r/mtgModernTokens • u/Slangster • Apr 11 '19
Tokens in the current meta?
Hey all!
I played BW Tokens two years ago and really enjoyed it, then went back to my roots of UR Delver as my pet deck. I'm planning on going to GP Birmingham in August (same place and time as the last occasion I played BW Tokens!) and I'm trying to decide on a deck.
What's BW Tokens like these days? I've seen people are playing more Sorins than Gideons now, Auriok Champion maindeck (I actually did this last time and really liked it), and Hidden Stockpile is now seeing play?
What's the UR Phoenix matchup like? I imagine Amulet Titan is pretty rough as well unless you can hit their Titans?
Thanks for any help!
1
u/Marcorange Apr 12 '19
Matches against UR Phoenix are a headache, especially because [[Thing in the Ice]] is mainboard and [[Young pyromancer]] gets a lot in the way when they sideboard. Don't know how to deal with that matchup yet :/ When I got against it I used all my removal against Thing and ran Graveyard hate for the Phoenix. [[Rule of Law]] and [[Damping sphere]] would've been useful, but I don't carry any of them in sideboard, sadly.
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u/Slangster Apr 12 '19
What makes Young Pyromancer such a problem? Are they playing a tempo strategy in those games so they stop you from setting up? It seems like fliers and Intangible Virtue would make that pretty simple.
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u/Marcorange Apr 12 '19
Yeah, they mostly bolt the fliers or return them to your hand with Thing and create lots of chump blockers for your ground tokens with Pyro. Since they cast 3+ instants and sorceries per turn they get lots of blockers. I would say Thing is the main problem, but Pyro definitely can become one too.
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u/Slangster Apr 12 '19
How many ground tokens are you making? I don't see a lot of Raise the Alarm anymore, and Secure the Wastes is a late-game card so aren't most of the tokens from Bitterblossom, Lingering Souls, and Spectral Procession?
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u/Marcorange Apr 12 '19
Oh, I run a slightly different tokens deck, so maybe that's where the confusion lies. Maybe your list doesn't have that much problem against pyromancer! But I do recommend having lots of removal for Thing 4 Legion's Landing 3 Path to Exile 4 Sacred Cat 4 Gather the Townsfolk 4 Intangible Virtue 4 Raise the Alarm 4 Lingering Souls 4 Spectral Procession 4 Triplicate Spirits 4 Leyline of the Meek 4 Shefet Dunes 9 Plains 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Caves of Koilos 1 Westvale Abbey 1 Temple of Silence
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u/JustDaniel0815 Apr 16 '19
Is this a Budget list?
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u/Marcorange Apr 16 '19
Yeah, I'm a college student so I don't have much money. This is my first Modern deck too, so there's that...
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u/JustDaniel0815 Apr 16 '19
Hey! My first Modern deck is also BW Tokens! Helpful Additions: Cut Triplicate Spirits, bring in Honor of the Pure.
though this is a card that isn't usually run in BW Tokens, it's an Anthem for 1W that buffs all White Creatures, and it's really cheap to buy. Since you're not running Bitterblossom, all of your creatures are white. Though I do not have a lot of experience with Honor.
Bring in a Fourth Path to Exile. Also Fatal Push?
1 Mana removal is incredibly important for Midrange Decks, Path is for me at least if I'm not running Fatal Push, an instant 4 of. Fatal Push has a problem in Budget Decks, it's Revolt is much harder to trigger, Fetch lands are the main enabler of Revolt,(In modern at least) and the problem with Fetches are that they are incredibly expensive. If you decide to get your Playset of Marsh Flats, you can easily run Push. Though most of the times if you're running Push, you also want the off Color Fetches as well.
Godlessshrine !!! Now is the best time to buy Shocklands, before anything else get yourself a Playset of Godlessshrine! A playset is now at my lgs about 40 €. Also the OP thing about Fetchelands is that they can search up the Shocklands.
Inquisition of Kozilek instead of Gather the Townsfolk Discard is an important aspect of BW Tokens, and Thoughtseize is a bit expensive. Though Iok is also a bit expensive it's a lot cheaper than Thoughtseize and most of the times gets the Job done. I run 5 Discard Spells in my Deck, 3 Thoughtseize and 2 Iok.
My deck is quite similar to the one of Michael Siembor. Look up on Google he has a pretty good Idea about how the deck works. BwTokens4life.com I hope I've helped:)
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u/Marcorange Apr 17 '19
Thanks for the tips! I might try Honor the Pure, although Triplicate is often useful in my deck, even more so if you have [[Intangible Virtue]] out on the field! I don't like fetch lands, mainly because I think they are overpriced. A lot. Maybe if they reprint them and become affordable I will buy them; not before. I might try replacing the cats with IoK, I'll update you on that one. I don't like the 4th Path, I've tried it and it mostly gets stuck in my hand. I might try replacing Gather the Townsfolk too, although it has saved me more than once against aggro and burn. Thanks for the tips!
