"There is no time to remedy our enemies' ignorance. Blast it out of them."
—Aurelia
Because Skullclamp is really the most viable draw engine for these colors, I decided to build around it. I threw in all the best equipment tutors and token producers in Boros colors and so Warclamp was born - a hybrid voltron/combo/control deck. Token producing creatures like Hero of Bladehold, Emeria Angel, and Brimaz, King of Oreskos in synergy with Aurelia and Skullclamp allow me to create an overwhelming board presence, which I then seal with an Armageddon effect.
Breath of Fury combos with a lot cards in the deck for infinite combat phases, although sometimes requiring a haste enabler.
There are several cards such as Sublime Archangel and Purphoros, God of the Forge that I lovingly call "face smashers." These guys get exponentially better the more creatures you have coming into play and the more combat phases you enter into. They work incredibly well with a swarm based approach.
For the sake of competitiveness I've included a land destruction suite that forces the game to be played within my average cmc. Cards like Global Ruin, Cataclysm, and Razia's Purification are largely one sided for this deck. Within this same vein, Austere Command and Retribution of the Meek are often one sided as well. All of these cards reward the deck for a low average cmc. There will be no hard casting of Enter the Infinite on Aurelia's watch!!
As a huge fan of Aurelia, I like that you are going a non-voltron focused deck with her since it is really easy to get shutdown by spot removal and tucking effects. I think I can fulfill your request for someone to look at the deck who has been piloting Aurelia for awhile
My first set of comments, not relating to things you requested, are this:
1. You are in WR, have an instant package, but no Sunforger? This does not make sense. Boros has very little access to spell tutors and this is the best card you can have to tutor out your instants. Also, it is an equipment and you are running the good equipment tutors for her.
2. If you are going Tokens/Horde, is there any reason you are not running Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker? You have some token enabling creatures that when they ETB, you get dudes. Also, KiKi-Jiki is just awesome. I talked about him a lot in my primer's discussions and why I don't use him, but he makes a lot of sense in your deck.
3. Similar Tokens note, why no Captain of the Watch? You have a lot of soldiers and this would only make you even more tokens.
4. Continuing on the token's questions.... why no Assemble the Legion? It can be clunky, but you have a lot more scarier enchantments in this deck and this card will grow over time very easily.
5. Cathars' Crusade is way better than Goldnight Commander because you have way more access to enchantment tutors in W than you have access to creature tutors. I like being able to have consistent ways to go about getting good cards, so playing into your tutor package would be wise.
6. Again on a card you don't have in RW - You need a copy of Master Warcraft. This card is a serious win-con for you and can be used on opponent's turns for easier victories at the table.
I want to be doing lethal board damage by turn 5-7 barring interruption. With a good hand this is already doable, but if I don't get a token engine into play and something to abuse it, things are much slower.
I am going to be honest with you, a RW Token/Horde deck being able to win that fast is pretty stretching... I think you would need a lot more access to haste enabling cards like Fervor and Hammer of Purphoros to even get close enough to doing that. Those cards would allow your T4-T7 plays to immediately attack as opposed to waiting a turn. What would really get you there is including a copy of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight to get you more damage output from the creatures/tokens.
I decided I wanted a bit of control thrown in to protect myself a little bit from blue. My first thought was Thalia, Guardian of Thraben so where possible I've chosen creatures over non-creatures. For example Cathars' Crusade became Goldnight Commander. There are several other controlish cards as well. My goal was to create as many relevant threats as possible. There are about 40 creatures in total.
My opinion on this comment is I think the control focus turns your deck away from the aggro strategy. If you were going Voltron, I would say those control creatures make sense, but I think the 5 control cards you have should be cut and replaced with more aggro cards and equipment. Enchantment buffs like Concerted Effort and True Conviction go amazing with this deck, especially if Aurelia is in play. Creatures like Mirran Crusader are early, strong beats that can get nasty as you buff them over time. I would also include things like Thundermaw Hellkite to open up your opponents to flying creature attacks, etc.
I can provide a longer list of other cards that could buff your dudes - Eldrazi Monument screams out to me - so if you want more ideas, let me know.
As far as revisions go I'd like to...
Increase synergy by focusing the deck.
Squeeze in more ramp - preferably creature based
Find out ways to protect myself from enemy board wipes
Fit in some Planeswalkers that have synergy with the deck
Find ways to reliably tutor for my best creatures and combos early
Optimize utility creatures for maximum effect
Decrease my average casting cost for efficiency
MOAR CARD DRAW
My comments:
Increase synergy by focusing the deck. - I think you need to decide if you want to commit to aggro or not. Cut out the control cards if yes, or include more if no. My Primer is a voltron/creature aggro split, which works well, but splitting between aggro and control can make your deck's tempo vary a lot from game to game, which can be an issue.
Squeeze in more ramp - preferably creature based - Suggestions of the top of my head are Weathered Wayfarer, Burnished Hart, and Kor Cartographer for creature based. A card I use, which many consider to be "too friendly" is Oath of Lieges. I included it in my deck because most of the people I play against are in G and ramp a lot. If your opponents are out-ramping you, than Oath will catch you up to them and thin your deck during your upkeep, which is always a plus when in RW
Fit in some Planeswalkers that have synergy with the deck - I honestly would only include 1 or 2 Chandra's - Chandra, Pyromaster (+1 give evasion, +0 acts as a card draw essentially) and Chandra Ablaze (only for the -2 wheel effect). Most other planeswalkers wouldn't help much...
Find ways to reliably tutor for my best creatures and combos early - RW do not have access to good tutors for creatures. Your only shot is Skyship Weatherlight, Planar Portal, and Ring of Three Wishes. That's about all I can think of really that you don't already have in your deck...
Optimize utility creatures for maximum effect - define optimize for me, because I think your utility creatures are just fine for the most part. The only one I am curious on is Ranger of Eos because I don't think you have many great targets for him... If money isn't an issue, I would swap him out for an Imperial Recruiter since you would be able to tutor a LOT of your creatures then.
Decrease my average casting cost for efficiency - Do me a favor and organize your list by CMC, or make a statistics post of it. What is your average CMC? My Aurelia deck is @ 3.21 and I find that just fine when I play my deck. I can't really comment on changes without knowing your actual situation honestly
MOAR CARD DRAW - Welcome to one of the biggest issues with RW... however you have several good draw engines already. Honestly, if you really want more I would look at adding a Sword of Fire and Ice and a Mask of Memory to your deck to increase more for you, or add a Temple Bell or Howling Mine if you dont mind your opponents drawing cards too.
Let me know what you think on these comments and suggestions, I would love to work with you on your deck! Also, feel free to take a look at my Primer and the card suggestions people made - there are a lot of good comments and ideas floated around in that thread!
I don't like that control section of yours. None of them really have anything to do with your core strategy, none of them can be reliably found and cast in time to make a difference, and none of them are relevant after the first half a dozen turns. Magus of the Moat is particularly bad because very few of your creatures fly, so you're essentially hosing yourself.
