Green White Tokens – Standard Magic: The Gathering Deck

This post has been ported over from an archetype thread on Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering forums that I built.

Green White Tokens is an aggro deck that can take early board control, put the opponent on a very fast clock, and still recover from board sweepers quickly. In many cases, we can instrument a 5-6th turn kill. This deck is fast, strong in the midrange, and still a threat in the late game. It is incredibly consistent and… Who doesn’t love playing with Overrun???

It also houses answers to most other decks that are currently in the meta. Wrath of God allows us to clear the board to make room for our fast recovery, while Dauntless Escort protects us from the opponent’s sweepers. Qasali Pridemage breaks down Artifact and Enchantment threats, while Path to Exile takes care of singular creatures that are in our way.

Why should I play this?

If you like fast aggro, but are sick of losing to tokens and control, this is the deck for you. If you love seeing your opponent facepalm when you drop a Cloudgoat Ranger right after he Wrath of God’ed, this is the deck for you. If you like forcing other aggro decks into defensive mode with your speed and board presence, play this deck.

How do I play Green White Tokens?

The deck is pretty straight-forward. There are some points where you’ll be forced to choose between playing Garruk Wildspeaker or a Wilt-Leaf Liege. Or perhaps you’ll wonder if you should play Windbrisk Heights on turn 2 or 3. Much of this is dependent upon your build, but in general your hand should speak for itself.

If I have Spectral Procession in my hand, I will play Windbrisk as early as I possibly can without interrupting a Noble Hierarch ramp. Otherwise, I’d sooner play a Forest to get my Dauntless Escort out nice and early. Much of it is practice, just as with any deck.

Card Pool

Creatures

Converted Mana Cost 1:

• Noble Hierarch
  One of the keys to GWT’s advantages over BWT. Noble Hierarch allows us to accel into a turn 2 Spectral Procession, turn 3 Windbrisk Heights, flipping over a turn 4 Overrun. An absolute 4-Of.
• Birds of Paradise
  See Noble Hierarch.
• Llanowar Elves
  Good for ramping into an Overrun, but not as helpful for Spectral Procession.
• Figure of Destiny
  A very good 1-drop, but it doesn’t have much synergy with this deck because our early mana usage leaves little to be spared to pump him up.
• Burrenton Forge-Tender
  Useful in builds that play Ranger of Eos.

Converted Mana Cost 2:

• Qasali Pridemage
  A 2cc 2/2 Exalted creature that uses both our colors makes a great threat early and an even greater one with a Wilt-Leaf Liege in play. Add to that the ability to get rid of a Runed Halo, Bitterblossom, etc. and you’ve got a triple-threat.
• Steward of Valeron
  A nice mana accelerator in some decks, but I find him less useful in the 2-slot than Qasali Pridemage.
• Knight of Meadowgrain
  A strong and efficient 2-drop.
• Elvish Visionary
  A nice cantrip to help push into 3-attacker range for Windbrisk Heights.

Converted Mana Cost 3:

• Spectral Procession
  Your token generator of choice, which also makes Windbrisk Heights amazing. 4-Of.
• Kitchen Finks
  One of the best creatures in the format, plus they’re in our colors. Excellent against burn and nice against Swans, too. Early life gain puts a damper on any aggro deck’s morale and scope.
• Dauntless Escort
  An efficient 3/3 in our colors, plus he can save us from board sweepers (including our own). He should at least be a 2-of with more in the sideboard.
• Stillmoon Cavalier
  A very evasive creature that is mostly useful in the sideboard, but could also have Main Deck uses in the right Metagame.

Converted Mana Cost 4:

• Wilt-Leaf Liege
  Makes our weenies and tokens into Thoctars and Angels. Even though Blightning is a bit out of style right now, it is always a treat to see it with this guy in your hand.
• Ranger of Eos
  A good friend of Card Advantage.
• Sigil Captain
  A budget option, but not as effective as Lieges.

Converted Mana Cost 5:

• Cloudgoat Ranger
  Efficient token generator + a nice 5/3 beater. An excellent late game play or Windbrisk Heights goodie.

