Having talked quite a bit about Green and Red based token decks last week, it seems natural to transition into the other major token archetype of the format: R/B tokens. While this deck shares a lot of space with the archetypes I discussed last week, there are several important differences. In general, it operates on the same principle as other token decks: your primary plan is to get tokens into play and then use them for some benefit other than just mana. You might strap on a Pennon Blade, swing with the support of Raid Bombardment, or sac your tokens to Magmaw or Bloodthrone Vampire. It's the last card in that list that is really what makes the B/R tokens archetype distinct from other token decks. Much like Aura Gnarlid is to it's decks, Bloodthrone Vampire is the linchpin of this strategy not only because of the natural synergy that it provides with tokens, but also the added layers of synergy beyond the token strategy.

She truly is the queen of this castle.

First off, lets tackle the question of how this token strategy differs from others in terms of the way it puts tokens into play. Red based token archetypes have access to two different ways of putting tokens into play: creatures and spells. The creatures in question for this deck are Emrakul's Hatcher and Dread Drone. Red also can use Brood Birthing and Spawning Breath to put tokens into play, and of course has access to Skittering Invasion. In the B/R Tokens archetype, the creature based token production methods are a little more valuable than they are in other token strategies and the spell based methods are a little less valuable. The reason for this is twofold. First of all, the deck is generally more aggressive than other token strategies which are really looking more to an endgame scenario where they win by attrition through something like Pennon Blade or overwhelming the opponent with something like Lavafume Invoker. The B/R token strategy CAN play this game but it also likes to get in the red zone early. Thus the actual body of Emrakul's Hatcher and Dread Drone are more relevant. Furthermore, the fact that you are playing B/R means that you will have access to more removal than the average deck. This fact allows you to be more aggressive as you can burn away problematic blockers. The standard token endgame allows you to use your removal in this way too, as this deck has less of a "fattie problem" than many others. A lot of aggro decks in this format just plain fail because they scoop to the first fattie that they can't remove -- and often that is the first fattie because they've had to spend precious removal early getting rid of blockers. The token strategy isn't as vulnerable to this because a big eldrazi is not as big of a problem. If you are attacking with Lavafume Invoker support, the fattie can only block one token and you are likely to connect for a ton. Similarly, Bloodthrone Vampire can actually tangle with an Ulamog's Crusher in combat and win. Of course, that's not to mention the fact that your tokens provide a natural defense against both Annihilator and large, non-evasive attackers. Thus this deck doesn't need to lean on its removal so heavily to deal with the opponent's big threats.

The second reason why the creature based token generation methods are improved here is another important cornerstone of the archetype:

While the imp is not nearly as important as Bloodthrone Vampire, it's much better here than it is in most decks. The most obvious reasons are that you can chain two imps to pump your vampire, they activate Raid Bombardment, and they get back copies of your key creatures if they should die. One of the great things about Bloodthrone Vampire is that it never gets stuck on the board due to a Guard Duty or Narcolepsy. You can always sac it to itself and get it back with your imp. And believe me, you really want Bloodthrone Vampire in play if at all possible. Of course, Cadaver Imp also allows you to rebuy your hatchers and drones for even more tokens! So that's a second line of synergy that Bloodthrone Vampire brings to the archetype.

A third line comes from the two treason effects that the set provides:

Both of these cards are amazing in this archetype for multiple reasons. The most obvious is the classic play of "steal your guy and sac it" that you can run with Bloodthrone Vampire. The fact that the deck is aggressive though also makes these cards better as sometimes just stealing their guy and bashing them with it is good enough. Finally, the nature of the deck makes the dragon body on the manticore even more relevant. It's not often that your opponent will be able to deal with both your token/vampire engine AND a dragon, especially if you have imp backup. I mean, manticore is obviously a bomb in any deck that plays red... but its a bigger bomb here than in any other archetype.

Forks:

Most of these are obvious, but I want to comment on a few that have exceptional synergy with the deck. Drana is always a bomb, but having Cadaver Imp available to recur her makes her even better here. Corpsehatch is obviously quite synergistic when it comes to the removal suite. Lust for War is great here because not only are you an aggressive deck that is already built for racing, but it also eliminates a blocker. Rapacious One is pretty obvious. Finally, Sarkhan the Mad is completely ridiculous here as he will have no shortage of things to turn into dragons.

