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Abzan -1/-1 Counter

Commander / EDH BGW (Abzan, Junk) Counters Wither

Topaz542

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Land (38)

Enchantment (4)

Planeswalker (1)

Creature (26)

Sorcery (9)

Commander (1)

Commander: altered Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Artifact (11)

Instant (10)

Budget friendly Abzan deck themed around -1/-1 counter synergy with slight elements of graveyard recursion. Might not be the most focused thing in the world, but it works fine in my super casual playgroup.

This deck is primarily built around -1/-1 counters. I could've gone with a Golgari identity and simply used Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons as the commander, but I wanted to put cards like Choking Fumes and Grind / Dust, so I went with Abzan. It features plenty of ways to get said counters on creatures on all sides of the field, such as the aforementioned Choking Fumes and other cards like, Skinrender, Midnight Banshee, Carnifex Demon, and Liliana's Influence. Now, alot of these put counters on YOUR creatures as well, but there are also plenty of ways to remove them from your own creatures to keep them in the fight. Spells such as Heartmender to remove a counter from all your creatures each turn, and spells like Quillspike, Chainbreaker and Channeler Initiate to remove them from single targets.

There are lots of ways to benefit from counters getting placed on permanents, outside of crippling your opponents offense, namely Flourishing Defenses and Nest of Scarabs, and Hapatra, which will flood your side of the field with 1/1 creatures each time a -1/-1 counter is placed on a permanent.

As I mentioned before, there is a small subtheme of graveyard recursion in this deck as well. Primarily, the commander, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, lets you cast one creature from your graveyard each turn, as well as him becoming cheaper for each creature in there. Pyrrhic Revival lets you and your opponents grab every creature in their graveyards in exchange for them entering slightly weaker. Eerie Ultimatum and Liliana, Death Wielder each let you return your entire graveyard to the battlefield to wrap up the game.

Speaking of ways to wrap up the game, there are a few ways to finish off your opponents. Ready / Willing, when fused, gives your entire board Indestructible, Lifelink and Deathtouch so you can swing with your entire army without fear of falling behind since all your creatures are indestructible and you can gain large amounts of life in return through lifelink. Profit / Loss is another fuse card that can slightly swing the board in your favor by strengthening your entire army and weakening each of your opponent's armies in return. The lead half of Destined / Lead will also help your creatures get through since you can make everything block a single creature while everything else gets through unscathed.

As for manabase, it's rather simple and solid. Features four of the five Alara Panoramas to tutor basics up, as well as lands like Sandsteppe Citadel, the guildgates, bouncelands and gainlands that fit the abzan identity. It also features Grasping Dunes and Ifnir Deadlands that both can tap for mana and synergize with the -1/-1 counter theme in the deck.

Overall, this deck is just stuff that I like to play and that I think are cool. It's why I have Aftermath and Fuse spells in here despite there being better options for the 99.

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98% Casual

Competitive