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It’s no secret that boros convoke has been the best aggressive deck inMagic: The Gathering’sStandard format ever since the release of Murders at Karlov Manor. As standard is currently a format dominated by aggressive decks, this also means boros convoke is arguably the best deck in the metagame.
While rotation will subtract from this deck’s power level to a small degree, you’re able to bet that boros convoke isn’t going anywhere soon. The loss of Voldaren Epicure is a notable change in the decklist, however, it can easily be replaced so that your Gleeful Demolition maintains the same consistency of targets. Let’s see what the best deck in Standard might look like post-rotation.
Key Cards
Gleeful Demolition
AlongsideNovice Inspector, Yotian Frontliner, and, now, Rabbit Battery,Gleeful Demolition has enough targets to destroy one of your own artifacts and create a horde of goblins for an extremely undercosted price. Going wide is the name of the game with this deck, andthis is your best card for going as wide as possible.
Your best opening hands will containthis cardand anartifact or artifact creatureto ‘sacrifice’ to it. You can then take the most advantage of your go-wide payoff cards like Case of the Gateway Express, Warleader’s Call, Sanguine Evangelist, and Imodane’s Recruiter.
It’s usually best todeploy Gleeful Demolition on turn twoso that you may start swinging with your Goblin tokens before your opponent has blockers.
That being said, there are some times when you’ll want tohold onto Gleeful Demolitionuntil you have aWarleader’s Callon the battlefield. Pinging your opponent for three damage is a great alternative plan if your Goblins can’t attack early.
Knight-Errant Of Eos
Seeing as this is theonly card that actually has convoke, Knight-Errant of Eos is the namesake of the deckand for good reason.Typically, token strategies fall apart because the opponent can present blockers that will cost you tokens when you go to attacks. Knight-Errant solves this problem by allowing you to tap your tokens for mana and presenting a sizeable threat on its own.
Perhaps most importantly, Knight-Errant also lets you reload your hand with more creatures with which you’re able to litter the battlefield.It’s good toalways convoke for at least threeso that you can add any Imodane’s Recruiters you find to your hand. After all, Recruiter usually ends up being your alpha strike win condition.
Keep in mind that Knight-Errant finds creatures with mana value equal to or less than the amount of creatures that convoked it. If you have the creatures available, this means thatyou can convoke for five to chain Knight-Errantsassuming you find one on the top of your deck.
Imodane’s Recruiter
This is the card that completes your go-wide strategy. While Case of the Gateway Express and Warleader’s Call can both add nice buffs to your board, it’s the addition of Recruiter’s enter the battlefield trigger that typically lets you alpha strike for lethal damage.
Don’t forget thatRecruiter’s trigger also gives all of your creatures haste,allowing you to play the multitude of one and two mana cost creatures in this deck before casting Recruiter and going to combat with them immediately. You won’t use the Train Troops side of this card too often, however, it can make a huge difference in a matchup where the board stalls out.
Warden Of The Inner Sky
While boros convoke has no shortage of ways to break board stalls with an anthem or two, sometimes the board is going to stall out. In cases where you are unable to attack with your creatures due to opposing blockers,Warden of the Inner Skyis here to help you out.
Tap your creatures to make your warden a sizeable threat while also fixing the top of your deck for the exact card you need to break the board stall.Scrying multiple times can often be better than a draw effectwhen you’re playing highly synergistic cards like boros convoke does.
Often, you won’t be scrying to just remove dead draws like lands from the top of your deck. You’ll be scrying to find a card like Imodane’s Recruiter, Warleader’s Call, or Knight-Errant of Eos so that you can hit your opponent with a haymaker.
Don’t be afraid toscry away smaller creaturesin favor of the chance to draw a finisher.
How To Play Boros Convoke
Go wide strategies typically seek toreach a critical mass of creatures before buffing them all and swinging in for lethal with an alpha strike.Boros convoke is no different in this regard. The first few turns of the game will be spent building your board with your one cost and two cost creatures as well as chipping in for damage where you may.
Don’t be afraid to lose a creature to a blocker if you’re able to chip in for three or more damage. The damage adds up turn after turn!
Ideally,turn three or four is when you drop a Case of the Gateway Express or Warleader’s Callto buff the power of your entire attack force. Multiples of each card or both cards in tandem are even better.
By turn four or five, you’ll either cast an Imodane’s Recruiter and swing for lethal or convoke a Knight-Errant of Eosso that you can add Imodane’s Recruiter to your hand and alpha strike on the following turn. In short, go wide, buff your board, and alpha strike for lethal damage.
Of course, this is assuming everything goes to plan. As mentioned previously,Warden of the Inner Sky and Knight-Errant of Eos can help you find additional gas to break any potential board stalls.Furthermore,Sanguine Evangelist’s battle cry triggerprovides yet another way to give your creatures an additional anthem that might allow you to swing in for lethal.
Sideboarding
There’s a lot of synergy to boros convoke which meansyou don’t have a lot of cards to take out of the deck when sideboarding.Primary candidates for swapping out includeSanguine Evangelist, Case of the Gateway Express,andWarleader’s Call.
While these are all anthems that are important to boros convoke’s strategy,the deck has such a redundancy of anthems that it can afford to lose a few of the ones that aren’t as useful in a specific matchup.For example, Case of the Greatway Express is much less impressive of a card when the opponent isn’t playing any good creatures to use it as removal against.
As far as bringing cards in,Lithomantic Barrage, Get Lost, and Destroy Evilare all good answers to big creatures that try to roadblock your attacks.Destroy Evil, in particular, is useful against decks playing Wedding Announcement or other enchantments. In other words, these are your typical answers to midrange decks.
As far as control matchups are concerned, Invasion of Gobakhan and Urabrask’s Forge are here to provide assistance.Gobakhan gives you a way to fight board wipes, and Urabrask’s Forge provides inevitability against decks trying to win in the super late game.