I would stick to what you do best. Put tokens into combat, give them haste, and make sure that you can salvage something from their death. Run every global haste effect (Hammer of Purphoros, etc) and a few sac outlets like Goblin Bombardment and you'll be just fine.
Thanks a bunch for the thoughtful reply. I'm really glad you popped in with some legit suggestions. I read your primer before I posted and again just now. While the decks have a lot of overlap they are trying to do slightly different things and have different win conditions. My playgroups tend to be pretty competitive and games can end pretty fast so the mana curve is an issue as is the threat of blue control. If I can't keep up with card advantage, I'm likely to fall way behind. Skullclamp seemed to be the best answer so I built the deck around that. Fast with some possible early wins do to infinite combos.
1. You are in WR, have an instant package, but no Sunforger? This does not make sense. Boros has very little access to spell tutors and this is the best card you can have to tutor out your instants. Also, it is an equipment and you are running the good equipment tutors for her.
My tutors are there for Skullclamp which I'm going to choose over Sunforger 100% of the time. I suppose I'm thinking that 3RW is a bit mana intensive for what it's doing. Puresteel Paladin would be needed for efficiency (which would be downright broken with Skullclamp O.o and will probably be added just for that but I'll have to squeeze in more artifacts to get metalcraft reliably). I guess it's hard to do boros without an equipment subtheme. I'll give sunforger a try.
2. If you are going Tokens/Horde, is there any reason you are not running Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker? You have some token enabling creatures that when they ETB, you get dudes. Also, KiKi-Jiki is just awesome. I talked about him a lot in my primer's discussions and why I don't use him, but he makes a lot of sense in your deck.
Yes, adding him. I don't know why he slipped my mind.
4. Continuing on the token's questions.... why no Assemble the Legion? It can be clunky, but you have a lot more scarier enchantments in this deck and this card will grow over time very easily.
Yeah, it's too slow. I've got to wait 3-4 turns before it starts becoming a relevant threat. When I have five mana available I think I want to be casting other things. If I could reliable cheat it into play a bit earlier that would be nice though.
5. Cathars' Crusade is way better than Goldnight Commander because you have way more access to enchantment tutors in W than you have access to creature tutors. I like being able to have consistent ways to go about getting good cards, so playing into your tutor package would be wise.
I'm guess I'm thinking about efficiency. 4 mana is a lot less than 5. Cathar's Crusade is a lot worse to top deck in the first few turns than Goldnight Commander. But then again, Crusade is tutorable with Academy Rector and Enlightened Tutor so you're right about that. Then again, Crusade isn't good in a vacuum whereas at least I could be attacking or blocking with the other one. I might end up running both since it's such a powerful effect. I think I just need to play the deck more and see what I like. White is not a color I'm used to playing
6. Again on a card you don't have in RW - You need a copy of Master Warcraft. This card is a serious win-con for you and can be used on opponent's turns for easier victories at the table.
Granted, I haven't actually tried out the card, but I think I would prefer Odric, Master Tactician for this sort of effect since he's a master warcraft on a stick. Since I'm not going with a voltron approach, my goal here is to just pump out as many nasty creatures as possible as quickly as possible.
I am going to be honest with you, a RW Token/Horde deck being able to win that fast is pretty stretching... I think you would need a lot more access to haste enabling cards like Fervor and Hammer of Purphoros to even get close enough to doing that. Those cards would allow your T4-T7 plays to immediately attack as opposed to waiting a turn. What would really get you there is including a copy of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight to get you more damage output from the creatures/tokens.
More haste enablers would certainly be helpful. And Gisela is a house but I worry about her high mana cost. It's mostly the infinite combos that I was referring to when I said I can win that early. For example, it would be pretty unlikely but I can knock everyone out with Hero of Bladehold and Breath of Fury + one other creature as early as turn 3 (with ramp and lightning greaves) - barring interruption of course. Another card I think I'm going to add for its combo potential is Splinter Twin There are a lot of great targets in the deck, and in combo with Aurelia make for some broken plays. With Village Bell-Ringer it can go infinite. What awesome is that these cards are all pretty good in their own right so even if I don't go infinite I don't have a dead card in my hand.
My opinion on this comment is I think the control focus turns your deck away from the aggro strategy. If you were going Voltron, I would say those control creatures make sense, but I think the 5 control cards you have should be cut and replaced with more aggro cards and equipment. Enchantment buffs like Concerted Effort and True Conviction go amazing with this deck, especially if Aurelia is in play. Creatures like Mirran Crusader are early, strong beats that can get nasty as you buff them over time. I would also include things like Thundermaw Hellkite to open up your opponents to flying creature attacks, etc.
Concerted Effort might be worth a go, but I'm just not a fan of those other high cost enchantments. They don't actually do anything without creatures in play and so I believe they actually detract from the deck's synergy. They are terrible to have in hand in the first few turns and since we aren't playing blue, I can't just cycle them back into the deck for later use. I think cheap control creatures like Thalia are actually more useful early game for the deck and are still relevant later on. I can't see myself ever taking out Grand Abolisher but some of the other ones might not be necessary and could fee up space for more aggressive options. Control isn't a huge theme of the deck. Right now there are only a couple of creatures that might be considered controllish and really they are there for my protection more than anything.
I don't like that control section of yours. None of them really have anything to do with your core strategy, none of them can be reliably found and cast in time to make a difference, and none of them are relevant after the first half a dozen turns. Magus of the Moat is particularly bad because very few of your creatures fly, so you're essentially hosing yourself.
I would stick to what you do best. Put tokens into combat, give them haste, and make sure that you can salvage something from their death. Run every global haste effect (Hammer of Purphoros, etc) and a few sac outlets like Goblin Bombardment and you'll be just fine.
Thanks a bunch for the thoughtful reply. I'm really glad you popped in with some legit suggestions. I read your primer before I posted and again just now. While the decks have a lot of overlap they are trying to do slightly different things and have different win conditions. My playgroups tend to be pretty competitive and games can end pretty fast so the mana curve is an issue as is the threat of blue control. If I can't keep up with card advantage, I'm likely to fall way behind. Skullclamp seemed to be the best answer so I built the deck around that. Fast with some possible early wins do to infinite combos.
1. You are in WR, have an instant package, but no Sunforger? This does not make sense. Boros has very little access to spell tutors and this is the best card you can have to tutor out your instants. Also, it is an equipment and you are running the good equipment tutors for her.
My tutors are there for Skullclamp which I'm going to choose over Sunforger 100% of the time. I suppose I'm thinking that 3RW is a bit mana intensive for what it's doing. Puresteel Paladin would be needed for efficiency (which would be downright broken with Skullclamp O.o and will probably be added just for that but I'll have to squeeze in more artifacts to get metalcraft reliably). I guess it's hard to do boros without an equipment subtheme. I'll give sunforger a try.
2. If you are going Tokens/Horde, is there any reason you are not running Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker? You have some token enabling creatures that when they ETB, you get dudes. Also, KiKi-Jiki is just awesome. I talked about him a lot in my primer's discussions and why I don't use him, but he makes a lot of sense in your deck.
