Help designing a GOOD Boros commander
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Nov. 14, 2019, 8:41 p.m. by RNR_Gaming
So, I've had this idea for a boros commander for a little while now. I want something that scales as the game progress and can be built around while still staying true to what boros does best; agression and beating face. Anyways, here is my idea:
Gilglamesh Symbol:W
1/1 human warrior
Symbol:R , , put a verse counter on Gilglamesh: search your library for an equipment card with converted mana cost equal to the number of verse counters on Gilglamesh, put it on the battlefield attached to Gilglamesh, shuffle your library.
When Gilglamesh has 5 or more equipments attached to him, transform Gilglamesh at the beginning of the next combat step.
I'm still thinking about the back side of the card but ultimately I want feed back; is it too aggressively costed? Could this style of voltron keep up with popular cedh commanders? I want a boros commander that can sit at a table with urza and flash hulk and not be scuffed at.
RNR_Gaming says... #3
Eh yeah it was kinda a boros take on yisan. Figured itd be cute to verse 1 into a mask of avacyn, verse 2 into a jitty or double verse into 2 swords with protection but even that doesn't seem as good as t1-3 hulk.
November 15, 2019 5:29 a.m.
How about this:
Girugameshu (with cool art in the style of the Jap Planeswalkers)
Legendary Creature - Human God Soldier
Indestructible
Non-creature spells cost more to cast.
, Choose one:
- Gain +1/+0 until end of turn.
- Exile the top card of your library. You may play it this turn.
1/1
I think that taxation is the way boros can best interact with opponents. It is not a particularly aggressive card, but has CA and offensive capabilities built in. It naturally forces you to play more creatures.
November 15, 2019 6:48 a.m. Edited.
Last_Laugh says... #5
Could an ability be written to trigger when a creature etb AND at the beginning of your upkeep?
I.e.
When ~ etb and at the beginning of your upkeep, choose 2.
-
blah until your next upkeep
-
blah until your next upkeep
-
blah until your next upkeep
November 15, 2019 11:06 a.m.
Suns_Champion says... #6
I appreciate the name being a riff on Gilgamesh.
Personally I’d like a Boros commander that said, “if a creature attacking would cause a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, it triggers an additional time”
November 15, 2019 11:18 a.m.
MindAblaze says... #7
I like Last_Laughs suggestion. Maybe even as the backside of the transform?
Whenever a creature etb, or at the beginning of your upkeep, choose two;
- Equipped creatures you control gain : “equipped creature gains +1/0 until end of turn”
- Equip costs are reduced by until end of turn.
- equipment spells you cast cost less to cast, until end of turn. (Cannot make the cost less than )
Although as is it could be too strong. It would be better/more balanced as a etb or attack trigger I think.
November 15, 2019 12:21 p.m. Edited.
Last_Laugh says... #8
@MindAblaze - I was thinking (s)tax effects.
-
Ghostly Prison til your next upkeep
-
Aura of Silence tax til your next upkeep
-
Price of Glory til your next upkeep
I know this wouldn't fit on a card, but something more like this and opponents only on the abilities.
November 15, 2019 1:13 p.m. Edited.
Last_Laugh says... #9
Better yet, make that last ability like Defense Grid (but spells and abilities) so they're all taxes that would cumulatively stack if you bounce this guy or whatever.
November 15, 2019 1:20 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #10
Can we appreciate what Suns_Champion suggested?
Mileva, Champion of the Tenth WR
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
Mentor
If a creature attacking would cause a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, it triggers an additional time.
2/2
This would be pretty powerful, works flavourwise and is a great character. And being a Ravnican character that puts a Boros twist on Teysa Karlov makes it even cooler.
November 15, 2019 1:27 p.m.
Suns_Champion says... #11
Ooo that’s a good idea with mentor! That’d be the perfect mentor commander. I’m glad you put my idea on to a full card.
Additionally, it could instead Double combat damage triggers.
I really liked what they did with Syr Carah, the Bold , I feel a Boros version of that could be good. “Whenever you gain life, exile 1 card yada yada yada”
There’s plenty of ideas and plenty of space to explore. Hoping for some good ones in commander legends!
November 15, 2019 2:04 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #12
I'm going through scryfall right now for triggers that mileva could double, and looking at cards like Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs , doubling damage triggers actually seems worse. I'll try to upload a hypothetical EDH list for Mileva. Wann get linked there?
