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.
Swords ARE good and I've got the support cards. An equipment subtheme is something that I've been considering, if only because Aurelia can be such a powerful voltron commander. It might be a solid plan B if my token army doesn't get off the ground.
I would use Sword of Fire and Ice before I'd use Mask of Memory. Skullclamp is just the only respectable draw engine in these colors, closely followed by Mentor of the Meek. I feel like I'd rather focus on getting these cards into play and keeping them in play.
I echo the treason of not running SUNFORGER. You can't call yourself a Boros deck without running The Almighty Hammer.
I may give it another run here, especially if I decide on an equipment subtheme. Puresteel Paladin makes this a lot more useable. But my feeling is that it's just not good enough for what I'm trying to do.
I will say that this part of the deck does need some work. But I think I'd swap in Angelic Renewal or maybe just a straight up Resurrection or False Defeat for efficiency.
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.
Thanks for the suggestions, but I think that most of these are going to stay. Faithless Looting and Aurelia's Fury are especially too good to cut.
Why no goblin recruiter? Might get you crucial pieces.
Also in Boros colours I like playing jokulhaups with a sunforged boros charm
Goblin Recruiter is a good suggestion but my feeling is that the card disadvantage from the topdeck isn't what we need. I'll proxy it though and see how it plays. Getting Goblin Rabblemaster and Krenko would be pretty solid.
Jokulhaups is over-curve for what it does in this deck IMO (compare to Austere Command). It's a neat trick though and I'd like to find a way to do it more efficiently.
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
Yeah, charger is waaay over-curve. Remember that I'm trying to stay below 6cmc, with a very heavy emphasis on cmc 3 or less. I need cheap spells in this build. Relentless Assault is more to my liking. But Waves of Aggression is in there for repeatability.
Mask of Memory is a lot better than you give it credit. At first, I was also skeptical when it was suggest, but after a few games of testing I was sold on it.
Now and days, My first equipment tutor is generally for the mask in my Aurelia deck because it provides so much filtering and is a lot less threatening than Sword of Fire and Ice. Aurelia alone makes this "Draw 4, discard 2". I run it over Faithless Looting, which I do consider good by itself, because Looting is really "Cast (-1 card in hand), draw 2, discard 2". It isn't until the flashback that you are truly getting card "advantage" in your hand.
"Less threatening than Sword of Fire and Ice" - I really think this is where our playstyles differ. I want to be playing the best cards I can, cards that demand removal, and I don't care if that makes me the archenemy. I enjoy it. I have no qualms about running stuff like Counterbalance or Ad Nauseam in this format. The mana denial cards are what really gives this deck its competitive edge, completely denying my opponents access to large portions of their libraries - for that reason I don't mind being as much of a threat (read jerkface) as possible.
That said, I would never cut Faithless Looting for Mask of Memory. Mask of Memory depends on you not only having a creature in play, but getting damage through. Failing those constraints, it's totally dead. Faithless Looting is a powerful turn 1 play that I wouldn't miss out on.
I think that I'm probably not going to expand on the equipment subtheme too much - maaaybe adding a couple of swords at the most if only to provide additional targets for cards like Stoneforge Mystic and Salvage Scout. I feel it distracts too much from my primary strategy (token horde/skullclamp/land destruction). I like cards like Gratuitous Violence and Eidolon of Countless Battles that can help Aurelia go voltron but aren't dependent on her to be good.
EDIT: One card in your list that I'm really liking is Concerted Effort. Giving all of my creatures flying and vigilance is pretty solid for 2WW. Doublestrike would be a nice bonus if it happened. Land Tax is also something that might go in.
Cards like Warren Instigator make me wonder if including a ton more goblins wouldn't be a bad plan.
Preeminent Captain is also a very solid card that I want to build around.
I added three swords: Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Feast and Famine, and Umezawa's Jitte. This maybe takes the deck in a more voltronish approach but I also think it adds some needed versatility. All of these swords are quite powerful and can be tutored for and recurred with the cards already in place for skullclamp. And for goodness sake, Aurelia is gripping two swords in her portrait. And no, Sunforger did not make the cut.
Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer are both in. I can't believe I went this long without them. For some reason Boros really struggles with hitting land drops. I think both of these will go a long way in keeping the deck consistent. They also work great with the land destruction subtheme. I'm considering getting a Scroll Rack for this deck as well since it works so nicely with Land Tax.
