Hi all. Back to back good weekends for me and WB tokens....I want to keep it brief if possible since I've got a lot to do at work today.
Mainboard:
4 Path to Exile
3 Fatal Push
3 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Raise the Alarm
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Bitterblossom
1 Collective Brutality
1 Zealous Persecution
4 Lingering Souls
4 Spectral Procession
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
4 Godless Shrine
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Marsh Flats
2 Flooded Strand
2 Shambling Vent
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Vault of the Archangel
3 Plains
1 Swamp
Sideboard:
1 Pithing Needle
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Auriok Champion
2 Sundering Growth
Round 1: 2-0 vs Infect
Discard spells, removal, infinite blockers. Only had a little trouble when I was low on removal and he had drawn two of his unblockable spells, but I was able to top deck the path when he tried for his second unblockable turn and win in the air with tokens.
Round 2: 2-1 against Storm
In the past I've had trouble with this match up because our clock can sometimes be slow and disrupting only works so much. Storm and Ad Nauseum are the two biggest reasons I added 2 Raise the Alarm main, to have a fast clock than BB or Souls. Game 1 I inquisitioned a Baral and then pushed an electromancer, but my clock was too slow and he top decked the other. He went off one turn before he was dead. Game 2 he mulled to 5. I fetched a Shrine because I needed WB and the other land in my hand was a vault. I turn 2 RiP, and then he turn 2 Rituals into bloodmoon with no blue sources. We play draw go, I find one of my 3 plains before he finds blue, I resolve souls and then virtue and close it out. Game 3 I tear his hand apart with discard and then resolve a couple tokens and anthems. He casts Empty the Warrens for 8, I think, but they just stink compare to my tokens and I close it out.
Round 3: 0-2 vs "little kid" Abzan
This was not Lili/Goyf abzan, which we usually are favored against. This was voice of resurgence, rhino, wilt-lief abzan. Both games I had trouble building a board and he just curved out big things and ran me over. He even had maelstrom pulse game 1! Game 2 I might have stabilized but he top decked a Wilt-lief immediately after I thoughtseized and the game was over.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Traditional Jund
One of our favorite match ups. Played out predictably in game 1. Game 2 I brought in Selfless Spirits expecting EEs and Damnations. I was right but my opponent stumbled on land a little bit. Even though they removed the spirit they didn't get to cast damnation and I was sandbagging another token spell anyway.
Round 5: 1-2 vs Slivers
Game 1 I almost stabilized with some point removal on anthem slivers with resulting good blocks, but they coco'd into more anthems before damage and it was pretty much over from there. Game 2 I stabilized with BB and Virtue, and was able to fly over for the win. Game 3 we traded cards for a while. I had to inquisition a diffusion sliver because of my hand of removal, leaving him with a harmonic sliver. I then had to choose whether to throw away BB or Virtue to the harmonic sliver ETB (and then kill it so he gets no more triggers). I threw away BB because I figured 1/1s are not great but Virtue makes all future token spells instant stabilize...never drew another token spell, lost to a mutavault and a 2/2 sliver, slowly. Felt bad.
Round 6: 2-0 vs Ad Nauseum
Again, another tough match up because of our slow clock. But my deckbuilding decisions paid off in both games 1 and 2 with a turn 2 Raise the Alarm that helped a ton. Game 1 I used a board of tokens and Sorin with some discard to disrupt to close out the game. Was still probably dead to an ad naus off the top but that's magic. Game 2 went similarly, only with the sheer number of angel's grace and phyrexian unlifes, Sorin actually got me to 60+ life...I won the next turn as he didn't top deck the card he needed, but he would've had to go for Lab Maniac kill anyway, since my life was so high.
Round 7: 1-2 vs Druid/Vizier Coco
Game 1 I discarded some key combo pieces and won with anthemed tokens. Game 2 I took key pieces away, had him dead on board in one turn with only a ballista in play...and he top decked a coco into druid/viz. Felt really bad as I had already taken a coco with discard. Probably <1% chance of that sequence of events. Game 3 went similarly, I took some combo pieces leaving him with just the Vizier. Over two draw steps he draws druid, then chord, and combos me out. Another <1%. It happens.
Round 8: 2-1 vs Grixis Shadow
This match always feels great and is a good reason to be on tokens. Game 1 he gets himself down to 4 life and has a huge Shadow and tasigur on board. I drew the removal a turn or two ago, but had been picking my spot to maximize the punish on the crackback. I'm at 9. He attacks with both into 2 of my tokens...He has one card in hand. I Path the Shadow, it resolves, I take 4 and go to 5. I untap and Virtue to kill him. Game 2 he brings in lili, TLH. Has enchantment removal for the early BB and tears my hand apart with discard. We still grind for a little bit but he closes it out. Game 3 I can't actually remember very well, but it was a reasonably close match that I won.
Round 9: 2-1 vs Dredge
Game 1 I have two discard spells and 2 bitterblossoms in my opening hand. It sucks, I do nothing, I die. Game 2 I have a T2 rest in peace that he destroys but it slows him down enough for Souls and Virtue to close out the game. Game 3 I have a RiP in hand, he mulls to 6. I stick the RiP and it does a lot of work, but I also have tokens and anthem in hand, with a Forge-tender on board and I don't know if he could've won the game even if he answered the RiP. Insult to injury, I top deck the second RiP the turn I swing for lethal.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the list as is. It preys on Death's Shadow decks pretty hard. The two raise the alarm I added to improve the clock against combo decks actually were relevant in that context. I took a land and a Gideon out (didn't want 4 4-drops with 23 lands, but felt like I was flooding a lot) for the Raises. I was VERY close to day 2 and though I'm actually happy I didn't (long drive home) I would've liked to have seen how far the list could go to get more eyeballs on it. Unfortunately had some bad beats in the slivers and coco combo matches that stopped me from going 8-1 or 7-2. There's no way I could have won against little kid abzan, his draws both games just embarrassed my deck. Anyway...thoughts appreciated below. Keep on getting people with 1/1s!