Mardu Tokens

Colors:Archetypes: Aggro, Midrange

Tokens as an archetype aims to swarm the board with many creatures and win fair matchups by having greater inevitability while making the opposing 1-for-1 interaction ineffective. Alongside going wide, tokens decks often include synergistic value engines and like to introduce emblems like the initiative and the monarch because they defend them better than other decks. This archetype typically functions as a midrange deck that can lean more or less aggressive depending on which colors you play.

Point spreads in tokens decks are almost always 2 moxen + 4 other points or 3 moxen + 1. Triple moxen prioritizes going fast and getting ahead on mana, which you might choose to have a better matchup against combo where speed is of utmost importance. 2 moxen + 4 gives you more individual power outliers and can strengthen the deck's matchup against other fair decks. Points often used in tokens include White Plume Adventurer, Ancient Tomb, Urza's Saga, and Forth Eorlingas!.

This archetype's strength against other fair creature decks is counterbalanced by its relative weakness versus the fast combo decks of the format. What tokens gains by being very synergistic and having a more inevitable end-game typically makes it somewhat slower than pure aggressive decks and have less interaction than creature decks built around hatebears. These tradeoffs can make it too slow or uninteractive to have a great matchup into some combo decks.

— written by grimhortons