Cornerstones:

The Eldrazi are playable here because you will often be able to ramp to them, and honestly it is worth it to sac your tokens for those guys. Brood Birthing and Spawning Breath are both fine here, although I like them less in this archetype than I do in other token archetypes. The enablers are all also pretty obvious -- Lavafume Invoker, Raid Bombardment, Magmaw, Pennon Blade and Hellion Eruption, which I for some reason forgot to mention last week. That card is ridiculous in a token deck. Essence Feed makes a bunch of tokens and works pretty well with the deck because the life drain can actually matter. That said, it's still not exactly a super exciting card. The same goes for Soulsurge Elemental which can sometimes be awesome but is also really easy to remove. Tuktuk and Thought Gorger are both better here because you are more likely to be able to sac them at will. I really wouldn't play Thought Gorger anywhere else because it's such a blowout when it gets put on Guard Duty or put to sleep with Narcolepsy. Here, it's fine though. Battle-Rattle Shaman is nice here because it makes your small creatures more threatening. You really want to be saccing things to your vampire only when it will kill your opponent or save your vampire from combat/removal. The shaman means that you can actually do some real damage without having to sac things. It also shares synergy with Goblin Tunneler who is likewise good for getting your vampire through for lethal. Wrap in Flames serves much the same purpose, as well as helping you out against some cards that you are vulnerable to which I will discuss later. Mortician Beetle is awesome for obvious reasons. Last but most certainly not least we have Pawn of Ulamog, who is an absolute house in multiples. If you can get two or three of these guys on the board your vampires will become lethal VERY quickly -- and don't forget that you can sac guys to accelerate your mana at will using the vampire. 

Matchups:

Generally speaking I can't comment on what matchups are especially good or bad for this deck. As I've already discussed it is pretty resilient to decks that rely on one big threat. Also, it's obviously weak against cards like Shrivel which disrupt your tokens. Consume the Meek is possibly the card you least want to see because it not only kills all your tokens but it also kills your Bloodthrone Vampire. Beyond those obvious ones, two cards that you really need to watch out for are Smite and Regress. This deck can sometimes really beat itself in combat, and I can think of several games in which I blew out an B/R token opponent using this strategy. Basically they attack with their vampire and you block it with everything you have. They then sac most if not all of their board to kill your creatures and you simply Smite or Regress the vampire, completely wrecking your opponent. Other combat tricks can achieve a similar effect by throwing your math off at the last minute or by granting an unexpected deathtouch to kill your vampire anyway. It's nice to have insurance against this in the form of instant speed removal. But that still doesn't help you against the original two problem cards. What CAN help you is playing the game in such a way as to minimize this risk. This goal can be achieved in two different ways. One is to never allow your opponent to build up enough of a board to threaten your vampire in the first place. Playing this strategy will require a lot of removal, however! The other way is to get your opponent by using falter effects or unblockability. Often times your opponent will build up a board and then leave up enough mana for the key trick, hoping you will walk into it. Just don't walk into it -- walk under it with Goblin Tunneler or around it with Wrap in Flames. Since some of the decks that have access to these two cards are going to be generally light on removal, the tunneler strategy can work especially well.

Other problematic cards include defensive creatures like Ikiral Outrider, Halimar Wavewatch and Bala Ged Scorpion, the last of which is a pretty good card for you to use against the first two. All of these creatures can generate card advantage for your opponent by forcing you to lose multiple tokens/creatures to get rid of them unless you have removal. Lust for War really shines against the last two, but is really bad against the outrider. That said, the outrider is also easier to kill before it levels up. The leveler deck can be dangerous against you as it can actually race you effectively and present both Smite and Regress. If I had to guess, I'd say that's your worst matchup unless you have an absolute ton of removal.

So that leaves the question about how to draft this deck. More so than other decks, I think that this archetype is one that you should draft opportunistically unless you truly love token strategies. You start off with removal and bombs (obviously). If you start seeing a lot of token producers and token enablers then you can consider this as a possible archetype -- but what you really want to see are the vampires. If you can't get those, then this deck loses a LOT of its luster. Without the vampire, I'd much rather be drafting a different token archetype (or a different deck altogether). The removal-first base allows you to potentially go into several other decks, most notably the U/x Mnemonic Wall archetype if the vampires don't come. So basically, I don't really go into this deck unless I see some vampires late in pack 1. In that respect, it's a lot like the Aura Gnarlid decks. Luckily, unlike the Aura Gnarlid decks this deck is a little more flexible in what you can bail into if it doesn't work out.

Next week, I'll roll out the U/R and B/R Kiln Fiend archetypes!