I played in the most recent Romancing the Stones Middle School league. I played Abzan Aluren and went 6-3 overall finishing in 2nd place. I think the deck is fairly strong and this take my have advantages over more traditional builds. I had planned on playing this in the previous league but due to my cross-country move I was unable to participate. That did give me more time to help refine the list.
The Deck
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Wall of Blossoms
3 Mesmeric Fiend
3 Imperial Recruiter
1 Man O War
2 Cavern Harpy
2 Wall of Roots
2 Academy Rector
2 Spike Feeder
1 Arctic Merfolk
2 Eladamri's Call
4 Living Wish
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Aluren
2 Phyrexian Tower
4 Havenwood Battleground
4 City of Brass
4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Brushland
3 Gemstome Mine
2 Caves of Koilos
1 Reflecting Pool
Sideboard
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Academy Rector
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Gilded Drake
1 Stern Proctor
3 Xantid Swarm
1 Man-O'-War
3 Pernicious Deed
The genesis of this build actually started with Phyrexian Tower. I realized that turn one Bird or Elf and turn two Tower could cast a turn two Aluren. Turn two kill is definitely ahead of the fundamental turn so I decided to look into it further. Separately, I had been thinking the strength of the Full English Breakfast decks was in the Mesmeric Fiend plus Cabal Therapy combo. I wanted to try to skew towards heavy black and likely eschew blue and Force of Will except for the requisite combination pieces. The next piece was Academy Rector now that there were enough sacrifice outlets to reliably get it in the graveyard.
Making the actual Aluren kill as lean as possible was a goal to allow for the most Mesmeric Fiend and tutors in the deck. As built, the combo is to get Recruiter for a bounce creature (Man-o-war or Arctic Merfolk) to recur the Recruiter and find Cavern Harpy. This lets you recur the bounce creature and then find Spike Feeder to gain unlimited life. From here you can draw the deck with Wall of Blossoms, generate unlimited green mana with Wall of Roots, move unlimited +1/+1 counters from Feeder onto a Recruiter, and exile the opponent's hand with Harpy + Fiend shenanigans, including in the next draw step. I've brainstormed and haven't really found a reason to play any other dedicated kill in the list, but putting a Maggot Carrier or Rishadan Cutpurse in the sideboard to Living Wish for is an option.
I was somewhat interested in playing more Cavern Harpy in the deck but it is not easy to cast and I didn't have a good reason. Eventually, I figured out that Harpy + Fiend is a pretty solid combo with Aluren that can win some games when you don't have Imperial Recruiter. For that reason, I would consider trying to play the four copies of each going forward, likely trimming on Eladamri's Call and the extra Feeder/Roots copies. However, Wall of Roots has overperformed just as a good card in the deck.
Having Academy Rector in the deck opens up options to playing other enchantments that might be good. The ones I considered were Survival of the Fittest (to find Recruiter if you already have Aluren), Worship, and Form of the Dragon. I don't think any of them are needed in the main deck unless you are playing the maximum number of Rector. In that case, I think Worship has the most upside as it can steal more games than the other options.
The sideboard has some Living Wish targets, but the two you get most often are Rector and Recruiter. Three land in the SB is probably overkill but they are each different. I think Tower and Gemstone Mine are required, but the Stronghold is too cute. Pernicious Deed was amazing and there should be four copies. I also wanted four copies of Xantid Swarm to be able to board in three and leave one to wish for. Stern Protector is only there to deal with permanents that might prevent you from comboing, like Arcane Laboratory or Sphere of Resistence. The extra Man-o-War I think is needed, but at this moment I can't remember why. Could be a Bone Shredder. I don't think you want to play "fair" cards like Uktabi Orangutan and Monk Realist, but they are options as well.
If I were to play again, my sideboard would look something like this:
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Academy Rector
1 Gilded Drake
1 Stern Protector
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Man-O'-War / Bone Shredder
4 Pernicious Deed
The manabase shows the deck is only Abzan in theory. Obviously you have Red and Blue cards, and you cast them with mana quite frequently. For that reason, four City of Brass and three Gemstone Mine are crucial. Llanowar Wastes is the next best land. Havenwood Battleground is additional acceleration for turn three kills. It is significantly better than Hickory Woodlot in my opinion. The other painlands support the Abzan colors and one Reflecting Pool rounds out the lands. I think one Pool is the right number but I could see playing two. The deck wants enough green for turn one/two Birds of Paradise and enough black for turn two Mesmeric Fiend / Cabal Therapy. You would play eight copies of Llanowar Wastes if you could.
