Belladonna TookBelladonna Took | Art by Xabi Gaztelua

Returning to Middle-earth lets us revisit some great design niches, and my favorite designs from the Lord of the Rings set were the hobbits.

Many of the legendary Halflings were great commanders, compact engines low on the mana curve, designed that way to reflect their simple virtues and small size. Well, the Halflings from The Hobbit carry that trend forward, and none does so better than Belladonna TookBelladonna Took. It costs only two mana, but opens up deckbuilding space in many directions that previous hobbits have already hinted at, from Lifegain to creature tokens to Food.

As a card in a deck led by another commander, its rewards are strong enough on rate that it can fit into any strategy that's even halfway on plan, but as a commander itself, it can create some crazy board states very early in the game.

Belladonna's progressive triggered ability gives us a clear goal every turn. The first token we can create gains us one life, which is just fine. The second token draws us a card, which is honestly a great payoff and makes it well worth our while. Then the third token gives our whole team a boost, which can get the game over in a hurry. If we can trigger its ability three times in a turn, not only have we gained quite the advantage but we also mitigate some of the risks of going wide. By drawing a card, we neutralize the risk of overcommitting to the board, and by pumping our team, we make it so each token we've managed to create is higher-impact.

Some great commanders to look to for inspiration include Bennie Bracks, ZoologistBennie Bracks, Zoologist and Rosie Cotton of South LaneRosie Cotton of South Lane, since Belladonna is almost like the two of those creatures rolled into one. Other Tokens commanders like Mondrak, Glory DominusMondrak, Glory Dominus and Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar can provide good recommendations for the core structure of the deck.

Key Cards for Belladonna TookBelladonna Took

Step one of our plan is to count to three. Any cards that can create three tokens in a turn for a reasonable mana cost are incredible ways to trigger all of Belladonna's payoffs at once. Hop to ItHop to It, Spectral ProcessionSpectral Procession, and Distract the GuardsDistract the Guards are the easiest version of this effect, usually costing three mana for three tokens. Since our commander can come down on turn two, these cards can often get us our hat trick of triggers on turn three, putting us firmly in the driver's seat. Later in the game, Sram's ExpertiseSram's Expertise can give us additional value, and Triplicate SpiritsTriplicate Spirits will often come down for no mana at all.

We also have access to a surprising number of effects that can create tokens for each opponent we attack, meaning we can take advantage of the standard four-player pod to create three tokens per turn, every turn. The aforementioned Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar can create a token for each opponent, as can Endless Foot AssaultEndless Foot Assault and Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain GalleryDollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery. Ainok Strike LeaderAinok Strike Leader gives us that same explosive potential while also protecting against board wipes, making it a must-kill threat.

Belladonna also resets its count every turn, so any ability to create multiple tokens on our opponents' turns can let us get extra triggers throughout a turn cycle. Raise the AlarmRaise the Alarm won't get us the counters by itself, but becoming a cantrip turns it into an efficient little trick. Charismatic ConquerorCharismatic Conqueror can put a ton of pressure on opponents who want to develop blockers or use their permanents right away. And Call the CoppercoatsCall the Coppercoats is one of the most efficient token makers in the game, on top of being an instant.

Another class of cards that fit right alongside Belladonna are cards that love having counters placed on them and create tokens based on them. Falcon and RedwingFalcon and Redwing grows at a good clip on its own, but goes absolutely ham when it gets an extra counter every turn, and can snowball before our opponents know what hit them. Royal Talon Fighter JetRoyal Talon Fighter Jet and Jacked RabbitJacked Rabbit give us similar engines that accelerate alongside our commander. Finally, former Standard all-star Hangarback WalkerHangarback Walker can help us hedge our bets against board wipes by threatening to turn into a swarm of ThopterThopters if it dies.

One of Belladonna's greatest strengths is that it can give us an extra card every turn, and we want to find as many backups for that effect as possible. Aggressive strategies can work in commander, but only when they can keep cards flowing in order to accelerate rather than stagnate in the middle game. Caretaker's TalentCaretaker's Talent, Idol of OblivionIdol of Oblivion, and Bennie Bracks, ZoologistBennie Bracks, Zoologist can all give us cards turn after turn for no additional mana, and Staff of the StorytellerStaff of the Storyteller only costs a measly to activate. Haliya, Guided by LightHaliya, Guided by Light asks us to perform the same count to three as Belladonna, and it even counts nontoken creatures and artifacts in its tally.

Going wide will often make us an early threat, so we need some ways to survive interaction, and especially board wipes. Grand CrescendoGrand Crescendo can give our creatures indestructible while contributing to our plan, and Dawn's TruceDawn's Truce can even throw hexproof into the bargain. These tricks are powerful, but can be easy to see coming for our opponents when we leave up mana despite having plenty of cards in hand, so we're also running some effects that can come down for free. Flare of FortitudeFlare of Fortitude, Flawless ManeuverFlawless Maneuver, and Clever ConcealmentClever Concealment have different conditions we have to meet to play them for free, but they are all key pieces of our strategy of getting ahead early and then pushing our advantage.

Winning the Game with Belladonna TookBelladonna Took

No matter how many tokens we can create, if they're all 1/1s it will be difficult to take out three opponents from 40 life each with them. The classic formula of Tokens decks is to generate a huge board of small creatures and then pump them all up until each one is individually threatening. Luckily for us, that's exactly what Belladonna TookBelladonna Took does with its last ability. But we'd be foolish to rely only on it, and so we're running plenty of backups.

Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain GalleryDollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery is a great double engine in this deck, coming down early to generate tokens and then making them all huge in the late game. Caretaker's TalentCaretaker's Talent functions similarly, acting as a card advantage engine for most of the game before giving everyone +2/+2 with its final level. And Elspeth, Storm SlayerElspeth, Storm Slayer does everything we could possibly want, doubling our token creation, dealing with pesky permanents, and giving our team evasion and a sizable buff when we're ready to close out the game.

The Deck List

A lot of people dismiss aggressive strategies in Commander, saying that the burden of dealing 120 damage is just too high in a format where everyone's deck is built to go over the top of efficient, low to the ground creatures. I think they just haven't played an aggro deck with enough card advantage. As long as we can draw two or three cards per turn and keep hitting our land drops, there's no reason why we can't scale with the size of the game. Tokens decks do this in maybe the clearest way, starting out by creating small threats and then growing them to mirror our opponents' more expensive creatures on later turns.

Belladonna TookBelladonna Took is one of the most compact Tokens payoffs we've ever seen, providing both cards and stats for only two mana, but the true strength of this deck lies in the fact that we can play redundant engines for all of her abilities. Staff of the StorytellerStaff of the Storyteller can give us the same card advantage, and Cosmogrand ZenithCosmogrand Zenith can buff our creatures just as well. If we can ever get multiple instances of these engines in play at once, we can run away with the game, and our multiple layers of backup plan make us much more resilient if our opponents (rightly) decide we're the threat at the table.