This is a five color Commander deck that focuses on token production and control for a multiplayer environment. The goal is to win with either token swarm or with combo. It does this by using tokens as a resource for draw engines like Skullclamp and mana production like Phyrexian Altar.
Deck History
This deck actually started as a Ghave, Guru of Spores deck (found here) which I originally built to be a token/stax deck. This proved to be a bit unfun for my playgroup, so I removed most of the stax elements and it gradually became combo. Earthcraft and Doubling Season are great cards on their own, and I wish I could run them without the temptation of combo tugging at me each game. Unfortunately, I ended up winning with that combo whenever I could, simply because it was there. As you can imagine, this also proved to be a bit too competitive for most of my playgroup so I vowed to build a simpler deck, one without many of the tutors and without Earthcraft, a deck whose goal was to kill with tokens and not with combo.
Red had some good things to offer, especially with the release of Theros and Commander 2013. Cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge, Xenagos, the Reveler and Marath, Will of the Wild were great for token decks so I chose to build Naya, but I wanted all the tutors from black. This inspired me to make a four color token deck by splashing red but using Sliver Queen as my general, a deck which can be found here. After quite a lot of playing this version, the deck has proved good but not as good as it could be. While blue doesn't have any good interactions with tokens, it does have a lot to offer in terms of tutor and card draw, so I've decided to make this a full five-colored deck.
Decklist
I find it's easiest to understand the way a deck works when it's sorted by each card's function, but right now I just have it by card type. I'll have lists sorted in other ways soon when the deck stops changing.
Illustration by Ron Spencer
Introduction
This is a five color Commander deck that focuses on token production and control for a multiplayer environment. The goal is to win with either token swarm or with combo. It does this by using tokens as a resource for draw engines like Skullclamp and mana production like Phyrexian Altar.
Deck History
This deck actually started as a Ghave, Guru of Spores deck (found here) which I originally built to be a token/stax deck. This proved to be a bit unfun for my playgroup, so I removed most of the stax elements and it gradually became combo. Earthcraft and Doubling Season are great cards on their own, and I wish I could run them without the temptation of combo tugging at me each game. Unfortunately, I ended up winning with that combo whenever I could, simply because it was there. As you can imagine, this also proved to be a bit too competitive for most of my playgroup so I vowed to build a simpler deck, one without many of the tutors and without Earthcraft, a deck whose goal was to kill with tokens and not with combo.
Red had some good things to offer, especially with the release of Theros and Commander 2013. Cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge, Xenagos, the Reveler and Marath, Will of the Wild were great for token decks so I chose to build Naya, but I wanted all the tutors from black. This inspired me to make a four color token deck by splashing red but using Sliver Queen as my general, a deck which can be found here. After quite a lot of playing this version, the deck has proved good but not as good as it could be. While blue doesn't have any good interactions with tokens, it does have a lot to offer in terms of tutor and card draw, so I've decided to make this a full five-colored deck.
Decklist
I find it's easiest to understand the way a deck works when it's sorted by each card's function, but right now I just have it by card type. I'll have lists sorted in other ways soon when the deck stops changing.
1 Sliver Queen
Creature (6)
1 Academy Rector
1 Marath, Will of the Wild
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Mirror Entity
1 Nin, the Pain Artist
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
Artifact (9)
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Expedition Map
1 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Diamond
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
Enchantment (15)
1 Aura Shards
1 Awakening Zone
1 Bitterblossom
1 Doubling Season
1 Exploration
1 Fecundity
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Mana Echoes
1 Necropotence
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Parallel Lives
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Sterling Grove
1 Stranglehold
1 Sylvan Library
Sorcery (14)
1 Armageddon
1 Decree of Pain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Fabricate
1 Genesis Wave
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Nature's Lore
1 Past in Flames
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Beast Within
1 Chord of Calling
1 Crop Rotation
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pyroblast
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Vampiric Tutor
Planeswalker (7)
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
Lands (37)
Dual Lands (10)
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Plateau
1 Savannah
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
1 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Taiga
Shock Lands (10)
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
1 Windswept Heath
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
Utility Lands (7)
1 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Strip Mine
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Nin, the Pain Artist
1 Boros Charm
1 Eternal Witness
1 Damnation
1 Austere Command
1 Sun Titan
-Eternal Witness, Grave Pact, Diabolic Tutor, Austere Command, Sun Titan, Damnation, Mycoloth, Read the Bones, Ghave, Guru of Spores
+Marath, Will of the Wild, Nin, the Pain Artist, Bitterblossom, Fabricate, Toxic Deluge, Lim-Dul's Vault, Pyroblast, Mystical Tutor, Tezzeret the Seeker
Sharuum | Damia | Hermit Druid
What about a Seedborn Muse or Prophet of Kruphix? You'd be able to produce a lot more tokens and mana than say Xenagos.
Although it's my pet card, I also think Academy Rector is worth consideration.