Abzan at the Fate Reforged Prerelease

Upon seeing Bolster and many of the white, black, and green spells and creatures available in Fate Reforged, I decided to choose Abzan for the prerelease. After choosing Temur for the Khans of Tarkir prerelease, I felt that this would work as a better choice, especially as I don't recall doing so well in that prerelease.

Abzan Prerelease Deck

2-2 at Red Battle Games, 17 January 2015

Creatures x1 Disowned Ancestor x1 Arashin Cleric x1 Highland Game x1 Mardu Skullhunter x1 Abzan Beastmaster x1 Abzan Battle Priest x1 Archers of Qarsi x1 Dragonscale General x1 Dromoka, the Eternal x1 Ivorytusk Fortress x1 Abzan Guide x1 Destructor Dragon Land x1 Scoured Barrens x1 Jungle Hollow x1 Sandsteppe Citadel x5 Plains x4 Swamp x5 Forest

Other Spells x1 Ancestral Vengeance x1 Feed the Clan x1 Pressure Point x1 Abzan Charm x1 Abzan Runemark x1 Harsh Sustenance x1 Sandblast x1 Return to the Earth x1 Murderous Cut x1 Reach of Shadows x1 Become Immense

Originally, I had one less Plains and Forest in favor of an Abzan Banner and a Whisperer of the Wilds, but the store judge/rules adviser suggested I go with two lands instead.

  

Of course, I was hoping to get some more life lands, since I got two Bloodfell Caves and Wind-Scarred Crag. I did manage to pull a Scoured Barrens from a Fate Reforged pack and a Sandsteppe Citadel and a Jungle Hollow from the seeded pack.

    

The best cards out of this deck are some Abzan watermarked cards:

    

Abzan Battle Priest and Ivorytusk Fortress play perfectly into Bolster with Dromoka, the Eternal.

    

Some other great creatures in the deck are Arashin Cleric, which is a good early blocker and provides some life gain, Abzan Beastmaster which gives extra card draw, and Destructor Dragon was fairly useful in the flying department.

    

Ancestral Vengeance boosts and creature and kills another or greatly diminishes its strength, Feed the Clan can easily trigger Ferocious with Outlast and Bolster hanging around to boost the creatures. Abzan Charm is great and I actually used all three abilities throughout the day.

There were many great cards in this deck that played out pretty well.

My first match went up against Mardu. I lost the first game, but won the last two as Bolster played pretty well from Dromoka.

My second match I lost 1-2 against an Abbzan splashing blue (originally a Sultai box, but with better cards fitting into Abzan. The one game I won was the second one where I switched over to Mardu splashing green because I had some great red cards and the lands to support it.

My third match I won against a Temur deck 2-1 where I lost the second game by running out of steam and succumbing to manifests...

The last match was probably the best. Every game could have gone to anyone. I played against a Mardu deck that splashed blue form some powerful control magic. I won the first match through the help of Feed the Clan and lifegain from my creatures. The second game was my loss as a result of not gaining any life Plus a Crux of Fate took out my Dromoka paired with my Destructor Dragon staring down a Wardscale Dragon. Finally, the last game I lost because of the control magic. Everything I played was either promptly killed or countered, so nothing stuck to the field longer than a turn or two.

The last match is what I love best about Magic. Not the overly competitive decks in Standard or Modern where players spend hundreds of dollars to buy the cards that won the last Pro Tour, not decks that run playsets of dual lands and planesalkers, but matches with two completely different decks built through skill and not the depth of pockets. Matches the go to to game three where either play could win and it's down to what gets drawn when and watching everything to make sure you don't make a fatal mistake.

Thank you for joining me, albeit slightly late due to internet issues, for the look at my Abzan prerelease deck.