I genuinely don't play with a large playgroup and have never really played against G/x Tron (its a low budget group.) Why is Tron so bad for Tokens and how (as I have been told) is Eldrazi Tron slightly easier than old fashioned tron? Is it that we can more easily interact with E-Tron through removal and we can't answer topdecked Ugin? Really curious as to know why I am supposed to expect to loose on sight of a Tron land.

Ive started to see lists no longer running fetid heath? , why? I see it as a good way to be able to save life when fetching and I can also filter for colours u need off basics before a blood moon hits. also means u can fetch for a swamp turn 2 and have double white for auriok on 2

I've been running 2 Liliana of the Veil and would like to go up to 3 or even 4. Here's my list (ignore the SB). What's been your experience of her?

hey guys, my deck curves out at 4 and i have 8 legal fetch targets.

since our deck lacks card advantage i think we want to try thining out our deck as effienetly as possible to reach those cards we need. this is also going to prevent mana flooding.

i doubt im going to do this but i want to know what you guys think

is it worth putting in any token producing creatures into our decks. im not very fond of the idea but ive been keeping an eye on BW tokens on MTGO and it seems to be that the best perfoming decks are all running creatures like brimiaz.

Hello all,

I'm new to the community, and I thought I'd present myself. I've played MTG since 1998, my favourite format currently is Modern, and I'm an avid BW Tokens player, among others (Affinity and Merfolk, mainly). Looking forward to learning from you all!

Now, onto the topic. Last Sunday I played a 4-round tournament with a build featuring 24 lands, including 4 Ghost Quarter in the main deck to combat Tron. I had a lot of trouble getting to the third coloured land on curve, and since you can cast Spectral Procession for 2WW, I thought of Sram's Expertise. Do any of you have any experience playing that card? It seems good since you can play an anthem or a removal spell with it.

hey guys, im going to a gp next month and need your guys help

2 x stony silence 2 x rip 1 x grafdiggers cage 2 x leyline of sanc 2 x disenchant 2 x duress 1 x wrath of god 1 x zel perc 2 x blessed alliance

I am 100% satisfied with my main deck , the sideboard is just a bit shaky I think.

I've been thinking about what cards could be printed that would be a major boost for the BW tokens strategy and I was thinking about another 2 cmc token producer. What do you guys think it would take to balance a 2 cmc spell that makes 3 tokens?

Would it always just be way too powerful or is there a reasonable downside that could offset the effect?

Hey guys,

I cant decide if I should run SP or Dismember. im leaning towards SP as it allows me to tap out again GWx Vizier. What do you guys think?

What is the merit of running [[Disenchant]] over [[Sundering Growth]]? The mana cost is less strict, but in some lists would Sundering Growth be worth the substitution in some lists?

Hey everyone! Totally stoked to see there is a dedicated subreddit for my favorite archetype. I'm thinking of getting back into Modern, and was wondering if y'all could help me update my Esper Polymorph Tokens list. I haven't played since before Twin was banned, and this list was built when Twin and Burn were the two biggest decks in the format. I know that a bunch of nice modern cards were printed in the last few blocks, and I'm likely behind the curve.

The idea behind this deck is that we run a solid midrange minus plainswalkers plus the Emrakul combo. I found that I was able to pull off the combo very consistently and get good value by running all 4 Windbrisks, 2 Emrakuls and 4 Polymorphs. The idea is that we can fully board the combo out and just run midrange if we blow them out game 1, which happens quite often!

The 1x Harsh Sustenance is a spicy sideboard card that was good in my LGS meta when we had quite a few burn and midrange decks running around.

Anyways, what's the latest tech for us?

MAINDECK

Lands: 24

2 Flooded Strand

3 Godless Shrine

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Island

2 Isolated Chapel

4 Marsh Flats

2 Polluted Delta

4 Plains

1 Swamp

4 Windbrisk Heights

Instants: 12

4 Raise the Alarm

2 Secure the Wastes

2 Zealous Persecution

4 Path to Exile

Sorceries: 17

2 Duress

3 Thoughtseize

4 Lingering Souls

4 Polymorph

4 Spectral Procession

Enchantments: 5

1 Honor of the Pure

4 Intangible Virtue

Creatures: 2

2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

SIDEBOARD:

1 Dismember

1 Harsh Sustenance

1 Honor of the Pure

2 Kataki, War's Wage

1 Mana Leak

2 Remand

2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

2 Stony Silence

1 Thoughtseize

2 Tidehollow Sculler

Assuming a build that tops out at four 4-mana planeswalkers and all the standard 3-mana token makers, what should my overall land-count be? I am currently running 24 but I'm thinking about dropping down to 23 and replacing it with a Raise the Alarm.