Yes, adding him. I don't know why he slipped my mind.
4. Continuing on the token's questions.... why no Assemble the Legion? It can be clunky, but you have a lot more scarier enchantments in this deck and this card will grow over time very easily.
Yeah, it's too slow. I've got to wait 3-4 turns before it starts becoming a relevant threat. When I have five mana available I think I want to be casting other things. If I could reliable cheat it into play a bit earlier that would be nice though.
5. Cathars' Crusade is way better than Goldnight Commander because you have way more access to enchantment tutors in W than you have access to creature tutors. I like being able to have consistent ways to go about getting good cards, so playing into your tutor package would be wise.
I'm guess I'm thinking about efficiency. 4 mana is a lot less than 5. Cathar's Crusade is a lot worse to top deck in the first few turns than Goldnight Commander. But then again, Crusade is tutorable with Academy Rector and Enlightened Tutor so you're right about that. Then again, Crusade isn't good in a vacuum whereas at least I could be attacking or blocking with the other one. I might end up running both since it's such a powerful effect. I think I just need to play the deck more and see what I like. White is not a color I'm used to playing
6. Again on a card you don't have in RW - You need a copy of Master Warcraft. This card is a serious win-con for you and can be used on opponent's turns for easier victories at the table.
Granted, I haven't actually tried out the card, but I think I would prefer Odric, Master Tactician for this sort of effect since he's a master warcraft on a stick. Since I'm not going with a voltron approach, my goal here is to just pump out as many nasty creatures as possible as quickly as possible.
I am going to be honest with you, a RW Token/Horde deck being able to win that fast is pretty stretching... I think you would need a lot more access to haste enabling cards like Fervor and Hammer of Purphoros to even get close enough to doing that. Those cards would allow your T4-T7 plays to immediately attack as opposed to waiting a turn. What would really get you there is including a copy of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight to get you more damage output from the creatures/tokens.
More haste enablers would certainly be helpful. And Gisela is a house but I worry about her high mana cost. It's mostly the infinite combos that I was referring to when I said I can win that early. For example, it would be pretty unlikely but I can knock everyone out with Hero of Bladehold and Breath of Fury + one other creature as early as turn 3 (with ramp and lightning greaves) - barring interruption of course. Another card I think I'm going to add for its combo potential is Splinter Twin There are a lot of great targets in the deck, and in combo with Aurelia make for some broken plays. With Village Bell-Ringer it can go infinite. What awesome is that these cards are all pretty good in their own right so even if I don't go infinite I don't have a dead card in my hand.
My opinion on this comment is I think the control focus turns your deck away from the aggro strategy. If you were going Voltron, I would say those control creatures make sense, but I think the 5 control cards you have should be cut and replaced with more aggro cards and equipment. Enchantment buffs like Concerted Effort and True Conviction go amazing with this deck, especially if Aurelia is in play. Creatures like Mirran Crusader are early, strong beats that can get nasty as you buff them over time. I would also include things like Thundermaw Hellkite to open up your opponents to flying creature attacks, etc.
Concerted Effort might be worth a go, but I'm just not a fan of those other high cost enchantments. They don't actually do anything without creatures in play and so I believe they actually detract from the deck's synergy. They are terrible to have in hand in the first few turns and since we aren't playing blue, I can't just cycle them back into the deck for later use. I think cheap control creatures like Thalia are actually more useful early game for the deck and are still relevant later on. I can't see myself ever taking out Grand Abolisher but some of the other ones might not be necessary and could fee up space for more aggressive options. Control isn't a huge theme of the deck. Right now there are only a couple of creatures that might be considered controllish and really they are there for my protection more than anything.
I don't like that control section of yours. None of them really have anything to do with your core strategy, none of them can be reliably found and cast in time to make a difference, and none of them are relevant after the first half a dozen turns. Magus of the Moat is particularly bad because very few of your creatures fly, so you're essentially hosing yourself.
I would stick to what you do best. Put tokens into combat, give them haste, and make sure that you can salvage something from their death. Run every global haste effect (Hammer of Purphoros, etc) and a few sac outlets like Goblin Bombardment and you'll be just fine.
Goblin Bombardment makes a lot of sense. I'll find a way to squeeze it in
Not to be a stick in the mud, but you are absolutely wrong about writing off Sunforger. 3RW (which is assuming you pay that cost all at once...) is WELL worth being able to grab ANY response needed out of your deck. Puresteel Paladin should be included anyways since he is draw and you seem to be able to get Metalcraft with your mana rocks and Skullclamp.
With that being said, you should run both Master Warcraft and Odric, Master Tactician. Both are similar yes, but the HUGE strength of MW is using it on your opponent's turns. I generally use it as a way to have one of my opponents kill someone and tap all their creatures for my next combat. Odric is strong, but you better have a haste effect ready or he will immediately die if your opponents have a removal spell ready....
Honestly, a lot of your comments to some of my suggests was you felt the cards were too clunky or high-CMC, so I gotta ask: Do you really want to play a token theme? If you're all about winning fast and early (T4-T7 wins really are early IMO), you should just play an aggro-combo deck instead. You'd have some of the token creatures, but focus instead on comboing out for wins.
I run an aggro based Boros deck using Gisela as the general, so feel free to take a look at the list in my sig. Mine isn't based on token generation though, so there will be some significant differences. That being said, there are definitely a few cards I'm running that might help you out. A few have already been suggested:
Imperial Recruiter - If you can afford him, he tutors for the majority of your creatures and is definitely a better option than Ranger of Eos
Master Warcraft - I understand your inclination to want the on-a-stick version in running Odric, but the versatility of being able to use this on your opponents turn or with the Sunforger without broadcasting your intention is huge. You can use this to force one opponent to take out another while leaving him completely open for you to finish him off, or even to protect yourself from an alpha if you get wrathed and need to rebuild your board position. I've been considering running Odric in my deck but I'd never consider Boros aggro without Master Warcraft, as its simply too versatile, and people rarely see it coming.
Mistveil Plains - Now that you are running Sunforger, this lets you reuse and abuse your instants. Its still a plains, so it tutors with Tithe, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer, etc... The only good reason not to run it is if you don't have one, and that problem should be easy to correct
Myr Battleshpere - I know it's not really on theme, but with Kiki-Jiki it's a wincon on its own. Throw the splinter twin on it and it can start one shotting opponents. The mana cost is definitely high, but it could serve as a backup plan when your quick win startegy doesn't work and the game goes longer than you'd like it to.
I'm sure I'll come up with a few more suggestions, but at first glance that's what really stood out to me.
Ok, I won't write off Sunforger. I've thrown it in the deck and I'll see how it plays for me.
Aggro/combo sounds like what I'm trying to do. The tokens are fodder for Skullclamp but also add up to a lot of damage with the battlecry creatures, Purphoros, God of the Forge and many others but I wouldn't say they are my sole win condition - as in I don't want to focus on them too much. Mostly, they enable me to do a lot of damage with other cards. For example, I have Sublime Archangel and 5 goblin tokens. I cast Aurelia - Aurelia attacks for 10, and then 17, doing lethal Commander damage.
