Pioneer: Abzan Amalia Combo - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Pioneer continues to undergo changes following the latest banned and restricted announcement, where Karn, the Great Creator and Geological Appraiser were banned, while Smuggler's Copter was unbanned.

While these changes were felt in this weekend's Challenges, one specific archetype stood out and could become the format's new main combo, with 15% presence in the December 10th event, 21% on December 12th, in addition to winning the Pioneer Showcase Qualifier - the Amalia Combo!

In this article, we delve deeper into the archetype to understand how it works, with a sideboard guide to the current Pioneer Metagame.

Amalia has a triggered ability where, each time its controller gains life, she explores (look at the top card of your library, if it's a land, put it into your hand, if it's a non-land, put a +1/+1 counter on it and put the card into your graveyard, or on the top of your library) and if Amalia's power reaches 20, she destroys all other creatures - that is, she has the clear road to deal lethal damage to the opponent.

The Explore mechanic was launched in the first Ixalan set and, at the time, was the core of one of Standard's main Midranges, due to the interaction between Jadelight Ranger and Merfolk Branchwalker with Wildgrowth Walker .

By triggering a life gain whenever a creature explores, Wildgrowth Walker creates a loop with Amalia, where its controller can repeat the process several times until the vampire has 20 power and destroys all creatures, including the Ixalan elemental - resulting in the potential for an efficient combo-kill, while the deck in which it is inserted manages to perform as a decent Aggro.

This is the list I've been using in both Magic Online and Magic Arena over the last few days.

It is almost the same 75 used by the player Graciasportano to win the Pioneer Showcase Qualifier, with the only relevant difference being the fourth Return to the Ranks in the maindeck. Their list feels like the most optimized version of the archetype today, and some of his Sideboard picks, like Shapers' Sanctuary, are excellent.

In essence, Abzan Amalia is a combo with a slightly aggressive initiative and a lifegain sub-theme that allows it to win matches fairly and/or hold the game long enough to execute the combo, and its Sideboard, alongside from Chord of Calling, offers an efficient toolbox for every game. As we've seen with other hybrid strategies in Pioneer, like Naya Winota, this pattern has a tendency to create problematic archetypes as players optimize it.

Maindeck

The combo. Do not run fewer than four copies of each.

All other cards on the list, in some way, revolve around getting both creatures into play and starting the infinite loop that will clear the board and leave the path clear for lethal damage.

It is worth noting that Amalia Benavides Aguirre is also one of your main threats due to the various life gain triggers, as she can grow as much as Ajani's Pridemate would grow in these cases.

Wildgrowth Walker depends on other cards to work better, but it's a decent blocker against Aggro and provides extra life alongside Cenote Scout.

The enablers.

Lunarch Veteran and Cenote Scout are one-drops that allow you to finish the combo when all the pieces are in play. Cenote Scout is also a decent all round filter and an early game 2/2 beater.

Prosperous Innkeeper and Gilded Goose have dual functions in the list: both trigger the lifegain necessary to start the loop, while they are also mana dorks to accelerate cards like Collected Company, making it possible to close the combo at Instant-Speed and as early as the third turn.

Our accelerators.

Collected Company allows you to dig deep, at instant-speed, and even close the combo with just one card if you find the remaining piece, or even both, with a single effect. Being able to play this spell on the opponent's End Step is its main advantage, and creates several situations where we force our opponent to keep mana untapped for removal, creating "pseudo extra turns".

Chord of Calling is the main tutor on the list, and the main reason to have a toolbox in the Sideboard. The fact that it can be cast through Convoke and also at Instant-Speed makes it as threatening as Collected Company for the opponent's turns.

Finally, Return to the Ranks is impressive in this version, where it is our protection against the removals that the opponent can use, as it reuses our destroyed creatures and those in play to also start the combo with just a single card.

Along with the fourth Return to the Ranks, these are the four flexible slots of Abzan Amalia. They can become any card you need for your Metagame.

Selfless Savior serves to protect our creatures from removal. However, many players also use it to give Indestructible to Wildgrowth Walker during the combo, thus starting an infinite loop, as Amalia will not destroy the elemental with her ability, which is a mandatory to trigger.

If neither player has any way to interact or respond, this combination forces a draw. There are already cases of players using this mechanic in unpleasant ways in online tournaments or in Magic Arena ranked to force draws in games where they would lose for some reason, an act that is harmful to the game's overall health.

Dina, Soul Steeper can deal lethal damage without the need to attack with Amalia Benavides Aguirre, in addition to interacting with the deck's various life gain triggers. Its inclusion instead of Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is due to the fact we can add her to the combo with Return to the Ranks.

Extraction Specialist is another relevant recursion and an excellent card against fairer or more aggressive decks.

Sideboard

As mentioned above, Abzan Amalia's Sideboard is a gigantic toolbox, that is, of the 15 cards included in it, 12 are one-of creatures we can tutor with Chord of Calling, allowing you to find the right piece for the right moment.

One of the cards outside this mold is Shapers' Sanctuary. This enchantment is an excellent way to force card advantage with our opponent's removals, including those from abilities, such as Mayhem Devil.

Aetherflux Reservoir works like an extra copy of Dina, Soul Steeper, but more resilient in games against removal. It also works in games where we are in an infinite loop, as it allows us to respond to triggers to deal lethal damage to the opponent.

For graveyard interaction, Remorseful Cleric allows for an immediate activation against everything the opponent has - essential for dealing with Return to the Ranks and multiple copies of Arclight Phoenix.

