The 54 Best Token Generators in Magic Ranked

Last updated on November 20, 2025

March of the Multitudes | Illustration by Zack Stella

Tokens are quite useful in Magic, largely because they let you create more forces than your opponents. Even though individual tokens tend to be weaker than regular creatures, a plethora of buff spells, anthems, and sacrifice effects more than make up for it.

Flooding the board with tokens can be an effective strategy for dominating the game, especially in Commander, where you have the time to run powerful token doublers like Primal Vigor and Doubling Season.

Let’s check out the best token generators that Magic has to offer!

What Are Token Generators in MTG?

Retrofitter Foundry | Illustration by Dmitry Burmak

Token generators are cards that create tokens, either as the entire effect of an instant or sorcery or from permanents that make tokens. For this list, I’m exclusively focusing on cards that create creature tokens with the goal of helping Commander players find the perfect means to create a board-dominating army, but there are plenty of excellent Magic cards that create artifact tokens like Food tokens, Clue tokens, or Treasure tokens if that's what you're after.

#54. Barret, Avalanche Leader

A great fit for equipment-heavy decks, Barret, Avalanche Leader rewards you whenever your gear hits the battlefield by giving you free 2/2 rebel tokens. Even better, it auto-equips those rebels at the start of combat, making your new army instantly battle-ready. This card pairs nicely with cheap equipment like Bonesplitter or artifact engines like Puresteel Paladin. In a rebel tribal or token-focused build, Barret brings both steady board presence and a way to make sure your creatures never enter combat empty-handed.

#53. Aang, Airbending Master

Aang, Airbending Master makes experience counters a real threat by turning each one into token value every upkeep. Starting with the airbend effect, which can temporarily tuck away creatures, Aang builds momentum quickly as your creatures leave the battlefield. Before long, you’re flooding the board with 1/1 ally tokens. The card synergizes with blink effects like Ephemerate and Teleportation Circle, letting you rack up counters faster. It’s the kind of engine that keeps scaling, demanding answers before your opponent gets buried under tokens.

#52. Cosmogrand Zenith

If you want a card that rewards you for casting multiple spells a turn, Cosmogrand Zenith is perfect. On your second spell, you either pump your whole team or make two soldier tokens; both options snowball fast in a deck that keeps the gas flowing. Pair it with cheap cantrips like Opt or token makers like Raise the Alarm for maximum efficiency. Cosmogrand Zenith is flexible and shines in both aggressive strategies and token builds, where it turns a modest board into something overwhelming in no time.

#51. Zurgo, Thunder's Decree

Zurgo, Thunder's Decree summons a mini army every combat by mobilizing two warrior tokens. Those would normally vanish at the end step, but Zurgo’s ability cleverly prevents that sacrifice, making your army permanent. That scaling is brutal in a token deck, especially when backed by anthem effects like Glorious Anthem or Dictate of Heliod.

#50. Caretaker’s Talent

As far as token generators go, Caretaker's Talent is on the weaker side as it requires you to already control a token. But the other levels of this class enchantment are essential token payoffs, so this white enchantment makes the cut often enough to mention.

#49. Entreat the Angels

Setting up a miracle can take a little time or a lot of luck, but Entreat the Angels gives you a decent payoff for it. Getting a… swarm (?), flock (?), gathering (?) of angel tokens dominates a game.

#48. Echoing Assault

Echoing Assault’s token doesn’t stick around, but you can exploit powerful enters abilities from your best creatures. Even without a clear exploit, giving your tokens menace and generating an additional attacker each combat phase lets this red enchantment apply plenty of pressure.

#47. Staff of the Storyteller

Few token payoffs offer such clean value as Staff of the Storyteller. It starts by giving you a flying spirit, and from there, every token you make builds up story counters that can be cashed in for card draw. In decks that already pump out tokens, this artifact becomes a must-have source of advantage.

#46. Ezuri’s Predation

About as close as green gets to board wipes, Ezuri's Predation wipes out your opponents’ creatures with 4 or less toughness while leaving some tokens around. This green sorcery greatly benefits from an anthem or two to help the Phyrexian Beasts survive their trial by combat.

