Intangible Virtue: Black White Tokens

Modern BGW (Abzan, Junk) Tokens WB (Orzhov)

Smilodon_

Land (23)

• 4x Concealed Courtyard
• 4x Godless Shrine
• 4x Marsh Flats
• 3x Plains
• 2x Shambling Vent
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 4x Windswept Heath

Sorcery (13)

• 1x Duress
• 4x Inquisition of Kozilek
• 4x Lingering Souls
• 4x Spectral Procession

Enchantment (9)

• 3x Bitterblossom
• 2x Hidden Stockpile
• 4x Intangible Virtue

Instant (8)

• 2x Fatal Push
• 4x Path to Exile
• 2x Secure the Wastes

Planeswalker (3)

• 3x Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Creature (4)

• 4x Auriok Champion

---

Sideboard

Instant (6)

• 2x Fatal Push
• 2x Sundering Growth
• 2x Zealous Persecution

Artifact (2)

• 2x Damping Sphere

Sorcery (3)

• 2x Day of Judgment
• 1x Lost Legacy

Enchantment (4)

• 2x Rest in Peace
• 2x Stony Silence

---

INTANGIBLE VIRTUE: Black White Tokens Primer

Introduction

I got into Magic: The Gathering during the Scars of Mirrodin and Innistrad Standard. The very first deck I built with Standard in mind was Black White Tokens. It had cards like Doomed Traveler , Gather the Townsfolk , Shrine of Loyal Legions , Tragic Slip , Midnight Haunting , and most importantly Lingering Souls and Intangible Virtue . It was a really fun deck that exemplified what I had found most interesting about my favorite color white - Many small creatures overwhelming the opponent. As I got more into the game, I found myself getting into Modern as a format. I found it more interesting, and cheaper (in the long run), than Standard. To my enjoyment, I discovered Black White Tokens was an archetype of the format, albeit fringe. The following is a primer on a deck that I've been building and tweaking since the beginning of my time with the game.

Creatures (Optional/Sideboard)

• Hero of Bladehold – Hero presents a big threat. A 3/4 that gives you two 1/1s each attack and buffs your attacking creatures for +1/0? Yes, please. It gives you pushing power later in the game. The only downside is that it gives your opponents something to use their removal on, but it is bolt resistant. This can be viewed as somewhat of a “win-more” card, but if played on curve it can quickly finish a game if it's not answered. I recommend keeping this in the sideboard and bringing it out after the first game since your opponent is likely siding out their spot removal. It has good resiliency to a lot of damage based effects thanks to its 4 toughness. Run 0-2.

• Tidehollow Sculler – Sculler gives you a 2/2 body and allows you to pick at the opponent's hand. I wouldn't bother taking removal (it's generally useless against this deck) but something else. This does make it a removal magnet, however. At best, this will take away an opponent's card. At worst, it gives them a tempo loss. All in all, it's a solid pick. This is also pretty solid when getting multiples into play to completely pick apart their hand. Run 0-4.

• Auriok Champion – Meta dependent. The lifegain helps against burn/aggro strategies, but before the Splinter Twin ban this was a good card to have in. Run 0-4.

Instants (Removal) and Sorceries (Token Generators, Hand Disruption)

• Path to Exile – The most efficient white removal spell available in Modern. There isn't much to say that hasn't been said before. The land for the opponent is a small price to pay for straight exile, and later in the game this card easily has the potential to be without downside. Run 4.

• Fatal Push – The newly released Black one-mana removal spell. 2CMC creatures are the most common in Modern. Revolt gives it even more reach if you can activate it, which our fetchlands help with. Not much to say about it other than it's great! Run 2-4.

• Zealous Persecution - Zealous Persecution is a great combat trick. When played at the right time, it can easily swing combat into your favor. Can be used to slip in lethal damage or wipe your opponent's board of smaller creatures. Run 0-2.

• Lingering Souls – My most favorite card of all time. 4 1/1 flying tokens with a flexible mana cost. Pay 3 one turn, 2 the next, or pay for it all in one turn, whichever. Opponent causes you to discard it with Liliana? You still get some use out of it! Very resilient spell and excellent value. Run 4 or you're not playing Tokens.

• Spectral Procession - 3 1/1 flying tokens for 3 white mana. What a steal. Doesn't net you as many as Lingering Souls but is cheaper. The stiff casting cost is its big downside, but you should very rarely have 3 lands with only two sources of white. You should try to run 4, but depending on how you build the deck, less may be fine.

• Inquisition of Kozilek / Thoughtseize / Duress - What you run as hand disruption is really up to you. Duress is the budget option. Hand disruption and information is incredibly valuable. Inquisition versus Thoughtseize is really meta dependent. In general though, I'd recommend running Inquisition. Run 4-8. I like using Tidehollow Sculler as my extra hand disruption since it has a body on the board too.