Preeminent Captain and Warren Instigator look great on paper but outside of a dedicated tribal build I fear they will do nothing too often. Adding more soldiers or goblins comes at the expense of cutting valuable non-goblin, non-soldier creatures. :/
I'm pretty happy with where this deck stands right now. I need to do some playtesting but acquiring some of the more spendy cards will take some time.
I'm always open to suggestions but just keep in mind that I want to keep my curve as low as possible. 5 and 6 are really pushing it. That's mostly because I intend on nuking everyone's lands to keep the game within my average cmc of 2-3. The whole point of this strategy is to play up the deck's strength of self generated damage and card advantage without actually investing more mana and cards into my board. For example, following a Hero of Bladehold and Skullclamp with a Global Ruin will be game winning if unanswered. Or if I've got Aurelia equipped with Sword of Fire and Ice and follow that with a Cataclysm, that also does the same trick. There are of a lot of combinations of this strategy.
What I want to know is what cards aren't serving me and what gems I might be missing out on. Thanks for reading.
Curious about your reasoning regarding the inclusion of creature recursion spells (Angelic Renewal, Resurrection) versus simply including additional creatures.
Currently, the only cards I run capable of recurring creatures are Sun Titan and Sword of Light and Shadow. However, sometimes I do get blown out and fail to draw into a new creature-base. I've considered recursion options, however the timing restrictions on many of them have lead me to simply add more (granted sub-optimal) creatures to my list. Not sure which route to take.
Thanks for your suggestions regarding lowering the curve and land destruction options. They've helped to refine my list. Still looking to add in Retribution of the Meek - it does look very one-sided after the removal of many 4 - 5 cmc creature drops from my list.
I've always preferred quality over quantity. I'm also a fan of efficiency. If I only have to pay 2WW to get something as good as Sun Titan into play, I'm happy. Also, discard effects such as but not limited to Faithless Looting (massive card draw + forced discard works as well), allow me to get higher cmc creatures into my graveyard and cheat them into play with Resurrection a bit earlier than normal. Karmic Guide costs too much for something that doesn't remain in play. Also, Resurrection has some aswesom promo art, otherwise False Defeat and Breath of Life are better.
Proclamation of Rebirth is something that I really want to make work, but I've only got 4 creatures with cmc 1.
Order of Whiteclay could definitely find a spot. I love weird cards like this that are actually decent and it works well with Aurelia.
Pulsemage Advocate is interesting and could work theoretically with some graveyard hate.
But I'd say the main reason for recursion is that I have only one copy of Hero of Bladehold and similarly good cards. I'd rather just be able to reanimate them than throw something of lesser quality in. Recursion gives me options.
Also, cards like Death or Glory, which I kind of want to re-include, have the potential to even grant us card advantage by reanimating more than one thing.
I actually really love what you've done with this deck. I've been trying to do similar things with my build for awhile. I feel like a lot of suggestions are pushing you toward voltron and people are missing what you're trying to do here.
Making note of some of those resurrection effects for my list. I have a couple creatures that are fairly forced into the deck (Fencing Ace for example) that could be replaced should I find my creatures in the graveyard often enough.
Miraculous Recovery is really tempting for me at the moment. I realize it is higher on the curve than any of the others, but I've made bigger sacrifices for the sake of an instant speed effect, not to mention the +1/+1 counter. Did you test this one out at any point?
Miraculous Recovery just costs too much. I'm looking at 3 and a max of 4 for my curve, but mine's still lower than yours.
Crucible of Worlds I think is going to make it into my list. It's pretty much an auto include if you are running land destruction. Now to find myself a copy...
Solid suggestions Euphony. They are aggressively costed win cons. Basically an Overwhelming Stampede in white is great, especially on a 4cmc creature. The ability is still under Aurelia in curve which is great! I think Jazal is going in.
Hi, love your deck.
How about adding moonveil dragon? It's a nice manasink, can buff our entire army and has evasion. As for me he's pretty solid. He also is a huge beater.
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My decks: Modern:W Death and Taxes U Merfolk Duel Commander:WUGJenara, Asura of War
Couple of updates to this decklist. I've been unable to edit due to "Non Latin Unicode characters are temporarily not allowed." thing, but hopefully that will be remedied soon.
-1 Signal Pest +1 Argentum Armor ~ We can cheat Argentum into play fairly reliably. While the battlecry effect is efficient, Pest isn't doing enough for me.
-1 Legion Loyalist +1 Stonehewer Giant ~ Loyalist doesn't do a whole lot for me, but the giant can be game winning now that I've got some serious equipment.