November 15, 2019 2:23 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #13
I'm sad you guys are stuck in 'Boros Attack Mode' instead of Boros Outside the Box.
November 15, 2019 2:34 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #14
Last_Laugh: Don't be sad, I'm happy I finnaly got a fitting ability for Mileva, so your thread definitely gave me something positive. I'll have a closer look at the boros taxer later.
November 15, 2019 2:44 p.m.
Suns_Champion says... #15
Last_Laugh lol trust me, I am not stuck in a certain box at all, when it comes to Boros. Ex 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Now, to really join the discussion!
Calling attention to my suggestion for a Syr Carah-like Boros commander, I'm all for out-of-the-box Boros commanders! But the problem is, those haven't made up for Boros's weakness(draw, ramp), and don't add to it's strengths(combat). For the color as a whole I mean.
Let's take two commanders as examples. Feather, the Redeemed and Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero .
Feather is Boros Outside the Box. She is very powerful, and a cool way of getting card advantage in RW. But what does she do for the color as a whole? I'd argue nothing. You can't fill just any other Boros deck with cantrips and hope you draw her. You're going to have a bad time. All Feather does is create one new deck, on commander option.
Gerrard isn't exactly Combat Boros, but I'd say he falls in that as he's not very Outside the Boros Box either. What he does it makes up for one of Boros' weaknesses, being blown out by boardwipes. And he can go in most aggro-centric Boros decks no problem.
Either way, neither really make up for the lack of draw and ramp in the colors.
It looks like we'll just straight up never get top-tier card draw and ramp in Boros. I think that's okay! As long as we get commanders and other cards that make up for other weaknesses and add to the Boros' strengths, the latter of which our new Mileva does nicely.
Essentially, and this is just one route you can take, I want to see commanders that take what Boros is good at, combat, and make it irresistibly good. So good that it doesn't matter if you get wiped, you've already done 80% of the damage you want to do. This is where the recent Tajic and Aurelia really failed IMO.
Or yeah, like everyone's been talking about, make a kickass equipment commander. Or a land destruction commander. Or a burn lifegain commander that isn't 6cmc. Boros has come a long way since I first fell in love with it. The future is only looking up for Boros.
TL/DR: Everybody is always clamoring for Outside the Box commanders, when it would be just as easy and effective to just make Boros really good at what Boros wants to do.
November 15, 2019 3:29 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #16
I was not expecting so many comments. Guess I'll expand more. So, for people who don't know Gilgamesh is what I'm basing the character off of. Suns_Champion pointed it out :)
Anyways, He was a hero king from Mesopotamian mythology. He leaves his kingdom after the death of his best friend in search if eternal life. He does not fear death, he fears living without purpose. Additionally, its said he was a demi God; so I feel the back side or flipped version should reflect that. Boza mentioned adding in the sub type of god which is pretty spyce.
If you're familiar with the Fate series; it's an anime... the Gilgamesh in it is an ego maniac and has obtain EVERY SINGLE TREASURE that EVER EXISTED. He has the ability called "gate of Babylon" which allows him to summon any treasure he's ever obtained at instant speed and use it but he just chucks it at people at mock 10 speeds. Really liked the idea Boza had with the anime art. Oh, and Last_Laugh mentioned stax effects; I agree that it having a good stax ability would probably be best but I'd want it to be flavorful. So, I think having an ability similar to Treasure Nabber would fit better.
November 15, 2019 3:53 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #17
Funkydiscogod it's too fair. I want something that makes people wonder if itll be banned
November 15, 2019 4:53 p.m.
[Insert card name here] [Red-White CMC cost here]
First Strike, Lifelink, Menace
All creatures have provoke. (Whenever you attack with a creature that has provoke, you may have target creature defending player controls untap and block it if able.)
Legendary creatures and creatures with summoning sickness can not be provoked.
Whenever a creature is provoked it gains, "this creature can block an additional creature until end of turn."
Whenever a nontoken creature you control is provoked it gains First Strike and Lifelink until end of turn and you may draw a card.
[Insert power / toughness here]
November 15, 2019 8:37 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #19
Funkydiscogod like what you have is solid just not broken or easily abusable. Things like tasigur or urza you just need the mana to dump into them and you garner and advantage you don't need to take any extra steps to use the ability.
