The 48 Best Token Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on December 6, 2025

Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse | Illustration by Izzy

Tokens are one of the best strategies in Magic. You get to swarm the board with more creatures than your opponents can keep up with and rush them down with an army that’s too big for your playmat to contain. Tokens can also make a lot of other strategies work well.

Beating your opponent with an army of 1/1s is a uniquely satisfying experience. It lets you build a deck that’s more than the sum of its measly parts and crafts an interesting story in the deck around how your armies unified to take down the opposition. Of course, no army is complete without a competent general, so let’s look at the best token commanders in Magic!

What Are Token Commanders in MTG?

Krenko, Mob Boss | Illustration by Karl Kopinski

Token commanders are legendary creatures that care about tokens and token creation. Creature tokens are the most common case, but nowadays we have lots of token types, including Treasure tokens, role tokens, Food tokens, Blood tokens… the list goes on.

Token commanders may have synergies with tokens and the number of tokens you have in play, may buff your already existing tokens, or copy existing tokens via the populate mechanic. Since tokens are the easiest way to turn a card into multiple bodies, sometimes we’ll reference commanders that benefit from a go-wide strategy, too.

#48. Darien, King of Kjeldor

Darien, King of Kjeldor is weak as a 3/3 for 6 mana, but enemies won’t be too keen on attacking you because you’ll get free 1/1 tokens.

#47. Ardoz, Cobbler of War

With Ardoz, Cobbler of War, you really want creatures with haste to benefit from the extra +2/+0 the turn they enter the battlefield. That, or you want something like goblin lord Goblin Warchief to extend that bonus to the rest of the team. You can make your own 3/1 hasty goblins with Ardoz, so there’s that.

#46. Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel

Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel creates an interesting loop where tokens you make and sacrifice or kill in combat buff it, and when this black commander leaves, you get to make a lot of tokens. The incentive you have to play tokens here is to add sacrifice fodder to strengthen Nadier, and once it gets huge, people will think twice about interacting with it. Not even exile removal gets it in a clean manner.

#45. Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer

Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer’s best ability is to make free 3/3 tokens on landfall, while most token makers limit themselves to 1/1s. Your green commander incentivizes you to keep playing lands to grow it. You’ll make a bunch of tokens on the way, but it has diminishing returns in the late game.

#44. Prava of the Steel Legion

Prava of the Steel Legion gives your tokens a very solid bonus. +1/+4 is nothing to laugh at, but it’s only on your turn. You’ll want cards like Intangible Virtue to attack with vigilance or ways to take advantage of high-toughness creatures.

#43. Slimefoot, the Stowaway

Slimefoot, the Stowaway is a more classic saproling commander, and you can pump saprolings into play by paying 4 mana. This Golgari commander () gives you a good mana sink, and a good source of sacrifice fodder, too. 

#42. Ovika, Enigma Goliath

Ovika, Enigma Goliath is more of a big spells payoff card than a token commander. That said, with every noncreature spell you cast, you get to make 1/1 tokens with haste equal to the mana value of that spell. That gets really good with cards like Time Warp where you get to play an extra turn and add five more tokens to your ranks.

#41. Queen Allenal of Ruadach

Queen Allenal of Ruadach is a creature that gets bigger the more creatures you have, and that’s already an interesting incentive to run tokens, although it’s pretty vanilla. This Selesnya commander () gets a little better because you can make 1/1 soldiers in addition to the regular tokens you’d make, raising your numbers quickly.

#40. Aeve, Progenitor Ooze

Aeve, Progenitor Ooze has a pretty interesting ability for a legendary creature: storm. When you cast it, you get to make tokens of it according to the storm count, and those tokens buff each other. You can think about playing it alongside Biogenic Ooze and distribute +1/+1 counters to oozes you control. The biggest problem here is triggering storm, especially in the late game when your commander tax is high and you don’t have many cards in hand.

