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Super Smash Boros | Firesong & Sunspeaker EDH

Commander / EDH Aggro Burn Combo Lifegain Minotaur RW (Boros)

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Commander: Firesong and Sunspeaker

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Welcome to the first and #1 most upvoted Firesong and Sunspeaker deck on Tapped/Out!

Since my general and is a brand new commander with a brand new strategy for these colors, and since this is the first Firesong & Sunspeaker deck to hit Tapped/Out, I have been mostly forging my own path here. I'm leaning on my experience with Boros as a color pair, my experience with Neheb the Eternal and Brion Stoutarm, and most importantly the suggestions and ideas of those awesome people who have commented on this deck! It's amazing the response for and popularity of a commander that, for a good deal of the building process, wasn't even out yet! So join us, as we Blaze a New Trail with Firesong and Sunspeaker!

It's like Brion Stoutarm and Neheb, the Eternal had a baby.

If you did not know, Boros is my favorite color pair. It's not even close. All other colors and guilds are lame in comparison. Also, if you did not know, Boros kinda sucks in commander, and I've simply had a blast trying to make it work for my entire EDH career. Now, for about two years, I've been watching new sets, waiting for new Boros commanders that might be interesting. I've waited for the perfect commander to put a optimized Sunforger package in. I've waited for a Commander to play Neheb, the Eternal and the Boros X-spells that I loved much. For a long time, that day refused to come, and I was constantly disappointed.

Until Thursday, March 8th, 2018.

The full text(but no art or images) of 150ish cards were leaked and then spoiled from the upcoming Dominaria expansion set. Nestled somewhere is that long group of card texts was Firesong and Sunspeaker , the Boros commander that fulfilled all of my wildest dreams.

So let’s talk about Firesong and Sunspeaker, or Fire & Sun, or F&S. God. Long name.

A lot to break down:

  • The mana cost: at cmc 6, Wizards is giving no favors to Boros EDH, which has trouble with ramp and card draw, critical to getting them out turn 6 or sooner every time. Still, there are ways to deal with this, and if Aurelia and Gisela can do it, then so can we!
  • Legendary Creature Minotaur Cleric 4/6: Not really interested in creature types, and the stats are okay-ish. For 6 mana a 4/7 or 4/8 would have been nicer.
  • Red instant and sorcery spells you control have lifelink. Sweeet except wait-only red spells? Why not all of them like Soulfire grandmaster? Again, WotC not making it easy for us, but again, we can make it work.
  • Whenever a white instant or sorcery spell causes you to gain life, Firesong and Sunspeaker deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Lightning Bolts everywhere! Removal and more damage on the commander is really good. Again-only white spells? Not very self synergizing. Come on Wizards! Throw me a bone!

RULINGS:

  • If a source you control with lifelink deals damage to you, you gain and lose that much life simultaneously. Your life total doesn't change.
  • The last ability of Firesong and Sunspeaker can't target a planeswalker.
  • A spell causes you to gain life if its cost or effect instructs you to gain life or if an instruction in its cost or effect is modified by a replacement effect and the modified event includes you gaining life. If a spell's cost or effect instructs a source with lifelink you control to deal damage, that spell causes that life gain as well.
  • If a white instant or sorcery spell you don't control causes you to gain life, Firesong and Sunspeaker's last ability triggers.
  • If you gain an amount of life "for each" of something, that life is gained as one event and Firesong and Sunspeaker's last ability triggers only once.
  • Firesong and Sunspeaker's last ability doesn't trigger if a white instant or sorcery card that isn't a spell causes you to gain life, such as the triggered ability of Renewed Faith when it's cycled.
  • If a red and white spell you control deals damage to multiple things using the word "deals" only once, Firesong and Sunspeaker's last ability triggers only once. Similarly, if a red and white spell's effect causes it to deal damage to one thing and then deal more damage with a second instance of the word "deals," Firesong and Sunspeaker's last ability triggers twice, and so on.
  • If a red and white spell you control deals damage and also instructs you to gain life, Firesong and Sunspeaker's last ability triggers twice.

Final thoughts: I'm in love. Yet I can see the weaknesses my commander has too. I wish wizards could have improved them in some way, either toughness, mana cost, or self-synergy. But I’ll take it.

Reading the Decklist: Here is an explanation for my custom categories and the criteria I have for putting cards in them.

At the moment I have 11 categories, which seems like a lot, but I want this to be a well-rounded deck with lots of moving parts. I also try to have as much crossover as possible.

Lands: This should be fairly self-explanatory.

Ramp: Things that give me more mana so I can do stuff sooner. This isn’t just mana rocks though, there's also a couple really important win-con and combo pieces in here.

Draw: Stuff that draws me cards.

Protection: Stuff that either protects me or my board-state.

Damage/Lifegain/Burn: The meat and potatoes of the deck, and the the stuff that works with F&S. Red damage spells, white lifegain spells, and red/white damage/lifegain spells! Value!