Ok, I won't write off Sunforger. I've thrown it in the deck and I'll see how it plays for me.
Aggro/combo sounds like what I'm trying to do. The tokens are fodder for Skullclamp but also add up to a lot of damage with the battlecry creatures, Purphoros, God of the Forge and many others but I wouldn't say they are my sole win condition - as in I don't want to focus on them too much. Mostly, they enable me to do a lot of damage with other cards. For example, I have Sublime Archangel and 5 goblin tokens. I cast Aurelia - Aurelia attacks for 10, and then 17, doing lethal Commander damage.
2. For infinite combat steps, besides the one you use, RW can easily abuse the Sword of Feast and Famine + Aggravated Assault combo, so I would consider adding the sword into your deck as well at the expense of one of your creatures.
3. For an AWESOME equipment tutor, I would highly suggest Stonehewer Giant since you can cheat in the equipment from your deck. He is generally a must-answer creature since he can fetch the combo enabling equipment out of your deck. Godo, Bandit Warlord is also good at equipment tutoring, and you can get three combat phases a turn with him and Aurelia in play, so he may be of interest to you as well.
You guys are making it sound like you can use Master Warcraft to force your opponent's creatures to attack another opponent. Where does it say that? From what I can tell, you can only use it to choose which creatures attack, not whom. Either way, it does force them to tap out - barring creatures with defender/vigilance.
But thanks very much for both of your suggestions. I think this is enough for me to work on for a while. I'll build the deck and see how it plays. There's only so much theory that can be discussed in lieu of actual playtesting. I'll let you know how it goes
You guys are making it sound like you can use Master Warcraft to force your opponent's creatures to attack another opponent.
Rulings and Oracle text from the Gatherer:
Quote from The Gatherer »
Cast Master Warcraft only before attackers are declared.
You choose which creatures attack this turn.
You choose which creatures block this turn and how those creatures block.
10/1/2005 You choose attackers and make blocking assignments regardless of whether it's your turn and regardless of whether the creatures are attacking you. Your choices must be legal within the normal rules for attacking and blocking.
1/1/2006 You can decide that a creature won't block.
4/1/2008 If the defending player controls a planeswalker, the person who cast Master Warcraft first chooses the complete group of creatures that are going to attack. Then, for each of those creatures, the active player chooses who or what it's going to attack.
9/20/2013 If a turn has multiple combat phases, this spell can only be cast before the beginning of the Declare Attackers Step of the first combat phase in that turn.
So basically you can choose the creatures that are going to attack and which creatures are going to block. The creatures controller only gets to choose if the creature will be attacking the player or the player's planeswalker. Hope that helps
You guys are making it sound like you can use Master Warcraft to force your opponent's creatures to attack another opponent. Where does it say that? From what I can tell, you can only use it to choose which creatures attack, not whom. Either way, it does force them to tap out - barring creatures with defender/vigilance.
But thanks very much for both of your suggestions. I think this is enough for me to work on for a while. I'll build the deck and see how it plays. There's only so much theory that can be discussed in lieu of actual playtesting. I'll let you know how it goes
Kosmik pretty much summarized what I would say as well. I think now you'll understand why we both are telling you to include that card lol.
If you're casting the card before attackers are declared, they are not attacking - they haven't attacked yet. Master Warcraft only lets you choose which creatures must attack that turnnot who they attack - that's up to the controller of said creatures. There's nothing stopping the controller from attacking you. If you read the comments on gatherer they'll confirm what I just said. If you're not playing it this way, you're doing it wrong. Not sure what else I can say or quote.
If you're casting the card before attackers are declared, they are not attacking - they haven't attacked yet. Master Warcraft only lets you choose which creatures must attack that turnnot who they attack - that's up to the controller of said creatures. There's nothing stopping the controller from attacking you. If you read the comments on gatherer they'll confirm what I just said. If you're not playing it this way, you're doing it wrong. Not sure what else I can say or quote.
It is a good card though and worth a try.
Hmmm I have been playing that card incorrectly than based off all that I had read, I thank you for educating me on this! My casual, table-top, Meta will be quite happy to discover this lol...
Regardless, I still say this card is an auto-include for the fact that you can use it to force creatures to attack, especially utility creatures, when not on your turn and you can alpha an opponent with Aurelia + Dudes. Also the effect lasts through out the turn, so if you get more combat steps you can alpha the entire table.
Also, Grafted Exoskeleton is a great way to one-shot an open opponent for fast kills
I also made space for Council's Judgment and Ogre Battledriver which I feel to be quite good. There were a lot of other changes as well, and I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts on the updated list because it's in need of further streamlining!
I feel that Shivan Harvest can just be a budget friendly hoser in this deck. It has the potential to piss a lot of folks off and keep the big rampers under control somewhat.
Ashnod's Altar was an auto include that I totally overlooked for some reason.
Sunforger and friends came out. I just don't like it, nor any other equipment besides Skullclamp in this build. The equipment tutors and recursion are there for Skullclamp and Skullclamp alone because it what lets this deck go into overdrive.
Some things I'm considering:
Sun Titan can really shine here. The only thing I'm worried about is the high cost. It's a lategame hoser for sure but a bad early topdeck. More ramp of course would not be wasted here. I feel it's not totally necessary but it can only make the deck faster. The sooner I cast Aurelia the better really. Sun Titan of course goes great with a land destruction subtheme since he can recur lands!
And a land destruction/mana denial subtheme could take this deck to the next level. Armageddon, Cataclysm, Winter Orb, and friends can help me close games since I don't need much mana to pump out lethal damage once Aurelia is on the field. I have enough artifact ramp that I probably won't even miss that much tempo. It's another way to take advantage of this deck's low average cmc, and should be able to find ways to make it even more one-sided.
I changed the title of the deck to "Aurelia: Warclamped" or just "Warclamp". This is largely because of the land destruction package that has been added and the controllish vibe that the deck now has because of it. My choice of land destruction is based on a few criteria. First, they have got to be efficient. Decree of Annihilation just can't be cast by this deck. Secondly, I prefer effects that leave some lands behind. The average cmc of Warclamp is around 2.5. That means that with just 3 lands, it can do an awful lot. These land destruction cards force the game to played within my average cmc. I believe this to be an incredibly competitive strategy for a quick aggro deck that is creature dependent and lacks other forms of control.
I'd be interested in hearing about other lockdown effects that might fit in well with this deck's strategy.
Sun Titan has been included for the time being. Although, he's at the top of my curve he can get back the majority of my creatures and my lands after a board wipe. Sun Titan followed by Cataclysm should seal me a win fairly reliably.
I was elated to discover that Retribution of the Meek exists. This should be all star board wiper for the deck since it leaves the vast majority of my own creatures unscathed. I'm crossing my fingers for a reprint.
