Can you explain why Alpine Moon affects U-tron more? Cause no Ancient Stirrings to just dig for more lands?
I just had 2 successful matches against G tron, actually.
Match 1, game 1 dude mulls to 1, drops a forest and scoops. I assume he is on that new allosaurus combo travesty so I don't sideboard. Game 2 he has turn 4 Ugin, I endstep Raise the Alarm and Creativity into Emrakul.
Match 2, game 1 I have everything I need, somehow misclick and yield through my turn 4 and it costs me the game. Game 2 I Alpine Moon him and beat down with anthemed tokens. Game 3 I punt and bolt new Karn in response to his -2, so he knows Karn is dead before he picks his sideboard artifact, and goes Spyglass instead of Lattice. He shuts down Saheeli with it and drops a Wurmcoil. After his first attack I topdeck Nahiri while Wurmcoil is tapped. He topdecks another Wurmcoil but I Creativity into Emrakul.
Looks like all the tron players are testing out new Karn in favor of old Karn which is fine with me since old Karn beats both Emrakul and Iona. I do expect them to learn to plus Karn before minusing him so he doesn't die to bolt.
Blue has a hard time dealing with enchantments, and yes they have less ways to search for lands as well. They trade that in for countermagic and a combo that wins straight out with slaver. however this is better for us, since our moon comes down turn 1 and stony silence can stop them effectively.
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Izzet Phoenix 2-0
Game 1 don't remember much, I Nahiri a Phoenix and I think I combo off. Game 2 I win with spirit beats flying over 3 Things in the Ice and end with a classy bolt to the face in response to the flip.
UW Control 0-2
Game 1 I almost pull it off, I bolt a whole squad of JTMSs, Creativity into Iona on blue, he has one turn to live and topdecks Terminus. Game 2 is just a depressing slog of not doing anything.
Allosaurus Combo 0-2
Eventhough we are back on the old mulligan this deck is pure unrefined cancer and modo says I can't have hand disruption vs combo, so I die turn 3 and turn 2.
Ad nauseam 1-2
Still no hand disruption vs combo. Game 2 he kills himself with Spoils of the Vault. Game 3 I Wear//Tear Phyrexian Unlife at the perfect moment but he has one last land up to pay for Angel's Grace.
Sultai Death's Shadow 2-1
Game 1 I double bolt Goyf 1, Nahiri Goyf 2, then Creativity for X=2. Game 2 he shreds my hand. Game 3 he's sitting on a Disdainful Stroke but I have all the removal and win the damage race with token beats.
Obviously I haven't faced all of the meta yet but so far I think another Intangible Virtue would be nice, and more hand disruption in the side vs combo.
Saddest moment so far: Emrakul exiled with Surgical whilst looting, Iona and Cerativity in hand.
UW is not an easy match up. But not having discard against combo, yuck! If you're at 4 maindeck discard, do consider increasing the number of discard especially if the meta is so degenerate. I seldom meet glass cannons like that, so my maindeck doesn't sport more than 4-5 discard spells.
If budget is a concern, you can consider either Mardu Charm as a versatile, higher curve option or simply duress.
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Experimenting with more walkers in The Mainboard, maybe i'll use some Oaths too sice Gideons and lilianas Oath both make tokens It could be a possible exploration route to Beat grindy and Control matchups.
Im really inclined to change sound The alarm for something Else. Differently From L.Souls tokens, these often times get stuck on deffensive and act as chump blockers. Maybe they could be replaced byo something more agressive, or maybe something more disruptive.
The value of Sound the Alarm is its instant speed. You have an empty board, opponent thinks they're safe and tap out, you endstep Alarm, untap and combo off.
Oath of Kaya looks terrible to me, it doesn't do anything to advance the plan. Oath of Gideon would be okay in a deck with more walkers that could immediatly ultimate with it. Oath of Liliana only if you're plagued by Bogles, and even then I would rather run Liliana's Triumph.
Well, I agree that its instant speed is important and that a linear strategy is, in many moments, more powerful than overall versatility or longevity over the game. So let me elaborate WHY I considered the change in the first place. On the curve, Sound the alarm is great, the fact that you can hold your removals and answers while holding your token generators is important. Still, it is LINEAR, 2 1/1 tokens for 2 mana are almost 100% of the time a barely playable limited card, it fits our strategy sure, but it makes horrible topdecks, don't apply enough pressure early game against most of the creature decks (shining mostly against control and linear combo) but still making the cut because of CURVE.