#45. Retrofitter Foundry

Retrofitter Foundry provides a fine mana sink, though it performs best alongside cards like Sai, Master Thopterist that provide a consistent source of Thopters for the last ability.

#44. Thousand Moons Smithy / Barracks of the Thousand

The Gnome Soldier tokens generated by Thousand Moons Smithy are somehow better than Karnstruct tokens since they count creatures and artifacts. Transforming this legendary artifact into Barracks of the Thousand requires taking a turn off attacking, but it’s a turn well spent for this much token generation.

#43. Prosperous Partnership

Prosperous Partnership plays to the board and ramps you in one efficient, rather scary package. Throw in a Seedborn Muse and your opponents will fall for this Boros card’s charms.

#42. Court of Grace

Court of Grace provides one of the best card advantage engines in Magic: the monarchy! That pairs delightfully with its tokens, which protect the crown or easily steal it back thanks to flying.

#41. Awaken the Woods

Awaken the Woods introduces the glory and confusion of Dryad Arbor en masse. This is pretty sick as both a token generator and ramp spell in one package; it’s perfect for landfall decks.

#40. Rhys the Redeemed

There’s nothing like an incredibly efficient Selesnya commander that scales with the game. While Rhys the Redeemed helps build your forces with its first activated ability, you’re mostly interested in the second ability that doubles your tokens. It only takes one or two activations to overwhelm your opponents.

#39. Tendershoot Dryad

Ascending and obtaining the city’s blessing is a snap with Tendershoot Dryad growing Saprolings on each players’ upkeep. Each! What a crazy line of text. And they become quite formidable once you ascend. The only thing holding this green creature back is a rather high mana cost.

#38. Grand Crescendo

Token decks need ways to protect themselves from board wipes. Grand Crescendo is ideal for this because it has the protection spell mode, but if you draw it after the board wipe, it helps you rebuild whereas something like Heroic Intervention only works reactively.

#37. Dollmaker’s Shop // Porcelain Gallery

Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery should win the award for the creepiest room in Duskmourn: House of Horror. It’s also pretty great. Getting tokens when you attack builds up a robust army while the Gallery gives you a genuinely powerful anthem.

#36. Wedding Announcement / Wedding Festivity

Wedding Announcement appropriately marries a token generation engine with a payoff. If you have enough tokens, you can draw some cards; if not, you can build up your board before Wedding Festivity buffs the team. That dynamic makes this white enchantment relevant at all points in the game.

#35. Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon

Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon rewards you for building around it with cards like Luminarch Aspirant or Rosie Cotton of South Lane to stack +1/+1 counters on it. It can be underwhelming without that support, but getting a couple of attacking gnomes is still good value.

#34. Scurry Oak

Scurry Oak’s mostly remarkable as a combo enabler. Cards like Rosie Cotton of South Lane, Ivy Lane Denizen, and Sadistic Glee create a variety of infinite loops. You can perform many of those loops with Herd Baloth and Basking Broodscale.

#33. White Sun’s Twilight + Martial Coup

Sometimes you need to reset the board in Commander. White Sun's Twilight and Martial Coup are excellent cards to do so in token decks because they leave a small force behind. I prefer White Sun's Twilight as the Phyrexian Mites provide a unique axis of pressure, but a deck that’s interested in one will likely run the other.

#32. Pest Infestation

Blowing up a bunch of artifacts or enchantments while generating a nasty swarm of Pests makes Pest Infestation one of the best interactive token generators, especially since you don’t need targets for it to work.

#31. Quantum Misalignment

Making copies of legendary creatures that aren’t legendary is absurdly busted. Just look at the nonsense Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm gets up to with cards like Old Gnawbone!

Quantum Misalignment gives any blue deck this reckless disregard for balance, twice. It’s great with commanders like Rashmi and Ragavan that only trigger once per turn.

#30. Rionya, Fire Dancer

Rionya, Fire Dancer plays a little differently than other token generators because it feels less like a card that makes an army and more like a combo enabler. You might use this in the 99 to exploit creatures with busted enters abilities like Etali, Primal Conqueror or slap it in the command zone to see how many copies of Fanatic of Mogis you can create. However it happens, it’s incredible.

