Boros Humans White (Deck Formerly Known As Boros Battalion)

[DerWille]

Boros Battalion (Current)
[deck]
Creatures (28)
Boros Elite x4
War Falcon x4
Daring Skyjek x4
Truefire Paladin x2
Lightning Mauler x2
Skyknight Legionnaire x4
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x2
Angelic Overseer x2

Spells (9)
Searing Spear x3
Boros Charm x3
Oblivion Ring x3

Land (23)
Sacred Foundry x1
Plains x12
Mountain x10

Sideboard
[card]Faith's
Reward[/card] x1
Boros Charm x1
Oblivion Ring x1
Searing Spear x1
Pacifism x3
Beckon Apparition x3
Rally the Peasants x2
Riders of Gavony x1
[/deck]

This is the current form of a deck budget Boros battalion deck that I've been playing. It's been serving me well at local FNMs but I'd like to take it improve it even further. I've put the ideal desk list I've been building toward at the bottom of the post. The sideboard needs a bit of work.

This is focused on 3 major themes: battalion, flying, and indestructibility. Battalion allows this deck's low CMC creatures to take on threats far more powerful than it should. However, battalion requires protecting the battalion. This deck achieves this through flying over enemies (War Falcon, [card:
24wb6nnp]Daring Skyjek[/card], Skyknight Legionnaire, Firemane Avenger, and Angelic Overseer) or by pushing through on the great with indestructibility (Frontline Medic and Boros Charm). I like to say that its strategy is over or through.

I've been experimenting with Angelic Overseer vs Rally the Peasants as a win-con. Both are strong cards and with all of the humans in this deck, Angelic Overseer is always hexproof and indestructible. It's also never a dead card. Rally the Peasants has won me several games through surprise alpha strikes, usually adding +6 damage, but during long games or games I've been flooded out, +12 damage by flashing it back immediately. However, many times I've drawn it and wished I had any
other card in my deck.

I label this as a budget deck because the most expensive card in it is $5 (not including the Sacred Foundry), I'm on a budget, and I've spent about $40 on it so far (I've gotten some deals and trades so its value is probably around $80).

Specific Cards
1 CMC
War Falcon - This card has won me more games than any other card in my deck. A 2/1 flyer for 1 doesn't have a drawback in a deck full of knights and soldiers. It games that have a stalled out ground game, these guys can put pressure on the enemy. However, they're absolute crap against control decks.

Boros Elite - Very strong with multiples in an opening hand. It's a tough choice between this and Champion of the Parish. Champion has a higher chance of growing out of control in the beginning of the game, but they're much worse once mid game
comes around. Where the Boros Elite can grow to a 3/3 with a couple buddies.

Champion of the Parish - I haven't run this card, but I've gone against enough Boros decks that do run him to talk about him. His early game is better than most early one drops. Champion + Gather the Townsfolk is nasty combo early game. With another human he moves out of spear range. If you play this guy over Boros Elite, it's a solid move.

2 CMC
Daring Skyjek - A 3/1 with flying battalion. His battalion protect keeps him safe from creatures, but he's weak to tragic slip. I'd probably side him out for Knight of Glory against black control. However with 2 other flyers (Falcon/Skynight), he enables 7 damage a turn and a turn 4 kill with Rally the Peasants or [card]Boros Charm[/
card].

Wojek Halberdiers - A 3/2 for 2 is solid. He's not fancy though. I was running 2 of him, but I've been experimenting with Lightning Mauler to see if trading a little damage for a more likely turn 3 battalion is worth it (signs point to yes).

Ash Zealot - A great card. 2/2, first strike, haste, and graveyard hate is amazing. I don't run her because of the RR casting cost. If you have the land and confidence to support her, go for it.

Truefire Paladin - Purely run as a mana sink for games I get flooded. This has won me quite a few games.

Lightning Mauler - He's great for allowing turn 3 Frontline Medic battalion or Firemane Avenger battalion on turn 4. Either of which are remarkably effective.

3 CMC
[card]Frontline Medic[/card:
24wb6nnp] - This card is amazing with battalion. It sets up situations where your creatures can trade profitably with roughly equal cost. When used with Firemane Avenger, he allows you to activate Lightning Helix on every turn which devastate their board and put you ahead even if they swing back. I have not once been able to use his second effect to stop a X cost spell though.

Skyknight Legionnaire - In a vacuum this card is atrocious. However, in a battalion deck she's a battalion enabler. 2/2 flying keeps her safe from most creatures and requires double blocking from Lingering Souls tokens.

Silverblade Paladin - An amazing card that enables you to break through. I haven't had experience playing with it, but against it. It can be a huge threat.

Boros Reckoner - I see this card as the exact opposite of [card:
24wb6nnp]Skyknight Legionnaire[/card]. In a vacuum, an amazing card, but it doesn't advance this deck's game plan.

Rally the Peasants - An alpha strike card. I've had mixed results with it. Without creatures on the field, it's a dead card. However it can pull wins out of nowhere.

4 CMC
Firemane Avenger - Solid 4 drop. With battalion active, she does the same damage as Hellrider with 2 friends. The targeted nuke and healing is more flexible, but it comes at the cost of not being able to play her the moment she comes out.

Hellrider- A great 4 drop, but he's not safe unless he's with Frontline Medic. I haven't had the opportunity to play with him.

Tajic, Blade of the Legion - Could be a good card as he's hard to kill. I want to try experimenting with Tajic + [card]
Angelic Overseer[/card] for a potential late game.

Competition
vs RDW
- In this deck's favor. Flying enables this deck to go over the top of a clogged up board. Save searing spears for Hellrider. Oblivion Ring can go for Boros Reckoner or Thundermaw Hellkite. Frontline Medic forces RDW into a race which this deck has an edge in. However, RDW can win by getting an explosive start. Ash Zealot is brutal against this deck's 1 and 2 drops.

vs UWR Control
- Requires playing around Supreme Verdict, but very winnable. Their lack of Centaur Healer and Thragtusk makes their life total an ever dwindling commodity. [card]Electrickery[/card:
24wb6nnp] can act as a board wiper because of all the 1 toughness creatures.

vs Bant Control
- I still haven't won this match up yet, but getting closer. It requires playing around Supreme Verdict and counter acting Centaur Healer and Thragtusk. Try to kill Jace and Garruk as fast as possible before card advantage destroys you.

vs Naya Midrange
- I haven't gone against this enough. My only experience is when this deck was just made and I almost beat it. That leads me to think that match ups is solid.

vs Exper Control
- Folds hard. Tragic Slip destroys most 1 and 2 drops that this deck runs. Lingering Souls is able to clog up the air and trade with War Falcon and Daring Skyjeck. This is the match up I think
this deck does the worst against.

Where I'm Going
This deck list is basically where I'm thinking about going with my deck and its sideboard. I want to experiment with Tajic, Blade of the Legion and Angelic Overseer becoming an unmovable pair. I don't expect to curve out into 5 mana, but I expect to play her later once the game stalls out. The combo would also let Tajic enable battalion by playing a single other creature.

I'm still not sure about the sideboard. I'm running the Knight of Glory to help against Esper Control. Riders of Gavony is for any theme decks that I might come across, but that means I don't have any answer to Junk Rites which is probably a bad idea.

Boros Battalion (Ideal)
[deck]
Creatures (29)
Boros Elite x4
War Falcon x4
[card:
24wb6nnp]Daring Skyjek[/card] x4
Truefire Paladin x2
Lightning Mauler x2
Skyknight Legionnaire x4
Frontline Medicx4
Tajic, Blade of the Legion x3
Angelic Overseer x2

Spells (9)
Searing Spear x3
Boros Charm x3
Oblivion Ring x3

Land (23)
Sacred Foundry x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Plains x8
Mountain x5
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x2

Sideboard
[card]Legion's Initiative[/card] x2
Boros Charm x1
Oblivion Ring x1
Searing Spear x1
[card]
Pacifism[/card] x3
Riders of Gavony x3
Knight of Glory x4
[/deck]

[redthirst]

I'm only going to comment on your polished list since that's the one you're building towards.

Champion of the Parish is probably a strict upgrade over War Falcon in a deck with as many Humans as this one.

Tajic may be cute with Overseer, but Overseer is a quesionable inclusion over something like Thundermaw Hellkite anyway, so - if you've just got to run Overseer - it's not worth making deck concessions for.

Oblivion Ring is meh in Aggro - just run more burn.

Cavern of Souls seems like a no-brainer in you list.

[Alex]

Truefire Paladin is also pretty suspect. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is probably a strict upgrade.

[DerWille]

Champion of the Parish is probably a strict upgrade over War Falcon in a deck with as many Humans as this one.

