I like red okay in Commander. It’s not a popular opinion, but I feel bad for red. I try to incorporate it into builds that may not need it and come up with fun ways to build red-based decks. I have a stupid Olivia Voldaren deck that is mono-pingers because I want to rule the world by strapping Basilisk Collar onto Deathbringer Thoctar or Quietus Spike onto Goblin Sharpshooter. That’s how I live my life. That deck’s not 75%, and I don’t even care. I feel that I’ve done a decent number of red-based decks in this series, and while a lot of them expose my bias for using Godo, Bandit Warlord as a 6-mana Stoneforge Mystic so I can find a Quietus Spike, I feel that I’ve made a nonzero number of good, 75%, red-based decks. I am a Simic at heart, but I have more Temur decks than Simic. I have given red far more than the simple benefit of the doubt.

That said, I just can’t make myself care about Boros. There are some cards I really, really like in a Boros context. Assemble the Legion is a card that makes me smile every time I resolve it. Sunforger may be my favorite Commander Equipment, and it seems to skirt my guideline concerning the consistency of tutors by being both clumsy and narrow and yet stupid-powerful and fun. Still, every time I start to build a Boros deck, I make it halfway through and then realize I’m building a Boros deck, and I just get up and do something else, leaving the deck forever unfinished. “More like Bore-os,” I say, garnering the same reaction Billy Madison did for “borophyl” and not caring because at least I don’t have to finish making a Boros deck. I’d rather come back to a hotel room to find my collection stolen and my toothbrush adulterated by the burglar than finish a Boros deck . . .

. . . Until today—I mean, I guess. We have a new Boros card, and he looks to be a traditional Boros card at first until you realize it will be awkward to pair him with any conception I have of what Boros wants to do. In his awkwardness, I’ll argue, there is opportunity.

If the experience counters granted an Anthem effect and made him the double-striking commander of an army of Assemble the Legion tokens, I’d be stoked. His mana cost would obviously need to go up, but he’d be obvious. But I think we don’t necessarily want obvious. I think there are a few exciting ways to build this, and I am going to discuss a few of them.

Giant Tribal ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (30)
• 1 Arbiter of Knollridge
• 1 Bloodfire Colossus
• 1 Bloodshot Cyclops
• 1 Boldwyr Intimidator
• 1 Borderland Behemoth
• 1 Callous Giant
• 1 Chancellor of the Forge
• 1 Cunning Giant
• 1 Desolation Giant
• 1 Giant Harbinger
• 1 Hamletback Goliath
• 1 Hammerfist Giant
• 1 Hammerheim Deadeye
• 1 Impelled Giant
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 1 Lairwatch Giant
• 1 Magma Giant
• 1 Mirror Entity
• 1 Oathsworn Giant
• 1 Pale Wayfarer
• 1 Stinkdrinker Daredevil
• 1 Stonehewer Giant
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Sunhome Enforcer
• 1 Sunrise Sovereign
• 1 Thundercloud Shaman
• 1 Wandering Graybeard
• 1 Adaptive Automaton
• 1 Brion Stoutarm
• 1 Jareth, Leonine Titan

• Spells (34)
• 1 Boros Fury-Shield
• 1 Captain's Maneuver
• 1 Condemn
• 1 Disenchant
• 1 Fatal Frenzy
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Crib Swap
• 1 Crush Underfoot
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Harsh Mercy
• 1 Incendiary Command
• 1 Insurrection
• 1 Razia's Purification
• 1 Titan's Revenge
• 1 Giant's Ire
• 1 Aurification
• 1 Journey to Nowhere
• 1 Mana Echoes
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Rage Reflection
• 1 Shared Animosity
• 1 Shared Triumph
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Coat of Arms
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Door of Destinies
• 1 Journeyer's Kite
• 1 Seer's Sundial
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Urza's Incubator

• Lands (35)
• 9 Mountain
• 9 Plains
• 1 Ancient Amphitheater
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Boros Guildgate
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Flamekin Village
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Temple of Triumph
• 1 Wind-Scarred Crag
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord

Buy This Deck

Tribal may seem a bit obvious, but I like how tribal cards like Urza's Incubator, Stinkdrinker Daredevil, and Mana Echoes can help with the mana-hungry giants you’re windmilling into play. And why are we extending so much when we primarily want to be serving with our commander? Well, a Giants tribal deck is going to give us a lot of reasons to have a lot of Giants by scaling the power of some powerful spells by how many giants we control. Throwing a Borderland Behemoth at opponents with Brion Stoutarm may be enough to kill someone if Coat of Arms does enough work. Tribal may be boring, but it’s only one direction I explored. This is a 75% list that packs enough of a punch to take down any heavyweight at the table. Like most Giants decks, it takes a bit of time and a lot of mana to get rolling, but once it does, you’re going to bully everyone else pretty severely. Try to stay alive long enough to gain your footing.

Another approach I saw online that I liked was a deck on Tappedout by user Phaetion that I think is good to go. The one thing that gives me a little heartburn is the Stoneforge Mystic and Stonehewer Giant without a ton of targets and really no target that is better than Sunforger. I don’t like the linearity of always grabbing Sunforger, but the deck is basically a Sunforger aggro–control deck (remember that was a thing before everything that wasn’t a weenie or combo deck was labeled “midrange” by StarCityGames?), and I think things will become interesting enough when you use Sunforger as a toolbox that sometimes just ends the game. I might make a few modifications to the deck, but I think it’s fine as a 75% deck as is, and I’ll get over Stoneforge Mystic making me nervous. I won’t pretend I don’t run it in a deck or two.

