The Holidays are underway, and who better to invite to your festivities than some of the strongest Magic creatures in the game? The only problem is that their cards have too high of a mana cost for being only a single party guest. So, in order to spread the battlefield cheer, how about we bring some token’s instead? These cards allow you to call forth a large amount of creatures to celebrate any number of festivities. So, let’s check out some neat token creation cards just in time for any New Years party.
Creatures
Ajani’s Chosen: For decks that use a multitude of enchantments, Ajani’s Chosen allows for some quick invites to a few festive cat tokens. Try paring this card with Idyllic Tutor and Enlightened Tutor in order to get out your party supplies for your guests.
Akroan Horse: This Trojan Horse allows for guests to show up at not only your own parties, but also your friend’s parties! This makes a huge wall of guests for any one of your friends to use. What a perfect gift! Just make sure that they don’t use something like Akroan Horse to block your guests from gate crashing their party.
Ant Queen/Heliod, God of the Sun/Sliver Queen: These buggy beauties, and Heliod, can bring forth their children (or followers in Heliod’s case) in order to maximize the amount of guests at your party. Simply pay a small amount of mana each turn in order to invite even more guests.
Avenger of Zendikar: Have a bunch of lands? Well, then Avenger of Zendikar is the creature for you. This card will call in a guest for each land you control. Also, if you add another land to the party supplies, he’ll raise the hype of all your newly acquired plant tokens by giving them +1/+1. Talk about a two for one deal!
Blaze Commando: Running a burn deck or just enjoy Lighting Bolt? Blaze Commando will call all his friends over to watch the carnage of your enemies. Sure the idea is a little bleak, but it’ll definitely bring tons of guests to your party. Not to mention, your new guests have haste, so they can bring the party as soon as they bust through your door.
Bloodline Keeper: A violent, but effective token generator for your party. Once per turn, simply tap Bloondline Keeper in order to obtain a new vampiric guest. Bloodline Keeper will even transform out of excitement once you have five or more vampires at your celebration.
Boggart Mob: Another crazy guest to liven up your party. By partying even harder, you’ll bring even more goblins to brighten up your festivities. Just know that you’ll have to temporarily kick another goblin out of your party for Boggart Mob to have a good time.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos: Similar to Boggart Mob, this creature can call guests to your festivities each time it attacks. Brimaz, King of Oreskos, can also call guests whenever he blocks as well. Just remember that the tokens he creates are only 1/1’s and are forced to attack and block respectively, so make sure that they don’t die.
Brood Sliver: Similar to Sliver Queen, this card can call sliver guests to your party. However, Brood Sliver can only create tokens by dealing combat damage instead of by using mana or just attacking in general.
Captain of the Watch/Siege-Gang Commander: Not only does Captain of the Watch bring in three extra guests, she also gives them all a nice +1/+1 and vigilance in order for the best party you can have. Siege-Gang commander also brings in three guests, just make sure he doesn’t drive away all of your other goblin guests by hurdling them at opposing parties.
Dragonlair Spider/Young Pyromancer: Dragonlair Spider allows you to bring in a guest for every single spell your opponent tries to cast. This guarantees that your party will always be livelier than your opponent’s. Young Pyromancer is a bit different, he brings in guests to your party for each instant or sorcery spell that you cast. Both can really make your holiday festivities exciting.
Emeria Angel/Rampaging Baloths: Landfall is a neat ability, and this version of it will bring in party guests like crazy for each land that you play. Lands are common, and these cards can make sure that drawing a land is never a dead draw.
Hornet Queen: Tired of irritating creatures trying to crash your party? Hornet Queen is the best bouncer for you. She can effectively call her minions over to sting anyone who tries to sneak into your party. Remember, they all have deathtouch, so they can effectively eliminate any guests you don’t want.
Mycoloth: Allowing Mycoloth to eat one of your other guests can allow even more guests to show up. Eating a creature even powers this creature up, so you gain a huge amount of tokens along with an effective beater in order to keep others from crashing your party.
Oona, Queen of the Fae: By supporting her with some infinite mana combos, you can run opposing parties dry. Another way to use her is to mill your opponent for a small amount in order to create a vast amount of faerie tokens. These faeries can quickly swarm your party, while also removing your opponent’s resources from their library.
