Standard: Selesnya Tokens - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

As Standard evolves, players continue to explore new proposals and strategies with synergies between cards from expansions legal today. One of them has stood out recently: Selesnya Tokens, a go wide that aims to make the most of the interaction between Collector’s Cage with Overlord of the Mistmoors and powerful cards like Skyknight Squire and Sandstorm Salvager.

In this article, we delve deeper into this new Selesnya variant of Standard and present a guide to the main matchups in the Metagame!

This is the standard list that I have seen in most Leagues and in some Challenges on Magic Online. The plan here involves synergy between a few cards: Collector’s Cage lets you cast Overlord of the Mistmoors for free, but it also has an acceptable alternative mana value by our standards.

Our plan is the classic go wide with tokens and cards that interact with them: Skyknight Squire grows with our creatures, Sandstorm Salvager increases the power of all of them, Toby, Beastie Befriender grants evasion while Sanguine Evangelist offers benefits to attacking with multiple creatures.

Maindeck

Llanowar Elves allows accelerating our plan significantly. Whether it's casting Sandstorm Salvager on turn two, activating Collector's Cage on the same turn we use it, or making it easier to cast the costs of Offspring or Impending, it's essential to this deck, and we have enough ways to mitigate what would otherwise be a bad topdeck.

Skyknight Squire grows with every creature we play, and since most of them come with another creature, it only takes a few cards to make it a powerful threat with evasion.

Llanowar Elves is a key card, since many of our most important cards have a three-mana value.

Pawpatch Recruit can be cast for one mana, but the ideal is to play it with the Offspring cost to ensure greater versatility and protection on our board, punishing the opponent for removals.

Sandstorm Salvager puts a 3/3 body on the board, and its activated ability grows all our tokens while granting Trample for them. It is an excellent mana sink for longer games or when we don't want to overcrowd the board expecting a sweeper.

Sanguine Evangelist grants a bonus whenever it attacks and puts another creature into play besides itself, not to mention that it replaces itself on the battlefield if it is destroyed.

Toby, Beastie Befriender grants evasion for our tokens if we have a full board, which, just like Harbin, Vanguard Aviator did in Soldiers, usually means an instant win. Additionally, a 4/4 and a 1/1 for three mana is a very fair cost.

Overlord of the Mistmoors is on the list to be cast with Collector's Cage, but if it doesn't, we can easily pay its Impending cost, putting two more Flying tokens into play.

Collector's Cage allows for explosive plays with the Overlord and also guarantees an increase in power for our creatures. Since we have cards with different powers easily, it is common to use the exiled card on the same turn that the artifact enters the board.

Sheltered by Ghosts is a mix of board interaction with extra breath against Aggro. Ward makes a difference, but not as much as it would in an Aura or Prowess deck.

Soul Partition is a mix of removal and protection spells in the same slot. We can exile one of our creatures in response to removal and/or against sweepers like Sunfall, but we can also hold their game plan for a turn with it.

Get Lost is our default interaction against most permanents in the current Metagame, and it takes up slots that would have belonged to Destroy Evil a few weeks ago because Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is more important today than it has been at any time since it came out in Duskmourn.

Our mana base is very straightforward, and we avoid using one-ofs or utility lands. We want as much access to colored mana as possible as early as possible, and we have 12 duals for that purpose, plus Restless Prairie as another mana sink that plays into our game plan.

Sideboard

Aven Interrupter is the card we want against sweepers and/or decks that are very greedy for mana. It's common to only need one or two more turns to win games against Ramp decks and/or Tapout Control, and it guarantees those two turns.

Phyrexian Censor is a spot-on answer to Temur Otters. It can see some play against Prowess, but it depends on which variant we're playing: the more low-cost spells and pumps they have, the better it will be in that matchup.

The extra Sheltered by Ghosts is our interaction against Aggro and also a way to remove unwanted permanents in games with a spot removal.

Destroy Evil is the best answer we have against Four-Color Zur and is also a necessary or useful card against a dozen games in the current Metagame. Depending on what happens in the next few weeks, maybe Exorcise will take its place.

Invasion of Gobakhan is another way to protect ourselves against sweepers and cheap wipe interactions. If we can transform it, every turn our opponent can't deal with our board becomes a powerful clock against them.

Rest in Peace is our standard answer against graveyards. Today, the main target for this card will be Azorius Tempo, but Reanimator strategies are also common in some Leagues.

Vivien Reid is a catch-all. We don't want many copies of it since five mana is a high value, but there are many games where we put it in the deck to guarantee a bit of everything we need: more gas, interaction against most relevant targets in the Metagame and a last ability that, although rarely used, can win games.

Dimir Midrange

IN

OUT

Gruul Aggro

IN

OUT

Four-Color Zur

IN

OUT

Temur Otters

IN

OUT

Mono White Tokens

IN

OUT

That’s all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!