R/W Sunforger Goodstuff ? Commander | Phaetion from TappedOut

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Balefire Liege
• 1 Emeria Shepherd
• 1 Glarewielder
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 1 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Spitebellows
• 1 Stoneforge Mystic
• 1 Stonehewer Giant
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Duplicant
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
• 1 Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
• 1 Iroas, God of Victory

• Spells (41)
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Comeuppance
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Orim's Thunder
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Reverberate
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Valorous Stance
• 1 Volt Charge
• 1 Wear // Tear
• 1 Wild Ricochet
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Seize the Day
• 1 Tragic Arrogance
• 1 Wrath of God
• 1 Aggravated Assault
• 1 Gratuitous Violence
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Stranglehold
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Chariot of Victory
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Contagion Clasp
• 1 Contagion Engine
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Memory Jar
• 1 Mind's Eye
• 1 Pearl Medallion
• 1 Ruby Medallion
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Staff of Nin
• 1 Sunforger
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (40)
• 11 Mountain
• 11 Plains
• 1 Ancient Amphitheater
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Boros Guildgate
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Flamekin Village
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Temple of Triumph
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Wind-Scarred Crag
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord

Buy This Deck

While I feel this could use another creature or two just for the sake of consistent triggering, the intent seems to be to suit up and serve with Kalemne as soon as possible, and the creatures are almost an afterthought, and they are there as support cards rather than ways to trigger and buff the commander. Suited up with a Sunforger, you’re going to kill opponents in a few swings due to the double strike and the huge power boost from Sunforger. This deck is a toolbox deck, and while I would probably remove the Enlightened Tutor, I don’t think it’s too terribly pernicious. A deck like this that wants to suit up the commander is a little bit linear as it is, so I don’t suppose removing all the tutors would make the deck that much more interesting considering this is pure beatdown. I like how much proliferate is in the deck—Volt Charge is a great inclusion and can even be tutored up with Sunforger. Grow your commander, and take opponents to beatdown town.

Last, I think a traditional Voltron approach with a few Equipment and Auras—to make it clear you’re all-in on serving with Kalemne—is worth exploring. There are a lot of similar decks out there, most of them built around Tajic, Blade of the Legion or Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer that we can use as a template. Jor Kadeen pushes us into weenies and a lot of artifacts, and we’ll scale that back, maybe jam in some Auras, and see if we can’t build a big and bad enough Kalemne to one-shot anyone at the table, making sure everyone stays on his or her best behavior.

Boros Voltron ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (21)
• 1 Aegis Angel
• 1 Angelic Arbiter
• 1 Angelic Skirmisher
• 1 Charmbreaker Devils
• 1 Hellkite Charger
• 1 Hellkite Tyrant
• 1 Leonin Abunas
• 1 Requiem Angel
• 1 Serra Ascendant
• 1 Silverblade Paladin
• 1 Stoneforge Mystic
• 1 Stonehewer Giant
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Platinum Angel
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine
• 1 Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1 Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer
• 1 Odric, Master Tactician
• 1 Urabrask the Hidden

• Spells (38)
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Condemn
• 1 Faith's Reward
• 1 Master Warcraft
• 1 Oblation
• 1 Reiterate
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Conqueror's Pledge
• 1 Insurrection
• 1 Martial Coup
• 1 Wrath of God
• 1 Concerted Effort
• 1 Empyrial Armor
• 1 Spectra Ward
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 True Conviction
• 1 Unquestioned Authority
• 1 Warstorm Surge
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Boros Cluestone
• 1 Boros Keyrune
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Caged Sun
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Kusari-Gama
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Mind's Eye
• 1 Nim Deathmantle
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sunforger
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sword of War and Peace
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak
• 1 Helm of Kaldra
• 1 Shield of Kaldra
• 1 Sword of Kaldra

• Lands (40)
• 11 Mountain
• 12 Plains
• 1 Ancient Amphitheater
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Boros Guildgate
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Flamekin Village
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Temple of Triumph
• 1 Wind-Scarred Crag
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord

Buy This Deck

This is all about suiting up the commander. The Sunforger package is smaller, and you trade for some good Auras and way more Equipment to choose from. This looks pretty similar to the middle list, but it plays a lot differently. If anything, the middle list is a bit of a combination between the first and third lists, and the hybrid approach gives you some flexibility.

At first, a lot of people said Kalemne looked boring, and I think he is anything but. Whether you’re tribal, good-stuff, Voltron, or any other configuration, there are ways to take advantage of his excellent stats and the fact that he keeps the experience counters no matter how many times he dies.

What do we think? Do you still find him boring? Did you have an even less obvious build avenue in mind? Are you as excited about seeing the other four commanders as I am and hoping they also use experience counters? Which enemy-color combination is your favorite? Spoilers start in earnest November 2, so we should have a little bit better idea of what’s going on next week. Until then, read, share, like, retweet, and comment! Thanks for reading!