Too-Specific Top 10 - Learning to Love Battalion
January 26, 2024 by
DougY 
(Aurelia, the Law Above | Art by Lie Setiawan)
Treasuring Tokens?
Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Anax, Hardened in the Forge is the only red creature that makes tokens when your nontoken creatures die, no questions asked?)
I have always hated Battalion.
As a player, I started getting serious about Magic back in the days of "Type II" (read: Standard), and cut my teeth there and in draft every weekend at the LGS. Both of those formats had something you learned fairly quickly: Not to overcommit. So when a mechanic showed up that wanted you to plop down every creature in your hand to get Wrathed away, I naturally bristled. Combine that with Battalion not even doing anything if you don't have three creatures attacking, and I was less than sold, to put it mildly.
Still, I wonder if I wasn't too hasty.
While I may still be holding that last creature in my hand like it's 1999, the fact is that much of the table isn't. Having the ability to draw while my opponents overcommit is pretty enticing, as is drawing cards so I can overcommit myself and still have gas in the tank.
Even still, my lizard brain expecting to get board wiped by the control deck is recoiling, so let's see if we can't do something about that.
Top 10 Cheap Boros Creatures That Make Creature Tokens
Putting down three (or five) creatures from your hand is an overly aggressive action that you might get punished for, but what if you could hit the magic marks designated on Aurelia, the Law Above by only playing one or two creatures? Indeed, if every creature you play made a token, with Aurelia attacking herself, then you are drawing a card every turn by playing only a single creature! Stretch that to two, and you've got a free Lightning Helix every turn to boot. So, let's take a look at the best token makers in Boros.
Top 10 Boros Creatures That Make Creature Tokens
- [REDACTED] - On Actual List
- [REDACTED] - On Actual List
- Mondrak, Glory Dominus
- Myr Battlesphere
- Young Pyromancer
- Wurmcoil Engine
- Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
- Feldon of the Third Path
- Keeper of the Accord
- Loyal Apprentice
I begin to see a problem here. Outside of Loyal Apprentice, most of this list is just not what we're looking for to turn Aurelia on, at all. Mondrak, Glory Dominus comes down late and doesn't make any tokens itself. Myr Battlesphere comes down even later and has to wait a turn to help Aurelia out. Young Pyromancer cares about spells in a deck we want to be all creatures. We need to set some ground rules.
First off, let's nix the Young Pyromancers and Feldons of the world by saying that we only want token-makers that can make cards without outside requirements. This also unfortunately gets rid of Loyal Apprentice, but that's fine, we all know it makes the decklist anyhow.
As for the large creatures that won't really be that impactful in a low-to-the-ground aggro deck that's trying to flood the board early? We'll just restrict our search to stuff that costs three or less, and plug in our top end at a later date, as well.
That should about cover it! Let's take a look at the list.
Criteria: Boros creatures costing three or less which can independently create a creature token under your control without paying additional mana. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.
10. Skyknight Vanguard
(19,227 Inclusions, 3% of 751,489 Decks)
Well, we're off to a promising start. At two mana for a 1/2 flier that makes tokens every time it attacks, there's really not a better addition we could have than Skyknight Vanguard. We will need to keep in mind that the 1/1 Soldier that enters tapped and attacking doesn't count towards Aurelia's attack trigger until it attacks of its own volition on the next turn, but other than that, this is a slam dunk in Aurelia, the same as it is in pretty much any Boros deck that cares about tokens.
9. Goblin Rabblemaster
(20,706 Inclusions, 1% of 1,657,443 Decks)
With us leaning into tokens, the only thing guaranteed is Soldiers. With that said, Goblins are a close second, and Goblin Rabblemaster brings some of his own! Even better, with the tokens happening at the beginning of combat and having haste, they'll make an immediate impact with Aurelia. Now, if we could just find a way to keep this 2/2 alive over the long term...
8. Brimaz, King of Oreskos
(Helms 265 Decks, Rank #1,460; 22,003 Inclusions, 1% of 1,577,317 Decks)
Brimaz gets them coming and going, and all with a 3/4 stat line for three mana that only includes upsides. In short, if you're looking to make tokens and attack (or block), Brimaz is your Cat. Soldier.
7. Goblin Instigator
(23,889 Inclusions, 1% of 1,657,443 Decks)
As we continue to go back and forth between (Cat) Soldiers and Goblins, enter the creature version of Dragon Fodder. There is some benefit to Goblin Instigator being a creature, however. Making a copy of Instigator will net a token, as will blinking it and recurring it. While none of those things are going to be the focus of an aggro deck like Aurelia, that doesn't mean they won't make an appearance, either.
6. Hanweir Garrison
(25,238 Inclusions, 2% of 1,657,443 Decks)
The first creature we're seeing that can make more than one token at a time, Hanweir Garrison takes a break from the Goblins vs. Soldiers war and just throws Humans at the wall. All kidding aside, however, if you can keep Hanweir Garrison alive to keep on getting attack triggers, this thing gets out of control quickly. Two tokens a turn is just something that everyone has to find an answer to before it starts taking over both the table and the life totals.
If you were looking for yet another reason to kill it, however, Hanweir Garrison can also Meld with Hanweir Battlements to become a 7/4 with trample and haste that makes even bigger tokens. The phrase "kill it with fire" does come to mind.
