Spoilers for Magic 2014 have started rolling out, and there seem to be a few different themes running throughout the set. Slivers is the most obvious, but there also seem to be quite a few cards related to enchantments. The one that caught my eye is Ajani's Chosen. As a 3/3 for 4 mana, it's not very powerful on its own, but once it's on the battlefield, any time you cast an enchantment, you make a 2/2 creature for free. If that enchantment is an Aura, you can even attach it to that token. This effectively counteracts the inherent card disadvantage associated with Auras. Unflinching Courage turns into a 3-mana 4/4 with trample and lifelink, and Rancor turns into a 1-mana 4/2 with trample that returns to your hand when it dies. This interaction seems powerful, so I went to work building a deck to take advantage of it.

"G/W Auras"

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Ajani's Chosen
• 4 Loxodon Smiter
• 4 Precinct Captain
• 4 Silverblade Paladin

• Spells (20)
• 2 Call of the Conclave
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 4 Bonds of Faith
• 4 Ethereal Armor
• 4 Rancor
• 4 Unflinching Courage

• Lands (24)
• 11 Plains
• 8 Forest
• 1 Gavony Township
• 4 Selesnya Guildgate

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Ground Seal
• 3 Triumph of Ferocity
• 3 Intrepid Hero
• 3 Rootborn Defenses
• 3 Faith's Shield

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

Ajani's Chosen plays in a similar space as Talrand, Sky Summoner, giving you a 2/2 creature every time you use a certain card type. Although enchantments might be a bit harder to take advantage of that instants and sorceries, Ajani's Chosen can still provide a powerful source of card advantage that can swing games in your favor. It seems especially effective for the next few months—while we still have access to Rancor in Standard.

Precinct Captain takes advantage of Auras such as Rancor and Unflinching Courage especially well. First strike allows it to take down any creature that stands in its way, and giving it trample makes it much easier to deal damage to your opponent and make a Soldier token. Although that 1/1 might not seem like much, once you have three or more tokens, they become something your opponent has to worry about.

Call of the Conclave is a great early threat, large enough to trade with Thragtusk and take down most of its fellow 2-drops without breaking a sweat. With most decks switching to Pillar of Flame over Searing Spear as the burn spell of choice, putting down a 3/3 on turn two can create a huge problem for aggro decks, making attacking with anything other than Boros Reckoner seem foolish.

Loxodon Smiter is one step up from Call of the Conclave, giving you an extra power and toughness for 1 more mana. When playing against a deck that uses only damage-based removal, putting Unflinching Courage on this usually spells doom for your opponent. Against other decks, it serves as a solid threat that can take down Restoration Angel and keep on swinging in.

Silverblade Paladin makes Loxodon Smiter absolutely terrifying, taking down anything short of a 5/5 Wurm token, and even trading with that. Add in Rancor or Unflinching Courage, and the game will often be over in short order. In fact, pairing Silverblade Paladin with any creature wearing Unflinching Courage is a pretty big beating.

The Enchantments

Unflinching Courage has proven once again how powerful Armadillo Cloak is. It put Bant Hexproof back on the map, and it serves as an anti-aggro sideboard card in a number of decks. In this deck, it can be as back-breakingly powerful as it is in Bant Hexproof thanks to Silverblade Paladin. Or, with Ajani's Chosen on the battlefield, it becomes a 4/4 creature with trample and lifelink for 3 mana, mitigating the usual risk of opening yourself up to a two-for-one if your opponent draws a removal spell.

Ethereal Armor can make any of your creatures large enough to take down anything in the format, but it really shines once you have Ajani's Chosen on the battlefield. At the very least, you make a 3/3 with first strike for 1 mana, and in most games, the token will probably be a 5/5, if not larger.

Bonds of Faith serves as the primary removal spell of the deck. It gets rid of any creature, and it doesn't let your opponent have a token from Thragtusk or return his creature with Unburial Rites. It can also be used to pump up Silverblade Paladin or Precinct Captain if need be, and as an enchantment, it will give you a token from Ajani's Chosen.

Oblivion Ring also keeps with the enchantment theme, giving you a free Cat from Ajani's Chosen. Unlike Bonds of Faith, however, it can get rid of just about anything. The ability to get rid of a planeswalker immediately is invaluable, and if there's a creature such as Angel of Serenity that you want to actually leave the battlefield, Oblivion Ring can handle that.

The Sideboard

Intrepid Hero makes it much easier to fight off midrange decks that rely on larger creatures. Anything big enough to kill your Loxodon Smiter can be taken care of by Intrepid Hero, making it quite difficult for your opponent to mount an effective defense.

Against decks with higher amounts of spot removal, Faith's Shield can protect Ajani's Chosen and any creatures with Auras on them. If necessary, it can even be used to protect the actual enchantments from something like Ray of Revelation.

Rootborn Defenses effectively protects your creatures from Supreme Verdict, and it can even add a Cat token to your battlefield if you have at least one out. With the creature-making power of Ajani's Chosen, control decks will often rely on Supreme Verdict to survive, and a timely Rootborn Defenses can often prompt an immediate concession.