Situations where it shines and why: Control matchups dodging counters and BAITING counters at EoT. Racing against linear combo that lacks interaction (in this situation you have to rely on your discard for disruption since linear combo is so consistent, and secondly trying to race with token beats or your own combo, which in fact is also dependant on your deck structure, racing with 1/1s is a lot slower than 2/2s, so if you have multiple Intangible Virtues running 4 Raise the alarm might be more appealing). Chump Blocking, the tokens really help against Grixis DS since their fatties lack evasion most of the time and you can hold removal to time against their Temur Battle Rage. On Curve (feels nice, and the 2 drop slot is very lacking)
Situations Where I want literally anything else in my hand: Late game, as a topdeck: It does not help close out the game on a clogged board.
Against Aggro and midrange creature decks, they literally chump and that's it WHEN they can chump, because spirits/Humans and Hardened Scales and Burn could care less about ground Blockers. Honestly, it helps as a target for our combo and consistency, but thats the point i'm trying to make there are less powerfull ON CURVE options that shine greatly in the late game, trading imediate power (that is not at all THAT powerfull) for late game versatility.
Option I think could be considered: Secure the Wastes, on curve (turn 2 as a replacement for the Call), creates a tokens but becomes a much better late game topdeck, stealing multiple games from my testing.
Maybe a shift in strategy, having most of our token generator on cmc3 since those have a much wider and more powerful range of cards, creating space for more versatile and efficient cards on 2, Lightning Helix, Dreadbore, Terminate... and your preferred choice of 2cmc removal/discard/card advantage.
I'd like to finish by saying that I'm just trying to provoke a healthy discussion around the deck, since it has a lot of potential and problems inherent to the format, that maybe we can't fix yet, I still love Sound the alarm and will continue experimenting with different crazy builds that follow the initial format of this deck's threat. let's keep up the conversation guys!!!
I like the idea.. But it feels like you should just go 'full control' and ditch any token buffing, and probably the weaker token cards like mardu charm/legions landing.
Switch in more planeswalkers, removal, and unburial rites to give you another way to cheat creatures into play.
Oh man I found out that Indomitable Creativity exists right after I finished brewing a Polymorph deck....
So I figured why not try combining the two in 1 deck?
The idea is that since Dryad Arbor is a creature, we can just fetch it up with fetchlands use it as our Polymorph material, which frees up space for regular control elements.
There are 2 major reasons to play Raise the Alarm despite the mediocrity of the effect.
1. Instant speed - this is the most recognized trait and the benefits are both obvious and well documented, I won't expand further.
2. Combo with Legion's Landing - this was missed out. Following up Legion's landing with Raise the Alarm means a turn 3 flip. This means 2 things. Against a control or midrange deck, they now have to deal with a land that's producing a life linking token every turn. Secondly, you have access to 4 mana on turn 3, meaning a full turn forward to combo off.
In a meta where people are ignoring you and racing to cast ad nauseum or storm off, this card will surely feel bad. Conversely, when you're up against counterspells and removals, you'll want this instant speed threat maker.
I'm not sure what else would be as good on this point in the curve. You have bitterblossom, but if anything its even worse a topdeck, and plays badly against aggro decks like phoenix, spirits and humans. One could stock up on more discard or removal, but now you risk diluting your token generators. Alternatively you could use the very top-deck friendly Mardu Charm, but then your curve would look really weird.
Overall, the threat presented by Raise the Alarm in conjunction with Landing gives you an advantage. When all the surprise is gone and opponents know your deck (which is the case in my LGS), playing a landing t1 and then holding up t2 means the opponent doesn't dare tap out. This throws them off curve which is definitely to your advantage.
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I see a couple of issues with using Dryad arbor as your fodder.
1. There is a nonzero chance that you might not draw any of your 12 fetches when you want to, or you might need the fetch to correct your mana and then be left dry with combo in the hand and no fodder.
2. With only a singleton fodder in your deck, a single removal spell will mean multiple dead cards in your deck until you can get saheeli online and produce some tokens from there. More token generation would be good, since you have 6 combo cards.
