The banning surely had opened up the Magic: the Gathering Standard metagame to new decks and punished a few old ones. Cawblade is the one primarily affected though based on the recent results of big events in the US and various National Championships, the deck is still a powerhouse even without the mind sculptor and the mystic. That would be another topic though as this article is about the other deck affected by the banning, the Boros aggro.
As previously observed, Red White aggro is still a common deck choice before the bans due to the power of the Stoneforge Mystic. With similar plans to Blue White regarding fetching equipment, this version is the Bash-type (Blue White is the Fish type). Let us check a regular decklist and see what the M12 Core set can offer to replace the old/banned parts.
Boros Landfall by Chikara Nakajima
Finalist, GP Singapore 2011
Maindeck
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
6 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Goblin Guide
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterskull
3 Dismember
3 Koth of the Hammer
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Sword of War and Peace
Sideboard
2 Arc Trail
3 Divine Offering
1 Gideon Jura
4 Kor Firewalker
3 Spellskite
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
The list above is straightforward and has seen success in defeating the pre-banning Cawblade. Let us tweak this list a bit to fit the meta. The cards needing changes are:
Stoneforge Mystic – obviously, on Xmen (the tone if you’re watching that late 90’s cartoon show).
Mirran Crusader – the effectiveness of this knight has lessened without the mystic fetching swords for him.
Batterskull – this is a good five-drop but it fits more for the control rather than the aggro decks.
My updated post-banning M12 Standard list would look like this:
Boros Aggro by Mark Ian Alloso
Maindeck
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
6 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Blade Splicer
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Hero of Bladehold
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Stormblood Berserker
2 Dismember
1 Ajani Goldmane
1 Elspeth Tirel
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Sword of War and Peace
Here are my explanations of the card choices:
Blade Splicer – This I think is the popular three-drop card of the current Standard. It forces you to deal primarily with the 3/3 Golem and the 1/1 which gives first strike and ruins most combat shenanigans. I’ve played with and against this card and it definitely can stop most aggro decks to a halt.
Stormblood Berserker – With ten one-drops in the deck, this surely will come out as 3/3 at most on your second turn. With its evasion bonus, it gets to connect most early damage until you can finish off your opponent with a burn spell or the lavamancer.
Grim Lavamancer – One of the popular drop-guys in Magic gets a return on stage with the M12 reprint. He works well with the fetch lands and is also a late-game finisher and a burn source.
Hero of Bladehold – Also a popular choice in recent Cawblade lists, this chic curve out your four drops and pumps out the rest of the guys if left unchecked. Suggest it to cast post-Day of Judgement or Black Sun Zenith.
Ajani Goldmane and Elspeth Tirel – Ajani what? I know this is an odd choice but based on the number of critters on the deck, a +1 on Ajani Goldmane gets you way beyond other aggro decks. It also annoys RDW too. Elspeth is a good post-mass removal drop and also a source of critters to carry the swords.
Inkmoth Nexus – Replacing Terramorphic Expanses, I’d go with these man lands as another evasive source to connect Sword damage. They can also function as Bloodthirst enablers for the berserkers.
The sideboard would be pretty much meta-based and it would look like the following:
1 Act of Aggression
2 Arc Trail
2 Divine Offering
4 Kor Firewalker
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Spellskite
2 Timely Reinforcements
I am obviously a fan of one-of and two-ofs so yeah, you can see it there. The only complete set would be the firewalkers as Pyroclasm is definitely a problem against this deck and it can stem the bleeding against RDW. The spellskites are the added sideboard for Blue Red Twin (with Dismembers maindeck) and O-rings in particular are generic for other various matchups.
For comments and suggestions, just post them below. I’d really like to hear your opinions. 🙂
Until the next post.