commander · Ghired, Conclave Exile
Primal Genesis (C19).
A Naya populate tokens deck led by Ghired, Conclave Exile — create a 4/4 Rhino token on entry, populate it on each attack to create another copy, and snowball a board of large trampling tokens that opponents can't keep pace with.
The Commanders
Primal Genesis is a Naya Commander deck built around the populate mechanic — creating copies of tokens you already control. Ghired arrives with a free 4/4 Rhino token and populates on every attack, creating another copy of your best token. The strategy is to generate one enormous token through other effects, then multiply it with Ghired's attacks until the board is overwhelmed with 10/10s or larger.
Ghired, Conclave Exile costs {2}{R}{G}{W} and is a 2/5 Human Shaman. When he enters, create a 4/4 green Rhino token with trample. Whenever Ghired attacks, populate — and the new token enters tapped and attacking. The token entering already attacking is the key: each Ghired attack adds a full attacker to the board immediately. Populate scales with the quality of your best token — if you've managed to populate a copy of an opponent's creature (via Red's token copy effects), each subsequent populate creates another copy of that upgraded token. The secondary commanders are Atla Palani, Nest Tender (eggs to creatures) and Marisi, Breaker of the Coil (goad).
Key Cards
Flamerush Rider
The deck's combo piece for populate upgrades. When Flamerush Rider attacks, it creates a token that's a copy of another attacking creature. Those copies normally exile at end of combat — but if you populate one before end of combat, the copy stays permanently. Populate your best creature mid-combat using Flamerush Rider's token, and now that creature is your new populate target for Ghired. Create a token copy of Avenger of Zendikar during combat, populate it before end step — now Ghired populates copies of Avenger every attack, each arriving with a full set of Plant tokens.
Avenger of Zendikar
An enters-the-battlefield effect that scales with populate. Avenger of Zendikar creates a 0/1 Plant token for each land you control. In the late game with 12 lands, you enter with 12 Plant tokens, each growing with each subsequent land. Use Flamerush Rider to copy Avenger mid-combat, populate the copy, and now both Avenger and the copy enter triggering 12 Plants each. With Ghired populating either the Avenger token or a Plant token each attack, the board fills with plants accelerating past any reasonable blocking setup.
Hornet Queen
Flying deathtouch tokens that multiply with populate. Hornet Queen enters with four 1/1 deathtouch fliers. Populate one of those Insects with Ghired's attacks, and now every attack creates another 1/1 deathtouch flier. In a deck full of large ground creatures, the aerial deathtouch tokens protect from flying threats while the Rhinos and Plants win on the ground. No opponent wants to block a 1/1 deathtouch, so the Insects almost always hit. Combined with Beastmaster Ascension, even 1/1 Insects become 8/8 deathtouch fliers.
Atla Palani, Nest Tender
The alternate commander that generates free creatures. Atla Palani creates a 0/1 Egg token for {2}{G}. When any Egg dies, reveal cards from the top of your library until you hit a creature and put it into play. In a creature-heavy deck, this means each Egg death deploys a free mid-to-late game threat. Sacrifice Eggs to Ghired's attacks (Eggs attacking and dying) or to sacrifice outlets for a chain of free creature deployments. Atla runs a fundamentally different game plan from Ghired — instead of populating copies, she cheats enormous creatures directly into play.
Beastmaster Ascension
The deck's fastest win condition once it's set up. Beastmaster Ascension gets a quest counter each time a creature you control attacks. After the seventh counter, all your creatures get +5/+5. In a wide board of Rhinos, Plants, Insects, and copies, the seventh attacker converts every token into a massive threat. A board of 10 tokens with +5/+5 each deals 90+ damage in a single combat. Beastmaster Ascension charges fast in a deck that attacks aggressively each turn with Ghired populating new tokens.
How to Play
Deploy Ghired on turn four and immediately attack to get the first populate trigger. The deck's early priority is setting up one large token to populate — Hornet Queen provides the safest populate target, while Avenger of Zendikar provides the most explosive one. Use Flamerush Rider creatively in combat to permanently keep copies of opponents' best creatures. Once Ghired is attacking with two or three tokens generating, the board grows faster than opponents can remove. Beastmaster Ascension charges naturally without extra effort and closes games while opponents are still processing how large your token army has grown.