I have always liked playing green and white and the idea of building a deck around the Selesnya guild excited me. Originally, I used Rhys the Redeemed as my commander but, I found myself wanting to make big tokens instead of a swarm of little tokens so I switched the deck around to use Trostani, Selesnya's Voice as the commander. Add in the fact that Trostani is the leader of the Selesnya guild on Ravnica and it is a flavor win as well!
White at its core Trostani, Selesnya's Voice is a token deck the lifegain off Trostani is one of the strongest in magic and can’t be underestimated. Due to this I split the deck into two main focuses, one is making large tokens and using mechanics like populate to duplicate those tokens. The second focus was finding ways to utilize the lifegain I am gaining off Trostani.
Making Tokens:
Trostani's Summoner, Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter, Armada Wurm, Advent of the Wurm, Grove of the Guardian, Rampaging Baloths, Giant Adephage, Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, Phyrexian Processor, Mimic Vat, Helm of the Host, Avenger of Zendikar, Luminarch Ascension and, God-Eternal Oketra are the primary cards I use to make tokens. I specifically wanted token producers at all CMC’s so I have a constant stream of different tokens hitting the board.
Lifegain Synergies:
Well of Lost Dreams, Aetherflux Reservoir, Panharmonicon, Angelic Accord, Dawn of Hope, Ajani, Strength of the Pride, Archangel of Thune, Crested Sunmare and, Resplendent Angel is the package of cards added to take advantage of Trostani’s lifegain ability. Ideally cards that made tokens for me gaining life like, Angelic Accord where highly valued but, I still wanted other uses of lifegain which is why, Aetherflux Reservoir, Well of Lost Dreams and, Archangel of Thune where added to the deck. Aetherflux Reservoir alone can quickly take players out of the game as soon as it comes down and has been a huge alternate wincon in this deck.
Doubling Tokens:
Making tokes are important but, having ways to duplicate the existing tokens are equally as important. One of the downfalls I have seen of most token decks is they either have to many token producers and not enough token doublers or they throw in way too many ways to double tokens but no real way to create tokens. (I am looking at you player who thinks they must run Rhys the Redeemed, Doubling Season, Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives, Primal Vigor and, Divine Visitation then wonder why they can’t get any tokens on the board.)
I did not want to only rely on Trostani as my only way to duplicate my tokens and, ideally wanted the deck to duplicate tokens for doing things the deck already was going to do. Therefore, I added cards like, Song of the Worldsoul, Sundering Growth, Druid's Deliverance, Selesnya Eulogist, Wayfaring Temple and, Martial Coup. These are great duel purpose cards because they are rewarding me for doing things I was already going to do in the deck anyways.
Other token duplicators added are, Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, Growing Ranks and, Helm of the Host. For mass token doublers there is Rhys the Redeemed, Anointed Procession and, Parallel Lives. I feel I have a nice balance of ways to duplicate tokens by playing spells in the deck and forcefully creating tokens via abilities like populate.
Ramp:
The ramp package is comprised of green ramp staples like, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach and, Nature's Lore but, I also wanted different ramp packages that synergize with Trostani and the large number of tokens this deck would produce. To synergize with tokens cards like Cryptolith Rite, Growing Rites of Itlimoc
and, Mirari's Wake were added. Mirari's Wake is especially powerful in this deck because it gives huge mana advantages and doubles as an anthem for all my creatures. To work with Trostani I wanted creature-based ramp, however I find mana dorks to be underwhelming in commander with the sheer volume of wrath effects going around the table they tend to never stick around long enough to give real value. With that in mind, I looked for creatures with ETB triggers that would ramp. Surprisingly enough there are very few creatures in magic that actually ramp you when they come into play. Sure, there are tons of creatures that put lands into your hands but, that is not was I was looking for. In the end I settled on, Wood Elves and, Yavimaya Dryad as my creature-based ramp. Fun combo is equiping either of those cards with a Blade of Selves and attacking. Blade will create two additional tokens which will let me search for two additional forest. At one point I had Farhaven Elf in the deck but, I replaced her with, Selvala, Explorer Returned as the later can also double as card draw and lifegain. While I know between Farhaven Elf and Yavimaya Dryad Farhaven is the better card allowing me to search for either a forest or plains and has a more friendly casting cost but, the artwork on Yavimaya Dryad is just to good to pass up an who knows maybe one day I will want to give that forest to an opponent to activate the forestwalk on Yavimaya.
Card Draw:
I feel this is one area that the deck could improve on but, honestly once I have a decent token engine going drawing into additional creatures just feels underwhelming. Despite that these are the cards I am using for card draw: Beast Whisperer, Ohran Frostfang, Selvala, Explorer Returned, Idol of Oblivion, Huatli, Radiant Champion, Dawn of Hope, Elemental Bond and, Well of Lost Dreams.
Removal:
Single Target Removal: Beast Within, Generous Gift, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares and, Sundering Growth. One thing to note is in a pinch you can use Beast Within or Generous Gift on yourself to start your token engine if you are lacking a token to start populating with.
Mass Removal: Ajani, Strength of the Pride, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Hour of Reckoning and, Martial Coup. I am also on the fence if I want to put Phyrexian Rebirth back into the deck as it will always make a large token when it goes off.
Overall I think I have a strong base to a competitive token strategy but, I feel there is always room for improvement and, any feedback would be greatly welcomed.