-1 Precinct Captain +1 Puresteel Paladin ~ the Captain was pretty subpar considering that combat damage needs to be dealt to create just one token that needs to wait a turn to attack. Paladin should be able to give me a little more bang for my buck.
Other things I'm considering:
Godo, Bandit Warlord ~ while 6 is certainly a lot of mana for this deck, it could be justified.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith ~ equipment fetches are just so nice, but Stoneforge is better.
Price of Glory ~ A little blue hate card I've always liked.
Splinter Twin and Midnight Guard - I like this combo a lot. It's got the potential to win games out of nowhere and can be tutored for.
You do go with the equipment sub-theme, Kemba, Kha Regent might work well, so could Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer. If equipment doesn't become a sub-theme, you can still run Márton Stromgald who get's ridiculous with multiple combat phases.
There is definitely an equipment subtheme now. Volton is such a viable strategy with Aurelia that the deck is kind of hybrid Voltron/swarm now. I won't say I've found the optimum balance yet by any stretch. Cards like Stonehewer Giant and Godo, Bandit Warlord might be tipping the scales a little too far away from the swarm strategy for my liking bc of their high mana investment.
Khemba might go in, however I don't like that her kitties aren't clampable. I want to be getting my equipment on Aurelia in an ideal world anyway.
Jor Kadeen is decent and worth testing. However, my hunch is that he's still not as efficient as what I'm looking for. The battlecry creatures were almost better because they're clampable and battlecry triggers twice with Aurelia. So, for just 1Signal Pest can do as much for my army as Jor Kadeen (if Aurelia is in play).
Hero of Oxid Ridge is another one that I've considered for swarm boost. The haste is really nice.
Hey folks, I have some changes (confusing considering the early post) to announce.
Mind's Eye - while a bit high on the cmc, this is the kind of draw engine I've been looking for to complement Skullclamp. I think overall I'm going to like it a lot. A close second was Mask of Memory which still might go in.
Goblin Welder - This little guy's got a lot of utility for just R. When cards can be used both offensively and defensively it makes me happy. I'm running this over stuff like Indomitable Archangel.
Martial Coup - I really like my sweepers to be selective or at least flexible. This one has a lot of potential here, so I'm going to give it a test run. Is it preferable to a Terminus or Wrath of God? We'll see.
Sublime Archangel - This came in for Hellrider. I think this one's really going to shine here as a face smasher.
Oblivion Ring - This came in for Chaos Warp mostly because of the ability to tutor for it with Idyllic and Enlightened as well as recur it with Sun Titan.
What came out:
Rakka Mar - I was never that excited to see her. Compared to Hero of Bladehold, she's pretty underpowered even with haste.
Hellrider - I just never found myself casting him.
Signal Pest, Akroan Hoplite - In multiplayer, beats just don't quite cut it unless they are HUGE! I want to shift my focus a bit more toward voltron.
Gamble - This is an high dollar tutor that in my experience often fails outside of a deck that really draws a ton of cards (cough cough - Niv-Mizzet)
Keldon Firebombers - While the redundancy is nice, this was often a dead draw. 4cmc is really the sweet spot for land hate.
Chaos Warp - O-Ring is slightly better in here because of the reasons stated above.
Angelic Renewal - This was a pretty mediocre draw 90% of the time. We need big effects at efficient costs.
On the horizon:
Sunforger has been in and out. It's horrendously mana intensive, and I want to see it less than the other equipment I've already got. HOWEVER a tutor is a tutor. IF Puresteel Paladin is in play and active. Sunforger becomes amazing, but that's hard to do, especially without an Imperial Recruiter actually in my paper deck. I'd say that if I get an Recruiter, Sunforger might go back in.
Mother of Runes - I'm going to say right now that I'm going to find space for her. She's amazing. But what to cut?
Paradise Mantle and Explorer's Scope - Puresteel Paladin is simply amazing in this deck. The issue is that I so rarely get him into play. A Recruiter would make that happen more often. In that case, both of these equipment could be really nice early game. Maybe better drops than Coldsteel Heart or Wayfarer's Bauble.
Boros Charm - I've been on the fence with this one. A lot of my wraths are made to either leave my own stuff alone, or downright sacrifice instead of destroy, so the indestructibility is often irrelevant. However, this is something that could be built around, especially if I end up adding Sunforger to tutor for the charm. The ability to give Aurelia doubstrike is really nice though.
Ashnod's Altar - off theme, but still a really powerful ramper. This would help make Aurelia's Fury a lot more attractive.