Tutors: I like me my tutors. These can grab either combo pieces, or just important value stuff if I'm not feeling like forcing combo.

Removal: Spot removal and board wipes. Similar to but not exactly alike damage/burn section, because sometimes damage can't solve everything.

Recursion: Very small section, stuff that gets stuff from the 'yard.

Sunforger: My beloved Sunforger support and Sunforger Instant package!

Win-con: Some of these are literal game winning combos, but also just really important pieces that will win me games with a little luck.

Utility: This is my most general section where the rules are loosey goosey. Anything could be in here. I'm bad at defining Utility.

So It's apparent that I could probably merge three sections or so, but whatever.

Specific Card Choices: Here are all of my card choices and explanations. In alphabetical order within their categories.

The mana base of the deck.

Ancient Den - Basically a Plains with some artifact upside for stuff like Inventors' Fair .

Arcane Lighthouse - Allows me to target some troublesome creatures I wouldn't been able to otherwise.

Ash Barrens - Fixing or just a land. Flexible!

Battlefield Forge - Fixing.

Boros Garrison - Fixing.

Buried Ruin - A good late game artifact recursion.

Clifftop Retreat - Fixing.

Command Tower - Obviously.

Evolving Wilds - Fetch.

Field of Ruin - Land destruction that doesn't slow me down and also fixes me.

Great Furnace - Basically a mountain with some artifact upside for stuff like Inventors' Fair .

Inventors' Fair - Important utility land that can both gain me life(important for triggers), and also tutor for Sunforger and Aetherflux Reservoir for a win, or Azor's Gateway   and Book of Rass for draw.

Mistveil Plains - Sunforger 's best friend. This allows me to reuse Sunforged instants, or just serves as some anti-mill tech.

Mountain - The amount may vary, but they remain the backbone of my mana base.

Needle Spires - Fixing. Could also smash face at some point.

Plains - The amount may vary, but they remain the backbone of my mana base.

Reflecting Pool - Fixing.

Rugged Prairie - Fixing.

Sacred Foundry - Fixing.

Scavenger Grounds - Graveyard hate. Very good at it too. Should be a commander staple.

Strip Mine - The best land destruction money can buy.

Temple of the False God - Ramp. Not one you want in your opening hand.

Temple of Triumph - More like Temple of SCRYumph, amiright??

Wind-Scarred Crag - Fixing, and a lifegain trigger.

I run with a pretty low creature count because I tend to blow them up. All my creatures need to give me some value before dying, so ETB effects, early game usage, and late game draw or finishing are the focus.

Generator Servant - Total pet card, but the ramp + haste is insane value, able to turn 3 a hasty Neheb or turn 4 my commander.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight - At the top of my curve, Gisela does it all. Double damage, protection, and a flying beatstick.

Humble Defector - Early game draw. The politics with this card are amazing, as I'll go over later.

Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion - Nice Self wheel and ramp on a creature.

Neheb, the Eternal - All-star in pretty much every deck with red. Insane ramp and a solid win condition.

Solemn Simulacrum - Ramp and Draw. Gotta have it in Boros.

Treasonous Ogre - Big lifegain payoff that can fuel a finishing X-Spell.

Weathered Wayfarer - Not ramp, but ensures consistent land drops in the early game if I jump through some hoops. Can get dual lands or important utility lands.

An over-reliance on artifacts is a hallmark of the Boros color pair. This deck is no exception. Most of my ramp and draw are here, along with utility and some win-cons.

Aetherflux Reservoir - While I wouldn't say it's the main win condition of the deck, it does seem to win a lot of games. This deck gains life in leaps and bounds, so it's easy to drop this late game and shoot two or three people dead.

Azor's Gateway   / Sanctum of the Sun - Look, I'm gonna be real with you, I doubt I'll ever be able to flip this. But the cheap loot effect is good for Boros, and if I ever do flip it, it becomes a game winner with an X-spell in hand. EDIT: I managed to flip it once and it was glorious!

Book of Rass - This might not look great on the surface, but this is an excellent lifegain payoff and late game mana sink. This is the closest I can get to Necropotence so I'll take it.

Boros Signet - Ramp/Fixing

Coalition Relic - Ramp/fixing. Enables a turn 4 Fire and Sun.

Commander's Sphere - Ramp with some draw attached if needed. These are generally very good.

Darksteel Plate - Protection that importantly still lets me deal damage to my own creatures, gaining me life with my commander.

Expedition Map - Not ramp, but consistent land drops. Can grab dual lands or utility lands.

Fellwar Stone - Ramp. 2 converted mana cost mana rocks are the best.

Fire Diamond - Again.

Lightning Greaves - Obvious Commander staple is great here too.

Marble Diamond - Again.

Mind Stone - Ramp with some draw attached if needed.

