"Death by Tokens: Selesnyan Populator Pauper"

"Death by Tokens: Selesnyan Populator Pauper" 

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

Selesnya is the best token producer  in Standard. As early as turn 2 you could have tokens left and right. Standard Pauper is another matter though and things are a bit slower and mana costs are a bit higher.Here is a deck list that would test the endurance and patience of any magic player. Well life is just full of challenges and this deck is a challenge. Be aware that if the tokens don't come in around turn 3 then there might be a problem later. Check out the list:

9 X Forest

9 X Plains

4 X Selesnya Guildgates

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22 Lands

4 X Centaurs Herald

4 X Seller of Songbirds

4 X Centaur Healer

4 X Elvish Mystique

4 X Deadly Recluse

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20 Creatures

3 X Coursers Accord 

4 X Druids Deliverance

4 X Rootborn Defenses 

4 X Commune with the Gods

3 X Fortify

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18 spells

Sideboard:

4 X Sundering Growth

4 X Celestial Flare

4 X Keening Apparition

4 X Hive Stirrings

Now what this deck really wants to do is to put a lot of creatures in play. A lot of tokens and big tokens at that too. The ideal play would be to have an Elvish Mystique on turn one so that you would have 

3 mana available on turn two. This makes it easier to cast Centaur Healer and Seller of Songbirds. The Seller is a 2 for 1 creature , it is not as strong as the Splicers of New Phyrexia or the Knight that brings 2 1/1 tokens but heck a flying bird and a 1/2 body is great in this pauper environment.

Centaurs Herald is another key creature here. Always have 3 mana open with this elf in play. So that it could block and be sacrificed to put a 3/3 Centaur into play.Aside from the Seller of Song birds this is another 2 for 1 creature. You have a blocker and a token. This might be the biggest token you could populate in this deck.

Most of the cards in this deck have the Populate mechanic.Cards like Druids Deliverance is a fog effect that gives you another token into play if you already have one. Rootborn Defenses gives you another body to defend with when you are attacked and makes all of your creatures indestructible. Remember Populate that 3/3 or 1/1 first and then block. 

Coursers Accord which is the most expensive spell in this deck at 6 mana. In essence it allows you to have 2 3/3 Centaurs. The plan is to keep on getting 3/3 fighters so that you have bodies to defend or attack. With Populate its not really hard to achieve just remember to keep the mana ramp coming. 

Fortify is here when you are ready to attack. At instant speed it could +2/0 to each creature you control.Just 5 Centaurs and a single Fortify is enough to get you a victory with 25 damage. As of this writing only Lightning Strike can take out a 3/3 Centaur with direct damage. And if one Centaur token dies there is more where it came from. Be careful though if you only have one token in Play because they are sure to be targets.
So the plan is to  keep on defending and keep on populating until you are ready to attack. Lifegain and Fog effects will be there to buy you time and when the time is right show them the might of Selesnya in one mighty blow.