Oath of Lieges - I still really dig this card and might run it over Kor Cartographer. I like the political aspect of it and the ability to catch up with G a little. I just don't think it would play that well with land destruction. I've already got Land Tax.
Mask of Memory - this is still on my radar. Might go in for Faithless Looting but IDK. Again, it's better with Puresteel Paladin but can I get him into play?
Sublime has been great for me. Very solid addition.
Mother of Runes I highly suggest.
I tried Emeria Angel but cut her. Never did enough.
At the 5 spot, I'd say Thundermaw Hellkite > Karmic Guide or Reveillark. I run Angelic Overseer who is amazing with a bunch of humans knights and clerics.
Speaking of running lots of knights, even with a wide array of abilities Concerted Effort never did too much.
Aggravated Assault hasn't been great, even with SoFaF. Boros Charm sorta weak too. They seem so good though. I keep waiting for them to shine. Some day..
I see you run Path and Swords. You can abuse Fiend Hunter and Leonin Relic-Warder with them. I play mostly 1vs1 online though, so it's better there.
Yeah, without a ton of fetchlands, Emeria Angel is a bit mediocre. It's annoying that the tokens can't attack the turn they are created unlike the other token producers - therefore it doesn't really combo with Breath of Fury. Idk if Rakka Mar is better or not in here.
One thing I've really struggled with in this deck is finding good token producers. Hero of Bladehold is kind of the ideal. Preference is given to creatures because they can be equipped, sacced, etc... so stuff like Elspeth Tirel, Rise of the Hobgoblins, Militia's Pride, Assemble the Legion are less than ideal / pretty slow in my book. And without any real creature tutors, we need the redundancy.
One thing the enchantment based token producers have going for them is that I CAN tutor for them, so maybe I can maindeck one. Out of the above, Militia's Pride would be the most likely candidate because it's cheap, makes tokens with pseudo haste, and can make more than one token per turn. Assemble the Legion is nice if I can drop it turn 2 or 3, but later than that it's a dead draw. It works nice with land destruction though, so maybe worth a try as well.
Tokens need to be clampable, therefore Luminarch is out.
I like Hero of Oxid Ridge a lot but I think he is a little outclassed by Odric, Master Tactician, whome I am not overly impressed with anyway. Battlecry is nice but not that effective in multiplayer. For the most part I'm going voltron with Aurelia and the tokens are fuel for skullclamp, while enabling Sublime Archangel and Breath of Fury.
Academy Rector does have some solid targets in here, and is probably worth slotting in.
I'm trying to decide how I value Nahiri, the Harbinger for aggressive Boros. Vraska the Unseen for her minus ability is pretty weak, it ends up getting a creature a high amount of the time in the place, and so it only gets run by extremely grindy BGx decks in the second place. For the plus ability, Daretti, Scrap Savant is better. Arguably the minus ability on Daretti is more useful to this deck also, since you can throw away a mana rock for a high impact artifact like Mind's Eye.
And that ultimate is kind of garbage.
Barring some synergy between the plus and minus abilities that I'm not anticipating, this doesn't seem to be solidly worth a slot.
Have you ever considered Greater Gargadon or Trading Post?
Gargadon is useful pre-Armageddon, and Post would be great with all the tokens you're making, but I'm mainly suggesting both because they provide instant-speed artifact sac outlets, which I don't see any of yet other than Goblin Welder. I dunno, I just thought they might be decent, since you've plenty of ways to get Skullclamp back from the graveyard but haven't the green for Riftsweeper.
Decklist looks cool! Might try a game or two with it on Untap, looks like lots of fun. Glad to see a R/W deck that's not just Voltron.
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--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
Hi there, I'm necro-ing my own thread. I actually had to google it to find it, lol. I also had to create a new account here for some reason, but it's me, Rowan.
This is still a deck that I like to play frequently. Seems like there have been a ton of decent new cards in boros colors recently that would fit right into this deck. I'm wondering if anyone would care to suggest some that they have played with or are eyeing in the new set? These would be good creature token generators, equipment or equipment synergy cards, decent removal, card draw, tutors, stax, or ways to cheat things into play.
I was absolutely elated to see that Imperial Recruiter and Land Tax both got a reprint. I can certainly be grateful for that.
At this point I think it's worth mentioning that I'm well aware that there are better commanders for a deck like this, most notably Samut, Voice of Dissent. Adding green to the mix would patch any weaknesses the deck currently faces, especially mana acceleration, land control, and card draw. And very arguably, Samut does a better job at what Aurelia is trying to do for 1 less. Samut generally enables and synergizes with the rest of the deck much better. A Fervor in our command zone is just fantastic on its own.