Enchantments
Angelic Accord: Life gain decks have their pros and cons, but Angelic Accord is definitely one of the pros. If you gain enough life in one turn you can invite some neat Angels to your party to lighten up your festivities. Gaining four life can be difficult for some decks however, so be sure to only run this card if you know you can easily gain a multitude of life for multiple turns in a row.
Assemble the Legion/Awakening Zone/Bitterblossom/Breeding Pit/Call of the Bloodline: Even though each of these cards have a different cost, they all bring a guest to your party each turn. Assemble the Legion will bring in more human guests each turn; Awakening Zone will bring in guests that will sacrifice themselves in order for you to buy more party supplies; Bitterblossom will create a faerie at the cost of some life; Breeding Pit needs some mana to be paid or it will be destroyed; And Call of the Bloodline requires a discard and some mana. All of these enchantments are truly effective for getting guests to your party.
Bridge from Below: With Leyline of the Void, this card is protected from being removed from your party, so be sure to run one in your deck. This party platter also pairs well with dredge decks, as they slip your guests into the graveyard in order to create a giant zombie party to celebrate the holidays.
Goblinslide: Have some extra mana after casting all of your party supplies? Get in some goblin guests for an extra mana. They can be highly effective and pair well with other goblin cards that require you to sacrifice goblins, like Siege-Gang Commander.
Instants
Arachnogenisis/Flurry of Wings: Need to block attacking creatures from breaking into your celebration? These cards will be the perfect fit. Both bring in guests for the holiday cheer equal to the amount of creatures trying to crash your party, so you can block out all of those pesky, unwanted guests. Also, arachnogenisis prevents all combat damage by non-spider creatures, so no need to worry about your opponent getting rid of your guests.
Artifact Mutation/Aura Mutation: Not only do these cards rid your enemies of their party supplies, but they also bring in guests to your celebration. Talk about a two for one!
White Sun’s Zenith: If you have a plentiful amount of mana, this card can call out a large amount of cats to your celebration. Also, White Sun’s Zenith shuffles itself back into your library in order to reuse this call of fluffy goodness.
Sorceries
Army of the Dammed/Battle Screech/Increasing Devotion: Not only do these cards produce guests for your party, but they can be reused from the graveyard. Be sure to take advantage of these reusable toke generators.
Beacon of Creation: Similar to White Sun’s Zenith, you can shuffle this card after you use it back into your library. Beacon of Creation brings in an insect to your party for each forest you control. These bugs will definitely liven up the event.
Captain’s Call: A mini Captain of the Watch. You get the three soldiers for your party, but you miss out on the bonuses that Captain of the Watch gives. Still a good card overall with quick token creation.
Conqueror’s Pledge: Twelve tokens is a great swarm tactic, especially if you can get them all out at once. If you can’t pay the kicker cost, you can still get six out for a great battlefield party.
Entreat the Angels/Gelatinous Genesis/Goblin Offensive/Martial Coup: Each of these spells have X in their mana cost. If you have a large amount of mana, you can bring a huge wave of guests to your party. Entreat the Angels even has a miracle cost, so if you get it first you can cast it for cheap. Martial Coup is another cool one, as it can also ruin your opponent’s party while boosting yours.
Storm Herd: Life gain decks, or just having a lot of life in general, can make Storm Herd a disastrous monstrosity that stampedes over your opponent’s guests. Just make sure you can get to the ten mana required to cast it, because having twenty or more tokens in one single burst can be extremely overwhelming for your opponents.
Tempt With Vengeance: Similar to the X cost spells we discussed earlier, Tempt With Vengeance will bring in a large amount of guests for your party. Your friends can even acquire their own guests, but every time that they do, you gain an even livelier party!
In Conclusion
Overall, token creatures can be incredibly overwhelming for your opponents, especially if you have a multitude of different boosts in order to strengthen them all individually. Make sure you run artifact destruction in order to get rid of Ghostly Prison and Crawlspace so that you can rush all your party guests to your opponent in one fell swoop. Additionally, cards like Anointed Procession can double the amount of tokens that you are able to invite to your celebration. Tokens can be easy to create and are effective for swarming you battlefield, so be sure to utilize them in any aggro decks that you want to play.
Have you ever played any token decks? Are you doing anything fun for the holidays? Be sure to leave any comments, suggestions, and concerns below!