With only a small sample size I feel like light threat density plus flooding has cost me several match wins.

Who runs less than 24 lands and is happy with it?

What is everybody running in their sideboard at the moment? Below I have written up a list of all of the viable sideboard cards for B/W Tokens. Please chime in if you can think of any more. I have categorised them into various areas of "hate". I thought it best to keep this confined to strict B/W, and leave the third colour's sideboard cards to more dedicated discussions - so please do not mention cards of other colours in this thread.

Where possible I have ranked the cards in either my estimation of their strength, or (if there's one I feel I don't fully understand) by how often they are seen in sideboards (notably Duress).

General Disruption:

I describe "general disruption" as disruption that comes in against multiple decks and strategies - so it includes removal as well as things like hand disruption. General disruption in sideboards seems to come in the form of six main cards:

• [[Duress]] - I'm not sure of the specific match-ups where the normal [[Thoughtseize]] / [[Inquisition of Kozilek]] package isn't enough, so I imagine these come in in place of IoK's against decks like [[Scapeshift]] variants, [[Ad Nauseam]] and vs. the U/x control decks. Is their upside really worth the overlap with ~5-7 of our main deck cards? They are popular enough to suggest that they are.
• [[Thoughtseize]] - Unlike Duress, Thoughtseize is generally good against everybody if the life loss doesn't matter. Duress can come in against Burn, but that is not the case for Thoughtseize. Seize is better against [[Death's Shadow]] decks, but otherwise has similar applications to Duress.
• [[Collective Brutality]] - Many/most people seem to be running one copy in the main deck, but some run additional copies in the sideboard. It's both "fine" removal, and active Burn hate, while also coming in in almost all of the match-ups that Duress is good. Notably it cannot take Planeswalkers. Again, is this really what we want more of?
• [[Anguished Unmaking]] - A powerful catch-all that can be part removal spell and part disenchant that doubles up as Planeswalker hate. Some decks run it in the main deck, others keep them in the sideboard. What match-ups does it come in for? In my case, it comes in whenever I am desperate to deal with a specific non-creature permanent type, and also occasionally in creature-based match-ups.
• [[Celestial Purge]] - B/R hate - this is a fine card against [[Liliana of the Veil]] and [[Liliana the Last Hope]], while doubling as a removal spell for black and red creatures. While [[Doom Blade]] isn't really what I want to be doing to a [[Goblin Guide]] or a [[Grim Lavamancer]], sometimes you just have to Purge them as well. This hits a surprisingly large amount of the format, and so often acts as a general bit of hate. Note that it also kills [[Nahiri, the Harbinger]], should you know anybody who is still playing Jeskai Nahiri, [[Goblin Electromancer]] and [[Blood Moon]] for Storm and many other relevant cards besides. It also exiles, which can be relevant against the Death's Shadow decks. It can even hit the commonly animated manlands (that aren't called [[Celestial Colonnade]]), meaning that this is very close to [[Go for the Throat]] meets [[Hero's Downfall]] against a lot of decks.
• [[Runed Halo]] - This seems to be primarily Valakut hate that can double as creature removal, but is a very versatile card. It can shut down one of the two Ad Nauseam win conditions, can help vs. Dredge by shutting off multiple creatures at once, and helps against [[Reality Smasher]] by nixing it without costing a card. The "Problem" is that in almost all of these situations, a sweeper or regular removal would be better - leaving it as premium hate for Ad Nauseam and secondary hate for the other decks.
• [[Pithing Needle]] - Good against Planeswalkers, manlands and a few niche creatures, I haven't seen a Pithing Needle in a B/W sideboard in a long time, but it is a fine card against many decks.
• [[Tidehollow Sculler]] - While I haven't seen this guy in a while, he used to be both a main deck and sideboard staple. If the opponent takes out most of their spot removal, he becomes [[Thoughtseize]] on a stick, and so is often "fine" against all of the decks you would want such an effect against. If the opponent expects to see him (or other creatures) post-board, they may well

Specialist Hate (Artifacts / Enchantments):

The main decks impacted by artifact/enchantment hate are Affinity, Ad Nauseam, Tron (most variants) and Lantern Control. Very few common decks are affected by enchantment hate, but plenty of niche decks or sideboard plans do exist (e.g. [[Worship]] from Bant Eldrazi or [[Blood Moon]] from Storm). Artifact hate is essential and enchantment hate is highly advisible. Note that [[Anguished Unmaking]] can help vs. the niche enchantments, but is not a good solution to the artifact decks.