As much power as swapping commanders might give us, I don't particularly feel like tearing the deck apart at this time. I don't have the money to create something better for one thing (dual lands alone would add up pretty fast), and I actually enjoy the challenge of creating a boros equipment/token deck that works and is fun to play. I very much wish that we received an upgraded Aurelia in this new set that would have served my purposes here, but alas.... I will be content with Niv-Mizzet 3.0!
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Swords ARE good and I've got the support cards. An equipment subtheme is something that I've been considering, if only because Aurelia can be such a powerful voltron commander. It might be a solid plan B if my token army doesn't get off the ground.
I would use Sword of Fire and Ice before I'd use Mask of Memory. Skullclamp is just the only respectable draw engine in these colors, closely followed by Mentor of the Meek. I feel like I'd rather focus on getting these cards into play and keeping them in play.
I may give it another run here, especially if I decide on an equipment subtheme. Puresteel Paladin makes this a lot more useable. But my feeling is that it's just not good enough for what I'm trying to do.
Good suggestion, I'll swap. I had both at one point, but just randomly cut the paladin.
I decided on Sun Titan for this effect. I think crucible would end up being fluff - expensive fluff.
I will say that this part of the deck does need some work. But I think I'd swap in Angelic Renewal or maybe just a straight up Resurrection or False Defeat for efficiency.
Thanks for the suggestions, but I think that most of these are going to stay. Faithless Looting and Aurelia's Fury are especially too good to cut.
Goblin Recruiter is a good suggestion but my feeling is that the card disadvantage from the topdeck isn't what we need. I'll proxy it though and see how it plays. Getting Goblin Rabblemaster and Krenko would be pretty solid.
Another creature tutor I was considering is Ranger of Eos just to get Signal Pest and Legion Loyalist more reliably.
Jokulhaups is over-curve for what it does in this deck IMO (compare to Austere Command). It's a neat trick though and I'd like to find a way to do it more efficiently.
Yeah, charger is waaay over-curve. Remember that I'm trying to stay below 6cmc, with a very heavy emphasis on cmc 3 or less. I need cheap spells in this build. Relentless Assault is more to my liking. But Waves of Aggression is in there for repeatability.
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
Mask of Memory is a lot better than you give it credit. At first, I was also skeptical when it was suggest, but after a few games of testing I was sold on it.
Now and days, My first equipment tutor is generally for the mask in my Aurelia deck because it provides so much filtering and is a lot less threatening than Sword of Fire and Ice. Aurelia alone makes this "Draw 4, discard 2". I run it over Faithless Looting, which I do consider good by itself, because Looting is really "Cast (-1 card in hand), draw 2, discard 2". It isn't until the flashback that you are truly getting card "advantage" in your hand.
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That said, I would never cut Faithless Looting for Mask of Memory. Mask of Memory depends on you not only having a creature in play, but getting damage through. Failing those constraints, it's totally dead. Faithless Looting is a powerful turn 1 play that I wouldn't miss out on.
I think that I'm probably not going to expand on the equipment subtheme too much - maaaybe adding a couple of swords at the most if only to provide additional targets for cards like Stoneforge Mystic and Salvage Scout. I feel it distracts too much from my primary strategy (token horde/skullclamp/land destruction). I like cards like Gratuitous Violence and Eidolon of Countless Battles that can help Aurelia go voltron but aren't dependent on her to be good.
EDIT: One card in your list that I'm really liking is Concerted Effort. Giving all of my creatures flying and vigilance is pretty solid for 2WW. Doublestrike would be a nice bonus if it happened. Land Tax is also something that might go in.
Cards like Warren Instigator make me wonder if including a ton more goblins wouldn't be a bad plan.
Preeminent Captain is also a very solid card that I want to build around.
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 added three swords: Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Feast and Famine, and Umezawa's Jitte. This maybe takes the deck in a more voltronish approach but I also think it adds some needed versatility. All of these swords are quite powerful and can be tutored for and recurred with the cards already in place for skullclamp. And for goodness sake, Aurelia is gripping two swords in her portrait. And no, Sunforger did not make the cut.
Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer are both in. I can't believe I went this long without them. For some reason Boros really struggles with hitting land drops. I think both of these will go a long way in keeping the deck consistent. They also work great with the land destruction subtheme. I'm considering getting a Scroll Rack for this deck as well since it works so nicely with Land Tax.
Angelic Renewal and Resurrection are both in, mostly for efficiency. Angelic Renewal gets cute with Sun Titan.
