This thread seems pretty dead by now but just in case here's an update.
The deck has evolved into two versions, Boros Tokens and Boros Monarch. I'm too lazy to find decklists right now but here's a quick summary: Boros Tokens
I know grixis metalcraft is a thing, but I don't think it uses dream stalker and harpy. I play mardu and honestly I very rarely find myself bouncing vampires directly except very occasionally for lethal.
In fact if you are only really bouncing vamps and muldrifters you might as well just be running one more copy of each of those because you'd much rather drop a new one than bounce an old one.
I don't know enough about blue to give you advice about that, but something I do know about is terminate. Kills anglers, kills tron fatties, kills atogs. I think it's one of the most powerful payoffs for being in red and black. And speaking of anglers being hard for most decks to kill, a one of angler can go a long way I've found.
Shouldn't Jeskai be te go-to version now more than ever thanks to Gearseeker Serpent? It trumps Gurmag Angler and any high CMC threat Tron can drop except Eldrazi.
Has anyone tried running it yet? I haven't seen any, but if you've tried it that's cool. I wouldn't think it to be as good as in affinity since we aren't really running full artifacts, just enough for metalcraft, but if I'm wrong it definitely seems strong.
I know Jeskai is probably overall the stronger deck, Mardu is really just my personal preference. I don't think that it's strictly outclassed so much as occupies its own niche with more versatile removal options and strong late game threats. It also opens up sideboard options like duress, which is amazing for certain matchups.
You've got some really interesting choices in here. I prefer the package of Rebirth + Purge + Wellspring for value. What advantage does the Puzzleknot provide other than just self-saccing?
It's like think twice, the fact that it only takes up one card lets you refill your hand rather than just cantrip everything. I have been missing kuldotha rebirth a bit, but losing angelic purge hasn't hurt much since journey to nowhere and o-ring are cards. Was there anything else that particularly caught your eye? I'm constantly fiddling with the deck so I have newer versions as well.
The biggest change is the 4x Night's Whisper. I dropped them when I switched to the Puzzleknots, but I started really missing the card draw so I put them back in. They make the deck so much better, I don't know why I ever thought it was a good idea to take them out.
I'm considering going back to the deck's roots and adding 2x Sanctum Gargoyle. I'm not sure where I could make room for them, but they seem like they would be great for bringing back the Puzzleknots. Remember the Fallen and Fortuitous Find are also options, but I've tried Read the Bones before and I'm not a huge fan of 3 mana for a pure card advantage spell, especially since I'm already running Night's Whisper. The Gargoyles have the advantages of making a body, being repeatable, and being able to loop with each other. They could also make cards like Dispeller's Capsule and Executioner's Capsule powerful choices in the main or side board.
A couple other random thoughts:
Could Arashin Cleric/Temple Acolyte be better than Lone Missionary? Lone Missionary gives an extra life and trades with X/2s, but Arashin Cleric can block stuff like tokens and other small creatures without dying. That might just be down to matchup.
Could Pristine Talisman be useful at all? Constant life gain seems fun, and it would also bring us to flashback costs faster. On the other hand there's not too much room for a colorless mana rock, and since people already sideboard in artifact hate it might not be worth it.
Could the scry on Scouring Sands make it worth running? The instant speed and option to be 1 mana make Electrickery hard to compete with, but maybe some sort of split would be possible. (Tremor is also interesting for being 1 mana, but not hitting fliers makes it useless vs delver so meh. At that point just run Dual Shot)
Gravepurge seems like it might have some potential, especially since we can cantrip our creatures into each other.
I haven't played against tron since I took out Kuldotha Rebirth, but I'm worried the deck might now too slow to even stand a chance of going under it.
I've been playing the Mardu version of this deck for a while now, this thread is actually what got me into pauper. I just made an account now because with the Drake ban there should actually be activity here!
Alright, Drake is dead! Now what? Is Boros still the go-to, or do we want Mulldrifters now? Is there any sort of sideboard plan we can enact to not auto lose to Tron?
I think the Mardu version is a bit stronger vs tron, since you run removal that can actually kill their threats. Still not a great matchup, though.
As soon as Kaladesh came out I started using Metalspinner's Puzzleknot instead of Ichor Wellspring and they are such a big improvement. The Mardu version has usually been weak at refilling its hand, which the Puzzleknots help a lot with. I was already running very few Kuldotha Rebirth, so dropping them hasn't hurt much. I also added Lone Missionary to help offset the life loss vs burn and aggro. They might get replaced as the meta shifts now that Drake is gone.
The sideboard is really speculative right now. I haven't gotten around to buying Pyroblast or Gorilla Shaman yet, otherwise I'd be running them. I also only recently added the Suture Priest, Cenn's Enlistment, and Bone Flute, so I haven't gotten a chance to test them.
