BW Tokens and Primer (Modern)

DECH TECH
bitterblossom , lingering souls , spectral procession -The core of the deck. Of all the low-cmc modern-legal cards, these put the most creatures on the field. This means global stat boosts are bananas, and intangible virtue works on them all. If thats not impressive enough, the tokens fly! This allows more damage to go through, and prevents tokens from being destroyed by blockers. Procession's casting cost is the reason the deck is usually 2 colors, and despite not running a third color the manabase is still painful to support WWW. Bitterblossom is not good in multiples, but I run a full playset to maximize the chances of playing it on turn 2.

intangible virtue -all tokens can attack, since saving one to block isn't necessary, and all deal extra evasive damage. Then all can block as 2/2s, allowing for gang blocks. Great when paired with sorin, solemn visitor or vault of the archangel.

sorin, solemn visitor -the lifegain and redirection to sorin means that the tokens often do not need to block, allowing them to pound the opponent with extra evasive damage for the win. He is performs very well in matchups where your life total is under pressure, like burn or creature-aggro such as zoo. He has a lot of synergy with intangible virtue and gideon, ally of zendikar.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar -better than sorin, solemn visitor in metas where lifegain is irrelevant. Gideon hits harder than sorin, doesn't depend on drawing token producers, and doesn't mind a boardwipe. He can be removed by path to exile or dismember. Sometimes we can bait a path on auriok champion, though. If we think the opponent has path or dismember in hand and they have open mana, we either have to +0 gideon and wait for them to tap out, +1 him and risk removal (if we're losing and have to take the risk), or -4 him at 4 loyalty.

Liliana of the veil -not the greatest in this deck, so more of a meta call. Grinding out the opponent with a bitterblossom on the field is pretty devastating, though, and it's pretty cute to discard lingering souls.

thoughtseize and inquisition of kozilek -we run black, so we run these. Great for buying time and avoiding hate cards like pyroclasm.

path to exile -we run white, so we run this. In a pinch, it can be used as ramp on a token or auriok champion.

murderous cut -lots of fetches, instants, and sorceries in this deck, so it's arguably better than path to exile for us. Run as a 1 of.

fatal push- next best removal we have access to after path and cut

Dismember -More 1 mana removal, hits almost every creature in modern. The lifeloss is often a nonissue, especially due to all the healing in this deck. However, against many aggressive decks, this card is bad.

Timely Reinforcements -six life and three bodies that can have their stats boosted, all for three mana. This card is an example of how tokens can mainboard its sideboard cards based on the meta. If the meta is guessed correctly, cards like this provide a big advantage on game one, and free up additional sideboard space as well. This card is fantastic for really aggressive decks, especially burn and zoo. This card provides lifegain and blocks, which means the flying tokens can focus on attacking. The 3 soldier tokens normally can't attack since they have no flying, but they can be used offensively if: all the opponent's creatures are tapped, an anthem like intangible virtue is in play, or if you need to activate windbrisk heights. Also, sometimes you don't draw lingering souls or spectral procession, but with timely you might not have to mulligan, depending on the rest of your hand and on the type of deck your opponent is playing. The main problem with this card is that it might do exactly nothing. But that often doesn't matter, because you are probably winning, and the card wouldn't be very timely if you were winning. Be aware that bitterblossom or auriok champion might prevent you from getting the soldiers. Remember to pay life if necessary to ensure that you gain the 6 life.

Auriok champion -Be sure not to forget any lifegain triggers. It is hard to keep track of them all, and the opponent doesn't have to remind you. Like timely, she is a meta call. She is fantastic against red and black (especially burn) because she can soak up damage (and kill attackers) while gaining us life. Unlike timely, she is never completely useless. She turns off bitterblossom lifeloss, gains life from the other token producers, from opposing creatures, and from the other copy of herself (gideon's +1 doesn't count as a creature entering the battlefield, though). She also provides at least one block. She is very difficult to remove, which is good, as Tokens aims to make spot removal useless. Path to exile works on her, but that gets us a land, and the path might have otherwise been used on Gideon, ally of zendiakar. Since she dies to path, we can use our own paths on her as ramp in an emergency.

vault of the archangel -trade a token for a tarmogoyf, and the lifegain will save one's bacon every now and then, like when one or two bitterblossoms are in play. Especially great when paired with gideon, ally of zendikar or intangible virtue. This shouldn't be more than a 2of, and I don't advise using it if you have 2+ ghost quarters.

windbrisk heights -0cmc to search for a useful card and it provides mana. It also lowers the costs of some cards like sorin. spectral procession and timely reinforcements make windbrisk work. Lingering souls can make it work on turn 4 if bitterblossom or auriok champion was played on turn 2, and sometimes souls can flashback the same turn. Include it as a 3of if possible. 4 risks drawing multiples, which we cannot afford because it enters tapped. It can be replaced/split with shambling vent.

