Overview:

This Bant (GWU) deck revolves around proliferating and distributing +1/+1 counters across creatures to generate value, enhance combat threats, and enable synergistic payoffs. Commander Tidus, Yuna's Guardian serves as a crucial engine, enabling counter movement for targeted growth and providing card draw/proliferation via its "Cheer" trigger when creatures with counters deal combat damage. The primary win conditions involve overwhelming combat damage amplified by counters (enabled by cards like Chocobo Knights, Sigarda's Summons, and Sphere Grid) and leveraging Walking Ballista as a scalable finisher. Secondary strategies include value-based attrition and utilizing counter-moving synergies (e.g., Resourceful Defense, Nesting Grounds).

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Prioritize ramping (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Three Visits, Farseek) and deploying counter sources/enablers (Hardened Scales, Kami of Whispered Hopes, Duskshell Crawler, Gyre Sage, Incubation Druid). Cast Tidus early to enable counter movement and Cheer triggers.
2. Board Development & Value (Turns 3-6): Deploy creatures that generate or benefit from counters (Tireless Tracker, Fathom Mage, Sunscorch Regent, Chasm Skulker, Forgotten Ancient). Activate Tidus' combat trigger to optimize counter placement. Utilize proliferate engines (Grateful Apparition, Inexorable Tide, Lord Jyscal Guado) to grow your board exponentially. Draw cards via Cheer triggers, Bred for the Hunt, or Inspiring Call.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 6-9):
   • Combat: Leverage Tidus' counter movement and proliferate to create large, evasive threats. Use Chocobo Knights for double strike, Sigarda's Summons for flying Angels, Sphere Grid for trample/reach, and Rikku, Resourceful Guardian for unblockability. Swing wide with pumped creatures.
   • Ballista: Accumulate counters via proliferation and synergy pieces. Use Walking Ballista as a mana sink to remove threats or win by shooting opponents directly once sufficiently large.
   • Value/Synergy: Utilize Resourceful Defense and Nesting Grounds to move counters strategically upon threats or death. Recur key pieces with Yuna's Decision.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands (including color sources), at least one ramp spell, and Tidus or an early counter enabler (e.g., Hardened Scales, Kami of Whispered Hopes, Duskshell Crawler).
• Prioritize hands containing a card draw engine (Bred for the Hunt, Fathom Mage, Tireless Tracker) or a key payoff creature.
• Avoid hands lacking ramp, lacking early plays, or overloaded with high-cost spells without setup.

Key Tips:

• Maximize Cheer Triggers: Prioritize connecting with creatures that have counters. Use Tidus' counter movement before combat to enable Cheer on creatures that wouldn't otherwise have counters. Rikku, Resourceful Guardian ensures damage connects.
• Protect Key Engines: Hardened Scales, Kami of Whispered Hopes, Resourceful Defense, and proliferate engines are critical. Use protection like Protection Magic or Inspiring Call.
• Leverage Proliferate: Proliferate targets include +1/+1 counters, Clues from Tireless Tracker/Lord Jyscal Guado, and stun counters from Lulu, Stern Guardian/Summon: Valefor.
• Counter Movement Synergy: Resourceful Defense saves counters from dying permanents. Nesting Grounds and Tidus allow precise counter allocation. O'aka, Traveling Merchant turns counters into cards.
• Ballista as Tool & Wincon: Use Ballista for early removal and late-game finisher. Prioritize proliferating counters onto it.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Highly vulnerable to board wipes (Farewell, Damning Verdict), especially after committing resources to building a wide board with counters. Recovery relies heavily on specific draw engines.
• Severely hampered by Torpor Orb effects, shutting down ETB-based counter sources (Duskshell Crawler, Generous Patron, Fathom Mage, Rampant Rejuvenator, Saga creatures) and value engines.
• Lacks efficient, instant-speed interaction against non-creature combo wins or stack-based disruption.

Moderate

• Targeted removal on key non-creature engines (Hardened Scales, Resourceful Defense, Inexorable Tide) significantly slows counter accumulation and value.
• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void) disrupts recursion via Yuna's Decision and Eternal Witness-like effects (though less central).
• Struggles against decks with superior early aggression or flying threats before establishing sufficient blockers or Sigarda's Summons.

Minor

• Can be mana-hungry; relies on specific dorks/enablers for explosive mana (Gyre Sage, Incubation Druid, Kami of Whispered Hopes), vulnerable to removal.
• Limited land base includes several tap lands, potentially slowing early development.

Most Important Cards:

• Hardened Scales (Core counter multiplier, essential for efficiency)
• Kami of Whispered Hopes (Counter multiplier AND powerful mana dork)
• Resourceful Defense (Protects counter investment, enables counter movement)
• Walking Ballista (Primary scalable win condition and removal)
• Sigarda's Summons (Combat finisher, grants evasion and type change)
• Chocobo Knights (Combat finisher, enables double strike)
• Grateful Apparition (Efficient proliferate engine on damage)
• Tireless Tracker (Value engine, generates Clues for draw/counters)
• Inspiring Call (Protection and burst draw tied to counters)
• Rikku, Resourceful Guardian (Ensures combat damage connects, steals counters)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• The deck aims to win via combat or Ballista around turns 8-10 in an ideal scenario. While capable of explosive starts with ramp and multipliers, its win conditions require significant board development and lack ultra-fast combos.

Resilience: 5/10

• Features some protection (Inspiring Call, Protection Magic, Endless Detour) and recursion (Resourceful Defense, Yuna's Decision), but is fundamentally vulnerable to board wipes and key piece removal. Card draw is often tied to combat success.

Consistency: 6/10

• Good density of counter sources, proliferate effects, and synergistic creatures. Includes tutors like Yuna's Whistle and Summoner's Sending (indirectly), but lacks high-impact universal tutors. Card draw engines help find pieces.

Interaction: 5/10

• Runs targeted removal (Path to Exile, Destroy Evil, Promise of Loyalty, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Bane of Progress) and some stax/tap effects (Sagas, Lulu, Stern Guardian). Focuses primarily on permanents; stack interaction is limited and costly.

Rating Justification:

This deck demonstrates a focused +1/+1 counter strategy with solid synergy and multiple paths to victory, typically threatening wins around T8-10 through combat or Walking Ballista. While consistent and synergistic, its reliance on board presence makes it vulnerable to disruption, and its interaction suite lacks the efficiency for faster metas. This aligns with the "Optimized Casual/Strong Precon" tier (T8-10 wins).

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5