Beastie Friends in the House of Horrors - Toby, Beastie Befriender Deck Tech
With Duskmourn: House of Horrors looming on the horizon, it would be remiss not to discuss a particularly cool creature spoiled from the set, one that promises to bring a hauntingly delightful twist to Commander. Enter Toby, Beastie Befriender, a creature reminiscent of the Boo we adored in Monsters, Inc. during our childhood. However, this little one doesn't shy away from making friends; in fact, she's brought an entire legion of beastly companions along for the ride!
This deck is built around token-generation with a secondary focus on blink effects to maximize the value of our creatures' enter-the-battlefield (ETB) abilities. Imagine the terror on your opponents' faces as Toby rallies a massive army of beastly friends, ready to overrun anyone foolish enough to stand in their way.
Token-Generation: Expanding Our Army
Token-Doubling Powerhouses
Since we're playing white and our commander comes with a built-in creature buff, it only makes sense to dive headfirst into token shenanigans. In a game of Commander, the ability to flood the board with creatures is often a path to victory, and that's where cards like Anointed Procession, Mondrak, Glory Dominus, and Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation come into play. These are the heavyweights of token production, doubling the number of tokens we create and transforming a modest board state into an overwhelming force.
Anointed Procession is an absolute must-have in any token-based deck. It's the kind of card that, once on the battlefield, can take your deck from generating a few tokens each turn to creating a small army. Mondrak, Glory Dominus not only doubles tokens but also adds an indestructible counter, making it a resilient threat. Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation takes a different approach, turning any noncreature spell you cast into a creature-generating machine. Together, these cards ensure that Toby's army grows faster than your opponents can deal with.
Essential Token-Creators
On the subject of creating tokens, we can't overlook the heavy hitters in our deck. These are the creatures and spells that continuously churn out tokens, turning every turn into a potential explosion of creatures. Ancient Gold Dragon is a prime example: every time this massive Dragon deals combat damage, it has the potential to create an army of 1/1 flyers. Given the randomness of the number of tokens, this can range from a few to a full-on aerial assault.
Meanwhile, Ocelot Pride and Myrel, Shield of Argive serve as consistent sources of tokens. Ocelot Pride rewards us with a Cat token for each creature that attacks, which adds up quickly in a wide-board strategy. Myrel not only produces tokens but also offers protection, preventing opponents from casting spells or activating abilities during our turn. This not only ramps up our board state but also limits our opponents' options, making it harder for them to disrupt our gameplan.
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is another star in this deck. Her ability to create Human tokens equal to the number of opponents whenever she attacks makes her an efficient token-generator, especially in multiplayer games. With just a few swings, Adeline can fill the board with creatures ready to be buffed and sent into battle.
A Cheeky Combo for Token Madness
Among our token synergies lies an intriguing combo that can flood the board with tokens. Myojin of Blooming Dawn can produce a Spirit token for each permanent we control, but it requires removing an indestructible counter. Fortunately, Mondrak, Glory Dominus can generate an indestructible counter by paying a small cost and sacrificing two creatures. The missing link? Nesting Grounds, a land that lets us move counters at sorcery speed. By shifting the counter from Mondrak to Myojin, we can repeat this process, resulting in a deluge of tokens that can overwhelm even the most prepared opponents.
This combo isn't just powerful: it's also surprisingly resilient. With Mondrak's ability to generate indestructible counters, and Nesting Grounds allowing us to move them around, we can continue to activate Myojin's ability multiple times, creating an unstoppable wave of Spirits. This is the kind of combo that, if left unchecked, can quickly turn the tide of the game in our favor.
Blink Effects: Maximizing Our ETB Triggers
Blink as a Subtheme
While blinking might only play a secondary role in this deck, it's a powerful tool that can help us extract maximum value from our creatures. Repeating Toby, Beastie Befriender's ETB effect alone justifies this inclusion, but we have much more devious plans in mind.
Blink effects, for the uninitiated, allow us to exile a creature and return it to the battlefield, triggering any ETB effects again. This can be especially potent in a deck like ours, where so many creatures bring powerful abilities with them when they enter the battlefield. Even as a subtheme, blinking adds a layer of complexity and synergy to our deck, allowing us to double-dip on effects that can cripple our opponents or propel us to victory.
