Based on
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/swarm-and-conquer-v-20/
&
http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/bw-tokens-at-pro-tour-fate-reforged/
with my own tweaks to my local meta and experiments.
Extra thoughts and alternatives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMqxgHijAoA
&
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/32013_WB-Tokens-In-Modern.html
To remember the triggers from Bitterblossom and Slaughter Pact you should place a dice, coin,... on your library; that way you'll never go to the draw step before resolving your upkeep triggers. I learned that the hard way ;)
An important thing to remember is that playing tokens is only the means to an end. It sure is an efficient means but on itself it's a little bit slow. The main goal of this deck is to interact with your opponent's game-plan, using hand disruption (Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize and Duress) and removal while setting them a clock via your tokens.Tip: depending on the type of match-up it is better to keep a token generator in hand to stabilize after a board wipe.Tip: when you're opponent has -1/-1 removal or can ping you for 1 dm, it is best to first play your anthem effects.
This deck is often played with up to 25 lands, I however tend to draw to many of them. Thus I went with 22 which has proven fine by me most of the time. Furthermore with our fetches Marsh Flats and Windswept Heath we can lower the chance of drawing to many lands; the later is cheap because a copy was included in the Origins set clash-pack.Tip: by fetching at the end-step of the opponent you can get the shock lands to come in untapped during your next turn without paying the 2 life. Also use your fetches to play around Blood Moon. By playing 3 Plains and 1 Swamp we can still benefit from Ghost Quarter, Path to Exile and play around Blood Moon.
stitcher's graft: I'm planning on testing this Eldritch Moon artifact out. With our
Intangible Virtue
the main drawback is negated and in worst case we get a 4/4 flying blocker and attacker that can attack every other turn, trading favorably with many creatures instead of just chump blocking + accelerating the clock of e.g. Bitterblossom or any other token generator for that matter. This is even a good answer to trample creatures like Reality Smasher. I'm going to replace one of my 2
Zealous Persecution
with this card.
Auriok Champion: 3 seems to be the best number to me. With 4 of them I to often saw a second one when I wanted a token generator,... . With 2 there were to many games where I never saw one.
It negates the life loss of the Bitterblossom (but at 1 hp you still die before you gain 1 hp) and with two on the field it's even a netto life gain. Stops early red aggression creatures, provides life gain, ... just remember trample creatures still go through for some damage to the player (infect,...).
Timely Reinforcements: gets you out of a pinch by providing at least 3 tokens and/or 6 life. With the Auriok Champion this can net you at least 9 life.
Zealous Persecution
: an unexpected combat trick to a) kill a planes walker, b) swing for lethal, c) save your creatures from certain removal, d) trade more favorably on the defense or e) a one-sided board wipe vs. mana-dorks, Snapcaster Mage, Delver of Secrets
, soul sisters, mirror match,... .
Bitterblossom: awesome clock vs. control match-up, fair decks, ... If you only resolve 1 on turn 2 and attack each turn with all faeries, you'll do 21 damage by turn 9. At which point you'll only have lost 7 hp.If you resolve 1 on turn 2 and a second one on turn 3, you'll do 25 damage by turn 8. At which point you'll have lost 11 hp.
Engineered Explosives: this is a board wipe for all x costing permanents where x is the colors of mana spend to cast it. Currently this deck can go to cm 3 which is ideal against many enchantments (Ensnaring Bridge, Ghostly Prison,...; mana-dorks, ...).
Sacred Foundry: this land is fetch-able by our 8 fetch lands and provides our Engineered Explosives with up to 3 counters. Depending on your side-board choices it can be replaced by an other plains-x land.
Shambling Vent: while I've been a fan of Windbrisk Heights it is more of a "win-more" card and can be targeted by land destruction to also remove the card you hid underneath (Eldrazi, ...). In replacement of it comes this creature-land.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor: all his abilities are very useful and can win you the game.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: his +0 and -4 are his best abilities. His +1 can be good but you risk losing him to creature removal Dismember, Path to Exile,... while his +0 can win you those games more safely. Sometimes you just need a irremovable anthem.
Pithing Needle: this is an answer to planes walkers (Karn Liberated, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon,...); Tron (Mindslaver, Oblivion Stone,...); artifacts (Isochron Scepter,...)
Anguished Unmaking: this card can simply remove any non-land permanent at an acceptable cost.
Slaughter Pact: can catch your opponent by surprise ;) ... just remember to pay in your next upkeep ... it cost me a top 8 once :/
Hero of Bladehold: in game 2 often, but not always, opponents will side out single creature removal because it's ineffective against tokens. furthermore the Hero of Bladehold doesn't die to a single Lightning Bolt and she alone attacks for 7 dm in total by adding two extra soldier tokens each attack + her battle-cry. Remark: these tokens enter tapped, even with
Intangible Virtue
. Good against control and fair grindie decks.
Pack Rat: still in the experimental fase as opposed to a second Hero of Bladehold. Unless your opponent has board wipes or something like Detention Sphere, every card your draw after this one is one extra pack rat. Going from a 1/1 to two 2/2 to three 3/3,... . Good in match-ups with bigger mid-game creatures. And remember apart from the original all rats have vigilance and +1/+1 with
Intangible Virtue
.
Tip: on the website http://magic.bluebones.net/proxies/ you can easily make tokens for Pack Rat.
