MTG Salvation

Ok, the idea behind this deck so far is get a commander where generally speaking its not that hard to block but allows me to play offense and defense and then strategically sweep the small utility and token creatures out sort of frequently. The idea behind this is that it will offset some of the natual lack of card advantage in Boros when I sweep a lot of things out of the way in one shot opening up an attack option for my commander and forcing people to block with better creatures.

Surprisingly, I think the precon was actually very well designed to take advantage of this already for the boros precon. I just wanted to make changes but I think the core concept is still a solid one.

Umezawa's Jitte works really well with double strike and vigilance

This list seems very well thought out, was wondering about some exclusions.

• Anger
  
• Stormbreath Dragon
  
• Ryusei, the Falling Star
  
• Baneslayer Angel
  
• Thundermaw Hellkite
  
• Scourge of the Throne
  

Quote from Kahboom0225 »

Umezawa's Jitte works really well with double strike and vigilance

I considered it but I felt like that pushed me more in a voltron direction. I like Jitte but the sweepers sort of already deal with the small stuff so there is the question of if you are trying to go as a faster voltron list or use it as removal. I was ideally going for sustainability and one concern I have offhand with any equipment is will opposing players remove my commander to keep me from using the equipment? I would ideally rather stay in play than fight to see if my commander can stick to the board.

I think offhand that while Jitte is good, I think it pushes more towards being a fast voltron where as the idea I had when I was designing this was for sustainability having an attacker + defender out of my commander. When you start shifting more towards being voltron possibly I think that is sort of when Aurelia, the Warleader pulls away as the better choice. I was going a little more for battlecruiser tactics in the sense that I want to have a more sustainable late game. I like that Kalemne drops as a commander later in the game with still good board presence where as Aurelia can be a little more front end explosive but tends to fall off a little more in my mind later.

Quote from SlaveToPhage »

This list seems very well thought out, was wondering about some exclusions.

• Anger
  
• Stormbreath Dragon
  
• Ryusei, the Falling Star
  
• Baneslayer Angel
  
• Thundermaw Hellkite
  
• Scourge of the Throne
  

Anger - Of the cards you listed its probably the one with the highest priority for me. I think Anger is always fairly good. I dont think there is a lot about this deck that really makes it any better than usual. In fact, I dont have that much hand wheeling or sac outlets so its probably a little behind the usual expectations right now for me. I think its always a good addition though so I will look to see if I can wedge it in there yet.
Stormbreath Dragon - its kind of generic or more of a tactic to use in a redzone deck. Its... ok but I am not that excited about the idea of him here.
Ryusei, the Falling Star - I considered him as well as a few other options like Balefire Dragon and Thunder Dragon. Of the bunch of them I almost ran Thunder Dragon but I didnt feel his stats were that good for his mana. Ryusei has an issue which is that he needs a sac outlet to really be at his best. I think Magma Phoenix also has some of the same issue but Magma Phoenix recurs itself, blocks well, and hits creatures in the air as well.
Baneslayer Angel - its kind of a generic beater. I like the life gain but I dont think it contributes enough.
Thundermaw Hellkite - I dont like strict beaters for generic adds. I like the tapping down stuff but just hitting flyers isn't enough in my opinion.
Scourge of the Throne - It can work. If I have things my way I will have the highest life total though... so I am less keen on Dethrone.

I will start up a shortlist of cards I am interested in adding in the OP.

I'll admit to liking enchantments maybe more than I should, but this seems like a great place for Concerted Effort. Kalemne shares vigilance and double strike and you have a number of flyers. I could also see Academy Rector putting in some work. She dies to most of your little sweeps so she's easy to trigger and you have a couple high impact enchantments.

For cuts I'd look at 7 drops, which you have 6 of. I start to worry about my curve if I hit that many 6 drops, so being that top heavy would put me off a lot. They're all solid cards, but you don't want to see a bunch in your opening hand and the looting may not be enough to fix that. You have some controlling elements, but your gameplan is still to clear out small blockers and swing with big creatures. You're going to be the beatdown deck at a lot of tables and not being able to put pressure on the table is killer for that plan. I get that Kalemne encourages a high curve, but I think you could still afford to trim it a little.

