<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abigale, Eloquent First-Year" href="#" target="_blank">Abigale, Eloquent First-Year</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.markzug.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zug</a></em></p>
<p>Hey y'all, and welcome to a new series where I find five different ways to get the absolute most out of a given card. Today we're exploring all the possible uses of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abigale, Eloquent First-Year" href="#" target="_blank">Abigale, Eloquent First-Year</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, from <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/ecl" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Lorwyn Eclipsed</em></a>.</p>
<p>Abigale is a really cool card with a unique ability, turning a creature into a blank slate, then giving it a few keywords. This can be both an upside and a downside, and might be used on either our creatures or our opponent's.</p>
<p>I want to know the jankiest way to use this card, the most evil thing we can do with it, the best combo we can pull off, the most competitive deck, and, just for fun, the worst possible place to run it. There's so many options and possibilities, and I want to get right into it!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abigale, Eloquent First-Year"></div></div>
<h2>Different Ways to Use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abigale, Eloquent First-Year" href="#" target="_blank">Abigale, Eloquent First-Year</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<h3>The Jankiest Use</h3>
<p>Abigale is already a pretty janky card on her own, so I think the best course of action for this category is to explain what most people are building her deck around: big cards with terrible downsides.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phyrexian Soulgorger"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rotting Regisaur"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Desecration Elemental"></div></div>
<p>When it comes to removing abilities from creatures, the obvious thing to look for is creatures with abilities we don't want, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Soulgorger" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Soulgorger</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rotting Regisaur" href="#" target="_blank">Rotting Regisaur</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Once their humongous downsides are gone, these cards are just big bodies with flying, first strike, and lifelink. Then, we can blink Abigale with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloudshift" href="#" target="_blank">Cloudshift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ephemerate" href="#" target="_blank">Ephemerate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to get her enter the battlefield (ETB) trigger over and over again, making an army.</p>
<p>That's pretty strong, especially because we'll be gaining a lot of life and our creatures are tough to block. But of course, the jankiness of this deck becomes apparent as soon as our opponents have one <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or even worse, a blink spell. With those, they can prevent Abigale from removing the downsides, or bring the downsides back, and we'll be left with an unfettered <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Desecration Elemental" href="#" target="_blank">Desecration Elemental</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the battlefield. Yikes!</p>
<p>It's certainly a risky game plan, but also one with big upsides. Exactly how I like my jank.</p>
<h3>The Most Evil Use</h3>
<p>If we use Abigale's ability on an opponent's creature, it can be pretty devastating. But hey, at least they get some powerful keywords out of it, right? Well what if they didn't?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Solemnity"></div></div>
<p>There are a number of decks that make use of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Solemnity" href="#" target="_blank">Solemnity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects, like <span class="edhrecp__link only-back"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn" href="#" target="_blank">Isilu, Carrier of Twilight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Solemnity simply prevents counters from being put on creatures, which can be a great boon if we're playing with persist. If <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrid Goblin" href="#" target="_blank">Putrid Goblin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can't get a -1/-1 counter, it can never die!</p>
<p>But this is also pretty nasty with Abigale, because it lets us use her to completely strip an opponent's creature of all its abilities, including the consolation counters! Not too kind of us.</p>
<h3>Abigale's Best Combo</h3>
<p>I'll be straight with y'all, I spent an hour trying to make Abigale work in a combo and I couldn't find one. I really thought it'd be easy, because surely there's some scenario where removing a creature's restrictions enables a crazy interaction of some sort.</p>
<p>At first I thought I could use Abigale to remove flying from a creature and then revive it over and over with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Luminous Broodmoth" href="#" target="_blank">Luminous Broodmoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. But even if <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Luminous Broodmoth" href="#" target="_blank">Luminous Broodmoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only gave flying and not a flying counter, Abigale adds a flying counter of her own! So that route was a dead end.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Luminous Broodmoth"></div></div>
