MTG Salvation

This is my 2nd EDH deck, originally created when I realized that in the scraps of my MTG collection, I had enough good stuff to make a R/W deck and a general to represent it. That just happened to be Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer. Over time, I bought a few cards to tune it up and make it less of a pile of jank.

This deck's plan for winning is simple:

1. Drop tokens
2. Drop anthems
3. Beat face

It intends to get there using mana rocks, artifact ramp, and card draw off Trading Post via sacrificing artifact tokens from Shrine of Loyal Legions and Precursor Golem. It also packs some mass removal and MLD, because I'm going to take any advantage I can get. There's also a small Voltron package in this deck to keep Jor from prematurely dying and so he can Voltron in for the win if need be, as well as providing an alternate win condition with Purphoros, God of the Forge and Grafted Exoskeleton. With the amount of tokens I can make, getting Purps to hit for 10+ poison is not so hard.





Wishlist for this deck:



Other things to improve on?:

• More card draw
• More ramp
• More token generators
• Maybe a lower average CMC? This deck needs to get into a position of power quickly and I can't do that if I have a lot of 6+ CMC spells.

You're missing Skullclamp which makes little sense to me since your commander even needs metalcraft. It's also very affordable. Skullclamp is the ONLY real draw engine we have in these colors. Mentor of the Meek is a close second. Mind's Eye is also alright. I would recommend trying out Wheel of Fortune and Faithless Looting as well for draw.

If you add Skullclamp, stuff like Dictate of Heliod should be cut because they make your tokens unkillable by it. Instead I can recommend battlecry creatures. The better ones that you aren't running are Signal Pest, Accorder Paladin, Goblin Wardriver, and Hero of Oxid Ridge.

Stuff like Hellrider and Eidolon of Countless Battles also get pretty nuts in a swarm deck.

And you are absolutely right about lowering your average CMC. That's always the correct choice if you want to be more competitive. As it sits, you don't have a lot to do on turns 1-3. You just don't have the card control or ramp (need green) to support a higher curve in my opinion. Faithless Looting can go a very long way in fixing a bad opening hand though.

Most of your token producers are very high costed. I would swap in more creatures that produce tokens over time like Goblin Rabblemaster, Precinct Captain, and Emeria Angel that also benefit from extra combat phases. Brimaz, King of Oreskos is also worth his salt. Krenko, Mob Boss is a house and can win games all by himself.

Any creature based deck needs recursion to be resilient. Death or Glory, Faith's Reward, and even Loyal Retainers can go a long way to keeping you in the game after a board wipe. Boros Charm is also pretty good and I'd definitely use it over Rootborn Defenses.

Lastly, I find that Aurelia, the Warleader is a better commander overall for Boros swarm since she doubles everything that the deck is already doing. She's a solid game closer, whereas not only is Jor situational based on metalcraft but he only provides a flat +3/+0 pump, whereas Aurelia can just smash face with Akroan Hoplite and untap Krenko to double your goblins yet again.

Here's my list:

Jar of Eyeballs can actually be a really efficient digging tool with a token centric deck, especially if your also using them for other sacrificial triggers. It can sometimes be almost a full on tutor after a wrath effect.

Deathrender is an equipment I am fond of in token/swarm/army decks. It's presence on the board can alter play as long as your holding cards in your hand, and even use removal/burn on your equipped creature to give any creature in your hand "flash". My best moment with it came when an opponent wrathed the board while I had it on a soldier token, letting me drop Angel of Glory's Rise and grab 12 humans out of the yard.

Quote from Rowan »

You're missing Skullclamp which makes little sense to me since your commander even needs metalcraft. It's also very affordable. Skullclamp is the ONLY real draw engine we have in these colors. Mentor of the Meek is a close second. Mind's Eye is also alright. I would recommend trying out Wheel of Fortune and Faithless Looting as well for draw.

That's true. I should have included 'Clamp and the wheel effects in my list of cards to get.