Enchantments (Buffs, Token Generators)

• Intangible Virtue - There's a reason this card caused Lingering Souls to be banned in block constructed. The P/T increase is great but the vigilance pushes it over the top. Attack away with your Spirit tokens and still be able to block the next turn! Run 4 or you're not playing Tokens.

• Honor of the Pure - A weaker Intangible Virtue. Doesn't give vigilance but does affect all white creatures, meaning it buffs Tidehollow Sculler and Hero of Bladehold. Missing Bitterblossom tokens is a big downside. When I experimented with it, I always wished I had Intangible Virtue or a Planeswalker instead, but if you feel the need to have more creature buffs, this card is good. Run 0-2.

• Bitterblossom - Wow. When this was unbanned it added an incredible amount of resiliency and consistency to the deck. 1 life a turn is a small price to pay for having a consistent amount of tokens on the field. This on turn two gives you so much over the course of the game if your opponent can't deal with it. The life loss doesn't matter with the amount of lifegain in the deck and the blockers it gives you. Run 4 or you're not playing Tokens.

Planeswalkers

This is dependent on your experiences and meta. The three most common I see are Elsepth, Knight Errant, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and Sorin, Solemn Visitor. Some run one or the other, some mix them.

• Sorin, Solemn Visitor - +1 for +1/0 and lifelink until your next turn. This is a great combat buff and helps you mitigate life loss from fetches, shocks, and Bitterblossom. The -2 is okay if you need a body, but if you do you're probably in a losing position. -6 is a win more ultimate, but it can be used if you happen to draw multiple Sorins and get one to 6. Most of the time, Sorin is weaker on an empty board compared to Elspeth or Gideon. However, on an already developed board, Sorin cranks everything up to 11 and his +1 the reason I'd recommend him in addition to the other Planeswalkers. Run 1-2.

• Elspeth, Knight-Errant – Two +1 abilities? That's nice. Two relevant abilities compared to Sorin's one. Give you a 1/1 or buff a creature for an alpha swing. The flying doesn't matter much but it does become relevant sometimes. If you already have a nice board or a Bitterblossom out, the second ability is pretty great. Compared to Sorin, Elspeth performs greatly in both an empty board and a developed one. Run 1-2.

• Gideon, Ally of Zendikar – The new Gideon has replaced Elspeth in a lot of ways. The +1 ability is useful but not usually depended upon. His 0 and -4 ability are most often used. Gain a solid 2/2 body or give all of your creatures +1/+1 permanently. He is good for the same reasons Elspeth is, and I'd go out on a limb and say his permanent buff makes him a little bit better than Elspeth overall. His big downside, however, is his survivability compared to Elspeth. Run 1-2.

Lands

• Plains – Use as many as you can after putting in the non-basics you want. I run 4 in my version of the deck.

• Swamp - I always recommend running at least one basic swamp in case of Blood Moon .

• Marsh Flats /Other White Fetch ( Windswept Heath ) – Helps sculpt your mana base and gives you early consistency. Can be very damaging to your health though, so plan your fetching carefully to prevent unnecessary life loss. Don't be afraid to fetch for your basics. Run 4-8 (Run a lot if getting Revolt on Fatal Push is important in your meta).

• Godless Shrine – Our Shockland. Fetchable. Run 4.

• Concealed Courtyard – Our newly released fastland. Helps you out in the first 3 turns of the game, doesn't hurt too bad to see in the midgame, and is inconsequential late game. Run 4, seeing it early is important.

• Vault of the Archangel – Our utility land. A great late game mana sink that gains you life and can take out problem creatures. Nifty combat trick and resilience wrapped into one package. Run 1.

• Shambling Vent - Our newly released manland. This land shines late game. A 2/3 body that has lifelink. This can give you much needed reach in the late game. Run 1-2.

• Windbrisk Heights - I see this recommended as a singleton addition often. This deck has no draw power, so being able to sift through the top of your deck for a card to be used later is useful. However, this land can absolutely ruin otherwise good mulligans and opening hands depending on other lands you have in hand. It's also very unfortunate when Hideaway reveals all lands. When this land bricks, it bricks hard. Run 0-2.

Sideboard Options

There are so many different cards to run in sideboards I'm just going to list a few that came to mind while building/playing the deck. Having access to white and black is huge for the sideboard!

Pure hate cards like Stony Silence and Rest in Peace come to mind.

More Hand Disruption– Duress, Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek. If you're running one and not the others, sometimes having the others in the sideboard helps. Depends on the meta.

Ghostly Prison – Stops aggro in its tracks.

Disenchant / Sundering Growth – Targeted Enchantment/Artifact hate. I really like Sundering Growth in the deck. Don't be afraid to use it without tokens on the field, however!

Thank you for reading :)

Date added	8 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 2 Mythic Rares 25 - 5 Rares 24 - 6 Uncommons 1 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.35
Tokens	Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Servo 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 W, Vampire 2/2 B, Warrior 1/1 W
Folders	Reference