MTG Avatar Prerelease weekend has come and gone, and players are finally able to utilize all of the new goodies that the set has brought to the table. From intriguing Allies to elite Spirits, MTG Avatar is jam-packed with powerful build-arounds, opening the door for some sweet brews to emerge.
Yesterday, the first Magic Online Standard Challenge to feature the new cards showcased a multitude of unique strategies. One of the coolest and most successful decks of the bunch is a Boros Aggro shell that made it all the way to the top four. This archetype is designed to abuse the new Firebending mechanic, which can easily take over games if left unchecked.
Crafting Around Firebending
At a baseline, the goal behind this archetype is to maximize the power of Firebender Ascension. As a two-mana enchantment that creates a 2/2 Soldier token when it enters, the floor on Ascension is already pretty high. On top of that, though, the card’s ceiling is absolutely incredible.
Getting four quest counters on Ascension isn’t super difficult in a deck filled with cheap creatures like Hired Claw and Stadium Headliner that have attack triggers. Once you get Ascension online, your Firebending cards become significantly easier to abuse. A single attack with the Soldier token now nets you two mana in combat, which is the perfect number to funnel into the activated abilities of either of your red one-drops.
Where things get really crazy is when you manage to pair Ascension with The Legend of Roku. The front half does a decent Showdown of the Skalds impression, which is undoubtedly powerful, but the real synergy lies with the back side. Alongside Ascension, a single attack with Avatar Roku will net you eight red mana to use in combat, which conveniently is enough to make a 4/4 Dragon. That token also has Firebending 4, so as long as Avatar Roku sticks around, you’ll be able to grow your board of threats exponentially turn after turn.
For a strategy with such an aggressive slant, having access to synergies like these that provide inevitability gives you a much better shot in grindy games. Plus, all of your efficient threats become much scarier when their attack triggers are doubled, and that extends beyond just those with Firebending. Unfortunately, though, you won’t always draw Ascension, so it’s essential to have a solid backup plan. Luckily, this archetype comes equipped with some much-needed redundancy.
A Token Subtheme
One of the most interesting things to note about how this Boros Aggro deck is constructed is that, outside of Avatar Roku, every creature has power two or less. Creatures like Voice of Victory and Sanguine Evangelist are still capable of applying lots of early pressure by enabling you to go wide, but individually, these creatures are puny. At first, this may seem like a downside, but instead, it enables you to use Delney, Streetwise Lookout to its full potential.
Not only does Delney do a great job filling in for Ascension by helping you get extra mileage out of your Firebending and Mobilize creatures, but he also makes it much more difficult for your small threats to be blocked down in combat. It doesn’t take long to assemble lethal with Voice of Victory plus Arabella, Abandoned Doll, and in a format ruled by Simic Aggro and Ouroboroid, having your own way of breaking open a board stall goes a long way.
Notably, your go-wide elements also work to further maximize Stadium Headliner and Torch the Tower as efficient removal spells. Sacrificing one of your Mobilize tokens to pay for Bargain is a minuscule cost, and the upside of exiling Enduring Curiosity out of Dimir Midrange for just one mana is huge. Dimir Midrange and Simic Aggro were both super prevalent in this event, making Boros Aggro a great early metabreaker.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Overall, when this deck gets to do its thing, it’s incredibly difficult to beat. Decks that don’t have access to much removal risk getting completely run over by a fast draw. All it takes is pumping up Ascension or sticking Delney to get your engine rolling. The bad news, however, is that you won’t always be able to set things up against decks with tons of removal.
Orzhov Self-Bounce, for instance, has tons of cheap kill spells at the ready. Nowhere to Run cleans up every creature in the main deck besides Avatar Roku, which takes a while to transform. With Nurturing Pixie and Sunpearl Kirin in the mix as ways to rebuy Nowhere to Run, you may struggle to even get a single quest counter on Ascension. If that weren’t enough, your three-damage removal spells don’t kill Cosmogrand Zenith, which can flood the board with tokens in a matter of turns.
Additionally, because a lot of your game plan revolves around making tokens via Mobilize that don’t stick around long-term, Authority of the Consuls out of control shells is a massive pain. Even playing around board wipes like Pinnacle Starcage is tough in some spots.
In this sense, Boros Aggro is far from foolproof. Nonetheless, there’s no denying how powerful its draws can be when uninterrupted. It’s still very early in Avatar Standard, but depending on how the metagame continues to evolve, Boros Aggro could prove to be a strong choice moving forward. Make sure to keep it on your radar or you risk falling behind in a heartbeat.
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