I'm willing to try them out. The bird gets a lot of flak but most decks I run across have little to no flying. So they're forced to use their removal on it or the soldier on the field or get pinged 2 or more damage every turn. I can see the champion getting out of hand to where he must be answered.

Tajic may be cute with Overseer, but Overseer is a quesionable inclusion over something like Thundermaw Hellkite anyway, so - if you've just got to run Overseer - it's not worth making deck concessions for.

Something to experiment with. I was thinking Overseer over Hellkite for more than price reasons. My deck can go under control decks if they have 0 answers, no life gain, and I start with the
right hand, which isn't going to happen. But, I've had success in becoming more resilient than their answers and the Overseer continues that plan. Tajic + Overseer is the ideal, but most likely it's going to be Medic + Overseer, Skynight + Overseer, etc. In those cases, it's not as imperative for me to have Boros Charm or [card]Faith's Reward[/card] in hand and untapped mana to respond.

Oblivion Ring is meh in Aggro - just run more burn.

I'm up for trying it out. What would you recommend in its place?

Truefire Paladin is also pretty suspect. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is probably a strict upgrade.

I'm only using Truefire Paladin as a mana sink. Would 2 [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] be enough? Once I get my dual lands, I'd be willing to try out [card]Elite
Inquisitor[/card] or Precinct Captain too, since my mana base is more white than red.

If I do go Thalia, should I just cut out all my spells except for Boros Charm and run Fiend Hunter and/or War Priest of Thune to give me loosely the same effects?

[Alex]

Just play another Slayers' Stronghold. Maybe a Stonewright or 2.

[redthirst]

I think your O-ring slots are going to be much better served as Spear #4 and either 2 Pillar or 2 Brimstone based on your meta.

[DerWille]

I've got a win a box tournament later today, so I'll swap O-Ring #3 for Spear #4 and move O-Ring #3 to the sideboard. There's a couple of guys who run decks that I can't burn down. I'll work on getting the pillars and volleys.

[DerWille]

I went to the win-a-box tournament today, not too happy about my results, but fessing up is important, right? Here's what I ran:

[deck]
Creatures (28)
Boros Elite x4
War Falcon x4
Daring Skyjek x4
Truefire Paladin x2
Lightning Mauler x2
Skyknight Legionnaire x4
Frontline Medic x4
Firemane Avenger x2
Angelic Overseer x2

Spells (9)
Searing Spear x4
Boros Charm x3
Oblivion Ring x2

Land (23)
Sacred Foundry x1
Clifftop Retreat x2
Plains x11
[card:
mjf2cnxr]Mountain[/card] x9

Sideboard
[card]Faith's Reward[/card] x1
Boros Charm x1
Oblivion Ring x2
[cards]Pacifism[/cards] x3
Beckon Apparition x3
Rally the Peasants x2
Riders of Gavony x2
Firemane Avenger x1
[/deck]

Match 1 vs Boros Mirror, A Game of Derps

We were basically using the exact same deck. He even had my birdies! There may have been subtle differences, but I would say that our decks were 90% the exact same.

Game 1:

I made my first major derp. I had just played my 2nd Daring Skyjek with a War Falcon on board as well. At the beginning of his turn, he speared a Skyjek. From there, he had battalion and I didn't. But here was the
kicker, I had Boros Charm in hand and open mana to play it when he speared. I could have saved my Skyjek and begun racing, but... I didn't. Derp. Game 1, loss.

Sideboard: None

Game 2:

It was a closer race this time, both of us down to 10 or less. I had Skyknight Legionnaire, War Falcon, and Daring Skyjek on the field and played Boros Elite and Lightning Mauler. I bound the Boros Elite and Lightning Mauler but kept the Mauler back because he had Wojek Halberdiers, Truefire Paladin, and Ash Zealot. The Mauler would have just died. So I swing in for 9 of 10 damage with no cards in hand.

Derp'd again. Why did I swing in with [card]Boros
Elite[/card]? The 3 fliers would have killed next turn for 6 more. I figured I could hold back the Mauler to chump block and I would survive his attack with 5. That'd be out of Boros Charm range. Except... I forgot about removal. At the start of his turn, he used Oblivion Ring on the Mauler, swung in for full, and burned 4 with Boros Charm. Derp. Game 2, loss.

Match: 0-2, loss.

Match 2 vs Dimir Millggro(?)

This deck seemed to be based on some type of mill strategy that caused recursive mill loops between several cards and Consuming Aberration. After the match, he told me that it was still not complete. He's looking for [card]Jace's Phantasm[/card] and Invisible Stalker.

Game 1:
Pretty easy match. I curved out.
He played turn 1 [card]Judge's Familiar[/card] but I burned it with Searing Spear once it had a couple of cipher'd mill cards on it. He tried to make a comeback using double Aetherize, but it only bought a little time. Game 1, win.

Sideboard: None

Game 2:
I underestimated his deck and kept a hand with 4 land, Searing Spear, and 2 Boros Charm. It came out faster than I thought and by turn 4 or 5 he had a recursive mill loop going with Consuming Aberration, Nightveil Specter, and Paranoid Delusions. I played for a bit to see if I could find an Oblivion Ring, but time was ticking down and I scooped once that Aberration is like a 30/30. Game 2, loss.[/b:
mjf2cnxr]

Sideboard: None

Game 3:
I milled to 6, but kept a hand with plenty of action. I had Boros Elite and Skyknight Legionnaire on the field with 2 Boros Charms in hand. I tried to complete the battalion by casting 2 War Falcons back to back, but used Psychic Strike in response each time. It bought him a few turns, but he had a hand full of cipher cards and no creatures to play them with. Game 3, win.

Match: 2-1, win

Match 3 vs G/R Bloodrush Aggro Homebrew

I played against a regular of the store. We've been going back and forth with our Boros decks, but today he decided to play something new. He wasn't having the best of luck and basically got mana screwed several games in a row. I played a few games with him
afterward where his deck finally worked. One trick is to have Feral Animist, with Rancor, blood rush Ghor-Clan Rampager, use Armed of [card]Armed // Dangerous[/card], and activate his ability to basically kill someone in one shot. It's a neat combo, but his Boros deck is much better.

Game 1:

He had plenty of mana this game, but hardly any action. A Spire Tracer, a Feral Animist which I immediately speared, and nothing. It was over quick. Game 1, win.

Game 2:

He mulled to 4 and had to keep a barely passable hand. I kept with a full 7 and sheer card advantage made this open and shut. Game 2, win.

Match 2-0, win

I didn't make the cut for the finals, so I went 2-1 overall for the night. I could have won the first match if
I didn't derp so hard and the rest felt like I was getting lucky. I've had better showings before, but a few lessons.

I played another match with the guy from round 3 against his Boros deck. I won it. Afterward he commented, "You've changed that a lot. It plays differently."
"Is it better?"
"Yeah. It's faster."

• Lessons Learned
  1. Sleep and Food are important - I was tired and hungry for the entire tournament. It affected my ability to think and is half the reason I derped.
  2. The 4th Searing Spear for Oblivion Ring was a good idea. Spear lets me interfere with any creature based shenanigans involving blood rushes, ciphers, etc before they hit me.
  3. Don't get cocky, mulligan hands that don't have creatures. Boros Charm won't save you.

The guy who won the tournament got a box of Dragon's Maze. I don't feel too bad for it because
he didn't draw a single shockland out of the entire box. He did get a Ral Zerak and a Voice of Resurgence though. I walked away with a booster pack for what it's worth.

Trade Info

I'm putting priority on find Sacred Foundry and Clifftop Retreat. Over the last 2 days I was able to trade to foil Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch for 1 Clifftop Retreat and before the tournament, 1 Render Silent and 1 Savageborn Hydra for 1 Clifftop Retreat. After the tournament I traded 1 Realmwrightfor 1 [card]Faith's Reward[/card] to be Boros Charm 6 against control match ups.

I'm looking around my local area to trade an Ethersworn Cannonist for a Clifftop Retreat in
my local area.

Do you guys think that focusing on shoring up the land base is the best move at the moment?

[DerWille]

Let's make this a triple post.

Boros Battalion
[deck]
Creatures (28)
Boros Elite x4
War Falcon x4
Daring Skyjek x4
Truefire Paladin x2
Lightning Mauler x2
Skyknight Legionnaire x4
Frontline Medic x4
Firemane Avenger x3
Tajic, Blade of the Legion x1

Spells (9)
Searing Spear x4
Boros Charm x3
Oblivion Ring x2

Land (23)
Sacred Foundry x1
Clifftop Retreat x2
Plains x11
Mountain x9

Sideboard
n[card]Faith's Reward[/card] x2
Boros Charmx1
Oblivion Ring x2
Pacifism x3
Beckon Apparition x3
Angelic Overseer x2
Riders of Gavony x2
[/deck]

I made a few edits to the deck from some testing I did with a buddy of mine.