I'm working on this commander with extra combat steps and punisher elements (Sunforger as always).

Anyway, I've been very happy with Victory's Herald so far as evasion plus a surprising amount of life. Also Inferno Titan gets way less love than he deserves, considering how quickly he can kill someone. He also picks off utility creatures and tokens that might block you.

Ooh, I like the Concerted Effort tech for my own list. It does work exceptionally well for this list as well I think, making all your creatures Kalemne on defense and offense.

I think the sweeping weenie idea is neat, if slightly less efficient then straight evasion however in terms of winning. I get that sweeping dorks is better defensively as well though, and for the purpose of a long game should work.

I also agree that Jitte isn't right for your list if you aren't trying to attract attention to Kalemne. My only rebuttal is it's hard to not attract attention to Kalemne regardless. She always represents a easy three turn clock at minimum basically, and the minute she develops to a 6/6, people get very antsy. I've been playing a tonne of Kalemne since release and equipment light games don't play out to differently. She just gets threat worthy fairly fast.

I don't think CA is that hard for Boros to generate anymore. Have a look at my draw and recursion package, and there is a tonne more you can include or swap.

For a safe larger creature sweep, consider Divine Reckoning, Fell the Mighty or Austere Command. All preserve Kalemne (in some form and) and that dominant presecense she has, but deals with a dearth of fatties, and not just weenies that might be a problem and is always worth hedging against.

I think Invader Parasite, Basandra, and Goblin Bombardment are your weaker picks. Followed maybe by Crovax.

What's not a creature, sweeps low, and might as well give you experience every turn?

Contagion Engine. This thing is a BEAST for Kalemne because her exp scales the hardest.

I'm not a fan of Batterskull for Kalemne decks. Yes, it's flat out amazing to have, but the fact that it doesn't give EXP, doesn't give evasion, and the mana costs are very hefty, it's not worth my slot in my deck. If anything, I'd go for O-Naginata or Loxodon Warhammer for trample stuff.

Or Kusari-Gama. It's better than you'd think.

I have to second trample for kalemne. While I don't play her quite the same as you do (I integrated her as part of an existing theme deck of my own design), but there is a very small three equipment package in my deck and loxodon warhammer is usually my first go to. Though, to be fair, tenza, godo's maul isn't bad.

Quote from ImpulsiveKnowledge »

What's not a creature, sweeps low, and might as well give you experience every turn?

Contagion Engine. This thing is a BEAST for Kalemne because her exp scales the hardest.

I can't say I agree. It's a good card, but I'd rather have a 6-mana creature in that slot (Wurmcoil Engine fits nicely). If you have no experience counters, then it does nothing for that (the -1/-1 counters only affect one opponent, too). If you do have experience counters, it'll set off alarm bells around the table and you can expect Kalemne to become target number one for all subsequent removal. I would prefer a creature because Kalemne's ability triggers on casting, so you get experience even with a counterspell. Second, a creature means another threat that can keep your opponents off balance (and sometimes removal). Contagion Engine isn't bad, but it does tell your opponents that you're depending a lot on Kalemne to carry the win.

I noticed you removed Lightning Greaves. I find that aggro decks greatly benefit from haste. Assuming you see removal or a board wipe one turn out of three, just a Lightning Greaves gets you 50% more attacks in. So, things like Lightning Greaves, Flamekin Village, Fervor, Ashling's Prerogative, or even pseudo-haste effects like Blind Obedience or Kismet, could help. They could take the place of the non-creature removal (artifacts don't generally hurt you much) or some of the more marginal cards (Basandra, Invader Parasite, Goblin Bombardment)

I use Hall of the Bandit Lord in my Kalemne deck. it hurts, but sometimes you need that haste.

What do you think about Odric, Lunarch Marshal and Erratic Portal? With Portal you can protect your beaters from theft and gain a experience counter !