Intangible Virtue is a great card in Modern tokens and was banned in Block Constructed. The other big downside is that you don’t actually get to utilize the best anthem in Standard. You will, however, have to realize how much weaker they might be in game 1 when opponents still have all of their Ultimate Prices and Grasp of Darknesses in their decks.
They’re considered incredibly powerful for a reason. It may still be worth it for the deck to play these creatures. Archangel Avacyn looks like a pretty busted card in any deck that is going to have a bunch of creatures on the battlefield, but if they’ve saved up their spot removal for lack of a reasonable target, it mitigates the strength of a card like this. The big downside to playing a strategy that relies on tokens is that you lose a ton of value from playing a great creature. But the fact that this card and this deck were successful goes to show the power of combining token production and global pump, even at a bad rate. It’s also answered by cards like Dromoka’s Command and Anguished Unmaking. Now, you don’t need to play a card as weak as Retreat-slow to produce tokens, needs additional resources to get any effect, and requires 4 mana to cast.
When your token makers can double as your pump effects, that’s when you have a potential powerhouse deck on your hands.Īt Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar, Team Ultra Pro utilized a Bant Tokens strategy that relied heavily on Retreat to Emeria. Many Quandrix creatures benefit from having lots of land cards on their side, and that includes the Fractal tokens.Nissa, Voice of Zendikar follows the same path as another planeswalker that both helps you go wide and helps you go big. By now, it's becoming clear that (among other things) the Quandrix school cares deeply about how many lands the player has. Last up is Leyline Invocation, a costly but powerful spell that makes a Fractal token, then pumps it according to how many lands the player has. Serpentine Curve makes a Fractal, then boosts it according to the number of instants/sorceries that player has in their graveyard and exile alike. Biomathematician will make a Fractal, then give a +1/+1 counter to each friendly Fractal, pumping the whole team. Body of Research is color-heavy but can put an incredible number of +1/+1 counters on a Fractal, though the player is urged to also give that Fractal evasion (flying, trample, etc) to push all that damage more easily. The Quandrix school makes 0/0 green and blue Fractal creature tokens, and every token-creating card will give +1/+1 counters to newly-created Fractals in true style. It's good to have a plan B, and Prismari students always think ahead. If the player can't afford to wait for seven mana, they can cash in Elemental Masterpiece for a lovely Treasure token instead. Elemental Masterpiece is another high-end spell that will make two of those tokens. Magma Opus has many effects at once, and one of them is to make a 4/4 Elemental, which can help reinforce the caster's board state. These Elementals have no abilities, but their sheer size makes up for it. The Prismari school is all about huge, flashy instants and sorceries, and many of these mega-spells will make the Prismari school's mascot tokens: 4/4 blue and red Elementals. This ensures that Umbral Juke is always useful in games of booster draft Limited. Or, it can make one of those Inkling creature tokens, a solid choice if the opponent doesn't even have anything to sacrifice. It can force a player to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker to act as removal that gets around hexproof, protections and even indestructible. Umbral Juke is a cheap modal spell of the Silverquill school.