Abzan has already established itself as one of the most efficient and powerful builds in standard, and it is clear to see why; with the power it brings for such low mana cost, Abzan is hard to contend with. This build will try to retaining the brute force that is now synonymous with Abzan, while still keeping the price tag relatively low.
ie. We may splurge on play sets of Siege Rhino and Anafenza, but we won't be dropping $80 for a play set of Thoughtsieze or Deathmist Raptor, but if you already have them then by all means add them to your build.
-Creatures-
Fleecemane Lion and Rakshasa Deathdealer can come out as early as turn 2; with one being able to pump and regenerate, and the other becoming hexproof and indestructible, if your opponent doesn't have an immediate answer they can be very difficult to deal with. Heir of the Wilds is another creature that can drop on turn 2, and his ferocious ability gives him +1/+1 when you have an attacking creature with power 4 or higher (himself included). Couple this with his deathtouch and at the very least he will make your opponent think twice before attacking.Anafenza and Siege Rhino are absolute bombs for their mana cost. Their is a reason you see them in 99% of all Abzan decks. While these two are not the cheapest cards, I HIGHLY recommend saving for them as they provide the most bang for your buck; after all, there is a reason you see these two in 90% of all Abzan builds.
-Non-creature Spells-
We have plenty of removal in the form of Hero's Downfall and Ultimate Price, and with Bile Blight to wipe the board of multiple copies or tokens. We are also running 2 Utter End for when we need the hard exile in place of the destroy; this is to keep cards like Deathmist Raptor from coming back from the graveyard.Abzan Charm and Dromoka's Command offer a bit of removal as well, but give us a few more options depending on the situation. Lastly we are running a single copy of Sorin, Solemn Visitor; with Siege Rhino, Anafenza, and Fleecemane Lion trampling over the battlefield we will likely never even need him, BUT his board controlling emblem is still more than welcome, and a little life link couldn't hurt either.
(I only run one because I only own one, but feel free to add another if you like)
-Land-
Since this build has a fairly even color distribution between W/B/G we will run 3 copies each of Temple of Silence, Temple of Plenty, and Temple of Malady, 4 Sandsteppe Citadel, 4 Windswept Heath as well as 2 basic Forests and Plains to fetch, and a single Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Caves of Koios***.
In the side board we have 3 Collected Company for when we need to get multiple creatures on the board as quickly as possible, as well as 3 Den Protector for when we go against deck that are heavy with removal; these two would most likely be boarded in when playing against Red Deck Wins. Radiant Purge and Self-inflicted wound are going to be invaluable in the Abzan mirror match, which WILL happen!, and lastly Virulent Plague is there to completely shut down the token based builds (ie. Jeskai Control).
** Hero's Downfall, Dromoka's Command, Collected Company, and Den Protector are all on the higher end of the price range of this build, and can be replaced by some budget alternatives.
Hero's Downfall > Ultimate Price, Dark Betrayal(this 1 mana removal can in fact take out Siege Rhino), Self-Inflicted Wound, Foul-Tongue Invocation, Asphyxiate, Kill Shot, Murderous Cut, Reprisal, Surge of Righteousness, Valorous Stance, Display of Dominance. While these are all good removal spells I feel they lack the versatility of Hero's Downfall. The ability to destroy both creature and planeswalker alike is worth the extra few dollars, or at least worth the effort of scouring for a cheap play set.
Dromoka's Command > Hunt the Weak/ Abzan Advantage
Den Protector > Silumgar's Assassin is similar to Den Protector, but offers removal in place of retrieval.
Collected Company unfortunately doesn't have a ready substitute in standard that provides a similar effect (in Abzans colors at least). With Den Protector and Collected Company in the side board, feel free to trade them out for something else.
***With Temple of Malady costing between $16-20 for a play set on average, and Windswept Heath averaging $40 for a play set feel free to sway these out for Jungle Hollow and Evolving Wilds to minimize the strain on your wallet. With rotation quickly approaching we will unfortunately be losing Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Caves of Koilos, Urborg being the bigger loss, so Expect the land base to change a bit to accommodate this.
Have any suggestions? (constructive) Feed back is more than welcome.