I’ve been fooling around with Boros for a while, trying and trying to make a control shell that I like. I’ve recently realized that this is an aggro deck trying to get out. I had STP and O-Ring playsets sitting unused, so I stripped stuff down to an aggro shell that just happens to fling around a ton of Lightning Helix effects and can weather sweepers that it would be hampered by via indestructible triggers. The first night I played this in the below configuration, I handily beat my two friends. I had plenty of mana when needed, Battlegate Mimic and Firemane Avenger rocking early and often with battalion triggers, O-Ringed something that would have slowed me down, pumped my forces with Balefire Liege that also triggered helix effects with every spell, and ultimately burned out one player with 13 direct damage and finished the next player next turn with 10 points of direct damage (unused Boros Charms make for great burn spells along with Balefire Liege.) Anyway, this seems to be well-balanced for three person, star, 2-HG, and Emperor wing decks. Can anyone think of something more modern that still triggers as many helix effects as I currently burn with?
I’ve looked at the R/W offerings on Gatherer, and nothing is really jumping out at me here.
Spark Trooper works great in both my Horde of Notions elementals tribal, and in this one. It triggers battalion out of the blue and a single Balefire Liege allows me to potentially swing life 22 points (8 for attack, 3 helix trigger) with them losing 11 points and me gaining 11.
The repercussion trick is cool. I have my own version of repercussion-like hijinks, and it’s a MP FFA affair, not aggro-driven like I’m looking for with this Boros deck (I don’t like repeating strategies much). Pretty evil, though, to be sure.
FGC is right - draw is almost always king in MP.
But;
I'd consider some number of Mimic Vat. Considering R/W has only poor draw options, something like this can help.
Do you want to repeatedly chuck a Spark Trooper out every turn?
I'd consider getting a single Anger, Glory or maybe even a Hostility in there for a bit of fun.
I generally like to run a small number of Retaliate in aggro lists. Since you're running life-gain, you may want to let people attack you....
@ FGC: I agree with draw in principle. Personally, I love both the Gearhulks (already in my URB Kaladesh Gonti theme), and I have a spare playset of Browbeat. The Browbeats don’t work here, though, because I use it in situations where I have two dedicated enemies (Emperor’s or star, etc, so they can mitigate losses of life by spreading the damage among them to deny the cards. I have yet to run into a case where I run out of steam enough to put the Gearhulks in, and that slot would be where the Lieges sit, which would dramatically lessen the amount of helix burn. That being said, if I start seeing too many long games, the trade-off may be worthwhile because those gearhulks are nice.
@ Slave: (yeah, I know your profile changed, lol ) I wonder if the vats would just muck up the simple Boros plan of cast, swing sideways, win. So far that is working surprisingly consistent. Glory could be a nice swap instead of Tajic. I also own it. Hostility is better for other red blast spells where I’m not gaining life from Lightning Helix. I’ll also have to think about Retaliate. To be totally honest, though, constantly crashing with the full battalion every turn, along with spot removal, has done an effective job of keeping threats down in the group, but that is a very sweet card to consider. Thanks.
I’ve looked at the R/W offerings on Gatherer, and nothing is really jumping out at me here.
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Battlegate Mimic
4 Frontline Medic
4 Firemane Avenger
4 Spark Trooper
4 Balefire Liege
1 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Helix
Lands:
4 Boros Guildgate
4 Boros Garrison
8 Plains
8 Mountains
Note to moderators: I accidentally created a thread elsewhere, meant to post it here. Sorry for the duplicate.
Assemble the Legion
Skullclamp
Belligerent Hatchling
Blaze Commando
Boros Reckoner
Boros Swiftblade
Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
Double Cleave
Honored Crop-Captain
Iroas's Champion
Relentless Raptor
Weapons Trainer
Sol Ring
Orim's Thunder
Blasphemous Act
...here is a deck suggestion:
4 Battlegate Mimic
4 Weapons Trainer
4 Relentless Raptor
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Balefire Liege
1 Sol Ring
4 Skullclamp
Spells (16)
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Helix
2 Blasphemous Act
4 Clifftop Retreat
9 Plains
8 Mountains
On the burn strategy, you might consider Flame Rift over Lightning Helix (8 is more than 3). And watch for a reprint of Fiery Confluence.
How has Spark Trooper been for you?
The repercussion trick is cool. I have my own version of repercussion-like hijinks, and it’s a MP FFA affair, not aggro-driven like I’m looking for with this Boros deck (I don’t like repeating strategies much). Pretty evil, though, to be sure.
But;
I'd consider some number of Mimic Vat. Considering R/W has only poor draw options, something like this can help.
Do you want to repeatedly chuck a Spark Trooper out every turn?
I'd consider getting a single Anger, Glory or maybe even a Hostility in there for a bit of fun.
I generally like to run a small number of Retaliate in aggro lists. Since you're running life-gain, you may want to let people attack you....
@ Slave: (yeah, I know your profile changed, lol ) I wonder if the vats would just muck up the simple Boros plan of cast, swing sideways, win. So far that is working surprisingly consistent. Glory could be a nice swap instead of Tajic. I also own it. Hostility is better for other red blast spells where I’m not gaining life from Lightning Helix. I’ll also have to think about Retaliate. To be totally honest, though, constantly crashing with the full battalion every turn, along with spot removal, has done an effective job of keeping threats down in the group, but that is a very sweet card to consider. Thanks.