Xenan Even Hour (Top 100 Masters)

Ran into a version of this deck while playing Xenan Strangers and it looked like a lot of fun to play so I decided to whip up a version of my own.

Some random, initial thoughts:

Flex: In this version, there are a few flex-spots to adjust depending on what you're matching up against: Blistersting Wasp, Temple Scribe, Vara, Vengeance-Seeker Azindel, Revealed. The rest of the deck, in my opinion, should be left alone.

The version I ran into on the ladder played Teacher of Humility and Ripknife Assassin which I opted not to include. I like wasp better as it blocks the air plus doesn't die to Blazing Salvo. Both deadly units benefit a lot with Xenan Initiation (Ripknife even gives you a warcry hit). I suppose Teacher can be played in place of Scribe, but I don't really think it would fit the theme of the deck very well. Teacher also seems a lot less powerful than it used to be (Saber-Tooth Prideleader) and Scribe helps you sift through your deck while adding a body to chump in order to buy you time.

Running Annihilate is always a risk with Gentle Grazer and I've definitely lost a couple games by hitting it and removing one of my own units heh. I'd like to have more removal ideally, but cards like Deathstrike or In Cold Blood are too slow and don't benefit from Grazer. I considered Defile but the card is dead after the early-game and we have too much vulnerability to run Eremot's Designs.

Early game: Temple Scribe, Sand Warrior, Blistersting Wasp, Evenhanded Golem all help alleviate pressure vs. aggressive early game opponents. If you can make it to 4, Grazer usually provides enough value to stablize. I will also often find myself playing Pale Rider's Timepiece on 6 in order to remove a threat and gain life. It's also interesting to note that I think a lot of people have initially been underrating Timepiece as a 6-cost weapon. This deck can certainly grind into enough power to use Witching Hour, but I've used the weapon on 6 more often than not and it's been absolutely insane. Xenan Strangers usually plays Annihilate, killer effects, and maybe Banish as removal. I've put the weapon on Evenhanded Golem and just won games from that alone. The card is very strong without the spellcast.

Mid game: Gentle Grazer has been the best card in this deck for me by far in the small amount of time I've played it (D3 to top 70 in Masters). We've seen how valuable ambush is in the midgame -- and with so many valuable hits in this deck, Grazer really shines. I've overwhelmed slower opponenents from hitting cards like Sand Warrior and adding 6 points of additional, unconstested damage. I've had it block killer attacks while hitting Annihilate to remove opposing Strangers. I've hit Initiations to remove critical ramping cards, etc. Grazer has been a ton of fun. Vara, Vengeance-Seeker was added initially because it's great vs. Praxis which I ran into quite a bit during the grind. You can play Prideleader, Titan, whatever you feel is best.

Late game: Grodov's Stranger, Nahid's Distillation, Azindel, Revealed, and Pale Rider's Timepiece all bring in good value here. I don't know if Azindel, Revealed is really necessary but I haven't played the card in such a long time that I wanted to include a couple for fun and they've been great as a 2-of thus far.

Feel free to tune it (if you do, let me know what you change! I'm curious), shit on it, play it, leave a comment, have intercourse with my girlfriend -- really, whatever you'd like.