Overview:

Felothar the Steadfast leads an Abzan toughness-matters deck focused on high-toughness creatures and walls. The strategy revolves around defensive board control, converting toughness into offensive power via Felothar's damage redirection, and leveraging synergistic payoffs like Bedrock Tortoise and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus. Key win conditions include combat damage through toughness-based attackers, life total manipulation via Tree of Perdition, and Angel of Destiny's alternate wincon.

Primer:

Core Strategy:

1. Early Defense & Ramp: Deploy walls like Axebane Guardian and Overgrown Battlement for early blocking and mana acceleration. Use Nature's Lore/Three Visits to fix colors.
2. Midgame Synergy: Cast Felothar to enable attacks with defender creatures. Activate toughness-based card draw (Ulvenwald Observer, Sapling of Colfenor) and mana multipliers.
3. Late-Game Payoffs:
   • Overwhelm with Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus doubling stats
   • Cast Last March of the Ents after establishing high toughness
   • Lock down combat with Meekstone/Aurification
   • Swap life totals via Tree of Perdition/Tree of Redemption

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep 3 lands with green/white sources
• At least 1 early defender (Wall of Omens, Sylvan Caryatid)
• Prefer hands with mana dorks or land tutors
• Avoid hands without early blockers or color fixing

Key Tips:

• Use Crashing Drawbridge to enable surprise attacks
• Time Wave of Reckoning as both board wipe and life gain trigger
• Protect Felothar with Tamiyo's Safekeeping/Flawless Maneuver
• Slaughter the Strong preserves your high-toughness creatures

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander dependency (3+ removals cripples attack plan)
• No graveyard protection beyond Colfenor, the Last Yew

Moderate

• Slow recovery from board wipes
• Limited redundancy for key effects (only 3 creature tutors)

Minor

• Weak to flying without Spidersilk Armor
• Life gain strategies counter Tree of Perdition

Most Important Cards:

• Bedrock Tortoise (Enables toughness-based damage)
• Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus (Game-ending stat doubling)
• Last March of the Ents (Mass card advantage)
• Seedborn Muse (Untap engine)
• Axebane Guardian (Mana generation)
• Angel of Destiny (Alternate wincon)
• Meekstone (Combat lock)
• Ulvenwald Observer (Card draw engine)
• Colfenor, the Last Yew (Recursion)
• Behind the Scenes (Evasion enabler)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10
Slow defensive start with most wins occurring T8+ via combat or Angel of Destiny.

Resilience: 5/10
Moderate protection spells but vulnerable to commander-focused removal and graveyard hate.

Consistency: 5/10
Limited tutors (3 land-fetch, 1 creature tutor) but strong card draw from toughness triggers.

Interaction: 6/10
Quality removal (Swords to Plowshares, Assassin's Trophy) but lacks counterspells.

Rating Justification:

This is a focused casual deck (4.0-4.5) with clear toughness synergies and multiple win paths, but its commander dependency and slow clock prevent higher optimization. While capable of T10-12 wins through combat or life total manipulation, it lacks the fast combos or stax locks needed for higher tiers.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5