Tokens

Token decks focus on creating a large number of token creatures to overwhelm their opponents. Token strategies often take the form of aggro decks, using a high density of creatures, commonly paired with effects that increase their power, to defeat enemies with combat damage.

Token decks are most commonly centered in decks that include the colors white and green.

## **Popular Cards & Commanders**

**Popular cards used in token decks include:**

* Doubling Season
* Anointed Procession
* Parallel Lives
* Rootborn Defenses
* Second Harvest

**Popular token commanders include:**

* Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
* Ghired, Conclave Exile
* Rhys, the Redeemed
* Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer
* Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun

## **Strategy**

Token decks seek to create creature tokens to overpower their opponents in combat. Because token-producing cards can create a large number of tokens for a low cost, this can allow tokens players to spend very few cards and resources to establish a much larger board presence than their enemies. Token decks often contain a mixture of cards that create tokens, cards that duplicate tokens, and finishers that help their tokens take down opponents, either by increasing their power or making them hard to block..

### **Token Makers**

Token decks are able to produce tokens in a variety of ways:
* **One-Shot:** One-time effects that create many tokens can be a quick and powerful way for token decks to establish a board presence. Cards of this type include Avenger of Zendikar, Storm Herd, Myr Battlesphere, March of the Multitudes, Advent of the Wurm, Artifact Mutation, Hour of Glory, or Martial Coup.

* **Gradual:** Token decks may also use effects that consistently create tokens over time, though not always at controllable intervals, or with some limits on the number of tokens that can be created each turn. Examples of such cards include Tendershoot Dryad, Dragonlair Spider, Rampaging Baloths, Progenitor Mimic, Faerie Artisans, Hanweir Garrison, and Emmara, Soul of the Accord.

* **Repeatable:** Some token decks will prefer to make use of token creation effects that can be used at will, often with a repeatable activated ability. Cards of this type include Luminarch Ascension, Ghave, Guru of Spores, Mimic Vat, and Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage. Cards such as Thopter Assembly may also be included among this type.

* **Token Duplication:** Token decks rarely rely just on cards that create their own tokens. Token decks often utilize cards that help increase the number of tokens their token-making cards will produce, or else will duplicate tokens they already have in play. Cards such as Doubling Season, Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives, Rhys the Redeemed, and Second Harvest are popular cards used for this purpose. The mechanic Populate can also be very useful for token decks to duplicate specific individual tokens. Cards such as Ghired, Conclave Exile, Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Sundering Growth, Rootborn Defenses, Growing Ranks, and Song of the Worldsoul are often used this way.

### **Pump/Evasion**

Once a token deck has assembled a large number of tokens, they commonly use effects that will make those tokens more powerful in combat often with 'anthems' (cards that provide a power and toughness boost to each creature). Common pump effects used in token decks include Craterhoof Behemoth, Overwhelming Stampede, Conclave's Blessing, Intangible Virtue, Cathars' Crusade, Triumph of the Hordes, and Beastmaster Ascension. Alternatively, the tokens can be made more efficient by avoiding combat and injuring your opponents directly, using cards like Aven Wind Guide, Archetype of Imagination, Champion of Lambholt or War Cadence
## **Tall vs. Wide**

Token decks must often choose between going 'tall' (creating a small number of extremely powerful tokens) and going 'wide' (creating a very large number of much smaller tokens). For instance, a card like Desolation Twin can create a 10/10 token, where a card like Storm Herd can create many 1/1 tokens.

Token decks that elect to go tall and create larger tokens most commonly make use of abilities such as Populate, to duplicate specific tokens for a low mana investment.

Token decks that elect to go wide and create many smaller tokens more commonly make use of doubling effects such as Second Harvest to exponentially increase their numbers. These decks are also more likely to use mass pump effects such as Conclave Blessing to increase the power of their large army.

## **Tokens as a Subtheme**

Many decks may use tokens as a subtheme to advance their strategies, often relying upon the token-making cards to produce a large number of creatures on the field. Aristocrats decks, for instance, may use a large number of token-producing cards to acquire a high number of death triggers, and Tribal decks may use tokens of a specific creature type to increase the potency of their tribal synergies.

## **Strengths and Weakness**

### **Strengths**

* Token decks are quick to establish a large number of creatures that can easily overwhelm an opponent with combat damage. Slower strategies may struggle against token decks if they take too much time to establish their primary game plans.

* Token decks commonly assemble more creatures than opponents are able to successfully block during combat, making them exceptionally difficult even for extremely defensive enemies.

* Token decks spend very few cards to create a large number of game pieces on the battlefield, and often can continue to produce additional creatures over time. Tokens are typically very dispensable, so the token player is rarely set back by the loss of any specific creature on their battlefield.

### **Weaknesses**

* Token decks may struggle with specific defensive cards like Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, and Crawlspace, which stymie their ability to attack profitably during the combat step.