Preeminent Captain and Warren Instigator look great on paper but outside of a dedicated tribal build I fear they will do nothing too often. Adding more soldiers or goblins comes at the expense of cutting valuable non-goblin, non-soldier creatures. :/
I'm pretty happy with where this deck stands right now. I need to do some playtesting but acquiring some of the more spendy cards will take some time.
I think one more token producer would be great but nothing really pops out as being good enough to include. Siege-gang Commander and Emeria Angel come pretty close, but compared to Krenko, Mob Boss or Hero of Bladehold they are pretty underwhelming.
I'm always open to suggestions but just keep in mind that I want to keep my curve as low as possible. 5 and 6 are really pushing it. That's mostly because I intend on nuking everyone's lands to keep the game within my average cmc of 2-3. The whole point of this strategy is to play up the deck's strength of self generated damage and card advantage without actually investing more mana and cards into my board. For example, following a Hero of Bladehold and Skullclamp with a Global Ruin will be game winning if unanswered. Or if I've got Aurelia equipped with Sword of Fire and Ice and follow that with a Cataclysm, that also does the same trick. There are of a lot of combinations of this strategy.
What I want to know is what cards aren't serving me and what gems I might be missing out on. Thanks for reading.
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
Currently, the only cards I run capable of recurring creatures are Sun Titan and Sword of Light and Shadow. However, sometimes I do get blown out and fail to draw into a new creature-base. I've considered recursion options, however the timing restrictions on many of them have lead me to simply add more (granted sub-optimal) creatures to my list. Not sure which route to take.
Thanks for your suggestions regarding lowering the curve and land destruction options. They've helped to refine my list. Still looking to add in Retribution of the Meek - it does look very one-sided after the removal of many 4 - 5 cmc creature drops from my list.
Proclamation of Rebirth is something that I really want to make work, but I've only got 4 creatures with cmc 1.
Order of Whiteclay could definitely find a spot. I love weird cards like this that are actually decent and it works well with Aurelia.
Pulsemage Advocate is interesting and could work theoretically with some graveyard hate.
Return the to the Ranks isn't terrible but it's a bit limited.
But I'd say the main reason for recursion is that I have only one copy of Hero of Bladehold and similarly good cards. I'd rather just be able to reanimate them than throw something of lesser quality in. Recursion gives me options.
Also, cards like Death or Glory, which I kind of want to re-include, have the potential to even grant us card advantage by reanimating more than one thing.
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
Miraculous Recovery is really tempting for me at the moment. I realize it is higher on the curve than any of the others, but I've made bigger sacrifices for the sake of an instant speed effect, not to mention the +1/+1 counter. Did you test this one out at any point?
Miraculous Recovery just costs too much. I'm looking at 3 and a max of 4 for my curve, but mine's still lower than yours.
Crucible of Worlds I think is going to make it into my list. It's pretty much an auto include if you are running land destruction. Now to find myself a copy...
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
How about adding moonveil dragon? It's a nice manasink, can buff our entire army and has evasion. As for me he's pretty solid. He also is a huge beater.
My decks:
Modern: W Death and Taxes U Merfolk
Duel Commander: WUGJenara, Asura of War
In construction: Legacy: WUGBCounterSlivers
-1 Frontline Medic +1 Idylic Tutor ~ Idylic can grab Land Tax, Breath of Fury, Iroas, and Purphoros
-1 Signal Pest +1 Argentum Armor ~ We can cheat Argentum into play fairly reliably. While the battlecry effect is efficient, Pest isn't doing enough for me.
-1 Gratuitous Violence +1 Concerted Effort ~ Violence was a little heavy on my curve. Concerted Effort is a little more useful.
-1 Coldsteel Heart +1 Coalition Relic ~ Relic helps us cast a turn 4 Aurelia a bit more reliably
-1 Legion Loyalist +1 Stonehewer Giant ~ Loyalist doesn't do a whole lot for me, but the giant can be game winning now that I've got some serious equipment.
-1 Precinct Captain +1 Puresteel Paladin ~ the Captain was pretty subpar considering that combat damage needs to be dealt to create just one token that needs to wait a turn to attack. Paladin should be able to give me a little more bang for my buck.
Other things I'm considering:
Godo, Bandit Warlord ~ while 6 is certainly a lot of mana for this deck, it could be justified.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith ~ equipment fetches are just so nice, but Stoneforge is better.
Price of Glory ~ A little blue hate card I've always liked.