Recommendations in blue: Cloudform - doesn't get picked up by creativity, but can be used to create a 2/2 hexproof. jokes on you if you accidentally manifest the payoff card, though. Callous Dismissal - bounce something, make a token, at instant speed. Use it defensively in conjunction with your combo, or just deal with an ensnaring bridge.
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I see a couple of issues with using Dryad arbor as your fodder.
1. There is a nonzero chance that you might not draw any of your 12 fetches when you want to, or you might need the fetch to correct your mana and then be left dry with combo in the hand and no fodder.
2. With only a singleton fodder in your deck, a single removal spell will mean multiple dead cards in your deck until you can get saheeli online and produce some tokens from there. More token generation would be good, since you have 6 combo cards.
Recommendations in blue: Cloudform - doesn't get picked up by creativity, but can be used to create a 2/2 hexproof. jokes on you if you accidentally manifest the payoff card, though. Callous Dismissal - bounce something, make a token, at instant speed. Use it defensively in conjunction with your combo, or just deal with an ensnaring bridge.
Woops! That makes it a lot worse. I don't know why i kept thinking it was an instant spell.
Are you referring to Gigadrowse? Its a sideboard card in Storm for making sure you can perform your combo unmolested. Definitely a card to consider but you're going to need to produce a tonne of blue. Your deck would definitely need some number of Cascade Bluffs.
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There's a few different ways the deck can go for sure. As I'm really just here for Saheeli, I might wanna try going all in her and dropping the combo, actually. Should probably find the Mardu Pyromancer thread for that.
Considering the amount of games I won with tokens and how often getting the combo off doesn't even win you the game, I think it's a mistake to go deeper into the combo at the expense of backup plans.
Wow, my experience has been greatly different. The combo wins me The game most of The time, and The token beatdown is Plan B in Fair disruptive matchups like Death shadow and The rock.
I guess It IS Just The way we configure our decks.
There's a few different ways the deck can go for sure. As I'm really just here for Saheeli, I might wanna try going all in her and dropping the combo, actually. Should probably find the Mardu Pyromancer thread for that.
Considering the amount of games I won with tokens and how often getting the combo off doesn't even win you the game, I think it's a mistake to go deeper into the combo at the expense of backup plans.
The reason saheeli fits in so well with this combo deck in particular is because:
1. every spell we play triggers her passive
2. our combo cares about her activated ability (hasty emmy)
If you slot her into a pure tokens deck, she's not efficient enough. She'll be a 3 mana young pyro that can't be killed with push, which is nice, but she also can't swing for damage herself, or be recurred with Kolaghan's command. Her activated ability will also be purely decorative. If you want to go plan A with tokens, the existing BW tokens is THE exemplification of token beatdown, but it doesn't involve saheeli, being straight BW.
If you found winning with the combo difficult, it may be due to your subconsciously investing *too much* into plan B. Having the combo isn't just about slotting in 4 creativity + payoffs and calling it a day - the combo needs setting up and protection. For instance, running intangible virtues over discard, running bolts over path, these are decisions that make it easier to kill with tokens, but it makes the combo kill harder because they compromise on disruption and exposes us to opposing disruption or aggression that will beat us in a race.
In fact, I've recently gone on a losing streak myself, falling to Death's shadow, phoenix and Burn. Bitterblossoms are not good when the shadow deck does actually run battle rage. In all the matches I consistently wished lightning bolt was path to exile instead, sometimes because the toughness of the thing killing me is higher than 3, and sometimes because the subject would keep coming back. I was never happy to see my blossoms too. The low amount of discard also meant I would be stripped of my creativity just a turn before I was going to go off - when the opponents are familiar with your deck they know to save disruption for the turn you make your 3rd land drop. I've done another round of changes that push the deck further away from aggro and more firmly into the control seat. There are 2 goals I am trying to achieve:
1. Better survivability against aggro
2. Better consistency in combo
Rather than compromise the number, I turned back to the swiss knife Mardu Charm, which gives us what we need when we need it - instant speed duress if you're set up but the opponent is leaving up mana, so you can check if the coast is clear on their end step, or tokens, which incidentally do very nice against bloodghasts and bushwhackers, and last but not least removal that can handle anything up to a hollow one size, though it falls short in the Shadow match up.
Another card which adds removal without losing on the token generator count is Start // Finish. I'd long used this card in BW tokens, and I figure it will do just as well here. The instant speed token generation along with the additional removal half that plays well with looting is something I'm looking forward to appraise.
