A lot of tokens will run Elspeth, Knight-Errant .

You can also add a sword to make your tokens really good. Maybe Sword of Fire and Ice ?

I initially took our the Elspeth for Trade value, and I think that i'll be keeping her out because I really don't see a need for her with what I'll be playing against.

My expected meta is Little Zoo, 8rack, UWR All-in Twin, Melira Pod, Affinity, Mortarpod Zombies, the occasional GR Tron, and the occasional jank brew. None of these are all that board-wipy save Tron, so I don't really see the need for a resilient token generator.

As for the sword, I don't really like the idea of putting a target on one of my tokens and have an ineffective sword lying around every turn (lot of targetted removal). I took the sword out initially for trade value as well, and I think i'm also going to be keeping it out because I just don't see the effectiveness.

The sword grants protection so you won't have that many problems. It allows you to actually end the game instead of durdling around in the late game and having difficulty. It provides card draw which is really important (this deck has none) and just does extra damage.

The problem with tokens is that it just does very little a lot of the time and all the extra firepower you can get is well appreciated.

I mean you don't HAVE to use the sword but it's well advised to swing with like a 5/5 token that can't be blocked by blue stuff instead of like a 3/3 token. You'll win faster, the token won't die to Lightning Bolt AND you'll get cards - which you need.

I've seen tokens run like 4x Dark Confidant for reference on the card draw issue.

Totally derped, forgot that swords gave protection...

Fire/ice seems good, but what do you think of war/peace? I ask strictly because it's much more easily accessible. I could always just put the feast/famine back in as well. But what to take out? an anthem?

What about a couple Brave the Elements ? An army of unblockable creatures sounds good to me. Also, I'd rather run 4 Raise the Alarm and 3 Gather the Townsfolk simply because of the instant speed.

No Hero of Bladehold ??

Throw in bromaz and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

I'd appreciate some reasoning behind card choices, as well as what to potentially take out when putting in suggested cards, thanks!

(Just assume that I have no idea what i'm doing with this decklist)

Raise the Alarm is instant speed which makes it very good.

Don't use Sword of Feast and Famine - it's the weakest. Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of War and Peace are the best here.

Bromaz is way, way, way too slow and does basically nothing for you.

Hero of Bladehold isn't as good as Elspeth. She does nothing on turns she's played and she has to attack to do anything - at which point shes vulnerable to being squashed by blockers.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is SOMETIMES played because he buffs up your creatures and produces tokens. However Elspeth is played far more often because she provides a buff that instead of decreasing loyalty, actually increases it (which is stupidly powerful).

Brave the Elements can provide a sudden win against certain types of decks (hatebears I guess), but your biggest threat in the format isn't other creatures (I mean your tokens are fliers which automatically means you don't care about like 90% of other creatures), it's things like Maelstrom Pulse which is like lol no more tokens. Or Drown in Sorrow or Anger of the Gods . The only card that Brave the Elements helps with is Anger of the Gods because protection means you can't be damaged.

Also - 24 lands probably isn't needed in a deck that curves out at 4cmc.

The biggest problem I have with this deck as it stands is that it has no card that just sits there and produces tokens all day. I know that a lot of top 8 pro decks don't..... but it makes me feel uncomfortable. However none of the decks in your meta seem like they'll blow you out the water with board clear (because you didnt mention jund or rock being present - I assume no Anger of the Gods and I assume no Maelstrom Pulse ) and therefore perhaps you don't need that permanent token source.

Your meta seems fast with zoo, all-in twin, affinity and pod. Therefore I would recommend no sword, no elspeth, no 4-drops etc, but PERHAPS (for pod and zoo) Mirran Crusader in the side.

Hero of Bladehold should actually go in.
1) It continually makes soldier tokens
2) It has Battle Cry

That's utterly irrelevant.

Most decks don't care bout continuous token sources and if they did Elspeth is the better choice.

Battle cry isn't a fantastic mechanic on hero of bladehold because it switches on T5 and forces you to swing in with her (which you may now want to do). Again, Elspeth does buffs in a way that doesn't lead to her getting killed AND does it a turn earlier.

