I made slight changes to my list, leaning toward a Planeswalker based control build rather than a creature based one, and the deck still performed very well. It's still weak against Jeskai Tokens; however, and that ended up being the deck that knocked me out of the Quarterfinals.
Round 1 - Temur Enchantments (2-0) - The game started out well with him on a mull to Six, myself on the play with a Turn 2 Thoughtseize and seeing a grip of Gods, like Purphoros, God of the Forge, Nylea, God of the Hunt, and Keranos, God of Storms. I took away Courser of Kruphix which would smooth out his draw, Bile Blighted his mana dorks to keep him off five mana, and an early Liliana Vess made sure I was holding answers to his Gods. Game 2 was just as quick, only the 1 for 1 trading of his threats eventually led to Elspeth, Sun's Champion which sealed the match.
Round 2 - Jeskai Tokens (2-1) - Already fearing the worst, I was nervous going into the game. Jeskai Tokens is one of the worst matchups for Abzan Midrange. Siege Rhino and Courser of Kruphix are obviously the MVPs in these games, and fortunately Game 1 Scryed me into two copies of each, which helped my life total stay above 20, and made his tokens irrelevant. A copy of Bile Blight and Hero's Downfall kept Monastery Mentor and Soulfire Grand Master off the table as well, bringing me up a game as we went to Sideboards. Game 2 was exactly what Jeskai Tokens wants to do: Land an Ascendancy, make tokens, and tear through the deck, and he did just that. I misplayed at one point, where I used Bile Blight instead of Murderous Cut on a Grand Master, and I ended up losing to Hordeling Outburst. Last game was close, with life totals precariously low for both of us. The turn before, I had loaded up a Rhino with +1/+1 counters, and sent in with the 6/7. in fear of losing his board, he didn't block while at 8 life. I cast another Abzan Charm to take Game 3!
Round 3 - Sultai Control (0-2) - I'm not exactly sure what to call this, as Rakshasa Deathdealer landed over 10 points of damage in Game 1, but on turn 7, he was sniping Elspeth with Garruk, Apex Predator. Regardless, both games went similarly. He had better modes of card advantage in Dig Through Time and Jace's Ingenuity. Two cards my Read the Bones struggled to keep up with. Game 2 was frustrating, I ended up drawing half my lands, and the game turned into an Ashiok milling over cards like Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Nissa, Worldwaker, and Siege Rhino and I would draw a Llanowar Wastes. I bricked time and time again, which led to my first loss of the night.
Round 4 - Temur Midrange (2-0) - A friend has a Temur Midrange deck and we playtest together, so I knew this matchup would probably go very well for me. It did. Early disruption, trading 1 for 1 with Abzan Charm and Hero's Downfall kept the board clear while Siege Rhino and Elspeth, Sun's Champion went about finishing the game. Post board was even better for me as I could bring in more efficient removal like Murderous Cut and ways to stabilize my life total in Sorin, Solemn Visitor. The second game was very similar to the first, with removal spells keeping the board clear, Read the Bones keeping me up on cards, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon going Ult alongside Liliana Vess finding me more Siege Rhinos to win the game.
Round 5 - Draw - We were both guaranteed a spot in Top 8 if we drew, so we did so and played Modern. Abzan Midrange crushed UR Storm 4-0 :P
Quarterfinals - Jeskai Tokens (1-2) - Up against Jeskai Tokens once again. Game 1 was simple enough. Siege Rhino did it's work, while Bile Blight kept threats in check. Game 2 was the nuts from him with a Turn 3 Hordeling Outburst, turn four Ascendancy that later turned into three Stoke the Flames on a single turn and Monks from Monastery Mentor everywhere. I tore through my deck, trying desperately to find one of the four copies Drown in Sorrow and couldn't. Needless to say, I was dead very quickly. Game three was incredibly close. I was at 3, he was at 2. I had a Rhino, he had two cards. It was all up to what he had in his hand, and Jeskai Charm brought me to zero before my Rhino could to that to him.
- Final Thoughts - Now, having played both varieties of the Abzan Midrange deck, I can say I do like this version slightly more than the Creature based one. It feels much more consistent and draws better in the late game (Read the Bones is fantastic and there are no Turn 6 Sylvan Caryatids) which was very appealing to me. The Jeskai Tokens player said "Your deck seems very repetitive." at which I replied "That's what we're going for!" Consistency is king! Additionally, I feel like the decks worst matchups don't change too much: Aggro can still go under you very quickly. I do feel like this matches up better than the creature list against certain lists such as UB Control and opposing Midrange decks which makes the deck feel overall like a more powerful version. The lack of a board presence can be a bit uncomfortable, but that's to be expected of a control-ish build. Overall, I like this version of the deck and I had a lot of fun jamming Walker after Walker, so this will continue to be my deck of choice for future FNMs!
