Overview:

This Bant (GWU) deck helmed by Tidus, Yuna's Guardian is a dedicated +1/+1 counter synergy deck focused on explosive creature growth, combat damage triggers, and proliferate mechanics. Tidus serves as the central engine, enabling counter redistribution for value and providing significant card draw ("Cheer" trigger) when buffed creatures connect. The strategy leverages counter doublers (Hardened Scales, Conclave Mentor, The Earth Crystal), proliferate payoffs (Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus, Evolution Sage), and finishers that scale with counters (Walking Ballista, Canopy Gargantuan). Win conditions primarily involve overwhelming combat damage with evasive/unblockable threats or infinite combos enabled by counter manipulation.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy ramp (Sol Ring, Devoted Druid, Farseek, Three Visits) and early counter sources (Luminarch Aspirant, Hardened Scales, Gatta and Luzzu). Cast Tidus as soon as possible (ideally turn 3-4) to start enabling the engine.
2. Counter Proliferation & Value (Turns 3-6): Use Tidus's combat trigger to move counters onto key threats or utility creatures. Deploy counter doublers and proliferate engines (Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus, Thrummingbird, Karn's Bastion) to rapidly scale threats. Draw cards via Tidus's Cheer, Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar, Danny Pink, or Fathom Mage.
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 5-8):
   • Combat: Make creatures unblockable with Herald of Secret Streams or Rikku, Resourceful Guardian. Amplify damage with double strike (Chocobo Knights) or massive pump (Byrke, Long Ear of the Law, Zimone, Paradox Sculptor). Use Blitzball Stadium for card draw bursts.
   • Infinite Combos:
     • Devoted Druid + Walking Ballista: Generate infinite mana (Untap Druid by placing -1/-1 counters, use mana to add counters to Ballista), then shoot down opponents.
     • Walking Ballista + Counter Doubler (e.g., Vorel of the Hull Clade, Zimone) + Proliferate: Rapidly scale Ballista to lethal damage.
   • Control Lock: Utilize Wave Goodbye/Damning Verdict as asymmetric board wipes once your board is counter-heavy.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Essential: 2-3 lands (including all colors), at least one piece of early ramp or a 1-2 mana counter source (Luminarch Aspirant, Hardened Scales).
• High Priority: Tidus himself, a card draw/value piece (Kutzil, Danny Pink, O'aka), or a counter doubler.
• Good: A key synergy creature (Denry Klin, Editor in Chief, Tromell, Seymour's Butler, Gatta and Luzzu) or protection (Protection Magic).
• Avoid: Hands lacking ramp, color fixing, or early plays; hands clogged with only high-cost finishers.

Key Tips:

• Maximize Tidus Triggers: Prioritize moving counters before damage to enable Cheer draws. Use Nesting Grounds for additional counter movement at instant speed.
• Protect Key Engines: Shield Tidus and critical pieces like Tekuthal or Doublers with Protection Magic, Swiftfoot Boots (implied), or Inspiring Call. Aura Shards provides ongoing artifact/enchantment control.
• Leverage Proliferate: Target Planeswalkers (Elspeth Resplendent), Ballista, or creatures with multiple counter types (e.g., Agent's Toolkit carriers) for maximum value. Tekuthal doubles every proliferate.
• Combo Sequencing: Tutor for combo pieces (Finale of Devastation, Worldly Tutor implied) only when protection or sufficient mana is available. Resourceful Defense can save counters from removed pieces.
• Recovery: Use Greater Good/Inspiring Call for card draw in response to wipes. Luminous Broodmoth provides resilience against non-exile removal.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Board Wipes: Mass removal (especially exile-based) cripples the counter-based board state. Recovery is slow without active draw engines.
• Anti-Counter/Ability Hate: The One Ring effects shut down ETB draw engines. Cursed Totem/Linvala disable Druid, Ballista, and mana dorks.
• Tidus Removal: Repeatedly removing Tidus increases his cost significantly, stalling the core engine and card draw.

Moderate

• Graveyard Hate: Disrupts recursion from Eternal Witness (implied), Bala Ged Recovery (implied), and Resourceful Defense.
• Stack Interaction: Limited protection makes combos vulnerable to counterspells or instant-speed removal targeting key pieces (Druid, Ballista).
• Rule of Law Effects: Restricts the deck's ability to deploy multiple threats/counters per turn and execute combos.

Minor

• Flying Threats: Limited reach/flying blockers; relies on situational answers like Gift of the Viper or Sphere Grid unlock.
• Artifact/Enchantment Focused Removal: Targets key non-creature pieces like Hardened Scales, Aura Shards, or The Earth Crystal.

Most Important Cards:

• Tidus, Yuna's Guardian (Core engine: counter movement & card draw)
• Hardened Scales / The Earth Crystal (Doubles +1/+1 counter output)
• Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus (Doubles all proliferate triggers)
• Herald of Secret Streams (Primary combat win enabler - unblockable)
• Walking Ballista (Primary combo wincon & scalable removal)
• Devoted Druid (Infinite mana combo piece)
• Zimone, Paradox Sculptor (Powerful counter doubling on multiple targets)
• Denry Klin, Editor in Chief (Mass counter distribution on ETB)
• Byrke, Long Ear of the Law (Combat damage amplifier via counter doubling)
• Greater Good (Critical card draw & sacrifice outlet)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Capable of T4-5 wins with perfect draws (ramp -> Tidus -> Doubler -> Ballista combo/unblockable alpha) and consistent T6-7 wins via combat or combo.

Resilience: 5/10

• Moderate protection (hexproof counters, indestructible grants) and some recursion/recard, but heavily reliant on the board. Dies hard to wipes or targeted disruption on key non-creature pieces.

Consistency: 7/10

• Strong ramp and card draw tied to the core strategy (Tidus Cheer, Kutzil, Danny Pink). Lacks high-density tutors for specific combo pieces beyond green creature tutors.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Steelbane Hydra), counterspells (An Offer You Can't Refuse, Glen Elendra Archmage), and stax (Aura Shards). Focuses primarily on protecting its own board over disrupting opponents' combos.

Rating Justification:

This deck achieves high-speed T5-7 wins through efficient counter scaling, proliferate bursts, and a compact infinite combo, aligning with the "T5-6 win/lock" benchmark of Focused Competitive (7.0). However, its reliance on creature-based synergies and vulnerability to common disruption (wipes, ability hate) reduce resilience, preventing it from reaching higher optimization tiers. The speed/resilience balance places it solidly at the lower end of Focused Competitive.

Power level: 7.0 - 7.5