5. Mogg War Marshal
(26,014 Inclusions, 2% of 1,657,443 Decks)
What's better than paying two mana to get two creatures? Paying two mana to get three! Well, sort of. Mogg War Marshal is in the long line of "creatures with Echo who are doubtful to ever have their Echo cost paid". In this case, the reasoning is that it replaces itself when it dies anyhow, along with the token you get from it just showing up in the first place. In other words, pretty much all of the upsides of Goblin Instigator are present here, only doubled if you can manage to pull them off before the War Marshal shuffles off this mortal coil.
4. Legion Warboss
(34,617 Inclusions, 2% of 1,657,443 Decks)
Legion Warboss is, in my opinion, one of the most elegant creature designs we've ever seen in Magic. A 2/2 that creates 1/1s every turn, then immediately makes them bigger with a Mentor trigger. Sure, just like a ton of the other creatures on this list, it's likely that your Warboss will die an early death and have its tokens outlive it, but hey, that's what we're drawing cards with Aurelia for, isn't it?
3. Hangarback Walker
(36,520 Inclusions, 1% of 3,457,638 Decks)
With all this talk of trying to keep our token generators alive, it's nice to see one that just wants to die. With that said, I'm not sure that Hangarback Walker really fits in with what an Aurelia deck is trying to do. Plopping it down with a single counter and then slowly adding to it might be good enough for +1/+1 counter, artifact, and Proliferate decks, but around here, we're trying to swing!
2. Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
(Helms 1,231 Decks, Rank #717; 87,315 Inclusions, 5% of 1,657,443 Decks)
While Krenko, Mob Boss and his "here, let me give you a history of every Nintendo system" activated ability remain the scariest version, in play numbers, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin is now number one. The reason? This particular Krenko doesn't attract nearly as much attention, while it still quietly provides value in tokens and consistent pressure on life totals. Most days, he dies an early death in the same fashion as Legion Warboss or Goblin Rabblemaster, but every once in a while, he grows to the point where he becomes a must-solve problem for the table.
1. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
(Helms 2,547 Decks, Rank #380; 92,034 Inclusions, 6% of 1,577,317 Decks)
Adeline doesn't grow to become a must-solve problem, she just is one. Even without any outside assistance, she swings for four on the first go-round, making three tokens. After that, numbers start getting silly as you add in more tokens and she gets chump blocked every turn to prevent absurd amounts of damage from the steady stream of tokens and whatever else you're doing with your time. In short, there is not a better cheap token producer in the game, and maybe only one better aggro creature.
Honorable Mentions
There were several decent token-makers that got got by our criteria, so let's take a look at those first.
Dragonmaster Outcast might not "independently make tokens on its own", but it almost does. When that sixth land comes down, the table starts looking real hard at this little 1/1 that is suddenly a threat to everyone, and that's exactly the kind of upside we're looking for in the late game after we've likely been board wiped at least once.
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker doesn't strictly count as a creature, but I'm not sure that we actually care. When it comes down, it immediately makes a solid token that makes Treasures, then rummages a couple cards, then flips into a slightly worse rendition of one of the best creatures of all time, that also makes tokens. In short, there is no universe where a token deck doesn't want this card.
Finally, Prava of the Steel Legion often gets ignored for its clunky nature and expensive activated ability, but for a deck that is looking to constantly be swinging in with tokens, it couldn't get more perfect. +1/+4 makes for some awful resilient tokens that still provide a lot of life total pressure in large numbers. And if we should manage to run out of cards and have a bunch of mana sitting around in the late game, then we aren't exactly going to be looking at that activated ability with side-eye.
As for the cards that did make the criteria, but not the list, there are a few diamonds in the rough there, as well.
Doomed Traveler would have come in at number 12 on our list, but should be substantially higher, in my opinion. One mana for a 1/1 that makes a 1/1 flier upon dying is just one of the best rates you're going to find in Magic, and while you normally only see this effect in Aristocrats decks, aggro decks should be looking into efficient one-drops like this more often as well.
Anax, Hardened in the Forge isn't a one-drop, but it does still make a ton of 1/1's. In a deck looking to swing as much as Aurelia, the Satyrs not blocking isn't a huge deal, and Anax himself isn't a slouch in the red zone, either!
The real cream of the crop, however, is Battle Cry Goblin. His Pack Tactics ability is essentially Battalion under a different name, and his pump ability is going to be a straight late-game finisher. In short, this card was made for this deck.
Speaking of the deck...
Three's Company
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While it's not the fastest aggro deck I've ever built, it is resilient. Drawing extra cards every turn and creatures making tokens when they die leaves you never on empty, and having a large, hasty commander that can also directly damage life totals helps in the late game as well.
Nuts and Bolts
There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.
What Do You Think?
Overall, I still don't like Battalion. Even in a deck dedicated to turning it on, it can be difficult to maintain consistently. Even with card draw attached, your opponents still have every incentive to get rid of your scary board that you've overcommitted to. But what do I know?
And finally, what is your favorite Boros creature that makes tokens? Are you in love with the new Aurelia? Is there another way you're planning on brewing her to take advantage of her not-Battalion triggers?
Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table that's always full. We'll just be waiting our turn, of course.
DougY
Doug has been an avid Magic player since Fallen Empires, when his older brother traded him some epic blue Homarids for all of his Islands. As for Commander, he's been playing since 2010, when he started off by making a two-player oriented G/R Land Destruction deck. Nailed it. In his spare time when he's not playing Magic, writing about Magic or doing his day job, he runs a YouTube channel or two, keeps up a College Football Computer Poll, and is attempting to gif every scene of the Star Wars prequels.
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