So, I found a way to do a rematch with the abzan graveyard deck and the white based lifegain aggro deck. The first game ran into exactly the same problem, no one could finish the game, boards had time to get bigger and bigger until both players didn't even bother to think anymore – it was like god damn commander! The Abzan deck won, but it wasn't... a real win.
So for games two and three we decided to implement a change I had considered after my initial analysis.
Tireless Provisioner made the Abzan impossible to kill, gaining like 15 through food tokens in game one, so I decided to test Toph, Earthbending Master. (Toph was strong, like anticipated, but felt fair enough because you really don't always have a attack and it's all kinda slow).
Soul Warden should probably have been cut already when I cut Blood Artist like 5 years ago for also triggering from opponents stuff. She just sits there and makes some games take twice as long. I replaced her with Traveling Minister. Still a 1-drop to trigger the Pridemates but trades 1-2 extra life each turn cycle for a power boost that should help life totals go down.
These already made a huge difference in the two games we played afterwards. The green deck had a card that turned lands into real threats instead of one that makes six food tokens in the late game. The lifegain deck still had enough triggers to grow Voice of the Blessed but also a way to pump evasive creatures for extra damage where huge ground threats would have just been chumped. Both decks won a game then, it was good magic, sometimes grindy but still enjoyable.
So for games two and three we decided to implement a change I had considered after my initial analysis.
Tireless Provisioner made the Abzan impossible to kill, gaining like 15 through food tokens in game one, so I decided to test Toph, Earthbending Master. (Toph was strong, like anticipated, but felt fair enough because you really don't always have a attack and it's all kinda slow).
Soul Warden should probably have been cut already when I cut Blood Artist like 5 years ago for also triggering from opponents stuff. She just sits there and makes some games take twice as long. I replaced her with Traveling Minister. Still a 1-drop to trigger the Pridemates but trades 1-2 extra life each turn cycle for a power boost that should help life totals go down.
These already made a huge difference in the two games we played afterwards. The green deck had a card that turned lands into real threats instead of one that makes six food tokens in the late game. The lifegain deck still had enough triggers to grow Voice of the Blessed but also a way to pump evasive creatures for extra damage where huge ground threats would have just been chumped. Both decks won a game then, it was good magic, sometimes grindy but still enjoyable.