Historic 101: Abzan Counters-Spells
Gameplan
The original list was on the Platinum to Mythic decklist dump and it looked pretty fun so we slightly modified the Sideboard and then took it for a spin. The deck heavily revolves around its +1/+1 counter synergies and its ability to gain additional counters through cards like Conclave Mentor and Winding Constrictor.
When either of the mentioned cards above is on board, our turn one Pelt Collector can become a 3/3 with the chance to grow even more! On top of that, cards like Scavenging Ooze can spiral out of control real fast while also doubling as a way for us to interact with our opponent's graveyard. The deck even plays a card I didn't even know was on Arena. If you guessed Champion of Lambholt then you're a true wizard. The card seems kind of a slow creature that just gets removed easily but after playing the deck a little bit, casting Collected Company into the champion is one of the best feelings ever as opponents can't block any of our threats. It doesn't even have to attack for you to get the value!
I just assumed this card had to attack; now I've seen this card in a newer light. It's definitely not a tier 1 powerhouse but it sure is a fun card when we have so many ways to grow the Champion. The deck is super light on removal so being able to swing through is indeed very "ca$h mon3y." Outside of swinging through unblocked, all we have is Vivien, Arkbow Ranger as a way to punch our way through things.
Conclusion
The deck is way too fair but it has its humorous moments where your threats are big enough to stare down a non Questing Beast threat with an Embercleave. However, the deck is too light on removal and should be playing some amount of Skyclave Apparition and could use a slightly better mana base. I think the deck could definitely use an uptick in white mana for the Apparition. It also doesn't run any Plains which feels like a miss when we have Yasharn, Implacable Earth. I'm pretty sure the deck folds to a single sweeper but luckily our opponents were a bit more aggressive. In my eyes, I only see a +1/+1 strategy taking off in Historic if a Hardened Scales and a few other support pieces were added to Arena. In the meantime, this deck will probably sit around Tier 2.
Thanks for watching and we'll see you at the next one!
If you ever want a deck to be made into a video feel free to leave a like, comment, Email, and subscribe to MTGGoldfish and MTGGoldfishCommander on Youtube!
-Your Friendly Neighborhood AsianAvenger
Twitter: @TheAsianAvenger || Twitch: twitch.tv/TheAsianAvenger || Email: theasianavenger@mtggoldfish.com