Splinter Twin and Midnight Guard - I like this combo a lot. It's got the potential to win games out of nowhere and can be tutored for.
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
Khemba might go in, however I don't like that her kitties aren't clampable. I want to be getting my equipment on Aurelia in an ideal world anyway.
Jor Kadeen is decent and worth testing. However, my hunch is that he's still not as efficient as what I'm looking for. The battlecry creatures were almost better because they're clampable and battlecry triggers twice with Aurelia. So, for just 1 Signal Pest can do as much for my army as Jor Kadeen (if Aurelia is in play).
Hero of Oxid Ridge is another one that I've considered for swarm boost. The haste is really nice.
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
Mind's Eye - while a bit high on the cmc, this is the kind of draw engine I've been looking for to complement Skullclamp. I think overall I'm going to like it a lot. A close second was Mask of Memory which still might go in.
Goblin Welder - This little guy's got a lot of utility for just R. When cards can be used both offensively and defensively it makes me happy. I'm running this over stuff like Indomitable Archangel.
Pearl Medallion - All of my higher costed spells are white. This makes things like Sun Titan, Austere Command, and Stonehewer Giant that much easier to cast.
Martial Coup - I really like my sweepers to be selective or at least flexible. This one has a lot of potential here, so I'm going to give it a test run. Is it preferable to a Terminus or Wrath of God? We'll see.
Sublime Archangel - This came in for Hellrider. I think this one's really going to shine here as a face smasher.
Oblivion Ring - This came in for Chaos Warp mostly because of the ability to tutor for it with Idyllic and Enlightened as well as recur it with Sun Titan.
What came out:
Rakka Mar - I was never that excited to see her. Compared to Hero of Bladehold, she's pretty underpowered even with haste.
Hellrider - I just never found myself casting him.
Signal Pest, Akroan Hoplite - In multiplayer, beats just don't quite cut it unless they are HUGE! I want to shift my focus a bit more toward voltron.
Gamble - This is an high dollar tutor that in my experience often fails outside of a deck that really draws a ton of cards (cough cough - Niv-Mizzet)
Keldon Firebombers - While the redundancy is nice, this was often a dead draw. 4cmc is really the sweet spot for land hate.
Chaos Warp - O-Ring is slightly better in here because of the reasons stated above.
Angelic Renewal - This was a pretty mediocre draw 90% of the time. We need big effects at efficient costs.
On the horizon:
Sunforger has been in and out. It's horrendously mana intensive, and I want to see it less than the other equipment I've already got. HOWEVER a tutor is a tutor. IF Puresteel Paladin is in play and active. Sunforger becomes amazing, but that's hard to do, especially without an Imperial Recruiter actually in my paper deck. I'd say that if I get an Recruiter, Sunforger might go back in.
Mother of Runes - I'm going to say right now that I'm going to find space for her. She's amazing. But what to cut?
Paradise Mantle and Explorer's Scope - Puresteel Paladin is simply amazing in this deck. The issue is that I so rarely get him into play. A Recruiter would make that happen more often. In that case, both of these equipment could be really nice early game. Maybe better drops than Coldsteel Heart or Wayfarer's Bauble.
Boros Charm - I've been on the fence with this one. A lot of my wraths are made to either leave my own stuff alone, or downright sacrifice instead of destroy, so the indestructibility is often irrelevant. However, this is something that could be built around, especially if I end up adding Sunforger to tutor for the charm. The ability to give Aurelia doubstrike is really nice though.
Ashnod's Altar - off theme, but still a really powerful ramper. This would help make Aurelia's Fury a lot more attractive.
Oath of Lieges - I still really dig this card and might run it over Kor Cartographer. I like the political aspect of it and the ability to catch up with G a little. I just don't think it would play that well with land destruction. I've already got Land Tax.
Mask of Memory - this is still on my radar. Might go in for Faithless Looting but IDK. Again, it's better with Puresteel Paladin but can I get him into play?
Concerted Effort - I can see this being pretty awesome.
Mistveil Plains - This is a killer combo with Sunforger, and generally any tutoring effect since recursions options in Boros are slim.
Tithe - This would be mostly to grab Mistveil and/or Sacred Foundry. I just don't like that it doesn't ramp me.
Restoration Angel - I've got a fair amount of ETB abilities going here that would be pretty great to abuse.
Godo, Bandit Warlord - 6 is really too much I'm thinking for this deck, but still a neat card.
Aggravated Assault, Waves of Agression - mana intensive, but still powerful. Assault goes infinite with Sword of Feast and Famine.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith - this is really inefficient next to the other equipment tutors already in the deck, but it's on my radar.
