Boy howdy, my first stab at a Boros deck was a stinker. Luckily, all it takes to try again is, like, thirteen bucks or something. So off I go!

This time, I feel like I had the proper combination of 1) room to draft after appropriate cutting off of the Boros and obvious disinterest upstream; 2) A clear signal from heaven (literally) to draft Boros pack one, pick one; and 3) the critical red commons to complement my little guys.

101:
Firemane Angel; Selesnya Guildmage; Dark Heart of the Wood; Trophy Hunter; Skyknight Legionnaire; Terraformer; Shambling Shell; Smash; Boros Recruit; Zephyr Spirit; Incite Hysteria; Clinging Darkness; Golgari Rot Farm; Convolute; Courier Hawk

My Pick:
Um, the Angel.

My last, ill-fated, attempt to go Boros started with the other angel, Razia, who's no mean shakes herself (though hideously expensive). This, however, is the Angel with the mostest if you're looking for a playable Big Mean Flyer in Boros colors. This pack is actually fraught with meaty-good cards, including the Guildmage, the Legionnaire, and Trophy Hunter…

But who are we kidding? Take the Angel, thank the fates, and draft the pants out of Boros. Let's see if that works better this time around...

102:
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion; Ethereal Usher; Devouring Light; Disembowel; Golgari Signet; Boros Recruit; Elvish Skysweeper; Seismic Spike; War-Torch Goblin; Fists of Ironwood; Dimir House Guard; Tattered Drake; Consult the Necrosages; Golgari Rot Farm

My Pick:
Devouring Light

This is another no-brainer. While Devouring Light is best in Selesnya, it's really freaking good in any deck that can swing double-white. Again, I'm forced to send along some things I'd really like (Sunhome being the biggest deal) but there's a chance that Sunhome will table (there's only one deck that wants it) and the rest are late picks.

103:
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb; Indentured Oaf; Flight of Fancy; Veteran Armorer; Dryad's Caress; Perplex; Necromantic Thirst; Vedalken Entrancer; Benevolent Ancestor; Bramble Elemental; Torpid Moloch; Mortipede; Induce Paranoia

My Pick:
Indentured Oaf

Another pleasant surprise. Somebody's gonna get one heck of a Golgari thang from me, what with all the green, and now Svogthos turning up. The Oaf will sometimes do nothing, but less often than you think, and there are ways to clear red guys out of the way. Crick and Watson. Rhymes with Fark. Stuff like that.

104:
Conclave Phalanx; Nullmage Shepherd; Reroute; Galvanic Arc; Seeds of Strength; Dimir Infiltrator; Conclave's Blessing; Elvish Skysweeper; Fists of Ironwood; Votary of the Conclave; Terrarion; Barbarian Riftcutter

My Pick:
Galvanic Arc

Yeah, that one. I'm such a mad phat drafter.

Somebody needs to tell me if Reroute is any good. I like the card (I like all the red cards like it, because they feel a little bit like Counterspells and red shouldn't get to do that), but I don't think its stock will truly rise until there's more activated abilities that you want to halt.

105:
Instill Furor; Dimir Machinations; Cyclopean Snare; Dimir Signet; Shred Memory; Grayscaled Gharial; Dimir Infiltrator; Tidewater Minion; Ordruun Commando; Stasis Cell; Selesnya Sanctuary

My Pick:
Tidewater Minion

Not much here for me. I probably should have taken the Commando, especially since he gets much better with Arc. But the Minion would give me fits in my attempt to storm the ground, and is very helpful to Dimir Mill.dec, and generally isn't fun. So I took it away from its rightful home and locked it in the cellar.

As I made my screenshot and passed the pack, I felt a little bad about Instill Furor, which, in its own special way, could make a contribution to Boros. But I don't like the card. First off, it's a verb. Enchantments are nouns. Spells are verbs, if anything is. Sometimes they're nouns too, but only when appropriate. Galvanic Arc isn't “Hammer That.” You know why? Because enchantments are nouns. Whenever I look at Instill Furor, I have to remember that it's an enchantment, because it's a verb and enchantments ain't verbs.

I suppose the reasoning is that you're probably sticking this on your opponent's dude. But Clinging Darkness isn't “Bestow Weakness” or something like that. Know why? Yeah, you know why. Wouldn't “Distilled Furor” be more appropriate (although ugly as sin)?

Secondly, I just don't know what I would stick this on, except an Entrancer or something. So to me, it's a sideboard card. Apparently the table agreed, because if memory serves I picked up the Instill the second time around.

106:
Congregation at Dawn; Glass Golem; Sell-Sword Brute; Stone-Seeder Hierophant; Rain of Embers; Infectious Host; Sparkmage Apprentice; Dogpile; Mortipede; Tattered Drake

My Pick:
Sell-Sword Brute

For a weenie deck, I'm suspiciously short on weenies. The Brute is a fine guy, and I haven't found his disadvantage to be all that tragic. He'll almost always get in two himself, and often much more if he's got backup burny stuff. More particularly, he costs two. Glass Golem is not a bad pickup for things with Fear, but not while there's red or white dorks to be had.

107:
Carrion Howler; Mnemonic Nexus; Bathe in Light; Gate Hound; Golgari Brownscale; Surge of Zeal; Sadistic Augermage; Barbarian Riftcutter; Consult the Necrosages

My Pick:
Bathe in Light

Better than Incite Hysteria by a long shot, Bathe can serve as a “you can't block” alpha strike or can save a guy (or team) from any number of grisly fates. I'm a little surprised to see it this late, and am starting to feel pretty darn good about my colors.

