Overview:

This Abzan (W/B/G) deck revolves around Felothar the Steadfast, leveraging high-toughness creatures and defender synergies to enable an unconventional combat strategy. The deck uses toughness-based damage via Assault Formation effects, transforms walls into offensive threats, and employs lifegain/control elements. Secondary win conditions include life total manipulation with Tree of Perdition/Tree of Redemption and incremental drain effects like Blight Pile. Felothar serves as both an enabler (letting defender creatures attack) and a card advantage engine through creature sacrifice.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (T1-4): Deploy defensive ramp like Arboreal Grazer, Sylvan Caryatid, and Overgrown Battlement while establishing key enablers like Assault Formation or Behind the Scenes. Use walls with ETB value like Wall of Omens and Wall of Blossoms to maintain card flow.
2. Midgame Board Development (T4-6): Activate Felothar's combat override ability to swing with high-toughness creatures. Deploy payoff cards like Towering Titan (scaling with total toughness) and Jaws of Defeat (draining on creature ETBs). Use Seedborn Muse to maximize mana from defender-tapping effects.
3. Win Conditions (T6+):
   • Combat: Overwhelm with massive toughness-based attacks using Walking Bulwark's activation or Delney, Streetwise Lookout's evasion.
   • Life Manipulation: Swap life totals with Tree of Perdition/Tree of Redemption.
   • Incremental Drain: Activate Blight Pile with 5+ defenders or trigger Jaws of Defeat repeatedly.
   • Recovery Plays: Reanimate key pieces with Eerie Ultimatum after board wipes.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Prioritize hands with 2-3 lands including green sources.
• Seek early defenders with utility (Wall of Omens, Sylvan Caryatid) or key enablers (Assault Formation, Behind the Scenes).
• Keep hands containing Demonic Tutor or Sol Ring for explosive starts.
• Avoid hands lacking early plays or with only high-CMC cards.

Key Tips:

• Use Crashing Drawbridge to give haste to your transformed walls post-combat enablement.
• Sacrifice walls with diminishing returns (e.g., Wall of Roots with multiple -0/-1 counters) to Felothar for card advantage.
• Dusk // Dawn selectively wipes opponents' boards while preserving your low-power creatures.
• Walking Bulwark enables surprise lethal by temporarily removing defender restrictions during combat.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Heavy reliance on board presence: Loses to repeated board wipes without immediate Eerie Ultimatum recursion.
• Torpor Orb/Hushbringer effects nullify ETB value from walls and Jaws of Defeat triggers.
• Vulnerable to Shadowspear or other "lose defender" effects that neutralize the combat strategy.

Moderate

• Struggles against flyers without Tower Defense or Wall of Reverence.
• Limited stack interaction makes resolving key sorceries (Tip the Scales, Eerie Ultimatum) risky.
• Crawlspace/Propaganda effects can stall combat wins.

Minor

• Mana base has multiple tapped lands, slowing early development.
• Life swap combos require precise timing and protection.

Most Important Cards:

• Assault Formation (Primary damage enabler)
• Seedborn Muse (Untap defender mana sources each turn)
• Tree of Perdition (Instant-speed life swap wincon)
• Blight Pile (Scaling defender-based drain)
• Eerie Ultimatum (Mass recursion engine)
• Demonic Tutor (Fetches key pieces)
• Towering Titan (Massive threat scaling with toughness)
• Behind the Scenes (Evasion enabler)
• Dusk // Dawn (Selective board wipe + recursion)
• Walking Bulwark (Temporary combat enabler)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10
Can establish threatening boards by T6-7 but lacks fast mana for explosive starts. Life swap combos require setup.

Resilience: 6/10
Multiple recursion options (Eerie Ultimatum, Will of the Abzan) and card draw from walls/Felothar, but vulnerable to targeted hate.

Consistency: 6/10
Good creature density and 5 tutors, but key enchantments like Assault Formation lack redundancy.

Interaction: 5/10
Spot removal (Mortify, Anguished Unmaking) and board wipes exist but minimal counterspells/instant-speed answers.

Rating Justification:

This deck demonstrates focused synergy around toughness-matters strategies but operates at precon-level speed with moderate interaction. Its T6-8 win potential through combat or combo and vulnerability to common disruption place it in the upgraded precon to focused casual range.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5