My two local game stores have the wonkiest metas I think I've ever seen. The field is almost exclusively Merfolk, Affinity and Snapcaster Mage control decks, while the entirety of the rest is homebrews with the occasional Jund.
For what seems like forever I ran an Abzan Reanimator list fueled by Unburial Rites, and I consistently got hammered. Week after week I'd leave my stores with 0-4 and 1-3 records, sucking. I picked up an 8-Whack list that I didn't design myself and went 3-1 on my first run with the deck, making me feel even more inadequate as a deck builder.
But I refused to let my beloved Siege Rhino collect dust. I worked too hard and saved too much just to quit on my Abzan deck, so I'm reconfiguring it to be an anti-meta deck. This is my version of Abzan Aggro, more like a Selesnya Aggro deck that splashes black for removal, Siege Rhino and sideboarded Anafenza, the Foremost. It's similar to the Abzan list Jacob Wilson built and took to the Top 8 of Pro Tour Fate Reforged. There are a couple key differences, though. Knight of the Reliquary, Anafenza and Renegade Rallier are my personal touches.
Each creature in this deck is purpose-built to dismantle the strategies I so commonly face in my local metas, giving me a wide stroke of coverage and answers. Selesnya Aggro is wonderfully customizable, with such easy alternate color splashes. The overarching theme of this deck is for each monster at every point of the curve to be a must-answer threat that WILL take over the game if left unchecked. Opponents waste removal on the early drops out of habit as they see that everything I field MUST be addressed, leaving no answers for the beasts I can drop turns 3-4.
Creature Breakdown
Birds of Paradise: Everybody knows the old adage: "Bolt the bird". If it isn't killed immediately, my threats come out earlier, faster and harder. This card forces the hand of any good magic player, leaving opponents with one less removal spell or counter for something bigger. If left unchecked, the Birds can also receive a buff from Wilt-Leaf Liege and swing for damage alongside Lingering Souls spirit tokens.
Dryad Militant: My middle finger to Snapcaster Mage control decks. A 2/1 for one is great value, but this is another one drop that Snapcaster players simply MUST answer, or else their $50+ wizards are nothing more than chump blockers, a scenario that fills me with juicy schadenfreude. Storm decks are simply turned off. Another piece of bait that eats removal so my bigger threats don't have to.
Qasali Pridemage: This little guy is an all-star. Not only can he buff another creature with his Exalted ability, but the amount of salt he'll mine is astronomical. Merfolk players lose their precious Aether Vial and he can pop anything I want on an Affinity player's board. He'll also punish the combo and gimmick decks in my meta that use enchantments and artifacts to win, like 42-Land Swan Hunt. I'm not kidding. Lantern Control can go die in a hole. Also, goodbye any and all useful sideboard tech. Pithing Needle? Relic of Progenitus? Damping Sphere? Please. Want to remove it? Too bad. His self-sacrifice is instant-speed.
Voice of Resurgence: Another low-CMC bomb that will take over the game if not immediately addressed or carefully played around. If Merfolk players or Snapcaster players want to counter my spells, my board gets bigger. Want to waste a removal spell to kill it on my turn like a fool? I get two tokens.
Loxodon Smiter: Merfolk and Snapcaster players can suck on this 4/4 for 3 that can't be countered. And if that Jund player wants to make me discard a card with his $80+ planeswalker or any other hand disruption, I can summon this elephant dude for free. Eat it.
Anafenza, the Foremost: Merfolk and Affinity players like making their dudes bigger. Three can play that game. If left unchecked, Anafenza will pump my entire squad to high heaven as she comes swinging in as early as turn 3. It's extra gross if I put that +1/+1 counter on the Birds of Paradise I just tapped for mana. Who doesn't like a miniature Gavony Township on a stick? Oh, AND she jumps onto the graveyard hate train.
Renegade Rallier: In this deck, this guy is so much better than Kitchen Finks it's not even funny. That overpriced Ouphe may be a two-for-one, but the Rallier is a three-for-one. Remember all those one and two drop bombs that simply had to be answered by Merfolk, Affinity and Snapcaster players just so they can play? Rallier brings them back. That's just more salt in an open wound.
