Tokens are the backbone and win condition of this deck. While our enchantment subtheme gives it an interesting twist and some otherwise untapped card advantage, token makers are the way we win games and therefore our largest and most important category. I've chosen to try to avoid token creators that only make 1/1s with no evasion, and put a bit of emphasis on early turns to avoid games where we're stuck with a handful of cards that benefit tokens, but no tokens themselves.
Creatures
Voice of Resurgence
/
Wurmcoil Engine
: Modern staples, these are wrath protection that make pretty hefty tokens when they go. Their tokens are prime populate targets once on the battlefield as well.
Crested Sunmare
: This card was practically made with Trostani in mind. It fits perfectly into the CMC curve right after her, and will guarantee a token if she's on the battlefield - two tokens if you have enough mana to populate on the end of an opponent's turn. If Trostani is absent (or more likely, removed in response to your casting Sunmare), the deck has a bit of incidental lifegain through cards like
Courser of Kruphix
to get a couple horses until you can re-cast her.
Rampaging Baloths
: Baloth’s sizeable bodies can quickly get out of hand even without evasion or pumping, both as defenders and attackers. Since they come for free every turn just by playing a land, this is one of our scariest and most efficient token-makers.
Hornet Queen
: Hornet Queen's 1/1s are acceptable thanks to flying - and she does one better by adding deathtouch on top of that, making the tokens excellent defenders as well as very hard to block. The 6 power for 7 mana is a decent deal on its own, but this card is downright absurd with any type of
Doubling Season
effect on our board.
Regna, the Redeemer
: A new card from Battlebond I’ve been testing even without her partner - the ability to make 4+ tokens a round puts her on par with
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
in terms of efficiency. Plus, it's hard to go wrong with big flying angels as attackers on their own.
Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
: Guildmage functions as a sort of backup Trostani, able to populate at instant speed for 4 mana. Being able to activate this ability multiple times (since she doesn’t tap) means that she’s a great mana sink once we get a large or powerful token like that from
Phyrexian Processor
or
Voice of Resurgence
. Finally, she can make a 3/3 for 6 in a pinch - not a great rate, but acceptable when we’re low on cards but high on mana.
Non-Creature Permanents
Divine Visitation
: Was MADE for token decks like this one; it even turns our other cards that make angels into BETTER angel-makers, as tokens from Visitation have vigilance too. Cards like
Tireless Tracker
and
Selesnya Charm
become exponentially better for their mana costs, while cards that make several smaller tokens like
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
and
Hornet Queen
turn absolutely absurd. This card is an army in a can, and I expect to almost never see it sit on the table.
History of Benalia
: Four (vigilant) power for 3 mana is a pretty good deal, even if it takes two turns. We can usually get in a petty attack with the last lore counter, and even if we only get one knight out of the deal because of a boardwipe or enchantment removal, this card is decently strong.
Angelic Accord
: Similar to Sunmare, this enchantment is one of those cards tailor-built for Trostani. It's very easy for us to gain 4+ life in the course of a turn by making a token or two, and even easier once we have the first angel - then all we need to do is populate at instant speed using Trostani's ability, and that's another token at the end of an opponent's turn.
Sigil of the Empty Throne
: One of the strongest reasons we picked up the enchantress subtheme, this card can easily make us anywhere from 1-3 tokens on a given turn. Since it's a cast trigger and not an ETB trigger, you're guaranteed a bit of value even if Throne is removed in response (though this does mean it doesn't combo as nicely with
Heliod, God of the Sun
).
Ajani's Last Stand
: I'm interested in testing this card, as it's an enchantment (relevant) that turns into a very good token later (also relevant). Though we don't have sacrifice outlets to allow us to get the token at will, it's easily to let something else die in an attack or chump block.
Phyrexian Processor
: This card is absurd in our deck, but requires some careful timing to cast, as it's a massive removal target. I usually wait until I have 8 mana, 4 to cast and 4 to activate immediately in response to a removal spell. If no removal spell is immediately incoming, I'll wait until right before my next turn so the token doesn't get boardwiped or otherwise sorcery-speed killed before it can attack - because it will be massive. This is a lifegain deck, and so if you're paying anything less than 20 life into Processor, it'd better be because you don't have 20 life to pay. With Trostani on the battlefield, making a token immediately gains us back all the life we put into in on cast. This does unfortunately make it so our Trostani is in more danger than normal with Processor out, as opponents like to remove her in response to making a token - but that's okay, as she's usually easy to re-cast.
