Overview:

This Abzan (W/B/G) Food/Lifegain deck leverages Frodo and Sam's synergy with Food tokens to generate value through life gain, card draw, and incremental advantage. The primary win conditions are lifegain-triggered damage (Sanguine Bond, Vizkopa Guildmage), massive Food-fueled creatures (Banquet Guests, Feast of the Victorious Dead), and Ring temptation value. While cohesive in theme, the deck lacks infinite combos or stax locks, operating as a midrange value engine.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
The deck aims to flood the board with Food tokens using Sam's combat trigger and supporting cards like Tireless Provisioner/Prosperous Innkeeper, then convert them into:

1. Card advantage via Well of Lost Dreams/Dawn of Hope
2. Lifegain payoffs with Sanguine Bond/Astarion
3. Creature buffs through Feast of the Victorious Dead/Rosie Cotton
4. Ring temptation progression for Frodo's card draw
   Key phases:

• Early Game: Ramp with landcyclers (Generous Ent), establish Food engines
• Mid Game: Deploy payoff enchantments, recur creatures with Late to Dinner
• Late Game: Overwhelm with X-cost creatures or drain via lifegain multipliers

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands and 1-2 Food generators (Savvy Hunter, Gilded Goose)
• Prioritize ramp (Cultivate, Delighted Halfling) in slow metas
• Reject hands lacking lifegain/Food synergy

Key Tips:

• Activate Food for life pre-combat to trigger Frodo's Ring temptation
• Use Fell the Mighty as both removal and protection for your wide board
• Stone of Erech shuts down graveyard strategies while fueling your own recursion

Avoid Traps:

• Don't overextend into board wipes – Food tokens are resilient resources
• Decree of Pain should be cycled early against aggro, saved as a reset vs go-wide

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• No protection for key enchantments (Sanguine Bond dies to Nature's Claim)
• Limited fast interaction (only 4 instant-speed removals)

Moderate:

• Artifact removal cripples Food synergy (Collector Ouphe/Stony Silence)
• Slow graveyard recursion (relies on sorcery-speed Sanguine Indulgence)

Minor:

• Mana base handles color needs but has 8+ tapped lands

Most Important Cards:

• Sanguine Bond
• Vizkopa Guildmage
• Well of Lost Dreams
• Dawn of Hope
• Tireless Provisioner
• Feast of the Victorious Dead
• Banquet Guests
• Treebeard, Gracious Host
• Prosperous Innkeeper
• Gilded Goose

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Earliest win potential T7-8 via Banquet Guests + Food stockpile
• Most games reach critical mass T10+

Resilience: 6/10

• Recursive elements (Revive the Shire, Sam's Desperate Rescue)
• Multiple Food generators provide redundancy

Consistency: 6/10

• 5 land tutors (Farseek, Cultivate etc)
• Limited card draw tied to life gain

Interaction: 4/10

• 7 targeted removals (Go for the Throat, Fell the Mighty)
• No counterspells or stack interaction

Rating Justification:

This deck exceeds precon-level synergy (4.0) through focused Food/lifegain engines but lacks:

• The tutor density of 5.5 decks
• The infinite combos of optimized 6.0 builds
• The interaction suite of higher tiers
  Its T8-10 win clock and moderate resilience place it between Focused Casual and Optimized Casual.

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0