I believe this deck wants some sort of Furnace of Rath effect. The extra combat phases cards are fine, but situational. Because I think Furnance of Rath can easily backfire, I went with Gratuitous Violence. It's doesn't help my opponents' kill me but is still under Aurelia my curve. True Conviction, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and Rage Reflection cost too much for this deck. If there are other options here, I'd like to know.
I removed Kiki-Jiki for the time being. He's good but costly to get into play. He's dead in a vacuum unlike my other token producers. I think the infinite combo involving him is too much of a pipe dream in a deck not using him as a commander. He's also not cheap in terms of $$$.
Austere Command's cmc might be a bit too high. I like how flexible it is and can't think of a good swap at the moment.
On Kiki: Infinites are hard even with him as the general, since in mono-red there's only one two-card combo and every other combo is awkward. He's good for what he does but only when there's lots of synergy. He's good for synergy more than combos. Combos are just happy accidents.
I second the suggestion for a card that generates more attack steps, particularly Waves of Aggression. Waves of Aggression is an incredible card. It turns top-decked lands in the late game into another attack step. What gets even better is when you can chain two lands together to get 3 attack steps in one turn. I'm sure with Skullclamp that your hand gets cluttered up with lands occasionally. Waves of Aggression becomes a way for you to turn lands into profit. From what I see of your list, Sun Titan looks to be the only thing that does land recursion or generally makes dead lands useful. Waves of Aggression synergizes very well with what your deck wants to do while giving you late game options with drawn lands that are less useful. It also fits into your mana curve relatively well, being less than Aurelia. I play it in my Kaalia deck and it's an absolute monster. Granted, Kaalia loves attack steps for different reasons than what your deck likes, but I think the point stands. The most ridiculous occurrence of Waves of Aggression was discarding two lands to attack two more times and spew the rest of my hand onto the battlefield, tapped and attacking. Granted, it doesn't give the dudes haste but it was back-breaking. Putting Gisela, Blade of Goldnight into play with the first attack, putting Balefire Dragon with a Harvester of Souls in play for the second attack to sweep the dude's field and draw the second land and a fresh Lord of the Void, followed by the third attack to exile the top seven cards of his library and steal his PHyrexian Metamorph to clone my Lord of the Void. I one-shotted that player in one turn and soon overwhelmed everyone else when no wraths were played. That was kind of a tangent, but I personally love Waves of Aggression.
Yeah, the ability to cast Waves of Aggression repeatedly is pretty awesome. It's going in for now. World at War is also worth considering since it essentially gives me a free attack phase the turn Aurelia hits the battlefield. That's three Krenko activations, or 3 cumulative pumps for Akroan Hoplite.
EDIT: I really think this deck needs a bit more ways to push the damage through. Eldrazi Monument would accomplish this quite well but 5 is still quite a lot for this build.
I think I'm going to want something a bit more efficient, preferable creature based. Iroas, God of Victory is the first thing that comes to mind. Its cost is quite absorbable by the deck. Pyreheart Wolf also exists.
EDIT 2: Yes, Iroas is definitely going in. I swapped it for Legion's Initiative since it actually makes all my white creatures unkillable by Skullclamp. :/
I was sifting through my friends cards last night and found a foily Rakka Mar. I had totally forgot she existed. Since the elemental tokens only have 1 toughness they can be Skullclamped. The fact that she and her tokens have haste is quite nice. With Aurelia, she's pretty nuts, able to pump out a cumulative 9 damage.
Siege-Gang Commander --> Rakka Mar - siege-gang commander always seemed a bit steep on the cmc. He might go back in but I feel this is a solid swap for now.
I rarely see anyone mention Hellkite Charger, you pay and it does the same thing as Aurelia, why not have both on the field and go for 3 attack phases in a single turn.
Although I'm not 100% sure that you are allowed to do that, it seems like a ridiculous combo, not to mention having Waves of Aggression or Relentless Assault
I rarely see anyone mention Hellkite Charger, you pay and it does the same thing as Aurelia, why not have both on the field and go for 3 attack phases in a single turn.
Although I'm not 100% sure that you are allowed to do that, it seems like a ridiculous combo, not to mention having Waves of Aggression or Relentless Assault
You're allowed to do that. You can also add Sword of Feast and Famine for infinite combat steps with the Hellkite.
In general, the swords are really good here. Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, all benefit tremendously from extra combat steps. Plus, you're lacking in card advantage. I also really like Mask of Memory here and it's even very cheap to buy.
I echo the treason of not running SUNFORGER. You can't call yourself a Boros deck without running The Almighty Hammer.
Stonehewer Giant is another sweet tutor. Straight into play! So good.
I'd cut: mogg war marshal, eidolon of countless battles, aurelia's fury, faithless looting, probably aegis of the gods unless it's really good in your meta.
—Aurelia
Because Skullclamp is really the most viable draw engine for these colors, I decided to build around it. I threw in all the best equipment tutors and token producers in Boros colors and so Warclamp was born - a hybrid voltron/combo/control deck. Token producing creatures like Hero of Bladehold, Emeria Angel, and Brimaz, King of Oreskos in synergy with Aurelia and Skullclamp allow me to create an overwhelming board presence, which I then seal with an Armageddon effect.
Breath of Fury combos with a lot cards in the deck for infinite combat phases, although sometimes requiring a haste enabler.
There are several cards such as Sublime Archangel and Purphoros, God of the Forge that I lovingly call "face smashers." These guys get exponentially better the more creatures you have coming into play and the more combat phases you enter into. They work incredibly well with a swarm based approach.
For the sake of competitiveness I've included a land destruction suite that forces the game to be played within my average cmc. Cards like Global Ruin, Cataclysm, and Razia's Purification are largely one sided for this deck. Within this same vein, Austere Command and Retribution of the Meek are often one sided as well. All of these cards reward the deck for a low average cmc. There will be no hard casting of Enter the Infinite on Aurelia's watch!!
DAMAGE MULTIPLIER/INFINITE
1 Breath of Fury
Equipment
1 Argentum Armor
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Umezawa's Jitte
RAMP
1 Mana Crypt ($$$)
1 Sol Ring
1 Paradise Mantle
1 Oath of Lieges
1 Pearl Medallion
1 Boros Signet
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Coalition Relic
1 Explorer's Scope
1 Thran Dynamo
LANDS
Basics
5 Mountain
5 Plains
Duals
1 Command Tower
1 Cavern of Souls ($)
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Plateau ($$$)
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Marsh Flats
1 Windswept Heath
Land Hate
1 Strip Mine
1 Dust Bowl
1 Wasteland ($$)
Other Nonbasics
1 Buried Ruin
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Ancient Tomb ($)
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
Cycling
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
CREATURES
Token Makers
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos ($)
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Emeria Angel
Face Smashers
1 Sublime Archangel
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
TUTORS
1 Enlightened Tutor ($)
1 Quest for the Holy Relic
1 Land Tax ($)
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Stoneforge Mystic ($$)
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Goblin Matron
1 Imperial Recruiter ($$$$)
1 Open the Armory
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Goblin Welder
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sun Titan
REMOVAL/CONTROL
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Wear // Tear
1 Grasp of Fate
1 Retribution of the Meek
1 Austere Command
1 Aurelia's Fury
1 Terminus
MANA DENIAL (AKA NUCLEAR WEAPONS)
1 Armageddon
1 Cataclysm ($)
1 Winter Orb
1 Shivan Harvest
EVASION
1 Legion Loyalist
1 Iroas, God of Victory
1 Mother of Runes
CARD ADVANTAGE
1 Skullclamp
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Puresteel Paladin
1 Mind's Eye
9/7/14
Salvage Scout --> Crucible of Worlds - thinking I will get A LOT more mileage out of Crucible. It's a relevant threat.