Changes: -1 Plains, -2 Angelic Overseer, +1 Clifftop Retreat, +1 Firemane Avenger, +1 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Basically, the Overseer comes out a little too slow. I would replace the 2 Overseers with 2 Firemane Avenger, but I don't have a full playset just yet so I put Tajic in her place. Testing it afterward proved to be much more powerful. [card]Firemane Avenger[/card:
1d1jdg08] can take over games far easier than Angelic Overseer. I moved the Overseers to the sideboard for those grindy games.

So I went to the FNM at one of the LGSs near my house. I went 3-1 for the night, but it's not saying much.

Match 1 vs Monogreen... something

I played against this guy about a month ago, his deck is marginally better than it was last time, but it still isn't that good.

Game 1:
He kept a 1 land hand and it bit him in the ass. He played virtually nothing.

Game 2:
A better game, he was able to get creatures into play. He was using a psuedo-unblockable with a bit of pump. He tried to stall out the killing strike with Fog but Searing Spear ended it right there.

Match 2-0

Match 2 vs Boros Aggro

This was the most competitive deck I played against for the night. This is against the guy who usually brings his Bant Control deck, but he felt like trying out his new deck.
n
Game 1:
I keep a hand of Plains, Boros Elite, Boros Elite, War Falcon, Truefire Paladin, Daring Skyjek, and Boros Charm. It's a risky hand with a lot of action.

I'm on the play and we go back and forth. He used Pillar of Flame to kill a Boros Elite. I used Oblivion Ring to exile a 3/3 Stromkirk Noble. It comes down to a race. My creatures have a bit more power and a Boros Charm wins it for me.

Game 2:
Mana screwed. Mulled to 5, kept a no land hand on the draw hoping to get that miracle land to save me. It doesn't happen.

Game 3:
I'm on the play with a slower hand than I would like. My opponent kept a 1 land hand that
consisted of 4 one drops, a spear, and [card]Legion's Initiative[/card]. However, he stays locked on 1 land the whole game and loses because of it. If had drawn another land, a miracle of Bonfire would have wiped my board.

Match 2-1

Match 3 vs Dimir Cipher

This is an interesting homebrew deck that uses unblockable creatures with Hidden Strings and Contaminated Ground and a touch of extort. Hidden Strings acts as pseudo-ramp and pseudo-vigilance for his land and permanents. Contaminated Ground acts as pseudo-land destruction and whittles down his opponent's life. When that combines with Hidden Strings he can continually zap his opponents and trigger extort.

Game 1:
He plays 4 Contaminated Ground on me. He's able to keep me off of white mana just in time to prevent me from getting the
several 3 drops in my hand out. A few swings with Hidden Strings attached and I'm out.

Sideboard: -1 Searing Spear, -1 Boros Charm, +2 Oblivion Ring

Game 2:
I'm able to curve out before his Contaminated Ground is able to affect me too much.

Game 3:
Mana screwed. I only had plains when I was drawing all of my [mana]R[/mana] [mana]W[/mana] cards. I tried my best to win it but he was able to stall the board out with Vampire Nighthawk using an unblockable creature with Hidden Strings to act as pseudo-vigilance to stop any swing backs.

Match: 1-2

Match vs GW Tokens... sorta

Game 1:
His deck puts up some early pressure and resistance, but on turn 3 I play Frontline Medic and his creatures can no longer trade
with mine. After a couple of turns he scoops.

Game 2:
I curve out and he has no respond to 7 damage a turn in the air. A couple turns later, he scoops.

Match 2-0

Overall it only felt like matches against the Boros Aggro and the Dimir deck felt real. I could have taken game 3 of the Dimir match if I had drawn a mountain early in the game. Some players from the more competitive stores in the area came by. I would have liked playing against them, but I didn't get the chance. I know one guy was running Naya Blitz and another was running Bant Control.

This LGS is running draft next week so I'll be going to a different store.

[DerWille]

I've still been playing this deck. At the LGS it's been doing well, usually going 3-1, 3-2, or 4-1, my loses coming to more competitive decks. Played against a few modern decks for the hell of it. Anyway, a few buddies of mine were talking and thinking about this:

Boros Humans White
[deck]
Creatures (29)
Boros Elite x4
Champion of the Parish x4
Some Two Drop x4
Lightning Mauler x4
Silverblade Paladin x4
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x2
Riders of Gavony x2

Spells (9)
Searing Spear x4
Boros Charm x2
Pillar of Flame x3

Land (23)
[card:
1ndkbs0t]Sacred Foundry[/card] x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Plains x9
Mountain x4
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x2
[/deck]

The creatures at 1 and 3 are pretty much set. Boros Elite and Champion of the Parish are awesome. Frontline Medic and Silverblade Paladin make things difficult for opponents. The harder question is, what to do with the 2 and 4 drops? I'm thinking x4 Lightning Maulers for either turn 3 Frontline Medic battalion or turn 4 Firemane Avenger battalion. A friend suggested that instead of going 4Firemane Avenger to instead do 4 Riders of Gavony main board to act as another form of evading annoying blockers or protecting
my humans from things like Olivia Voldaren. However, what's your guys' take? Here's the stuff that came to mind:

Potential 2 Drops
Wojek Halberdiers A 3/2 human for 2 mana is all right. The battalion first strike is just a bonus.

Elite Inquisitor The protection from vampires would be nice against Jund decks. There's a few werewolves decks around here but not many. The first strike, vigilance 2/2 is pretty nice.

Daring Skyjek A really aggressive creature that finds its way straight to the graveyard if a removal spell even so much looks at it. I like this card, but it gets wiped easily.

Precinct Captain 2/2 First Striker than makes tokens. I can see this guy being nifty.

Firefist Striker 2/1 with a nifty battalion effect. I'd like something that's a touch more durable though, but does his effect make up
for it?

Gather the Townsfolk Champion into this into Silverblade Paladin can be pretty nice. Especially if I happen to find a train to magical Christmas Land and use it to put 5 counters on a Champion of the Parish. I'm not sure how many of these I should run if any. I'm not quite sold on it.

4 Drops

Hellrider Ya'll know him. The built in haste is awesome and the damage to the face is great too.

Tajic, Blade of the Legion After playing with him a bit, I prefer Firemane Avenger over him. The indestructibility is nice and the bonus 5 damage is awesome, but if you compare it to Firemane Avenger, a helix to the face is a 6 life swing compare to a 5 one. In addition, she can remove a creature from blocking while Tajic basically removes a creature that did block. However, I could see Tajic being a great [card:
1ndkbs0t]Silverblade Paladin[/card] target, but if I wanted him to proc immediately, I'd need to bind him to a Mauler.

Angel of Jubilation The anthem is nice, but it requires over committing to the board to do more damage than Firemane, Hellrider, or Tajic.

Odric, Master Tactician Has battalion, but worse. I like the effect and the 3/4 first strike lets him stand up well on defense, it's just... 4 creatures is a lot harder to do than 3. Riders of Gavony's effect might be better to negate that one problem blocker or creature.

Spells:

How do you feel about 4 Spear, 3 Pillar, and 2 Boros Charm? I'm pretty open to suggestions here. Boros Charm has won me plenty of games with either burn to indestructibility.

[pejmagic]

Hello, i tough of taking pillars in SB and playing 4 spears and 4 boros charm MD.
I know your 3drops are good, but a silverblad after a board wipe is just a 2/2 for 3. With 4 boros charm, you're evading all except terminus, the 3 in one can or evade a board wipe, or finish the opponent, or etc.. (you know how to use it ).
Without 4 of them, i think 2 reckoners 2 silverblades could be better than 4 silverblade.
And yes, i prefer firemane avenger too, tajic is more fun than competitive in this deck.

[DerWille]

So you're thinking something more like this

Boros Humans White
[deck]
Creatures (29)
Boros Elite x4
Champion of the Parish x4
Stonewright x2
Some Two Drop x4
Lightning Mauler x4
Silverblade Paladin x4
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x2
Riders of Gavony x2

Spells (8)
Searing Spear x4
Boros Charm x4

Land (22)
Sacred Foundry x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Plains x8
Mountain x4
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card:
167gpo6i] x2
[/deck]

The other change besides the 4 Boros Charms is -1 Mountain, +2 Stonewright. I know I'm running light on red (12 sources) but it opens up another 2 slots that I could use in the 1 to 2 range.