Spells

• Overrun
  The most Timmy funneriffic alpha strike in standard right now.
• Path to Exile
  Arguably the best creature spot removal in standard.
• Wrath of God
  Did they get an early start on you? Cast Wrath and lay down your threats quickly afterward. Card advantage: you.
• Martial Coup
  A very nice Wrath alternative that synergizes with our deck. It’s a little expensive for its main utility of course.
• Glorious Anthem
  Obviously helpful, but I prefer Liege because it gives Qasali, Escort, Finks, Stewards, and other Lieges +2/+2 and it laughs at Blightning.
• Hunting Triad
  Another token generator that works well with Windbrisk Heights.
• Gilt-Leaf Ambush
  Instant speed token generation (that doubles as possible removal) can be very helpful for aggression or setting off Windbrisk Heights against decks with sorcery-speed sweepers.

Planeswalkers

• Ajani Goldmane
  Resets slain Kitchen Finks, gives your tokens vigilance, gains you life in a pinch, and permanently (cumulatively) buffs tokens.
• Garruk Wildspeaker
  Acceleration. “Free” 3/3 token generation. A built-in Overrun.
• Elspeth, Knight-Errant
  Generates weenies, buffs single units for big smashes through the air, makes your board presence immovable if you haven’t won by the time she hits 8 Loyalty.

Artifacts

• Behemoth Sledge
  Can be very nice, but can slow down a hand if used before it can be equipped right away.

Lands

We generally stay at 24 total lands with 4 Hierarchs to be as consistent as possible.

• Windbrisk Heights
  One of the pivotal cards that make the deck work, Windbrisk Heights is also a strong turn 1 drop if you don’t have a Noble Heirarch or Birds of Paradise ready.
• Treetop Village
  Another threat we can drop on turn 1 if we like. This powerful man land can sometimes even win games against control (or other sorcery-speed removal heavy) decks single-handedly.
• Brushland
  Because we have so many lands that come into play tapped, while still needing both of our colors as early as turn 2, pain lands are required. The 2-3 damage we generally suffer from them is rarely relevant.
• Wooded Bastion
  Great any time other than turn 1, or with too many copies in an opening hand.

Recommended Mana Base

This obviously depends on the non-lands you choose, but here is a basic guideline.

• 4 x Windbrisk Heights
• 4 x Wooded Bastion
• 4 x Brushland
• 3 x Treetop Village
• 5-6 x Forest
• 3-4 x Plains

The Mana Curve

1. (4 Recommended) Noble Hierarch is an ideal first turn play, but Windbrisk Heights (CIPT) is a close second, so we don’t need too much 1cc.
2. (4-8 Recommended) Efficient beaters or mana acceleration can be placed here if desired.
3. (12-16 Recommended) The nice meaty center to our mana curve, filled with value creatures mostly.
4. (8-14 Recommended) Wrath of God, our Planeswalkers, and Lieges fill this spot up tightly.
5. (4-6 Recommended) Finishers and fast multi-threat creatures to refill the board after a sweeper.

Strong Hand Examples

1. Brushland, Noble Hierarch
2. Plains, Spectral Procession
3. Forest, Ajani Goldmane
4. Forest, Overrun (goldfish opponent dead)

1. Windbrisk Heights
2. Wooded Bastion, Qasali Pridemage
3. Plains, Spectral Procession
4. Forest, Activate Windbrisk Heights, (2 mana left)

1. Treetop Village
2. Wooded Bastion, Qasali Pridemage
3. Plains, Behemoth Sledge
4. Forest, Wrath of God
5. Cloudgoat Ranger