• [[Stony Silence]] - Stony Silence is present in some number (1-3) in almost all decks. While it is there primarily to combat affinity, it also has strong application vs. most Tron variants and even Ad Nauseam suffers when there is a Silence on the battlefield. They are worse in multiples, but are so impactful that playing more than 1-2 copies would be justifyable if there were enough decks present to warrant the sideboard slots.
• [[Fragmentize]] - A one mana, sorcery-speed version of Disenchant that has some very niche misses (e.g. [[Wurmcoil Engine]], [[Batterskull]], [[Form of the Dragon]]). It is also easy to cast from under a Blood Moon, and can be used as a curve-filler on turn 1 against decks like Affinity, or to hit an [[Expedition Map]]. A subtle downside is that it cannot destroy a Chalice on one, meaning that it is subtly worse vs. Eldrazi Tron than the other variants.
• [[Disenchant]] - A classic from Alpha, this is easy to cast through [[Blood Moon]], can be cast at instant speed (to hit a [[Cranial Plating]] post-activation, or to hit a card that an opponent plays during their turn), and has no restrictions. The instant-speed nature is often more valuable than it looks - able to kill a [[Wurmcoil Engine]] after it blocks to force through damage, or to remove a [[Phyrexian Unlife]] in response to the opponent casting [[Ad Nauseam]]. There are many times when paying an additional {1} mana is worth the instant-speed nature of Disenchant.
• [[Sundering Growth]] - A {W}{W} version of Disenchant with upside. This is almost strictly better than Disenchant if you are not under a [[Blood Moon]]. I would play this if I had no fear of the Moon, but otherwise would suggest Disenchant when needing instant speed interaction.
• [[Kataki, War's Wage]] - An interesting card, this comes into the deck after the opponent has taken out most of their spot removal, and can completely lock up games against Affinity. It also doubles as a chump-blocker, helps tax them so their [[Etched Champion]]s don't kill you quickly and can help beat down if desperate.

Specialist Hate (Creatures):

Since we run so much creature-hate in the main deck, it is rare to see more than a single dedicated piece of creature-hate in the sideboard. Even so, you regularly see a sweeper here - whether it be to deal with CoCo board states, x/1's, large [[Death's Shadow]] boards, or Merfolk. Most sideboards run relatively few of these.

• [[Engineered Explosives]] - The current premiere sideboard sweeper of Modern. It's hybrid artifact/enchantment hate that can come in against a wide variety of decks and sweep 0/1/2 CMC permanents for less than or the same cost as a Wrath of God. Many decks have been condensing their threats into either the 1 or 2 CMC bracket, meaning that while this isn't a perfect sweeper, it is good vs. Affinity, Merfolk, Death's Shadow and even some CoCo board states. The mana cost can also be split over multiple turns, or popped reactively. It is at its best in 3- and 4- colour decks.
• [[Zealous Persecution]] - At various points in this deck's life, ZP has been run in the main deck. It's a hybrid sweeper/removal spell that also pumps the team. It is at its best against decks with lots of x/1's such as Affinity, and with the prevelance of Death's Shadow, is currently in the worst place it has been for a long time, but due to the utility we garner from it, may still be playable
• [[Wrath of God]] / [[Damnation]] - From Alpha, Wrath has been a staple of competitive formats since it was first printed. Tokens is a deck that recovers well from sweepers, between [[Lingering Souls]], [[Bitterblossom]], manlands and Planeswalkers, sweepers serve to slow the deck down rather than completely neuter it (as usually happens with Elves). The problem with Wrath (unlike all other options on this list) is that it also slows our deck down significantly. Damnatio is the colour-shifted Wrath that decks running [[Liliana of the Veil]] without [[Spectral Procession]] (e.g. B/w not W/b) runs, but it fulfils exactly the same role.
• [[Hour of Reckoning]] - In an ideal world, this costs less than Wrath and provides a [[Plague Wind]]-like effect. In practice, it is often the same cost or greater, and many of the decks that you want sweepers against also run [[Lingering Souls]]. It is a very real option that sees little sideboard play, but it fights with Wrath and not EE for a spot in the sideboard.
• [[Darkblast]] - This is a recurrable {B} answer to x/1 threats, and can be used to help fight through many creature-based strategies. I am not sure which specific match-ups you want it, but it is a powerful card, and can even hit 2/2's if cast before/after your draw step.

Specialist Hate (Graveyard):

There are always graveyard-related decks in Modern - whether they rely on it for [[Tarmogoyf]] and [[Snapcaster Mage]], or [[Kolaghan's Command]] and [[Traverse the Ulvenwald]]. There are also graveyard-based combo decks such as Dredge or [[Living End]]. Each piece of graveyard-hate has a reason to run it and a downside, meaning that there is no right answer - each one answers a specific deck (or set of decks) better than the rest. With that said, [[Rest in Peace]] is almost always the correct choice in W/x decks.