I love this deck so much and I'm really excited to see it come back now that Drake is gone.
The deck has evolved into two versions, Boros Tokens and Boros Monarch. I'm too lazy to find decklists right now but here's a quick summary:
Boros Tokens
Jeskai and Mardu are nowhere to be seen (though I'm still working on Mardu).
In fact if you are only really bouncing vamps and muldrifters you might as well just be running one more copy of each of those because you'd much rather drop a new one than bounce an old one.
I don't know enough about blue to give you advice about that, but something I do know about is terminate. Kills anglers, kills tron fatties, kills atogs. I think it's one of the most powerful payoffs for being in red and black. And speaking of anglers being hard for most decks to kill, a one of angler can go a long way I've found.
Has anyone tried running it yet? I haven't seen any, but if you've tried it that's cool. I wouldn't think it to be as good as in affinity since we aren't really running full artifacts, just enough for metalcraft, but if I'm wrong it definitely seems strong.
I know Jeskai is probably overall the stronger deck, Mardu is really just my personal preference. I don't think that it's strictly outclassed so much as occupies its own niche with more versatile removal options and strong late game threats. It also opens up sideboard options like duress, which is amazing for certain matchups.
It's like think twice, the fact that it only takes up one card lets you refill your hand rather than just cantrip everything. I have been missing kuldotha rebirth a bit, but losing angelic purge hasn't hurt much since journey to nowhere and o-ring are cards. Was there anything else that particularly caught your eye? I'm constantly fiddling with the deck so I have newer versions as well.
4 Glint Hawk
4 Kor Skyfisher
2 Lone Missionary
2 Bleak Coven Vampires
1 Gurmag Angler
Card Draw (12)
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
4 Night's Whisper
Burn (8)
4 Galvanic Blast
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Firebolt
Other Removal (5)
2 Terminate
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Chainer's Edict
3 Ancient Den
3 Great Furnace
3 Vault of Whispers
2 Wind-Scarred Crag
1 Boros Garrison
3 Bloodfell Caves
1 Rakdos Carnarium
3 Scoured Barrens
2 Forgotten Cave
1 Mortuary Mire
3 Fragmentize
3 Duress
3 Electrickery
2 Hallow
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Cenn's Enlistment
1 Bone Flute
The biggest change is the 4x Night's Whisper. I dropped them when I switched to the Puzzleknots, but I started really missing the card draw so I put them back in. They make the deck so much better, I don't know why I ever thought it was a good idea to take them out.
Some more minor changes I made were switching the main deck Kor Sanctifier to an Oblivion Ring, one Lightning Bolt to a Firebolt, and adding a Journey to Nowhere to the sideboard.
I'm considering going back to the deck's roots and adding 2x Sanctum Gargoyle. I'm not sure where I could make room for them, but they seem like they would be great for bringing back the Puzzleknots. Remember the Fallen and Fortuitous Find are also options, but I've tried Read the Bones before and I'm not a huge fan of 3 mana for a pure card advantage spell, especially since I'm already running Night's Whisper. The Gargoyles have the advantages of making a body, being repeatable, and being able to loop with each other. They could also make cards like Dispeller's Capsule and Executioner's Capsule powerful choices in the main or side board.
A couple other random thoughts:
I think the Mardu version is a bit stronger vs tron, since you run removal that can actually kill their threats. Still not a great matchup, though.
Here's my current list:
4 Glint Hawk
4 Kor Skyfisher
3 Lone Missionary
1 Kor Sanctifiers
2 Bleak Coven Vampires
1 Gurmag Angler
Spells (23)
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Grim Harvest
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Terminate
2 Chainer's Edict
3 Ancient Den
3 Great Furnace
3 Vault of Whispers
3 Wind-Scarred Crag
1 Boros Garrison
3 Bloodfell Caves
1 Rakdos Carnarium
2 Scoured Barrens
2 Forgotten Cave
1 Mortuary Mire
3 Fragmentize
3 Duress
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Electrickery
1 Suture Priest
1 Cenn's Enlistment
2 Bone Flute
1 Hallow
As soon as Kaladesh came out I started using Metalspinner's Puzzleknot instead of Ichor Wellspring and they are such a big improvement. The Mardu version has usually been weak at refilling its hand, which the Puzzleknots help a lot with. I was already running very few Kuldotha Rebirth, so dropping them hasn't hurt much. I also added Lone Missionary to help offset the life loss vs burn and aggro. They might get replaced as the meta shifts now that Drake is gone.
The sideboard is really speculative right now. I haven't gotten around to buying Pyroblast or Gorilla Shaman yet, otherwise I'd be running them. I also only recently added the Suture Priest, Cenn's Enlistment, and Bone Flute, so I haven't gotten a chance to test them.
I love this deck so much and I'm really excited to see it come back now that Drake is gone.