Godsend
Veteran's Armaments
Mask of Memory
Stonehewer Giant
Splinter Twin / Village Bell Ringer
Earthquake?
Wrath of God + Darksteel Plate? or too prone to bounce/exile to be good?
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
My first set of comments, not relating to things you requested, are this:
1. You are in WR, have an instant package, but no Sunforger? This does not make sense. Boros has very little access to spell tutors and this is the best card you can have to tutor out your instants. Also, it is an equipment and you are running the good equipment tutors for her.
2. If you are going Tokens/Horde, is there any reason you are not running Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker? You have some token enabling creatures that when they ETB, you get dudes. Also, KiKi-Jiki is just awesome. I talked about him a lot in my primer's discussions and why I don't use him, but he makes a lot of sense in your deck.
3. Similar Tokens note, why no Captain of the Watch? You have a lot of soldiers and this would only make you even more tokens.
4. Continuing on the token's questions.... why no Assemble the Legion? It can be clunky, but you have a lot more scarier enchantments in this deck and this card will grow over time very easily.
5. Cathars' Crusade is way better than Goldnight Commander because you have way more access to enchantment tutors in W than you have access to creature tutors. I like being able to have consistent ways to go about getting good cards, so playing into your tutor package would be wise.
6. Again on a card you don't have in RW - You need a copy of Master Warcraft. This card is a serious win-con for you and can be used on opponent's turns for easier victories at the table.
Now to go through some of your requests:
I am going to be honest with you, a RW Token/Horde deck being able to win that fast is pretty stretching... I think you would need a lot more access to haste enabling cards like Fervor and Hammer of Purphoros to even get close enough to doing that. Those cards would allow your T4-T7 plays to immediately attack as opposed to waiting a turn. What would really get you there is including a copy of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight to get you more damage output from the creatures/tokens.
My opinion on this comment is I think the control focus turns your deck away from the aggro strategy. If you were going Voltron, I would say those control creatures make sense, but I think the 5 control cards you have should be cut and replaced with more aggro cards and equipment. Enchantment buffs like Concerted Effort and True Conviction go amazing with this deck, especially if Aurelia is in play. Creatures like Mirran Crusader are early, strong beats that can get nasty as you buff them over time. I would also include things like Thundermaw Hellkite to open up your opponents to flying creature attacks, etc.
I can provide a longer list of other cards that could buff your dudes - Eldrazi Monument screams out to me - so if you want more ideas, let me know.
Banner by Traproot Graphics
[RETIRED Primers]:
RW Aurelia, The Warleader --- R Daretti, Scrap Savant --- RUB Thraximundar
My comments:
Increase synergy by focusing the deck. - I think you need to decide if you want to commit to aggro or not. Cut out the control cards if yes, or include more if no. My Primer is a voltron/creature aggro split, which works well, but splitting between aggro and control can make your deck's tempo vary a lot from game to game, which can be an issue.
Squeeze in more ramp - preferably creature based - Suggestions of the top of my head are Weathered Wayfarer, Burnished Hart, and Kor Cartographer for creature based. A card I use, which many consider to be "too friendly" is Oath of Lieges. I included it in my deck because most of the people I play against are in G and ramp a lot. If your opponents are out-ramping you, than Oath will catch you up to them and thin your deck during your upkeep, which is always a plus when in RW
Find out ways to protect myself from enemy board wipes - Cards to consider including: Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Eldrazi Monument, and Second Sunrise. Sun Titan would provide you a lot of recursion based off your card choices already.
Fit in some Planeswalkers that have synergy with the deck - I honestly would only include 1 or 2 Chandra's - Chandra, Pyromaster (+1 give evasion, +0 acts as a card draw essentially) and Chandra Ablaze (only for the -2 wheel effect). Most other planeswalkers wouldn't help much...
Find ways to reliably tutor for my best creatures and combos early - RW do not have access to good tutors for creatures. Your only shot is Skyship Weatherlight, Planar Portal, and Ring of Three Wishes. That's about all I can think of really that you don't already have in your deck...
Optimize utility creatures for maximum effect - define optimize for me, because I think your utility creatures are just fine for the most part. The only one I am curious on is Ranger of Eos because I don't think you have many great targets for him... If money isn't an issue, I would swap him out for an Imperial Recruiter since you would be able to tutor a LOT of your creatures then.
Decrease my average casting cost for efficiency - Do me a favor and organize your list by CMC, or make a statistics post of it. What is your average CMC? My Aurelia deck is @ 3.21 and I find that just fine when I play my deck. I can't really comment on changes without knowing your actual situation honestly
MOAR CARD DRAW - Welcome to one of the biggest issues with RW... however you have several good draw engines already. Honestly, if you really want more I would look at adding a Sword of Fire and Ice and a Mask of Memory to your deck to increase more for you, or add a Temple Bell or Howling Mine if you dont mind your opponents drawing cards too.
Let me know what you think on these comments and suggestions, I would love to work with you on your deck! Also, feel free to take a look at my Primer and the card suggestions people made - there are a lot of good comments and ideas floated around in that thread!
Banner by Traproot Graphics
[RETIRED Primers]:
RW Aurelia, The Warleader --- R Daretti, Scrap Savant --- RUB Thraximundar
I would stick to what you do best. Put tokens into combat, give them haste, and make sure that you can salvage something from their death. Run every global haste effect (Hammer of Purphoros, etc) and a few sac outlets like Goblin Bombardment and you'll be just fine.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Here's the updated decklist on TCG player.
My tutors are there for Skullclamp which I'm going to choose over Sunforger 100% of the time. I suppose I'm thinking that 3RW is a bit mana intensive for what it's doing. Puresteel Paladin would be needed for efficiency (which would be downright broken with Skullclamp O.o and will probably be added just for that but I'll have to squeeze in more artifacts to get metalcraft reliably). I guess it's hard to do boros without an equipment subtheme. I'll give sunforger a try.
Yes, adding him. I don't know why he slipped my mind.
She makes my soldiers unkillable by Skullclamp
Yeah, it's too slow. I've got to wait 3-4 turns before it starts becoming a relevant threat. When I have five mana available I think I want to be casting other things. If I could reliable cheat it into play a bit earlier that would be nice though.
