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Hi all,

So I, too, tried to build a Selesnya token deck utilizing the populate mechanic. But after making a preselection of cards I would like to play with, most of my populate cards seemed underwhelming. I also realized, that I want the deck to spit out big tokens instead of many small ones. Therefore, my tokens of choice to create many copies of are 4/4 angels. I'm keeping to Standard, so the main cards for that are a full set of Moonsilver Spear and my two copies of Entreat the Angels . My populate cards are Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage and Sundering Growth (no Trostani available). I included the later one, because I expect opposing decks to run all kinds of artifacts and/or enchantments as those decks won't be bound by the Standard format. Even within Standard there are many viable targets for a Naturalize with a bonus.

Since Guildmage and Spear are slow, I'm aiming for a midrange deck and therefore need to stall the game in the early turns. Call of the Conclave was an obvious inclusion. And after some goldfishing to find the rough edges of the deck, I included Seraph of Dawn , because she has a big butt, provides me with some aerial defense and is a good candidate to wield a Spear. I had a set of Selesnya Keyrune s in the earlier build, but found, that I needed a full time body more. I searched a while for a suitable 3-drop creature and found Centaur Healer and Wolfir Avenger (and Loxodon Smiter , but I only own a single copy of the card). I settled for the Avenger, because he provides a much needed combat trick, and with his regeneration ability he can both hold the ground as well as survive an attack into superior forces, making him another good candidate to equip a Spear to.

Garruk's Packleader provides card draw what with all those big tokens and other creatures entering the battlefield under my control. I exchanged my three copies of Collective Blessing for my two copies of Angel of Jubilation (trying to get more, but they are a bit expensive around here and trading for them is also tough) and filled the last spot with my singleton Armada Wurm . Blessing seemed superflous in the end as my tokens are quite big and should not need the boost.

With the activated abilities demanding lots of mana, I'm running 25 lands, since my two Grove of the Guardian cannot be counted as full lands with all my color intensive cards.

So here's the deck as it is now:

9 x Plains
8 x Forest
4 x Sunpetal Grove
2 x Temple Garden
2 x Grove of the Guardian

4 x Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
4 x Wolfir Avenger
4 x Seraph of Dawn
2 x Angel of Jubilation
3 x Garruk's Packleader
1 x Armada Wurm

4 x Call of the Conclave
4 x Selesnya Charm
3 x Sundering Growth
4 x Moonsilver Spear
2 x Entreat the Angels


I'm somewhat concerned about board sweepers, so I would have liked the Keyrunes in the deck. I'm also considering to put some Requiem Angel s in, but lately, I haven't seen much of Wrath of God , Day of Judgment or the like, but rather Terminus and other non-killing sweepers. Other availabe cards not yet mentioned are single copies of Growing Ranks and Wayfaring Temple , though the later isn't high on my "want in" list.

It's still some days until I get to try out the deck in some casual duels and get some real games under my belt. I'd like to hear your opinions as well as possible improvements (please keep them Standard legal).

Thanks all

I have 21 token generators, how is that not enough for a deck that aims to populate after setting up a defense? A deck, that only uses repeatable populate as a means to gain card advantage rather then populating for the sake of populating.

So far, the populate mechanic doesn't have any content that would make it a solid concept to build around other than for fun against other kitchen tables games. The nature of the mechanic seems to be focused around draft format, as I can see that and limited block play seems to be where its greatest potential is realized. Outside of that, there are already greater token generating combos.


Have you ever seen monogreen Heartbeat of Spring ,

Snake Basket / Monkey Cage and Essence of the Wild ?

Nov 24, 2012 -- 10:25AM, cats_and_me wrote:

Selesnya Charm produces knight creature tokens, that might change things.. What I don't really like about Moonsilver Spear + Entreat The Angels is that you'll win if they're not answered quickly, it doesn't matter if you populate the angel creature tokens or not.. Did you consider artifacts like Soul Foundry , if you're running so many unrelated non-token creatures?

No, because Soul Foundry is not Standard legal. I am considering Seance but see no reason to try and cram in my two copies of the enchantment just yet.

Also, Entreat the Angels is a game winner no question (I've experienced that in the prerelease), but you need the miracle for that. If you just happen to draw it without being able to miracle it, it's a 4/4 flier for 5 or maybe two 4/4 fliers for 7, nice, but hardly an autowin.

As the focus of the deck is on the Spear and Entreat, I see no problem in winning with them, that's the point. Populating some more angel tokens makes it harder to answer those cards, but they will get answered. Mine is not a dedicated populate deck, because I consider most of my populate cards to be mediocre at best, I won't play them just because they have "populate" written on them. So my side of the battlefield won't be covered in tokens, what's wrong with that? I'm still trying to win with my tokens, they just happen to be viable threats of their own and not only as a swarm.

I used "populate" in the thread's title with its English meaning, not just for the mechanic. My non-token creatures might be unrelated to populate but not to the strategy of the deck. I did explain, why I included them. They all have their purpose in the deck.

While the only 2 mana card I really want to drop turn 2 is Call of the Conclave , I don't plan to hold back on Guildmages or Selesnya Charm s if I need an early creature. So that's 12 cards in the 2 CMC slot. Along with my Avengers that's 16 cards for 3 or less, which should suffice for the early game.

I don't see spending all my mana every turn as a bad thing, though I agree that doing it on my own turn shuts down my ability to respond to my opponent's threats.

Yes, I would like some ramp, especially the Selesnya Keyrune . Any suggestions as to what to cut for the ramp or what would be the best option? (And once again, keep it Standard legal. Rampant Growth isn't.) One land can go then, but I need to cut three more cards.

Edit: Seems like the choices for a turn 1 or 2 ramp card come down to Avacyn's Pilgrim , Arbor Elf and Farseek . Dawntreader Elk s, like the Keyrune, are too slow to provide a fourth mana on turn 3.