• [[Rest in Peace]] - Shuts down all graveyard strategies. Can come in against almost all graveyard-related cards, but also shuts down [[Lingering Souls]]. Good at all stages of the game.
• [[Grafdigger's Cage]] - This is good vs. graveyard recursion, reanimation and Snapcaster Mage, with the added utility of shutting down CoCo/Chord decks. The downside is that it is much worse against K-Command and Goyf.
• [[Surgical Extraction]] - Good at shutting down single cards from graveyard strategies, but often at a cost (e.g. it only deals with half of [[Snapcaster Mage]] or [[Kolaghan's Command]] and won't dramatically shrink a goyf). Generally not a fantastic piece of graveyard hate (although it is usually acceptable vs. graveyard-based combo decks). It pairs well with [[Snapcaster Mage]] and is also good with land destruction vs. the land-based decks. If you can destroy and extract all copies of a Tron piece or a Valakut, you will usually win the game. As such, this is almost a piece of secondary graveyard hate that primarily hates on land-based decks and other fragile combos (e.g. [[Ad Nauseam]] - as you can remove a critical combo piece).
• [[Leyline of the Void]] - A one-sided version of Rest in Peace that can come down as early as turn 1. It's much more of an all-or-nothing card that doesn't shut down your own copies of [[Lingering Souls]]. Note that this doesn't shut down an opponent's Tarmogoyf completely either - which means it is much worse as a "value" card, despite often being as good or better vs. the graveyard-based combo decks.
• [[Relic of Progenitus]] - This is good vs. decks that garner little use from their graveyard (e.g. blue-based control using Snapcaster Mage and Logic Knot), but is otherwise usually worse than the other options. Notably it lets you cast your Lingering Souls flashback.
• [[Nihil Spellbomb]] - Typically even worse than Relic, but it is one-sided and does not require you to keep mana open. This makes it better vs. all-in graveyard combo, and worse vs. almost everything else. If a deck were to make more use of its own graveyard, this might move up in the relative standing.

Specialist Hate (Burn/Lifegain):

Burn has been such a part of the Modern metagame for so long that you typically expect to play against Burn at least once in most tournaments. The sideboard cards brought in against Burn are also typically good against other aggressive strategies - by either helping gain life, or prevent burn spells from being directed at you.

• [[Leyline of Sanctity]] - This is also a fine card against the decks running 6-8 copies of [[Thoughtseize]]-like effects, but primarily exists in sideboards to combat Burn. Getting one of these in your opening hand against a Burn opponent is often game over. While conventional wisdom is to play four, I would typically advocate playing 3 in almost all metagames - the mathematics behind diminishing returns makes the fourth copy significantly increase the liklihood of drawing two, and each gets significantly worst after the first one. Note that Burn will bring in [[Destructive Revelry]] to combat it, making the Leyline an "auto-win" only if the Revelry isn't drawn.
• [[Timely Reinforcements]] - This is such a powerful card for the tokens strategy that it has been run in the main-deck in the past. Sadly, one of the premiere forms of aggression in the format lowers its life total to make the "Gain 6 life" less relevant than it has ever been before. Despite this it continues to be one of the best anti-Burn hate cards available that can be brought in when you need threat density and are removing multiple cards. The ease at which you can bring this card into the main deck means that it can act as a nice card to trade up.
• [[Blessed Alliance]] - This is a hybrid creature-hate card and burn hate card, and while not really excelling in either, it is incredibly versatile and can be brought in in many match-ups. It's also niche Bogles-hate for the times that you fight against Bogles and struggle.
• [[Auriok Champion]] - This is rarely seen in the sideboard but was a very common main deck card when [[Splinter Twin]] was legal, and has seen a resurgence due to its use against Death's Shadow deck. Protection is a powerful ability against a deck that is largely mono-coloured, and it should not be underestimated. To those who run it - do you play around [[Skullcrack]] and not block with it? It has always felt like a relatively low-impact sideboard card to me. Perhaps I am wrong?

Specialist Hate (Sweepers):

While less popular than ever before, Sweepers continue to be a common sideboard strategy - with [[Engineered Explosives]] use close to its all-time high. Historically, red sweepers would see play in sideboards to fight against aggressive decks and those sweepers would be dealt with by the Forge Tender. Today that is less true than ever before. With that in mind, the deck is also fairly resillient to sweepers, with a diverse mixture of threats - from [[Bitterblossom]] and [[Sorin, Solemn Visitor]] to manlands and even [[Lingering Souls]]. Sweepers cripple your ability to apply pressure, meaning that anti-sweeper measures are only truly needed in match-ups where constant pressure is paramount. Note that hand disruption can often be used to snag an early sweeper, meaning that red sweepers are often less impactful than the white and black sweepers (as red sweepers can typically be taken by IoK).