Primal Amulet   / Primal Wellspring - At first, it's a nice cost reducer. When fliped becomes a second copy of:

Pyromancer's Goggles - Ramps, and copies my spells! What's better than one Lightning Bolt ? Two!

Sol Ring - Just for funzies ya know?

Sunforger - One of the key cards in the deck, making my hand suddenly include 17 extra cards. The political power of an online Sunforger can not be undersold.

Swiftfoot Boots - Haste and hexproof, my favorites.

The Immortal Sun - It does everything. Late game ramp, draw, creature buff, and Planeswalker hate, which is both relevant in my meta, and okay for me because I currently run no 'Walkers.

Well of Lost Dreams - Can draw me cards for every lifegain trigger. With open mana it becomes very good.

Worn Powerstone - Ramp, enables a turn 4 Fire and Sun.

Here's where the deck gets interesting! Most of these fit into the Sunforger package, but even without Sunforger out these are all great in my hand because they're instant speed. Something in here will answer most anything out there.

Argivian Find - Some cheap recursion that can either be Sunforged or get Sunforger back.

Aurelia's Fury - First of the X-spells that we've seen so far. Red and White making it amazing with my commander.

Boros Charm - Usually protection for my board but has other utility too, like damage or... different damage.

Chaos Warp - Solid removal. Combo breaker.

Comet Storm - Win condition with any of my huge ramp outlets.

Dawn Charm - Protection in two ways, and a situational counterspell.

Deflecting Palm - My best "Gotcha!" card in the deck. Anti-Voltron tech.

Dispatch - With the amount of artifacts I have in my deck, including artifact lands and the fact that this is Sunforgable, this will basically be a strictly better Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares .

Enlightened Tutor - Tutors for all the important stuff like Sunforger , Repercussion , and Aetherflux Reservoir .

Heartwarming Redemption - Good self wheel that importantly replaces itself, and will give a lifegain trigger for some damage. Also Sunforgable.

Intimidation Bolt - Does the extra damage thing with Fire & Sun, and also makes creatures unblockable for a turn which is awesome at instant speed.

Lightning Bolt - Bolt the bird!

Lightning Helix - The definition of what the deck wants to do. With my commander becomes 9 damage and 6 life total.

Price of Progress - Cheap way to get lots of damage.

Radiate - Want to copy a lightning helix 20 times? Here's how! This turns removal into boardwipes, gaining me a ton of life and hopefully dealing even more damage.

Return to Dust - Great removal. Two-for-one!

Sulfurous Blast - Meta call, as I now have two tribal decks running around. Sunforgable and can deal a lot of damage total.

Swords to Plowshares - Go back to your farm, boy!

Teferi's Protection - It's like Fog went to college, got a job, won the lottery, and did a whole lot of cocaine.

Tithe - Not ramp, but consistent land drops. Usually gets Mistveil planes.

Warleader's Helix - Lightning Helix's big brother. Value's still there, just costs more.

Wear / Tear - Just really good removal. Awesome two-for-one in my hand, and will work in a pinch Sunforged from the library.

Board wipes, tutors, recursion, damage spells, and game winners.

Blasphemous Act - Efficient way to deal a lot of damage and wipe the board.

Breath of Darigaaz - Cheap way to deal some damage early or more later.

Mizzix's Mastery - Powerful late game recursion. Doesn't hit X-spells though.

Molten Disaster - Game ending X-spell. The Split Second is so nice.

Open the Armory - Can grab Sunforger or another equipment as needed.

Past in Flames - Late game recursion.

Reforge the Soul - My only wheel effect, as I think this one is the best balance of price and in-game efficiency.

Rolling Earthquake - Another X-spell. Horrible against Horsemenship decks.

Steelshaper's Gift - Can grab Sunforger or another equipment as needed.

The few. The proud. the Enchantments.

Repercussion - Makes all the damage I deal to creatures smash face too, which can often win me games. I run so few creatures that it rarely would kill me. Also messes up combat a lot.

Shielded by Faith - Good protection for F&S that doesn't prevent the lifelinking damage! Helps enable Mistviel plains.

None currently!
I've looked at over 300 cards for this deck, which means I've left out a ton of good cards.

First off, Spiritualize and Samite Ministration do NOT make an infinite combo with Firesong and Sunspeaker . That's why I don't include them.

The "you win the game if you have X life" cards: Felidar Sovereign , Test of Endurance , Celestial Convergence and cards like them are boring ways to win. I've played with them, and every time they are played they either do nothing, warp the game in an unfun way, and/or actually work, winning me the game in the most anti-climatic way possible. I want to win the game. I don't want one of my cards to do it for me.

Token producers: I don't run Monastery Mentor , Blaze Commando , or Young Pyromancer because I feel like I always end up blowing them up myself. They may gain me a bit more life but otherwise take up space for nothing. That said, I'm sure they would work great in a Fire & Sun deck dedicated to protecting and taking advantage of them.

