There are a multitude of ways to build a white deck in Standard. Adanto
Vanguard is great. History of Benalia too. Figuring out the best shell for
a given weekend? That’s the challenge.
The two biggest reasons to play white in Standard.
For the Invitational at SCG CON, I wanted to try something different while
operating within bounds of the proactive white-based aggressive strategy. I
came across a tokens list that suited the style I wanted to play.
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
Before the Invitational at SCG CON I knew I wanted to play a white-based
aggro deck. At Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica I opted for Mono-White
Aggro which was essentially Andrew Elebogen’s Pro Tour-winning list, but
without the sideboard red cards and sometimes clunky dual lands.
When I saw that Magic Online regular CLYDE THE GLIDE DREXLER 5-0’d with a
tokens take on Boros Aggro I was intrigued. When I saw two copies of Divine
Visitation I was hooked. I played CLYDE’s deck card-for-card with the
exception on swapping one Plains for a Memorial to Glory. I like having an
on-board way of creating Angels after a Divine Visitation without requiring
a battlefield presence or a token maker in hand.
The Memorial can cause stumbles from time to time, but overall I like
having it.
Divine Visitation has always felt like a different take on a planeswalker.
When I tried it in mono-white it was tough to get value from immediately if
I didn’t have a sixth mana and a Legion’s Landing. Legion Warboss offers
the opportunity to get that immediate value.
Amazingly enough, Divine Visitation is templated where the 4/4 flying,
vigilance Angels retain the keywords granted to the original token. In the
case of Legion Warboss’ Goblin token with haste and Heroic Reinforcements
Soldiers with haste you end up with 4/4 flying, vigilance, haste Angels. This interaction has taken quite a few
opponents by surprise.
My favorite interaction in the deck is History of Benalia and Heroic
Reinforcements. Giving the new 2/2 Knight token haste and +1/+1 turns a
two-point attack into a ten-point attack (3/3, 3/3, 2/2, 2/2.)
Another big draw to a tokens take of Boros is how good Legion’s Landing is.
Many of your cards create multiple bodies to hit the requirement to flip
into Adanto, the First Fort. More importantly, is that you have a lot of
haste to flip Legion’s Landing on an unexpected turn. The Legion’s Landing
Vampire plus Heroic Reinforcements does it by themselves.
Venerated Loxodon is very explosive with small creatures, including tokens.
The downside to the elephant here is it’s a bit of a non-bo with Tocatli
Honor Guard. By avoiding all “enters the battlefield” triggered abilities
from creatures we get to play maindeck Tocatli Honor Guards. Once the
guards are in place you now have eight two-drops for Ajani, Adversary of
Tyrants to reanimate. Often the first Tocatli Honor Guard will die to a
Golgari or Izzet Drakes player. A high number of them ensures that one
sticks, and Ajani is extra copies of your “mean” bear.
Where are the Conclave Tribunals?
Without a bunch of one-drops or bursty but not hateful token makers like
March of the Multitudes, Conclave Tribunal is weaker.
Ixalan’s Binding is a consideration, but it’s tough to not get overloaded
on four-drops, especially after sideboard; however, the list is a touch
short on removal outside of Lava Coil so dipping into more is a
consideration. MOUNTAINMASTER13 had it in their sideboard, but since that
list came out later after I’d already done some testing with the CLYDE
list, I didn’t add them last minute.
Sideboard Guide
I imagine that even after this article that Boros Tokens with Divine
Visitation will be relatively under the radar for a while. Divine
Visitation is very powerful when it’s unexpected. The synergies in the
maindeck go toe-to-toe with the rest of the format. If the opponent sees
Divine Visitation game 1, I tend to take out one copy or both.
The deck tends to sideboard out and in many of the same cards, which begs
the question “why not play those maindeck?” The sideboard is set up to
become a “normal” deck full of rares and mythics that stand well on their
own. I like leading on the more powerful synergistic deck to start then
adjusting accordingly after the opponent is more prepared for your go-wide
strategy.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 2 Druid of the Cowl
- 3 Carnage Tyrant
- 3 Wildgrowth Walker
- 4 Merfolk Branchwalker
- 4 Jadelight Ranger
- 3 Ravenous Chupacabra
- 2 Midnight Reaper
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (7)
You’re built with Golgari Midrange in mind with the four Tocatli Honor
Guards. Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants complements this plan.