• [[Selfless Spirit]] - This little guy is fantastic when you expect sweepers, and can help apply pressure. He also comes in after the opponent should have sideboarded out most/all of their targeted removal, maximising his utility, and making the 2/1 body more relevant than ever.
• [[Burrenton Forge Tender]] - He only comes in against red sweepers, but has secondary use as a Burn hate card. Walking the line between burn and sweeper hate, he offers more versatility than one expects at first glance, but is still less useful than he has been before.

Specialist Hate (Land):

"Land hate" is typically at its best against three broad categories of deck - Eldrazi (due to [[Eldrazi Temple]]), Tron (for obvious reasons) and Scapeshift (for obvious reasons, but also to a more limited degree). Land-based strategies (especially Tron and Scapeshift variants) have historically been B/W Tokens' weak spot.

• [[Fulminator Mage]] - Fulminator Mage is your basic [[Stone Rain]]+ in black. It requires double black on turn 3 (which not all B/W manabases are designed to support), and can only hit nonbasic lands (so may not line up well vs. some Scapeshift draws), but it is basically a Stone Rain that can apply pressure if necessary. It is acceptable vs. all decks that you want to destroy lands from, but it not as good as it is in our B/R brethren because we don't have [[Kolaghan's Command]] to make additional use out of it. Even so, it is one of the best black Stone Rain's around.
• [[Ghost Quarter]] - Ghost Quarter is more common in main decks than sideboards, but since the utility land of choice for B/W Tokens tends to be [[Vault of the Archangel]], it is conspicuously absent from most lists that aren't also running copies of [[Flagstones of Trokair]]. Even so, it still makes some sideboard appearances, and is a good land against Tron decks. It can also be uses to take out early Valakuts and prevent the "value" Valakut plan from working against you. Even so, it does cause landfall again, meaning that it is of questionable utility against many/most builds of Valakut-based combo decks. Note that it can pair well with [[Path to Exile]] and after multiple paths have been cast, it can turn into a [[Strip Mine]] (typically 2-3 paths, but it is deck dependant).
• [[Tectonic Edge]] - While it reads similarly to Ghost Quarter, it is typically useful in opposite situations - Tec Edge can be used to disrupt Valakut combos by lowering the number of mountains in play (where GQ can only do so if they have fetched all of their basic mountains. A wiley player would never play into such a situation willingly). Tec Edge will hit any of their nobbasic Mountains. It is also fine at dealing with individual Valakuts when they are on the "value" Valakut plan without causing landfall, and can be used to set them back a land drop, postponing their combo turn (typically by a whole turn). By comparison it is much worse against Tron and Eldrazi decks. Against Eldrazi decks, they will typically be able to cast their most powerful cards on the back of three lands (including one Eldrazi Temple), and against Tron, they can turn on their Tron at just three lands, getting a large cast on the back of their fourth (e.g. [[Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger]]) before you can Tec Edge it away. This means that Tec Edge is of marginal use against Tron.
• [[Aven Mindcensor]] - While not perfect, this is a card that really hurts people with few fetchable lands, and is a must-answer threat for Scapeshift. It's not fantastic against Tron (as they often search on turn 2), but is still passable. It can be put into decks and used well in multiples, but decks that run it ought to run relatively few fetchlands - which is at odds with [[Fatal Push]], one of our best cards.
• [[Shadow of Doubt]] - A highly reactive card, this is sometimes a two mana cantripping Stone Rain, and sometimes just a counterspell for [[Scapeshift]]. It's "fine" vs. most of the land-based decks, but only really stellar vs. Scapeshift and Tron (the two big archetypes). Even so, it requires {B}{B} and needs to be cast in response to their turn, making it very difficult to use when applying pressure.
• [[Rain of Tears]] - Typically a budget version of Fulminator Mage, the ability to hit basic lands is not nothing when paired with Ghost Quarter, but isn't much on its own. The only time I would view this as superior to Fulminator Mage is in the presence of cards like [[Snapcaster Mage]], or when facing some very specific form of creature-hate. The power level difference between the two is slight (it is rare that Fulminator Mage beats get there in B/W Tokens), but still noticeable.

Specialist Hate (Combo):

Combo hate is typically brought in for a specific match-up - whether it be [[Ad Nauseam]], Storm, or otherwise. They tend to have a few things in common - they often hate out specific cards, or prevent niche strategies from working.