Sideboard

• Wrath of God
  Helps greatly against any other creature aggro match-up or the mirror. A large part of controlling the board is keeping it clean on the opposite side.
• Dauntless Escort
  Synergizes with the extra Wraths you may throw in, plus helps on its own against control decks with heavy sweepers.
• Runed Halo
  Massacres Swans, hurts 5cc, stops combo decks.
• Pithing Needle
  See Runed Halo.
• Guttural Response
  Hurts nearly any control deck.
• Austere Command
  Mostly in there against Turbo-Fog to clear away their artifacts, but also useful in other situations.
• Primal Command
  Anti-Mill, Anti-Recursion, find your Dauntless Escorts/Lieges, Gain 7 Life, remove Plainswalkers.
• Cloudthresher
  A great way to surprise an opponent that sides out their spot removal for mass (sorcery speed or Fallout) removal. Can drastically tilt the board in your favor and win the game alone.
• Oblivion Ring
  For everything you haven’t thought of.
• Eyes of the Wisent
  An excellent 2-drop against Sanity Grinding, Turbo-Fog, 5CC, or even Faeries. Anyone running 8+ counters would hate to see this.
• Path to Exile
  Take as needed.
• Relic of Progenitus
  Stops recursion.
• Elvish Hexhunter
  An alternative to Qasali Pridemage for those using Ranger of Eos.
• Scattershot Archer
  Nice against Faeries and other Tokens decks, but not as useful without Ranger of Eos.

Match-Ups

These are estimates based on my personal experience at FNM and local PTQs. Please feel free to help out.

Black White Tokens: 66%

We nearly always outrun them, our Wraths get under their skin, our life gain is better than their Bitterblossom pains, and Overrun just rocks the house. We worry about Zealous Persecution (until we play a Liege) and Glorious Anthem should always be a target for our Qasalis. In general, we have answers for their threats and they don’t have enough for ours.

Red/Black Aggro: 66%

We throw a monkey wrench in their plans every time we play Kitchen Finks. They can’t block our flyers. If Ajani Goldmane stays in play, they lose. If they use all their burn spells for removal, they lose. If the game reaches turn 7+, they lose. This is a strong match-up as long as we main deck Kitchen Finks and 3+ Paths for their Hellspark Elementals.

Blightning Aggro: 80%

They have alot of trouble with Wilt-Leaf Lieges being dropped for free. The addition of disruption spells that generally do not work on us slows them down into the mid-game. See Red/Black aggro for the rest.

White Weenie (Kithkin) 50%

They have similar strengths to us because of Kithkins’ ability to play big things fast and multiple things early. It is a straight-forward brawl of a match, but we can squeeze out advantage with a well-placed Wrath of God, which are even better with Dauntless Escort. The Kithkin deck has to extend itself to beat us quickly, so we must be patient and let them fall into the trap.

Red/White Kithkin/Tokens 45%

Intimidation Bolt hurts. Ajani Vengeant hurts. Fight to the Death hurts. In the hands of a skilled player, these things are deadly for us. Our best bet is to try to scout their deck out before your match and play around their removal/tempo threats. If you know they use Intimidation Bolt, wait for them to tap out before popping Garruk’s Ultimate or flipping over that Overrun.

Boat Brew: 60%

Our speed is about the same, but our threats are bigger. Their big thing is gaining board advantage, and we just do it better. This will not be an easy match-up, but our consistency and ability to get bigger threats than theirs out at the same time usually gives us an edge.

Finest Hour / Exalted Bant 55%

Our mana curves are very similar, so the match will often go to the one who goes first if you don’t pull a Wrath. Ajani Goldmane on our side of the board is a godsend in this match. We can reliably chump their exalted bashers, but if we keep doing that without answering back with heavy hitters or sweepers of our own, we’re at a disadvantage. Luckily, our deck usually has more answers for them than they have for us, so we improve our match-up to 65% post-sideboard.

Sanity Grinding: 60%

The Sanity Grinding Match-up is heavily dependent on their draws. If they draw the best hand possible, we will usually lose right before we kill them. If they don’t draw an ideal hand, they will only be able to slow us down for a few turns before we hit them very hard.

Turbo-Fog 35%

We don’t have a lot of answers for this match-up. Our best bet is to target their Howling Mines and Font of Mythos with our Qasali Pridemages. They only have 12 Fogs in their deck at best and taking away their drawing engines kills them. Side in Primal Commands and use them when they tap out to end their hopes of winning almost immediately.

In timed rounds, if you win the first game, they will have to play fast and loose (read: worse) to have enough time to win the second and third.