#29. Loyal Apprentice

Loyal Apprentice provides a surprising amount of pressure for a 2-drop. It serves best as a lieutenant for Winota, Joiner of Forces, but any commander that’s interested in attacking, building a wide board, or getting artifacts into play should consider this human artificer as a cheap enabler.

#28. Quasiduplicate

Quasiduplicate lets you snag a few copies of your best creature, which can be quite impactful in battlecruiser decks. Jump-start makes this both a two-for-one and a reasonable include for self-mill decks.

#27. Blade of Selves

The very first card to introduce the excellent myriad mechanic to Commander and to this day arguably the best myriad card in the game, Blade of Selves enables tons of silly shenanigans. You can always fall back on exploiting enters triggers, but what about slapping it on Junji, the Midnight Sky or other Kamigawa spirit dragons to get two death triggers? You can ramp up the impact with Ratadrabik of Urborg, even.

#26. Rite of Replication

Where Quasiduplicate is efficient, Rite of Replication goes tall. You never want to cast this blue sorcery without its kicker cost. A couple of juicy targets include Nyxbloom Ancient for literally all the mana, Inferno Titan to burn away opposing boards, or Craterhoof Behemoth to trample the pod into dust. Those are just a few of the most explosive options.

#25. Sinkhole Surveyor

This is the first true wannabe Bitterblossom we’ve seen printed on a creature, and Sinkhole Surveyor delivers a steady stream of value whenever it attacks. You pay 1 life, but the payoff is flexibility—you can either stack a +1/+1 counter on it to grow taller, or create a spirit token with endure. Token decks love the spirit option while aggressive builds lean on the counters. Pair it with cards like Cathars' Crusade, Hardened Scales, Rattlechains, or Supreme Phantom to maximize whichever direction you choose.

#24. Bitterbloom Bearer

With our second visit to Lorwyn, we didn’t get another Bitterblossom—but we got something close in Bitterbloom Bearer. This faerie builds your air force over time, trading 1 life on upkeep to create a 1/1 flying faerie token. It slots perfectly into decks that want to go wide in the skies, pairing beautifully with anthem effects like Intangible Virtue. Add it to decks with token payoffs such as Skullclamp or Opposition, and it quickly snowballs into an evasive army that opponents can’t ignore.

#23. Ultramarines Honour Guard

Squad is one of the more interesting kicker variants we’ve gotten in the past couple of years. Ultramarines Honour Guard is a terrifying army in a can because that army gets bigger and bigger the longer you sit on the can. This white creature is fantastic for token decks as both a source of tokens and a massive anthem.

#22. Bitterblossom + Skrelv’s Hive + Dreadhorde Invasion

Skrelv's Hive and Dreadhorde Invasion iterate on the template Bitterblossom established. Though the Morningtide black enchantment is undoubtedly the best, all three of them are similarly useful at generating a steady stream of tokens each turn. They can build up a nasty team quickly, but I really like including them in aristocrat decks for a consistent source of sacrifice fodder.

#21. Talrand, Sky Summoner

Talrand, Sky Summoner gets memed on for its frequent reprints, but the card’s genuinely good. At the very least, it’s an excellent blue commander to introduce new players to mono-blue, and its play patterns of “nobody at this table will ever do another thing without my permission” with a tangible reward of drakes.

#20. Koma, Cosmos Serpent

Koma, Cosmos Serpent proves that Simic commanders have come too far! Maybe that’s a little dramatic, but an uncounterable, mostly indestructible serpent that interacts with your opponent and adds 12 power to the board each turn cycle neatly fits into my definition of “dominant”. Don’t forget that Elemental Bond!

#19. Currency Converter

Currency Converter does its best work alongside commanders like Raffine, Scheming Seer and Flubs, the Fool that encourage you to discard a bunch of cards. But anything that regularly loots uses it well; turning random cards into Treasure or rogues is useful long-term, plus Commander decks tend to have some extra mana around after ramping all game.

