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Can't Catch Me, I'm the GingerBant Man! [Primer]

Commander / EDH Artifact Bracket 3 Clone Evoke Food GWU (Bant) Populate Tokens Toolbox Zoo

Tsukimi

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Creature (44)

Land (34)

Sorcery (5)

Commander (1)

Commander: Brenard, Ginger Sculptor

Enchantment (7)

Instant (6)

Artifact (3)

Maybeboard

Creature (2)

Instant (2)

Enchantment (1)

The Bant token/populate/copy commander I have been waiting over a decade for! I have had a Bant populate deck for a long time, and its never had a true commander - Until now! Not only is Brenard, Ginger Sculptor an excellent fit for this archetype, but we also get little gingerbread versions of our creatures! Win win.

With so much variety, each game feels new and fun and the deck has a very nonlinear playstyle, copy your creatures, sometimes copy other player's creatures, and make all kinds of tokens. Brenard also allows us a new strategy for tokens: Sacrifice and Birthing pod effects so that we are not reliant on blocking for Brenard's token trigger. And let me tell you, Bant is PERFECT for token shenanigans! Clones, copying creatures into tokens, Populate, Embalm, Encore, Myriad, I could go on! Many of our creatures have ETB effects that are doubled when we make token copies of them. We have access to all of the best token doublers like Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Parallel Lives, Adrix and Nev, Twincasters, and Anointed Procession. So not only can we make token copies of nearly anything, but usually we can make two or more of them!

As I've mentioned, Brenard is a Thirsty (Hungry??) Man and he wants as many creatures as possible. Ramp? Creatures. Removal? Creatures. You see where I am going? If we can get Brenard out and keep him out, all of our triggers from creatures are essentially doubled (And that's without any token doublers or populate abilities). Instead of traditional ramp, we have quite a few mana dorks and then cards like Wood Elves, Coiling Oracle, and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Instead of more traditional removal we have options like Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Foundation Breaker and more. Selfless Spirit, Dauntless Bodyguard and more act as protection for our board or commander respectively.

In your opening hand you want at least 2-3 lands, one source of ramp, and one target for Brenard's ability. Cards like Selfless Spirit and Dauntless Escort have proven to be very strong so far, because the can come out before Brenard, protect your board state, have their own sac triggers, and then you can copy them into tokens upon death (which can be doubled or populated for even more shenanigans).

Having access to Birthing Pod and similar effects from cards like Neoform and Eldritch Evolution works perfectly for a deck full of creatures with ETB triggers and allows us to use Brenard like a Toolbox Commander. Our creatures are our ramp, card draw, removal, as mentioned above. For this reason Evoke is particularly strong here - Cards like Mulldrifter, Foundation Breaker, and Solitude will trigger, then they are sacrificed to evoke, and Brenard makes a token copy, and we get the ETB trigger twice before any token shenanigans.

In addition to all this value, as long as Brenard is on the board our Food Golem tokens are all effectively 3/3's with trample, which goes a long way with our fliers and other cheap creatures. On Wings of Gold and Wing Splicer give all of our tokens and golems flying respectively, and Darksteel Splicer makes all of our golem tokens indestructible. Copying Darksteel Splicer isn't very hard with this deck either.

Cards like Harmonious Archon and Kudo, King Among Bears make the whole board the same size as our tokens, but thanks to Brenard our token are bigger and have trample. This has been a really fun take on tokens and ensures that combat damage is doable. Then Earthshaker Giant and friends act as pump effects for our many 1/1 tokens.

Essentially your goal is to ramp into one or two decent copy targets for tokens, get Brenard out, (and hopefully a sac outlet but this isn't necessary) and start making token copies of your toolbox creatures. If you do have any of the Pod Effect cards, search for one of your token doublers Adrix and Nev, Twincasters or Mondrak, Glory Dominus as soon as you can for extra fun and value. Or if you're tired of value, search for something fun or weird, that is the heart of this deck! It can and will play differently every time depending on how you pilot it and what you decide to search, copy etc. Have fun!

I have been working on a version or another of this deck for over a decade. It's my favorite deck and I have seen little to no decks like this, so I take a fair deal of pride in it. I love and value all forms of feedback, thoughts, card suggestions, etc. so don't hesitate to drop a comment.

If you've read all this.... Thanks! And Upvotes are always appreciated for those who enjoy the deck. My goal is to have the #1 Ginger Daddy Primer around!

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The Maybeboard is for newer cards I haven't found swaps for, interesting cards I don't want to forget, and unique synergies. If you see anything that should be on the list just let me know.

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97% Casual

Competitive

Revision 27 See all

(11 months ago)

+1 Phyrexian Altar main
-1 Sandstorm Salvager main