Scavenging Ooze is another good anti-aggro option, while growing considerably against other graveyard-based decks.

In the "hate" category, we have Drannith Magistrate to deal with Quintorius Kand's combo. Archon of Emeria also works against him while being relevant in other matchups such as Lotus Combo and Izzet Phoenix.

Reidane, God of the Worthy works well against Control and Big Mana, and can team up with Yasharn, Implacable Earth against Rakdos Sacrifice.

Voice of Resurgence is decent in matches against removals and lists that seek to play on the opponent's turn. It also punishes Instant-Speed interactions against our combo.

Guardian of Faith is our protection against sweepers, especially Farewell and others who exile cards instead of destroying them.

Haywire Mite is a generic answer against enchantments and artifacts and also works as an extra life gain to start the combo.

Skyclave Apparition is another board interaction, capable of dealing with efficient hate pieces, or holding back the opponent's clock.

Deep-Cavern Bat is a conditional discard in creature form, comprehensive enough to handle removal while providing the information you need to proceed with your game plan.

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Rakdos Midrange

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Boros Convoke

No changes.

This matchup is a nightmare for Boros Convoke if they don't start with a turn 3 win.

Nothing in the sideboard justifies substitutions for this matchup.

Four-Color Quintorius

IN

OUT

Rakdos Sacrifice

IN

OUT

Abzan Amalia

IN

OUT

Maybe.

On social media, we already have posts about how this archetype is the new Naya Winota or, even worse, that it is the new Hogaak. These posts generate a lot of noise, but they hinder a rational debate on the topic.

The Amalia Combo has some elements comparable to other oppressive decks that have already been banned on Pioneer:

It also passes the False Tempo test. In other words, after a certain turn, the opponent stops making the most proactive and optimized plays to respect the possibility of the combo being completed at the end of the turn.

On the other hand, it has some flaws, the main one being the fact that more than a third of its list is made up of bad cards when isolated.

While they each have their own unique qualities, these creatures do too little alone to justify their use without a decent payoff, and the only payoff in the current version is Amalia Benavides Aguirre.

Let’s compare Amalia Combo with Naya Winota:

Both had a dozen pieces whose purpose was to enable the main piece on the list. However, Naya Winota had the quality of playing Magic fairly with efficient threats. A curve from Llanowar Elves with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker to Esika's Chariot and Tovolar's Huntmaster gave it a lot of resilience while ensuring that, if Winota, Joiner of Forces came into play, the match would be on the verge of ending.

The Amalia Combo, in its current version, lacks this: without Amalia, you have a dozen 1/1s and 2/2s that offer little or no pressure if they are not on an empty board. This means that, while the combo is very resilient and has multiple ways to be executed, it has a fragile topdeck against a lot of interaction.

The problem is that this was also an inherent weakness of Geoform, and did not prevent the banning of Geological Appraiser. The Amalia Combo also requires fewer deckbuilding concessions, in addition to punishing Aggros, such as Boros Convoke and Mono White Humans, for not interacting with the combo, in addition to holding the race very well due to the gain of life.

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Another common and noticeable problem during my games with it is how players sideboard poorly against it.

It's not uncommon for games where my opponent includes graveyard hate against Amalia Combo in the post-sideboard to deal with Return to the Ranks. Cards like Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void and even Hidetsugu Consumes All are very inefficient against the deck because we can play around them well, and we can still remove the spell in Game 3 to include other threats.

The same problem applies with certain removals. Yes, Temporary Lockdown deals with the entire board, but we can always go for a Haywire Mite and/or Skyclave Apparition - and if Amalia's player destroys Temporary Lockdown, all ETB triggers will trigger, even enabling a combo-kill at an inopportune moment for the opponent.

How to sideboard against the Abzan Amalia Combo?

So, which pieces should be targeted for the matchup against Amalia? There are three categories of cards that are most functional against this combo.

Extraction Effects

Even in post-sideboard games, the core of this strategy is Amalia Benavides Aguirre. Take it out of your opponent's deck, and they'll be stuck with 1/3 inefficient cards and a toolbox simulation whose current versatility doesn't allow them to play "fair Magic" any better than other, more dedicated strategies.

Invalidate the combo

Despite having the means to respond to hate, the Amalia Combo requires life gain to start the loop. Therefore, cards like Knight of Dusk's Shadow and Rampaging Ferocidon are viable options to punish the combo.

Another option is to counter Amalia Benavides Aguirre's trigger with Tishana's Tidebinder, turning her into a 2/2 with no abilities to force the opponent to find another copy of her to perform the combo.

Cheap interaction

One of the deck's problems today is the possibility of closing the loop at Instant-Speed with Chord of Calling and Collected Company, and the way this forces you to keep mana open for removal.

Since we are forced to play under these circumstances, we better do it at the lowest possible cost. There are plenty of one-mana removals to have in the maindeck and Sideboard if Abzan Amalia gets too big. Among them, I highlight Ray of Enfeeblement as a way to bypass Selfless Savior.

Will Abzan Amalia be banned?

It's too early to say that, or to say that the new combo is really broken. It had a good week, with a high representation in competitive tournaments, a pattern we also saw with other strategies, such as Boros Convoke - this one also called the "new Hogaak" for a few weeks.

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Now that it is on the radar, Abzan Amalia will face more dedicated hate from opponents rather than taking advantage of a possible weakness in the Metagame. The next few weeks will therefore be crucial in defining its future and its potential to adapt to the competitive environment.

Conclusion

That's all for today.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!