Iroas, God of Victory – Secret Lair MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

It’s interesting to me that Iroas takes the form of a centaur – Theros’ centaurs are atheists, or at most have an Epicurean-style philosophy that rejects the gods’ influence and dominance. Does this reflect something about his own inclinations? Is it related to the rowdy and battle-loving character of the centaurs? Perhaps we’ll find out in Theros III: Ghost of Akros.

Iroas’ enchantment abilities follow the best tradition of cards like Goblin War Drums: he encourages attacking early and often, turns the traditional rules of combat upside-down, and leaves opponents with few options to deal with your attackers beyond Wrath of God effects. His issue is that he doesn’t do much against anyone who doesn’t care about blocking – he’d have little to do in a meta with a lot of control decks, unless those decks are based on Walls. If you are in fact having trouble with blockers, there are few cards that will help you more than Iroas.

Constructed: 3/5 (often more of a sideboard card)
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

Iroas, God of Victory is a way to try and make sure you win every combat you’re a part of. Menace and a Dolmen Gate-style effect on each of your attacks ensures that going forward is the only relevant direction, and it suggests that chump blocking is for chumps while he’s out. A 7/4 body for 4 mana, in the colors that want to keep marching into the faces of your enemies, is quite the nice deal as well, even if it’s a conditional 7/4. The wording on Iroas also makes it so that your opponents can’t use burn spells during combat as easily, should that present itself. I think Iroas is great for breaking stalemates, though he’s a bit cumbersome to actually get going if you’re not in a strong board state already.

Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.75
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 4.25