Can't Catch Me, I'm the GingerBant Man! [Primer]

Commander / EDH Evoke GWU (Bant) Populate Tokens

Tsukimi

Creature (46)

• 1x AEthersnipe
• 1x Adrix and Nev, Twincasters
• 1x Aether Channeler
• 1x Auton Soldier
• 1x Aven Wind Guide
• 1x Benevolent Bodyguard
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Blade Splicer
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Chittering Dispatcher
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Curiosity Crafter
• 1x Darksteel Splicer
• 1x Dauntless Escort
• 1x Druid of Purification
• 1x Earthshaker Giant
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Foundation Breaker
• 1x Garruk's Packleader
• 1x Glasspool Mimic  ^Flip
• 1x Harmonious Archon
• 1x Illustrious Wanderglyph
• 1x Inspiring Overseer
• 1x Kudo, King Among Bears
• 1x Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
• 1x Mondrak, Glory Dominus
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Nesting Dovehawk
• 1x Noble Hierarch
• 1x Nulldrifter
• 1x Ocelot Pride
• 1x Oltec Matterweaver
• 1x Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Reef Worm
• 1x Risen Reef
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sandstorm Salvager
• 1x Selfless Spirit
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Solitude
• 1x Urza, Prince of Kroog
• 1x Wayfaring Temple
• 1x Wing Splicer
• 1x Wood Elves

Land (35)

• 1x Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Emeria, Shattered Skyclave  ^Flip
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 7x Forest
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Grove of the Guardian
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Hengegate Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x High Market
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 3x Island
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 4x Plains
• 1x Rejuvenating Springs
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Spara's Headquarters
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Windswept Heath

Artifact (2)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Birthing Pod

Commander (1)

Instant (6)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Rootborn Defenses
• 1x Sundering Growth

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Birthing Ritual
• 1x Fanatical Devotion
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Neoform
• 1x Promise of Loyalty
• 1x Three Visits

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Maybeboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Amphin Mutineer
• 1x Angel of Invention
• 1x Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1x Wild Beastmaster

Artifact (1)

• 1x Thought Vessel

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Aggressive Biomancy
• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x For the Common Good
• 1x Organic Extinction

Instant (2)

• 1x Clever Concealment
• 1x Scapegoat

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The Bant token/populate/copy commander I have been waiting over a decade for! I have had a Bant populate deck for a long time, and its never had a true commander - Until now! Not only is Brenard, Ginger Sculptor an excellent fit for this archetype, but we also get little gingerbread versions of our creatures! Win win.

I am not very great at formatting so I don't have fancy accordion tabs but all sections will have titles, feel free skip down to Gameplay if you'd like!

The Deck

Bant is PERFECT for token shenanigans! Clones, copying creatures into tokens, Populate, Embalm, Encore, Myriad, I could go on! Many of our creatures have ETB effects that are doubled when we make token copies of them. We have access to all of the best token doublers like Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Parallel Lives, Adrix and Nev, Twincasters, and Anointed Procession. So not only can we make token copies of nearly anything, but usually we can make two or more of them!

The (Ginger)Bread and Butter of this deck is Versatility!

With so much variety, each game feels new and fun and the deck has a very nonlinear playstyle, copy your creatures, sometimes copy other player's creatures, and make all kinds of tokens. Brenard also allows us a new strategy for tokens: Sacrifice and Birthing pod effects so that we are not reliant on blocking for Brenard's token trigger.

The Gameplan

As I've mentioned, Brenard is a Thirsty (Hungry??) Man and he wants as many creatures as possible. Ramp? Creatures. Removal? Creatures. You see where I am going? If we can get Brenard out and keep him out, all of our triggers from creatures are essentially doubled (And that's without any token doublers or populate abilities). Instead of traditional ramp, we have quite a few mana dorks and then cards like Wood Elves and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Instead of more traditional removal we have options like Skyclave Apparition and Solitude etc.

In your opening hand you want at least 2-3 lands, one source of ramp, and one target for Brenard's ability. Cards like Selfless Spirit and Dauntless Escort have proven to be very strong so far, because the can come out before Brenard, protect your board state, have their own sac triggers, and then you can copy them into tokens upon death (which can be doubled or populated for even more shenanigans).

Having access to Birthing Pod and similar effects from cards like Neoform and Eldritch Evolution works perfectly for a deck full of creatures with ETB triggers and allows us to use Brenard like a Toolbox commander. Our creatures are our ramp, card draw, removal, etc. On that note Evoke is particularly strong here - Cards like Mulldrifter, Foundation Breaker, and Solitude basically give us two triggers AND a token copy for less mana when Brenard is out, what's not to love?

In addition to all this value, as long as Brenard is on the board our Food Golem tokens are all effectively 3/3's with trample, which goes a long way with our fliers and other cheap creatures. Aven Wind Guide and Wing Splicer give all of our tokens and golems flying respectively, and Darksteel Splicer makes all of our golem tokens indestructible. Copying Darksteel Splicer isn't very hard with this deck either. Meanwhile Harmonious Archon, Kudo, King Among Bears, Earthshaker Giant, act as pump effects for our many 1/1 tokens.

So your goal is to ramp into one or two decent copy targets for tokens, get Brenard out, (and hopefully a sac outlet but this isn't necessary) and start making token copies of your toolbox creatures. If you do have any of the Pod Effect cards, search for one of your token doublers Adrix and Nev, Twincasters or Mondrak, Glory Dominus as soon as you can for extra fun and value.

Feedback Brings me Untold Joy

I have been working on a version or another of this deck for over a decade. It's my favorite deck and I have seen little to no decks like this, so I take a fair deal of pride in it. I love and value all forms of feedback, thoughts, card suggestions, etc. so don't hesitate to drop a comment.

If you've read all this.... Thanks! And Upvotes are always appreciated for those who enjoy the deck! I'm going to keep working on it and hopefully I can make it the number 1 primer for Brenard and Bant Tokens!

Top Ranked	Achieved #3 position overall 1 year ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH 1 year ago
Date added	1 year
Last updated	2 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.34
Tokens	Angel Warrior 4/4 W, Aven Wind Guide 2/3 W, Beast 3/3 G, Bird 1/1 W, Cat 1/1 W, City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Elemental 8/8 GW, Fish 3/3 U, Gnome 1/1 C, Golem 3/3 C, Human 1/1 W, Illusion */* U, Kraken 9/9 U, Phyrexian Golem 3/3 C, Soldier, Treasure, Whale 6/6 U
Folders	EDH Try, TTS Decks, Deck inspirations/Favorites, Build, Commander