#39. Ghalta and Mavren

Ghalta and Mavren is pretty self-sustainable as a 12/12 trample for 7 mana. The best part here is that you can cast this Selesnya card, attack with whatever you have, and make either a big trampling token or small 1/1 lifelink creatures. The abilities feed off each other, so if you have big creatures, you’ll make a huge dino, and if you have the numbers, you’ll lead a big army of vampires.

#38. Ghired, Conclave Exile

Getting a 2/5 with a 4/4 token attached is very efficient, and whenever you attack with Ghired, Conclave Exile, you get to populate and instantly attack with the new token. Here, the focus is on a small number of big tokens, like those created by Armada Wurm. That said, having a populate effect on your Naya commander () is very flexible and powerful in lots of scenarios.

#37. Kambal, Profiteering Mayor

Kambal, Profiteering Mayor lets you get in on your opponents' token-making action. It works only once per turn, and they enter tapped, but it’s still a good effect. Here, the emphasis is on effects that create a lot of tokens at once to make the most of the ability. Plus, you’ll drain your opponents for 1 too, so it’s like an extort effect tied to the token creation.

#36. Akim, the Soaring Wind

Akim, the Soaring Wind is in a different tier for token commanders. First, you get to make 1/1 Bird creature tokens in addition to the other tokens you’d make, and that’s a strong improvement over ground 1/1s. Next, you get to buff all your tokens with double strike. That’s the main reason I’d want to build around this Jeskai commander () with tokens.

#35. Pashalik Mons

Pashalik Mons turns one of your goblins into two of them, while also dealing damage in the process. It’s in this red commander’s best interest to make a lot of goblins and have a benefit for sacrificing them. You can even attack at will with your goblins since they’ll do at least 1 point of damage, alive or dead.

#34. Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder makes you a lot of 1/1 black Thrull tokens as long as you’re casting creature spells. To get around the sacrifice clause, it’s best to run free sacrifice outlets to keep the thrull number in check. Cards like Viscera Seer become your best friend, as well as stax cards. Since you don’t want to gather more than seven thrulls, you won’t care that much about your tokens, so they’re good as attackers and blockers.

#33. Jaheira, Friend of the Forest

While we’re into creating that many tokens, let’s make them into Llanowar Elves, shall we? Jaheira, Friend of the Forest does exactly that. Jaheira is an interesting addition to elf commanders, because elf decks often produce many 1/1 Elf tokens and you can turn them into mana dorks.

#32. Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin

Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin works very well with equipment or combat tricks that boost power, because that’s the stat considered for its token-making ability. It’s easy to make Krenko into a 6/2 until end of turn and make six Goblin tokens, and this red creature is interesting both as a commander or as a role player in a goblin-dedicated deck.

#31. Ghoulcaller Gisa

Ghoulcaller Gisa is a very interesting zombie commander. You can cash in a 2/2 Zombie token to get two 2/2 Zombies, and so on. You can cast cards like Fleshbag Marauder and sac them right away to produce three Zombies, and there’s plenty of good sacrifice fodder like Gravecrawler that works wonders in this context.

#30. Rhys the Redeemed

Rhys the Redeemed is a classic, and one of the most simple and effective token commanders. It’s very easy to cast as a 1-mana commander, and as you get more mana, it’s time to start producing more tokens. Its signature ability is to copy every other token you have by paying just 6 mana.

#29. Deekah, Fractal Theorist

Deekah, Fractal Theorist works along the same lines as Shark Typhoon or Metallurgic Summonings. The benefit here is that you can give evasion to your tokens, which can be a bit redundant since most blue tokens often have flying or unblockable. One of the best ways to build around this commander is to have cheap spells that proliferate, so your fractal tokens keep getting +1/+1 counters.

#28. Minn, Wily Illusionist

Minn, Wily Illusionist allows you to make Illusion tokens that get stronger the more illusions you have. It’s indeed one of the few illusions-matter cards alongside Lord of the Unreal. The thing is, you need to draw two cards a turn to make more illusions, and there’s plenty of ways to do that on your turn or your opponents. Skullclamp is perfect for that. You’re also rewarded when your illusions die, so one more argument for playing the clamp.

