After a couple rounds of playtesting, this deck surprised me by how well it played right away. One of the first EDH decks I ever built used Tolsimir Wolfblood as the general, and I tried another token-focused green/white deck using Emmara Tandris and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice instead later on, but neither one really worked well. The problem was having too narrow of a deck focus, too expensive of a general, and not paying attention to the interpersonal aspects of the game.
Selvala, Explorer Returned fixed the problems in the deck. Instead of token aggro, the deck became a group hug pillow fort that could bide its time. CMC 3 is easier to cast and allow the political game to begin early, while the prior generals still lurk in the main deck for use should they be drawn.
Creature tokens still play a role in this deck, of course. There are several options to create a few chump blockers for the pillow fort aspect. However, the Populate mechanic isn't intended for 1/1 soldiers or even 3/3 centaurs. The goal is to throw down some big beasties that can finish off opponents after a longer game of playing nice so everyone else wears one another down first.
Some of these big finisher options include Grove of the Guardian, which can become an 8/8 monster. Armada Wurm creates a 5/5 green Wurm token. Ezuri's Predation ramps my creature count while winnowing away an opponent's chump blockers, mana dorks, and many creatures with other handy abilities.
There are a number of cards that could improve this deck. Doubling Season is an obvious card, but it runs at least $50 to buy, and would thus double the cost of the deck too. I do have a Giant Adephage somewhere in my collection that could be added. Primeval Bounty is tempting, but it's a bit expensive at CMC 6, and I don't know if it would really benefit the overall strategy at that point. On the other hand, Sprouting Phytohydra would improve the pillow fort aspect of the deck considerably despite its 5 CMC cost.
All in all, this has been a fun experiment in expanding the variety in strategies for my decks. I still like no-nonsense aggro, but there is a certain appeal to this level of soft control through playing nice until I am ready to move in for the kill. Instead of obviously telegraphing my intentions the way Krenko or Odric might, I can encourage the other players to do my dirty work for me.
Commander Introduction
Casual and Competitive Decks
Politics and Negotiation between Players
Deck 1 - Goblins Incorporated
Deck 2 - Azorius Shenanigans
Deck 3 - Bruna Voltron
Deck 4 - Green Tide Elves
Deck 5 - Special Forces
Deck 6 - Dimir Mill
Deck 7 - Golgari Elves
Deck 8 - Simic Proliferation
Deck 9 - Gruul Rage
Deck 10 - Black Death
Deck 11 - Gruul Landfall
Deck 12 - Wizards of Nope
Deck 13 - Dimir Zombies Eat Brains
Deck 14 - Orzhov Death and Taxes
Deck 15 - Boros Crusade
Deck 16 - Grixis Nekusar the Mindtroller
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