By Shuhei Nakamura
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Shuhei Nakamura is a member of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame, former Player of the Year, and is one of just six players with more than 400 lifetime pro points.
Since we talked about Jeskai last, I feel in the interests of fairness today I'm need to offer for your consideration an Abzan deck. And, it just so happens there is a new Abzan deck of a type we haven't seen before, one that's a hybrid of existing decks. Today's deck is Eduardo Dos Santos Vieira's Abzan Reanimator deck, which he used to fend off all comers and take home the trophy from Grand Prix Santiago.
The idea of a reanimator deck in Abzan colors is one—like the Jeskai archetype—that's been around since the early days of the Khans of Tarkir Standard format. If we go back just a little further, to Theros Block Constructed, we can see the genesis of the deck. The basic concept of the deck is to use Whip of Erebos to fish out of the graveyard giant monsters, as well as use mana boosters to give the option of just casting the same monsters. In the Block Constructed environment, the best candidates for a fishing expedition were Abhorrent Overlord and Ashen Rider. With Journey into Nyx, Doomwake Giant, obviously meant as a gear for a black-green constellation deck, joined their ranks, and the new core set allowed for the addition of Soul of Theros and Hornet Queen, which allowed the deck to transform into a solid midrange deck. In fact, Whip of Erebos has become more of an extra to the deck rather than the main axis.
So, yeah. Soul of Theros. Such a good card.
If it survives until your next turn, it basically guarantees you the win—which puts it in the same rank as the Titans of old. As I mentioned in the discussion about Ken Yukuhiro's deck, this card is much better than you might think at first glance. You'll be surprised at just how powerful it is when you use it yourself. It's not just a Limited bomb.
Eduardo Dos Santos Vieira—Winner, Grand Prix Santiago 2014
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