* Token decks are vulnerable to mass removal effects that will destroy their creatures, often resulting in a major setback that requires the token player to completely reestablish their board, which can be difficult if they no longer have access to token-making spells and abilities.

* Cards that duplicate tokens, such as Populate spells, are often useless if the token player does not have any tokens in play, often lowering the efficacy of the token players' nontoken cards.

## *Tokens in various colors*

EDH is known for unusual deckbrewing, and while any color can produce tokens, each plays differently. See below for a brief primer on what each color has to offer:

**White offers**: White is known for small non-evasive tokens in large numbers, and many anthem options. It offers a token-doubler in the form of Anointed Procession, excellent token protection in cards like Rootborn Defenses, Teferi's Protection and Guardian of Faith, as well as one sided board wipes in Fell the Mighty, Hour of Reckoning, Martial Coup and Phyrexian Rebirth. White however suffers from a lack of card draw
**Blue offers**: Blue's most common token types generally involve small creatures with flying, although it has been known to make large tokens with cards like Metallurgic Summons and Ominous Seas. Blue has fewer anthem effects than most colors and may need to lean on it's artifact tutoring to find equivalents such as Obelisk of Urd or Dragon Throne of Tarkir or use evasion effects like Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive or Archetype of Imagination. Blue has virtually no token protection, relying on indestructible effects like Eldrazi Monument and Soul of New Phyrexia or creature replacement such as Synthetic Destiny or Spawning Pit.
**Black offers**: Black commonly makes Zombie tokens, although there are a few kinds it can make with less regularity. Consequently, most of it's Anthems are tribal based, such as Undead Warchief, Cemetery Reaper & Captivating Vampire, but does have access to a few evasion effects such as Cover of Darkness and Lord of the Accursed. Black doesn't tend to protect it's tokens, though it does have Wail of the Nim and Dark Dabbling, normally instead replacing them using effects like Dark Prophecy, Liliana, Dreadhorde General or Undead Augur.
**Red offers**: Red is known for small non-evasive tokens in large numbers, normally Goblins. One of it's commanders, Krenko, Mob Boss can double these tokens repeatedly. It also gets excellent anthems such as Battle Cry Goblin, Shared Animosity and Fiery Emancipation. Red has the most trouble protecting it's tokens and providing evasion, relying on entirely on artifacts like Eldrazi Monument, Soul of New Phyrexia or Spawning Pit although it does have ability to tutor these cards.
**Green offers**: Green is best known for tokens, getting the ability to make lots of small non-evasive tokens as well as some quite large ones too, and also has three token doublers in Doubling Season, Parallel Lives or Primal Vigor. Green has ways to draw cards from it's creatures, protect them with cards like Heroic Intervention & Wrap in Vigor, or even replace them as they die with cards like Fresh Meat. Green however, is limited by a lack of mass removal, needing tom instead rely on effects like Nacatl War-Pride & Ezuri's Predation.
## **Compatible Sub-themes**

### **Aristocrats**

Tokens biggest weakness is having their creatures die... but Aristocrats LOVES having it's creatures die, and even often uses tools to generate tokens for itself.
**Example Cards:**Ogre Slumlord, Dark Prophecy, Spawning Pit
### **Tribal**

When producing lots of tokens, often they end up mostly the same creature type and it may not be much work to make them ALL the same creature type. Once this is the case, you can benefit from any of the cards designed to improve a tribal deck for that type (or cards designed to benefit any tribal deck)
**Example Cards:**Cryptbreaker, Cemetery Reaper
### **Superfriends**

Planeswalkers often need help defending themselves, which tokens can help with... while simultaneously, there are many planeswalker that can provide card draw or token generation to assist a token deck
**Example Cards:**Elspeth Sun's Champion, Garruk Wildspeaker, Dovin, Grand Arbiter
### **Stax**

The big disadvantage to Stax is it often lacks a fast way to end the game... Tokens can provide this. Tokens' weakness is that given enough time and resources your opponents can often find and cast a Board Wipe... Stax can often prevent THAT.
### **Land Destruction**

The big disadvantage to Land Destruction is it often lacks a fast way to end the game... Tokens can provide this. Tokens' weakness is that given enough time and resources your opponents can often find and cast a Board Wipe... Mass Land Destruction can prevent THAT.
### **-1/-1 Counters**

Despite the lack of obvious synergy, there are a number of ways to make tokens that can add -1/-1 counters, and ways of turning -1/-1 counters into more tokens or card draw
**Example Cards:** Blowfly Infestation, Everlasting Torment, Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, Corrosive Mentor, Phyrexian Swarmlord, Trigon of Infestation, Flourishing Defenses
**References:**

* EDHREC Tokens theme
* EDHREC Saproling Tokens theme
* EDHREC Populate theme
* Tokens tagged articles on EDHRec