Showdown of the Skalds

Enchantment — Saga

(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)

: Exile the top four cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.

, : Whenever you cast a spell this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.

Discussion (6)

Sorin_Markov_1947 on Boros Warriors

1 month ago

Why not more Showdown of the Skalds ? It's maybe the best card in the deck.

jakeyuki12 on Commander Knights

2 months ago

Hiya! Long time Boros player here, got a few tips for the list.

1) In your creature line-up there are several creatures that aren't knights. There are also creatures that not only aren't knights, but don't synergize with knights. I would examine each of these creatures with a critical eye. The strength (and fun) of a tribal deck is its synergy. If there are creatures in a tribal deck that don't contribute to that synergy, they have to majorly make up for it (both for power's sake and for fun's sake). So I would look at each non-knight in your list and see if they're worth it (both power wise and fun wise).

2) There are also knights in your build that synergize with other things, namely equipment. If the deck were led by Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale then this would make more sense. Since it's not, I would recommend trying to replace the equipment subtheme you have going on with better tribal synergies.

3) Your deck is kinda short on both card draw and ramp (You're doing great in the removal package though!). Boros is fortunate to have been getting tons of love in both the card draw and ramp departments in recent years, so we actually kinda have options. From what I can see in this (like many) tribal deck is that you want to play lots of creatures that synergize with each other, so you're going to be emptying out your hand very quickly. Wheel effects ( Reforge the Soul , Wheel of Misfortune ) are great sources of card draw when you're emptying your hand. Impulsive draw ( Showdown of the Skalds , Light Up the Stage , Ignite the Future ) is also pretty good for this. As for ramp, that's probably more down to preference. In aggressive decks I like Sword of the Animist and Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip since they reward you with ramp for attacking.

Osbert on EDH Card-Draw Master List

3 months ago

I see you have included Future Sight but not Magus of the Future . Functionally identical albeit slightly worse.

There are some cards that let you play off the top of your library that I would count as card draw: Radha, Heart of Keld , Oracle of Mul Daya , Courser of Kruphix , Elsha of the Infinite , Realmwalker , Vizier of the Menagerie .

Some impulse draw you're missing: Bell Borca, Spectral Sergeant , Dark-Dweller Oracle , Chandra, Torch of Defiance , Showdown of the Skalds , Theater of Horrors , Apex of Power , Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip, Ignite the Future , Jeska's Will , Magmatic Channeler , Soulfire Eruption , Valakut Exploration .

Others: Memory Jar , Magus of the Jar , Allure of the Unknown

itsbuzzi on Aikido of the Inward Eye and Mirror Flame

3 months ago

Seems very gimmick, the combo is a 4 card combo. You either need 1) ways to ensure you get the combo, by drawing and searching the deck and 2) to ensure you don't lose before you get the combo. Facing an aggressive deck you may not want to trade off a creature you control with an attacker because that creature is needed for the combo. Brash Taunter wouldn't die, but you'd need to survive to turn 5 just to cast it. Maybe run some card draw (Boros is notorious for not having card draw) but maybe Showdown of the Skalds could help you get your combo, but you'd still need to survive by then and have the mana to cast all of it. Maybe go with some sort of treasure token generation theme so you can have the mana earlier. Also Deafening Clarion can help in the early game by wiping the board and give lifelink to whomever on your side survives. You could also look into token creatures, Boros has tons of that then cast Transmogrify to drop an Aikido creature. There are other effects that do this I think there is a Lukka planeswalker that does it as well.

You could also look into the route of just board wiping with an Aikido card out. It appears as though you are trying to cast a cheap Storm's Wrath but maybe just go Star of Extinction with a Boros Reckoner out and win? It's a 2 card combo, not 3 so easier to pull off you just have to get to 7 lands (which is only 1 more than your infinite combo) You don't actually need infinite, just enough to win.

Also Arid Mesa and Rugged Prairie appear as legal on Tappedout but neither is legal. Pioneer Lands Data Base is a great place to check it appears updated for all lands legal in the format.

jakeyuki12 on Boros Soldier Tribal: Tajic

3 months ago

I think Showdown of the Skalds is an incredible card if you play it at the right time and if your mana-curve isn't too high. It's the kind of card that I would play when my hand is empty rather than when it's full. It's similar to a wheel effect in that respect.

My favorite Boros commander is Aurelia, the Warleader . It was my first ever deck, I've upgraded it since I built it 6 years ago, it's become my strongest deck. I have been enjoying the new partner combinations a lot though!

jakeyuki12 on Boros Soldier Tribal: Tajic

3 months ago

Hiya! Long time Boros player here, got some thoughts on your deck.

The biggest thing I can see with your deck- you aren't running many tribal payoffs. PLaying a deck full of soldiers just because you like soldiers is fine, but you might as well reward yourself for sticking to only soldiers. There are soldier tribal payoffs and generic tribal payoffs, I recommend running more of them as I only see two cards in your deck that actually reward you for running a ton of soldiers.

The next thing- there are some choices among your different categories that I think should be adjusted. For example, I think you're running just a bit too much removal. Running too much removal can actually be a bad thing- you don't want to spend too much time on removing your opponent's threats, you want to make sure you're developing your board. Running too much removal leads to games where you draw a ton of removal and don't draw your key pieces. I recommend cutting one or two pieces of removal, probably Lapse of Certainty imo. For your ramp I recommend replacing one of the mana rocks (probably Worn Powerstone ) with Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip as it synergizes better with your deck that wants to attack with creatures. For your card draw, you're running some rather suboptimal choices. I would cut Staff of Nin and Mind's Eye in a heartbeat, the cards are way too clunky, way too slow, Boros has much better options nowadays. Look at some of the impulsive draw options we've gotten recently. Stuff like Showdown of the Skalds or Light Up the Stage is much better. Finally, you're running too many non-soldiers in the deck. A lot of them make soldiers, but it might be better to not run them and run actual soldiers.