Today’s rebuild of the Counterpunch preconstructed deck focuses on, perhaps, the most-loved casual theme of all time. Following the direction of the original deck, we are going to reconstruct and explore one of the greatest token decks the Commander format has ever seen. Ghave, Guru of Spores, commands our token army. This deck aims to create exciting game states and pump out tokens for fun and board-advantage in a multiplayer game.

Too Many Land: Too Few Tokens

The first, easy overhaul we are going to make when modifying the Counterpunch deck is the reduction of land. The preconstructed version of our Ghave deck packed thirty-nine lands. As I have stated in previous articles, Commander decks tend to run very well on thirty-two to thirty-four lands. Therefore, we are going to take this build down to thirty-four lands, which frees up five slots for additional token-makers.

You can keep any number of the lands from the preconstructed deck in your modified list. If you have followed the modification series, you will note that I have laid out a few options. I have reviewed the steps of building up an expensive mana base with dual, shock, and fetch lands, but I have also laid out budget-friendly guidelines. There are some lands that make tokens (like Springjack Pasture), but you can go pretty basic. My spicy meatball for this deck would be Gaea’s Cradle. With the huge numbers of tokens we are pumping out, the Cradle will provide a near-endless supply of Green mana. Throw one in if you can afford it!

Let’s Talk Tokens

This deck is going to be about making tokens. We are going to make a myriad of different types of tokens, from lowly Spores to a herd of mighty Pegasi (plural of Pegasus). While there are a vast number of token-generating cards in Magic, we are going to focus on some tried-and-true favorites. However, I will humbly admit that there are so many great choices that I am bound to miss some great picks in this deck. Modifying the preconstructed decks is a personal experience. Feel free to infuse your own flavor and drop in your pet cards at will. Some of the card slots are interchangeable, but we will flag the card choices that need to remain in the deck for optimal playability.

Favorite Token-Making Creatures

Here is a quick rundown of the creatures that make the lineup straight out of the Counterpunch box:

Keepers

• Hornet Queen
• Scavenging Ooze
• Selesnya Guildmage
• Sigil Captain
• Spawnwrithe
• Symbiotic Wurm

Including Ghave, Guru of Spores, we are going to retain seven of the original twenty-six creatures packed in the precon. We made some deep cuts, but there are so many fantastic and thematic creatures waiting to populate our deck list that we needed to make room.

New Recruits

• Master of the Wild Hunt
• Avenger of Zendikar
• Mirror Entity
• Hero of Bladehold
• Darien, King of Kjeldor
• Cloudgoat Ranger
• Imperious Perfect
• Rhys the Redeemed
• Saber Ants
• Deranged Hermit
• Mongrel Pack
• Ant Queen
• Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
• Wurmcoil Engine
• Braids, Cabal Minion
• Creakwood Liege
• Wilt-Leaf Liege

This awesome crew of new cards brings us to a total of twenty-four creatures. Token-generating creatures pack our ranks. We have traditional token-making and amplifying favorites like Rhys the Redeemed and Imperious Perfect, the wild Deranged Hermit and Mongrel Pack, and new cards like Avenger of Zendikar, Hero of Bladehold, and Wurmcoil Engine. Cards like Creakwood Liege and Wilt-Leaf Liege pump up many of your tokens, while Kamahl and Mirror Entity can jack up the attack and threat level of your swarming token army. We doused the deck with the tricky Braids, Cabal Minion and Master of the Wild Hunt for some removal, but mostly stare down a lineup of creatures that aim to boost your token count and token quality.

Token-Loving Enchantments and Artifacts

We are going to keep these cards from the preconstructed Counterpunch deck:

• Acorn Catapult
• Skullclamp
• Sol Ring
• Necrogenesis
• Aura Shards
• Awakening Zone

These cards are all solid gold in our strategy. We get a little bit of everything. There is slight removal or Squirrel generation, card-draw, graveyard manipulation, removal, and a token-pumping machine that can also accelerate our mana. Here are some additional enchantments and artifacts that folks might like to add to a modified list:

Enchantments

• Beastmaster Ascension
• Bitter Blossom
• Doubling Season
• Hoofprints of the Stag
• Mobilization
• Squirrel Nest
• Earthcraft

These seven enchantments provide a great deal of power and playability for our deck. Doubling Season is an obvious all-star flanked by a couple of token-generating machines (Bitter Blossom, Hoofprints, and Mobilization). Beastmaster Ascension should be easily powered up and active when you assault the opposition with your mighty hordes, and the Squirrel Nest/Earthcraft combo will provide an infinite number of squirrel tokens to overrun your opponents’ defenses. I would be remiss to cut any of these cards from our token-domination deck.

Artifacts

• Snake Basket
• Eldrazi Monument
• Phyrexian Processor
• Gilded Lotus
• Coat of Arms

Ghave has called upon these powerful artifacts for token-generation, really big token-generators (Phyrexian Processor), a flying win condition, and some mana-acceleration. Although the deck generates a variety of token types, you will often make several of the same token. Coat of Arms becomes an immediate threat when you have multiples.