There are quite a number of ways to build Golgari Midrange, so there’s a
lot to feel out in game 1 for the post-sideboard games. In general, they’re
going to respect your token game and come with as much removal as they
have, including Golden Demise. I like to take out the sweepable creatures
for the bigger Angels that also avoid Finality. You increase the curve and
are leaning a little on flipping Legion’s Landing or getting a land from
Assassins Trophy.
Dire Fleet Daredevil on Cast Down or Find is nice, but you’re loaded high
on four-drops as is. It doesn’t work with Tocatli Honor Guard either.
Out:
In:
Creatures (10)
Lands (21)
Spells (29)
The goal here is to not get blown out too hard by Fiery Cannonade, which
History of Benalia really sets you up to be. Legion Warboss is fine because
it can flip Legion’s Landing quickly and the opponent might not be ready
for it. Dire Fleet Daredevil casts a Lava Coil or Opt or whatever and is
good very decks with cheap spells. Tajic puts pressure on them to have a
Shock else your team is insulated against said Fiery Cannonade.
Out:
In:
Creatures (26)
- 4 Adanto Vanguard
- 4 Skymarcher Aspirant
- 4 Snubhorn Sentry
- 4 Benalish Marshal
- 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
- 4 Venerated Loxodon
- 2 Hunted Witness
Lands (20)
Spells (14)
We’re slower and are at risk of getting rushed down by one-drops, Venerated
Loxodon, Benalish Marshall, and Pride of Conquerors. The goal here is to
trade early and often and get a big turn with Heroic Reinforcements.
Don’t try to take on a full control role. You need to maintain battlefield
development, or at least posture an amount of aggression to not fall
behind. Eventually they can outsize you with Benalish Marshall. If they’re
red with their own Lava Coils, take out two more Tocatli Honor Guard for
two Dire Fleet Daredevil.
Out:
In:
Creatures (6)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (26)
Be wary of attacking into Settle the Wreckage. That Settle will ramp you
into good plays later, like Divine Visitation into a token maker, The
Immortal Sun, or a lethal Banefire. Crackling Drake is a huge blocker,
making a couple Lava Coils worthwhile to leave in.
Many lists don’t have enough juicy targets for Dire Fleet Daredevil outside
of Opt. Seeing Shock or Lightning Strike will move the needle to
playability, in which case Legion’s Landing is next on the chopping block.
Out:
In:
Creatures (20)
- 4 Fanatical Firebrand
- 4 Ghitu Lavarunner
- 4 Goblin Chainwhirler
- 4 Viashino Pyromancer
- 4 Runaway Steam-Kin
Lands (21)
- 21 Mountain
Spells (19)
You’re a touch bigger than them, which is where you want to be. Tocatli
Honor Guard does work here by nerfing Viashino Pyromancer and Goblin
Chainwhirler as well as being a good blocker against Ghitu Lavamancer and
the like.
Adanto Vanguard is a weak blocker and a liability in the face of Goblin
Chainwhirler. The Divine Visitation plan is slow, and Lyra is just a better
roadblock. Ajani tends to die quickly.
Out:
In:
Divine Boros Tokens Moving Forward
The sideboard above is solid, but there’s another mix that I’m interested
in. The maindeck is pretty solid so I wouldn’t change anything there. For
the near future I’ll be dabbling in a few one-ofs in the sideboard to get a
feel for what’s out there. Siege-Gang Commander is interesting even though
there aren’t a ton of red sources, and it doesn’t work with a Tocatli Honor
Guard out. Ixalan’s Binding is the best answer to Niv-Mizzet, Parun so
having one of those accessible could be nice. A Pride of the Conquerors and
a Response play into the opposing Boros decks. An Experimental Frenzy could
get in there somewhere, but isn’t great when your curve is high and don’t
have face burn spells.
This is what I’ll be testing:
Divine Boros Tokens is a blast, but be sure to bring enough tokens!
Still could’ve used a few more.