Helm of the Host
: While there are other cards that have more direct synergy in our deck, few enable more shenanigans than Helm. On a bad day, we slap it on a 3/3 Beast token (or something) and get a body every turn - but on its best days, we're getting multiple token copies of our best creature cards like
Crested Sunmare
and
Hornet Queen
. Since these are tokens, we can then use Trostani's ability to populate and create even more tokens of our non-token creatures, which quickly grows our army to huge sizes and makes it worth the 9 mana it costs to get going.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
: Elspeth breaks our cardinal no-vanilla-1/1s rule, but it's because she produces tokens at a highly efficient rate WHILE having other useful abilities to back up her expensive CMC. She's a quintessential excellent planeswalker, having abilities that protect her, removal, and an ultimate that should win you the game if you're able to keep her around that long. She's easily one of my favorite cards.
Grove of the Guardian
: While it's hard to run too many colorless lands because of our color-intensive mana costs, turning one into an 8/8 with vigilance at instant speed is worth the deck slot. This is the largest stock token we make, and prime populate target for Trostani, since it's great at both attacking and defending.
Spells
White Sun's Zenith
: One of the best ways to amass a critical army of tokens, Zenith has two upsides: it's instant speed, allowing us to leave the tokens vulnerable for as short a time as possible (sometimes an issue with token decks, which often operate at 99% sorcery speed) or surprise an opponent with blockers; and it shuffles back into the library, so there's potential for multiple uses. This makes it a little easier to cast for only a few tokens, knowing we'll be able to draw it later to rebuild. I like to hold it until I can get at least 5 Cats, but it's fine starting at 3 (or fewer, if you're desperate). Just watch out for
Massacre Wurm
!
March of the Multitudes
: So many tokens! At instant speed! Even if they're only 1/1s, this is a blowout. They come with lifelink to boot, which is relevant for several of our other cards. It’s easy for opponents to forget this has convoke, and so tapping a little bit of mana for something else on our turn and then using our token army to cast March can be a nifty trick.
Entreat the Angels
: Our haymaker, most terrifying finisher, and the first mythic rare I ever pulled. Entreat is a mixed blessing, as it's essentially a dead card if drawn before turn 5 or 6 - but any time after that, we're preparing to slam a bunch of beefy fliers into our opponents' faces to win the game. With Trostani on the battlefield, we're gaining a ton of life; with
Elemental Bond
, we're drawing a ton of cards; with
Collective Blessing
, we're setting up for a massive attack next turn. This is one of the best cards in our entire deck, and unless you're expecting counter-magic (or have a ton of mana and can set up with a
Doubling Season
or
Mirari's Wake
), it’s almost always worth tapping out to cast for its miracle cost.
Doublers
While these cards don't make tokens themselves, they are a massive boon to our strategy by allowing us to make twice the tokens with any given spell or permanent.
Rhys the Redeemed
: Though Rhys can make a small token on his own, the main reason he’s in the deck is for his second ability - six mana to double the number of tokens we have on the field, at instant speed, is a powerful effect. This can do anything from set us up for an enormous attack, to gain us a bunch of life with Trostani on the battlefield, to draw a bunch of cards with
Elemental Bond
.
Parallel Lives
/
Anointed Procession
: Literally the same card, but in different colors. These cards are simple, efficient, and relevant both by doubling our token output and being enchantments for cards like
Eidolon of Blossoms
.
Doubling Season
: A classic boogeyman of the format, this is one of the most terrifying cards in our deck. Not only does it double our token output, but allows cards like
Archangel of Thune
and
Kazandu Tuskcaller
to work twice as hard by adding twice the counters. Finally, there's the classic combination with our planeswalkers, as Season lets them enter with twice the amount of starting loyalty. This allows some of them to ultimate right away and helps put us ahead of our opponents. (Remember that once the 'walkers are on the battlefield, however, you don't double the number of counters you put on when activating a +N ability since it's a cost you pay for the effect, rather than the effect putting the counters on the 'walker).