Quote from Rowan »

If you add Skullclamp, stuff like Dictate of Heliod should be cut because they make your tokens unkillable by it. Instead I can recommend battlecry creatures. The better ones that you aren't running are Signal Pest, Accorder Paladin, Goblin Wardriver, and Hero of Oxid Ridge.

Signal Pest fits in with my metalcraft strategy, so he's definitely in. So is the red Hero. Not sure about taking out the Dictate though: maybe it can be a finisher of sorts?

Quote from Rowan »

Stuff like Hellrider and Eidolon of Countless Battles also get pretty nuts in a swarm deck.

I originally ran Hellrider in this deck, but it only targets one player unlike Purphoros. That said, he does help build up devotion for the God of the Forge, so I'll find a spot for him.

Quote from Rowan »

Most of your token producers are very high costed. I would swap in more creatures that produce tokens over time like Goblin Rabblemaster, Precinct Captain, and Emeria Angel that also benefit from extra combat phases. Brimaz, King of Oreskos is also worth his salt. Krenko, Mob Boss is a house and can win games all by himself.

Rabblemaster is definitely going in. Precinct Captain... I'm a bit unsure about. I have to hit with him before I get a token, and that might make me a target early on. Emeria Angel is a definite must-have, and so is Brimaz (now if only he didn't cost 1200 pesos or approximately $20-30).

Quote from Rowan »

Any creature based deck needs recursion to be resilient. Death or Glory, Faith's Reward, and even Loyal Retainers can go a long way to keeping you in the game after a board wipe. Boros Charm is also pretty good and I'd definitely use it over Rootborn Defenses.

Another good point. I'll have to find a copy of the Charm, since it seems rather hard to find these days.

Quote from Rowan »

Lastly, I find that Aurelia, the Warleader is a better commander overall for Boros swarm since she doubles everything that the deck is already doing. She's a solid game closer, whereas not only is Jor situational based on metalcraft but he only provides a flat +3/+0 pump, whereas Aurelia can just smash face with Akroan Hoplite and untap Krenko to double your goblins yet again.

I like Aurelia, don't get me wrong. But I'd rather not switch generals. I'm basing my build off of ChileIsAwesome's Jor Kadeen deck, so some of the things in your Aurelia list might not apply.

That said, I think the Warleader does have a place as part of the 99-- most likely as the curve-topper.

Quote from AzoriusAgent »

Jar of Eyeballs can actually be a really efficient digging tool with a token centric deck, especially if your also using them for other sacrificial triggers. It can sometimes be almost a full on tutor after a wrath effect.

I actually have thought of running the Jar myself! It seems like a pretty good way to get added value from my tokens, especially with 'Clamp and Post.

August 1, 2014: Minor update.

Luminate Primordial --> Jar of Eyeballs: More ways to get card advantage from tokens is good, especially when I have Trading Post and/or Sacred Mesa out. It also helps during board wipes.

Dictate of Heliod --> Legion's Initiative: Part of my efforts to lower my curve, and also to make my tokens prime Clamp fodder.

Charmbreaker Devils --> Explorer's Scope: I managed to pull a Scope from a Conspiracy booster, and figured it might be better over something that's 6 mana.

No Hero of Bladehold? It seems like everything this deck could want: gives you more tokens to swarm with each time she attacks, and has Battle Cry to make Jor better. Also, it may not be quite what you're looking for, but I've found that Etched Champion works really well with Jor. He adds to the Metalcraft count and swings in for 5 damage (more with Battle Cry) while being fairly difficult to block.

I do have Hero of Bladehold in the deck. Etched Champion... I'm iffy about adding him, though maybe I could replace True Conviction with Concerted Effort since with Champion, it grants protection from all colors to my token army.

If you want creature recursion, Marshal's Anthem seems like a great fit. It can bring any number of creatures back and boosts your tokens at the same time.

