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Main » Articles » Ikoria Boros Brews

Ikoria Boros Brews

Mike Likes
Posted on April 30, 2020
 Reddit

Hello everyone. Now that Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths has been released digitally, it's time for me to start figuring out what decks I want to build on Magic Arena. As usual, I'll start by taking a look at a few different Boros builds this week. Hopefully I can find a deck that appeals to my aggressive side that can also win. Let's get started.

Winota, Joiner of Forces

The first deck we'll look at features Winota, Joiner of Forces. Let's take a look at the deck.

Boros Winota | IKO Standard | Freyaliser, aetherhub.com user

Winota, Joiner of Forces
Winota, Joiner of Forces allows you to get something for free by doing something you'll probably want to do anyway. With Winota's ability, whenever a non-Human creature attacks, you have the possibility of adding a Human from the top six cards of your deck as an attacker. That creature also gains indestructible for that turn, allowing you the potential to punch through a bit of damage. The best part about this ability is that the Human you gain remains on the battlefield, so by simply attacking, you'll be able to add to your forces and use your mana for other things.

This deck is a little Limited on the amount of non-Human creatures, but thanks to Legion Warboss, Raise the Alarm, and Chandra, Acolyte of Flame, you have numerous ways of creating non-Human creature tokens that you can attack with. Healer's Hawk is another exceptional non-Human in this deck, and the life you'll gain when it deals damage can give you an edge over the fastest Red aggro decks. One thing to remember is that Skyknight Vanguard will create a 1/1 Soldier when it attacks. That token will enter the battlefield tapped and attacking, so the Soldier token will not trigger Winota's ability since it's never declared as an attacker.

This deck has the ability to pull off a victory from out of nowhere thanks to Chance for Glory. Use it after your opponent has made an attack as a way to gain two back-to-back turns. The turn you play Chance for Glory, your creatures will become indestructible, making any blocks your opponent makes less relevant. You'll likely want to use this gambit when you have Winota, Joiner of Forces on the battlefield alongside at least a couple of other non-Humans, in order to maximize the potential for Winona to find you enough attackers that your opponent can't block enough to avoid lethal damage.

Boros Cycling

The next deck I have for you this week is a Boros deck that gains an advantage by cycling cards while specific cards are on the battlefield. Let's take a look at it.

Boros Cycling | IKO Standard | GashReaper7, aetherhub.com user

Yidaro, Wandering Monster
If you're looking for a deck to play that's full of new cards, then this is the deck for you. That makes perfect sense, though, since Ikoria is the only set currently in Standard that features any cards that have cycling. Thankfully, though, there are a lot of different abilities that trigger when you cycle a card, so you'll find a lot of variety in the play pattern of this deck. Drannith Stinger can deal direct damage to your opponent with each cycle, offering a bit of reach. Valiant Rescuer helps your team grow when you cycle, so you can go wide with your attacks. Flourishing Fox grows in size each time you cycle, turning into a massive creature. Each of these creatures can also be cycled, so if they don't fit in with your current plans, you'll still be able to benefit from playing them.

One of the best creatures you can cycle is Yidaro, Wandering Monster. When you cycle Yidaro, you will shuffle Yidaro back into your library before drawing your card. If you manage to cycle Yidaro four or more times, instead of shuffling it back into your deck, you'll put it onto the battlefield instead. You can then start stomping away on your opponent's life total thanks to Yidaro's haste and trample keywords. Yidaro is a terrific way to finish off an opponent.

There's a couple of other cards that have effects based on cycling that I'd like to talk about. The first is Reptilian Reflection. This enchantment turns into a 5/4 Dinosaur with trample and haste whenever you cycle a card. I've already mentioned how Yidaro, Wandering Monster can finish off games quickly due to its trample and haste, and while this is a little bit smaller of a creature, you can have multiple copies of Reptilian Reflection on the battlefield which can be deadlier than the lone legendary Yidaro. Another great way to finish off an opponent is with Zenith Flare. This instant will deal damage to any target (such as your opponent's life total) equal to the number of cards in your graveyard with cycling. It also gains you the same amount of life in the event that you're not able to finish the game when this spell resolves.

Zirda, the Dawnwaker

The final deck I have for you this week features Zirda, the Dawnwaker as a companion. Let's take a look at the deck.

Zirda, the Dawnwaker | IKO Standard | PH@NT0M_R3B00T, aetherhub.com user

Zirda, the Dawnwaker
With Zirda, the Dawnwaker as your companion, each permanent in your starting deck must have an activated ability. Since cycling is an activated ability, this deck shares a lot of the same cards as the Boros Cycling Deck. There's also a couple of other copies of Zirda, the Dawnwaker in the deck itself, so even if your companion copy gets destroyed, you'll still have the possibility of having a Zirda to play to give you the discount on mana when you use an activated ability.

Because there's a lot of cycling in this deck, Yidaro, Wandering Monster is included as a finisher for this deck. You also have a few copies of Zenith Flare that you can use as a way to finish off the last few points of your opponent's life total. There is also a copy of Embercleave in this deck, which has proven to be one of the best finishers in the game for a while now, regardless of the creature it is equipped to.

Another potential finisher for this deck is Skarrgan Hellkite. It's often best to use its riot ability to gain a +1/+1 counter when it enters the battlefield so that you'll be able to utilize your extra mana on future turns to deal extra damage. That will give you a 5/5 flying creature. You can also give Skarrgan Hellkite some useful abilities by cycling other cards. Sanctuary Smasher can be cycled to give first strike and Splendor Mare can be cycled to give lifelink. By giving those abilities to Skarrgan Hellkite, you create a massive threat that must be dealt with immediately.

Wrapping Up

It's really no secret that I'm a huge fan of Boros, so I'm anxious to build these decks to play on Magic Arena. What decks are you most interested in trying out?

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes

TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, decklist, boros, red-white, mike likes, ikoria, 04302020

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