Shambling Vent -A late-game mana-dump, like vault of the archangel, to be used when you're out of cards. However, to me it doesn't seem powerful enough to justify entering tapped, so I suggest just using windbrisk in almost any meta, even though it doesn't provide black mana.

fetid heath -allows spectral procession to be cast on turn 3 even if a swamp was played. It also works great with auriok champion, liliana of the veil, and fulminator mage. It's a pain-free dual-land that prevents more pain since fetching into a shockland becomes unnecessary. This is not as good if you have a lot of colorless lands.

isolated chapel -both colors, pain free, not the end of the world if you don't meet its requirement, unlike fetid heath.

Concealed Courtyard -another pain-free dual. Unlike isolated chapel and fetid heath, this can cast thoughtseize or path on turn 1. Its a bad topdeck, though.

duress -When you play creature based decks, you sub out your disruption. When you play non-creature based decks, duress is a painless thoughtseize. Great catch-all

stony silence -AKA Y2K. It guarantees victory against affinity, and does a lot of work against tron.

Zealous Persecution -destroys opponents' 1 toughness creatures, and lategame it does damage or is a combat trick. Can be mainboarded in some metas.

Rest in Peace -great against living end, delver, storm, jund, junk, instant reanimator, and some others. Be aware that it exiles lingering souls.

HOW TO BUILD A NORMAL BW TOKENS LIST
First, do not splash a third color unless you know that your meta will require it. Spectral procession is the reason we limit it. A third color would make the deck much more painful and less consistent. Look up mardu lists if you feel its really necessary.

The manabase of BW Tokens has 23-24 lands. Most people include the following lands as 4ofs, godless shrine, marsh flats, another fetch (windswept heath will probably confuse people the most, as this deck is very similar to abzan). Include 3 plains and 1 swamp to fetch.

For the rest of the lands, include the following: 0-4 concealed courtyard, 1-2 fetid heath, 0-2 isolated chapel, 1-2 vault of the archangel, 0-3 Windbrisk Heights, 0-3 Shambling Vent, and 0-2 ghost quarter. Don't include more than three lands that enter tapped, and don't include more than 2 colorless lands.

Now for the nonland cards: run the following as 4ofs: lingering souls, spectral procession, bitterblossom, intangible virtue, and path to exile. Run murderous cut as a 1of. Run 3-4 planeswalkers in some combination of sorin sv and gideon aoz. Run 6-7 hand disruption in some combination of thoughtseize and inquisition of kozilek.

The flex slots in the mainboard can be filled with any of the following: dismember, timely reinforcements, auriok champion, zealous persecution, liliana of the veil, doom blade, anguished unmaking, and raise the alarm. It all depends on your meta. Flex slots are basically extra sideboard cards added to the mainboard. If the meta is guessed correctly, you get a big advantage on game 1 and have more sideboard options for the other games. If using liliana, include as many black mana sources as you can.

Most BW Token sideboards include the following: stony silence, rest in peace, duress, timely reinforcements, and zealous persecution. For other options, check out the maybeboard.

RANDOM ADVICE
If you have spectral or souls and 2-4 lands in your opening hand, don't mulligan. Sometimes timely reinforcements and a bitterblossom, or two bitterblossoms, or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar can get the job done. Exceptions to this mulligan rule are when playing decks where creature removal or hand disruption is essential, or when trying to get the sideboard cards you subbed in. Do not block until you really have to. Ideally a token can attack before sacrificing itself. If you have 2 token producers and an anthem, hold the second tokenmaker until after playing the anthem. This does not maximize damage, but it does allow recovery from a boardwipe. The exception might be if the opponent would die a turn sooner if the anthem was played last. Attack with tokens before playing a second tokenmaker so cryptic command or something similar will not tap all your guys out. If an opponent is holding a counter, try to bait them with something unimportant. Try to keep an anthem and tokenmaker, or two tokenmakers. Be aware that bitterblossom or auriok champion can prevent timely reinforcements from working, and don't forget to pay life if necessary to gain 6 life from timely. The card worship does not save you from bitterblossom's lifeloss. If gideon is out and you think the opponent has path to exile or dismember in hand, and they have open mana, it might not be a good idea to +1 Gideon. Sometimes it's best to use the +0 until they tap out, or to give up and use the -4 at 4 loyalty. Against creature-based decks, hand disruption is often the thing to sub out. Against really aggressive decks, bitterblossom and painful cards usually come out.