#18. Avenger of Zendikar

One of the great classics of Commander top-end, Avenger of Zendikar loves the ramp-centric game plans in the format. Not only does it result in more plant tokens, but the army you make becomes far more formidable once you trigger landfall three or four times in a single turn. Going wide and tall at once makes this a powerful threat.

#17. Rampaging Baloths

Another classic, I like Rampaging Baloths more than Avenger of Zendikar (though truth be told, I normally run both) because it has a higher floor. Sure, the Avenger’s Plant tokens get bigger with time, but this card’s Beasts are more relevant if the actual creature dies quickly. You also get lots of value from creating 4/4s with cards like Elemental Bond and Garruk's Uprising hanging around.

#16. Springheart Nantuko

Springheart Nantuko would be a fine card if it just made insects with its landfall trigger, but this is 2024—we need more than “fine”, so we get the ability to create token copies of whatever creature we bestow the heart of spring upon. You can play it on big creatures for late-game dominance or on early plays like Wood Elves to set up explosive turns later. This card’s kind of busted however you do it.

#15. Monastery Mentor

Monastery Mentor dominates games with its token ability, plus those tokens have prowess themselves! This white card is practically a storm win condition in the right deck; at the very least, your opponents need to respect its snowbally potential.

#14. March of the Multitudes

I remember when March of the Multitudes was the core of a powerful Standard deck, and it deserves recognition in Commander as well. You want to cast this late in the game, when it effectively doubles your board state thanks to convoke. These tokens having lifelink is critical in close games.

#13. Cori-Steel Cutter

One of the most oppressive cards of 2025, Cori-Steel Cutter quickly proved to be more than just a piece of equipment—it brings along free monk tokens whenever you double-spell. Each one comes with prowess, and with the equipment auto-attaching to give trample and haste, those tokens immediately swing for pressure. Pairing Cori-Steel Cutter with cheap spells lets your board scale explosively. Its raw efficiency made it Eternal-playable, and its dominance was so overwhelming that it ended up banned in Standard.

#12. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Splinter Twin

Splinter Twin might be the most famous token producer in Magic thanks to its combo dominance alongside Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch, but Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker isn’t far behind. Both cards have incredible combo potential to end the game with and are just good value in decks that want to use them fairly.

#11. Otharri, Suns’ Glory

Otharri, Suns' Glory soars through the skies and smashes your opponents with a militia of rebels. It only takes a couple of combats for Otharri to build a dominate board state. It’s hard to handle, too; the vast majority of decks can’t interact with experience counters, so even board wipes are only a temporary setback.

#10. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar’s claim to fame in multiplayer formats comes from creating three tokens every combat. That’s fantastic value, especially with some anthems or Impact Tremors effects in play. And Adeline grows into a serious threat with a little time!

#9. Urza, Lord High Artificer

Though making a Construct token is arguably the least broken ability on Urza, Lord High Artificer, it’s enough token generation for it to score a spot on this list. Flickering this artifact commander overwhelms your opponents with a mechanical army while generating absurd amounts of mana.

#8. Voice of Victory

Voice of Victory is a nightmare to play against. Its mobilize ability spits out two warrior tokens every attack, and while those vanish at the end step, the ability to shut off spells during your turn makes it hard for opponents to respond. Pairing it with mass pump effects can quickly spiral into a lethal swing. It’s both protection and token generation in one package, letting you attack with confidence.

#7. Pinnacle Emissary

One of the newest staples for Affinity decks in Eternal formats like Legacy, Modern, and even Arena’s Timeless, Pinnacle Emissary provides incredible value every time you cast an artifact. Each spell churns out a 1/1 flying Drone, giving both defense in the air and a growing army over time. Thanks to warp, it can even be cast for cheap and get played later for future value. It pairs perfectly with cheap artifacts like Ornithopter and Mishra's Bauble, making it a natural fit for any token-fueled Affinity strategy that wants to snowball board presence.

#6. Grist, the Hunger Tide

Grist, the Hunger Tide is my favorite planeswalker of all time. It creates tokens and gives you something to do with them, with that “something” being a powerful interactive ability. Since it's a creature in most zones, you can even reanimate it or tutor it up with Chord of Calling and similar effects! I can’t imagine a sacrifice or self-mill deck that doesn’t want this excellent Golgari card.