Tools for Blinking
Our arsenal of blink effects includes spells and creatures like Ephemerate, Lae'zel's Acrobatics, and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. These cards allow us to exile and return our creatures to the battlefield, triggering their ETB abilities repeatedly. Ephemerate is a one-mana instant that exiles a creature and returns it immediately, with the bonus of rebounding on your next upkeep, giving you two uses for the price of one. This is incredibly efficient, allowing you to trigger ETB effects twice for a very low cost.
Lae'zel's Acrobatics offers a more chaotic blink, potentially allowing you to blink your entire board. This can be a game-changer in the right circumstances, especially if you have multiple creatures with powerful ETB effects. Finally, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd provides a more controlled, repeatable blink effect, ideal for a deck that wants to maximize the value of each creature entering the battlefield.
Benefiting from ETB Effects
But which ETB effects are we looking to abuse? Outside of our commander, we have several potent options. Beza, the Bounding Spring offers resource generation if an opponent has more of a specific type than us, providing a nice tempo boost. Beza's ability to balance the scales, giving us resources that we're lacking, can be crucial in maintaining momentum in a game. Whether it's lands, creatures, or even life points, Beza ensures we're always competitive.
And then there's Moonshaker Cavalry, whose ETB effect buffs our entire board, an effect so powerful it can turn the tide of the game in our favor. Imagine blinking Moonshaker Cavalry multiple times in a single turn, each time adding to the already massive power of your token army. This kind of play can take your board state from threatening to outright lethal, especially when combined with our other buff effects.
Winning the Game: Overwhelming Combat
As a token deck, our primary win condition is overwhelming our opponents through combat. We aim to produce an army so vast and powerful that our enemies simply cannot withstand it. We do this by not only generating tokens but also by buffing them to make them an unstoppable force.
+1/+1 Counters for the Horde
We run several ways to bolster our creatures with +1/+1 counters, making our army more formidable. Enchantments like Virtue of Loyalty, Felidar Retreat, and Cathars' Crusade serve as reliable sources of counters, ensuring that our tokens grow stronger with each passing turn.
Virtue of Loyalty offers a repeatable way to distribute +1/+1 counters, giving our creatures permanent buffs every time we untap. This not only strengthens our board but also incentivizes us to keep the pressure on our opponents. Felidar Retreat serves a dual purpose, creating tokens or providing counters depending on the situation. Its Landfall ability ensures that even drawing a land can significantly impact the game, either by adding more creatures to the board or making our existing ones even stronger.
Finally, Cathars' Crusade is the ultimate anthem for a token deck, providing a +1/+1 counter to every creature you control each time a new creature enters the battlefield. In a deck designed to churn out tokens, this means your army will grow exponentially, turning even the smallest creatures into significant threats.
Banner Effects to Boost Power
But we don't stop at counters. We also employ various banner effects to enhance our creatures' power and toughness. Cards like Flowering of the White Tree, Inspiring Leader, and True Conviction provide static buffs, while Akroma's Memorial can turn the tide of the battle, often serving as the game-ending piece. With these synergies in place, our armies become truly devastating, leading us to a triumphant victory.
Flowering of the White Tree gives all your legendary creatures an additional buff, making your commander and other legendary token generators even more formidable. Inspiring Leader and True Conviction take a more direct approach, giving your creatures lifelink and doubling strike. This not only increases your damage output but also ensures you gain a significant amount of life, making it harder for opponents to mount a comeback.
Finally, Akroma's Memorial is the cherry on top, granting your entire army a suite of powerful abilities, including flying, first strike, vigilance, trample, haste, and protection from black and from red. With these abilities, your creatures become nearly unstoppable, able to bypass most defenses and strike with overwhelming power.
Conclusion: Unleashing Toby and Her Friends
Toby, Beastie Befriender is a commander who brings a delightful blend of nostalgia and power to the table. Her ability to rally an ever-growing army of beastly friends makes her a force to be reckoned with. Whether you're flooding the board with tokens or blinking powerful creatures to maximize ETB effects, this deck is designed to dominate through sheer numbers and overwhelming synergy.
With the tools at your disposal, your opponents will quickly find themselves overrun by a relentless wave of creatures, unable to keep up with the ever-growing horde. Toby is not just a friend to these beasties: she's their fearless leader, guiding them to victory in every battle. So, prepare yourself for a truly monstrous game, and let the haunting begin!