I'm not sure this build is possible in Premodern. Without Recruiter to make Aluren a two-card combo, you need more dedicated space for combo pieces and less room for Academy Rector. I do think playing Mesmeric Fiend is still viable.
The Games
Round 1 - Bant Slivers
I win game one when he taps out on turn three and doesn't have Force of Will. Game two I misplay my Therapy and leave him with Winged Sliver which means I can't block with my walls. I'm one mana short from being able to Rector for Deed to stabilize when I die. Game three he makes a questionable Meddling Mage play and names Man-o-War, which lets me combo with Arctic Merfolk instead.
1-0
Round 2 - GW (mostly colorless) Prison
This was on stream here. Close games two and three and I wish I had Orangutan somewhere. We missed him casting Tangle Wire for three through Sphere of Resistance that probably made the game closer than it should have been, but I managed to survive and win.
2-0
Round 3 - Goblins
I don't remember much about this match except he missed a kill game one when he forgot he had Warchief in play that would have made his second and third Piledriver cheaper. Game two he had no interaction and I was free to combo turn four.
3-0
Round 4 - Full English Breakfast with Stifle-Naught
Game one I Therapy two separate times and get Survival both times, but he still finds the third copy with a Shapeshifter in play. I have a play to set up for a win a turn later with Living Wish for Recruiter and Therapy his Phage plus Akroma so that I don't die, but I would still be dead to Phyrexian Devourer if it is in his deck. I think there could be a chance he doesn't have it, but when I Wish I remember I have Gilded Drake. I play this hoping to take his Shapeshifter, but I forget that its currently copying is Iridescent Angel and I lose on the spot. Game two I'm on the play and take his Survival with Fiend and then I'm free to combo a few turns later. Game three he's on the play and has turn two Survival before I can play Fiend. He then searches in wrong order and doesn't get Squee so when he plays Shapeshifter on Hypnox he gets my hand of lands and nothing else. He has no follow up but I draw some relevant creatures to try to race. He Stifles the Man-o-War trigger and finally finds a creature to discard to Survival and kill me with Phage.
3-1
Round 5 - Stasis
Game one is epic as he dodges my early Fiend plus Therapy by having Chain of Vapor to complicate things. He sticks Stasis and the game starts to drag. A second Therapy and some Tower activations let me try for Aluren, but he has enough free counterspells to weather that volley. Eventually he finds Black Vise and I'm forced to go for it when I have one mana less than ideal. I had discarded third Therapy to hand size earlier. I use it and it is countered. I then play the fourth one from hand and he responds with two Chain of Vapor on my only two creatures and I'm unable to flashback. He then Misdirection the Therapy. I'm forced to go for it with the mana floating from Wall of Roots but he has the last Force of Will and I die to Vise. Game two I use a Deed to clear the first Vise and Stasis. I attack him down to 5 life with Imperial Recruiter chains. The last Recruiter finds Man-o-War but he has Counterspell. I have a second Deed that kills my own Fiend returning a Force of Will to his hand. I try a Therapy but it is Forced on cast and on flashback. Now he's at 3 life and I play Arctic Merfolk with kicker and replay Recruiter to present lethal damage. He has Stasis as expected and Chain for the Recruiter but falls to 1 life. I draw two land to hopefully play Mesmeric Fiend but first I play Xantid Swarm and then attack to force through when I find the land I need. He has nothing and dies to the Fiend attack. Those two games were epic, but game three was anticlimactic. He has turn one Vise which does about 10 damage to me, but the only follow up is two Counterspells which my tow fiends take care of and then I win with Aluren combo through no resistance.
4-1
Round 6 - Esper TaxTog
This was also on stream. Game one I start with Birds and he only has Plains. I Therapy for Meddling Mage and miss, but see two Force of Will and Enlightened Tutor. Now his start makes sense. I take the opportunity to play Wall of Blossoms and flashback Therapy on Force of Will. He uses Swords to Plowshares on Birds to set my mana back, but then finds Land Tax. I slowly redeploy Birds and Wall of Roots but I'm able to use Gemstone Mine to keep his Tax from triggering. I start some beats with Imperial Recruiter and Spike Feeder, but he finds Meddling Mage for Aluren and then Sea Drake to race while triggering Land Tax. I am forced to use both Spike Feeder to put counters on my Birds to trade with the Drake, but I'm too far away from comboing thanks to his Mage and he finds another Drake shortly to kill me. Game two my Fiend and Therapy combine to remove his Swords to Plowshares, but he has two Engineered Plague he plays on Nightmare and Beast. His Meddling Mage on Aluren is attacking me, but I resolve a Pernicious Deed and then just wait until I have combo set up before popping it with Therapy protection. Game three I think I therapy most of the relevant cards in his hand, but he has Meddling Mage for Aluren. I remove his countermagic and then search up Academy Rector to try to find either Deed or Aluren while playing around his Annul. Last turn facing a Tog, Drake, and Mage I can either find Deed to try to buy time, but this lets him get back another Drake from my Mesmeric Fiend. Instead I go for Aluren and hope to draw one of the eight ways left to play Imperial Recruiter and win, but I miss.
