Gatecrash has finally been revealed in all its glory, and there are a number of cards in the set that I'm eager to start brewing with. I'll be kicking things off with my own favorite guild: the Boros Legion. My last take on a Boros deck was during the very first previews of the set, so there have been quite a few great cards revealed since then. Here's the deck I put together with them:

"Boros Aggro"

• Creatures (27)
• 3 Pyreheart Wolf
• 4 Boros Reckoner
• 4 Cloistered Youth
• 4 Dryad Militant
• 4 Rakdos Cackler
• 4 Spark Trooper
• 4 Wojek Halberdiers

• Spells (11)
• 4 Boros Charm
• 4 Searing Spear
• 3 Pillar of Flame

• Lands (22)
• 10 Mountain
• 8 Plains
• 4 Boros Guildgate

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Thunderbolt
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 3 Homing Lightning
• 3 Skullcrack
• 3 Electrickery

Buy This Deck

The Army

Dryad Militant, on the other hand, hasn't made as much of a mark on Standard. Although its power has been heralded by many, most of the decks that might play it either have mana dorks as their 1-drops or are Human tribal decks. This deck, however, can take full advantage of the flashback-hosing Dryad.

Wojek Halberdiers is at the very least an upgrade to Gore-House Chainwalker, and it has even more upside. When you attack with three creatures, which is not difficult in this deck, the Halberdiers gain first strike, making them fairly difficult to deal with in combat. With 3 power, they're large enough to take down a Thragtusk without blinking.

Cloistered Youth is a card I haven't made use of in some time, despite it being one of the cards on my power uncommons list for Innistrad. Although it does have a drawback when you transform it, it gives you a 3/3 for just 2 mana, and the life-loss is rarely relevant in such an aggressive deck. Gore-House Chainwalker may prove to be a better choice, but I'm eager to experiment with a 2-drop that can't be killed by a 2-power blocker.

Boros Reckoner is an interesting creature with some potential for Standard. Although its stats aren't overly impressive as a 3/3 for 3, the ability to gain first strike for 1 mana becomes relevant surprisingly often, and the Spitemare ability will help you either take down larger creatures with a revenge strike or punch through some damage no matter how many blockers your opponent has.

Spark Trooper, which has quickly adopted the nickname Ball Lightning Helix, is very interesting as a potential finisher for an aggressive deck. Although not as powerful as Ball Lightning in many scenarios, Ball Lightning is still a reasonable creature at 4 mana, and this variant gives you a massive amount of value against other aggressive decks, which are sure to be fairly common shortly after the release of Gatecrash. This has the potential to be a 12-point life swing, and it will usually end up being at least a 9-point life swing with a one-for-one tacked on. Many times, your opponent will be forced to sacrifice one of his creatures to the Trooper to avoid being put within range of Boros Charm.

The Spells

Searing Spear has taken Pillar of Flame's spot as the premier burn spell of the format, with large thanks to its ability to kill Silverblade Paladin at instant speed. It also helps that the 3 damage is enough to get rid of Thragtusk, Centaur Healer, and various Beast tokens. Despite being unseated, Pillar of Flame is still quite effective, and I feel that this deck wants a bit more removal, so I included a few of those as well.

The Sideboard

Rest in Peace fills the role of graveyard hate for the various Unburial Rites decks, and it does so extremely effectively. This will probably be the best graveyard hate we have in Standard for some time, so I'd pick up a few if you're planning on playing white anytime soon.

Homing Lightning seems to be a fairly effective tool against token decks, killing any number of Beast tokens for 4 mana, even if they're boosted by Intangible Virtue. This should allow you to kill your opponent out of nowhere fairly often, eliminating most or all of his creatures in one go.

Skullcrack is an incredibly effective tool against control decks, stopping your opponent from gaining life with Thragtusk or Sphinx's Revelation and hitting him for 3 in the process. This can absolutely wreck any attempts to stabilize, so you'll want to be careful about how and when you spend your mana when you have one of these in hand.

Electrickery can slaughter Lingering Souls tokens as long as they're not boosted by Intangible Virtue, but it also kills Invisible Stalker at instant speed, which can lead to a lot of wins against the Aura decks that have been taking down large tournaments recently.

Playtesting

Bant Auras – Game 1

I drew Wojek Halberdiers, played my Plains, and attacked with the Cackler. I then cast Dryad Militant, killed Avacyn's Pilgrim with Pillar of Flame, and passed the turn. My opponent played a tapped Temple Garden and passed the turn.

I drew Boros Reckoner, played my Mountain, and attacked with both creatures. My opponent dropped to 14, and I cast the Reckoner and passed the turn. My opponent cast Abundant Growth on his Forest, then played Hinterland Harbor and passed the turn.

I drew Spark Trooper and attacked with everything. My opponent dropped to 7, and I cast Wojek Halberdiers before ending my turn. He cast Selesnya Charm at the end of my turn to make a Knight token, then drew his card and conceded.

Sideboarding:

−3 Pillar of Flame

+3 Electrickery

Game 2

My opponent played a Hinterland Harbor and put Spectral Flight on his Pilgrim. He passed the turn. I drew another Rakdos Cackler, cast it, and played my Boros Guildgate. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a tapped Temple Garden, put another Spectral Flight on the Pilgrim, and passed the turn. I drew Pyreheart Wolf, played my Plains, and cast the Wolf.

I passed the turn, and my opponent played a land and attacked me for 5 before passing back. I drew a Mountain, played it, and swung with everything for 5 damage. I cast Boros Reckoner and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Forest and attacked for 5 again before passing the turn. I drew Dryad Militant and attacked with everything, dropping my opponent to 7. I cast the Militant and passed the turn.

My opponent cast Ethereal Armor on his Pilgrim, attacked, and pumped it with Selesnya Charm for exactly lethal damage.

Game 3

I drew Boros Reckoner and attacked with the Cackler for 2. I played my Plains, cast Dryad Militant, and passed the turn. My opponent played Hinterland Harbor and cast Invisible Stalker before passing back.

I drew Wojek Halberdiers and attacked for 4. I cast the Halberdiers, played my Guildgate, and passed the turn. My opponent played a Glacial Fortress and cast Silverblade Paladin, pairing it with Invisible Stalker. He ended his turn.

I drew a Plains, played it, and cast Boros Reckoner and my other Dryad Militant. I passed the turn. My opponent played an Island, cast Abundant Growth on it, then enchanted Invisible Stalker with Ethereal Armor and Spectral Flight and attacked for 12. He ended his turn.

I drew another Plains, dropped my opponent to 4 with my army, and died to a giant Invisible Stalker.

Wrap-Up

Although I lost that match, the games I did lose were extremely close and came down to the last few draw steps. This deck is definitely a powerful choice for the new Standard, and although it may struggle somewhat against decks like Naya midrange, Boros Charm gives you a lot of reach and can help close out games even after a Thragtusk hits the board. If you're a proud member of the Boros Legion or if you're just eager to play with what's been called the best card in Gatecrash, give this deck a try.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @MTGCannon, or simply leave a comment below.