Jokin', Smokin', Midnight Token (Matchups Added!)
Modern
SCORE: 7 | 42 COMMENTS | 2440 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS
The trick is to never overextend in case of things like field wipes. Adding a color isn't the best solution.
July 31, 2015 2:54 p.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #3
I'll drop the green idea then. Any other suggestions?
July 31, 2015 3:07 p.m.
Well I can help with your side. What are the decks in your local meta?
July 31, 2015 3:26 p.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #5
Red Deck Wins, 8 Rack, Dredgevine are the big 3
July 31, 2015 5:54 p.m.
4 Leyline of Sanctity makes sense then. Why no Rest in Peace for dredgevine? Kor Firewalker is great against RDW as well.
July 31, 2015 7:54 p.m.
How is Archangel of Tithes working for you? Was interested in the card when it came out, but still haven't tried it yet and I also don't see anyone running it. Mostly because Elspeth is really great as a 4-drop in this deck.
October 16, 2015 2:37 p.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #8
@Eurydice While I haven't been able to drop it yet in any event matches, it often performs well when it does drop in more casual play. I sometimes get to play against my friend's Affinity list, and it often pulls a scoop in my favor when it hits the board. You would be surprised to see more than 3 lands on an Affinity player's board before endgame, and that's what Archangel plays off of in that matchup. What I like about it is that it gives immediate defense when it hits the board. Elspeth spawns a dude, but I already have dudes. Hero of Bladehold doesn't do anything for me until the next turn, and by then I could have lost. IMO, Archangel is a great card for stalling until you can muster up the damage to win. There are obviously matchups where it doesn't help as much, like Burn or Control, but against aggro creature-based matchups, it gets the job done.
October 19, 2015 9:46 a.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #9
@Eurydice An example of this working is from a game I played just last night. I played a 3-way free-for-all against Bogles and Vampires. Turn 1 Inquisition, took the Bogles player's Gladecover Scout. Turn 2 Windbrisk Heights, grabbed an Archangel of Tithes with it, then Inquisition the Vampires player's Vampire Nighthawk. Turn 3 Spectral Procession, then Turn 4 swing and play the exiled Archangel. I was untouchable for the next 7 or so turns. The only reason I lost was because I focused the Bogles deck down and let a Captivating Vampire resolve on the other end. He stole my Archangel and I couldn't answer.
October 22, 2015 8:08 a.m.
Adamantium13 says... #10
I was reading your FNM results post and saw your problems with Gifts Tron. I, too, play B/W Tokens and do not like playing against Gifts. One thing you could do to help with games 2 and 3 is to side in your Leylines to protect you from Gifts. That makes Gifts Tron have to play a little more fair. It is a terrible matchup though... Good luck!
November 18, 2015 1:10 p.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #11
@Adamantium13:I am considering the splash of red in the form of a singleton Sacred Foundry to allow me access to red land hate cards like Crumble to Dust and Fulminator Mage in the sideboard. This should help me a ton because I have no defense for Tron otherwise.
December 31, 2015 8:08 a.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #12
I am also thinking about the addition of card draw in the mainboard. Painful Truths could be really good if I do end up splashing red. But, with the landbase and Thoughtseize, I hurt myself quite a bit. I'm still looking for a valid spot to put it.
December 31, 2015 8:11 a.m.
Adamantium13 says... #13
Crumble to Dust is not good enough to splash red in the deck. Painful Truths competes at the 3-drop spot and is not worth it. One of the things Tokens doesn't have is card draw and I think we just have to live with it.
December 31, 2015 9:55 a.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #14
While I agree that Crumble isn't a spectacular card, Fulminator just isn't enough to stop the Tron when Tron players can just fetch out a copy of the land I just destroyed. I don't run enough copies of Nevermore to stop everything, and Stony Silence doesn't totally stop it either. Curse the Ugin print!
December 31, 2015 10:22 a.m.
Solid list! I think I like testing out Hero of Bladehold again in light of the Twin banning; it's possible we'll see less Path to Exile and Terminate decks. That said, depending on how things shake out it could still be a slight liability.
I'm also not sure how I feel about 2x Honor of the Pure. Speed is important, but along with walkers, you have 10 mainboard anthem effects, and that feels like quite a few. I might consider dropping one for another Raise the Alarm to give you more ways to keep guys on the board in long matchups and put the pressure on in fast ones.
Finally, this is small, but I'm not sure that Dismember is the kill spell I want with Splinter Twin gone. It's bad against the big mana decks, and the life really matters in aggro matchups. Personally, I would look to Doom Blade or Devouring Light as a replacement.
January 21, 2016 8:50 a.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #16
Thanks for the view Sogatog! You posted just as I was making some adjustments, so I'll break them down for you.
Responding to your concerns, I agree with the statement about Honor of the Pure. I just recently added in Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and I haven't done enough testing since then to realize the overabundance of anthems. Dropped Honor altogether for now; experimenting with Ghost Quarter requires me to up my land count. Also added 1 Raise the Alarm.
Dismember really is just a meta decision on my part. I've faced off against Gifts Tron, and I felt like it was the only way I could come back after Iona, Shield of Emeria hit the board. Naturally, white would be named against me so I couldn't spawn any more blockers or Path her. So it just came down to getting through all my chump blockers for the win. But a cheeky Dismember allows me to cut Iona down with two Virtue-buffed Spirits. I've since added Murderous Cut; it seems really useful with all the fetching and spellcasting I do. But I still don't feel like I've found that one black kill spell that does it for me. Hitting an Eidolon of the Great Revel with Dismember definitely hurts. I'll take some time to test other options and see what comes of it. Thanks again!
January 21, 2016 9:21 a.m.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #17
Edit to above: I forgot Iona was just a 7/7; I thought she was bigger.
AndWelcomeToTheJam says... #1
Someone above suggested Choke, and that got my attention. With Auriok or my current substitutes Kor Firewalker and Burrenton Forge-Tender I have answers for red, but I have nothing for blue. Something like Echoing Truth would destroy me, and since Twin is popular, so is that. Do you know of any other ways to deal with this?
July 31, 2015 2:44 p.m.