Tokens Deck Tech: How the Archetype Works and Wins in Commander

Token decks win by width. Efficient token makers, anthems, and doublers turn modest spells into armies, and the army either attacks through blockers or feeds sacrifice and convoke payoffs. This deck tech walks through the archetype's core pieces using real cards, so you can build, upgrade, or play against it with your eyes open.

Core pieces, in real cards

Intangible Virtue (mana cost {1}{W}; Enchantment; rarity: uncommon; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Innistrad Remastered): Creature tokens you control get +1/+1 and have vigilance. Anointed Procession (mana cost {3}{W}; Enchantment; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Amonkhet): If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead. Mondrak, Glory Dominus (mana cost {2}{W}{W}; Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Horror; 4/4; rarity: mythic; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Phyrexia: All Will Be One): If one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many of those tokens are created instead.
{1}{W/P}{W/P}, Sacrifice two other artifacts and/or creatures: Put an indestructible counter on Mondrak. ({W/P} can be paid with either {W} or 2 life.)

Notice what those cards have in common: each one either advances the plan by itself or multiplies a teammate. That is the test for every slot in the archetype — a card that only works when everything else is already working is a win-more card, and win-more cards are where cuts come from.

Build and check your list with the MTGBrew AI deck builder, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew card database on MTGBrew.

How the games actually play out

The wins rarely come from a single spectacular play. They come from the deck doing its ordinary thing one turn earlier than the table expects, then doing it again while opponents are still setting up. Build for that ordinary game first: enough lands to make your drops, enough ramp to reach your commander on schedule, and enough card flow that a removal spell pointed at your best permanent slows you down instead of ending you.

If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Lightning Greaves vs Swiftfoot Boots: Which Equipment Does Your Commander Deck Want? — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.

Keep reading

Keep reading: Lightning Greaves vs Swiftfoot Boots: Which Equipment Does Your Commander Deck Want? and Chulane, Teller of Tales Commander Guide: How the Deck Actually Wins.

Tuning the list

Mind the curve before you mind the highlights. Count how many plays the deck has on each of the first four turns, and be honest about hands that do nothing until turn five. One cheaper role-player often improves a deck more than one expensive splash, because games are decided by who starts playing first as often as by who plays biggest.

When you are ready to build your own version, start from a budget you are comfortable with and hold the line on it — the builder at MTGBrew's AI deck builder treats your budget as a hard rule, which is exactly how a real brew should behave.