couple of great matchups to some bad beats, but then again, I also had some luck in a couple of matches, so it evens out a bit.
Won't post "bad beats" stories, as it doesn't really matter, but I really liked the deck, and I felt the margins for finishing much better was extremely small and close in day 2.
So, as for individual cards choices etc.
(my memory is not good enough for a full tournament rapport:)
Mainboard:
Banewhip Punisher: Wanted a maindeck removal spell and fiend hunter is too fragile. It was actually great, it killed everything from Death's shadows to other big things, but it also killed so many relevant 1 toughness guys while sticking around, like bob, delver, clique, flickerwisp and mana dorks. Even ended up witnessing it back instead of a coco a couple of times.
Rhonas the Indomitable: Was great all weekend. Pressured controlish decks, fast clock, hard to kill. I've said it before that I dislike ballista, so bad against the top decks (Valakut, Death's shadow, eldrazi tron, different control decks).
Qasali Pridemage and Selfless Spirit: Both were good. Some random blood moon/ensnaring bridges in game 1s, and having outs to it won me at least 2 games. Spirit is just a good creature, against control and also affinity and other random things. Not a bad maindeck card and saves a sideboard spot.
I like having a couple of utility maindeck cards, and it gives me allmost a 18 card sideboard.
Sideboard:
Maelstrom Pulse: Did so much work! That card is great. I think people playing abrubt decay and not pulse are doing it wrong. Modern is so diverse, just being able to hit either a Kalitas, grafdiggers, Nahiri, blood moon, Bridge, Death's shadow, Lingering Souls, Delve threats etc makes it so flexible and it's never dead to bring in against allmost any deck, unlike decay and path.
Pharika, God of Affliction: Did great work against control and DS.
Anafenza, the Foremost: Worth it for dredge alone imo. Also good in the mirror and some other matchups (big resilient threat that doesn't use the GY)
Eidolon of Rhetoric AND Ethersworn Canonist: Eidolon is the better card of course, no doubt. But I like having 2 of theese effects, and Eidolon is too slow to chord for against storm. It also has value against other combo decks.
Sin Collector: This card did WORK. Single handedly won 2 games that I would have lost without. Maybe playing more is correct, or having it main.
Distended Mindbender: IMO this card is underplayed. It helps in our worst matchups, and it comes in against several good decks.
Against control, it's a good resilient threat that attacks from a completely different angle than they are prepared for. It will rip a removal and/or boardwipe and attack hard. Cast triggers are OP. Against Ad Nauseam and GR breach it will rip their hand apart, and take the payoffs. Against eldrazi tron and normal tron it can both discard good stuff, but it also survives UGIN, all is dust, and it can rumble with thought knots, smashers etc. Valakut and Eldrazi tron are popular decks that are bad matchups, and I feel this card is one of the few things that helps.
Auriok Champion: This was a new addition for the weekend and it performed really well. It did great work against delver, deaths's shadow and dredge. Being basicly unkillable by those 3 decks, except for flaying tendrils or actually blocking with a snap. Bought me a lot of time and life and got in for damage.
If I went to another GP this weekend I'd submit basicly the same 75. I might cut the Canonist for something like a 2nd Sin collector as they can do similar things, but Sin Collector is better in more matchups, while Canonist can be a bit narrow. I was thinking about dropping the swamp for a 3rd township, but I met so many path decks that I don't think I want to go down on basics right now. 3 Horizon canopy was great.
Banewhip punisher looks really really good on paper to me. Kinda surprised people are sleeping on hard removal on a cocoable creature tbh. It does tax your B production a little but not overly since you can split it up.
I think the second sin collector over the canonist is possibly wrong given how much storm is around and how bad a match it is g1. We really have to win game 2 and 3 as they are probably gonna take 1 (probably 70%? Even with the new combo it has to be favored). But tis a tough call for sure.
Again, really well crafted list. I am almost surely gonna copy it if I try Abzan again
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/723559#paper
But am having trouble figuring out what to side in and out in various matchups.
If anyone who has experience with this version of the deck could help me out I would appreciate it a lot.
Everyone loves an angry mob RWG
Why so Bloo? RU
@Pokken: Banewhip Punisher is good as hard creature removal (even good in the mirror against Finks and Dorks until Vizier hits the field), but I'm still fond of the temporary yet ubiquotous nature of Flickerwisp.
Avatar and Signature by XenoNinja via Heroes of the Plane Studios
I'm pretty happy with wisp but I'd definitely try punisher in abzan to see
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
Avatar and Signature by XenoNinja via Heroes of the Plane Studios
Vizier is probably the worst creature in the deck outside of doing unfair stuff with it.. I am never happy to see it if I dont have a druid or plan to combo with finks..
Having the druid actually survive is the difficult part, not getting vizier. Besides, you allmost never want to play vizier first before other stuff, so having 4 can be really awkward, since you'll often just hold it untill you are ready.
If your druid survives, you have basicly 7 copies (with chord) + coco to find it.
Sometimes even the threat of the combo is even better than the combo itself, since everyone just kills druid on sight.
So having 3 has been great, haven't been wanting a 4th.
This build is almost identical to mine, although I gotta admit his sideboard plan is much better. There were counters companies managing top8 in both GP São Paulo and GP Burmingham.
The latter Im looking at Yixlid Jailer myself to consolidate some sideboard space since it does prevent PiF from having Flashback in the yard, while also slowing down Dredge. The former however neither Jailer nor Canonist do much.
Avatar and Signature by XenoNinja via Heroes of the Plane Studios
So far I've beaten them by comboing first and sticking sideboard cards but it's just been luck. there're many times I woulda been dead to any interaction.
I don't consider cheerios to be a real deck atm, not really worth worrying about.
Re: Vizier
I 100% agree with 3 vizier/1 anafenza in abzan decks. Vizier is an atrocious magic card on its own. Drawing multiples in my deck causes a lot of bad games. Anafenza is a legitimately OK card at least.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall