Played a four round event tonight with my above list. Went 2-2.
Round 1: Won 2-0 vs Bogles. This should be a bad match up for us, at least pre-sideboard. However I was able to keep his stuff down and even just take some damage until I got Souls, Rhino and Vault out. Vault was fantastic, allowing me to swing with everything all the time and just wear him down. Game 2 was similar but even more one sided as I got Spellskite and EE out and just kept him down.
Round 2: Lost 0-2 vs Grixis Delver. This should be a good match up for us but I simply got outplayed. Fine with admitting that too. Did well both games, but not well enough. Smiter is just such a beast in this match up. Sided in Choke, Thrun, Pulse but just didn't get there.
Round 3: Beat CoCo Elves 2-1. Game 1 was a blow out. Brought in Thoughtsieze, EE, Thrun, Hushwing. Went with the strategy of just killing everything as it hit the field. It worked well. A few turns of Thoughtseize, Decays, Paths lead to Smiter, Rhino, Ooze, etc and just beats. Both game 2 and 3 went the same. This is often a bad match up it seems as they just go off faster then this deck does.
Round 4: Lost 2-0 to RW Hatebears. And don't hate on this thought. It's super good. Never saw the EE's out of the board. Just wasn't able to get going and keep up with what he had. REALLY liked the list, very interesting way for Hatebears.
Overall: Didn't do too bad. Lost to good players, beat good players. When I lost I got outplayed. I think the deck is pretty good. May go down to 3 Voice and 2 Ooze. That card was just doing so well for me. I was also using Abzan Charm instead of Dromoka's Command as I simply don't have them right now. Charm might have a place. The 3 colors are awkward, but it did it's job. Not sure it's better then DC though.
Yeah, just re-read him. You are correct. I feel dumb now. Another lil dude I've thought about is Judge's Familiar in the spot I currently have Militant in that used to be BoP.
Here's a random card I've been looking at: Fiendslayer Paladin.
Double White might be a bit hard to cast, but in a world where we are seeing less Path and more Black and Red removal, maybe there is something to this? Stymies all the big dudes like Angler, Rhino, Tasigur and even nullfies the trample. With Lifelink and First Strike, could this be a Finks replacement?
Definitely an interesting variation on the "normal" list, benfranz. I'd be interested to hear how it does.
I've been experimenting with less mana dorks. A group of us were discussing their use and how bad Birds is as a top deck. I've recently eliminated them and am playing Dryad Militants. It may be our local meta, but lordy people don't like seeing that. I am wondering if beaters over dorks isn't the way to go. T1 Militant, T2 Heirarch is never bad and if you eliminated dorks you could go to T2 Pridemage for the same effect. Just constant pressure. Add a removal package of 4 Path, 2 Abrupt Decay and 2 Dromoka's Command (yes, it can be removal!) and you have some punch.
I've also wondered about Finks in the deck, but the life gain and 2 for 1 is nothing to sneeze at.
I've also been rolling a single Thrun to really great effect, replacing Sorin with it. It's so, so hard to remove and just brickwalls people.
Him seeing both Hero's every game was crazy.
Round 1: Won 2-0 vs Bogles. This should be a bad match up for us, at least pre-sideboard. However I was able to keep his stuff down and even just take some damage until I got Souls, Rhino and Vault out. Vault was fantastic, allowing me to swing with everything all the time and just wear him down. Game 2 was similar but even more one sided as I got Spellskite and EE out and just kept him down.
Round 2: Lost 0-2 vs Grixis Delver. This should be a good match up for us but I simply got outplayed. Fine with admitting that too. Did well both games, but not well enough. Smiter is just such a beast in this match up. Sided in Choke, Thrun, Pulse but just didn't get there.
Round 3: Beat CoCo Elves 2-1. Game 1 was a blow out. Brought in Thoughtsieze, EE, Thrun, Hushwing. Went with the strategy of just killing everything as it hit the field. It worked well. A few turns of Thoughtseize, Decays, Paths lead to Smiter, Rhino, Ooze, etc and just beats. Both game 2 and 3 went the same. This is often a bad match up it seems as they just go off faster then this deck does.
Round 4: Lost 2-0 to RW Hatebears. And don't hate on this thought. It's super good. Never saw the EE's out of the board. Just wasn't able to get going and keep up with what he had. REALLY liked the list, very interesting way for Hatebears.
Overall: Didn't do too bad. Lost to good players, beat good players. When I lost I got outplayed. I think the deck is pretty good. May go down to 3 Voice and 2 Ooze. That card was just doing so well for me. I was also using Abzan Charm instead of Dromoka's Command as I simply don't have them right now. Charm might have a place. The 3 colors are awkward, but it did it's job. Not sure it's better then DC though.
My current list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/16-07-15-wilted-abzan/
Double White might be a bit hard to cast, but in a world where we are seeing less Path and more Black and Red removal, maybe there is something to this? Stymies all the big dudes like Angler, Rhino, Tasigur and even nullfies the trample. With Lifelink and First Strike, could this be a Finks replacement?
I've been experimenting with less mana dorks. A group of us were discussing their use and how bad Birds is as a top deck. I've recently eliminated them and am playing Dryad Militants. It may be our local meta, but lordy people don't like seeing that. I am wondering if beaters over dorks isn't the way to go. T1 Militant, T2 Heirarch is never bad and if you eliminated dorks you could go to T2 Pridemage for the same effect. Just constant pressure. Add a removal package of 4 Path, 2 Abrupt Decay and 2 Dromoka's Command (yes, it can be removal!) and you have some punch.
I've also wondered about Finks in the deck, but the life gain and 2 for 1 is nothing to sneeze at.
I've also been rolling a single Thrun to really great effect, replacing Sorin with it. It's so, so hard to remove and just brickwalls people.