For token makers, I'm not a huge fan of cards like Launch the Fleet that already need some creatures on the board to be really good. Perhaps consider Rise of the Hobgoblins, Tempt with Vengeance, White Sun's Zenith, Increasing Devotion or Decree of Justice? Entreat the Angels is laughably good when you topdeck it, but it will cost a few bucks more than the others.

Márton Stromgald and Shared Animosity are really strong anthem effects because they don't give you a fixed boost, they get exponentially better the more creatures you have. In Jor Kadeen, artifact based anthems like Coat of Arms or Obelisk of Urd also seem good. There's also artifact token generators like Myr Battlesphere, Thopter Assembly and Orochi Hatchery.

Ashnod's Altar and Carnage Altar also help with Metalcraft and let you sacrifice your tokens for mana and cards. I can also heartily recommend Spawning Pit for saving all your tokens from a Wrath. Boros Charm could be another safety net.

For your own wraths, Phyrexian Rebirth is cool because all tokens you may have left over contribute to the horror token.

My personal experience in my wrath-heavy meta has been that tokens really want haste, so I'd at least consider In the Web of War as second Ogre Battledriver. Goblin Bushwhacker fills a similiar role, but less powerful and more cheaply. Cards like Fervor, Fires of Yavimaya and Hammer of Purphoros might also help, though they don't boost your swarm otherwise.

Ah, then you might want to edit your decklists a bit: it's listed in one but not the other.

@ Conman: Edited.

@ Zordrath: Rise of the Hobgoblins and Carnage Altar are on my wish list, though I initially had my doubts about the Altar since you have to pay to get a card, unlike Skullclamp. And Increasing Devotion was in an earlier version of the deck. Which spell do you think could be cut for it? I'm partial to cutting Nomads' Assembly-- and even then it's a toss-up between White Sun's Zenith and the Devotion.

A lot of your suggestions are interesting, though I can't run Fires as I'm not in Naya colors.

I'd also lean towards cutting Nomad's Assembly, as well as Launch the Fleet. Replacing both of those with cards that can create tokens out of nowhere should make the deck more consistent. White Sun's Zenith and Decree of Justice have the great advantage of working at instant speed, so you can do it right before your next turn and don't have the token army sit exposed to wraths for a whole turn around the table. They also need more mana to be really effective though, whereas Increasing Devotion and Conqueror's Pledge give you your money's worth at a lower cost. I'd run each of those over Cloudgoat Ranger and Evengel of Heliod as well, because they guarantee you a larger amount of tokens. They're also recurrable with your Charmbreaker Devils.

Another winner in red token decks is Vicious Shadows. Suddenly killing your tokens doesn't seem like a such a good idea anymore. It becomes especially good with free sac effects like Goblin Bombardment. There's also Martyr's Bond, which lets you clear the enemy board by saccing a few tokens. Another damage dealer is Warstorm Surge, though I haven't tested that one myself yet and can't say how effective it really is for its price.

Another excellent board wipe is Martial Coup - kills everything, but leaves you with as many tokens as you can afford. I've never been unhappy to see it.

Carnage Altar is a bit iffy because it's rather expensive, I agree. I think it's worth a try though because we're rather starved for draw in these colors.

Back from a trip to the local mall, with more upgrades in tow.

Plea for Guidance --> Idyllic Tutor: Idyllic is much cheaper, and I usually don't need to fetch two enchantments at the same time.

Inquisitor's Flail --> Sunforger: The 'Forger is one of those essential cards for R/W: I think I can cut a mere damage-doubling Equipment for it.

True Conviction --> Rise of the Hobgoblins: Part of my drive to make Jor's mana curve less ungainly.

Cloudgoat Ranger --> Goblin Rabblemaster: Another constant token generator, though it forces me to attack sooner rather than later.

Nomads' Assembly --> Crovax, Ascendant Hero: While White Crovax does weaken my red and artifact tokens, with an anthem or two out that shouldn't be a problem.

Comet Storm --> Tormod's Crypt: A 0-cost artifact that also fights against graveyard-based strategies.