Do you have any suggestions for 2 drops? I forgot about Thalia, Guardian of Thraben in the last post, but she could work as well. What would be better though? 4 Thalia or replace the Stonewrights with 2 Thalia and run 4 of some other 2 drop?

[DerWille]

I went to one of my LGSs' FNM last night with this deck.

Boros Humans White (current)
[deck]
Creatures (30)
Boros Elite x4
Champion of the Parish x2
War Falcon x2
Daring Skyjek x3
Truefire Paladin x2
Lightning Mauler x3
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x2
Silverblade Paladin x1
Skyknight Legionnaire x3
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x3
Tajic, Blade of the Legion x1

Spells (8)
Searing Spear x4
Boros Charm x2
Pillar of Flame
x2
[card][/card]
Land (22)
Sacred Foundry x3
Clifftop Retreat x3
Plains x8
Mountain x7
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x1

Sideboard
Oblivion Ring x4
Pacifism x3
Angelic Overseer x2
Riders of Gavony x2
Boros Charm x2
[card]Faith's Reward[/card] x2
[/deck]

I went to a modern tournament since that's what every store is basically running because of Modern Masters. That said, this tournament was 80% standard. I ended up going 3-1 for the night and took 3rd. An hour before the tournament, I put +2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, +1 Lightning Mauler, +1 [card]Champion of the Parish[/card:
2ocr9mmo], +2 Pillar of Flame, +1 [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card], for -2 Oblivion Ring, -1 Boros Charm, -1 War Falcon, -1 Daring Skyjek, -1 Mountain, and -1 Plains. I went with the 2 Pillar of Flames over 4 Boros Charms because of how aggro heavy this store is. These changes won me 3rd.

Before the tournament, there was a bit of inter-card store drama going on. People from this card store hate that card store and yada yada. I don't see why the regulars of one card store hate people from another. Anyway, guys from the most competitive store showed up which made some other people leave.

Match 1 vs Bant Control
MVP Card: Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

This was a new brew
from a guy who came from the competitive store. His deck puttered a bit.

Game 1: I'm on the draw. Champion of the Parish, Lightning Mauler, Frontline Medic, and Thalia win this for me. I only see a single creature this game, a Snapcaster Mage, but Thalia hoses his attempt to flash back a Supreme Verdict which basically wins me the game.

Sideboard: -2 War Falcon, -2 Pillar of Flame, +2 Boros Charm, +2 Riders of Gavony

Game 2: I'm on the draw again. Around turn 2 or 3 he tells me, "Aha, I've got my threat this time. I should win this."
"Oh, and what's that?"
"You'll see it in a bit."

We continue play a bit, Thalia continues to muck up his spell casting until he plays [card]
Aetherling[/card].

"That's my threat." He said with a smirk on his face and explains what the card does to me.

At the beginning of my next turn I play Riders of Gavony naming Shapeshifter.

"So, that doesn't do anything. I can make him unblockable."
"Mine are too."
"Until I remove him."
"Until you do."

I attack. I'm noticing something with control players, they have this weird habit of thinking they can out race an aggro deck with huge board presence when they have a single threat on the field. I seriously do not get it.

A turn later, he removes my Riders and then tries to Azorius Charm my Frontline Medic to prevent battalion from going off. I have to explain it to him and soon after it's over. He complains that his next few draws would have ended it for me. They may have, Thragtusk, [card]
Supreme Verdict[/card], and Angel of Serenity are pretty nasty cards.

Match 2 vs Modern White Weenie
MVP Card: Oblivion Ring

During match 1 I hear a guy playing a modern RDW who got hosed by this guy because he played Story Circle and named red. I'm up against him.

Game 1: I'm on the draw. A fairly typical match. He was running a white weenie deck that focused on knights, soldiers, and these smith guys that boost each other up. A couple pillars and spears handle it until I get Frontline Medic battalion online. From there it was a race.

Sideboard: -2 Boros Charm, -2 War Falcon, +4 Oblivion Ring

Game 2: I'm on the draw. The O-Rings won me the game. I mulled to 6 and still only had a decent hand. He plays his creatures on curve. An [card]Elite Vanguard[/card:
2ocr9mmo], armor smith card, double striking hob goblin, and Honor of the Pure. I O-Ring the last two and end up stabilizing at 4 life. From there, I proceed to build board presence and take it. He was stuck on 4 mana with 6 costing cards in hand.

Match 3 vs Jund Aggro
MVP Card: Champion of the Parish

Game 1: I'm on the draw. Really came down to who's deck was faster. In this case, his was because mine puttered a bit.

Game 2: I'm on the play. This time, his deck putters and I win.

Game 3: I'm on the draw. The game was decided on my second turn. He had an Arbor Elf and 1 counter Savageborn Hydra on the field. I could either Pillar the Hydra or play Lightning Mauler. I decide to play the Lightning Mauler. Next turn, he swings in with the Hydra, I let it through and then casts [card]Rakdos, Lord of
Riots[/card]. I got nothing to answer that and die a few turns later.

Match 4 vs Boros Aggro
MVP Card: [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card]

Game 1: I'm on the draw. Deck puttered again and triple Wojek Halberdiers with Tajic, Blade of the Legion seals that game.

Game 2: I'm on the play. I'm able to curve out on time and get the win because I got battalion up before he did and baited blocks with Boros Charm.

Game 3: I'm on the draw. His deck curves out and mine floods, but there's hope. My turn 3 land was [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] and I draw enough pillars and spears to keep him off activating Tajic, Blade of the Legion's battalion for several turns. During this time, I'm able to activate my own battalion thanks to the tap ability from [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card]. He finally gets
battalion online and drops me to 1 life then plays a Daring Skyjek to block fatal damage from me. I play a War Falcon, activate [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] and seal the deal.

With that I got 3rd for the night and some boosters as prize support. The changes I made earlier got me here. I don't think those games would have been possible without Thalia and Slayers' Stronghold.

I talked to a bunch of people about the 2 drop for my deck and the recommendations were:

Ash Zealot: 2/2, first strike, haste, and graveyard hate. An amazing card, but it's [mana]R[/mana] [mana]R[/mana] which is basically unplayable on curve in my deck. I like the card, I really do, but would it mess up my deck too much?

Precinct Captain: 2/2 first strike, makes a token whenever it does combat damage to a player. I'm more comfortable with
this because of the W W casting cost.

Nearheath Pilgrim: 2/1 with lifelink soul bind. This could be useful, the 1 toughness body worries me against control matches though.

[DerWille]

Went to a few more events lately. Last week, I went 1-1-2 at a FNM. I was having a bad deck day. I think I mulled to 5 every single game that night.

I went 3-1 at the last FNM, but um, I only went against one real deck and lost 0-2. It was RDW with something I hadn't seen before.

Anyway this deck made use of Kruin Striker and Burning-Tree Emissary. He plays his turn 1, either Rakdos Cackler or Stromkirk Noble then his turn 2 play is Kruin Striker. On turn 3, I imagine his plan is to play Burning-Tree Emissary x2 followed by Lightning Mauler with bind. He can then swing in for 11 on turn 3.

Game 1, my deck stumbled for a couple of turns and game 2 I kept a greedy hand and got burned for it (1 land, but
everything was 1 and 2 drops).

I've done a bit of experimenting and this is where I'm thinking of going with the deck

Boros Humans White
[deck]
Creatures (30)
Boros Elite x4
Champion of the Parish x4
Elite Inquisitor x4
Lightning Mauler x4
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x2
Silverblade Paladin x4
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x2
Riders of Gavony x1

Spells (8)
Searing Spear x4
Boros Charm x4
Land (22)
Sacred Foundry x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Plains x8
Mountain x4
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x2

nSideboard
Oblivion Ring x4
Pillar of Flame x4
Volcanic Strength x2
Legion Loyalist x3
Thalia, Guardian of Thrabenx2
[/deck]

Boros Charm or Pillar of Flame main board is basically meta dependent. My LGS used to be stupid aggro heavy, but they've been shifting away from everyone playing some sort of Boros deck.

I'm finding that Elite Inquisitor is a bit better thanPrecinct Captain in my games. He lets me keep up an annoying blocker after attacking all-in against someone. The protections also help with random theme decks and that damned Olivia Voldaren.

Riders of Gavony has been doing work. Even if your opponent doesn't have a theme to his deck, naming
their creature win-con or just some trouble blockers/attackers is often enough to push the game into your favor. I've had a lot of success naming Minotaur, Human, Vampire, Beast, and Shapeshifter.

Sideboard wise, this is what I'm thinking:
Oblivion Ring for catch all removal.
Pillar of Flame for Voice of Resurgence and aggro decks.
Volcanic Strength for red based aggro match ups
Legion Loyalist for token decks
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben for control, reanimator decks, and token decks.

