Discovered another turn 3 win:

T1: Land, Champ

T2: Land, Champ, Boros Elite - swing 3

T3: Land Boros Elite, Lightning mauler - swing 17

:D wadd'ya know

Question, Voss_Is_Boss. (long post incoming)

I have played this deck quite extensively since I saw you post it, and I LOVE it. It has made me fall in love with aggro.

That said, after playing MANY games with it (easily over 100, between Cockatrice, FNMs, and tournaments (which btw, I've split top 4, and gotten second place at my two local GPT qualifiers)), my biggest problem with this deck is it's consistency. When the deck "goes off", it really does do it's job, and IMO, if it does, it will beat any other deck out there.

The problem that I have seen is that this deck NEEDS to win by turn 4 against any sort of deck that is actually competitive, and in order to do that, your turn 1, 2, and 3 really need to be awesome (and it usually is, I will give it that). In order to do that, however, you need several things to go right for you:

First of all, you need a one-drop creature (obviously preferrably champ, but elite does well, too) and the correct land to play it. I will say that this is USUALLY not the problem.

Second, you need a good two-drop. Burning-Tree Emissary is absolutely awesome, and if you have him and another two drop, it eliminates this problem almost immediately, as it gives you the colors for all of your other two drops. IF you get that combo off, with a good one drop on the first turn, I would say that you win at least 90% of your games from there.

Third, you need some sort of follow up after that. This is where I would say that one of the biggest problems with the deck lies. In my opinion, Boros Reckoner should not be in the mainboard of this deck, at least not with the lands that this deck runs. I am almost never happy to see a Reckoner in my opening hand, as I know that it will be dead weight until I can get it out later. The Reckoner (while it is a great creature, I will never say it isn't), just doesn't seem to fit with this deck. This deck NEEDS to win quickly, and by playing Reckoner, you are saying that you WANT the game to go to at least turn 5 or later. After this point, this deck has almost always lost. If you want to go later, I would say that Frontline Medic Would be SOO much better, as it provides basically unlimited attacking potential, as you don't really care what the enemy has on their side of the field, PLUS it's human PLUS it only costs 2W, making it SOO easy to play with this. What are your thoughts on making this switch? (possibly putting Reckoner in the SB)

In addition, I really think it would be a good idea to take out the Mountain and one or two of the Cavern of Souls and put in a couple Stomping Ground. I have had MANY hands where I've had to mulligan just because I've had a Cavern and only one other "slow land", where if that Cavern had been a shock land, I would have been able to go full combo. This deck just cannot afford to miss it's second turn, or get a turn behind, so I find myself doing many mulligans that I really don't want to.

Ok, I'm done (finally). I hope you get the idea that I'm trying to make, that this deck is AWESOME, but I just think that it needs to be AWESOME more consistently. Almost every match that I lose is due to me getting either land screwed (both because of not the right colors, and not the right amount.)

What are your thoughts about making this deck more consistent, bearing in mind that it NEEDS to win by turn 4 (or at least be far enough ahead that it doesn't matter at that point)?

Hey Jayenn I agree with the same when I see a Boros Reckoner in my hand i'm not liking it to much plus i dont like to be naming wizard on my Cavern of Souls. But if you switched them i could see it being a bit nicer all around but the problem with running Stomping Ground is I would never really turn one shock my self for two. because I can't play a turn one red or green creature so it's a dead draw for me. But another card I've considered adding to this deck is Legion Loyalist just because his ability is nuts but you need to think of it more as a late game buff. Only thing i dont like is that he is goblin that is annoying. So I will play test with the Frontline Medic but it seems to tie a little nicer with it being human compared to reckoner.

i agree with Jayenn, that if this deck does not go off turn 1,2 and 3 your gona be in a bad spot, although i have always thought that Frontline Medic was a bit to slow. i think Silverblade Paladin is much better as it gives one of your guys double strike the turn it enters the battlefield. it depends what you want your three drop to do, the medic has great sustain and worst case scenario it absorbs some removal. i, personaly, would up Silverblade Paladin and add two Ghor-Clan Rampager, as it is a great turn two buff to combo off of Burning-Tree Emissary

as for the lands since all your slow lands come in untapped from plains (exept Rootbound Crag but there's only one of them), and all your one drops are white you should consider putting in two plains.

Well, as you all know, this is an "all or nothing" kind of deck. The point is to win fast, which it can do, but it admittedly has some problems in the late game. Most aggro decks do. If you'd like to be able to last longer in a match, i suggest going a little bit heavier on the mana, and play cards like Zealous Conscripts or Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip.

As far as Boros Reckoner goes. I do agree with you all, that sometimes it is a bit clunky. The reason for having him in the mainboard is mainly my local meta. Where every deck i play against, Boros Reckoner changes the game. It might be a bit difficult to cast at times, swapping out a Cavern of Souls for a single Stomping Ground might help, however, I haven't had much trouble casting him when i need him.

I have tried this deck with Frontline Medic in his place... however, it didn't work. For me. I made the swap at a TCG tournament, thinking it would be smart. However, he DID NOT perform well at all. In fact, he was just a 3/3 body that made my guys indestructible in scenarios when i didn't even need it. Then my enemy would play a Mizzium Mortars, or Blasphemous Act. Guess which card would have been much better to have in play at that point?

Boros Reckoner is offensive and defensive. It is so good right now that he has a REALLY valid spot in my mainboard, I have complained a few times about using a Cavern of Souls on him... however, when he hits the field. I am always happy.

As far as consistency, as you said, Jayenn, the deck NEEDS to have the turn 1-2-3 go right otherwise the game is probably over. However, ALL of my creatures, save Boros Reckoner, assist in the combo, and the lands i run provide the potential in almost every way. If i draw creatures, they will work. The only thing a player has to be smart about is when to take the mulligan, and when to keep the hand. Then it comes down to the luck of the draw.

In conclusion. I do not like Frontline Medic (as good as it appears on paper), I could probably drop a single Cavern of Souls for a Stomping Ground, I will keep Boros Reckoner because it is a game changer that i can drop against any kind of deck.

I hope this answers your questions, and thanks for making my deck reach over 80 votes!

Broke 8500 views, thanks er'body :D