Topic: Token Generation then Unleash Dragons - Standard Deck

I'm in the beginning stages of building a token generation deck (U/R) with a splash of white.  My main win con is to get a bunch of tokens out with Young Pyromancer and Akroan Crusader and Molten Birth, and then overload a Dragonshift to make all the tokens 4/4 flyers.  I put in wall of frost and dragon eggs as blockers and added a splash of white for populate and to pump my tokens with phantom general (in case I can't pull off the dragonshift).

I've also tried to put in several blue counter spells for protection.  I need to trim this deck down and not sure how it will play out.  This is early on, so if you see any glaring holes, please point them out. 

http://deckbox.org/sets/471747

Let me know what you think.  Thanks for any constructive input you can provide!

Daryl

Re: Token Generation then Unleash Dragons - Standard Deck

So realistically, I can say this probably isn't the best strategy.  I don't want to rain on your parade, but realistically FNMs are going to be chock full of devotion decks which, let's be honest, will just smash you.

Your main win-con comes in the form of tokens, but what are you going to do in response to a board wipe?  Anger of the Gods, Mizzium Mortars, Cyclonic Rift, Supreme Verdict, even Profit // Loss or Illness in the Ranks (pending you have no pumps out) all just completely hose you.

To go card by card:

Akroan Crusader - He seemed good until it was revealed that heroic requires him to be targeted by you, not the opponent (kinda off on flavor if you ask me).  But realistically you're putting yourself behind on tempo with him most of the time and aren't getting value, especially with you only having six triggers.  This translates into you paying two mana to get a 1/1... not exactly cost efficient there.  Also creating the opportunity to get two-for-one'd.

Young Pyromancer can be effective if you have enough sorceries and instants to really get more out of him.  He's better than the crusader as you can be doing what you normally would and the token(s) out of him are an added bonus.

Dragon Egg really is just going to sit there for you and not do much.  Sure, it could block for a turn, but they'll just wait to remove the token after you've blocked... not exactly ideal for what you're trying to do.

Wall of Frost is good if you're looking to stall... but otherwise it doesn't really do much for you either.  The opponent can simply go around it.

Phantom General is a strictly worse Spear of Heliod.  Why limit your pumps to just tokens?  The Spear offers targeted removal in a pinch and otherwise is cheaper to play (although the WW in the cost might be a bit harder to get to).

Counters are a decent strategy now that Cavern of Souls has rotated, but the biggest problem I see here is that you have no means to deal with anything once it hits the field.  So let's say they fake you into using your counter on a creature, you're tapped out, and then they simply cast another creature.... then what?  As a side note, Stymied Hopes can be achieved for less with Judge's Familiar and that can at least attack.  Essence Backlash is also a lot pricer than you really want a counter to be... Essence Scatter gets the job done for half the cost.

Wake the Reflections really isn't worth playing.  Again, you're behind on tempo and you're populating a token that isn't all that threatening to begin with.

Blast of Genius isn't going to deal much damage a lot of the time.  You could just as easily run some other removal in that spot that's much cheaper for you to cast and more reliable/consistent.

The Ordeals could just as easily be dropped given that Akroan Crusader isn't very good.

Lastly, if you're making tokens... why in the world isn't Purphoros, God of the Forge in here?

To be honest, the Naya control build that Frank Lepore highlighted today is probably closer to the sort of token build you're looking for.  You can find his decklist here:  http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11475

More generally speaking, I'm not entirely sold that token builds are going to manage to perform all that well unless you get a really ideal draw.  Then again, I'm certainly no prophet, so feel free to run with it - but I would give the deck Lepore ran a look and really think about the challenges he runs into.

Re: Token Generation then Unleash Dragons - Standard Deck

I built a very similar deck and I think its fairly viable, though perhaps not at a major tournament. Much of what TyWoo says is very true, though we disagree about somethings. One of the big advantages to a strategy like this is you only need 1-2 cards on the field and then you sit there pumping out lots of tokens and putting on aggro pressure. If they wipe the board its not fun but it only takes you 1-2 cards to get back into the swing of things.

I would also note that Judges Familiar is considerably different to stymied hopes since it cant hit creatures. I do like the familiar though.

decklist for comparison
http://deckbox.org/sets/492341

Re: Token Generation then Unleash Dragons - Standard Deck

TRZ wrote:

I built a very similar deck and I think its fairly viable, though perhaps not at a major tournament. Much of what TyWoo says is very true, though we disagree about somethings. One of the big advantages to a strategy like this is you only need 1-2 cards on the field and then you sit there pumping out lots of tokens and putting on aggro pressure. If they wipe the board its not fun but it only takes you 1-2 cards to get back into the swing of things.

I would also note that Judges Familiar is considerably different to stymied hopes since it cant hit creatures. I do like the familiar though.

decklist for comparison
http://deckbox.org/sets/492341

Good catch on the Familiar... I totally forgot about that restriction.

However, I still stand by the assertion that tokens alone will not win a lot of games in a competitive environment, not in a format where something as simple as Ratchet Bomb can wipe your board for all of one mana.  Things like Advent of the Wurm, Call of the Conclave, Pack Rat and other things of that nature are making noise, but not as the ONLY real weapon.

Now let's not confuse this with the token generators that can get out of hand, i.e., Assemble the Legion and Elspeth, Sun's Champion - but keep in mind that both of these cards are at the high end of the mana curve and without some means to ramp into them, you will often find yourself dead long before you start putting a dent into the opponent's side of the board.

I guess at the end of the day it will depend on how competitive your local FNM is to determine whether this could be a fun brew or whether you're going to get blown out.  If you typically look at several tier 1 decks, well, sorry to say, you're likely going to lose, probably quite frequently.  But, if you have the majestic unicorn of an FNM where people actually home-brew, well, then you might have a shot.

If you want to move forward with it, it would be best to decide between U/R and R/W (of which R/W is the better token option, although R/W/G gives you access to Selesnya's token generators).  Again, take a gander at the link I posted to the Naya control deck that dude managed to do quite well with (despite however it might've behaved for Frank).

Best luck!

Re: Token Generation then Unleash Dragons - Standard Deck

Thanks for the feedback TyWoo and TRZ. 

I like the looks of your deck TRZ. 

I definitely have some things to think about when working on this deck.