The artifacts have answered their Commander’s call. In fact, these last five artifacts follow the theme and will provide threats and fun. Have you ever made a 20/20 token using the Processor? They used to make a big deal about this Marit Lage token and some land called Dark Depths. Imagine bringing in a somewhat underpowered Marit Lage token for 4 mana on your opponent’s end step every turn! That is a pretty cool token-making machine.

At this point, we are seventy-six cards into modifying the Counterpunch Commander deck. We should consider packing in the last twenty-four cards with a mind on more token-making, fun, and flavor. However, we need to ensure we have some ways to win using the tools provided in our deck.

Win Conditions

Nothing completes the ultimate tokenfest better than a bunch of tokenesque win conditions. There are some obvious and less obvious choices. Let’s review some of the killer options that we can pack into our evolved Counterpunch.

Overrun Effects

While we have already listed Kamahl, Fist of Krosa in our creature lineup, we want to supplement his Overrun-on-a-stick with actual Overrun. I think the deck will benefit from the addition of Garruk, Wildspeaker, Triumph of the Hordes, and Eldrazi Monument. These cards each work well with our swarm and will make sure that our token horde puts in work.

Additions

• Garruk Wildspeaker
• Triumph of the Hordes
• Overrun

Make a Better Army

We can cherry-pick a wide variety of cards that either can generate some awesome tokens or interact well with our token theme. The sealed version of our deck packed Storm Herd, Hour of Reckoning, and Tribute to the Wild. I would keep these three cards and make the following additions:

• Decree of Justice
• Grizzly Fate
• Wurmcalling
• Conqueror’s Pledge
• Elspeth Tirel

These cards will help us keep our token army thriving and will give us some later-game backup as our hordes meet mass removal. However, we are going to pack a little mass removal of our own. While we love making tokens, we do not want our army of smallish chumps battling big, bullyish foes. Therefore, we are going to try to ultimate our Elspeth and might try to pack a few specific Wrath of God effects that will spare our tokens or simply keep with our theme.

Token Wrath

Aside from the Hour of Reckoning, we will pack Austere Command, Retribution of the Meek, Martial Coup, and March of Souls. These five selections will help us carry on our fight in the face of much larger obstacles. If we are not Overrunning or pumping up our armies, we can simply remove the larger opposing threats via these token-friendly Wrath effects.

Aside from mass removal, we can pack in a few targeted removal spells that deal with enchantments and/or artifacts while keeping with Ghave’s token theme.

Add-Ons

• Aura Mutation
• Seedspark
• Austere Command
• Retribution of the Meek
• Martial Coup
• March of Souls

Utility Modifications

The final nine slots are reserved for flavor and utility. These cards could be pet cards or might be used to adjust the power level of the deck. I love tutors in my Commander decks. Some folks have left comments noting their disapproval of this. There is a debate that the extensive use of tutors defeats the spirit of the hundred-card singleton format. Some folks like the consistency that a tutor package can add to a Highlander deck, while others embrace the chaos (Hello, Sheldon!).

I am a tutor player. The banned or restricted tutors lured me into this format. As a repentant Spike, some habits are hard to break. Check out my take on these last card selections:

Tutor Additions

• Idyllic Tutor
• Enlightened Tutor
• Worldy Tutor
• Congregation at Dawn
• Eladadamri’s Call
• Demonic Tutor
• Vampiric Tutor

My final selection will be a couple of personal favorites. I really like Glare of Subdual in a token deck. You can turn your tokens into incremental tempo advantage by tapping freshly generated tokens to tap down opposing creatures and artifacts. At a player’s upkeep, you can use your token army to tap his Sol Ring, exhaust a Blightsteel Colossus, or nullify a couple of infinite combos that involve artifacts like Grim Monolith. Glare of Subdual adds to the deck’s playability and offers a different line of play for a more controlling player.

Finally, we are going to drop Sensei’s Divining Top into the deck. The inclusion might be considered obvious, as many folks consider the Top a Commander staple; however, I don’t tend to run the Top in every Commander deck. This deck has a lower number of ramp spells. A Ghave player might want to manipulate draws in the early turns to ensure land drops, draw cards with the tutor package that often leaves key cards atop your deck, and generally smooth out the flow.

Pet Inclusions

• Glare of Subdual
• Sensei’s Divining Top
• Preconstructed Modification Series

Thanks for reading along as we mapped out five different ways to customize the Commander decks released from Wizards. Back in May, I mentioned picking up “hot” cards for the Commander format in preparation for the June release. You might note that I dropped a number of the cards from my hotlist into the modified versions of the preconstructed decks.

It can be helpful for Commander deck architects to keep a storehouse of deck-construction materials on hand in order to fulfill your deck-modification whims. I have really been liking some of the M12 cards and have made an effort to stock up on a couple of key cards that will make an appearance in many of my decks. You might jog over to www.Coolstuffinc.com and order a bunch of copies of Rune-Scarred Demon. At the time of this publication, they can be stolen for $1.49. Foil them if you can find them! These guys have proved to be awesome in my Black Commander decks and will tutor up great cards at a timely point in many games.

As we conclude the five-deck modification series, I am aware that many folks have requested a deck rebuild featuring The Mimeoplasm. Your requests are always noted, and you should expect to see a theme deck constructed around the Ooze commander. As always, I will follow your comments closely and look forward to interacting with you guys on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube!