BOROS !!!

(This deck review was written and submitted by Rhysticy, winner of the MPDC 23.03 trophy, congrats and thank you for contributing to the clan blog !)

Here's the list : 

Creatures

4 Daring Skyjek

4 Gore-House Chainwalker

4 Skyknight Legionnaire

4 Splatter Thug

4 Viashino Firstblade

4 Wojek Halberdiers

3 Foundry Street Denizen

3 Rakdos Shred-Freak

2 Rubblebelt Maaka

Spells

3 Madcap Skills

3 Lightning Strike

2 Gods Willing

Lands

9 Mountain

7 Plains

4 Boros Guildgate

SIDEBOARD

3 Keening Apparition

3 Annihilating Fire

3 Chandra's Outrage

2 Pacifism

2 Azorius Arrester

1 Gods Willing

With Adner's success in the previous week with his Dimir Slow Mill build, I really wanted to try to find a deck that could either out-control his deck or simply win before a Thassa’s Bounty could resolve. I played against a blisteringly fast red deck but its all-in approach was a little too discomforting for me to want to play. While the Boros deck doesn’t have a good match up against the Slow Mill deck, it can punish it for not having enough removal immediately. 

To best combat the expected metagame of Monoblack and other mid-range and control variants, I upped the Viashino Firstblade count to the full four and added in the three (for a lack of owning a fourth) Foundry Street Denizens in lieu of Skinbrand Goblins. The deck just wants to be deploying more threats than control decks have answers for and punish land-heavy and land-light hands.

Crypt Incursion is an obvious problem, as dealing an additional sometimes twenty points of damage is incredibly difficult. Frostburn Weird also proved to be an effective wall; fortunately, the sideboard has a pair of answers in Chandra’s Outrage and Pacifism.

Sideboard:

The Chandra’s Outrages comes in against difficult 4-toughness creatures, namely Grey Merchant of Asphodel and Frostburn Weird. The full three come in on the draw, and often just two on the play.

Pacifisms are brought in against non-extort, non-Grey Merchant decks. Being cheaper than Annihilating Fire and Chandra’s Outrage allows me to drop a Pacifism and a creature turn four or five.

Azorius Arrester does similar work to the Pacifism but is more for tempo, since it’s not a permanent solution. I never actually brought them in, though I would conceivably do so in the mirror or against another non-blue aggro deck.

Keening Apparition was another card that never made it out of the board. Most enchantment removal kills the creatures in the deck, save Stab Wound on an unleashed Splatter Thug, so there was never a need for it. The spirit was mostly there to have some answer to Mark of the Vampire, Hopeful Eidolon or Ethereal Armor.

The third Gods Willing would come in against decks another aggro deck, perhaps. It’s a nice trick and scry is valuable to find threats and not blanks, but it’s often the last card out of my hand and rarely do I want multiples.

Annihilating Fire would come in as an alternative to Rubblebelt Maaka against decks with Celestial Flare. Avoiding the two-for-one is of utmost importance and it’s always sad to play the Maaka as an actual creature. On the rare occasion, I could see myself bringing in an Annihilating Fire in on the draw if I needed to remove something from the game; I’m not sure there is a creature, though, that merits that concern.

Against Grey Merchant decks:

With Grey Merchant decks being as ubiquitous as they are, I feel it’s prudent to address how the decks interact with each other. With few strong plays before turn 4, the idea for the Boros player is to be as aggressive as possible. Basilica Screecher only trades with a Denizen, Daring Skyjek or Rakdos Shred-Freak, so any two- or three-drop can safely run through it. Pharika’s Cure and Devour Flesh are often turn two plays, as well, but they do not add to the board and the haste creatures that come down afterward can often be punishing. Since Grey Merchant of Asphodel can both gain life and block incredibly effectively, the 3 Chandra’s Outrages come in; on the draw, I typically removed the Foundry Street Denizens as they would be outclassed quickly and on the play I would side them back in, often removing Gods Willing and a Madcap Skills, in an effort to deploy more earlier threats in an effort to go wider rather than load up on a single creature.

Rhysticy

(Edit : yes, the sideboard played during the event was 14 cards due to a mistake)