[DerWille]

I did some experimenting with the deck for a couple weeks that I'll get into later. Anyway, I went 5-0 at the last FNM, losing only a single game. I rotate between 2 stores, and this was the aggro heavy store. So I put Pillar of Flame main board instead of Boros Charm. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben was the MVP that night. Most of my matches ended with an opponent yelling, "THALIA"S A WHORE!"

Match 1 - Junk Tokens

---

A budget junk token deck.

Game 1:
I was able to play Thalia both games and basically shut him down. Giving the aggro deck 3 turns where they can do whatever they want is basically good game when they curve out. Win 1-0.

Game 2:
On the draw, I subbed in my Boros Charms over Pillar of Flames.


Played Thalia on curve again. He stumbled for a turn or 2 with only 3 land and nothing but 3 drops. Aggro deck had free reign again. Win 2-0.

Match 2 - Junk Tokens

---

Game 1:
I'm on the draw and I get one of my god draws. Champion of the Parish, Boros Elite,Boros Elite, Silverblade Paladin, 3 white sources. Knight tokens aren't enough to stop it and he didn't draw lingering souls to stop it. Win 1-0.

Game 2:
Same sideboard as last time.

I play Thalia on turn 2. I win. Win 2-0.

Match 3 - Bant Midrange

---

I think this was a shenanigans midrange deck with a lot of +1/+1 counter cards and generally good cards. I watched my friend play against it a bit and saw Experiment One, [card]Master Biomancer[/card:
cwe9mj02], and I think a Jace. Can't remember which.

Game 1:
I'm on the draw. I get a variation on my god draw and win again. Win 1-0.

Game 2:
Sideboard in Boros Charms over Pillars again. Win 2-0.

I'm on the draw. I play Thalia on turn 2. He's able to play land every turn and ramp into an Aetherling. Luckily I'm able to kill it the turn it comes out because he decides to block one of my guys while tapped out. I 2 for 1 myself by Searing Spear it after combat damage, but it was worth it. I win the turn after that.

Match 4 - Boros (red) Aggro

---

A friend of mine's Boros deck I helped him put together. He did some other weird stuff to it. This is my only loss of the night because my deck stumbled while his didn't.

Game 1:
I get a variation of god draw. It's not as powerful, but still more than enough to shut him down. Win 1-0.

Game
2:
I stumble for a turn or two, but he doesn't. Madcap Skills onAsh Zealot is painful when you don't draw Searing Spear or Pillar of Flame. Loss 1-1.

Game 3:
Thalia is able to screw his early game over a bit. A surprise Safe Passage allows him a free counter attack that almost gets me. However Riders of Gavony lets me declare humans and push through enough damage to win it. Win 2-1.

Match 5 Boros Aggro

---

Another Boros deck. An Boros deck that wins more than you think it should. It's surprisingly spell heavy.

Game 1:
I'm on the play. I play Champion of the Parish, into Boros Elite,Pillar of Flame his Champion. Swing 2. Next turn, [card:
cwe9mj02]Silverblade Paladin[/card] bind to Champion and it's basically over. Win 1-0.

Game 2:
I'm on the draw. Thalia wins this game for me too. He mulls to 6. Opens with a mountain and passes. I put down my own Champion. Next turn plains, Champion of his own. I think he drew it that turn. I put down Thalia and he's done. He usually combos Champion of the Parish into Gather the Townsfolk. He misses land for the next turn and that's enough time for me to spear his champion. He hits the next few land drops and misplays Spark Trooper into Thalia which basically seals it for me. Win 2-0.

I was pretty happy with my first FNM win. I went back to mostly the list I made above minus a few cards I hadn't gotten yet (2 dual lands a spell land, and the sideboard mostly).

Previously I had been testing out a faster version of the deck that removed all 4 drops for [card]Kessig Malcontents[/card:
cwe9mj02], 2 less land, but 4 Searing Spear, 4 Pillar of Flame, and 2 Boros Charm main board. It was all right, a very all-in sort of strategy, but it lacked the speed or ompf to push the game into my favor in close games. It felt like I was either stomping my competition or being stomped. In the end, my initial impression of Kessig Malcontents was right. It's that it's a win more card. If it had haste, I think it would be a viable card, but usually it comes as an overpriced Searing Spear or Boros Charm and if I'm able to do more than 5 damage with him, I'm already winning. Even then, on turn 3 I'd rather play Frontline Medic or Silverblade Paladin.

[DerWille]

I've been testing this card and it's a huge boon to the deck. It adds so much stability and allows the non-hasted creatures to survive long enough to become relevant. It's rarely a dead card as well. It's best in midrange or control match ups and it's still relevant against aggro.

Here's the updated list

Boros Humans White
[deck]
Creatures (30)
Boros Elite x4
Champion of the Parish x4
Elite Inquisitor x3
Lightning Mauler x4
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x3
Silverblade Paladin x4
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x2
[card]Riders of
Gavony[/card] x2

Spells (8)
Searing Spear x4
Brave the Elements x4

Land (22)
Sacred Foundry x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Plains x8
Mountain x4
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x2

Sideboard
Pillar of Flame x4
Boros Charm x4
Rest in Peace x2
Burning Earth x3
Immortal Servitude x2
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x1
[/deck]

MD: -4 Pillar of Flame, +4 Brave the Elements, -1 Elite Inquisitor, +1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
SB: -4 Oblivion Ring, -3 [
card]Legion Loyalist[/card], -2 Volcanic Strength, -1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, +4 Pillar of Flame, +2 Rest in Peace, +3 Burning Earth, +2 Immortal Servitude

So my thoughts on the sideboard

Stuff I've Removed
Oblivion Rings are good, but there are better things for the 4 slots.
Legion Loyalist - This guy isn't actually needed. Thalia by herself hoses tokens decks. I've found token decks to be one of my easiest match ups. Brave the Elements, Frontline Medic, and Riders of Gavony is a lot of main board hate.
Volcanic Strength - Brave the Elements and [card]Frontline Medic[/
card] basically give me the same. I can either pro-red and become unblockable for an alpha strike or force bad blocks/race with Frontline Medic.

Where I'm Thinking About Going
Pillar of Flame - Moved to the sideboard. It's still amazing against aggro decks
Rest in Peace - I'm experimenting with this one. It's for Rites decks, but I've been trying it out in Snapcaster Mage or flash back decks. I've had mixed results.
Burning Earth - I'm thinking about siding this in against creatureless control decks. It becomes a threat by itself.
Immortal Servitude - I saw 2 of these in the sideboard of Josuha Everly's top 8 mono-white deck at the SCG Open in Richmond. Against UWB Control, this turns their mill strategy back against them. Against other control decks, it lets me catch up against the card advantage theyve generated through Supreme Verdict. You can check his deck out here http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=57538

[rcwraspy]

Thanks for keeping this thread up to date, especially with your results - very interesting!

[DerWille]

No problem man. Have you tried running a deck based on this? I've been wanting to test out 4 Hellrider, but I don't have the cards for it. Also, would you be interested if I write out some of the lines of play this deck is built around?

Anyway, I went to a Standard tournament last night, going 2-2. I went to the 3rd LGS near my house (there's 5 within 5 miles of my house). This store is one of the more competitive stores in the area, but tonight most of them were playing homebrews or fun decks (one guy was running a Battle of Wits deck).

Brave the Elements proved to be the best card of the night.

Match 1 vs UWR Homebrew Nivix Blitz

---

This guy was playing a UWR Nivix blitz deck with a few of his own edits. One was Geist of Saint Traft, but I never
saw it in my matches. It didn't seem to have the Guttersnipes but instead put in Young Pyromancer.

I got 2-1 with him and made a horrible misplay in the first game. I ended up wasting a Brave the Elements on a stupid attack with my Frontline Medic. The next turn, he used Pillar of Flame on Thalia and with that I could never get battalion online to help counteract the card advantage he was generating from Young Pyromancer.

Match 2 vs G/R Stuff Deck

---

This guy was the easiest one of the night. I win this series 2-0.

The first game, we're both mana screwed. He ends up having a Gyre Sage with no counters on it and a Savageborn Hydra. Thalia keeps him off doing whatever his deck does using
spells and he slowly grows his Hydra. He could have won the game, but he chose to grow his Hydra instead of using his Kessig Wolf Run to give his Hydra tramp and get me for 8.

Game 2, he has a slow hand while I curve out. Then he plays... Tree of Redemption. I sort of chuckled and played Riders of Gavony, naming plants and that was the end of that game plan. I was able to develop board presence and it took a few extra turns to kill because of life switching hijinks.