Reveillark or Karmic Guide - 5cmc is steep, but I like these. I think there's an infinite combo involving Purphoros, God of the Forge
Splinter Twin - I like Breath of Fury better for its combo potential and flavor, but at least one more infinite combo wouldn't hurt at all.
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
Mother of Runes I highly suggest.
I tried Emeria Angel but cut her. Never did enough.
At the 5 spot, I'd say Thundermaw Hellkite > Karmic Guide or Reveillark. I run Angelic Overseer who is amazing with a bunch of humans knights and clerics.
Speaking of running lots of knights, even with a wide array of abilities Concerted Effort never did too much.
Aggravated Assault hasn't been great, even with SoFaF. Boros Charm sorta weak too. They seem so good though. I keep waiting for them to shine. Some day..
I see you run Path and Swords. You can abuse Fiend Hunter and Leonin Relic-Warder with them. I play mostly 1vs1 online though, so it's better there.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
One thing I've really struggled with in this deck is finding good token producers. Hero of Bladehold is kind of the ideal. Preference is given to creatures because they can be equipped, sacced, etc... so stuff like Elspeth Tirel, Rise of the Hobgoblins, Militia's Pride, Assemble the Legion are less than ideal / pretty slow in my book. And without any real creature tutors, we need the redundancy.
One thing the enchantment based token producers have going for them is that I CAN tutor for them, so maybe I can maindeck one. Out of the above, Militia's Pride would be the most likely candidate because it's cheap, makes tokens with pseudo haste, and can make more than one token per turn. Assemble the Legion is nice if I can drop it turn 2 or 3, but later than that it's a dead draw. It works nice with land destruction though, so maybe worth a try as well.
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
If you're looking for more token producers, maybe try Luminarch Ascension and Kjeldoran Outpost
If you do play Assemble, take a look at Rise of the Hobgoblins, Sunhome Guildmage, and Balefire Liege too.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
I like Hero of Oxid Ridge a lot but I think he is a little outclassed by Odric, Master Tactician, whome I am not overly impressed with anyway. Battlecry is nice but not that effective in multiplayer. For the most part I'm going voltron with Aurelia and the tokens are fuel for skullclamp, while enabling Sublime Archangel and Breath of Fury.
Academy Rector does have some solid targets in here, and is probably worth slotting 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
Another card I'm overjoyed with is Sword of the Animist.
Blade of Selves is... interesting.
I've been playing the deck a lot lately and I'll be overhauling this list soon. Stay tuned.
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
And that ultimate is kind of garbage.
Barring some synergy between the plus and minus abilities that I'm not anticipating, this doesn't seem to be solidly worth a slot.
Gargadon is useful pre-Armageddon, and Post would be great with all the tokens you're making, but I'm mainly suggesting both because they provide instant-speed artifact sac outlets, which I don't see any of yet other than Goblin Welder. I dunno, I just thought they might be decent, since you've plenty of ways to get Skullclamp back from the graveyard but haven't the green for Riftsweeper.
Decklist looks cool! Might try a game or two with it on Untap, looks like lots of fun. Glad to see a R/W deck that's not just Voltron.
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
This is still a deck that I like to play frequently. Seems like there have been a ton of decent new cards in boros colors recently that would fit right into this deck. I'm wondering if anyone would care to suggest some that they have played with or are eyeing in the new set? These would be good creature token generators, equipment or equipment synergy cards, decent removal, card draw, tutors, stax, or ways to cheat things into play.
I was absolutely elated to see that Imperial Recruiter and Land Tax both got a reprint. I can certainly be grateful for that.
At this point I think it's worth mentioning that I'm well aware that there are better commanders for a deck like this, most notably Samut, Voice of Dissent. Adding green to the mix would patch any weaknesses the deck currently faces, especially mana acceleration, land control, and card draw. And very arguably, Samut does a better job at what Aurelia is trying to do for 1 less. Samut generally enables and synergizes with the rest of the deck much better. A Fervor in our command zone is just fantastic on its own.
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom also caught my eye as a possible commander, but 5 color decks are EXPENSIVE!
As much power as swapping commanders might give us, I don't particularly feel like tearing the deck apart at this time. I don't have the money to create something better for one thing (dual lands alone would add up pretty fast), and I actually enjoy the challenge of creating a boros equipment/token deck that works and is fun to play. I very much wish that we received an upgraded Aurelia in this new set that would have served my purposes here, but alas.... I will be content with Niv-Mizzet 3.0!