The big change is the complete removal of bolts and intangible virtues. Any token beat-down will be 1 point at a time. I've since learnt that in this crazy aggro meta, I need to be either better at beatdown or really good at control - and beating nix/humans/spirits/DS/burn is a lost cause. BW tokens can race because of 2 major things - they have Intangible Virtues where the combo should be, so they have the full complement of disruptions, and secondly, they have Sorin and Collective brutality main. Which leads me to my next point:
I've moved Lightning Helix to the maindeck. I've also added Teyo, the Shieldmage to the sideboard. Bitterblossoms were moved from main to side as well. This is in recognition of the highly aggressive meta I'm facing. Blossom shines in midrange and control matches, and I'm just not seeing that. When the meta is aggro and tron with only a splash of UW, I'm quite sure this is the right decision.
I'm considering making space for Shatterstorm in the side in case I run into Affinity or Lantern control. Their presence since to have diminished recently, but if you seeing a lot of that, might wanna make room for it.
Other card's I'm considering:
1. Collective Brutality, again for that aggro MU
2. Crumble to Dust, for none other than Tron, since they can eventually break out of Alpine moon with nature's claim.
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List looks pretty close to what ive got to going through a few iterations. I would say Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is worth 1 copy, and Vault of the archangel 1-2 of as well for the deathtouch in midrange matchups.
If your meta is aggro 2-3 timely is probably correct as well.
List looks pretty close to what ive got to going through a few iterations. I would say Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is worth 1 copy, and Vault of the archangel 1-2 of as well for the deathtouch in midrange matchups.
If your meta is aggro 2-3 timely is probably correct as well.
RE: Timely. I've found timely to be very awkward card a lot of the time. Against most match ups you have this awkward situation where you want to cast it, but then the opponent has just 1-2 life points less than you. And if we've been removing their threats with our spot removal most time we stand to gain no removal. The worst thing is, apart from burn, most decks deal their damage in huge chunks meaning one moment timely isn't live, and the next we're dead. This annoyed me so much so consistently that I decided to cut the darn thing and put Teyo instead. At least he's a proactive anti aggro card that's just as troublesome to deal with.
RE: Vault of the AA. Do you run these as 24th and 25th lands? Going below 23 colored sources is pretty dangerous. If you subscribe to Frank Karsten's teachings, we're technically supposed to have 25 colored sources for that consistent 5th land drop but I'm really winging it with faithless looting.
RE: Gideon Ally. Seems a bit slow, might be more because of my meta than anything else. Would definitely be good in a midrange meta. I think Saheeli does more in the deck, though.
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I just ran into someone on basically the same deck but Esper running regular Polymorph and new Teferi for protection. Worked really well.
I like it. New teferi fits very nicely into the curve from 2 drop token generator into Teferi into polymorph. That's really something to think about.
We could stay in jeskai colors to maintain the upsides of creativity (dodging cage, pulling 2 wincons). We'd lose lingering souls and black for discard.
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i played nonfoil a long time. it began with the fatal pushes and paths, because the FNM ones were nice... then someone sold a playset of faithless lootings foil pretty cheap due to UMA being cracked willy nilly.... a couple lightning bolts here and there... and once you've got the cheap parts foiled out the parts that aren't foiled start to annoy. Then comes the first Arid Mesa.... then it goes downhill from there.
ps: some of the most beautiful foils are actually pretty cheap, like Mardu Charm and Indomitable creativity. So there's very little pain in getting those first.
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Speaking of Creativity pulling 2 wincons, if you put a Dragonlord Kolaghan and an Emrakul you can actually just straight up hit the opponent for 21. And even off of a Creativity x=1, Dragonlord Kolaghan is not embarassing.
Tho my personal spice is to play Lightning Greaves, this way Polymorph won't pick up the Lightning Greaves while Creativity x=2 can still allow for a Shrouded hasty Emrakul
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Blue has a hard time dealing with enchantments, and yes they have less ways to search for lands as well. They trade that in for countermagic and a combo that wins straight out with slaver. however this is better for us, since our moon comes down turn 1 and stony silence can stop them effectively.
