MTG Salvation

Do you guys ever board out Birds? I went 2-2 last night, winning vs. Jund and Green Stompy but losing to U/W Gifts and Jeskai Control. I boarded out 2 Birds in both of my losses and boarded in more impactful (but more expensive) stuff like Fulminator and Thrun, but it didn't feel great; feels like the deck needs Birds to make its mana work. Then again, they are terrible to topdeck in a long game and just get caught up in Wraths. My list, without the mana base which is stock Hoogland:


4 Birds of Paradise
3 Voice of Resurgence
3 Wall of Omens
2 Wall of Roots
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Spellskite
2 Eternal Witness
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Orzhov Pontiff
3 Restoration Angel
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Reveillark

4 Chord of Calling
4 Path to Exile

2 Nahiri, the Harbinger

SB: 1 Reclamation Sage
SB: 2 Stony Silence
SB: 2 Lightning Helix
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
SB: 2 Engineered Explosives
SB: 2 Fulminator Mage
SB: 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
SB: 1 Big Game Hunter
SB: 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
SB: 1 Thragtusk

Against Jeskai I boarded like so: -2 Birds, -1 Wall of Roots, -1 Pontiff, -2 Path to Exile / +2 Fulminator Mage, +1 Big Game Hunter, +1 Phyrexian Revoker, +1 Eidolon of Rhetoric, +1 Thrun

However, in hindsight maybe this would been better: -1 Wall of Roots, -1 Pontiff, -1 Pridemage, -2 Path / + 1 Revoker, +1 Thrun, +1 Thragtusk, +2 Fulminator Mage

I'm not sure if Eidolon is worth it in this matchup; they have more instants and can usually play around it better than us, although it really helps out in playing against countermagic. It might actually be right to take out Path completely since the only target for it is Colonnade and we have Mage and GQ to deal with it. Big Game Hunter deals with both Emrakul and Colonnade, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. It's definitely great against Iona and Elesh Norn though, which is the main reason why I have it in my list.

Anyways, how do you guys board against Control? I'm struggling in this matchup.

OMG, totally forgot about the "non-Angel" clause on Resto. Thanks for pointing that out. Not sure how much I like her then - Dauntless Escort might just be better since it's a lot easier to Chord for, although it's much worse as a main board option.

Hi everyone, new Kiki-Chord player here. I've been on the deck for a couple of months now - yesterday was my first post-ban event, feels good to finally be able to take out Big Game Hunter! I can't comment on Nahiri as I haven't tried her yet, but I have been testing Archangel Avacyn, and if Wraths start seeing more play as predicted I definitely think she has a place in the deck. We don't have that many things we care about that die to her flip side (P&K would be the big one, but other than that not much) and she is just a strong card, even against decks that don't have Wraths (unlike Escort). She also has great synergy with Resto, since you can blink her with the flip trigger on the stack to plague wind (or just blink her anytime to give your team indestructible). She is a super quick evasive clock that helps our beatdown plan as well. Has anyone else been experimenting with her?

Hi all,

I've been brewing this deck since last Friday and it does seem like it could be one of the premier aggro decks in the new format. This is what I've got so far:



Just a word on manabases. Most of you seem to be playing 4 Canopy Vista, but I think this is a mistake if you're trying to be as aggressive as possible (reason being that it's very awkward in your opening hand when you want to curve out). I like a 2/2 split of strand/vista, that way at least you can fetch a plains on t2 for a hangarback or stance/drom-comm. I still have 5 lands that are awkward in my opening hand though, since I really want to go Forest, Forest, Vista to enable 3 one-drops or a t2 Avatar. Maybe drop one the strands for the 10th forest?

Has anyone else been testing the most aggressive versions of this deck? In my games so far I haven't loved Citadel Siege, although I can definitely see the merits of the Deathmist/Den Protector package.

Thanks for your thoughts, Trapped and Corwin. Do you really think Foundry is that bad? It seems like it would really shine in the grindier matchups. Have either of you tried Secure the Wastes? It's been kind of meh for me so far, but I don't have that many reps in with the deck yet. I'm thinking that 2x Reinforcements in the main might be better, which frees up some sideboard space. Without Wastes I could likely go back down to 23 land as well and run a 2nd ZP as well as a 6th removal spell.

Corwin, you say that you only run 4 hand disruption spells. Mind sharing your list? The least I've seen is 6, I'm curious to see what you're running in their place.

Good points all, thanks. I'm not sure if you run Honor of the Pure - if so, what are your thoughts on it? Is it worth running as a 5th Intangible Virtue, or no? It seems awkward with Vampire tokens if you go the 3 Sorin route, but at the same time it's only a one-of and it synergizes with all of your other dudes, so it's not that big of a deal I guess.

As for lands, I'm thinking Foundry might be better than a 2nd Vault, especially if I decide to go with 3 Sorins... The lifelink will probably be really redundant at that point, while being able to get a couple of tokens in a grindy game might actually win it for me. I haven't actually tried it yet, however. Good point about the Isolated Chapel.

Which fetches do you run? I don't have Marsh Flats, and looks like they're not coming out in BFZ so it's allied fetches for me. Not sure if I should go Heath/Strand or Strand/Delta... It seems that the swamp is there to fetch in case you suspect blood moon and to save life vs. Burn, so I think I'd like a couple fetches that can grab Swamp, but you definitely want to fetch for Plains more often. Currently going 4 Strand/3 Delta.

Also, thoughts on Murderous Cut? I like to have at least 1 Delve spell in the 75, especially with discard and most of our threats being tokens, but it seems that most people prefer Dismember.

Howdy,

I'm just starting out in Modern, and after testing tons of different decks on Cockatrice over the past few months, I've finally decided to buy into B/W Tokens. It's not too expensive, but more importantly, it's quite fun to play! Here's the list I'm planning to run:



Seems pretty standard, but a little bit of elaboration on my card choices:

• Most lists seem to run 6 removal spells in the main, but I cut the 6th in favor of the 24th land. Perhaps I should cut the 2nd Zealous Persecution instead, and run a Dismember or Go For Threat as the 6th removal spell? What are your experiences with ZP - is it worth running the 2nd?
• In my testing so far I've found that Sorin is the best Walker, followed by 4-mana Elspeth. I'm running the split mainly to avoid situations where I'm stuck with a Sorin in hand and one on the battlefield, but they both also have their strengths and weaknesses. Sorin can really swing a game with his lifelink, but he's a little redundant with Vault and his Vampires don't synergize with my 1 Honor of the Pure. Meanwhile, Elspeth (who seems to have fallen in popularity, at least from what I see in the lists posted in this thread) synergizes better with my other cards and is better on a empty board. Thoughts on the split?
• Most lists seem to run 23 lands, but Cifka and Juza actually ran 25 at PTFRF! I'm right in the middle at 24, which I like because I run a few cards to combat flood, mainly the 4 Windbrisk Heights and 2 Secure the Wastes. The 24th land is currently the 3rd plains - what's the consensus on how many colorless lands the deck can afford to run? I'm thinking I could run a 2nd Vault or even a Foundry of the Consuls here instead.
• Still on the subject of lands, I don't see many people running Fetid Heath, but it's a 2-of in most of the old lists by DeTora and Wescoe. Is there any particular reason for that? It seems great for casting a t3 Spectral.
• I'm not too sure about the local meta yet so I've just copied Juza's PT sideboard, but I like the idea of boarding in Hero after my opponents board out spot removal. Are there any other cards I should consider for decks that have gained prominence since PTFRF? Maybe something to deal with the Company decks, but I'm not sure.

Thanks in advance for any comments/criticism!