4-2
5th place after Swiss
Top 8 - FEB with StifleNaught (Rematch from round 4)
Game one he leads on Island and passes. I Therapy turn one for Survival and hit. I see a Stifle but no Dreadnaught so I'm hoping to dodge. He passes turn two and I play Wall of Blossoms. His turn three he plays Volrath's Shapershifter and I play Birds and another Wall. I hold back on using Therapy flashback since I've now drawn Aluren and may be able to instead use it to protect combo. He passes with four mana up. I flashback Therapy on Intuition which he doesn't cast. I see Stifle, Akroma, and Iridescent Angel. I then cast Aluren and Wall of Roots to get mana for Living Wish, but I can only grab Fiend since he has Stifle. I do have Harpy to go with Fiend and exile his hand, but he discards Akroma in response to Harpy so now I have to beat the legendary angel. I Fiend him in his draw step and take 6 from the Akroma down to 11, but my next draw is Eladamri's Call and I can find Recruiter to win. Game two he mulligans to five cards and has turn one birds but no follow up play. I have turn one and two Battleground and cast Birds on turn two. He still has nothing turn three and I play Mesmeric Fiend. He shows Dreadnaught and two copies of Naturalize. I take a Naturalize and then Wish for Recruiter. He plays Impulse on his turn and passes with three mana up. I play Aluren and pass. He tries for Naturalize but in response I combo off and he didn't have the Stifle.
5-2
Top 4 - Survival Nightmare
Game one he mulligans to five cards and I Therapy his Survival on turn two. He draws another one but I draw the Living Wish I need to kill him with my turn three Aluren. Game two he leads on Birds of Paradise and I also play Birds, but I should have played Therapy turn one. He has Therapy for my Deed and Aluren and a turn two Survival and I die shortly to his combo. Game three was pretty neat. I keep hand without disruption but it has Birds Aluren and Havenwood Battleground, so I have lots of draws on turn two that set up a turn three kill or disrupt him. I only draw a land so he gets to Mesmeric Fiend my Arctic Merfolk and Therapy my Aluren. He has no reason to flashback Therapy though so it remains in his yard. This makes it awkward when I draw Imperial Recruiter. I have to search up Wall of Blossoms to dig. He doesn't flashback Therapy on Wall and just passes. I Wall into Academy Rector and pass. On his turn he plays Survival and another Birds to flashback Therapy on Living Wish, but my last card is another Aluren. On my turn I draw Phyrexian Tower allowing me to sacrifice Rector to find Deed and blow up the Deed for two. This gets back the Arctic Merfolk to my hand and I cast Aluren, representing a kill with the Recruiter on board. In response to Deed he used Survival to go get Veteran Explorer leaving only one unknown card. I assume it has to be Monk Realist since he didn't search for it and pass the turn. On his turn he just plays Veteran Explorer and passes back. I draw Eladamri's Call to play around the Monk, but he didn't have it and I win.
6-2
Finals - GW TerraGeddon
These games were not particularly close as he kills all my lands with Wasteland. Game one I sort of make a game of it by drawing two Wall of Roots and two Birds of Paradise but I never find Aluren to combo. Game two he has Mox Diamond Weathered Wayfarer and Wasteland turn one and then searches up never ending chain of Wastelands to kill me. Finally punished for playing zero basics.
6-3
2nd Place
Lessons Learned
I was impressed with how well the deck performed. The disruption was better than expected and the combo didn't run into a lot of hate. I'm not sure what changes I would make besides cutting Volrath's Stronghold from the sideboard for another Deed and maybe trying to play the fourth copy of Xantid Swarm as well. I still wish there was a better way to win without Aluren, but it is not quite as glass cannon as it looks. I did manage to win one game with attacking I think.
Props:
Middle School for having Portal sets legal
RTS crew for putting on great league and great streams
All my opponents for some interesting games (until the finals)
RTS metagame for only one Force of Will deck in the top 8
Slops:
Premodern for not letting you play with sweet Portal sets
Me for not knowing the name of Stern Proctor until literally yesterday
Wasteland
-Ty