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Izzet Phoenix 2-0
Game 1 don't remember much, I Nahiri a Phoenix and I think I combo off. Game 2 I win with spirit beats flying over 3 Things in the Ice and end with a classy bolt to the face in response to the flip.
UW Control 0-2
Game 1 I almost pull it off, I bolt a whole squad of JTMSs, Creativity into Iona on blue, he has one turn to live and topdecks Terminus. Game 2 is just a depressing slog of not doing anything.
Allosaurus Combo 0-2
Eventhough we are back on the old mulligan this deck is pure unrefined cancer and modo says I can't have hand disruption vs combo, so I die turn 3 and turn 2.
Ad nauseam 1-2
Still no hand disruption vs combo. Game 2 he kills himself with Spoils of the Vault. Game 3 I Wear//Tear Phyrexian Unlife at the perfect moment but he has one last land up to pay for Angel's Grace.
Sultai Death's Shadow 2-1
Game 1 I double bolt Goyf 1, Nahiri Goyf 2, then Creativity for X=2. Game 2 he shreds my hand. Game 3 he's sitting on a Disdainful Stroke but I have all the removal and win the damage race with token beats.
Obviously I haven't faced all of the meta yet but so far I think another Intangible Virtue would be nice, and more hand disruption in the side vs combo.
Saddest moment so far: Emrakul exiled with Surgical whilst looting, Iona and Cerativity in hand.
If budget is a concern, you can consider either Mardu Charm as a versatile, higher curve option or simply duress.
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https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1867168#paper
Experimenting with more walkers in The Mainboard, maybe i'll use some Oaths too sice Gideons and lilianas Oath both make tokens It could be a possible exploration route to Beat grindy and Control matchups.
Im really inclined to change sound The alarm for something Else. Differently From L.Souls tokens, these often times get stuck on deffensive and act as chump blockers. Maybe they could be replaced byo something more agressive, or maybe something more disruptive.
Oath of Kaya looks terrible to me, it doesn't do anything to advance the plan. Oath of Gideon would be okay in a deck with more walkers that could immediatly ultimate with it. Oath of Liliana only if you're plagued by Bogles, and even then I would rather run Liliana's Triumph.
Situations where it shines and why: Control matchups dodging counters and BAITING counters at EoT. Racing against linear combo that lacks interaction (in this situation you have to rely on your discard for disruption since linear combo is so consistent, and secondly trying to race with token beats or your own combo, which in fact is also dependant on your deck structure, racing with 1/1s is a lot slower than 2/2s, so if you have multiple Intangible Virtues running 4 Raise the alarm might be more appealing). Chump Blocking, the tokens really help against Grixis DS since their fatties lack evasion most of the time and you can hold removal to time against their Temur Battle Rage. On Curve (feels nice, and the 2 drop slot is very lacking)
Situations Where I want literally anything else in my hand: Late game, as a topdeck: It does not help close out the game on a clogged board.
Against Aggro and midrange creature decks, they literally chump and that's it WHEN they can chump, because spirits/Humans and Hardened Scales and Burn could care less about ground Blockers. Honestly, it helps as a target for our combo and consistency, but thats the point i'm trying to make there are less powerfull ON CURVE options that shine greatly in the late game, trading imediate power (that is not at all THAT powerfull) for late game versatility.
Option I think could be considered:
Secure the Wastes, on curve (turn 2 as a replacement for the Call), creates a tokens but becomes a much better late game topdeck, stealing multiple games from my testing.
Maybe a shift in strategy, having most of our token generator on cmc3 since those have a much wider and more powerful range of cards, creating space for more versatile and efficient cards on 2, Lightning Helix, Dreadbore, Terminate... and your preferred choice of 2cmc removal/discard/card advantage.
I'd like to finish by saying that I'm just trying to provoke a healthy discussion around the deck, since it has a lot of potential and problems inherent to the format, that maybe we can't fix yet, I still love Sound the alarm and will continue experimenting with different crazy builds that follow the initial format of this deck's threat. let's keep up the conversation guys!!!
Switch in more planeswalkers, removal, and unburial rites to give you another way to cheat creatures into play.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-mardu-reanimator#paper
Something like this with the combo included. Ill make a list at some point and post
So I figured why not try combining the two in 1 deck?
