He tweaks his flex/sb slots a little, but he always runs finks combo, and always plays 4x Duskwatch recruiter. He also wrote a mini guide for the deck a couple of months ago.
I have some questions for yall regarding the finks combo. I like having it in the deck in theory, but in practice, I think I have actually gone off with it twice in 4-5 months of playing the deck. Is my experience an outlier or are people actually comboing with finks? Finks is a decent magic card, but Knight of the Reliquary seems better unless you combo or against burn. It also lets you play a Ghost Quarter package, which helps against Valakut/tron.
I don't play a ton of EDH, but when I do, I play Chainer. I've had the deck for 4-5 years now, and I'm pretty happy with where my list is. It can do powerful things, but I wouldn't say it is tuned to be played hyper competitively. Most of the games that I win are via looping Kokusho/Grey Merchant. Here's the list:
Budget seems to be a limiting factor for you, but theres still a few cards that I would reccomend that shouldn't cost you too much.
Withered Wretch is my go to for GY hate. Notably, it is on a creature, so you can reanimate it w/ chainer.
Mindslicer is my anti control tech, or just my clear the way card. Once chainer is in play, the deck can operate out of the gy, and with a sac outlet you can make sure no one draws any interaction.
Charcoal Diamond :I like Charcoal diamond and similar rocks because they tap for black mana. Chainer is hard on color requirements, especially because you usually want to play and activate on the same turn. To be fair, I am also running a lot fewer basics than you, so I need more black sources.
Duplicant: exile effect on a creature for chainer to play with.
Diabolic Tutor: For most decks, I think that 4 mana is too much for a tutor. However with Dimir House Guard, it lets you chain into any card in the deck.
Bojuka Bog:Taps for black, hard to interact with gy hate.
Steel Hellkite is slow, but one of the few ways mono b has to deal with troublesome noncreature permanents.
Mind Slash is another way to make sure the way is clear for Chainer, also can act as a sac outlet.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion is a great card, but outside of the mirror 6 mana seems like a ton. What I'm looking for in the slot is something for either the mirror or for the grindy match ups. A lot of the sideboard is dedicated hate for one thing or another, but there isn't really anything exciting for the fair match ups. If you ever cast Elspeth, you should win the game, but especially post board trying to get to non-eldrazi temple 6 mana through fulminator/counterspells seems rough.
World Breaker seems way to slow for the effect you get. Seven mana is not trivial even with temples, as shown by how often drowner rots in my hand. The effect is ok, but it seems too late by the time it would be relevant. Against blood moon, it already assumes you aren't green locked, and then again you have to get to 7 the hard way. Against bridge I'd rather have a cheaper effect like natural state. The main bridge deck outside of fringe is lantern, and if you are waiting to get to 7 mana against lantern, you're asking to be locked or facing against a backup bridge. Main positive of World Breaker is that it is findable with stirrings, and there might be games you win through recurring it.
Where I see Tamiyo, Field Researcher fitting in: card advantage against the grindy decks, especially with skyspawner. The minus is also nice to either force damage through or lock down threats, especially in a Death's Shadow meta. The main downside obviously being the mana cost, as well as being mediocre while behind or on a creatureless board.
These thoughts are mainly in theory though, as I haven't played the deck a ton yet, and especially haven't tried world breaker. It's hard to get a feel for one of sb slots without playing said specific matchups a ton. I guess the other question is whether I even need something extra in the slot, or if just RIP is enough against all the death's shadow/grixis popping up. Bant seems favored in those matchups, so am I just supposed to be letting it ride?
Has anyone tried a singleton Tamiyo, Field Researcher as one of the bomb flex spots in the SB? I tried elspeth, but outside of the mirror, 6 mana seems like too much in the grindy matchups. I'm relatively new to the deck/modern, but it seems like it could be sweet.
Went 4-0 with this list at fnm. My store is usually 5 rounds and pretty competitve, but for whatever reason, was only 4 rounds tonight, and I only played against 2 of what I would consider "meta" decks. I played in order Ascendancy combo, 4c dragons/midrange, jeskai black (or possibly mardu blue at this point) and URb prowess. Here's my list:
1.I played the 2 dust stalkers in part to justify the red splash, reasoning that they are also good for mimics, but so far, the card has underperformed. In the midrange matchup, it often trades down, and in the control matchups, they can keep the board clear so that it takes your whole turn to cast. I like forerunner a lot, and I like dust stalker in theory, but it has been mediocre so far.
2. The mana held up for me tonight, but it was a near thing. Forerunner and some sb cards are the reason to play red, but there were some clunky draws, and some games where I top decked a colored source right when I needed one to let me win games I probably should have lost.
3. I got to live the dream with Eldrazi Obligator out of the board against my 4c dragons/midrange opponent. I kill his 2 drop with a roast, his 3 drop with a kicked bearer of silence, and then stole his 6/6 woodland wanderer and attack for lethal.
4. I think that 3 sea gate wreckage and 1-2 ruins of oran-rief should be the starting point for the utility lands. Against my jeskai opponent I drew at least 5 cards off sea gate, and oran rief also did work in several matchups. It coming into play tapped is the only reason why I could see 1 instead of 2.
5. I haven't played or tested against either atarka red or rally, but neither of those strike me as particularly good matchups. The atarka match can be worked on in the SB with various red cards and or flaying tendrils, but I have no clue what to do about rally. To be fair, I haven't actually played it, but it seems bad, and there doesn't seem to be any particular good solutions in R/B.
Anyways, I liked the deck, and it was refreshing to play something new and different.
I've been noticing more and more lists dropping Tasigur, the Golden Fang entirely. How has that been for you? Ever find yourself missing him?
The problem with Tasigur in whip decks is that the activated ability very rarely matters. In decks like Abzan, where most of your cards are good at all stages, you can get full value out of his ability. In whip decks, you have quite a few cards that just don't matter past turn 2. Cards like Caryatid and Wayfinder are key cogs to the deck, but frequently turn Tasigur into a waste. He is excellent as a very cheap beater in this deck, but very frequently, his activated ability doesn't do anything. This doesn't mean that he isn't a good card, but if you are moving to deathmist/den protector, then you don't really have room for him anymore. I've been messing around with raptor lists, and haven't missed him at all.
"The sacred cow I have trimmed in the above list is Courser of Kruphix, which I suspect may be unnecessary in the deck once it has Deathmist Raptor as a card-advantage gaining threat. Removing Courser entirely has the fringe benefit of making Dromoka's Command less effective, even allowing you the option of sidestepping the sacrifice an enchantment mode entirely if you side out Whip of Erebos." - Ross Meriam
Note that in the list posted for the article, he just went down to 3 coursers to make room for the full 4 den protector/4 raptor, not cutting it entirely.
I haven't really worked on the SB yet, but those are the cards on my radar. A few cards that I'm toying with:
Nissa, Worldwaker: For a while I was running 3 of these, and she just didn't quite do enough. This list is definitely slower/more controlly than the jund planeswalker lists of old standard, so it is harder to leverage her abilities. You usually want to play her on 6 mana, and i think that Elspeth, Sun's Champion is probably just better, because both her + and - can help stabilize against unfavorable board states.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: With caryatid on 2, this deck really wants power 4s to be ramping into. Unfortunately, I don't really think this is where this deck wants to be. Sorin is only really good when you can really leverage his +, and this deck doesn't, except to win more. When you are behind, the token is ok, but it really sucks going to 2 just to make a chump blocker. This also may be a symptom of what I'm playing for my legendary 3 drop. Sorin is better with Brimaz, while I currently am playing Anafenza. I haven't decided which I want yet, but Anafenza being able to get through opposing coursers is nice.
Reaper of the Wilds: My quest to find a 4 to ramp into led to me trying out this card, and so far I've been decently impressed. It is a decent attacker on its own, fairly resilient, and notably trades with both whatever fatty Temur is playing, and with Prognostic Sphinx while attacking, which can be a problem for this deck.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes: I've been extremely impressed with this card so far. I think the format is slowing down enough to where this pw really shines. If you haven't tried him yet in your midrange builds, I highly recommend it.
Garruk, Apex Predator: I love this card, and have been playing it as a fun of in my jund walkers lists, and will likely be trying it here. 7 mana is a lot, but you get what you paid for.
Drown in Sorrow: This card is going to be extremely important to have in your sideboard, likely atleast as a 3 of. It looks like all the good removal in this format is going to be either extremely situational (white-based) or 3+mana. Drown is going to be needed to fight all the Goblin Rabblemaster or Bloodstained Bravedecks.
Anafenza, the Foremost: The triggered ability is decent, the gy hate has been relevant more than expected (vs delve and Bloodstained Brave) and being able to attack through Courser is also nice. Its either this or Brimaz, King of Oreskos in this slot, and I'm not sure which is better.
Fleecemane Lion: This may seem like an odd choice in a midrange deck, but I've really liked it so far. A 3/3 for 2 is bigger than what most decks are doing t1-3, and it is a card that can also be good late. The only real sac effect in the format is Crackling Doom, so if you can ever go monstrous, this card can do serious work. I like Fleecemane much better than Rakasha Death Dealer because a ton of the removal in the format is exile based right now. Abzan Charm, Banishing Light, Suspension Field, and Utter End can all punish you for leaving regen up, and I find myself tapping out a lot with this deck anyways. I'd much rather have the 1 shot indestructible, Hexproof guy.
Wingmate Roc This may seem like an odd choice for a board, but this card is good in two key matchups. The first is against other durdly pw decks, like the mirror, bug, or RWB. The ground is super clogged up, between courser, caryatid, elspeth, rabblemaster, etc, and so evasion is very important. This also threatens to 1 shot elspeth while still dodging her minus. You don't lose both creatures to bileblight, and the lifegain is a nice bonus. The second matchup where the card is key, however, is against Prognostic Sphinx decks. This card is going to be a big player in the next format, and this deck really struggles to deal with it. Both halves of Wingmate Roc can block it, and even having one keeps you on parity with the Sphinx. Coming into the next format, you are going to have to have an answer for Prognostic Sphinx, and this I think is one of our few outs short of Despising/Thoughtseizing it out of hand.
Anyways, this is definitely the archetype/colors that I'm going to be playing for a while, so any comments/advice would be appreciated.
This is solidly a midrange deck, but in early testing, I've liked it quite a lot. It takes a lot of inspiration/deckbuilding ques from Pat Chapin's block PT winning deck.
I haven't really worked on the SB yet, but those are the cards on my radar. A few cards that I'm toying with:
Nissa, Worldwaker: For a while I was running 3 of these, and she just didn't quite do enough. This list is definitely slower/more controlly than the jund planeswalker lists of old standard, so it is harder to leverage her abilities. You usually want to play her on 6 mana, and i think that Elspeth, Sun's Champion is probably just better, because both her + and - can help stabilize against unfavorable board states.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: With caryatid on 2, this deck really wants power 4s to be ramping into. Unfortunately, I don't really think this is where this deck wants to be. Sorin is only really good when you can really leverage his +, and this deck doesn't, except to win more. When you are behind, the token is ok, but it really sucks going to 2 just to make a chump blocker.
Reaper of the Wilds: My quest to find a 4 to ramp into led to me trying out this card, and so far I've been decently impressed. It is a decent attacker on its own, fairly resilient, and notably trades with both whatever fatty Temur is playing, and with Prognostic Sphinx while attacking, which can be a problem for this deck.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes: I've been extremely impressed with this card so far. I think the format is slowing down enough to where this pw really shines. If you haven't tried him yet in your midrange builds, I highly recommend it.
Garruk, Apex Predator: I love this card, and have been playing it as a fun of in my jund walkers lists, and will likely be trying it here. 7 mana is a lot, but you get what you paid for.
Drown in Sorrow: This card is going to be extremely important to have in your sideboard, likely atleast as a 3 of. It looks like all the good removal in this format is going to be either extremely situational (white-based) or 3+mana. Drown is going to be needed to fight all the Goblin Rabblemaster or Bloodstained Bravedecks.
Anafenza, the Foremost: The triggered ability is decent, the gy hate has been relevant more than expected (vs delve and Bloodstained Brave) and being able to attack through Courser is also nice. Its either this or Brimaz, King of Oreskos in this slot, and I'm not sure which is better.
Fleecemane Lion: This may seem like an odd choice in a midrange deck, but I've really liked it so far. A 3/3 for 2 is bigger than what most decks are doing t1-3, and it is a card that can also be good late.
Anyways, this is definitely the archetype/colors that I'm going to be playing for a while, so any comments/advice would be appreciated.
Essentially gives all your dudes Prowess+,
with a nice looting ability as well.
This cycle really does set the tone for each clan very well.
It is actually better than giving all your guys Prowess, because multiple instances of this card stack, whereas multiple instances of prowess on the same card likely do not.
This card is insane. It is a Stormbreath dragon that is indestructible when attacking, doesn't die to wrath, also functions as a removal spell, and an ult that generates a ton of card advantage in a color that will be casting all its cards in a turn anyways.
What flyers see play in modern that Stormbreath Dragon doesn't attack through? Ornithopter and Vault Skirge? Restoration Angel, Archangel of Thune, Lingering Souls tokens, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and even Aven Mindsensor are all white. Pro Path to Exile is much more relevant than the one extra point of damage and against a matchup where your 5 drop probably doesn't matter anyways.
Laplasjan is an MTGO player with many many 5-0s with Abzan company.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/player/Laplasjan
He tweaks his flex/sb slots a little, but he always runs finks combo, and always plays 4x Duskwatch recruiter. He also wrote a mini guide for the deck a couple of months ago.
https://www.cardknocklife.com/deck-spotlight-abzan-counters-company/
I have some questions for yall regarding the finks combo. I like having it in the deck in theory, but in practice, I think I have actually gone off with it twice in 4-5 months of playing the deck. Is my experience an outlier or are people actually comboing with finks? Finks is a decent magic card, but Knight of the Reliquary seems better unless you combo or against burn. It also lets you play a Ghost Quarter package, which helps against Valakut/tron.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-deckpaste/18-06-18-jSA-chainer/
Budget seems to be a limiting factor for you, but theres still a few cards that I would reccomend that shouldn't cost you too much.
Withered Wretch is my go to for GY hate. Notably, it is on a creature, so you can reanimate it w/ chainer.
Mindslicer is my anti control tech, or just my clear the way card. Once chainer is in play, the deck can operate out of the gy, and with a sac outlet you can make sure no one draws any interaction.
Charcoal Diamond :I like Charcoal diamond and similar rocks because they tap for black mana. Chainer is hard on color requirements, especially because you usually want to play and activate on the same turn. To be fair, I am also running a lot fewer basics than you, so I need more black sources.
Duplicant: exile effect on a creature for chainer to play with.
Diabolic Tutor: For most decks, I think that 4 mana is too much for a tutor. However with Dimir House Guard, it lets you chain into any card in the deck.
Bojuka Bog:Taps for black, hard to interact with gy hate.
Steel Hellkite is slow, but one of the few ways mono b has to deal with troublesome noncreature permanents.
Mind Slash is another way to make sure the way is clear for Chainer, also can act as a sac outlet.
Animate Dead: Cheap both in mana and money cost.
World Breaker seems way to slow for the effect you get. Seven mana is not trivial even with temples, as shown by how often drowner rots in my hand. The effect is ok, but it seems too late by the time it would be relevant. Against blood moon, it already assumes you aren't green locked, and then again you have to get to 7 the hard way. Against bridge I'd rather have a cheaper effect like natural state. The main bridge deck outside of fringe is lantern, and if you are waiting to get to 7 mana against lantern, you're asking to be locked or facing against a backup bridge. Main positive of World Breaker is that it is findable with stirrings, and there might be games you win through recurring it.
Where I see Tamiyo, Field Researcher fitting in: card advantage against the grindy decks, especially with skyspawner. The minus is also nice to either force damage through or lock down threats, especially in a Death's Shadow meta. The main downside obviously being the mana cost, as well as being mediocre while behind or on a creatureless board.
These thoughts are mainly in theory though, as I haven't played the deck a ton yet, and especially haven't tried world breaker. It's hard to get a feel for one of sb slots without playing said specific matchups a ton. I guess the other question is whether I even need something extra in the slot, or if just RIP is enough against all the death's shadow/grixis popping up. Bant seems favored in those matchups, so am I just supposed to be letting it ride?
Current list for reference:
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Eldrazi Skyspawner
4 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
4 Drowner of Hope
Spells (11)
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Windswept Heath
3 Cavern of Souls
3 Brushland
3 Yavimaya Coast
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Natural State
2 Negate
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Worship
1 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
4 Reaver Drone
3 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Forerunner of Slaughter
4 Bearer of Silence
4 Matter Reshaper
3 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Dust Stalker
3 Reality Smasher
Spells (7)
3 Ghostfire Blade
3 Spatial Contortion
2 Murderous Cut
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Smoldering Marsh
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Llanowar Wastes
4 Corrupted Crossroads
3 Crumbling Vestige
3 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Ruins of Oran-Rief
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
3 Roast
3 Transgress the Mind
2 Warping Wail
3 Arc Lightning
2 Eldrazi Obligator
2 Wild Slash
Some thoughts:
1.I played the 2 dust stalkers in part to justify the red splash, reasoning that they are also good for mimics, but so far, the card has underperformed. In the midrange matchup, it often trades down, and in the control matchups, they can keep the board clear so that it takes your whole turn to cast. I like forerunner a lot, and I like dust stalker in theory, but it has been mediocre so far.
2. The mana held up for me tonight, but it was a near thing. Forerunner and some sb cards are the reason to play red, but there were some clunky draws, and some games where I top decked a colored source right when I needed one to let me win games I probably should have lost.
3. I got to live the dream with Eldrazi Obligator out of the board against my 4c dragons/midrange opponent. I kill his 2 drop with a roast, his 3 drop with a kicked bearer of silence, and then stole his 6/6 woodland wanderer and attack for lethal.
4. I think that 3 sea gate wreckage and 1-2 ruins of oran-rief should be the starting point for the utility lands. Against my jeskai opponent I drew at least 5 cards off sea gate, and oran rief also did work in several matchups. It coming into play tapped is the only reason why I could see 1 instead of 2.
5. I haven't played or tested against either atarka red or rally, but neither of those strike me as particularly good matchups. The atarka match can be worked on in the SB with various red cards and or flaying tendrils, but I have no clue what to do about rally. To be fair, I haven't actually played it, but it seems bad, and there doesn't seem to be any particular good solutions in R/B.
Anyways, I liked the deck, and it was refreshing to play something new and different.
The problem with Tasigur in whip decks is that the activated ability very rarely matters. In decks like Abzan, where most of your cards are good at all stages, you can get full value out of his ability. In whip decks, you have quite a few cards that just don't matter past turn 2. Cards like Caryatid and Wayfinder are key cogs to the deck, but frequently turn Tasigur into a waste. He is excellent as a very cheap beater in this deck, but very frequently, his activated ability doesn't do anything. This doesn't mean that he isn't a good card, but if you are moving to deathmist/den protector, then you don't really have room for him anymore. I've been messing around with raptor lists, and haven't missed him at all.
Note that in the list posted for the article, he just went down to 3 coursers to make room for the full 4 den protector/4 raptor, not cutting it entirely.
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Fleecemane Lion
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Siege Rhino
2 Reaper of the Wilds
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Ajani, Mentor to Heroes
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Spells (13)
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Utter End
2 Bile Blight
2 Abzan Charm
3 Thoughtseize
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
3 Temple of Malady
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Temple of Silence
3 Llanowar Wastes
1 Caves of Koilos
4 Windswept Heath
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Plains
2 Forest
1 Thoughtseize
2 Despise
4 Drown in Sorrow
3 Deicide
2 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Wingmate Roc
I haven't really worked on the SB yet, but those are the cards on my radar. A few cards that I'm toying with:
Nissa, Worldwaker: For a while I was running 3 of these, and she just didn't quite do enough. This list is definitely slower/more controlly than the jund planeswalker lists of old standard, so it is harder to leverage her abilities. You usually want to play her on 6 mana, and i think that Elspeth, Sun's Champion is probably just better, because both her + and - can help stabilize against unfavorable board states.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: With caryatid on 2, this deck really wants power 4s to be ramping into. Unfortunately, I don't really think this is where this deck wants to be. Sorin is only really good when you can really leverage his +, and this deck doesn't, except to win more. When you are behind, the token is ok, but it really sucks going to 2 just to make a chump blocker. This also may be a symptom of what I'm playing for my legendary 3 drop. Sorin is better with Brimaz, while I currently am playing Anafenza. I haven't decided which I want yet, but Anafenza being able to get through opposing coursers is nice.
Reaper of the Wilds: My quest to find a 4 to ramp into led to me trying out this card, and so far I've been decently impressed. It is a decent attacker on its own, fairly resilient, and notably trades with both whatever fatty Temur is playing, and with Prognostic Sphinx while attacking, which can be a problem for this deck.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes: I've been extremely impressed with this card so far. I think the format is slowing down enough to where this pw really shines. If you haven't tried him yet in your midrange builds, I highly recommend it.
Garruk, Apex Predator: I love this card, and have been playing it as a fun of in my jund walkers lists, and will likely be trying it here. 7 mana is a lot, but you get what you paid for.
Drown in Sorrow: This card is going to be extremely important to have in your sideboard, likely atleast as a 3 of. It looks like all the good removal in this format is going to be either extremely situational (white-based) or 3+mana. Drown is going to be needed to fight all the Goblin Rabblemaster or Bloodstained Bravedecks.
Anafenza, the Foremost: The triggered ability is decent, the gy hate has been relevant more than expected (vs delve and Bloodstained Brave) and being able to attack through Courser is also nice. Its either this or Brimaz, King of Oreskos in this slot, and I'm not sure which is better.
Fleecemane Lion: This may seem like an odd choice in a midrange deck, but I've really liked it so far. A 3/3 for 2 is bigger than what most decks are doing t1-3, and it is a card that can also be good late. The only real sac effect in the format is Crackling Doom, so if you can ever go monstrous, this card can do serious work. I like Fleecemane much better than Rakasha Death Dealer because a ton of the removal in the format is exile based right now. Abzan Charm, Banishing Light, Suspension Field, and Utter End can all punish you for leaving regen up, and I find myself tapping out a lot with this deck anyways. I'd much rather have the 1 shot indestructible, Hexproof guy.
Wingmate Roc This may seem like an odd choice for a board, but this card is good in two key matchups. The first is against other durdly pw decks, like the mirror, bug, or RWB. The ground is super clogged up, between courser, caryatid, elspeth, rabblemaster, etc, and so evasion is very important. This also threatens to 1 shot elspeth while still dodging her minus. You don't lose both creatures to bileblight, and the lifegain is a nice bonus. The second matchup where the card is key, however, is against Prognostic Sphinx decks. This card is going to be a big player in the next format, and this deck really struggles to deal with it. Both halves of Wingmate Roc can block it, and even having one keeps you on parity with the Sphinx. Coming into the next format, you are going to have to have an answer for Prognostic Sphinx, and this I think is one of our few outs short of Despising/Thoughtseizing it out of hand.
Anyways, this is definitely the archetype/colors that I'm going to be playing for a while, so any comments/advice would be appreciated.
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Fleecemane Lion
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Siege Rhino
2 Reaper of the Wilds
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Ajani, Mentor to Heroes
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Spells (13)
3 Hero's Downfall
2 Utter End
2 Bile Blight
3 Abzan Charm
3 Thoughtseize
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
3 Temple of Malady
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Temple of Silence
3 Llanowar Wastes
1 Caves of Koilos
4 Windswept Heath
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Plains
2 Forest
1 Thoughtseize
1 Despise
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Deicide
1 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Back to Nature
1 Nylea's Disciple
I haven't really worked on the SB yet, but those are the cards on my radar. A few cards that I'm toying with:
Nissa, Worldwaker: For a while I was running 3 of these, and she just didn't quite do enough. This list is definitely slower/more controlly than the jund planeswalker lists of old standard, so it is harder to leverage her abilities. You usually want to play her on 6 mana, and i think that Elspeth, Sun's Champion is probably just better, because both her + and - can help stabilize against unfavorable board states.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: With caryatid on 2, this deck really wants power 4s to be ramping into. Unfortunately, I don't really think this is where this deck wants to be. Sorin is only really good when you can really leverage his +, and this deck doesn't, except to win more. When you are behind, the token is ok, but it really sucks going to 2 just to make a chump blocker.
Reaper of the Wilds: My quest to find a 4 to ramp into led to me trying out this card, and so far I've been decently impressed. It is a decent attacker on its own, fairly resilient, and notably trades with both whatever fatty Temur is playing, and with Prognostic Sphinx while attacking, which can be a problem for this deck.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes: I've been extremely impressed with this card so far. I think the format is slowing down enough to where this pw really shines. If you haven't tried him yet in your midrange builds, I highly recommend it.
Garruk, Apex Predator: I love this card, and have been playing it as a fun of in my jund walkers lists, and will likely be trying it here. 7 mana is a lot, but you get what you paid for.
Drown in Sorrow: This card is going to be extremely important to have in your sideboard, likely atleast as a 3 of. It looks like all the good removal in this format is going to be either extremely situational (white-based) or 3+mana. Drown is going to be needed to fight all the Goblin Rabblemaster or Bloodstained Bravedecks.
Anafenza, the Foremost: The triggered ability is decent, the gy hate has been relevant more than expected (vs delve and Bloodstained Brave) and being able to attack through Courser is also nice. Its either this or Brimaz, King of Oreskos in this slot, and I'm not sure which is better.
Fleecemane Lion: This may seem like an odd choice in a midrange deck, but I've really liked it so far. A 3/3 for 2 is bigger than what most decks are doing t1-3, and it is a card that can also be good late.
Anyways, this is definitely the archetype/colors that I'm going to be playing for a while, so any comments/advice would be appreciated.
It is actually better than giving all your guys Prowess, because multiple instances of this card stack, whereas multiple instances of prowess on the same card likely do not.