#27. Alandra, Sky Dreamer

Alandra, Sky Dreamer is an enabler and payoff at the same time. While you’re cantripping your spells, you get to make some 2/2 flying drakes, which can be very effective. That goes very well with Drake Haven and cycling. If you draw five cards, you get to give your drakes +5/+5 at least. It’s a very narrow blue commander to build, but the power is there.

#26. Elenda and Azor

Elenda and Azor is a big flying finisher, in the sense that you’re attacking in the air and firing off draw-X effects. You’re dealing damage, using your mana as you see fit, and guess what? At the end of the turn, you’ll make some 1/1 vampires with lifelink – well at least one, but usually three or four. It’s not a big incentive to run tokens, but the card is powerful – and you can have some vampire lords to buff the tokens, as well as your Esper commander ().

#25. Titania, Nature’s Force

Titania, Nature's Force is more of a land commander and elemental commander. That said, making 5/3 Elemental tokens on a “forest landfall” trigger is one of the best ways to make tokens coming from a commander, and a nice mix of elemental benefits and tokens benefits will take you very far.

#24. Elesh Norn / The Argent Etchings

Elesh Norn isn’t the token commander you’re looking for, as it doesn’t do anything by itself. But when you transform it into The Argent Etchings, you’ll get many benefits. First, you’ll get five Incubators tokens, then a bonus plus double strike. This is a card that you’ll want to surround with tokens and Phyrexians to get the most out of its abilities.

#23. Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation / Temple of Civilization

Look, it’s hard to argue with Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation as a good token commander. Triplicating all the creature tokens created is very strong, and a simple Raise the Alarm can net you six bodies. There are some disadvantages though: Your white commander limits your color identity, and it costs 6 mana to get into play.

#22. Teysa, Orzhov Scion

Teysa, Orzhov Scion gives you an excellent incentive to play small creatures and tokens while not giving you ways to do so. Sacrificing black creatures gives you 1/1 Spirit tokens with flying, and if you sac three white creatures, you get a powerful removal spell. Naturally it gets better with Orzhov creatures creatures, creatures with the afterlife mechanic, or sacrifice payoffs. You can play this Orzhov commander along other iterations of Teysa that double death triggers to be even more effective.

#21. Cadira, Caller of the Small

Cadira, Caller of the Small’s ability is very powerful but very conditional. You need to already have a huge board and deal damage with your commander. It’s awesome if you have support, and a little lackluster on an empty board.

#20. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard

Neyali, Suns' Vanguard rewards you strongly for having tokens. First, you cast your Boros commander () and immediately attack with your double strike tokens. Plus, you get an impulse draw each time your tokens attack, and you can cast the exiled cards during any turn you’ve attacked with a token. Neyali offers you a power boost and card advantage at the same time.

#19. Myrel, Shield of Argive

Myrel, Shield of Argive is a very popular soldier commander, especially if you want to deploy soldiers on the battlefield. Myrel easily snowballs by giving you a number of soldiers equal to the number of soldiers you already have, which will be strong on your next turn, and so on. Plus, soldiers have strong typal support with cards like Rescue Retriever and Valiant Veteran.

#18. Bennie Bracks, Zoologist

Bennie Bracks, Zoologist gives you a card if you’re consistently making tokens, which is a good incentive to go that route. Just playing a creature that makes a token every turn is fine, and you can make them on your opponents’ turns, too. If you lose Bennie Bracks, it should be easier to recast it due to the convoke ability.

#17. Maja, Bretagard Protector

Maja, Bretagard Protector is a simple and functional token commander, giving you tokens with landfall and a lord effect for your creatures. You get Glorious Anthem and more with this human warrior, and you get ways to make more humans in white and land drops in green.