It's besides the point - the meta he's playing against doesnt demand either. Although if he did want a battlecry card (which he doesn't because you know Intangible Virtue and Honor of the Pure do it better) Accorder Paladin would be a nice early game boost, given that you want it to do something before T5.

I agree with the argument against Hero.

However, I think that a stable permanent producer would be good for the SB, in which case I think that Sorin is my good choice. It helps in racing situations; I don't necessarily need to use Elspeth's buff in those scenarios because of the sheer amount of anthems i'm playing. I'm also more convinced to use Sorin because his ultimate is just better for my meta. Not that i'll use it too often, but I like having the option.

I'll keep both the Elspeth and the Sorin on hand though, and switch between them as I play the deck more.

Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Hero of Bladehold are great In b/w tokens. Where's xzzane when you need him.

He only runs a single bromaz. Both he and bladehold ure undeniably slow and clunky.

To be fair tokens is a really varied deck. You'll see some running only tidehollow sculler. You'll see some with 4 bromaz and 4 bladehold. You'll see some with no planeswalkers. Some with elspeth and sorin. Some with only 1. It's one of those decks where you can run a wide variety of things.

Agreed. It's essentially a toolbox archetype that can adapt to every scenario / playstyle. I'm much more of an attrition player, so I don't like the huge buffs that, say, Elspeth provides. Others prefer an all-in beat-em-up style and run the Hero and Mirran Crusader with fewer anthems.

I would urge green heavy metas to play m crusader. He's such a devastating card for beat down pod, zoo, and primeval titan tron to deal with.

Tokens can vary incredibly. I know a guy who runs Mirran Crusader with the swords and another one that runs no creatures at all. The most important thing in b/w tokens is control though. Ok, cut your anthems down to just 4-5. Brimaz or hero are optional. I used to run hero, and she was mazing when she survived, but she got hit by a path quite frequently. I replced her with elspeth. I know a lot about tokens and all the variants, so I can tailor my advice dependin on your meta. Back to our deck, you need more control. Tidehollow Sculler and Inquisition of Kozilek are both good. Also, i just briefly skimmed over te comments, but never include bob. Spectral Procession makes him nearly suicidal. What is your local meta like? You can take a look at my deck Swarm and Conquer V 2.0 for ideas. I'll explain each card choice in depth if needed. It may take a few days for me to get back though. Currently on a cruise that charges 75 cents a minute for wifi. Thank god for jewelry stores in Honduras.

On a side note, ive been giving some thought into replacing brimaz for Gather the Townsfolk

Depending on the meta, I like Midnight Haunting over Gather the Townsfolk . While against zoo I'd rather have the townsfolk, midnight haunting is fantastic against control and affinity, and is better in late game. And looking at your meta, the only fast decks that seems like a big threat is zoo, twin is, at least for my build, my best matchup.

HorrorAvengers

I'm not really a fan of having Lingering Souls 5-8. I'd rather have a variance between my token names to help combat Bile Blight and Maelstrom Pulse . That's the biggest reasoning behind favoring Gather. It's also a 2 drop to help mitigate the overabundance of 3 drops that the deck runs. I agree that it's really good against control, but I really don't have any control to fear. I mean, there's all-in twin, but that one is pretty lackluster against me.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Is there value in running Ajani Goldmane over Sorin? The biggest upside I see to Sorin is his emblems stick around after a boardwipe. That being said, I have a real appreciation for the vigilance, even if it's only temporary.

I don't really see the value there. I mean, sure he's good for a one time boost, but after that he just eats a lightning bolt. At that point, you may as well be playing Righteous Charge . With sorin, you get a permanent bonus so you haven't wasted a turn if you don't get the kill.

At that point it's a card for a card that gave all your creatures a pump.

But yes, I think the permanent power boost vs the 1 toughness would be the deciding factor. Both walkers are just as much of removal magnets when you're looking at drawing out Lightning Bolt s

Take a look at my Orzhov Tokens 2.0. Raise the alarm is much better than gather the townsfolk

MagicMatt13

Yes, that has been established and I have made the changes accordingly. Thanks though.