Triumph of Ferocity can provide you with endless amounts of card advantage against control decks. The game is probably to go long no matter what you do, so drop this early, and start drawing extra cards to use later. If you can cast it when your opponent doesn't have a counterspell ready, it will probably stay on the board for the remainder of the game, giving you an extra card every turn and making it easier to fulfill its own trigger condition.

Playtesting

Domri Naya – Game 1

He played Clifftop Retreat and passed back. I played a Plains, cast Call of the Conclave, and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Loxodon Smiter, played a Temple Garden, and passed the turn. I drew a Loxodon Smiter of my own and cast Silverblade Paladin. I paired it with my Centaur token and attacked for 6. My opponent blocked with his Smiter, and both creatures died. I passed the turn.

My opponent miracled a Bonfire of the Damned for 3, killing my Paladin, and passed back. I drew Rancor and cast Loxodon Smiter. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Boros Reckoner and passed back. I drew a Forest and attacked for 4. My opponent traded his Reckoner for the Smiter, and I cast Ajani's Chosen and passed the turn.

My opponent paid 2 life for a Stomping Ground, cast another Reckoner, and ended his turn. I cast a second Ajani's Chosen and cast Rancor, making two Cat tokens and attaching the Aura to one of them. I ended my turn.

My opponent played Rootbound Crag and cast Thundermaw Hellkite. He attacked for 5 and ended his turn. I drew a Forest and cast Ethereal Armor, attaching it to the Rancored token and making two more. I attacked for 6, and my opponent blocked with Boros Reckoner. The Cat trampled over for 3, and my opponent shot one Ajani's Chosen with the Reckoner's 3 damage. I passed the turn.

My opponent paid 2 life for a Sacred Foundry and cast Bonfire of the Damned for 3, leaving me with only the enchanted token. He passed the turn. I drew a land and attacked for 6 with my token, and he was forced to block with Huntmaster, dropping to 1 life. I passed the turn.

He cast Domri Rade and used his −2 to make his Hellkite fight my token. Both died, and Rancor returned to my hand. I drew Silverblade Paladin, cast it, and enchanted it with Rancor. I ended my turn.

My opponent drew for his turn, looked at the top card with Domri Rade, and conceded.

Sideboarding:

−4 Precinct Captain

+3 Intrepid Hero

+1 Rootborn Defenses

Game 2

My opponent paid another 2 life for Sacred Foundry, cast Domri Rade, and used his +1 to grab a Flinthoof Boar. I drew Ethereal Armor, played my Plains, and passed the turn.

My opponent cast Flinthoof Boar, gave it haste, and attacked for 3. He then used Domri's +1 again, finding nothing this time. He played a Temple Garden tapped and ended his turn. I drew another Ethereal Armor, played my Plains, and cast Loxodon Smiter. I passed the turn.

My opponent used Domri's +1 again, grabbing another Flinthoof Boar, and then put two copies of the Boar onto the battlefield. He played a Rootbound Crag, cast Avacyn's Pilgrim, and passed the turn. I drew Unflinching Courage, exiled Domri Rade with Oblivion Ring, and passed the turn.

My opponent played Gavony Township and attacked with the three Boars. I chose not to block, and he activated the Township to drop me to 5. I drew Selesnya Guildgate, played it, and cast Unflinching Courage on my Smiter. I passed the turn.

My opponent activated the Township and swung with everything. I killed a boar with the Smiter, but the extra damage from the Avacyn's Pilgrims was enough to kill me.

Game 3

I drew another Rancor, played my Forest, and passed the turn. My opponent played Sacred Foundry and passed the turn.

I drew Oblivion Ring and played my Plains. I cast Loxodon Smiter and then ended my turn. My opponent played a Rootbound Crag and cast Boros Reckoner before passing the turn.

I drew Unflinching Courage, enchanted my Smiter with Rancor and Ethereal Armor, and attacked for 8. My opponent took the damage, and I passed the turn. He played a Stomping Ground, cast Avacyn's Pilgrim, and passed the turn.

I drew Ajani's Chosen, cast Unflinching Courage on my Smiter, and attacked for 11. My opponent dropped to 1, and I passed the turn. My opponent cast Domri Rade and used his −2 to make Boros Reckoner fight Loxodon Smiter. The Reckoner directed 11 damage back at the Smiter to kill it, and he passed the turn.

I drew Silverblade Paladin and cast Oblivion Ring on Domri Rade, making a Cat token. I cast Rancor, making a second Cat token and attaching the Aura to it. I ended my turn. My opponent cast Ghor-Clan Rampager and passed the turn.

I drew Oblivion Ring and cast another Rancor on the enchanted Cat token, making a new Cat. I cast Silverblade Paladin, pairing it with the 6/2 Cat. I attacked with everything for 17 damage total. My opponent blocked the nontrampling creatures with Avacyn's Pilgrims, and he put everything else in front of the 6/2 Cat. Unfortunately for him, everything else amounted to 11 toughness, and he died from the 1 trample damage.

Wrap-Up

Ajani's Chosen certainly seems as though it might be good enough to make a small splash in Standard, giving decks that already play several enchantments a way to fight through the long game. The ability to attach your Auras to the tokens they make is simply awesome, allowing you to leave the Chosen back rather than risking it in combat because you had no other creatures to put your Rancor on. If you're a fan of Cats and/or Auras, give this deck a shot once M14 is released.