1x Dryad Arbor
Lands
4x Misty Rainforest
3x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
1x Breeding Pool
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Windswept Heath
2x Spirebluff Canal
1x Desolate Lighthouse
2x Island
1x Mountain
4x Indomitable Creativity
2x Polymorph
Cantrips
4x Opt
2x Serum Visions
2x Quicken
Removal
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Flame Slash
Counterspells
4x Remand
2x Mana Leak
2x Cryptic Command
Multi-Function cards
3x Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
3x Izzet Charm
1x Progenitus
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3x Anger of the Gods
3x Cindervines
2x Ceremonious Rejection
3x Commandeer
2x Spell Snare
The idea is that since Dryad Arbor is a creature, we can just fetch it up with fetchlands use it as our Polymorph material, which frees up space for regular control elements.
1. Instant speed - this is the most recognized trait and the benefits are both obvious and well documented, I won't expand further.
2. Combo with Legion's Landing - this was missed out. Following up Legion's landing with Raise the Alarm means a turn 3 flip. This means 2 things. Against a control or midrange deck, they now have to deal with a land that's producing a life linking token every turn. Secondly, you have access to 4 mana on turn 3, meaning a full turn forward to combo off.
In a meta where people are ignoring you and racing to cast ad nauseum or storm off, this card will surely feel bad. Conversely, when you're up against counterspells and removals, you'll want this instant speed threat maker.
I'm not sure what else would be as good on this point in the curve. You have bitterblossom, but if anything its even worse a topdeck, and plays badly against aggro decks like phoenix, spirits and humans. One could stock up on more discard or removal, but now you risk diluting your token generators. Alternatively you could use the very top-deck friendly Mardu Charm, but then your curve would look really weird.
Overall, the threat presented by Raise the Alarm in conjunction with Landing gives you an advantage. When all the surprise is gone and opponents know your deck (which is the case in my LGS), playing a landing t1 and then holding up t2 means the opponent doesn't dare tap out. This throws them off curve which is definitely to your advantage.
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1. There is a nonzero chance that you might not draw any of your 12 fetches when you want to, or you might need the fetch to correct your mana and then be left dry with combo in the hand and no fodder.
2. With only a singleton fodder in your deck, a single removal spell will mean multiple dead cards in your deck until you can get saheeli online and produce some tokens from there. More token generation would be good, since you have 6 combo cards.
Recommendations in blue:
Cloudform - doesn't get picked up by creativity, but can be used to create a 2/2 hexproof. jokes on you if you accidentally manifest the payoff card, though.
Callous Dismissal - bounce something, make a token, at instant speed. Use it defensively in conjunction with your combo, or just deal with an ensnaring bridge.
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Callous Dismissal is a sorcery, not an instant. I'm very ambivalent towards Lazotep Plating which is an instant though.
And isn't there a card in Modern somewhere that forces the opponent to tap down all their lands?
Are you referring to Gigadrowse? Its a sideboard card in Storm for making sure you can perform your combo unmolested. Definitely a card to consider but you're going to need to produce a tonne of blue. Your deck would definitely need some number of Cascade Bluffs.
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Considering the amount of games I won with tokens and how often getting the combo off doesn't even win you the game, I think it's a mistake to go deeper into the combo at the expense of backup plans.
I guess It IS Just The way we configure our decks.
The reason saheeli fits in so well with this combo deck in particular is because:
1. every spell we play triggers her passive
2. our combo cares about her activated ability (hasty emmy)
If you slot her into a pure tokens deck, she's not efficient enough. She'll be a 3 mana young pyro that can't be killed with push, which is nice, but she also can't swing for damage herself, or be recurred with Kolaghan's command. Her activated ability will also be purely decorative. If you want to go plan A with tokens, the existing BW tokens is THE exemplification of token beatdown, but it doesn't involve saheeli, being straight BW.
If you found winning with the combo difficult, it may be due to your subconsciously investing *too much* into plan B. Having the combo isn't just about slotting in 4 creativity + payoffs and calling it a day - the combo needs setting up and protection. For instance, running intangible virtues over discard, running bolts over path, these are decisions that make it easier to kill with tokens, but it makes the combo kill harder because they compromise on disruption and exposes us to opposing disruption or aggression that will beat us in a race.
