W/B Tokens (Testing at FNM)

Standard LevahnTaupe

SCORE: 22 | 37 COMMENTS | 2785 VIEWS | IN 8 FOLDERS


Nov. 21, 2017

Now, I've been trying not to eliminate red from the list, as I thought it would benefit more. Eventually, I realized red was holding this deck back a lot. In result from what I said, I converted this list into W/B tokens. The list is consistent now. Ruin Raider, keeps your hand filled and benefits you early game. Bontu the Glorified is like having a Hidden Stockpile + Makeshift Munitions in one card. I figured I would give Hostile Desert a try, for now, I don't know if this will stay long term. Finally, I wanted to thank everyone for showing support and giving me suggestions.

vortical42 says... #1

Looks interesting, but I'm not quite sure what the deck is trying to do. Is it an aggro deck or a control deck? If you are going for an aggro strategy, then cards like Fumigate, Arguel's Blood Fast, and Anointer Priest don't make much sense. If you are going for a control deck, then Earthshaker Khenra, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, and Oketra the True seem out of place. By trying do too many things at once, you end up a bunch of cards you don't want to see in the same hand.

November 15, 2017 11:44 a.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #2

@vortical42

I'm trying to understand your point of view, but I don't. The deck is not trying to be a control deck. Let me explain why I run those cards.

Fumigate- Since I've played with this deck, I've noticed you will not have a board all the time, this card comes in handy, and with Hidden Stockpile & Anointed Procession you wouldn't mind if tokens get cleared on your side. Arguel's Blood Fast- With all the life you gain this will be a great mana sink for draw power, to refill your hand.

Anointer Priest-Easy life gain for all the tokens produced. Also, when you have the right cards on board, such as Anointed Procession + Hidden Stockpile the recurring life gain decks ridiculous.

Earthshaker Khenra It doesn't seem out of place, this card wins games. Anointed Procession + Earthshaker Khenra doubles the token when externalize. Now, imagine with multiple copies of Anointed Procession out.

Kari Zev, Skyship Raider- Easy revolt trigger and flip Legion's Landing  Flip on turn three.

Oketra the True- Token producing and hard to deal with when activated, how does this seem out of place? This deck is a token deck.

The deck doesn't try to do many things at once, the curve is good, I haven't had a problem with it.

November 15, 2017 12:23 p.m.

vortical42 says... #3

LevahnTaupe So it sounds like you want to make this an aggro deck then. There is nothing wrong with any of the cards you mentioned by themselves. The problem is that you end up with a deck where a bunch of the cards clash with each other. A hand with fumigate is great when you are behind, but if you are ahead, it ends up being a dead card.

To put it another way, your goal with an aggro deck is to end the game as fast as possible. The longer the game goes, the more opportunities you give your opponent to stablize and find a way to win. So by playing cards like Blood Fast and Fumigate, you actually play right into your opponents plans. That doesn't mean those cards can't find a home in an aggro deck, they just need to be part of a sideboard plan that swaps out conflicting cards.

My suggestion would be to either remove those three cards (bloodfast, fumigate, and annointer priest) or move them to the sideboard. Replace them with cards that actually help you advance your game plan. Bomat Courier, Adorned Pouncer, Servo Exhibition, and Start / Finish would all be good options.

I actually really like the idea of the deck. Using hasty creatures to flip landing early is an idea I haven't seen tried anywhere. You just need to focus on excecuting that gameplan as consistently as possible.

November 16, 2017 9:20 a.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #4

it isn't aggro at all, it's much more of a midrange tokens deck that can sometimes win off the small aggro creatures.

November 16, 2017 9:57 a.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #5

The aggro creatures are all played for their late game synergy with annointer priest and annointed procession to go over the top of stuff

November 16, 2017 9:58 a.m.

scarson300 says... #6

It must be something!!!!! I needs to be classified!!!! I really like the deck...so I classify it as a deck I would play.

November 16, 2017 1:53 p.m.

vortical42 says... #7

LevahnTaupe I think I see now what you are going for. Something like a Mardu version of the G/W aggro deck that popped up at the Pro Tour. Aggressive creatures that can trade up and then come back for more if the game goes long. That makes much more sense.