#5. Ocelot Pride

Who doesn’t love 1-drops that dominate the game? Ocelot Pride starts snowballing from the very first turn of the game. As long as you have some ways to gain life, which is trivial in many token decks, it doesn’t lose relevance in the late game because it becomes a super cheap token doubler.

#4. Scute Swam

Exponential growth is no joke, and that’s what landfall decks get with Scute Swarm. It only takes a few triggers for this card to spiral out of control and green has no shortage of Overrun variants to turn 10^7 copies of Scute Swarm into a lethal threat.

#3. Forth Eorlingas!

If you want an X-spell that converts all your spare mana into tokens, you can’t do better than Forth Eorlingas!, which not only spits out hasty, trampling tokens but gives you the monarchy. It can enable a massive alpha strike that ends the game or come down early to steal the crown so you can draw some cards while your opponents develop their boards.

#2. Ajani, Nacatl Pariah / Ajani, Nacatl Avenger

Ajani, Nacatl Pariah is a good Magic: The Gathering card. Two bodies for the price of one is quite good, especially when they result in a 3/3's worth of stats for a mere 2 mana. Oh, and it’s a flipwalker. This works best with some way to ditch the cat token, perhaps a Skullclamp or Goblin Bombardment, but it’s just a filthy card either way. Once you get Ajani, Nacatl Avenger rolling, you can burn players out with ease.

#1. Field of the Dead

Field of the Dead earns the slot as the best token generator for Commander largely because of how hard it is to interact with. A well-timed counterspell or a board wipe can shut down pretty much anything on this list, but few players have cards that interact with a land.

As a colorless card, Field of the Dead slots into any deck. Mono-colored decks might struggle to reach seven unique lands, but that’s no problem for anything with two or more colors. Like most land-based cards, it works best in green, but any color appreciates a few 2/2s to pressure their opponents and help mitigate mana flooding. You can even tutor this land out with plenty of colorless cards like Expedition Map and Urza's Cave.

Best Token Generator Payoffs

One easy exploit for token generators are token doublers. Cards like Anointed Procession, Doubling Season, and Chatterfang, Squirrel General take these cards and ramp up their effectiveness so you can end the game twice as fast.

All these creatures entering the battlefield means we should look for ways to exploit that. Purphoros, God of the Forge excels at this, but we also have Impact Tremors and Warleader's Call to burn our opponents. Ardoz, Cobbler of War and Enduring Courage are also excellent ways to get extra damage through.

Blue and black have great token payoffs if you’re looking beyond the usual green and white strategies. In blue, cards like Kindred Discovery, Bident of Thassa, and Coastal Piracy turn your tokens into steady card draw whenever they enter or deal damage.

Black, on the other hand, leans into sacrifice and drain effects with cards like Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Ayara, First of Locthwain, while Dictate of Erebos or Grave Pact make every token death a nightmare for your opponents.

Lastly, anthems and Overrun effects are very necessary to punch through for the final points of damage. Craterhoof Behemoth is the gold standard, but pretty much any of these effects are good. Intangible Virtue is notable for giving your tokens defensive capabilities thanks to vigilance.

What Options Do I Have to Make Tokens?

You have a few options for making your own Magic: The Gathering tokens. The simplest is to improvise—write “2/2 Zombie” on a spare card, sleeve it, or even use dice and coins. If you’d like something nicer, you can print your own using online templates or design tools, then cut and sleeve them for sturdiness. Some players also use blank proxy cards or dry-erase sleeves so they can reuse them for different tokens.

If you’re looking for something more polished, you don’t have to stop at DIY solutions. We’ve covered professional-quality tokens in detail, including custom printing services, and other options that give your games a cleaner, more stylish look.

Wrap Up

Ocelot Pride | Illustration by Chris Seaman

Commander is all about overwhelming your opponents by amassing more resources than them. Token generators give you an avenue to do so through sheer board presence you can easily exploit with a variety of cheap payoffs.

What’s your favorite token generator in Magic? How do you maximize your token output? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and keep generating tokens!