He rage quit the tournament after that.

Match 3 vs Esper Control

---

I lose this 0-2, but it was a very close match for game 1, which took up 80% of our time.

Game 1 is a long grueling match. [card]Far // Away[/card] does work for him. I make a terrible misplay on turn 4. I have Lightning Mauler bound to [card]Silverblade
Paladin[/card]. I decide to hold back mana and play the Lightning Mauler I have in hand until the 2nd main. At the beginning of combat, he casts [card]Far // Away[/card] and it breaks the bind cutting my damage from 8 to 2.

The rest of the game revolve around me top decking while using 2 [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] to make my 1 drops in to 5/1 haste, vigilance bombs. He packs enough tricks, removal, and life gain (stupid Obzedot) to stabilize at 3. Searing Spear should have ended it, but I had to use 2 Searing Spear to kill his Obzedot, Ghost Council which brought him back up from 4 health to 10.

He eventually mills me to death.

Game 2, my deck putters hard and his removal allows him to start the Snapcaster Mage beat down combined with Obzedot.

Game 4 vs Dega Midrange
n

---

I take this one 2-0.

Game 1, he gets stuck on 3 land, but I curve out.

Game 2, he continues to have mana troubles. He's able to remove most of the creatures I play and for the first time I had a Riders of Gavony with no one else on the field. Since I have no clue what creatures he's running, I name vampires just in case Olivia Voldaren comes out. His mana screw continued but he had a life line in a Rakdos Keyrune. I derp the spell order, but he corrects me and goes with what I had intended and my Riders slowly beat him down. (I cast Searing Spear in response to the key rune being activated instead of waiting for the beginning of declare blockers).

As a random aside, the guy from Match 1 and the Battle of Wits guy were talking about how they dislike Cedric Philips because he's a bit of an
ass. For example, they say he bends the rules when going against newbies so he can win for sure. They both agreed that they hate playing with him. The name is familiar to me, but I don't know anything about the guy. I just thought it was funny.

Anyway, I found myself siding in Brave the Elements in almost every match of the night. That card is amazing in this deck. It can be used for protecting key creatures from removal, destroying an opponent's board via protection, or as a source of evasion by gaining protection from the color of your opponent's creatures.

Firemane Avenger proved to be the weakest card. I always wanted something just a bit faster. Riders of Gavony is relevant the moment I drop it. I can name off a problematic creature and basically ignore it for the rest of the game.

[DerWille]

So, I went to a modern FNM to win packs. I ended up going 3-1 for the night and grabbing 2nd place.

The list of what I took is a little different than what is above. That one is where I plan on going. Anyway, Brave the Elements was amazing yet again.

Match 1 vs B/W Orzhov stuff

---

I played against a guy I get along with. He comes up with nifty decks, maybe not the most competitive, but they make you think.

Game 1:
He wins the roll and goes first. My hand is a little slow and I'm punished for it. He's able to lock down my field and play around my defenses. He slowly extorts and gains more than enough to put himself far out of reach.

Loss 0-1

Game 2:
I'm on the play and curve out against him. He's able to shut down my Champion of the Parish, but [card]Silverblade Paladin[/card:
vh055w2x] bound to Lightning Mauler is a lot of damage. I resolve a Riders of Gavony naming vampire and that's enough to push it through to me.

1-1, Win

Game 3:
I'm on the draw again and he has enough removal to keep me from developing board presence. He slowly whittles me down to 9 life and grows up to 29ish. I'm able to resolve a Frontline Medic bound to a Lightning Mauler with a Firemane Avenger in play. I'm able to push in damage and remove his enchanted lifelinker dude that was ripping me a new one. From there on, he couldn't answer the Firemane Avenger and I'm able to slowly blast his field down and recover my life total. Later I bind aSilverblade Paladin to the Firemane Avenger and his enormous life lead disappears within a
few turns.

2-1, Win

Match 2 vs G/R Little Kid

---

I beat up a little kid. I feel awful for it.

Game 1:
He wins the dice roll but lets me go first. I proceed to curve out into a Champion of the Parish, Lightning Mauler, andFrontline Medic. From that point, he's got nothing to answer it and I take the game within a turn or two.

1-0, Win

Game 2:
He's complaining about how powerful Frontline Medic is and plays very aggressive. I'm also completely mana screwed. I go somewhere around 5 to 7 turns without playing a single land. I easily discarded 5 cards. He's still not able to kill me. I eventually get my lands and begin playing cards while he goes into top deck mode. I take it soon after.

2-0, Win

Match 3 vs Homebrew B/R Infect Control

:

---

This was a crazy hard match up. This guy's deck was almost entirely answer to my deck. He ran so much creature removal that I was lucky to have 2 creatures at the same time.

Game 1:
I'm on the play and mull to 6. I'm lucky to keep a single creature alive for more than a few turns. I develop a strategy of playing below curve so I can always have 1 mana open for Brave the Elements. I'm able to resolve a single Lightning Mauler and it probably beats him down 10 points of health. As he's dropping, he believes he can take the win with a double Madcap Skills flying infect black bird thing. As he attacks, I cast Searing Spear and 3 for 1 him. With that, my Lightning Mauler gets married to a Silverblade Paladin and I take the game.

1-0

Sideboard: -2 [card]Riders of Gavony[/card:
vh055w2x], -2 Firemane Avenger, -1 Plains, -1 Mountain, +4 Pillar of Flame, +2 Boros Charm
Strategy - I notice that he's almost entirely creature removal with a few enchantments. He probably doesn't have that many creatures so if I figure that if I can get rid of them, I can win the game.

Game 2:
I'm on the draw and mull to 6. He's able to blast down my creatures very quickly and resolve an infect creature with Madcap Skills. I don't see any of my removal and that's game for him.

1-1, Loss

Game 3:
This is the longest game between us. I see most of my removal this game and continuously burn his infect creatures. I have a few shenanigans with Brave the Elements by baiting out his removal then swinging in. Eventually we both get into top deck mode when I have
double [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] on the field with enough mana to activate both. From this point on, my 1 drops become 5/1 haste, vigilance creatures. It becomes a race to determine who can play more threats than the other can answer. I take this game, but it was long and grueling.

2-1, Win

Match 4 vs Monored Goblins

---

I swear this is the 6th guy I know that plays Goblins in this area. It's ridiculous. Anyway, my deck decided to go on a smoke break this match.

Game 1:
I'm on the play and mull to 5. Luckily, I draw into just the right cards and get the win. It's a tough one, Goblin King is scary as hell to a red deck. Luckily I only had Clifftop Retreat as my source of red and prevented him from getting mountainwalk.

1-0

Sideboard: +4 Pillar of Flame, -2 [card]Firemane Avenger[/card:
vh055w2x], -2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

I bring in more burn to try answer his goblins long enough for me to stabilize. Losing Thalia's first strike is big though so it's a hard decision.

Game 2:
I'm on the draw and mull to 5 again and I get colored screwed with 2 [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] and 1 Plainswith nothing but red in hand. He takes it home easily.

Game 3:
I'm on the play and mull to 5 yet again. I have a hand of nothing but burn but answer his goblins one after the other. However, he's able to develop greater board presence and Krenko seals the game for him.

Overall, I think 2nd place is all right for a Standard deck at a modern event.

[DerWille]

Another week, another FNM. I didn't do quite so well this time, I ended up in 4th place. Surprisingly, Brave the Elements was not so good this week.

Match 1 vs Junk Midrange

---

This was a hard match and the only source of losses for the night. I hadn't seen this deck archetype before so I was unsure how to play it. It ran some number of Deathrite Shaman, Centaur Healer, Desecration Demon, Doom Blade, Abrupt Decay, Liliana of the Veil, and Loxodon Smiter.

Game 1:

I'm on the draw and he gets going with a Deathrite Shaman. My deck is going slow, I miss all my one drops and
only get a bad assortment of 2 drops. I'm able to consistently kill his creatures, but make a critical misplay in not finishing off his Liliana when it was sitting at 1 loyalty. In the end, Shamans kill me.

Loss 0-1.

Sideboard: -2 Riders of Gavony, +2 Burning Earth

Game 2:

My deck just putters hard core. Mulled to 6, I'm able to hit land drops, but not get much in the way of gas. I get Burning Earth out, but he plays 3 Centaur Healer in a row and starts the beat down. I'm able to finish 2 of them off without losing anything, but those damned Shamans do me in again.

Lesson Learned: Kill Deathrite Shaman asap. I should have boarded out 4 Brave the Elements for 4 Pillar of Flame just to nuke them.

[b:
1mvl15j2]
Match 2 vs U/W Starter Deck[/b]

---

This guy just bought a starter deck and rolled with it. Needless to say, I won 2-0.