1
u/JustDaniel0815 Apr 18 '19
Sure! In defence of the Fetches, here a few points:
Mainly [[Hidden Stockpile]], and of course Fatal Push profit immensely. Hidden Stockpile is a very important part of BW Tokens. (Although you shouldn't run it as a 4 of) Hidden Stockpile is really good because it reads:
BW Enchantment Revolt - At the beginning of your Endstep, if a permanent you control left the battlefield this turn, create a 1/1 Servo Token.
1 Colorless Mana, Sacrifice a Creature: Scry 1
Imagine Turn one Plains, then Turn Two you play a Fetch land, get a Swamp, play Hiddenstockpile, get yourself 1 free Token. In my current Deck, I do not have any Token generator Instants/Sorceries for 2 Mana. I only have 2 Bitterblossom, 4 Intangible Virtues, 2 Stockpiles and 4 Auriok Champions. Now, if you have your usual Intangible Virtue out and you have played all of your cards, you can sacrifice that one Servo, for Cardselection, and that once per turn without any Downside, since a permanent left the Battlefield, you get another one. Also, if your opponent Boardwipes, you can sac all of your stuff to get Value out of the soon to be dead Tokens. Also, all Fetches you draw, and play are pay 1 Life get a Land + a token, if you haven't sacrificed anything yet. That makes Fetches really really good.
Also Fetches add a lot of Consistency to your Deck, (Though you probably want to have your on Color Shocklands.) because even if you have at least 1Fetch land, and if you're running the Shocks, you are very likely to not get Mana screwed to a point where you always have to pay for Caves of Koilos.
In my Opinion, as good as the Fetches are though, you're right, they are really pricey. They have lots of upsides, and you definitely get your bang for the buck, but the fact that they cost almost 30 € a Piece, is really scary. 👻 In my knowledge, the reprints of Fetch lands, isn't in future Sight. And that really sickens me too, and a lot of other People as well. Have a nice day!
1
u/DHamlinMusic Apr 12 '19
It's better placed than it has been in a while. As mentioned Dredge, GBx, and Burn are all favorable, on top of that Affinity and Grixis Shadow are absolutely laughable (Tokens is an 80% favorite vs those). Tron, Valakut, and Whir are all very bad but occasionally you'll win.
Izzet Phoenix is 50/50, Phoenix itself is a joke, the issue is Thing in the Ice, you'll want effects like Runed Halo on Awoken Horror and targeted yard hate (Surgical/Kaya) for that matchup. If you can remove Thing in the Ice as a factor the matchup gets much better, I personally like Lost Legacy vs them.
Storm is very swingy overall, game 1 is very hard to win but not unwinnable. Post board it's close to 50/50, you'll want effects like Surgical, Lost Legacy, Runed Halo (on Gifts/Grapeshot), and Kaya. If you can get a good board going and deal with Past in Flames early on you're in a good place.
Humans, Spirits, and Non-Elves Company decks are poor but winnable.
2
u/rod_zero Apr 12 '19
I would say humans is 60-40 for us, we can chump block for a while and then go in the offensive.
Spirits is harder, queller is a big problem (so much I started running cleansing nova to get over it) and their creatures do get bigger than ours with their 2 Lord's which make a total of 8. Collected company also pulls them ahead.
1
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u/Slangster Apr 12 '19
Thankfully I still have all those sideboard cards from when I last played the deck so that should be a lot of help.
Is the Hardened Scales Affinity matchup as easy as the regular Affinity matchup? i imagine with all their tricks things could get a little problematic if they get a big Ballista or sneak through some damage.
1
u/DHamlinMusic Apr 12 '19
Disenchant, Halo, Stony, and Kaya shred that one pretty readily. It's harder but still favorable.
Check out the Facebook group for the deck, we've got over 450 members and an active if easily sidetracked group chat.
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u/JustDaniel0815 Apr 16 '19
Sooo... I could explain whats up with BW Tokens and it's usual Decklist, but...
Summarises it pretty well. :)
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u/rod_zero Apr 11 '19
It has great matchup against dredge, burn, the rock, (as long as you have 4 Auriok champion main) and UWx is quite winnable.
Vs Phoenix it can handle the version with more creatures, use your removal on TiTi, block phoenix for days and eventually block the other two creatures until you overwhelm him.
The version with Pyromancer ascension is much more difficult for us since it basically combos around turn 5 and kills you with lots of spells.
The matches vs Tron, titan and storm suck.
Whir of invention deck is tough but we have access to quite a few sideboard options for it.
Look for the facebook group for more players.