With an aggro deck like this the most important factor of your strategy is to be dropping at least one creature every single turn until you mash your opponent into a bloody pulp which is why we find no Scry lands. We start the curve with two one drops that come out swinging with two power each from Rakdos Cackler which if is not unleashed usually means you’re about to die and Firedrinker Satyr who’s drawback will be largely nullified by the amount of beats he will inflict on the opponent. Then we hit a mass of two drops starting with the hasty first striker Ash Zealot, also Firefist Striker that when attacking with two others will nullify the opponents best blocker and then Burning-Tree Emissary that enables your lightning starts by chaining into more spells to advance your board faster then the opponent can mount a defense. We also find two quality three drops to continue the curve with perennial wall of death in Boros Reckoner which turns combat math from simple addition into complex algebra, and Chandra’s Phoenix that has a limited amount of direct damage spells to bring it back but is still a hasty flier to bring forth death from above. Our last creature is the curve topper Fanatic of Mogis that comes in as a late game play once you have your army mobilized to take full advantage of a surprise blast of Devotion to Red to the opponents face, hopefully to put him down for good. There is a support package of burn coming primarily from a full set of Lightning Strike, but also a pair of Shock, a pair of Magma Jet and a singleton Searing Blood all help to either clear the way for your creatures to get through or blast straight up to the dome.
This deck exemplifies what it means to be The Beatdown. It looks like Aggro has positioned itself between Control and Midrange in the metagame right now to exploit it’s speed and destructive nature. Now has been a great time to blast your opponent to bits either using creature or burn based strategies. It’s not likely that this Red mage dominance will continue but shows that any given weekend you can not count out any deck that has power behind it. And counting from twenty to zero has been a fundamental aspect of this game of Magic.
Creatures (7)
Spells (38)
Sideboard
Since the dawn of magic a recurring theme in black decks is the necromantic flavor of reanimation. The ability to make creatures rise from the grave is a very powerful ability indeed. Over the years more and more cards have been printed on that same motif constantly improving in quality and scope. Coupled with ways to search particular creatures from your deck then either discard them to the grave or put them directly there and better more powerful creatures themselves we have an engine designed to crush opponents with relative ease.
Big Boros
Michael Kinney
1st Place at StarCityGames Standard Open on 1/18/2014
Lands (25)
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (3)
Spells (16)
Sideboard (15)
Winning the SCG Standard Open in Columbus this weekend we have a Red/White Midrange deck that its pilot liked to refer to as Big Boros. It’s a pretty sweet concoction which had the stamina to make it to and take down the final table. There was some luck handed to him in the shape of an epic misplay in his quarterfinal match when his opponent minused Elspeth and destroyed his own Ætherling but that should not downplay how good this deck actually is.
The core of the deck consists of a wide range of threats capable of performing across a varied field. The heavy hitters come in the form of Elspeth, Assemble the Legion, Stormbreath Dragon, Purphoros and Chandra which are able to attack from different angles. The only issue lies with the very limited card selection engines which only come from Chandra and the Scry from Magma Jet. For supporting characters there are two sets of three drops in Boros Reckoner and Chandra’s Phoenix. We find some incredible synergy with Young Pyromancer and Purphoros working with the dozen instants to quickly work away your opponents life total one . Speaking of those instants there is a robust burn package with Magma Jet, Lightning Strike and Warleader’s Helix all of which double as removal. For true removal there’s a pair of both Chained to the Rocks and Mizzium Mortars to help clear out any opposition.
Putting it all together we have a a resilient package that works hard to diminish the opponents life total quickly and efficiently. Definitely give this deck a whirl if you like aggresive midrange style decks, you won’t be disappointed. And we will see if Born of the Gods has any new toys which will continue to push this deck to the forefront. Perhaps Archetype of Courage, Searing Blood or Brimaz will find a spot. Only time will tell.
Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
ejseltzer@hotmail.com