Damage Doublers: Enchantment Damage doublers like Furnace of Rath and Dictate of the Twin Gods are out due to a very aggro/swingy meta. One time instant effects like Insult I dislike because I need them in my hand and a damage spell, which is difficult with the lack of consistent draw. All that said, Quest for Pure Flame might find it's way in, and I'm sure all these would be excellent in most F&S decks.

Straight lifegain cards: I do not care for cards that just gain me life. Damage is more important. When my commander is not out life gain cards don't do damage, and just become more life, which doesn't help me much.

Damage Reproducers: Boros Reckoner , Coalhauler Swine , and Spitemare have all been considered. Like Repercussion they copy damage back to players, but in this case they all die after one use.

Copy-ers: Copy spells like Wild Ricochet and Reiterate are decent, but I'm going by the "play spells, not spells that care about spells" philosophy. I also dislike them becasue they require two specific cards in hand to work, and Boros doesn't have the draw power to consistently make that happen. That said, some might eventually find their way in and I'm sure they'd do great.

Miscellaneous cards:

Isochron Scepter : Didn't have enough targets for it. It's limited scope makes it a dead draw half the time.

Balefire Liege : Cost too much. Dies too easy. Does too little.

Star of Extinction : Cost to much, doesn't hit players, can be countered by a Strip Mine .

Sunbond : Had a lot of people ask about this one. This deck isn't really all that into attacking or going tall, and the two-for-one potential makes me nervous.

Paradox Engine : Works great in conjunction with Sunforger, but not does little else. Boros doesn't have the draw power to really spell-sling how the Engine wants us to.

Card currently in the deck that I'm considering replacing. No deck is perfect, and improvements can always be made.
Evaluating the Deck: Here is a breakdown of the deck's strength, weaknesses, combos, non-bos, synergies, and politics.

Strengths:

Since this deck is Boros, most knowledgeable EDH players will seriously underestimate us. We are the underdog, and that gives this deck a huge advantage. People will underestimate this deck's power and play incorrectly, giving us an advantage. Being in the underdog role also gives us more ammo when it comes to politics, giving us another edge if you are politically savvy.

This deck can win out of nowhere. Every turn we untap with Fire & Sun is an opportunity to win, we're only an Aetherflux Reservoir , Repercussion + Blasphemous Act , Warleader's Helix + Radiate , or Neheb, the Eternal + Comet Storm away from instant victory.

Fire & Sun's first ability, "red instant and sorcery spells you control have lifelink", enables HUGE life spikes. A well timed Blasphemous Act can be an easy 200 point life swing. Even spells that hit us too don't hurt us, so hitting everyone with an X-spell like Molten Disaster can take us from 1 life to 100. Which is more than enough to bring us back into a game. This means that the deck has a certain longevity to it, not fearing aggro decks or universal damage spells all that much.

There is a high amount of synergy between pretty much every card. I'll talk more about this later, but the deck is very focused which makes playing it easier. It also means we don't need any one card to win, and that we can do it multiple ways with many different cards.

Our board state is surprisingly hard to mess with. I run very few creatures, and the few I run usually give me value immediately. Plus, our protection package is pretty strong.

This deck has Sunforger . Seriously, that is a major strength right there. On top of that, this deck is designed FOR Sunforger. Tutor it, equip it, and take control of a game, reminding your terrified enemies that their lives are now in your hands, and that any second you end them with a quick search through the library. The political advantage cannot be understated. Sunforger basically extends your hand by 17+, which is some of the best card advantage Boros, or any color pair for that matter, can get.

Most of all, this deck is fun to play. So much fun.

Weaknesses:

Boros EDH players have always struggled with making competitive decks, because White and Red both lack two key EDH essentials: Card draw and Ramp.

Consistent Ramp isn't the biggest issue. I've been able to mitigate the problem with enough artifact mana rocks, and also some cool stuff like Neheb, the Eternal and Treasonous Ogre . Now, both colors have their own flavor of "ramp". White has Land Tax effects, which simply insure consistent land drops deep into the late game. Sometimes that's good enough to be honest. Red has one time ramp effects like Mana Geyser . I've tried to strike a good balance of these, but I mostly rely on artifacts as they are more consistent and efficient in the long run. This makes me very weak to Vandalblast , but stuff like Boros Charm and Teferi's Protection help me there.

Boros is weak in terms of card draw. White doesn't have much and red's draw is always too restrictive. There are a few artifacts that I can use, like Azor's Gateway  , Book of Rass , and Well of Lost Dreams , but the latter two kinda rely on the synergy with this deck in particular. Basically, Boros has to get by with sub-par draw and that will always be a problem.

This deck is fairly reliant on it's commander being out. Most of the synergy comes from them.

We're pretty weak to counterspells. Not a huge problem in my meta but it could be in yours.

Characteristics:

Flexibility: 7/10. This deck can react and adapt to a variety of situations, and can forge multiple paths to victory.

Resilience: 8/10. My life total is almost always above 40 meaning many strategies do not hinder us, and the deck has proven able to rebuild after a Cyclonic Rift .

Sustainability: 5/10. This is where the lack of card draw hurts us most. This deck has just enough but not an optimal amount...yet.

Consistency: 7/10. A high amount of tutors and Sunforger make this deck pretty consistent. There are a lot of repeated effects that are powerful, too. The lack of good draw keeps us from a top score.

Cohesiveness: 8/10. The high synergy in the deck creates a feeling of unity between pieces and the combos provide additional advantages.

Efficiency: 7/10. This deck is efficient once it gets going, getting big returns from stuff like Neheb, and massive life swings from my lifelinking damage spells.

Effectiveness: 8/10. When everything is put together and the deck is running smoothly, this deck can pack quite a punch.

No infinite combos as of yet, but tons of synergies and important interactions!

First and most important are Firesong and Sunspeaker 's abilites:

  • Damage from red spells = That much Lifegain
  • Lifegain from white spells = 3 Damage

With my commander out, this means that Lightning Bolt becomes a Lightning Helix , dealing 3 damage and gaining me 3 life from the lifelink.

Boros Charm , on the other hand, Gets me 7 damage and 4 life for it's cost of ! First the 4 lifelinking damage hits, then, because Boros Charm is a white spell and Firesong and Sunspeaker trigger when a white spell gains me life, F&S deal 3 damage to something!

Even better than that, Lightning Helix becomes 9 damage and 6 life for just ! First the 3 lifelinking damage hits, triggering F&Ss bolt ability, then I gain three life, triggering the bolt ability again.

So any Red AND White spell that deals damage AND gains life as part of the effect gets this deal. Pretty Sweet.

This interaction with Radiate becomes insane, as F&S will trigger twice off of each copy. With 10 targets that's 90 damage and 60 life total. Cast Lightning Helix , target anything. Cast Radiate , targeting your helix. Watch the world explode.

This deck has a nice package of X-spells like Comet Storm , Molten Disaster , and Rolling Earthquake . I normally don't like these types of spells, but I like them here. This is because they don't hurt me because of the lifegain of Fire and Sun. These X-spells are fueled by the abnormal amount of ramp in the deck, and are taken over the top by the insane ramp of Neheb, the Eternal and his friends, Treasonous Ogre and Sanctum of the Sun . Neheb is a personal favorite of mine, I have him as a commander and in the 99 of multiple decks now. I dreamed of the right Boros shell to place Neheb in, and my dreams came true.

A hallmark of the deck is my robust Sunforger package. Fire and Sun have no special synergy with Sunforger, but a tight Sunforger arsenal fits here like a glove. Within the instant section you'll see: protection, damage/lifegain spells, removal, mass removal, counterspells, tutors, and ramp. All that becomes part of my hand when I equip the 'forger. Massive card advantage. I rely on Sunforger a lot, so I have Steelshaper's Gift , Open the Armory , and Enlightened Tutor to get it. Once it's out, equipped, and firing off spells, Mistveil Plains helps me get instants back into my library for Sunforger to reuse.

Repercussion is an amazing way to surprise kill a table. This synergizes well with the damage X-Spells and stuff life Blasphemous Act . How it works: Our board state is Firesong and Sunspeaker . Opponent's boardstate is 10 creatures. We can play Repercussion and then Blasphemous Act for . lifelinking damage hits all creatures, gaining us 130+ life, the the Repercussion effect hits our opponent for 130 damage! I suggest holding Repercussion in your hand for this reason. It's a late game finisher in my mind.

Alone, Sol Ring , Generator Servant , Coalition Relic , or Worn Powerstone can all ramp me into a turn 4 Fire & Sun.

Well of Lost Dreams will get me some extra cards of each lifegain trigger from damage spells. It works great with Inventors' Fair and Wind-Scarred Crag too.

Azor's Gateway   and Sanctum of the Sun are great! First, A cheap loot effect for Boros, which is important. Then if I'm ever lucky enough to flip it, I get some lifegain, and the ability to ramp me to high heaven!

What to do with 145 life? Use Lifegain payoff cards: Aetherflux Reservoir to machine gun some opponents, Sanctum of the Sun to fuel an X-Spell, Well of Lost Dreams to draw cards, Book of Rass to draw cards, Treasonous Ogre to fuel an X-Spell.

Inventors' Fair serves the duel purpose of lifegain triggers and an artifact tutor. It's easily enabled by Ancient Den , Great Furnace , and all the artifacts I have already in the deck.

Nonbos: as with any deck with 100 different cards, there are some anti-synergies here too.

Not much besides the fact that a lot of my stuff can easily hurt me or blow up my own creatures. Repercussion is generally pretty dangerous as hit can bite me too, X-spells hit all creatures and all players, meaning I might die without the lifegain, but other than that, the deck works pretty well with itself.

Politics:

Politically, this deck fits well in the underdog role. Stay quite, bide your time, and then explode and win out of nowhere. Try not to let on how powerful the deck can be, and always downplay Firesong and Sunspeaker and Boros as much as possible(it's okay, you don't have to believe it, only your opponents have to).

We get some points early on because this is not an aggro deck. We won't be attacking all that much in the early game. Use that to your advantage as much as possible.

Remind everyone of the disadvantages Boros has, the lack of ramp and draw. Point to other, more powerful commanders early on to get the aggression going towards them.

Sunforger is the ultimate political tool. Mid-game, use it to gain small advantages over opponents by threatening to kill their creature, or alternatively, by offering to help someone with it. Late game however, let your opponents know that you can tutor for multiple ways to kill them at any time, and watch them destroy each other to not set off your wrath.

Humble Defector is another amazing political draw engine and the perfect turn 2 play. Bargain with your opponents, ask who wants it, and then demand a favor AND that they give it immediately back. You can turn away voltron decks, counter a counter-spell, save a creature, and draw 6+ cards, all for 2 mana! Go crazy!

With enough life, Aetherflux Reservoir becomes a powerful tool. Generally I'd want more than 100 life before getting too political, but over 50 works well enough. Saying "hey, I can kill you with this. Attack the other guy or die to my righteous fury" can win you games.

Arcane Lighthouse is another political piece. You can become a hero be removing the protection from a troublesome creature, letting it be killed(Try not to use your own removal on it though, make others do that).

Even small advantages with Pyromancer's Goggles is enough. The threat of a double spells in response to something you don't like is enough to turn aggression elsewhere.

Otherwise, be polite and friendly and try to point opponent's early aggression at stronger decks.

Matchups:

Group hug: We like these. Hopefully they give us cards... If they're trying to play political that's good, we can simply benefit from them early on, then burn them and everyone else all the same. Winning the game trumps politics.

Pillowfort: Somewhat harder to deal with, though we can deal with it because we don't need to attack all that much and our win-con X-Spells don't target.

Voltron: As with most decks you have to they go for someone else first. Early politics is key here. Remind them that you're the weak Boros player that doesn't stand a chance against their voltron, and they should go for the more dangerous commanders.

Swarm: Is our best friend. One lifelinking X-spell against a huge army of tokens is all we need to win. We may be weak to early aggression, but the lifegain mid-game will revive us no problem.

Reanimator: Whatever. They can do what they do as long as they don't mess with us. Tutor for Scavenger Grounds .

Aggro: Weak early on, but we can recoup our life total easily late game. Reminding the aggro player of that might make them attack someone else.

Combo: Weak. This deck is much slower than most combo decks. We have enough interaction and boardwipes to survive most of the time, but we'll need help from other players to stop combos.

Control: Generally weak against it, but my meta is not big on control.

Good-stuff: Generally strong against your average good stuff deck.

Chaos/Group Slug: Honestly these decks help us somewhat. Lowering life totals is good.

The general strategy is to get Firesong and Sunspeaker out, cast damage spells, and gain a ton of life off them. This extra life buys us time and allows us to win with any of the following strategies:

So that's the general idea, but of course there's more nuance to it. Read on...

Your optimal hand is going to include three lands, two of which should give you red and white mana, and one should be a utility, 1-2 mana rock like Coalition Relic or Worn Powerstone , or perhaps a haste enabler/protection like Lightning Greaves , some card draw like Humble Defector , and a damage/removal spell like Warleader's Helix . This will allow you to get Fire and Sun out quickly, get their engine going, and draw cards to get you into the late game.

Cards you don't want to see quite yet are late game recursion like Mizzix's Mastery and Past in Flames , Gisela, Blade of Goldnight , who is strictly a late game finisher, and you usually don't want to see any X-spells quite yet. We'd rather see card draw and get all this stuff later.

Cards that tip a sketchy hand into a keepable one include: Sol Ring , Azor's Gateway  , Sunforger , Neheb, the Eternal , Generator Servant , Humble Defector , Weathered Wayfarer .

The first three turns are pretty standard as far as commander set ups go. You get your mana rocks like Sol Ring and Worn Powerstone out, play your small, seemingly insignificant creatures like Weathered Wayfarer , and you play your low cost equipment or protection like Lightning Greaves and Dawn Charm . Even though you can, this is not the time to start playing your low cost burn spells like Lightning Bolt , or your other damage spells like Breath of Darigaaz . Save those for later, when F&S are out.