Knight of the Reliquary: A beater that can tutor for Gavony Township and synergizes perfectly with the amount of fetchlands I'm playing. Bring him in if the Township is a must-have in the matchup. Can be sideboarded out.
Siege Rhino: My favorite monster. If I'm able to get this bad boy out, I can set Burn decks back a turn or just replenish the life I lost from fetchlands. Either way, Lightning Helix on a 4/5 trampler in a deck with multiple power buffs in its arsenal is nothing to laugh at. He is one of two curve-topping threats that must be answered, either with a 2-3-for-1 block or a precious removal spell, most of which have hopefully already been wasted on turns 1 and 2.
Wilt-Leaf Liege: The ace monster and build-around of the deck. 95% of the creatures chosen for this Abzan aggro deck are both Green and White to get +2/+2 when this fella hits the board. His ability to be summoned for free if I'm forced to discard is icing on the cake, stealing value from Liliana of the Veil and a few other common modern discard threats.
Lingering Souls: One of Modern's best cards. Spirit tokens clog up the board in other aggro matchups, replenish my board if it's wiped, and beat down in the air. Receiving buffs from Wilt-Leaf Liege, Anafenza and Gavony Township makes them even greater threats. Flashback allows the card to take more value away from Liliana of the Veil and other common Modern hand disruption.
Theme
This deck is all about the concept of "value-added" and "value-deprivation", both in terms of in-game resources and real-world dollars.
It maximizes every drop of mana you spend to deploy must-answer threats at each point of the curve. While many aggro decks in Modern are flash-in-the-pan, exploding on turn four but failing to extend, Curve decks like this are much more stable and can only grow stronger as the game progresses, able to put up a great fight against pretty much anyone save combo decks that can insta-win on turn 3 or 4 (that's what Inquisition of Kozilek is for). The advantage you gain by dropping a must-answer threat every single turn is matched by the value your opponents lose by wasting that removal on the early drops. Renegade Rallier will simply get them back later, saving you up to two mana while putting another body and a crippling effect on the field. If your draws and turn sequencing is solid but your opponents think they're being smart by saving removal for the later big drops, the highly-relevant abilities of creatures like Dryad Militant, Qasali Pridemage and Voice of Resurgence punish them as they grow in number and beat down with Gavony Township without the help of Wilt-Leaf Liege.
As for real-world dollars, while the deck is still a few hundred bucks, it is nowhere near the cost of most top-tier Modern decks on which some players splurge over a grand. Not to mention, the deck simply strips all strategic value from Modern's most expensive staples. Want to humiliate any cocky asshole who comes into your local gamestore, thinking he deserves to win simply because he spent over a thousand bucks on a deck that he took off MTGTop8? Beat him on an even deeper level by teaching him the following:
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His $100 Liliana of the Veil is made worthless by $0.35 Loxodon Smiters and $2 Wilt-lief Lieges. Her -2 is laughable with all of the tokens this deck can produce.
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His $70 Snapcaster Mages and Storm deck are shut off by $0.17 Dryad Militants, as are any spells with Flashback. $60 Tarmogoyfs are castrated, and prompty steamrolled by $1 Siege Rhinos.
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His $32 Aether Vials, $900 Affinity deck and $900 Krark-Clan Ironworks combo deck is trashed by $1 Qasali Pridemages reanimated by $0.25 Renegade Ralliers. $43Ensnaring Bridges and $20 Blood Moons won't trip him up either.
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Laugh at his $25 dollar Cryptic Commands with $0.35 Loxodon Smiters and $4 Abrupt Decays.
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Blow up that several-hundred dollar nonbasic manabase of his with Ghost Quarter.
You get the idea. Ironically enough, the Selesnya color combination in terms of values and beliefs is about as Communist as you can get. Show those players who think that Magic is a pay-to-win game the power of the collective. Cringe.
Enjoy a deck that can win the game of Magic and the game of life, a deck so full of salt, symbolism and underdog spirit that you may be told to get a life right after you show the try-hard with the $2000 deck that he probably should too.