Lesson Learned: Starter decks are a waste of money. I regret ever buying one.

Match 3 vs U/W Detain

---

This is last week's goblin guy's standard deck. It's annoying with all of the detain, but I'm not scared of it. Tapping my creatures doesn't bother me. His cards don't have haste so many times they can't take advantage of the openings they create. Plus, I usually tap out all of my creatures anyway so he can swing in all he wants. I'd be much more scared of if it was bounce or kill. That at least takes them out for awhile.

Game 1:

His detain mechanics work like he expects, but I curve out into Champion of the Parish, Lightning Mauler, and [card]Silverblade
Paladin[/card]. Detain all you want, I'm threatening 11 damage a turn.

1-0, win.

Game 2:

He gets stuck on blue mana and I curve out again.

2-0.

Lesson Learned: Detain is terrible.

Match 4 vs Mono-Green Elf-Ramp Aggro Stompy

---

This is my buddy that I go to FNMs with. His green deck is still in progress, but it's still more threatening than the previous two. It's based on the SCG open 3rd place monogreen deck.

Game 1:

His deck comes out swinging while mine just moseys into the game. No turn 1 play, I've got 2 mana and 2 and 3 drops. He ramps into a turn 2 Elvish Archdruid and I blow it up immediately with Searing Spear. That shuts down the bigger cards he has in hand that buys me enough time to get board presence and beat him down. He was eventually able to get a [card]Rancor[/card:
1mvl15j2] Elvish Visionary and a couple Deadbridge Goliath on the field, but he attacks in with everything with no fog in hand. I kill him on the swing back with a Firemane Avenger bonded to a Silverblade Paladin and her buddies.

Game 2:

My deck is a lot faster this time and he's not able to keep up. I believe I go Boros Elite, Lightning Mauler, into Frontline Medic and keep pushing through 5 damage a turn until he runs out of things to block with.

Lesson Learned: Fog leads to hazardous driving conditions.

I went 3-1 for the night, but man, I wish I did better against that Junk deck. I made waaay too many misplays and other stupid decisions. At least I recovered afterward.

[DerWille]

I figured I should talk about another Boros Humans White deck that isn't mine, but is better than what I came up with, Craig Wescoe's top 8 finisher. You can read about it here: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11309

Craig Wescoe's Boros Humans White
[deck]
Creatures (29)
Champion of the Parish x4
Doomed Traveler x2
Knight of Glory x4
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x4
Silverblade Paladin x4
Banisher Priest x2
Sublime Archangel x4

Spells (7)
Brave the Elements x3
[card]
Searing Spear[/card] x4

Land (24)
Sacred Foundry x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x4
Plainsx11
Mountainx1

Sideboard (15)
Banisher Priest x1
Brave the Elements x3
Burning Earth x4
Fiend Hunter x2
Nearheath Pilgrim x3
Rest in Peace x3
Mountain x1
[/deck]

The only change that Wescoe mentioned that he would make is that he would change 1 Burning Earth into 1 Fiend Hunter. I'm going to skip over the sections that Wescoe goes over and focus on how my deck compares to his and basic deck
statistics:

Mana Curve

---

[mana]1[/mana]: 9
[mana]2[/mana]: 12
[mana]3[/mana]: 11
[mana]4[/mana]: 4

Mana Sources

---

[mana]W[/mana]: 19
[mana]R[/mana]: 9
: 4

Deck Consistency

---

On the Play, Chance to Key Land Drops
[mana]1[/mana]: 97.8%
[mana]2[/mana]: 91.0%
[mana]3[/mana]: 78.9%
[mana]4[/
mana]: 63.2%

Chance to Hit [mana]R[/mana] for Searing Spear to counter Olivia Voldaren on turn 3: 79.4%

I really like this deck. When I was originally brewing my build I realized that two white mechanics are mutually exclusive with each other, exalted and battalion. I decided to go the battalion route, but Wecoe's deck basically proves that exalted is better. Sublime Archangel combined with Silverblade Paladin puts out 12 flying damage a turn, [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] can easily jack that up to 16. Battalion on the other hand, gives my Boros Elite +2/+2, Indestructibility till end of turn, and Lightning Helix. All of these things are nice, but do not compare to the raw, game ending damage that
a single Sublime Archangel can produce. Multiple copies obviously take this over the top and shut down any sort of life gain that Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, Centaur Healer, or [card]Sphinx's Revelation[/card] can hope to achieve. All of these cards put immense pressure on my deck.

Comparing our decks even further, I would say mine is a bit faster, but his is safer and survives blow outs much better and can hit far harder going into the mid and late game. 4 [card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] is ridiculous. I've had a few long grindy games with just 2 on the field and every one drop in my deck became a miniature Thundermaw Hellkite for 7 mana. It lets you play single cards as gigantic threats and makes lands into a semi-useful card to draw into. By constantly reactivating [card]Slayers'
Stronghold[/card], you buy time to replenish your hand. Where your opponent is forced to provide an answer to you each and every turn. Wescoe's deck gets this set up far more reliably than mine.

FAQ
Why No Boros Charm?

---

Wescoe: The deck has to minimize the amount of non-threats because the games we lose are the games where we cant apply pressure fast enough. So the more spears and priests and braves you run, the more likely you are to not have a hand with enough pressure. Charm is not as good as any of these cards and isn't worth the spot over a creature.

Why Only 3 Brave the Elements Mainboard?

---

Wescoe: I came to similar conclusions about bw humans. Brave gets better after board because people bring in their
removal. Game 1 it will get stranded in your hand more often. Doomed Traveler is the opposite. Game 1 jund has liliana and esper/bg have devour flesh effects. Post board they probably dont if they know you have doomed traveler. The sideboard plans aim to configure you better against their sideboarded deck, not against their main deck. This is a general principle about magic and sideboarding.

How Would You Make Your Sideboard Stronger Against UWR Flash?

---

Wescoe: Would replace 1 nearheath and 1 RIP with 2 [card]Legion's Initiative[/card]s. It stops staticaster (Izzet Staticaster)and verdict and it basically makes their burn spells one notch worse against all our guys. It also allows us to make better attacks against their creatures.[
/spoiler]

What Should I Run if I Can't Get 4 Sublime Archangel?

---

Wescoe: resto (Restoration Angel) is the best replacement. You'll be better against uwr and worst against jund and hexproof.

[DerWille]

Dear Online Diary,

I played in FNM the last two days, I won both FNM and Gamesday. I went 4-1-1 in FNM and I went 5-0 during Gamesday not losing a single (recorded) match. This was the deck I used

Boros Humans White
[deck]
Creatures (30)
Boros Elite x4
Champion of the Parish x4
Precinct Captain x1
Elite Inquisitor x2
Lightning Mauler x4
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben x3
Silverblade Paladin x4
Frontline Medicx4
Firemane Avenger x2
Riders of Gavony x2

Spells (8)
Searing Spear x4
Brave the Elements x4

Land (22)
[card:
eq4td1h2]Sacred Foundry[/card] x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Plains x8
Mountain x4
[card]Slayers' Stronghold[/card] x2

Sideboard
Pillar of Flame x4
Boros Charm x4
Rest in Peace x2
Burning Earth x2
Banisher Priest x2
[/deck]

I was a dumb ass and only had 14 cards in the sideboard, but thanks to the new M14 rules, I'm safe. Wheew. Anyway...

Gamesday

I figured Gamesday would have a bigger showing with a field full of Jund, American Control, hexproof, and R/x aggro. What I got was a shit ton of RDW from people who really should read Z'man's primer.

Match 1 vs RDW (sort of)

---

This was played an old guy who bought a fairly well put together Boros
deck, but makes horrible misplays and is uncomfortable with how a BTE focused RDW actually plays. Also, fucking Vexing Devil.

Game 1:
I lose the die roll and start on the draw. This was the hardest game of the set. He plays a turn 2 Ash Zealot and doesn't attack. This single misplay costs him the game. I want to say it was an oversight but he has a habit of doing this. He sets up an aggressive early game and I'm the control in the match up. He keeps threat after threat and damage keeps seeping through, dropping me all the way down to 1 health. However, to get me to that 1 point of health, he attacks in with his Boros Reckoner. A stupid move as I'm able to swing in for exactly 9 damage on the next turn.

After this match, my adrenaline is pumping hard for skirting so close to death. This feeling stays with me for the rest of the night.

1-0 (Win)


Lesson of the Game: Haste creatures are meant for attacking immediately.