November 15, 2019 8:46 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #20
So after goin through the thread, I'm still not into any Boros (s)tax as this seems very constructed.
Instead I'll just pick up what Suns_Champion and TypicalTimmy said and try to create a combat-y commander with card draw and token support. Who else could be a better character for this than Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran : After Kos died in the second part of the original Ravnica trilogy, he came back as a ghost. How about this:
Agrus Kos, Mourned by the Meek 1WWR
Legendary Creature - Ghost Soldier
Flying
Whenever a creature you control attacks or blocks, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it is a token or has power 2 or less, you may 1. If you do, draw a card.
2/4
Even after his watch ended, Lieutenant Kos even still inspired recruits who never were to learn his name.
We have quite a lot going on here. Flavourwise, he references many great cards:
-
Being her partner, his cmc is reminiscent to that of Feather, the Redeemed .
-
He is a version of Mentor of the Meek from the command zone, referencing that card in his title.
-
His combat trigger and his flavourtext reference his original card.
Gameplay-wise, he has many different paths to go (which, as Suns_Champion said, Feather hasn't.): This Kos can be a powerful aggro commander. He can do weenies and he can do tokens. The three paths are very combinable and even synergize with two of the three Boros keywords (Mentor and Battallion). And he has pretty great card draw attached that evens fits the Boros way of doing things (just imagine Assemble the Legion with him.).
Thoughts?
November 16, 2019 5:16 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #21
-
It's "pay 1"
-
Even though I like the atack-y Boros, I don't like commanders that have to attack (Voltron being the exception). So I prefer this trigger. And as the character is a ghost at that point of his life, it works flavourwise.
Regarding your Aurelia: I'm not 100% that attack trigger works with her tokens, but at the least it's very misunderstandable. The card is pretty great still while not being too op.
November 16, 2019 11:33 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #22
TypicalTimmy: That's reasonable. Maybe re-word the second ability into "whenever three or more creatures you control attack...". This way, I think it's less confusing. What do you think?
November 16, 2019 12:27 p.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #23
How about that?
- WHATEVER THE NAME
Legendary Creature - Shapeshifter
Whenever an instant or sorcery spell you control deals non-combat damage to a creature or a player, put that many +1/+1 counters on WHATEVER THE NAME.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from WHATEVER THE NAME : It deals 1 damage to target creature or player and you gain 1 life.
1/1
November 16, 2019 3:33 p.m. Edited.
I agree with most points put forward by Hjaltrohir, that Boros and in conjunction white and red has major weaknesses in multiplayer formats and especially Commander.
Although I would like to say that Boros doesn't have that many good Commanders and most are relatively similar. Many also follows a tendency to invite to Voltron-esque or very combat heavy strategies. I know that both red and white are very heavy invested in combat, so it largely makes sense but it can also feel a bit one dimensional. Some of the newer Boros legends have somewhat broken some of this idea with Firesong and Sunspeaker and Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero , but the rest is mainly focused around some aspect of creature combat or a very narrow design space .
The most pressing issue to support Boros or red and white in Commander would be to grant them more support in the 99, the easiest target would be for both ramp and card draw in some fashion (I made a thread on here about white's issues in Commander, feel free to visit if you'd like). However that doesn't exclude that more support could happen to Boros commanders as well.
As for the suggested commander in the OP, I think it's a possible design that could be created. It would invite to a Voltron style deck and takes advantage of red and white's affinity for equipment.
I think the commander is quite weak and doesn't help much with the equipment already put on the battlefield from previous activations. That you stick them all on the commander you just tapped down means you wont get any value out of these equipments other than a single block (or attack if you grant it vigilance).
That you need to find an equipment with CMC equal to the verse counters contra equal or less, means you need a broad selection of equipment in your deck to take advantage of his ability, and that typically leaves your deck stuck with a lot of suboptimal equipment. Otherwise you just spent mana to churn up the verse count with no gain to eventually get to a point where you can get out your Sword of X and Y or Batterskull .
I think you're doing yourself a disservice by playing this Commander, as it feels like a trap. Some changes that could increase his viability would be to allow searching for equal or less. Another to change the uptick from verse counters on him to experience counters on you (to keep the value from previous activations between deaths). Another to allow the new-found equipment to be attached to any creature you control. To balance some of the above out a little, his cost would likely need to go up a little to CMC 2-4.
