commander · Neyali, Suns' Vanguard
Rebellion Rising (ONC).
A Boros token-aggro deck led by Neyali, Suns' Vanguard — create legions of creature tokens, give them double strike when they attack in multiples, and overwhelm opponents through explosive combat phases.
The Commanders
Rebellion Rising is a Boros token-aggro deck from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard gives all your attacking tokens double strike — meaning a board of 1/1 Soldiers becomes a board of creatures dealing two damage each per attacker. Combined with token doublers and anthem effects that increase token power, the double strike from Neyali creates lethal attacks from a wide board incredibly fast. The deck rewards building wide and attacking hard.
Neyali, Suns' Vanguard gives all your attacking tokens double strike and, whenever you attack with two or more tokens, exiles the top card of your library and lets you cast it for free that turn. She's a card advantage engine and an attack amplifier in one — the more tokens attack, the more free spells you get. In a deck generating 10+ tokens per game, each full attack swing exiles and casts a free spell while dealing double strike damage with the entire attacking army.
Key Cards
Otharri, Suns' Glory
A legendary creature that creates experience counters when you cast spells and generates tokens equal to its experience counter total at each combat. An alternative commander and the deck's best organic token generator. Otharri starts generating tokens the moment you cast other spells, and those tokens have haste — attacking immediately and triggering Neyali's double strike. As the game progresses, Otharri creates more and more hasty tokens each combat, creating an exponentially growing army.
Assemble the Legion
Exponential token generation on a schedule. Assemble the Legion creates one Soldier token on the first upkeep, two on the second, three on the third, and grows every turn. Hasted Soldiers on their creation turn, giving Neyali immediate double strike targets. By turn five of it being in play, you're creating five tokens per upkeep — with double strike from Neyali, those five tokens deal ten damage in combat. Against enchantment-light pods, Assemble the Legion alone generates a game-winning army.
Intangible Virtue
+1/+1 and vigilance for all tokens. Intangible Virtue turns your 1/1 Soldiers into 2/2s with vigilance. With Neyali's double strike on attacks, those 2/2s deal 4 damage each. Vigilance means they attack without tapping — protecting your board while swinging for massive damage. A single combat step with ten 2/2 vigilant double strike tokens deals 40 damage to target players. The deck's primary win condition is assembling Neyali plus Intangible Virtue for a single blow-out attack.
Felidar Retreat
A landfall enchantment that either creates a 2/2 Cat token or puts a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures with each land drop. In a Boros deck with multiple land drops per turn, Felidar Retreat generates two to three 2/2 Cats each turn or distributes counters across your entire army. Cats are tokens — they get Neyali's double strike on attacks. At four mana, Felidar Retreat is one of the most efficient token generators available and it doesn't compete with the combat step for setup timing.
Battle Screech
Four 1/1 flying Birds for four mana, with a flashback cost of tapping three white creatures. Instant burst token generation that creates four flying attackers — birds with double strike from Neyali hit for 8 in the air collectively. The flashback means you cast Battle Screech twice per game for eight total Bird tokens from one card slot. Tapping white creatures for the flashback is easy in a token deck. Eight flying double strike attackers from one card is the kind of explosive board expansion this deck needs.
Winota, Joiner of Forces
An alternative commander and explosive combat enabler. Whenever a non-Human creature attacks, Winota lets you look at the top six cards of your library and put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield attacking for free. With a board of token Soldiers, Cats, and Birds attacking, each non-Human triggers Winota — potentially putting five or six free Humans into play attacking simultaneously. Combining Winota with Neyali generates a catastrophic combat step that's nearly impossible to survive.
How to Play
Spend the first two turns establishing mana rocks and deploying token generators like Assemble the Legion or Felidar Retreat. Neyali comes out on turn three or four. The moment she's in play, every token you have gains double strike when attacking — hold back the first swing until you have four or more tokens for maximum impact.
The deck's best draw is Neyali plus Intangible Virtue by turn five. With vigilance, every token attacks and blocks. With double strike, every attacker deals double damage. Seven 2/2 vigilant double strike tokens deal 28 damage in one combat while still being able to block. Win through combat within two to three attack steps once this combination is assembled. Winota provides an additional axis — her free Human entries during combat can include Tajic, Legion's Edge or other combat-relevant Humans that further amplify the attack. Always attack with everything when Neyali is in play.