In fact, I've recently gone on a losing streak myself, falling to Death's shadow, phoenix and Burn. Bitterblossoms are not good when the shadow deck does actually run battle rage. In all the matches I consistently wished lightning bolt was path to exile instead, sometimes because the toughness of the thing killing me is higher than 3, and sometimes because the subject would keep coming back. I was never happy to see my blossoms too. The low amount of discard also meant I would be stripped of my creativity just a turn before I was going to go off - when the opponents are familiar with your deck they know to save disruption for the turn you make your 3rd land drop. I've done another round of changes that push the deck further away from aggro and more firmly into the control seat. There are 2 goals I am trying to achieve:
1. Better survivability against aggro
2. Better consistency in combo
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Token Generators (11)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
1 Saheeli, sublime artificer
1 Start // Finish
Disruption (15)
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Helix
2 Mardu Charm
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Faithless Looting
Lands (23)
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Alpine Moon
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
3 Stony Silence
1 Teyo, the Shieldmage
2 Wear // Tear
2 Bitterblossom
1 Elesh Norn, grand Cenobite
Rather than compromise the number, I turned back to the swiss knife Mardu Charm, which gives us what we need when we need it - instant speed duress if you're set up but the opponent is leaving up mana, so you can check if the coast is clear on their end step, or tokens, which incidentally do very nice against bloodghasts and bushwhackers, and last but not least removal that can handle anything up to a hollow one size, though it falls short in the Shadow match up.
Another card which adds removal without losing on the token generator count is Start // Finish. I'd long used this card in BW tokens, and I figure it will do just as well here. The instant speed token generation along with the additional removal half that plays well with looting is something I'm looking forward to appraise.
The big change is the complete removal of bolts and intangible virtues. Any token beat-down will be 1 point at a time. I've since learnt that in this crazy aggro meta, I need to be either better at beatdown or really good at control - and beating nix/humans/spirits/DS/burn is a lost cause. BW tokens can race because of 2 major things - they have Intangible Virtues where the combo should be, so they have the full complement of disruptions, and secondly, they have Sorin and Collective brutality main. Which leads me to my next point:
I've moved Lightning Helix to the maindeck. I've also added Teyo, the Shieldmage to the sideboard. Bitterblossoms were moved from main to side as well. This is in recognition of the highly aggressive meta I'm facing. Blossom shines in midrange and control matches, and I'm just not seeing that. When the meta is aggro and tron with only a splash of UW, I'm quite sure this is the right decision.
I'm considering making space for Shatterstorm in the side in case I run into Affinity or Lantern control. Their presence since to have diminished recently, but if you seeing a lot of that, might wanna make room for it.
Other card's I'm considering:
1. Collective Brutality, again for that aggro MU
2. Crumble to Dust, for none other than Tron, since they can eventually break out of Alpine moon with nature's claim.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
If your meta is aggro 2-3 timely is probably correct as well.
RE: Timely. I've found timely to be very awkward card a lot of the time. Against most match ups you have this awkward situation where you want to cast it, but then the opponent has just 1-2 life points less than you. And if we've been removing their threats with our spot removal most time we stand to gain no removal. The worst thing is, apart from burn, most decks deal their damage in huge chunks meaning one moment timely isn't live, and the next we're dead. This annoyed me so much so consistently that I decided to cut the darn thing and put Teyo instead. At least he's a proactive anti aggro card that's just as troublesome to deal with.
RE: Vault of the AA. Do you run these as 24th and 25th lands? Going below 23 colored sources is pretty dangerous. If you subscribe to Frank Karsten's teachings, we're technically supposed to have 25 colored sources for that consistent 5th land drop but I'm really winging it with faithless looting.
RE: Gideon Ally. Seems a bit slow, might be more because of my meta than anything else. Would definitely be good in a midrange meta. I think Saheeli does more in the deck, though.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I like it. New teferi fits very nicely into the curve from 2 drop token generator into Teferi into polymorph. That's really something to think about.
We could stay in jeskai colors to maintain the upsides of creativity (dodging cage, pulling 2 wincons). We'd lose lingering souls and black for discard.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
ps: some of the most beautiful foils are actually pretty cheap, like Mardu Charm and Indomitable creativity. So there's very little pain in getting those first.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I actually think the RPTQ emrakul looks cooler
STOP TENPTING ME
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Tho my personal spice is to play Lightning Greaves, this way Polymorph won't pick up the Lightning Greaves while Creativity x=2 can still allow for a Shrouded hasty Emrakul