Here is another crazy thought. What if you cut black out of the deck and just went R/W aggro? You loose Bloodfast, Fatal Push, Hidden Stockpile, and Unlicensed Disintegration. Bloodfast isn't that good anyway for this deck. Hidden Stockpile is nice but the deck will probably work without it. If you really wanted it you could even just splash black to keep it in. Fatal Push and Disintegration are good cards, but Red and White offer plenty of alternative removal options.

November 16, 2017 2:38 p.m.

Antwaan33 says... #8

@ Vortical42 You continuously think this deck should be aggro, it isn't what the deck wants to do. Cutting black out of the deck is ridiculous, you'll loose key cards like Hidden Stockpile, and Fatal Push ( which is the best kill spell as of right now).

November 17, 2017 10:44 a.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #9

@ Antwaan33

Thank you for saying what I would.

@scarson300

I'm glad you like the deck!

November 17, 2017 10:46 a.m.

love This deck!! Start to finish seems strong here. You probably know this but I just wanted to double check that u know ragavan is legendary and wont work with anointed procession. Kari Zev is obviously still an excellent card in this deck tho.

November 17, 2017 1:21 p.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #11

@Legendary_penguin_of_death Yes, thank you for double checking with me, but I already know that ragavan is legendary and won't work with the anointed procession. I'm glad you love the deck! I might end up trying Start to Finish.

November 17, 2017 1:50 p.m.

vortical42 says... #12

LevahnTaupe Please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to tell you how to build your deck. I actually really like the idea, and if you think it needs black, then keep black in.

November 17, 2017 5:06 p.m.

acidzero says... #15

I think the deck is a cool take on a tokens strategy. However, I do feel I need to comment on the Kari zev interaction with legions landing. The Ragavan token attacking does not count as a third attacker for the sake of legions landing, since you are not declaring ragavan as an attacker. So unless you had another creature coming in with haste like the kenra on T3 the landing wouldn't flip. However it is a nice interaction with hidden stock pile and giving you a revolt trigger off ragavan leaving the battlefield.

November 20, 2017 11:24 a.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #16

Thank you for informing me!

November 20, 2017 12:34 p.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #17

Luckily, that interaction never happened at FNM

November 20, 2017 12:38 p.m.

K1ngr3ese says... #18

Have you considered Crested Sunmare? With the lifegain in this deck, it gives you another way to produce free tokens, but these tokens actually have some strength. Plus it makes your digging and scrying more lethal. If you have multiple copies of sunmare out, they become hard to remove. I think it fits better than oketra even though she makes tokens also... her tokens cost mana and are significantly weaker. I think sunmare becomes a clear wincon and would deserve multiple copies.

To test it out i would start by removing 1x stockpile, 1x legions landing, 2x renegade map... add 4 sunmares. Play test a bit and go from there. You want this deck rolling turn after turn after turn by turn 6 and i think sunmare will get you there.

I think khenra is more powerful than kari zev and deserves a 4 of in your deck. It also has better synergy with procession later on and i dont think you need ragavan to trigger revolt and given the suggestion above, i would rather see kari zev out all together to keep the stockpile i suggested removing, and adding a 4th khenra.

Lastly, im not convinced splashing the red for 7 cards is worth it. None of the splashed cards are critical to the deck, nor are they game breaking. I think you could find plays that are comparable in black and white to simplify the mana base and create more consistency. Adorned Pouncer Trueheart Duelist come to mind.

November 20, 2017 1:45 p.m.

vortical42 says... #20

acidzero Are you sure the ragavan token doesn't count for Landing? The text for LL requires 3 attacking creatures, but is doesn't say anything about declaring attacks. I can't find anything that gives a clear ruling one way or the other, so if there is an official ruling somewhere, it would be useful to know.

November 20, 2017 4:54 p.m.

LevahnTaupe says... #21

vortical42 He's right, I checked the ruling on Gatherer.

November 20, 2017 5:45 p.m. Edited.