I'm guess I'm thinking about efficiency. 4 mana is a lot less than 5. Cathar's Crusade is a lot worse to top deck in the first few turns than Goldnight Commander. But then again, Crusade is tutorable with Academy Rector and Enlightened Tutor so you're right about that. Then again, Crusade isn't good in a vacuum whereas at least I could be attacking or blocking with the other one. I might end up running both since it's such a powerful effect. I think I just need to play the deck more and see what I like. White is not a color I'm used to playing
Granted, I haven't actually tried out the card, but I think I would prefer Odric, Master Tactician for this sort of effect since he's a master warcraft on a stick. Since I'm not going with a voltron approach, my goal here is to just pump out as many nasty creatures as possible as quickly as possible.
More haste enablers would certainly be helpful. And Gisela is a house but I worry about her high mana cost. It's mostly the infinite combos that I was referring to when I said I can win that early. For example, it would be pretty unlikely but I can knock everyone out with Hero of Bladehold and Breath of Fury + one other creature as early as turn 3 (with ramp and lightning greaves) - barring interruption of course. Another card I think I'm going to add for its combo potential is Splinter Twin There are a lot of great targets in the deck, and in combo with Aurelia make for some broken plays. With Village Bell-Ringer it can go infinite. What awesome is that these cards are all pretty good in their own right so even if I don't go infinite I don't have a dead card in my hand.
Concerted Effort might be worth a go, but I'm just not a fan of those other high cost enchantments. They don't actually do anything without creatures in play and so I believe they actually detract from the deck's synergy. They are terrible to have in hand in the first few turns and since we aren't playing blue, I can't just cycle them back into the deck for later use. I think cheap control creatures like Thalia are actually more useful early game for the deck and are still relevant later on. I can't see myself ever taking out Grand Abolisher but some of the other ones might not be necessary and could fee up space for more aggressive options. Control isn't a huge theme of the deck. Right now there are only a couple of creatures that might be considered controllish and really they are there for my protection more than anything.
Pretty sure I read Magus of the Moat wrong. It's out now As is Windborn Muse The others are staying for now.
Goblin Bombardment makes a lot of sense. I'll find a way to squeeze it in
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
Not to be a stick in the mud, but you are absolutely wrong about writing off Sunforger. 3RW (which is assuming you pay that cost all at once...) is WELL worth being able to grab ANY response needed out of your deck. Puresteel Paladin should be included anyways since he is draw and you seem to be able to get Metalcraft with your mana rocks and Skullclamp.
With that being said, you should run both Master Warcraft and Odric, Master Tactician. Both are similar yes, but the HUGE strength of MW is using it on your opponent's turns. I generally use it as a way to have one of my opponents kill someone and tap all their creatures for my next combat. Odric is strong, but you better have a haste effect ready or he will immediately die if your opponents have a removal spell ready....
Honestly, a lot of your comments to some of my suggests was you felt the cards were too clunky or high-CMC, so I gotta ask: Do you really want to play a token theme? If you're all about winning fast and early (T4-T7 wins really are early IMO), you should just play an aggro-combo deck instead. You'd have some of the token creatures, but focus instead on comboing out for wins.
Banner by Traproot Graphics
[RETIRED Primers]:
RW Aurelia, The Warleader --- R Daretti, Scrap Savant --- RUB Thraximundar
I run an aggro based Boros deck using Gisela as the general, so feel free to take a look at the list in my sig. Mine isn't based on token generation though, so there will be some significant differences. That being said, there are definitely a few cards I'm running that might help you out. A few have already been suggested:
Imperial Recruiter - If you can afford him, he tutors for the majority of your creatures and is definitely a better option than Ranger of Eos
Master Warcraft - I understand your inclination to want the on-a-stick version in running Odric, but the versatility of being able to use this on your opponents turn or with the Sunforger without broadcasting your intention is huge. You can use this to force one opponent to take out another while leaving him completely open for you to finish him off, or even to protect yourself from an alpha if you get wrathed and need to rebuild your board position. I've been considering running Odric in my deck but I'd never consider Boros aggro without Master Warcraft, as its simply too versatile, and people rarely see it coming.
Mistveil Plains - Now that you are running Sunforger, this lets you reuse and abuse your instants. Its still a plains, so it tutors with Tithe, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer, etc... The only good reason not to run it is if you don't have one, and that problem should be easy to correct
Tithe - See above
Myr Battleshpere - I know it's not really on theme, but with Kiki-Jiki it's a wincon on its own. Throw the splinter twin on it and it can start one shotting opponents. The mana cost is definitely high, but it could serve as a backup plan when your quick win startegy doesn't work and the game goes longer than you'd like it to.
I'm sure I'll come up with a few more suggestions, but at first glance that's what really stood out to me.
EDH Decks:
GGG Omnath, the Sultan of Stomp GGG
BB Marrow-Gnawer... Or... Rats! Foiled again! BB
BB The Army of Evil (Necromancy for fun and profit) BB
RW Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and her Samurai Army WR
UB Vela the Night-Clad... Ninjas be Sneaky and Stuff, Yo!!!1! BU
BGU Vorash, the Hunter... Voltron Vorash' Viciously Violent Victory UGB
BBB Ghoulcaller Gisa and the Return of the Night of Living Dead Part XIII BBB
WUBRG Sliver Overlord... Because Having Friends is Completely Overrated GRBUW
XXXXX Kozilek, Butcher of Youth or This is Vintage EDH... Get Off My Damn Lawn! XXXXX
You cannot make time, you can only take time. If you never take time, how can you ever have time?
Aggro/combo sounds like what I'm trying to do. The tokens are fodder for Skullclamp but also add up to a lot of damage with the battlecry creatures, Purphoros, God of the Forge and many others but I wouldn't say they are my sole win condition - as in I don't want to focus on them too much. Mostly, they enable me to do a lot of damage with other cards. For example, I have Sublime Archangel and 5 goblin tokens. I cast Aurelia - Aurelia attacks for 10, and then 17, doing lethal Commander damage.
I think additional attack phase cards like Savage Beating, Aggravated Assault, Waves of Aggression might make sense for a deck like this.
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
Okay, with you wanting to be more aggro-combo, here are some different suggestions:
1. For getting good mileage out of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Splinter Twin (if you include it), I would include these cards: Thornbite Staff, Restoration Angel, and Admonition Angel. Resto Angel + Kiki is infinite fliers, The staff allows you to use Siege-Gang Commander and Mogg War Marshal to make infinite creatures if you have a sack outlet, the best being Goblin Bombardment of course, but Altar of Dementia, Ashnod's Altar, and Phyrexian Altar are also very good sac outlets. Admonition Angel is in there because you can copy her, play a land, and use the stack to permanently exile the creatures you want
2. For infinite combat steps, besides the one you use, RW can easily abuse the Sword of Feast and Famine + Aggravated Assault combo, so I would consider adding the sword into your deck as well at the expense of one of your creatures.
3. For an AWESOME equipment tutor, I would highly suggest Stonehewer Giant since you can cheat in the equipment from your deck. He is generally a must-answer creature since he can fetch the combo enabling equipment out of your deck. Godo, Bandit Warlord is also good at equipment tutoring, and you can get three combat phases a turn with him and Aurelia in play, so he may be of interest to you as well.
