Typically, token decks in Magic: the Gathering focus on developing a wide board state of creatures and swarming your opponent with an overwhelming number of attackers. But Jaheira, Friend of the Forest, a new commander from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, works much differently than you average token deck.
Jaheira, Friend of the Forest
Jaheira has a single, straightforward ability, but there is no other card that currently exists in the game that functions like it. She gives all your tokens the ability to tap for green mana. This does not apply to your creature tokens. Even your Treasure, Food, Clues, and any other tokens can tap for mana, and as long as those clues aren’t creatures, they don’t have summoning sickness and can make mana as soon as they enter play.
Like many of the commanders from Baulder’s Gate, Jaheira can choose a background to expand your deck’s color identity. Many backgrounds even compliment Jaheira’s main ability.
Chooseing a Background for Jaheira
Depending on what background you pair with Jaheira, the strategy and how you build your deck vastly differs. But this is part of the appeal to Jaheira; there are many ways to brew around her.
Don’t rule out pairing Jaheira with a green background and playing a mono-green deck. Cloakwood Hermit can make creature tokens that synergize with Jaheira’s mana-producing ability. And if you construct your deck primarily around creature tokens, Master Chef will buff your army with +1/+1 counters.
Once you start coupling Jaheira with different color backgrounds, things get interesting.
Agent of the Iron Throne gives Jaheira a aristocrats subtheme. You can sacrifice your creature tokens ore Treasures to whittle down your opponents’ life totals. Black also gives you access to Pitiless Plunderer, which can create some infinite combos.
Guild Artisan is like Cloakwood Hermit in that it makes tokens to fuel Jaheira’s ability, but it gives you access to red token-producers like Brass’s Bounty.
Street Urchin may be at its best with Jaheira because your tokens can pay for the cost of Street Urchin’s ability. Then you can sacrifice your token to deal damage.
Far Traveler may not seem like the most obvious background to pair with Jaheira, but you can blink creatures like Avenger of Zendikar.
Veteran Soldier and Feywild Visitor are more enchantments that can make tokens but give you access to different colors.
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Making Tokens
There are so many types of tokens in Magic: the Gathering and each color excels at making certain ones.
Treasure Tokens
Depending on what color background you pair with Jaheira, you have different options that make Treasure tokens. Treasures are an ideal token to focus on when building a Jaheira because they make mana even if Jaheira is not in play, allowing you to carry out your main gameplan of casting big spells.
Creatures Tokens
Avenger of Zendikar is a Commander classic and grows its own garden of Plant tokens. Rabble Rousing is a newer Magic card but creates an endless hoard of Citizen tokens. And because Jaheira can make a lot of mana, you can easily cast Rite of Replication for its kicker cost and make many tokens of the best creature on the field.
Miscellaneous Tokens
With the right support cards, Academy Manufactor can turn one token into three. Speaking of support cards for Academy Manufactor, Lonis, Cryptozoologist, is a sleuthy Snake and will discover many Clue tokens for you. And Grand Crescendo is a flexible spell that can both make extra tokens for Jaheira and protect the tokens you already have.
Token Doublers
Doubling your tokens means doubling the mana you can make with Jaheira.
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