Politics wise, you should be as quite as possible, not letting on to the explosive power of your deck. Play your Swiftfoot Boots and Humble Defector and let the early attacks go to the Narset or Sliver player. Alternatively, you can complain about Boros's lack of good ramp and draw. Let your opponents know you're having a bad start, as that could benefit you then or later.

Unless you already have a solid plan, our commander is going to be pretty vulnerable when we first play them. I suggest one of three ways to correctly throw them into battle:

  • 1) Have protection for them like Lightning Greaves , Darksteel Plate , or Swiftfoot Boots .
  • 2) Use good politics to keep them alive. This can be done with help from early politics during the beginning of the game. Point to other threats, downplay your own threat level, again remind everyone of the disadvantages Boros has to deal with, and point out how you didn't attack anyone even though you could have(if applicable).
  • 3) Wait a turn or two until you can play Fire and Sun and immediately follow up with a mass damage spell, getting some instant value.

So it's turn 4, 5, or 6 and we've gotten our commander out, and he's been allowed to survive for a turn cycle! Congratulations! Now what?

Now that we're in the mid-game you'll want to start casting some damage spells and gaining a ton of life to enable our strategies. Besides that, casting some tutors to find important cards like Sunforger , Neheb, the Eternal , or Aetherflux Reservoir is optimal. Playing some card draw spells/artifacts to help find them is acceptable too. Lastly, if you have none of those thinks in your hand, continue playing protection/fog spells, and also ramping, as those will buy you time to draw what you need and then later allow you to play the stuff you draw and explode in the late game.

All of the hard work so far-the ramping, the protection, the draw, the tutors, the life-gain, the politics-has lead to the late-game. In this moment we need to win, and win hard.

Here are the main ways to win with this deck, as I mentioned earlier, but in more detail here.

All of these are viable paths to blasting our way to victory. It may require a lot of set up, good politics, and maybe a little luck, but this deck can win. Have fun!

This deck is based on: My own decks actually. Since this is the first Fire & Sun deck to hit T/O, I had to rely on nothing but my wit, guts, and my knowledge of Boros and Burn.

deck chart

OH LORD JESUS IT'S A FIRE! | Neheb EDH | PRIMER

Commander / EDH Suns_Champion

SCORE: 433 | 143 COMMENTS | 34829 VIEWS | IN 159 FOLDERS

And
deck chart

Bad Luck Brion

Commander / EDH Suns_Champion

SCORE: 203 | 144 COMMENTS | 13980 VIEWS | IN 68 FOLDERS

My experience with these two commanders has helped me immensely with this build, and you'll find many many themes, ideas, combos, and specific cards from each.

Currently the #1 most upvoted Firesong and Sunspeaker deck on TappedOut

Top TappedOut rank: #1 on 03/12/2018

Current Multiplayer Record:

1-1-0 on 03/24/18 - Two 5 player games. Lost my first Multiplayer game to an out of control Mizzix, won the next game by political manipulation, clutch draws, and Sunforger . Had fun both games!

1-0-0 on 05/08/18 - One 3 player game. Sunforger amazing as always, won with a late game Mizzix's Mastery !

1-2-0 on 05/16/18 - Three 5 player games. Lost the first game after an unfavorable Obliterate to Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder , lost the next game to 3x Expropriate from Mizzix of the Izmagnus , then won the final(3 hour) game with Repercussion (literally killed all four opponents). Humble Defector , Sunforger , and Molten Disaster all shine!

0-1-0 on 05/17/18 - One 5 player game. I played my commander, they got killed instantly, then I died to an infinite Ezuri, Renegade Leader deck. Feels bad.

1-0-0 on 05/24/18 - One 3 player game. Rough game that I eventually won. Got wheeled twice by the Niv-Mizzet player, dumping my removal, which really screwed me over because then I got hit by the Kaalia player with a bunch of flyers. I had an X=8 w/5 targets Comet Storm countered. I had my non-land permanents blown up twice, including The Immortal Sun which was exiled. Eventually everything stabilized and I played Thalia's Lancers to get Gisela, Blade of Goldnight , then Warleader's Helix ed for the win.

1-0-0 on 06/05/18 - One 4 player game. In this game I had the terrifying experience of playing against my own Neheb, the Eternal deck. A voltron Neheb, Aggravated Assualt, and a chandra, torchbof defiance emblem all saw use, as well as the Meren of Clan Nel Toth player popping off. Luckily, I survived with a little life gain(okay maybe a lot) and was able to turtle up with a hand full of Fogs and removal. The Neheb player eventually killed himself and everyone else but me.

1-0-0 on 06/06/18 - One 3 player game. My new play group has started to catch on how good this deck is. I ramp a ton but get 5 lands blown up. I manage to double a Rolling Earthquake and gain 90 life. Most of my artifacts get destroyed after that. I get my Earthquake back from a group hug card, so I then pay that 90 life I gained via Treasonous Ogre to finish everyone off.

