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Fend's Shop

Wicked's Cheap Upgrade

    Hi, I'm a new writer here. Used to do CoTD for Pojo Harry Potter (That was ages ago) and now am playing Magic after a long absence from TCGs. There's not much you need to know about me except that I used to play a variety of TCGs and am an old hand in Pojo. Well I've been playing Magic for quite a while (about 8 months now playing mostly t2 and extended) and not really considered a newbie, and I think it's about time I write my own ideas out and have active discussion with other people from across the globe. So feel free to email me at : typhed @ yahoo . com . au (notice the spacing? Just delete the spacing, I don't want email trollers to get this new mail).

Ok on with the greetings and such, today I decided to look at Wicked's deck and show you guys what the difference is between a competitive deck from an average casual deck. (Wicked if you're reading this, do not go out of your way to trade for Razias).

Wicked's Boros deck wins
9x Plains
9x Mountain
1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
3x Boros Garrison

2x Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran (5CC)
3x Boros Recruit (1CC)
3x Boros Swiftblade (2CC)
3x Skyknight Legionnaire (3CC)
2x Orduun Commando (4CC)
3x Flame-Kin Zealot (4CC)
2x Boros Guildmage (2CC) 

2x Seismic Spike (4CC)
2x Reroute (2CC)
2x Cleansing Beam (5CC)
4x Lightning Helix (2CC)
3x Rally the Righteous (3CC)
2x Bathe in Light (2CC)
2x Incite Hysteria (3CC) 

2x Sunforger (3CC and 3 to equip)

Alright we'll start analyzing the deck and see how much we can improve this for type 2. Well as you can see this deck mainly has stuff from Ravnica, the (# CC) on the side of the card indicates the casting cost of the card itself. This helps us to check the mana curve which is important. As we want the deck to perform optimally, the card choices you would include should enable you to consistently have threats and try win in the first 8 turns at least. I see too many 4 casting cost things and even 5. For a Boros Deck Wins you really want to put lots of creatures down and smash for the win with added burn to smash face, and not sit and just drop land and do nothing while your opponent sets up his board. Being able to drop something or do something on every turn is vital for our strategy and some of these cards are just holding us up when we can easily push the gas on high and just beat quickly for the win.

Let's start with the creature base. I know it's cool if you have huge big guys to do the job. But why not have some efficient guys that you can drop each turn and have evasion?

Firstly I like to remove:
-2 Agrus kos, Wojek Veteran (Reason being he is too overcosted for our deck as we want efficient creatures doing damage as quick as possible and not during the 6th turn)
- 3 Boros Recruit (I'm still thinking whether to include him or not, seeing as first strike is there but the thing is, an Isamaru which is fairly common among weenie players kills our recruit)
- 3 Boros Swiftblade (Same goes for the swiftblade. I honestly think that only jitte made double strike useful. Not to mention good creature pump like giant growth and might of oaks also)
- 2 Ordruun Commando (4/1 which dies to a sakura tribe elder if tapped out)
- 1 Flame Kin Zealot (A bit high on the mana curve)

I'll throw in:
+ 4 Suntail Hawks (1 mana drop which has evasion)
+ 4 Lantern Kami (Same as above)
+ 3 Leonin Skyhunter (2/2 flyer and evasion)
+ 3 Hand of Honor (2/2 with bushido and pro black. Good bye putrefy and mortify?)

So our creature base is:

Creatures (21)
4x Suntail Hawks (9th)
4x Lantern Kami (COK)
3x Leonin Skyhunter (9th)
2x Boros Guildmage (RAV)
3x Hand Of Honor
3x Skyknight Legionnaire
2x Flame Kin Zealot

Now we look at other spells which include sorceries, artifacts, instants and enchantments)

With the case of Boros Deck Wins you'd want to win with fast drop efficient critters and aim burn for the head. Good to see that Wicked has 4 Lightning Helixs. That's good.

I reckon we can do without everything except for the helixs.

So, I'll drop :
-2 Seismic Spike
-2 Reroute
-2 Cleansing Beam
-3 Rally the Righteous
-2 Bathe in Light
-2 Incite Hysteria

Why did I remove all these cards? Well first of all, some of them are overcosted like Seismic Spike. Reroute is almost useless in most situations as it is a dead card rather than something that is useful like a burn spell. The rest of the cards which have radiance I have a personal disliking. Though rally the righteous is cool, it will come down to this, I attack, no blocks? I rally my creature. Opponent: STOP, in response I Putrefy your radiance target and BAM. There goes the spell. It fizzles. Same concept applies with the rest of the cards with radiance.

So in their place I'd like to put
+4 Shock (Good removal spell and or burn for opponent)
+3 Glorious Anthem (Creature buffer, what more can I explain)
+2 Path of Anger's Flame (Better than Rally the Righteous in my opinion, does the same thing but not targetting one of your creatures)
+1 Sunforger (Helps pull out spells like Helix and Shock or even Otherworldly Journey from the deck)
+3 Otherworldly Journey (Such a good card, saves your own creatures or even removes some of the blockers which might prevent you from winning with an alpha strike)

Other spells (18) :
4x Shock
4x Lightning Helix
1x Path Of Anger's Flame
3x Sunforger
3x Otherworldy Journey
3x Glorious Anthem

Now as for land, I reckon 21 lands is good since nothing in the deck costs more than 3 mana to play (Except the 2 flame kin Zealots)

9x Plains
8x Mountain
1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
3x Boros Garrison

With the cheapness of all his creatures and spells he should be able to drop creatures and other threats consistently every turn provided he shuffles well ;).

So the deck is now:
Lands (21)
9x Plains
8x Mountain
1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
3x Boros Garrison

Creatures (21)
4x Suntail Hawks (9th)
4x Lantern Kami (COK)
3x Leonin Skyhunter (9th)
2x Boros Guildmage (RAV)
3x Hand Of Honor
3x Skyknight Legionnaire
2x Flame Kin Zealot

Other spells (18) :
4x Shock
4x Lightning Helix
1x Path Of Anger's Flame
3x Sunforger
3x Otherworldy Journey
3x Glorious Anthem

Sideboard? What about sideboard? Like most people say, sideboard is pretty much dependant on the meta. With a rise of Greater Gifts and Glare decks around, some Terashi's Graps and Kami of Ancient Laws could make sideboard pretty easily. Devouring Light is another good card which you can pull using Sunforger to remove the legendary dragons and other threats in the game. Rest is up to you. Since jitte is heavily used a few Suppresion Fields wouldn't be bad and maybe some Paladin En-Vecs.

Adding money to the deck.
Obviously some Battlefield Forges and some Sacred Foundrys would help ease the colour requirements for mana. Creatures such as Isamaru and Savannah Lions might also be in the shortlist up there for creature slots. And in the other spells prolly some Char's would help. I mean we want to nail the opponent fast and quick and using Sunforger you can really pull the char from the deck and burn them good. Another card is the Jitte. One of the most played cards among aggro decks currently in type. While I don't like the idea of shelling out serious cash for one card this card usually gives the player more utility in the game.

This is my first article for this site and although it's just like a deck garage, I hope that this is acceptable for a first time writer.

Any comments please email to me at : typhed @ yahoo . com . au . Delete the spaces and you'd get it.

P.S If you guys out there have time, don't hesitate to join the #pojomagic channel either via java aplet or through irc and have a good magic chat. I'll try to get on as much as I can so please don't hesitate to exchange ideas.

Cheers!!

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