A Matter of Life(link) and Death(touch)

Standard* BGW (Abzan, Junk) Lifegain Midrange

RespectMyAuthoritah91

Instant (4)

• 1x Grasp of Darkness
• 2x Murderous Cut
• 1x Secure the Wastes

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Ruinous Path

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Silkwrap

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Creature (24)

• 2x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 2x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 4x Drana's Emissary
• 4x Graveblade Marauder
• 4x Siege Rhino
• 4x Sylvan Advocate
• 4x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (25)

• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forest
• 3x Hissing Quagmire
• 3x Llanowar Wastes
• 2x Plains
• 3x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prairie Stream
• 3x Shambling Vent
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 2x Swamp
• 3x Windswept Heath

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Sideboard

Instant (4)

• 2x Hallowed Moonlight
• 2x Surge of Righteousness

Sorcery (9)

• 2x Duress
• 2x Infinite Obliteration
• 2x Self-Inflicted Wound
• 3x Transgress the Mind

Creature (2)

• 2x Fleshbag Marauder

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Grindy midrange deck.

Main strategies/synergies:

1. Graveblade Marauder trades with pretty much every ground creature. As the game progresses it gets stronger (supposedly more creatures in our graveyard)

2. Drana's Emissary and Zulaport Cutthroat drain life an prolong the game. Zulaport works quite nicely with all our deathtouch creatures. The more we trade the better. Plus Graveblade gets stronger

3. Sylvan Advocate + Man Lands (+ ruinous path) are great. The lands have either lifelink or deathtouch which ties in nicely with the strategy

4. Since we are splashing green for Sylvan Advocate then adding Siege Rhino becomes obvious.

5. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim is a nice 2/3 with deathtouch for 2. First ability can be used to trigger Zulaport if needed. The second one is unlikely to be played but if the game gets stuck it gives you more options to work with.

6. Drana, Liberator of Malakir - I just wanted to play this card. Not sure if it is a perfect (good) fit in this deck but it provides some early aggression. If left unchecked it could get out of control pretty quickly. Most of the time it is just a target and it gets killed right away but that's fine - we still get some value in the face of Zulaport and Graveblade.

7. As a side strategy we can go wide with tokens and pump them with Gideon and Sorin. I don't want to invest heavily in this strategy but rather have some diversity in the deck (besides I have no more gideons :P). Also, in a way it ties in with Zulaport - the more creatures dies, the more we drain.

8. Ob Nixilis is here as it can deal with problematic creatures and bring you out of standstills by providing card advantage. Was thinking of adding Wingmate Roc (flying + lifelink, yay!) but since the deck is more Black-heavy I thought Ob Nixilis is a better fit. Besides, the deck is not supposed to be supper aggressive but more grindy and controlling.

9. Some amount of removal seems a must in such kind of deck - I kept it diverse so I have tools in as many situations as possible.

The mana base is probably the weakest link in this deck but I am a bit limited as I don't have full sets of fetch lands. Still suggestions and comments are welcome.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	7 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 4 Rares 13 - 9 Uncommons 1 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	Emblem Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Emblem Ob Nixilis Reignited, Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Knight Ally 2/2 W, Vampire 2/2 B, Warrior 1/1 W
Folders	Decks