0-1-0 on 06/16/18 - One 3 player game. Pretty competitive game where we each got to go off. The Meren player and I both eventually died to the Uril Voltron.

1-0-0 on 06/17/18 - One 4 player game. The Uril player is back at it again. He kills the other two players, but when he tries to finish me off I cast Deflecting Palm for the win!

1-0-0 on 08/02/18 - One 3 player game. I did it. I did it. I flipped Azor's Gateway   and blew everyone up with a massive Molten Disaster . I'm so happy :)

0-1-0 on 11/24/18 - One 7 player game. I laid low for most of this game and was one of the last 3 players. I lost a grueling political battle between Uril the Miststalker and Arcades the Strategist.

1-0-0 on 03/02/19 - One 3 player game. First time cracking this deck out in a while. Took 18 commander damage from a Gorclaw player, but he was killed by the Arahbo player, who then turned their sights on me. Luckily, I had Sunforger and Mistviel Plains loop out, allowing me to fog every turn till I found a win-con.

Commanders defeated: Breya, Etherium Shaper , oona queen of the fea, Narset, Enlightened Master , Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger , Arahbo, Roar of the World , Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind , Sigarda, Heron's Grace , Ezuri, Renegade Leader , Kaalia of the Vast , Neheb, the Eternal , Meren of Clan Nel Toth , The Ur-Dragon , Uril, the Miststalker , Slimefoot, the Stowaway , Brion Stoutarm , Sliver Overlord . Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma

Hall of fame: This section is dedicated to those lovely individuals who have heroically pointed out to me that Painter's Servant is banned in EDH, without reading the description to see that I already know :) Love you guys! Phaetion, Agent_Fire, scotchtapedsleeves, LemurLime, KronicNinja, xyl0ph0ne

EDIT: As an explanation, I used to run Painter's servant here for it's weird utility and cool effect. Sorta a gimmick. Now you know.

Thanks for looking! Upvotes, comments, and suggestions are most welcome!

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Updates Add

Retirement and Final Thank You — Jan. 6, 2020
Edit

After long agonizing over the future of this deck, I've regrettably decided to retire it. I do not come to this decision lightly, but the evidence is clear, it needs to go.

  • I have not played and have not wished to play the deck in months, I don't even remember when I played it last.
  • I have not updated the deck in well over a year. I have no desire to keep the primer up t date or make changes to deck.
  • I have taken cards out for other decks I like more and haven't even bothered to replace them. They're just empty sleeves sitting in a deck box.
  • The playstyle is just not for me. Sunforger is an awesome card, but I don't like control and I don't like tutors.
  • I want to focus on other decks, and other aspects of the MTG world.

It's really sad that I am retiring this deck. What a legacy it has. A new Boros legend that wasn't all about attacking! My childish joy is clear from the early comments and updates. I built this deck as soon as the Chinese Dominaria leak was translated into English. It is the first FS&SS deck on the internet, I'm quite sure. I was up at 5;30am building this deck, that's how excited I was. The deck building had its euphoric highs and dark lows. Plus, it's popularity quickly exploded. It was the top deck on Tapped/Out for a week straight. I got 100 upvotes and almost as many comments in two weeks, which is just insane. I had feedback and parallel decklists from scores of people. It was a group effort, and if you were a part of it, I thank you.

Thanks to all who commented and upvoted. You really are the best. This decklist will remain here as a testament to the amazing community here on Tapped/Out, and to the greatness that is Firesong and Sunspeaker. Until we meet again, friends. Thank you all.

For now, the Trail We Blazed is over, but Friends Never Say Goodbye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCbLAv1NMs0

For the Legion!

Suns_Champion

Gratitude — Sept. 3, 2018
Edit
+175 upvotes, and the retirement of a dear friend — Aug. 6, 2018
Edit
Cutting the weak and strengthening Sunforger — May 19, 2018
Edit
Primer Completed! + A Few Changes — April 28, 2018
Edit
Ooooo shiny! — April 21, 2018
Edit
First test: A smashing success! — March 25, 2018
Edit
May your day never match your expectations - 100+ — March 23, 2018
Edit
Well. This is awkward. — March 22, 2018
Edit
Everything comes at a cost, especially revolution — March 15, 2018
Edit
It offers you want you want, but not what you need — March 11, 2018
Edit
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Revision 23 See all

(4 years ago)

-1 Bedlam Reveler main
+1 Heartwarming Redemption main
+1 Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion main
-1 Thalia's Lancers main
Top Ranked
  • Achieved #1 position overall 6 years ago
Date added 6 years
Last updated 4 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

10 - 0 Mythic Rares

35 - 1 Rares

28 - 3 Uncommons

11 - 3 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.97
Tokens Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Treasure
Folders EDH Spellslinging, Decks to look at, Interesting Commander Decks, EDH, 123, NEW DECKS, EDH (Combo), Ideas, Would like to play, Decks I wanna make
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