Banner by Traproot Graphics
[RETIRED Primers]:
RW Aurelia, The Warleader --- R Daretti, Scrap Savant --- RUB Thraximundar
But thanks very much for both of your suggestions. I think this is enough for me to work on for a while. I'll build the deck and see how it plays. There's only so much theory that can be discussed in lieu of actual playtesting. I'll let you know how it goes
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
Rulings and Oracle text from the Gatherer:
So basically you can choose the creatures that are going to attack and which creatures are going to block. The creatures controller only gets to choose if the creature will be attacking the player or the player's planeswalker. Hope that helps
EDH Decks:
GGG Omnath, the Sultan of Stomp GGG
BB Marrow-Gnawer... Or... Rats! Foiled again! BB
BB The Army of Evil (Necromancy for fun and profit) BB
RW Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and her Samurai Army WR
UB Vela the Night-Clad... Ninjas be Sneaky and Stuff, Yo!!!1! BU
BGU Vorash, the Hunter... Voltron Vorash' Viciously Violent Victory UGB
BBB Ghoulcaller Gisa and the Return of the Night of Living Dead Part XIII BBB
WUBRG Sliver Overlord... Because Having Friends is Completely Overrated GRBUW
XXXXX Kozilek, Butcher of Youth or This is Vintage EDH... Get Off My Damn Lawn! XXXXX
You cannot make time, you can only take time. If you never take time, how can you ever have time?
Kosmik pretty much summarized what I would say as well. I think now you'll understand why we both are telling you to include that card lol.
Banner by Traproot Graphics
[RETIRED Primers]:
RW Aurelia, The Warleader --- R Daretti, Scrap Savant --- RUB Thraximundar
It is a good card though and worth a try.
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
Hmmm I have been playing that card incorrectly than based off all that I had read, I thank you for educating me on this! My casual, table-top, Meta will be quite happy to discover this lol...
Regardless, I still say this card is an auto-include for the fact that you can use it to force creatures to attack, especially utility creatures, when not on your turn and you can alpha an opponent with Aurelia + Dudes. Also the effect lasts through out the turn, so if you get more combat steps you can alpha the entire table.
Also, Grafted Exoskeleton is a great way to one-shot an open opponent for fast kills
Banner by Traproot Graphics
[RETIRED Primers]:
RW Aurelia, The Warleader --- R Daretti, Scrap Savant --- RUB Thraximundar
I also made space for Council's Judgment and Ogre Battledriver which I feel to be quite good. There were a lot of other changes as well, and I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts on the updated list because it's in need of further streamlining!
I feel that Shivan Harvest can just be a budget friendly hoser in this deck. It has the potential to piss a lot of folks off and keep the big rampers under control somewhat.
Ashnod's Altar was an auto include that I totally overlooked for some reason.
Sunforger and friends came out. I just don't like it, nor any other equipment besides Skullclamp in this build. The equipment tutors and recursion are there for Skullclamp and Skullclamp alone because it what lets this deck go into overdrive.
Some things I'm considering:
Sun Titan can really shine here. The only thing I'm worried about is the high cost. It's a lategame hoser for sure but a bad early topdeck. More ramp of course would not be wasted here. I feel it's not totally necessary but it can only make the deck faster. The sooner I cast Aurelia the better really. Sun Titan of course goes great with a land destruction subtheme since he can recur lands!
And a land destruction/mana denial subtheme could take this deck to the next level. Armageddon, Cataclysm, Winter Orb, and friends can help me close games since I don't need much mana to pump out lethal damage once Aurelia is on the field. I have enough artifact ramp that I probably won't even miss that much tempo. It's another way to take advantage of this deck's low average cmc, and should be able to find ways to make it even more one-sided.
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
I'd be interested in hearing about other lockdown effects that might fit in well with this deck's strategy.
Sun Titan has been included for the time being. Although, he's at the top of my curve he can get back the majority of my creatures and my lands after a board wipe. Sun Titan followed by Cataclysm should seal me a win fairly reliably.
I was elated to discover that Retribution of the Meek exists. This should be all star board wiper for the deck since it leaves the vast majority of my own creatures unscathed. I'm crossing my fingers for a reprint.
I believe this deck wants some sort of Furnace of Rath effect. The extra combat phases cards are fine, but situational. Because I think Furnance of Rath can easily backfire, I went with Gratuitous Violence. It's doesn't help my opponents' kill me but is still under Aurelia my curve. True Conviction, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and Rage Reflection cost too much for this deck. If there are other options here, I'd like to know.
Worth noting: Aurelia swings for 24 damage with Gratuitous Violence and Boros Charm.
I removed Kiki-Jiki for the time being. He's good but costly to get into play. He's dead in a vacuum unlike my other token producers. I think the infinite combo involving him is too much of a pipe dream in a deck not using him as a commander. He's also not cheap in terms of $$$.
Austere Command's cmc might be a bit too high. I like how flexible it is and can't think of a good swap at the moment.
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
On Kiki: Infinites are hard even with him as the general, since in mono-red there's only one two-card combo and every other combo is awkward. He's good for what he does but only when there's lots of synergy. He's good for synergy more than combos. Combos are just happy accidents.
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
EDIT: I really think this deck needs a bit more ways to push the damage through. Eldrazi Monument would accomplish this quite well but 5 is still quite a lot for this build.
I think I'm going to want something a bit more efficient, preferable creature based. Iroas, God of Victory is the first thing that comes to mind. Its cost is quite absorbable by the deck. Pyreheart Wolf also exists.
Then there's Goblin War Drums and Stand or Fall. Dare I suggest Raging River?? O.o
EDIT 2: Yes, Iroas is definitely going in. I swapped it for Legion's Initiative since it actually makes all my white creatures unkillable by Skullclamp. :/
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
Although I'm not 100% sure that you are allowed to do that, it seems like a ridiculous combo, not to mention having Waves of Aggression or Relentless Assault
You're allowed to do that. You can also add Sword of Feast and Famine for infinite combat steps with the Hellkite.
In general, the swords are really good here. Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, all benefit tremendously from extra combat steps. Plus, you're lacking in card advantage. I also really like Mask of Memory here and it's even very cheap to buy.
I echo the treason of not running SUNFORGER. You can't call yourself a Boros deck without running The Almighty Hammer.
Stonehewer Giant is another sweet tutor. Straight into play! So good.
Accorder Paladin seems odd to not be included, it's a better Goblin Wardriver that you can clamp.
Crucible of Worlds is BFFs with fetchlands. And MLD.
Reveillark is better than Death or Glory. So is Karmic Guide.
I'd cut: mogg war marshal, eidolon of countless battles, aurelia's fury, faithless looting, probably aegis of the gods unless it's really good in your meta.
UBRThraximundar, Tribal ZombiesUBR
WURZedruu's Great TradesWUR
Personally I use Wild Guess and Reforge the soul for card draw, I have a tri-commander Boros deck which uses Tajic, Blade of the Legion, Aurelia, the Warleader, and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight interchangably depending on how I feel.
Check it out here