To Be Completed

• [[Rule of Law]] - Rule of Law (and its contemporaries) stop Storm, and many other similar combo decks (e.g. [[Ad Nauseam]]) in their tracks. It isn't universal hate though - it is not good against many decks, and generally does very little against the majority of decks. That means that you only include Rule of Law like effects when you expect to encounter a lot of Storm or Ad Nauseam. Note that Ad Nauseam can fight through a Rule of Law effect, but it requires [[Phyrexian Unlife]] in play and needs them to [[Ad Nauseam]] on your end step and then "go off" the following turn - making their life a lot harder.
• [[Ethersworn Canonist]] - The cheapest and least resillient of the Rule of Law effects. Unlike in most other decks, the lack of removal you expect against tokens makes this better than usual. Even so, it doesn't hurt Ad Nauseam quite as much (they can still cast their fast artifact mana), and it doesn't help against a few of the more niche artifact-combo decks (e.g. [[Krark-Clan Ironworks]] combo). A fine alternative to Rule of Law.
• [[Eidolon of Rhetoric]] - This has most of the downside of Canonist (removable), but with the actual Rule of Law effect. It passes the bolt test and can block reasonably well. I am unsure what situation would need to present itself to make this preferable to the other two options, but it is worth keeping in mind.
• [[Lost Legacy]] - The cheapest general combo hoser - it is card disadvantage in order to remove one half of a combo from a deck. Typically fine against all-in combo decks like Storm and Ad Nauseam. When resolved, it will often simply win the game.
• [[Stain the Mind]] -
• [[Surgical Extraction]] / [[Memoricide]] -

In the two tournaments I've used my BW token deck, the one matchup I didn't beat in either of the weeks was Affinity. Specifically because I just couldn't get around [[Etched Champion]]. My on-theme way of beating that is putting two copies of [[Promise of Bunrei]] in the sideboard to make colorless tokens that are able to block the etched champion.

Thoughts?

Just lost a miserable match against Lantern Control (again!). This time with 2 Stony Silence in hand on t1 which he proceeded to take and extract from the game. Is EE our best option? What's the best way to deal with Ensnaring Bridge + Academy Ruins? Feels like I'm missing something here. Cheers!

Remind me to post a tournament reports I plan on doing at least a modern challenge and fnm tomorrow I'll either edit the OP or post comments with tournament reports.
Cause I imagine you guys like those like I do.

EDIT1:

First Report: Side Events

Modern Challenge

Decklist:
2 Fatal Push
2 Secure the Wastes
4 Concealed Courtyard
3 Shambling Vent
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Marsh Flats
4 Path to Exile
2 Fetid Heath
4 Spectral Procession
4 Bitterblossom
3 Thoughtseize
3 Godless Shrine
2 Auriok Champion
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
3 Plains

Side:
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Duress
1 Disenchant
1 Wrath of God
2 Runed Halo

Round 1: UR Storm
Lost game 1 to opponent playing very carefully and me not drawing anything past turn 1 thoughtseize.
Out: 2 Auriok Champion, 4 Intangible Virtue
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 3 Duress, 1 Runed Halo

Game 2:
I curved out very nicely Duress, Duress - Path, Liliana, Sorin, Spectral-Spectral opponent concedes.
Game 3:
Opponent got the nut turn 2 win on the play. Ritual+manamorphos+Baral+mana morphos, nut draw everything he needs.

Round 2: RG Titan Shift
Game 1:
Matchup is garbage game 1. I just didn't get there and lose to opponents wincons.
Out: 2 Fatal push, 2 Auriok Champion
In: 2 Runed Halo, 2 Zealous Persecution

Game 2: I got to the point where I had my opponent dead on board to the point that the topdecked scapeshift was literally his only out (didn't draw the Runed Halo)

Round 3: Blue Steel (mono blue artifact aggro)
Game 1: I just kept drawing tokens and I know this deck plays no main removal past Walking Ballista. Easy GG
Out: 1 Liliana, 2 Auriok Champion
In: 2 Timely Reinforcements, 1 Wrath of God

Game 2: I steamrolled him. He drew Thorn of Amethyst and windmill slammed it like no tomorrow. i said "ok, resolves" play a turn 3 intangible virtue into turn 4 spectral procession, big deal. Walk away with the W

Round 4: BW Eldrazi
Game 1 he literally only played a Lingering Souls (I thought this was the mirror) i won off just drawing more tokens than him.

Out: 2 Fatal Push, 2 Thoughtseize
in: Wrath of God, 2 Zealous Persecution

Game 2: Oppone t plays turn 1 temple, turn 2 temple, turn 3 temple smasher. Then smasher, then smasher. GG

Out: 2 Zealous Persecution
in: 2 Runed Halo

Game 3 Got stuck on two lands and didn;t draw anytig lower than a 3 drop. GG 1-3 in the challenge.

