Overview:

This Abzan deck leverages +1/+1 counters and sacrifice synergies to dominate through board presence, token generation, and drain effects. Felothar accelerates counter distribution while enabling sacrifice payoffs like Zulaport Cutthroat and Mirkwood Bats. The deck features a Ghave/Ashnod's Altar infinite combo backup plan supported by counter doublers like Hardened Scales and Corpsejack Menace. While interaction is efficient, the strategy remains vulnerable to board wipes and graveyard hate.

Primer:

Core Strategy: Build an overwhelming board state using +1/+1 counter synergies and sacrifice outlets. Key phases:

1. Early Setup: Ramp with Sol Ring/Cultivate while deploying counter engines like Conclave Mentor.
2. Midgame Engine: Cast Felothar to sacrifice recurring creatures (Gravecrawler, Bloodghast) or tokens, triggering Cathars' Crusade and The Ozolith.
3. Win Conditions:
   • Combat overrun with flying from Abzan Falconer and unblockable threats via Champion of Lambholt
   • Lifedrain through Zulaport Cutthroat/Mirkwood Bats
   • Infinite combos using Ghave + Ashnod's Altar + counter doubler

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands + early ramp/counter engine
• Prioritize Hardened Scales/Winding Constrictor in opening hands
• Avoid hands without permanent-based value engines

Key Tips:

• Time Felothar casts to maximize sacrifice triggers
• Use The Ozolith to preserve counters through removal
• Tutor for Demonic Tutor -> Heroic Intervention before committing to board
• Convert excess tokens into mana via Ashnod's Altar for explosive turns

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending into board wipes without protection
• Holding back sacrifice triggers - the deck thrives on churn
• Forcing combo assembly without redundancy/protection

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Heavy reliance on creature-based engines (folds to Farewell/Merciless Eviction)
• Graveyard dependency (hosed by Rest in Peace)

Moderate:

• Limited combo protection (only 2-3 counterspells)
• Slow recovery from early stax pieces

Minor:

• Some tapped lands slightly slow early development

Most Important Cards:

• Ghave, Guru of Spores
• Ashnod's Altar
• Doubling Season
• Hardened Scales
• The Ozolith
• Zulaport Cutthroat
• Mirkwood Bats
• Felisa, Fang of Silverquill
• Cathars' Crusade
• Heroic Intervention

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can assemble Ghave combo T5-6 with perfect draws
• Typical combat/drain wins occur T8-9

Resilience: 5/10

• Recursion via Evolution Witness/Bloodghast
• Vulnerable to back-to-back wipes
• Limited stack interaction

Consistency: 6/10

• 8 counter doublers provide redundancy
• Only Demonic Tutor as premium search
• Strong card draw in Moldervine Reclamation

Interaction: 7/10

• 7 targeted removal spells (Swords, Trophy, etc)
• Akroma's Will as combat trick/wipe protection
• Lacks counterspell density

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between Optimized Casual (5.5) and Focused (6.0) tiers. While slower than true cEDH builds, it exceeds precon power through combo potential and efficient interaction. The turn 8-9 average win clock aligns with 6.0 benchmarks, though vulnerability to common removal keeps it from higher resilience scores. Key differentiators from 5.5 decks include combo lines and Demonic Tutor access.

Power level: 5.5 - 6.0