Ever since Modern Horizons 3 hit shelves last year, the word ‘Boros’ has been synonymous with Boros Energy. This is one of the most impressively resilient Modern decks we’ve ever seen, still topping the format even after multiple rounds of bans. That said, it’s not the only way to play red and white in Modern. In a Magic Online Modern League this week, Aspiringspike finished 5-0 with an innovative Boros Delirium list.
Aspiringspike is well-known for their innovative brews. Some of their recent creations include a Four-Color Helga Zoo list and an updated Hammer Time deck with Cori-Steel Cutter. This time, they’ve taken Boros in an interesting new direction, relying on graveyard synergies rather than Energy cards. The ol’ reliable Cori-Steel Cutter makes an appearance, too. While it plays fewer obvious Modern powerhouse cards than Energy, the strong synergy here may make this deck a viable option regardless.
Boros Delirium In MTG Modern
Boros Delirium, as the name suggests, is an MTG Modern deck all about loading your graveyard then taking advantage of it. It runs several actual Delirium cards, specifically Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Fear of Missing Out, and Violent Urge. Channeler and FOMO even help fulfill their own conditions, by Surveiling/rummaging cards into the bin. With Delirium online, all three of these cards can present a serious Aggro threat. This lets the deck play a solid early offense, especially given how cheap its enablers are.
Chief among these is Faithless Looting, which can turn on Delirium alone in the right hands. The deck also runs a full playset of Mishra’s Bauble, which adds a card type for free. Seasoned Pyromancer helps too, offering a strong combination of rummaging and board presence. It has an activated ability in the graveyard, too, which means it pulls double duty. It helps fill your ‘yard, and it’s great if another card puts it there.
Once you’re all set up, the deck has a wide range of graveyard synergies to exploit. The Delirium cards above are obvious examples, but there are other great ones too. Detective’s Phoenix can come back as an Aura for just one red mana, provided you have enough evidence to collect. It’s also an enchantment creature, like FOMO, so it counts twice for Delirium. You’ve also got Phlage and Recommission, the reasons for the deck’s small but significant white splash.
Phlage is an obvious one, being an efficient threat you can bring out of the bin later on. Recommission is a bit more obscure, but it can reanimate your entire creature suite for a ton of value. It can even bring back Mishra’s Bauble, if you need some draw in a pinch.
An Old Friend Returns
Recommission is also a great way to revive one of the more notorious cards in the deck: Cori-Steel Cutter. While the card has been banned in Standard, it’s still free to wreak havoc in Modern. In Boros Delirium, it provides a very viable alternate game plan: straightforward Prowess beatdown.
With so many cheap spells in the deck, it’s comically easy to trigger Cutter and generate Hasty Trampling Prowess Monks each turn. It’s also very easy to buff said Monks up via noncreature spells. Mishra’s Bauble does this beautifully, and so do Faithless Looting and Lightning Bolt. Detective’s Phoenix is particularly explosive here, coming down as an Aura when cast via Bestow from the graveyard.
For three mana, you can combine Cutter, Bauble, and Phoenix to create a 6/6 Flying Hasty Trampler. Throw in Violent Urge or an attacking FOMO, and this could result in 12-16 evasive damage in a single turn. That’s a huge burst, and can easily end the game given how common Shocklands and Fetchlands are in Modern.
The beauty of Cori-Steel Cutter in Boros Delirium is its flexibility. If you’re trying to win a grindy game, a free 2/2 every turn is fantastic. Cards like Phlage and Detective’s Phoenix give you a ton of natural resilience, and with Cutter in the mix, you can rebuild a board presence at the drop of a hat. Alternatively, if the opportunity presents itself, it also allows for quick early-game kills. As with most Prowess decks, this added option hugely increases the deck’s viability. It’s like playing an Aggro deck with a sneaky combo built in.
Other than a few copies of Arena of Glory in the mana base to power surprise Aggro pushes, that’s all she wrote for Boros Delirium.
A Better Boros?
While it plays a number of unconventional cards, Boros Delirium is an utterly ruthless MTG Modern deck that can win games both early and late. Based on Aspiringspike’s 5-0 League finish, it clearly has what it takes to hold its own in the format right now. The big question is whether it’s worth playing over the Energy-filled Elephant in the room.
There’s actually surprisingly little overlap between Boros Delirium and Boros Energy. The latter is, ultimately, more of a Midrange “good stuff” deck. Cards like Ragavan, Voice of Victory, and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker don’t offer huge synergies, but rather just good old-fashioned value. With Goblin Bombardment as a way to turn your tokens into damage, Boros Energy is more about pressing a gradual advantage.
Boros Delirium can pursue the same plan to an extent, but it really shines more in the early game. The burst damage potential makes it very scary to face, particularly in game one. Most Modern decks run cards to address graveyard strategies, but few put them in the main board. As a result, Delirium will likely be able to claim more ‘surprise’ wins against unprepared opponents than the (relatively) grindy Energy.
In the current meta, this could actually be a huge advantage. There’s a lot of Combo in Modern right now, between Amulet Titan and Belcher. These are decks that thrive on the precious extra turns that Midrange lists allow them. On the other hand, the high-tier Midrange decks, like Boros Energy and Esper Midrange, will likely perform quite well against this aggressive new list. Whether Boros Delirium becomes more than another fun Aspiringspike project, only time will tell.
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