Pioneer: Boros Legends - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

The first week of Aetherdrift has been marked by experiments with various cards in competitive Magic formats. From potential staples like Ketramose, the New Dawn to pleasant surprises like Oildeep Gearhulk, Magic's newest expansion is slowly blending into the format's broad card pool to create new metagames.

One of these new additions was Basri, Tomorrow's Champion, another white one-drop legend to interact with Mox Amber and give Pioneer players another reason to experiment with an aggressive legendary deck in the format, culminating in Boros Legends.

This is basically the same list used by player shortsshortmtg in the Pioneer Challenge on February 15th, with the only difference being the addition of Arabella, Abandoned Doll to the list, as it is another legendary that we can take advantage of in the list since most of our creatures have power two or less.

Another card worth considering in the Arabella and Sheltered by Ghosts slots is Thalia’s Lieutenant. Although it is not a legendary, all the creatures in the deck except Skrelv, Defector Mite and the lone copy of Zurgo Bellstriker are Human, so it would help grow their power, while also increasing its own power with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar.

We can even create micro-interactions with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death in this version. But I believe we would be talking about a different proposal, and I will leave this version for testing later.

Maindeck

The main reason to play Boros Legends is to extract the most from Mox Amber to have more explosive plays earlier.

One-drops are essential to enable Mox Amber on the first turn, and it is not uncommon to cast a creature, play Amber and use its mana to play another creature on the same turn.

Kytheon, Hero of Akros offers a cheap, aggressive body with an ability that protects it from removal. Its Planeswalker side adds a lot of pressure to the board, and there are situations where we can trigger it on the second turn.

Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion is the new addition from Aetherdrift and provides another one-drop with two power and an ability that we can use to increase the number of creatures on the board. In addition, it interacts with Inti, Seneschal of the Sun through *Cycling.

Skrelv, Defector Mite provides protection for our creatures and a way to get past blockers. It is excellent for triggering Arabella, Abandoned Doll every combat, or ensuring that Adeline, Resplendent Cathar closes the game quickly.

Kellan, Planar Trailblazer also has an aggressive body with the added bonus of being a great mana sink for our list, gradually growing with each activation stage and becoming an efficient source of card advantage.

Zurgo Bellstriker is on the list because if we have Kytheon, Hero of Akros, Mox Amber and another one-drop on turn one, we can use his Dash ability to trigger Kytheon on turn two, with the bonus of Gideon's Planeswalker side protecting the second one-drop from removal. More than one copy doesn't seem necessary, since Zurgo is the worst of our one-drops.

In a list of 30 creatures, it's only natural that Thalia, Guardian of Thraben does a great job of blocking the opponent's interactions, despite it being counterintuitive with Mox Amber in later turns.

Arabella, Abandoned Doll takes advantage of the fact that most of the creatures in this deck have two or less power to give more reach, in addition to guaranteeing life gain against Aggro.

Inti, Seneschal of the Sun is our other source of card advantage, guaranteeing evasion for our threats and also having the bonus of interacting with the discard effects of Channel Lands, which this list runs a full set of.

Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon interacts with both Arabella, Abandoned Doll and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar since she puts more tokens into play each combat. Adeline is usually our main win condition and also has positive interactions with Arabella.

An Adeline equipped with Embercleave is often a game-ender, but the equipment is also useful with Kellan, Planar Trailblazer, Kytheon, Hero of Akros, or any other creature that can grow during the game in some way.

I consider Sheltered by Ghosts to be a flexible slot which can include more creatures, other types of interactions, increase the number of Embercleave, or any other piece that is necessary for the deck.

I like its inclusion as a means of interacting with the board and guaranteeing some breathing room against Aggro, but it is not essential to the list.

In this deck, we should treat the Channel Lands as spells before lands from the third turn on. Due to the high number of legends we have, it is common to use their abilities by paying only one mana, making them extremely flexible cards in the game.

Plaza of Heroes is another land that doubles as a source of mana and protection for our creatures, allowing them to be more resilient in the game. Cavern of Souls allows us to bypass counterspells since most of our creatures are Humans.

Sideboard

Loran of the Third Path is our default answer against artifacts and enchantments like Unholy Annex, Artist’s Talent or the Overlords cycle.

Two copies of Loran seems ideal to keep consistency, while the flexibility of Wear // Tear ensures a spot for the card in the Sideboard in the first few weeks of Aetherdrift. If artifacts don’t become very relevant with the set, it’s better to swap it out for Destroy Evil.

Our anti-aggro package includes Portable Hole as a cheap removal against the smaller drops of Prowess or Atarka Gruul decks.

Lightning Helix is a bit more comprehensive against three-mana creatures, but loses some of its effectiveness when dealing with Emberheart Challenger or Heartfire Hero.

Rest in Peace is our standard answer against any archetype that relies on graveyard interactions, such as Izzet Phoenix, Greasefang, or Sacrifice.

Reidane, God of the Worthy is primarily used in Control or Niv-to-Light and Enigmatic Incarnation games. Its other side is essential to deal with Jund Sacrifice or any other archetype with Mayhem Devil.

In longer games, Urza’s Ruinous Blast can win games on its own. Having a one-sided sweeper for five mana that deals with all of your opponent’s nonland permanents opens up countless possibilities to completely cut off your opponent’s advance in the game. It’s a bit of an experimental card and other options can take its place if players prefer protection, but it can turn some games that would otherwise be unwinnable.

Rakdos Demons

IN

OUT

Rakdos Prowess

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Four-Color Zur

IN

OUT

Nykthos Ramp

IN

OUT