We have yet to see what's on the transformed side, but nevertheless I feel like the setup is a Voltron trap and I wonder if the payout is worth it. By just using the Commander to gather equipments and equip them to him, you need a whopping 16 mana investment and it takes at minimum 6 turns to get him online - and that's assuming a turn 2 Sol Ring or similar mana accelerator to activate him on turn 2.
Feedback on all other suggestions Show
My idea for a Boros Commander would be something like this:
Whatshisface
Legendary creature - Human Soldier
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield or attacks, you may draw two cards and discard two cards.
At the beginning of your post-combat main phase, you may return a permanent card with converted mana X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is equal to the amount of damage dealt to opponents this turn by sources you control.
2/2
He's cheap, he provides looting to filter into gas, which is a very red thing. Additionally he utilizes white's ability to restore or bring back permanents from the graveyard - which could include lands -> granting Boros access to land ramp. You can even fill your own graveyard with lands through the looting.
It's a utility Commander that could pay to protect but is not a necessity like a Voltron. He can enable cheating of costs by looting out high CMC permanents and then bring them back after dealing a load of damage. As the damage is not necessary to come through combat, you are enabled to use Lightning Bolt to restore a Ghostly Prison .
I figure this Commander is broad enough to provide the color pairing a lot of necessary utility without locking him into a specific theme. This is a value generator and not as much a build around necessity - but you can.
You can build him as a Voltron and equip or enchant him up to be beefy, evasive, hit harder and restore ever higher CMC permanents from your graveyard after looting them in there.
You can build a white wheenie deck and go wide to ensure damage on your opponents to bring back some wheenie or bigger thing (and he doesn't need to attack with them - unless you want the looting).
You can build a heavy hitter deck with Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder and have him as one of the 99 just to bring back high CMC stuff.
You can build a multi combat phase deck , and get even more resurrect triggers in each post-combat main phase.
You can even not care about him other than cast him for the looting, get a land or whatever in the post-combat main phase. Attack next turn for another looting, he dies in combat, recast to loot again, attack or bring something back the turn after.
November 19, 2019 8:19 a.m.
PIayswithFlRE says... #25
Coming late to this, but I also liked the idea of a token-synergizing Boros commander that helped with card draw.
My attempt at one that also maintains some of Boros' combat focus
Grand Warlord Boros
Legendary Creature - Knight Ally
Eminence — Whenever a token creature enters the battlefield under your control, if Grand Warlord Boros is in the command zone or on the battlefield, you may pay . If you do, draw a card.
At the start of combat on your turn, target creature you control gains myriad.
3/4
I almost had the payment to draw a card at as with Mentor of the Meek, but that seemed too low in light of it being an eminence effect and he doesn't even have to be on the battlefield.
So, play a token deck and you've got card draw. Or, go with bigger (non-Legendary) creatures and use his granting of myriad to make bigger temporary tokens. With the myriad ability, I also wanted to make him an Ally, since Ally with ETB effects seemed like a good candidate to work with this guy.
November 24, 2019 2:18 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #26
I feel if you stipulate the power or toughness being 1 or less a cost of 1 generic is fine but it would make the myriad less good; I actually like the idea. Think I saw something like this on a video before.
November 24, 2019 4:31 p.m.
PIayswithFlRE says... #27
Yeah, I guess the middle ground would be "pay any combination of and equal to the token's toughness" but that's wordier on a card that already has a lot of text.
Hjaltrohir says... #2
Firstly, Voltron is really hard to make work in CEDH as it is really vulnerable to an edict effect and can only take out one opponent at a time (ignoring additional combat phases). This basically just makes it easy to disrupt and usually the archenemy at the table.
Secondly, the reason Boros sucks in commander is not exclusively due to a lack of good commanders, it is because and are the weakest colours in commander due to a lack of card advantage and spell-based interaction. Thus, even if a new extremely pushed Boros commander were printed, it still would be unlikely able to compete with based CEDH decks simply due to the lack of good support cards in the 99.
Thus the problem with Boros is a systematic one, that can only be fixed by increased support from Wizards in terms of giving powerful card advantage and interaction pieces.
In terms of your commander, he seems like a cute Yisan, the Wanderer Bard for equipment and is at a decent power level. If you really want to create a commander that helps Boros become relevant, a planeswalker or creature with repeated draw or ramp abilities might be better though.
November 15, 2019 4:18 a.m.