Boros Aggro
Standard
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Mixed Results with Equipment —May 16, 2024
After changing my deck to lean more into Equipment, I got my first 3-2! But my next league was 1-4, so there's still some tinkering left to do.
I've made the heartbreaking decision to axe fucking bnuuy now, rather than waiting until rotation, and with it gone I'm going to cut most of the remaining Equipment suite, i.e. Mirran Banesplitter and Rebel Salvo, and replace them with the previously used Monstrous Rage and Witchstalker Frenzy. I think this will work fine, since it looks like it was the slow cards Flip that were really holding me back.
Other than that, I'm going to finally put in Cacophony Scamp as my go-to one-drop, and since that card has a built-in burn spell, I think I can afford to reduce Ossification to a toolbox piece. I'm going to keep Barbed Batterfist in to see how it works as an on-demand kill switch for Cacophony Scamp. Demonic Ruckus will also go for a test drive, too.
I've also given my sideboard a much-needed rebuild. As much as I love Elspeth, I can't afford to be screwing around anymore. For the same reason I've cut Radiant Grace Flip also; I bet I was just one match away from it locking a Boros Convoke deck out though... I've cut Surge of Salvation as well; even though it's really funny to dunk on Lands Combo with it, Kutzil's Flanker will do the job better. The same goes for Lion Sash Lastly, I think I have to try more End the Festivities so Boros Convoke will stop completely wrecking me. Here are the updated strats, although I may bring back Jaya, Fiery Negotiator if I find I need a more controlling value piece:
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Rationale
Most of this deck's interaction is stack-based, so Sword of Once and Future won't pull as much weight here as against other blue decks, but I can make room for Skrelv. Additionally, it runs almost zero creatures, preferring instead to kill with Samurai or Incubator tokens, so one-for-one removal takes a big hit here.
Lithomantic Barrage will come in to deal with The Wandering Emperor, and Destroy Evil for Incubator tokens and to end the guaranteed Temporary Lockdowns that are coming my way.
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Rationale
Here's one of the main (and actually quite a good one I've noticed) matchups where I've changed my sideboard strategy: instead of holding up to pwn damage wraths, I'll try to flash in Kutzil's Flanker to deal with their graveyard all at once, instead of eating it away slowly with Lion Sash.
Aside from that, I'll trade swords so I can get damage past Nissa and let one creature dodge those wraths. I can take out a Skrelv since it won't do much against this deck's removal, and the Ossification, since one or two removal spells is usually enough here.
Oh, yeah. It looks like since the time I last wrote a sideboard strategy, the Jund flavor of this deck fell out of the top 15 of the meta. I guess for that one I'll just keep the mainboard Sword of Once and Future and nix a Reckless Lackey instead.
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Rationale
Most of this sideboard strategy is to tune my removal suite to better fit the matchup: since card:Lithmantic Barrage (MOM) kills every creature except Preacher of the Schism and Tishana's Tidebinder, sacrificing Witchstalker Frenzy's instant typing will be worth uncounterability. Baird simply doesn't tend to do well against this deck, so he can take the bench post-board.
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Rationale
As I've written previously, I don't really know how to play against this deck since I've never actually encountered it. It runs the typical annoying removal suite, so the second Sword of Once and Future could come in handy. Really, this just wound up being mostly a copy of the Esper Midrange strategy, but I arrived at each independently so maybe I'm onto something..?
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Rationale
Almost every real threat in this matchup is too big to kill with Witchstalker Frenzy, so I'll shift gears to Destroy Evil for instant-speed removal; with Loran it'll also get rid of Leyline Binding and Temporary Lockdown.
I used to side in Planar Disruption to prevent getting blown out by a second Atraxa trigger when Ossification gets blown up, but by that logic I ought to just cut both and save the slot.
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Rationale
I'm not too sure how to handle this one, other than to bring in another Ossification to deal with Aclazotz Flip and Sheoldred. I'll take out a Reckless Lackey too, I guess. I'm not sure what else to do, so I'll just take out a few Monstrous Rages for now, although that might change to one and a Barbed Batterfist.
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Rationale
With my old sideboard, I'd slot in Planeswalkers to transition to a more controlling value strategy, but I've decided my slots will be spent better elsewhere. Instead, I'll bring in Kutzil's Flanker for life-gain on a blocker, and my newly second End the Festivities, since, barring no prowess triggers, most creatures in their deck are x/1s.
Skrelv and Sword of Forge and Frontier will help keep my creatures safe from their burn spells. I think it's safe to take out a Reckless Lackey and most of my Monstrous Rages, since I definitely won't be the beatdown here.
Some variants of this deck also mainboard Urabrask's Forge, so I'll put in Loran and take out more Barbed Batterfists in that case.
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Rationale
This is another matchup where I've noticed Baird doesn't do so hot, so a few can come out, along with one Barbed Batterfist that's mostly for him.
Destroy Evil will come in to deal with Restless Reef and in anticipation of Aclazotz Flip and Sheoldred. If I don't run into the latter two, then I might switch to 3x Lithomantic Barrage to be used on the Reefs after combat on my turn.
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Rationale
Like I said, this is a matchup where I can't stop getting my ass kicked. Supposedly the deck is running fewer Warleader's Calls now, so End the Festivities will hopefully do more work. I'll also do another sword switch so the I can hopefully dodge opposing End the Festivities. If that use case doesn't emerge, then I probably won't side it in, since the most annoying blocker in the deck is mono-white.
Most one-for-one removal is laughable against this deck, so I'll take out Ossification and a few Witchstalker Frenzies here, and bring in one of my Lorans to deal with Case of the Gateway Express.
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- 2x End the Festivities
- 2x Loran of the Third Path
- 1x Skrelv, Defector Mite
- 1x Sword of Once and Future
Rationale
Unlike Boros Convoke with its annoying 1/2s, this deck can actually get swept properly by End the Festivities! Doing that will be a must when Bitterblossom comes out, as will drawing Loran to blow it up. I'll also want the second Sword of Once and Future to defend against twelve freaking bounce spells; Skrelv can help with that as well.
I know they're going to bring in Spell Pierce against me, so I'll take out my Barbed Batterfists to deny them the chance. I think Baird should stay in, since he's actually capable of matching Bitterblossom on token output (until they draw multiples). I'll just bench a few other removal spells since I'm bringing a few in.
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Rationale
This deck will be more annoying than Mono Red, since End the Festivities doesn't kill as many of its creatures. Since that's the case, I guess I'll just take out two fewer cards than for Mono Red, but the overall thought process is the same.
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Rationale
I want to stay mostly aggressive here, but I have a lot of cards I want to bring in as well. Destroy Evil will take care of Sheoldred, but even more importantly it will get rid of Virtue of Loyalty at instant-speed. Kutzil's Flanker could help me recover from a super normal wrath, so I want to give that a try too.
Otherwise, same logic as most of the other midrange matchups on the list. I will note that I want to keep a few Bairds in for this one, since I'll want tokens to throw away to a Liliana minus.
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Rationale
Thoughts here are mostly the same as for Dimir Control, it seems (again, I made these independently because I forgot to base one off the other). Only real difference is that Lithomantic Barrage won't be as useful, since more of the threatening creatures here are mono-black.
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Rationale
This deck is at or near the very bottom of the metagame every time I check MTGGoldfish, and I still haven't encountered it once, so I'm just going to throw Loran in there and call it a day. If artifacts become more of a problem then I might slot some Abrades into my sideboard, since none of my other sideboard pieces really do much here, but I'm in no hurry.