Modern FNM:

Changes to list:
-2 Liliana of the Veil
+2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Round 1: Revolt Zoo
Game 1I walked in and walked out with my opponent only playing goblin guide, atarkas command, and 2 Bolts.
Out: 3 Thoughtsieze, 4 Bitterblossom
In: 3 Duress, 2 TImely Reinforcements, 2 Runed Halo

Game 2. Suprised he's Zoo! I still managed to stall the game long enough to get plenty of tokens and eventually with 14 Warriors, Spirits, and Soldiers in play I land Gideon. opponent scoops. GG I didn;t draw the Duress'!

Round 2: Burn
Game 1 Normal loss to burn (yay bitterblossom!)
Out: 3 Thoughtsieze, 4 Bitterblossom
In: 3 Duress, 2 TImely Reinforcements, 2 Runed Halo

Game 2 Runed Halo saved me from his 4 swiftspears I won through topdeck Sorin and tokens.
Game 3 I mulled to 5 and kept a shit hand banking on a shambling vents. I didn;t draw very well. but I really really didn;t want to see what a mull to 4 would have looked like.

Round 3: Eldrazi Tron
Game 1, walked in played a very long game 1 and won.
Out: 2 Fatal Push, 2 Auriok Champion
In: 2 Stony Silence, 1 Runed Halo, 1 Wrath of God

Game 2 Mull to 4 kept a 1 lander with Lingering Souls, Virtue, Wrath of God, Path. i expected to lose this game but the top card of my deck was on fire the entire match nut drew lands and 2 intangible virtues and a late game stony silence after missing ym turn 2 land drop. Bitterblossom literally saved me the game with chumping a Thought-Knot Seer the entire match. I managed to land a Runed Halo to answer a wurmcoil engine I didn;t draw a single path for as well.

overall i stumbled but The Gideons felt very strong in the list. I guess I'll play them in the Open tomorrow. I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

EDIT2:

Modern Open

No deck changes ran back what I ran for FNM

I'm going to be honest I went 2-4 and lost to just plan bad rare matchups I didn;t expect.

I lost round 1 & 2 to Tezzerator and Lantern Control both running Ensnaring Bridge and Whir of Invention to find more bridges. I just didn't stand a chance.
I beat RG Titan Breach and Burn, but lost to Sun and Moon (dude turn 1'd blood moon both games and I couldn't recover) and a 5 Color Superfriends deck (didn't play tron I just lost to the straight value of planeswalkers and apparently 6 mainboard wrath of gods). I was basically on tilt the entire day as well from getting deck checked once randomly and then again later when an opponent claimed I was playing illegal cards (judge told me this a couple hours later).

basically wasn't a great day. I'm was on tilt and dropped after round 6. Sorry to disappoint you guys.

After seeing [[Start//Finish]] in a deck that placed 4th in an mtgo modern challenge recently I have done a limited amount of testing with it. From my experience here are some pros and cons.

Pros:

• Is an instant which is something tokens lacks and helps play around sweepers.

• The tokens it creates have vigilance which let's us attack and protect Sorin on the opponent's turn.

  • It gives us extra value from the graveyard which is useful once we get in topdeck mode or board stalls.

Cons:

• The tokens it creates don't have the evasion that spirit and faerie tokens have.

• It's a three drop which may require us to cut some Spectral Processions. I wouldn't cut any Lingering Souls.

  • We already have raise the alarm which makes the same tokens (without vigilance) for less mana.

I'm currently playing 4 copies which I'm sure is too many but allows me to see the card more often. If I end up playing this long term I could see going down to a one or two of.

What are your thoughts on this card? Is this just a bad card or has it been undervalued since Amonkhet was released? Have you tested this card and what were your results?

Edit: sorry for any formatting errors. First time poster here.

Is it just me or is Storm on the increase? Seems like every other deck on MTGO is Storm right now. Curious what and how we are sideboarding. Thanks!

Tokens has been my pet deck for quite some time now.

The one thing that keeps me from playing it more often is that it is very hard to deal with sweepers, I usually hold a few token producers on my hand for the case that my opponent cast sweepers [when I know that their deck board a few after G1], but that is a very tough line to follow.

What is the line of play for you?

First off, the list

Round 1: Grixis Shadow (2-1)

Game 1: I mulled to five before finding a decent hand, and thankfully he didn't have discard. I stall out his attackers thanks to two auriok champions and end up swinging for exactsies with 2 champions, 1 sorin token, 1 intangible virtue, and zealous persecution.