<p>Then I started looking for creatures with restrictions that prevented infinite combos, and one creature immediately stood out. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Medomai the Ageless" href="#" target="_blank">Medomai the Ageless</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> could go infinite with itself if it wasn't for the clause that it can't attack on extra turns. Soo... what if we removed that before declaring attackers, then gave its abilities back right before combat damage? Well unfortunately, the only way to give abilities <em>back</em> once they've been removed is by moving the creature to another zone and bringing it back, with something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloudshift" href="#" target="_blank">Cloudshift</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The problem is, that also takes it out of combat, so no combat damage.</p>
<p>This thought process did actually lead me to one of the cooler combos I've seen, however. We can't remove Abigale's effect, but we can remove a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Mutation" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Mutation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Capsize" href="#" target="_blank">Capsize</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. If we cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Mutation" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Mutation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Medomai the Ageless" href="#" target="_blank">Medomai the Ageless</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, attack with the 0/1 Bug, and bounce the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Mutation" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Mutation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> right before combat while paying for buyback, we can have Medomai deal combat damage even on extra turns.</p>
<p>A combo that involves temporarily removing a creature's abilities is pretty awesome, and the closest I could get to something with Abigale. But if you know a way to actually combo with our Bird Bard, please let me know!</p>
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<h3>The Most Competitive Deck for Abigale</h3>
<p>Keyword counters are a mechanic that have been around for quite a while, but they haven't been too common since their introduction, which really sucks for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tayam, Luminous Enigma" href="#" target="_blank">Tayam, Luminous Enigma</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. First printed in <em>Ikoria, </em>the same set that introduced keyword counters, it was implied that Tayam should be used with keyword counters. But realistically, there just weren't enough keyword counters to be fill the deck, so Tayam became another +1/+1 counter deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tayam, Luminous Enigma"></div></div>
<p>That's a sad fate for a really interesting commander. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abigale, Eloquent First-Year" href="#" target="_blank">Abigale, Eloquent First-Year</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> doesn't change that, but she does help out quite a bit. Tayam is looking to get three counters on board to activate its ability, and Abigale provides those counters instantly, at the cost of removing abilities from a creature who's probably gonna get sacrificed anyways. Then, Abigale herself can be sacrificed and recurred with Tayam, to be used again.</p>
<p>Plus, Abigale doubles as removal, something any deck can make use of. All in all, Abigale fits snugly into this deck, making it a little bit better.</p>
<h3>The Worst Deck for Abigale</h3>
<p>Now this is a fun category. What even makes a deck "the worst" for a given card? Is it the worst because it's completely useless? If that were the case, then Abigale would only be as bad as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Darksteel Relic" href="#" target="_blank">Darksteel Relic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. No, we need to find a deck where Abigale's ability is actually detrimental no matter how you use it, and I think I've got just the place.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drana and Linvala"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drana and Linvala" href="#" target="_blank">Drana and Linvala</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is quite the curious commander, all about stealing activated abilities from our opponents' creatures. It's usually just built as a <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/List_of_Magic_slang#Hate_Bear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hate bears</a> deck, and it's not even the strongest deck in that archetype, but it can be fun, letting you play with your opponents' creatures without even stealing them.</p>
<p>Oh, your opponent played a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fauna Shaman" href="#" target="_blank">Fauna Shaman</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? Well now you're the one who gets to search your library.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hushbringer"></div></div>
<p>So given that, I'd say the absolute worst thing you can do in this deck is remove abilities from creatures. Yes, maybe Abigale could target the creatures that don't have activated abilities, but we're already gonna be playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hushbringer" href="#" target="_blank">Hushbringer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and friends in this deck, so triggered abilities aren't really an issue.</p>
<p>At best, Abigale might remove some scary keywords like infect, but usually she's just gonna be making our opponents' creatures better despite the best efforts of the other hate bears in this deck. And if she gives those keywords to a creature on our team, it's gonna cost us that creature's much more relevant abilities. Yup, Abigale is a 0/10 in this deck.</p>
<h2>4/5 Achievements Earned</h2>
<p>So that's four awesome places to play <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abigale, Eloquent First-Year" href="#" target="_blank">Abigale, Eloquent First-Year</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and one terrible pick. Would you say my evaluations were good? Or is there an even worse deck for Abigale, and an even more evil interaction? Maybe there's a combo that actually works with Abigale.</p>
<p>If you think you can outdo my picks, please tell me in the comments! I know y'all have some great ideas.</p>


creature abilities

Five Different Ways to Use Abigale, Eloquent First-Year