Jund Aggro: 70%

They can hit us slightly earlier than we can hit them, but our board control cleans out their hand. When they spend all their burn spells keeping us off of Windbrisk Heights activation, they will run out of steam and we will win with our 3-for-1 and 4-for-1 plays like Spectral Procession and Cloudgoat Ranger. If they are super-aggressive and directly burn us while ignoring our board, we can outpace them, assuming we get decent draws. Kitchen Finks help and so does sideboarding up to 4 Path to Exiles and 4 Dauntless Escorts.

5-Color Control: 70%

We are too fast and too unrelenting. They may be able to counter our Spectral Processions, but they will die to an onslaught of Treetop Villages and Garruk Tokens. Dauntless Escorts give them major migraines.

Reveillark Control: 55%

This match-up is heavily dependent on the Reveillark Control pilot. If he/she is a very strong player who is 100% familiar with our deck, the match-up is in their favor. Luckily everyone knows that we’re supposed to save our Path to Exile for Reveillark, right? The best advice I can give for this match would be to mulligan any hand that won’t get you ahead early. If you don’t put them on their heels early, you’ll be on yours soon.

PlanesRazer: 50%

One of my teammates plays PlanesRazer as heavily as I play Green White Tokens, so we clash often. The keys to victory are: A.) Don’t over-extend your lands (5 is fine), B.) Keep a Path and a Plains ready for Realm Razer, and C.) Know which Planeswalkers to kill (Sarkhan Vol) and which to ignore (Elspeth, Knight-Errant).

Go for the throat in any situation where you’re not sure. Sideboard in Dauntless Escort, Path to Exile, and Pithing Needle. My Green White Tokens always win if I get their health to single digits before turn 5.

Also note that when lands come back into play from a Realm Razing they come back tapped, so Path the Realm Razer at the end of his/her turn and not as soon as you draw it.

Doran Rock / Dark Bant: 40%

On any decent draw for them, they can turn 1 ramp, turn 2 Thoughtsieze + Tidehollow Sculler or Doran, the Siegetower. Either sucks for us, since the only removal we generally use is Path to Exile. The disruption is tough to deal with and they have answers for nearly everything we have, including Maelstrom Pulse, Nameless Inversion (for the escorts), Path to Exile, big gnarly creatures, and Zealous Persecution in the sideboard. Find a way to use your Windbrisks and Planeswalkers effectively and don’t take too big of a hit early.

4-Color Doran tends to swing in for big numbers early, so if u can stay in double digit life until turn 4 and hold some board position you can probably pull it out.

Sideboard vs. Doran: Celestial Purge, Runed Halo, max out Path to Exiles, Wrath of Gods and/or Martial Coups.

Faeries: 70%

The people playing Faeries at my local shop are very experienced with it, so my estimate might be low. We generally Overrun them with bigger threats and their Bitterblossoms don’t like it when we drop Kitchen Finks.

5-Color Cascade Control: 90%

Unless we draw ridiculously badly, we kill them before they can really contain us. There isn’t much trick to it, beyond playing the deck as designed.

Sample Decklists

Green White Tokens by Propagandist (me)

When M10 comes out, I plan a few modifications:

Main Deck:

• +3 Knotvine Paladin
• +2 Honor of the Pure
• +4 Sunpetal Grove
• +2 Forest
• +1 Plains
• -3 Dauntless Escort
• -2 Wrath of God
• -3 Treetop Village
• -4 Brushland

Sideboard:

• +2 Dauntless Escort
• +1 Guttural Response
• +2 Martial Coup
• -2 Oblivion Ring
• -1 Pithing Needle
• -2 Wrath of God

Budget Green White Tokens by Dave Meeson (StarCityGames)

Green White Tokens by Tomy Vercety

1st Place – Magic Online Championship Series Season 1 – 05/03/2009

Green White Tokens by Hai Li

2nd Place – SCG 1k Roanoke – 05/17/2009

Green White Tokens by Joshua Scott Honingmann

2nd Place – SCG 5k Indy – 03/28/2009

No matter which list you choose, try out Green White Tokens today!