#16. Esix, Fractal Bloom

Esix, Fractal Bloom is a crazy token commander that makes tokens that are a copy of another creature, rather than doubling your tokens or something. Suddenly you can have all tokens you create enter the battlefield as copies of a Mulldrifter you control. The best part is that, if you would create two tokens at a given time, you make two clones of a creature you control, and that can work on your opponents’ turns, too.

#15. Thalisse, Reverent Medium

Thalisse, Reverent Medium simply rewards you for making tokens. Each turn, you’ll get X Spirits, where X is the number of tokens you’ve created. These tokens already fly, so you can play some “flying matter cards” and cards that make X tokens, quickly amassing an air force. Playing blue would be perfect for spirit lords, but well, this cleric is in Orzhov colors.

#14. Baylen, the Haymaker

Baylen, the Haymaker is excellent at getting the most out of your tokens beyond just attacking and blocking. Plus, Naya colors have excellent ways to make tokens already. You can ramp, draw cards, and even buff Baylen for a strong attack, even if it’s not your turn. There's some power to unlock with Baylen as your commander.

#13. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer is an atypical Izzet commander () that can do some ridiculous stuff. Creating a baseline 2/1 Myr and turning your, say, Treasure tokens into that is very powerful, but that’s just the beginning. Cards like Quasiduplicate or Cackling Counterpart allow you to do ridiculous things with your tokens.

#12. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

In Standard, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar was already a respectable 3-drop. In multiplayer formats, however, you can make up to three tokens every turn while buffing Adeline’s attack. Just slap an aura or equipment onto this aggro commander and watch your numbers grow, while hitting hard.

#11. Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse

Like many blue cards, Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse gives you incentive to draw two or more cards a turn, and in this case, you’ll get a 2/2 cat. That in itself wouldn’t be a good incentive to run tokens, but giving your tokens an X/X statline is very significant, and an excellent reason to run Parallel Lives and friends.

#10. Jinnie Fay, Jetmir’s Second

Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second allows you to turn any token you create into 2/2 cats or 3/1 dogs, so you don’t even need to buff them to be better than 1/1 creatures. Cats are a better supported creature type than dogs, so it should be your main option, alongside a few cat lords.

#9. Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Lathril, Blade of the Elves is one of the most popular elf commanders. It gives you a way to make more elf tokens, as well as a way to benefit from them – besides just amassing an elf horde and attacking.

#8. King Darien XLVIII

King Darien XLVIII is huge as a token commander. It’s a single Selesnya commander that can buff your creatures, create tokens, and even sacrifice itself to protect your tokens with hexproof and indestructible.

#7. Caesar, Legion's Emperor

Like King Darien XLVIII, here’s another complete package. With Caesar, Legion's Emperor, you must sacrifice a creature to trigger its abilities, so that already suggests tokens. From there, you can get two new tokens, draw a card, or even deal damage to your opponents. This Mardu commander () is a token creator, an engine, and a payoff at the same time.

#6. Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko, Mob Boss is one of the most popular red commanders, goblin commanders, commanders, you get the idea. By tapping it, you gain a Goblin token for each goblin you have. If you make four goblins on a turn, you’ll get to make eight on the turn after, and so on. Krenko is busted with Purphoros, God of the Forge around.

#5. Marneus Calgar

Marneus Calgar has those magic words in the text box. Whenever you do something, draw a card. That’s been an excellent incentive to build a deck around a legend, and it's no different here. Plus, you can enable it by paying 6 mana and making two 2/2 creatures, which would already be a pretty good incentive to play this Warhammer 40K commander.

#4. Chatterfang, Squirrel General

Chatterfang, Squirrel General adds a very interesting token twist. Each time you create any token, you’ll get an extra 1/1 Squirrel, and it also works in multiples. Create three tokens, get three 1/1’s, and so on. But you can also use your Squirrels on offense and defense, and you can use the sacrifice ability at will because you don’t even need to tap.