Sideboard: -1 Brave the Elements, -2 Riders of Gavony, -1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, +2 Banisher Priest, +2 Pillar of Flame

Game 2:
He goes first and opens up with a Legion Loyalist but doesn't attack (why!?). I respond with Boros Elite. His next move is Burning-Tree Emissary into Madcap Skills. I kill it the next turn with Searing Spear. I don't want to deal with that. At about this time, he loses his cool, complaining, "I'm already into top deck mode. This deck plays too fast". He plays a [card]Boros Reckoner[/card:
eq4td1h2] and I start to curve out with Lightning Mauler into Frontline Medic. Each turn he swings in with Boros Reckoner beginning a race he obviously will not win and losing out of the advantage of the "2 for 1 Minotaur". He played a Vexing Devil again and I just took 4. He scooped when I played my Frontline Medic and swung in for 8.

2-0 (Win)

Lesson of the Game: Boros Reckoner is like that guy in high school who get in your face and say, "Free shot! Free shot! Hit me! Come'on you puss, fucking hit me!" He'd rather you hit first so he can 2 for 1 you.

Match 2 vs American Hexproof

---

This was created by a solid player, but he's a bit too much of a Johnny and deviates from powerful archetypes
into something unique but less power. Before the game he told me how he spent an entire looking for 4 copes of Geist of Saint Traft and spent $120 on them. This match should have been hard as shit, but turn 2 Thalia basically gave it to me.

Game 1
I lose the die roll and he goes first. He's able to get a turn 2 Fencing Ace on the field, but I respond with a turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. This basically locks him out for the rest of the game because both of get stuck on 2 lands. I end up winning the game but swinging in with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and 2 sets ofElite Inquisitor paired to Lightning Mauler.

1-0, Win

Lesson of the Game: Thalia is totally my girl. Great advice on this one Alex.

Sideboard: -2[card]Riders
of Gavony[/card], -2 Frontline Medic, +2 Burning Earth, +2 Banisher Priest

Game 2:
He goes first and is able to get a turn 2 Invisible Stalker on the field. However, I'm able to respond with a turn 2 Thalia, that basically shuts down his deck again. He puts a Spectral Flight on the Invisible Stalker and we begin racing. I have Thalia, and 2 sets of Lightning Mauler and Boros Elite paired to each other. When I go to combat he flashes in an Izzet Staticaster and nukes my Boros Elite. The next turn he kills Thalia with it. He then taps out with another enchantment or two. This is a critical misplay as I'm able to respond with a [card]Firemane Avenger[/
card], bind it to a Lighting Mauler, nuke the Izzet Staticaster and go for the win there.

Lesson of the Game: Izzet Staticaster is fucking scary. It hard counters this deck hard.

2-0, Win.

Match 3 vs R/G Aggro

---

This is my first match against this deck. It's probably the best put together of the R/x aggro decks that were playing today. The guy was also comfortable with dumping his hand on turn 2 and 3. This deck scared me.

Game 1:
I lose the die roll yet again and go second. He opens with a Stromkirk Noble and I answer it with a Champion of the Parish. He gets a small Burning-Tree Emissary into Rakdos Cackler and Rancorput on
the Stromkirk Noble. He swings with Stromkirk Noble. I'm able to slowly build up board presence and pick off everything but the Stromkirk Noble that has grown to be a 8/4 monstrosity with double Rancor and 3 counters on him.

However, he gets greedy when I'm at 11 life. He swings in with monster Stromkirk Noble, Burning-Tree Emissary, and an Ash Zealot. I chump one and take out the Burning-Tree Emissary. I'm able to kill him on the swing back with 9 damage and a Searing Spear.

Win, 1-0

Lesson of the Game: Greed is bad.

Sideboard: -2 Riders of Gavony, -1 Brave the Elements, -1 [card]Frontline
Medic[/card], +2 Pillar of Flame, +2 Banisher Priest

Game 2:

He goes first and doesn't get a Burning-Tree Emissary chain. I can't remember the rest of this game, but I remember that a Silverblade Paladin bound to a Firemane Avenger basically wins the game. Lightning Helix battalion triggers wipe his board while the angel is hitting him for 6 a turn.

2-0, Win

Lesson of the Game: I can't remember.

Match 4 vs Boros Aggro:

---

Psyke! I win this match going 2-1 with this guy but the store employees totally mess up the round so everyone has to replay this round.

Lesson of the Game: Fucking get it right the first time

Match 5
vs Monored Aggro Burn Thing

---

Part of me feels bad for beating this guy. He's been preparing for gamesday for the last month and wants the mat more than anyone else. He did a little knife ritual where he took a knife out of his backpack and gently slid the edge of it across the top of his deck. I entered the tournament to win booster packs.

Game 1:
I lose the die roll... again. We have a mulligan party down to 5. He goes first and plays Vexing Devil. I take the 4 and it goes away. I curve out into a Champion of the Parish (gets Shocked the next turn), Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Lightning Mauler, and Silverblade Paladin. He's able to throw a few Skullcrackat me and what not, but he floods a bit. 2 turns of [card:
eq4td1h2]Lighting Mauler[/card]/Silverblade Paladin shut the game out.

Lesson of the Game: Skullcrack isn't that good.

Sideboard: -1 Brave the Elements, -1 Frontline Medic

Game 2:
He goes first and yet another Vexing Devil. I still take 4 damage from it. I keep a slower hand with no one drops but 3 land, a Searing Spear, and a Lightning Mauler, Silverblade Paladin, and Firemane Avenger. He plays a Skullcrack turn 2, Boros Reckoner turn 3, and swings with it turn 4. I counter for 8 damage. He leaves it back the second time, but I lightning helix
it and he redirects to Silverblade Paladin. I respond withBrave the Elements and his reckoner is gone. His next top deck is... Vexing Devil. I let it resolve then blow it up with the battalion Lightning Helix the next turn for the win.

He doesn't take the loss well, squeezes my hand hard (I squeeze back), and goes outside to take a walk. I like the guy, so I felt a little bad about beating him, but it's a tournament.

2-0, Win.
Lesson of the Game: Vexing Devil still sucks. It should read, "When Vexing Devil comes into play, any opponent may counter this spell by paying 4 life." It's one of the biggest traps in Standard at the moment.

Match 6 vs R/G Aggro (again)

---

I'm still scared of this deck,
but I'd rather have gone against it again than hexproof deck. I don't enough answers to that one. During my last match I saw him playing Rakdos Cackler into Burning-Tree Emissary, Burning-Tree Emissary, Stromkirk Noble, and Rancoronto theRakdos Cackler. That was basically game for the hexproof player and my deck wouldn't be able to handle that either.

Game 1:
Surprise! I lose the die roll again and go second. He gets his Burning-Tree Emissary chain this game into Rakdos Cacklers. I play Thalia, Guardian of Thraben turn 2 and she goes to town this game. He taps out to play a Flinthoof Boar with haste and swings with everything. Thalia kills a BTE. Next turn I
leave mana open for Searing Spear and he swings in again. I Searing Spear a Flinthoof Boar and kill another Cackler with Thalia. He play some other 3 drop but another Silverblade Paladin bound to a Firemane Avenger takes this game home.

1-0, Win

Lesson of the Game: Do not waste material in aggro decks! You're playing aggro, each card is precious and throwing them away is just asking to lose. He would have been far better off waiting for an alpha strike than letting Thalia pick off half his hand.

Sideboard: -2 Riders of Gavony, -1 Brave the Elements, -1 Frontline Medic, +2 Pillar of Flame, +2 Banisher Priest

Game 2:
n I keep my hand of 7 and he mulls down to 5. He's only able to get a Witchstalker and Flinthoof Boar on the field as I curve out. The gets stuck on not having 3 green mana to cast Predator Ooze. The game winning moment came down to Searing Spear his Flinthoof Boar and trading a Boros Elite for the Witchstalker while keeping an Elite Inquisitor, Lightning Mauler, and Boros Elite on the field to swing in for game the next round.

2-0, Win

Lesson of the Game: Burning-Tree Emissary decks are powerful, but they seem to be fragile to mulligans. They want a fist full of threats to play on turn 2 and if they miss that window of opportunity, it'
s like they're dead in the water.

I decided to take a page from Craig Wescoe's deck above and try out Banisher Priest in the sideboard. It's a boon for the deck. It gives me another way to handle problematic creatures that I can't easily fight through or burn away. And since it's on a 2/2 body, she makes a decent creature to go punch faces with and activate battalion triggers.

I also agree with Wescoe that 4 Brave the Elements mainboard is a bit too many. Often times you have a [cards]Brave the Elements[/cards] floating around in your hand that would be better as nearly anything else in your deck. I still think keeping 4 in the 75 is the right move. Against removal heavy decks, you can never have enough Brave the Elements.