Boros Commanders Wish List Re: “The Boros Problem”
I’ve seen a lot of people talk about a dissapointment in the seemingly single direction that the current Boros commanders have taken in Commander/EDH. The main critique has been that people want to see elements of Boros other than turning sideways. For every Brion Stoutarm there are many more Agrus Kos, Wojek Veterans. The good news, is that Maro (@blogatog) states that he and R&D is aware of this. So what might be some interesting directions? Below are a few that I like, but they are, by no means, comprehensive. This is just for fun. If you have any that you’d like to see, by all means, reply/reblog with your ideas/opinions.
1) Some sort of Searing Meditation play.
This is a pretty big piece of Boros’ color-pie that hasn’t really been explored via a legendary creature. Gaining life via dealing damage, or vice versa. Or even different effects based on either one. Soulfire Grand Master-type effects could work here as well, granting direct damage spells lifelink.
2) A legendary Balefire Liege.
Similar to the idea above, a legendary that would deal damage or gain life based on some trigger.
3) Token generation ala Blaze Commando.
Here is token generation based on spell-slinging. Might be more appropriate for Izzet, but I don’t think its completely out of Boros’ slice of the color-pie.
4) Damage Redirection like Boros Reckoner.
The effect has been in white since the beginning, and it has become a common trick for Boros. In fact, Deflecting Palm is a recent version.
5) Combat Assignments like seen on Master Warcraft.
While Odric, Master Tactician puts this effect in White, I think that Master Warcraft keeps it in Boros. While this may seem like a choice that would still focus on “turning sideways,” I really enjoy Odric and could see this as a fun Boros commander.
6) Some type of card advantage/draw.
This is notoriously the weak-spot in Boros, at least in Commander. It’s no secret that card draw is what makes Blue/Black/Green in the top tier of Commander. While straight draw might be a break, the impulsive draw that Red has been getting recently might just be what is needed in Boros.