#3. Adrix and Nev, Twincasters

If you want to play tokens as a theme, Adrix and Nev, Twincasters give you twice as many tokens right from the command zone, as well as two good colors in green and blue to take advantage of that. You can also double the number of Food and Clues made, so Adrix and Nev rewards you in the long run.

#2. Mondrak, Glory Dominus

Mondrak, Glory Dominus is also another way to get double the tokens with an interesting advantage: You can make it indestructible by sacrificing two other artifacts or creatures. Indestructible helps a lot, especially in the early to mid-game.

#1. Jetmir, Nexus of Revels

If you need to find something to do with all the tokens you’re creating, look no further than Jetmir, Nexus of Revels. The guy is an anthem and Craterhoof Behemoth on a stick, and just having six or more creatures constantly on the battlefield means that your opponents are in a heap of trouble.

Best Token Commander Enablers and Payoffs

If you’re playing token commanders, be on the lookout for these. They’re fundamental to creating a huge army and making the most out of them.

Many cards in MTG allow you to double the tokens you create. I’m talking about Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, and Anointed Procession, and you’ll usually want to run these if you’re into tokens.

You can also have cards that benefit from creatures with power 2 or less, a theme that’s been prevalent in white decks recently. Cards like Delney, Streetwise Lookout, Enduring Innocence, or Welcoming Vampire are nice additions to a token deck.

Specific cards that work in a token context are cards like Intangible Virtue, Inspiring Leader, and in most cases, Muraganda Petroglyphs.

If you have many bodies, it’s time to win the game. Classics mass pumps like Overrun and Craterhoof Behemoth turn your many 1/1 creatures into a winning attack, as well as Moonshaker Cavalry.

Skullclamp is a very good addition to a token deck since many of them create 1/1 creature tokens. This excellent card-drawing artifact is one of the cheapest ways to turn a 1/1 body into two cards, and once your tokens are slightly bigger, you can turn them into more efficient threats.

Can a Token Be a Commander?

A token can’t be a commander because it’s not a card.

What Commander Makes the Most Tokens?

One of the commanders that makes the most tokens is Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, famous for being part of some of Jund's best combos. Since the commander tax theoretically scales infinitely, you can make endless tokens by casting, sacrificing, and recasting Prossh.

What Commander Doubles Tokens?

You have a few options for this effect. Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Adrix and Nev, Twincasters double tokens as you’re making them.

Chatterfang, Squirrel General doubles the number of tokens you make by adding its squirrel army but doesn’t double the type of tokens you make.

Rhys the Redeemed can double any tokens you already control.

You can also go a step further and triple the tokens created with Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation, although it only applies to creature tokens.

Do Tokens Count as Cards in Commander?

Tokens aren’t cards. They are helper pieces that indicate a part of the game other cards create. They only exist on the battlefield if they’re created, and they cease to exist in other zones, including your hand, graveyard, and library.

Do Tokens Do Commander Damage?

Tokens can’t deal commander damage.

Do Token Copies of Commanders Do Commander Damage?

Token copies of commanders can’t deal commander damage. Being a commander is a property unique to the card you chose as your commander. Token copies of a commander and copies made by Clone effects don’t have this property, so they can’t deal commander damage.

Do Tokens Go to the Graveyard in Commander?

Tokens go to the graveyard, then they cease to exist. Since they go from the battlefield to the graveyard, they trigger abilities that care about creatures dying like Blood Artist.

Commanding Conclusion

Titania, Nature's Force | Illustration by Heonhwa Choe

Token strategies are a fantastic choice for players who want to unleash a massive army onto their opponents and march to victory around a small number of blockers. Token decks can come in various flavors: going big, going wide, or leaning into typal synergies.

They’re also a heavily supported strategy in almost any color. Many token producers end up as two-for-ones, giving the archetype lots of reach and power. Do you have a tokens deck in Commander? Who’s your favorite token commander? Let me know in the comments below, or on the official Draftsim Twitter.

Stay safe and keep creating those tokens!