Combat as a Resource - Aurelia, the Warleader

Commander / EDH RW (Boros)

SplitSecondChannel

Creature (38)

• 1x Angel of Jubilation
• 1x Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
• 1x Captain Lannery Storm
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist
• 1x Glorybringer
• 1x Goblin Cratermaker
• 1x Harsh Mentor
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Hushwing Gryff
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Leonin Arbiter
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Magus of the Moon
• 1x Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
• 1x Odric, Lunarch Marshal
• 1x Remorseful Cleric
• 1x Robber of the Rich
• 1x Samurai of the Pale Curtain
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Spirit of the Labyrinth
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Tajic, Legion's Edge
• 1x Tectonic Giant
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1x Vryn Wingmare
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Land (29)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 4x Mountain
• 7x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Instant (7)

• 1x Abrade
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Thrill of Possibility
• 1x Wear / Tear

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Karn, Scion of Urza

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Rest in Peace

Commander (1)

Artifact (15)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mask of Memory
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte
• 1x Winter Orb

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Decree of Annihilation
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Mizzium Mortars
• 1x Ruination

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This is the list Sequeira used for his SplitSecond game #10 https://youtu.be/l2T4rpdpVeM. It's a pet deck of his with over 3 years, so you can follow his updates here.

Making Boros Work

I've created the base for this Aurelia deck about 3-4 years ago when I was told that Boros is a meme colour combination of the two weakest MTG colours. Because I like a good challenge, I decided to look at Boros objectively and find a way to help it stand on it's own two legs. This process involved:

Assessing Boros' Strenghts and Weaknesses

Strengths:
• Access to the strongest hate colour in the game, White, and several highly disruptive cards.
• Blood moon effects.
• Instant speed interaction against all relevant permanent types and common non-permanent wincons.
• Access to the best MLD cards.
• Solid recurring creature removal permanents.

**Weaknesses:**
• No way to goldfish early.
• Poor access to card draw and card advantage.
• Narrow tutors.
• Susceptible to artifact disruption.

Choosing a Boros Commander: Why Aurelia

After establishing the colours Strengths/Weaknesses, I had to pick a commander that either accentuated Boros' Strengths or covered some of its Weaknesses. Having worked with hate decks before, I knew that combo decks often couldn't handle creature damage strategies, so I picked Aurelia.

However, after testing Aurelia I discovered another strong point:

Using Combat as a Resource

Aurelia has something that is close to unique to her: she makes combat as a way to generate value. Making every single combat trigger creature card more efficient may not seem like much, but piling up card draw from two Sword of Fire/Ice triggers while burning off two dorks or maybe a Najeela and a Tymna will start to make you realize that making combat efficient has its perks. You can destroy/recover more permanents, draw more cards and create tokens for exponential damage. All this while chunking away at other player's hit points, which means less cards from Ad Nauseam, Necropotence or other spells that use life as a resource.

Adding Combos

With the release of Helm of the Host, Aurelia acquired an efficient way to combo for a win. You're already running tutors for equipment cards since she uses them so well, and now on top of that you get a chance to close things out. Plus, don't forget that even if Aurelia goes down, you have other creatures that can use the Helm efficiently!

Boros has access to other combos, but I don't see any reason to go beyond this and dilute the deck's efficience.

Now that the whys are established, on to the strategy:

Choose your hate correctly

My list was created with a particular environment and meta in mind. I went for the most general approach, although I didn't hate too much on Fish Hulk.

**You need to take the same approach: evaluate what your LGS meta is like and pick your hate cards accordingly.**
• More anti-etb, silence, angel's grace if it's fish hulk/consultation heavy.
• More generic hate or directed hate if there's too many artifacts or graveyard recursion or whatever.
• More creature removal if your meta is aggro heavy.

Adapt. Be smart.

Starting hand and first turns

When choosing your first hand, make sure you have ways to interact with the most common wincons from your opponents. However, don't be too greedy with mulligans unless you take out 2-3 cards from my list and add lands: I always make the landcount extremely tight so if you mulligan greedily you might end up with unplayable hands.

During your first turns, you need to try and hate out on the most important cards your opponents have. If possible, stick 1 value engine or 2 and try to read your opponents' intentions for the next turns.

Also, this is important: the deck uses several combat trigger buffs and creatures, but they are not the main focus. You don't keep a hand because you have Odric and giving all your creatures flying + haste + vigilance is cool. You keep because you have good ways to participate and disrupt

Midgame and Closing the match

Once the board is slugged and you have a way to use Aurelia's combat triggers (even if it's just taking 10-20 life from a player by attacking with a bunch of hatebears), feel free to cast her and start whacking people's faces off. Look for a way to finish through either MLD, Helm of the Host or flat aggro, but always be mindful of wraths and other sorts of disruption.

Make sure to never overcommit to the board if you know your opposing players have access to several wraths. Aurelia in particular, is not a commander you want to pay 8-10 mana for, so make sure you use her only when it benefits you.

Well, this is the gist of it! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.89
Tokens	Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Goblin 1/1 R, Soldier 1/1 W, Treasure