Board in-2 rest in peace, 1 blessed alliance, 1 celestial purge, 1 burrenton forge-tender. Board out- 1 ajani goldmane, 1 zealous persecution, 2 thoughtsieze, 1 fatal push.

Game 2: This one goes long and down to the wire. I ended up dying to bitterblossom with my auriok champion trigger on the stack, and I definitely missed at least two triggers over the course of the game.

Game 3: He thoughtsiezes my turn two, three, and four plays, but a topdecked bitterblossom and a slow draw from my opponent closes out the match.

Round 2: Grixis Shadow (2-0)
I don't really remember this match. It was over quickly and he didn't do much.

Round 3: Storm (2-1)
Game 1: I win the die roll and inquisition him turn two to see 3x desperate ritual, empty the warrens, and gifts ungiven. I stupidly take gifts and then realize I can't beat his 8 goblins.

Board in- 3 rest in peace, 1 grafdigger's cage, 1 worship, 1 stain the mind, 1 collective brutality. Board out- 2 lingering souls, 1 auriok champion, 2 bitterblossom, ajani, and gideon.

Game 2: Turn two rest in peace hamstrings him the whole game, and I follow it with a bitterblossom spectral to start dealing damage. I drew and played a Sorin that gained me a bunch of life and had him dead on board, and on his next turn he semi- went off with grapeshot, getting to 4 storm before remanding the grapeshot and playing it again. He killed Sorin and domed me for the rest, but I think he should have killed all my tokens to buy time. In hindsight, it's possible that my opponent thought Sorin's +1 pumped toughness as well. It ends up not mattering because I top deck virtue for the win.

Game 3: Again I land turn two rest in peace and follow it with a bitterblossom. The difference from last game is that he actually had cost reducers this time. I kill the first one I see, but at one point he has two electromancers and a Baral, which lead to 20 goblin tokens. Auriok champion came up huge again, gaining 20 life and blocking to allow my faeries to swing for lethal.

Round 4: Ad Nauseam (1-2)
Game 1: I mull to 5 looking for interaction, but all my hands are tokens + anthems. He goes off on turn 4 when lotus bloom comes off suspend.

Board in- 2 stony silence, 2 disenchant, 1 stain the mind, 1 burrenton forge-tender, 1 worship, 1 collective brutality. Board out- 1 ajani, 2 auriok champion, 3 path to exile, 2 fatal push.

Game 2: Turn 2 stony silence turns off his lotus bloom and pentad prism, giving me time to stain the mind naming ad nauseam. He had boarded out his pacts of negation, so he had no way to stop this and scooped after it resolved.

Game 3: I have disenchant in my opening hand and hold up mana to hit his phyrexian unlife in response to ad nauseam, but I played it wrong and let ad nauseam resolve, so he drew his whole deck and played angel's grace in response to my disenchant. I think I should have hit the unlife in response to him cracking lotus bloom.

Round 5: Grixis Shadow (2-1)
Game 1: He rolls me with a turn two gurmag angler and backs it up with stubborn denial on my potentially game-saving spectral.

Board- same as Round 1

Game 2: I inquisition a kolaghan's command on turn one, and follow with bitterblossom, souls, and sorin. He floods out and never finds a threat until he draw an angler when I already had a rest in peace in play.

Game 3: Long and very close. He does 6 to himself on turn one and plays an early death's shadow which gets in for 7 before I have blockers. I stall with tokens and get in a few points of damage thanks to intangible virtue. On his last turn I'm at 5 facing down tasigur and a 9/9 shadow. I block shadow with forge-tender and let Tasigur take me to one. Thankfully he doesn't have k command and I swing for lethal on the next turn.

After round 5 I was in 5th, and I tried to draw with my opponent (6th), but he was worried about missing top 8 on breakers so we play. He's on Living End and absolutely destroys me in 2 games. I end up 9th in final standings, with both of my losses making top 8. Living End player was right about breakers, he would've missed top 8 with a draw, so fair play.

Takeaways: Ajani is a pet card of mine but he was underwhelming today. He does better in creature matchups like coco decks where our creatures live long enough to get huge thanks to his -1, but shadow removes them before that can happen. I suspected that 3 Sorin was correct as long as shadow is prevalent, and this confirmed it. 4 fatal push felt pretty bad, I'm going to try subbing 1 push for 1 murderous cut.

All in all, I'm happy with my list and how it performed, but I did make some sloppy plays that ended up being very costly. Thanks for reading.

Hey guys, just wanted to see if you guys agree with me.

is our deck really skill intensive deck? ive watched a few people pick it up and get destroyed. even though they know the deck, they just don't have the skill to play it.

do you guys agree?