Abzan Sustenance in Modern
Tokens decks have existed at the fringes of Modern basically since its inception, but rarely break into the meta. For quite a while now, BW Tokens has been the “best” tokens deck around, although it still hasn’t been what most people would call good. Last month however, reddit user TheOinkinator posted this list, which blends tokens with zoo to create a Junk list that is a blast to play, and can keep up decently well.
The creature base looks a bit weird at first, but plays much better than you might expect at first glance. Birds of Paradise is the perfect mana fixer, getting us any color of mana we might need, while also attacking in the air in the late-game after you land an Ascendancy. Noble Hierarch is the deck’s other dork, and while it doesn’t tap for black mana, Exalted is just too good to pass up, in this deck and many others.
Thraben Inspector has been seen in Death and Taxes lists for quite some time, and for good reason. It draws cantrips, blocks fine for a 1/1, and gives you something to do when you’re lacking a turn 2 play. Nest Invader gives you a bear, creates an extra body, and ramps for just two mana. The card doesn’t see much play, but pops up in weird brews like this pretty often since it’s a lot of value for this kind of deck. Voice of Resurgence is absolute gas in just about any shell, and it puts in extra work here. It discourages counterspells, replaces itself, and the token has no problem being a 5/5 or better. Finally, Shanna acts as extra Voice tokens that are also protected from Lavamancer, Teferi, and Reflector Mage.
Many of our spells are really just creatures too, giving us extra bodies for our mana. Legion’s Landing can flip as early as turn three, giving us a consistent token generator and a way to grind out wins by making a constant stream of blockers. Lingering Souls is one of the best token cards in the game (if not the best), and Sram’s Expertise is fantastic with all of our cards.Path to Exile is our primary removal spell, with a single Assassin’s Trophy that I added in when editing this list (since the original was pre-Guilds of Ravnica).
Abzan Ascendancy does a ton both for winning games through aggression and through slowly grinding out wins. And finally, the main course. The one card in the deck that just makes everything click into place. Fate Reforged common Harsh Sustenance. It might seem a bit awkward at first, but the card plays super well, acting as either removal or burn, frequently hitting for 5 or more damage for just 3 mana. There’s a reason the deck has “Sustenance” in the name, and that’s because the card is just that good in this shell. Resolving this against Burn or 8-Whack in game 1 often means you just win, and at the very least it will give you a few more turns to find an out.
The manabase is pretty straight-forward, with fetches, shocks, and a couple Stirring Wildwood to up the creature count. The deck also runs two Field of Ruin to try and slow down Tron until we can push our creatures through, as well as a single Dryad Arbor, since it can be tutored up at instant-speed with a fetch as a pseudo combat trick with Voice tokens and Shanna, and of course just to use as a blocker. The sideboard has Kambal to help deal with Burn and Storm, Pithing Needle against a wide variety of abilities, Thoughtseize to fight combo, and Damping Sphere as another attempt to stop Tron and Storm. We have Stony Silence for affinity, and a single Abrupt Decay with an extra Assassin’s Trophy for extra all-purpose removal. Finally, we have a Timely Reinforcements to help with matchups that just generally keep our board clear, and Settle the Wreckage to take out opposing boardstates.
Tips:
- Voice Tokens and Shanna can die when you don’t expect it. If your opponent is attacking with two 2/2s, and you have Shanna with two 1/1s (making Shanna a 3/3), you should be careful blocking. If you block with Shanna here and a 1/1, the 1/1 will die, leaving Shanna at a 2/2, which means that the 2 damage marked on her from blocking will be enough to kill her.
- In some weird situations, you can Path and Settle your own creatures. Of course, if you’ve got enough mana for Settle, you probably aren’t hurting for mana, but you could always be missing a color, and Settle and Path can get you that.
- Animate Stirring Wildwood before playing Ascendancy so that you get a +1/+1 counter on it.
- You can always hope that your opponent will attack into an untapped Adanto, the First Fort, then activate its ability after attacks are declared to have a surprise lifelink blocker, and grow Shanna.
- Sram’s Expertise free casting a Harsh Sustenance is one of the best things this deck can do, alongside Sram’s Expertise free casting Abzan Ascendancy. Despite this, never be afraid to free cast your smaller plays like Path, Voice of Resurgence, or even a Legion’s Landing.
Extra Spice:
- If you really want to get janky, run Divine Visitation from Guilds of Ravnica. Yes, it’s a do-nothing enchantment. But you can’t honestly tell me you wouldn’t love the look on your opponent’s face when you cast Sram’s Expertise, then hit a Lingering Souls for free. Be careful with this though, since it does make Voice work a bit differently (it’s up to you if it’s better or worse).
- March of the Multitudes is quite a bit win-more, but like Visitation, it wins the game in a huge way. March turns boards that are stalled, boards where you’re a bit behind, and boards that you’re dominating, and turns them into wins.
- Emmara, Soul of the Accord can make a ton of tokens, but has the obvious downside of dying to just about everything. If the deck had more ways to tap her out of combat (like March of the Multitudes), she would probably be an auto-include.
- Bitterblossom is obviously a good, card and a lot of the life lost from its trigger can be won back in a single Harsh Sustenance.
- Hanweir Militia Captain is a card I love for some unknown reason, and a bear that transforms into a Voice token that also pumps out tokens is a fine deal. At this point though, maybe I should be wondering if I like Voice too much.
This deck is really cool, and you rarely feel like you’re playing a non-game with it. The matches are fun, interactive, and give you plenty of opportunity for big, splashy plays and comebacks. Give the deck a try, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
