Goal: Create lots of token creatures with cards like Lingering Souls and buff them to create an overwhelming army of creatures to win the game.
Token Generators (13): 3x Spectral Procession, 4x Lingering Souls, 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion, 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant, 1x Westvale Abbey
, and 4x Angel of Invention. When embalmed, Anointer Priest makes itself a token, so it is somewhat of a token generator as well. Westvale Abbey
is the worst of the bunch, but makes up for its poor token generation with its sacrifice ability. The main combo I'm looking for with the token generators is playing Honor of the Pure or Intangible Virtue on turn 2, then playing either Spectral Procession or Lingering Souls on turn 3 to get some 2/2 flyers onto the battlefield.
Token Beneficiaries (5): 1x Westvale Abbey
, 2x Anointer Priest, and 2x Anointed Procession. Westvale Abbey
is essentially just a card that, if I top deck it, great, I can sacrifice my tokens to it and hopefully win the game with a huge flyer, but if not, it's not a large part of the strategy. Anointer Priest obviously gains me life, and Anointed Procession doubles all tokens created so they kind of synergize with each other.
Token (Creature) Buffs (11): 1x Vault of the Archangel, 4x Intangible Virtue, 2x Honor of the Pure, and each planeswalker in the deck. Similar to Westvale Abbey
, Vault of the Archangel is simply a card that is nice when I top deck it, but not necessary to the overall strategy of the deck. Intangible Virtue and Honor of the Pure essentially do the same thing in this deck, except the former targets every creature but my legitimate creatures while the latter targets every creature in the deck besides the token that Sorin, Solemn Visitor can create with his minus ability. Speaking of planeswalkers, each of these have at least one ability that strengthens my token army. Elspeth, Knight-Errant's second plus ability can give a ground or already airborne creature flying and give it a boost in both power and toughness while Elspeth, Sun's Champion's ultimate should get me pretty darn close to closing out the game. Sorin, Solemn Visitor's plus ability can give the flying spirit tokens an attacking edge and gain me a bit of life.
The Rest (12): 4x Path to Exile, 4x Inquisition of Kozilek, 2x Dismember, 1x Ghost Quarter, and 1xShambling Vent. Path to Exile, Dismember, and Inquisition of Kozilek are the single target removal cards in the mainboard and are fairly self explanatory in terms of how they're used in the deck. Path to Exile gets rid of creatures in the early game giving me time to play my token generators while Inquisition of Kozilek gets rid of early game threats my opponents can play. Dismember is just another creature removal spell and gets rid of most creatures for a low cost if needed. Ghost Quarter is in the mainboard as a "pre-installed" solution to decks that rely on influential lands. Shambling Vent acts as a dual land when I need it, but can also be a solid body with lifelink when I have mana open if I need an extra blocker or attacker in combat.
Sideboard Explanation: Fulminator Mage is there to side in against Urza Tron or any other type of deck that relies on having its non-basic lands on the battlefield. Oblivion Ring deals with any large threats that prove large enough, if only temporarily. Rest in Peace deals with Dredge and other graveyard shenanigans. Shadow of Doubt is good against Nahiri-Emrakul combo decks and is a way to interrupt fetch-and-shock combos. Slaughter Pact can be sided in for Dismember in matchups where my opponent is playing creatures too big to deal with using Dismember. Solemnity is my solution to infect and other counter-based strategies that I could potentially come up against. Stony Silence deals with any decks with artifacts that have activated abilities that really need to be dealt with (like Aether Vial). Timely Reinforcements is my response to burn and Wrath of God comes in against decks that flood the board with creatures quicker than I do and decks that have hexproof-protected creatures (Bogles, for example).
Area of Help: My token generators only come out on turn 3 at the earliest, and I was wondering if there was any worthwhile method of getting them out as early as turn 2? Or is it just something I have to deal with with this deck? Any other general advice would help as well. Also, when play-testing, I tend to get land-flooded, so is 24 lands too much or am I just getting unlucky with my draws? Thanks for the help.