Golgari Brownscale, by the way, is another one of those dudes that you really don't want your opponent to have. Not only will he block your dorks, but he gains life upon returning. Boo, I say. Boo.

108:
Remand; Snapping Drake; Caregiver; Sundering Vitae; Surge of Zeal; Surveilling Sprite; Benevolent Ancestor; Dimir Aqueduct

My Pick:
Remand

I need a playset of those bad boys for mono-blue, so I yanked it. I don't know that the Ancestor belongs in a Boros deck – you want things like Arc and Legionnaires in your three spot.

109:
Dark Heart of the Wood; Skyknight Legionnaire; Smash; Boros Recruit; Zephyr Spirit; Incite Hysteria; Convolute;

My Pick:
Skyknight Legionnaire

Um, what? Note that somebody took a Courier Hawk over the Legionnaire. That just seems wrong. The Recruit's there, too, although I cannot think of a single circumstance where I would want it over the Legionnaire. Could I be the only Boros drafter?

110:
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion; Ethereal Usher; Boros Recruit; Seismic Spike; War-Torch Goblin; Golgari Rot Farm

My Pick:
Sunhome

Apparently, I am the only Boros drafter. There are two key Boros one-drops and the Fortress still in the pack! It's possible that there's somebody on the other end of the table, but why would he pass the Legionnaire? This looks to be a bonanza.

111:
Flight of Fancy; Dryad's Caress; Perplex; Torpid Moloch; Induce Paranoia

My Pick:
Flight of Fancy

Perhaps I should have continued to hose Dimir, or taken the Moloch, but Flight is too good to let pass. Boros/u? Probably not.

112:
Reroute; Conclave's Blessing; Votary of the Conclave; Barbarian Riftcutter

My Pick:
Barbarian Riftcutter

I guess that I was sour on the Reroute from my last draft. I think I should have at least considered it, as the Riftcutter is sort of against theme. Ah well.

113:
Instill Furor, Cyclopean Snare; Shred Memory

My Pick:
Instill Furor

114:
Stone-Seeder Hierophant; Rain of Embers

My Pick:
Rain of Embers

One nice thing about red having so many commons is that you can pick up some things that are potentially useful late, as no one else wants them...

115:
Surge of Zeal

On the other hand, some of them suck eggs, which is why no one wants them.

I was practically giddy after this pack, but I also knew that I needed to start filling in the one- and two-drop rosters with meaty little guys. Garrison should have risen in the pick order as well, and obviously anything that burned things. Pretty much nothing excuses the following, though...

201:
Golgari Grave-Troll; Netherborn Phalanx; Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion; Ethereal Usher; Flight of Fancy; Boros Signet; Quickchange; Boros Recruit; Elvish Skysweeper; Muddle the Mixture; Nightguard Patrol; Ordruun Commando; Boros Garrison; Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi; Torpid Moloch

My Pick:
Boros Signet

This is very nice and all, but if I wanted an accelerant I should have taken the bounce land. Signets gum the curve. I did have the Angel to justify needing a source of Boros-colored mana - but again, there was the bounce land.

If I had even a brain in my head I would have rare-drafted the Grave-Troll. They're in my current standard deck. They're in various Mad 'Tog builds. John Friggin' Rizzo just wrote a hundred and seven pages about them. They're worth tickets, dawg! And if I was going to be noble and ignore the Troll, I don't know what inspired me to skip the Patrol. Although he costs three, he doesn't suck, and he's a guy, which I lack, somewhat.

Ah, well; apparently, my second pack first-pick needs work, as I often seem to take something idiotic.

202:
Copy Enchantment; Greater Forgeling; Mark of Eviction; Peel from Reality; Selesnya Evangel; Leave No Trace; Sundering Vitae; Goblin Fire Fiend; Vedalken Dismisser; Nightguard Patrol; Sparkmage Apprentice; Dimir Aqueduct; Coalhauler Swine; Strands of Undeath

My Pick:
Copy Enchantment

When I first saw this card in the spoiler, I thought it had to be a bad translation of a Japanese name. Then it came out and it was, in fact, the name of the card. It's another verb, which in this case I kinda don't mind as the card takes the name of the enchantment it copies.

Anyway, having apparently dismissed the Apprentice as a late pick and the Leave no Trace as... Um, not good... I raredrafted the Copy.

Nice. Good timing on the raredrafting, bub. There's a Troll that can kill you dead somewhere in the hands of a smarter person (this is foreshadowing, by the way), but at least they can't copy an enchantment. You're a genius.

203:
Peregrine Mask; Wizened Snitches; Suppression Field; Seeds of Strength; Viashino Fangtail; Golgari Signet; Grayscaled Gharial; Dromad Purebred; Rally the Righteous; Sabertooth Alley Cat; Boros Garrison; Farseek; Viashino Slasher

My Pick:
Viashino Fangtail

Yaus. This dude is a house all on his own, and a crucial addition to your stable of Boros blokes. I was hoping that Rally would table, but I wasn't really expecting it.

204:
Seed Spark; Goliath Spider, Selesnya Signet; Boros Signet; Stone-Seeder Hierophant; Barbarian Riftcutter; Sewerdreg; Thundersong Trumpeter; Sadistic Augermage; Goblin Spelunkers; Gaze of the Gorgon; Terraformer

My Pick:
Thundersong Trumpeter

Ah, a two-drop. A good one, too, helping to keep Drifts away or playing Master Decoy on a scary attacker across the board. I think this guy needs to be a high pick if you know you're Boros in order to help keep blockers off your back while you're waiting for your burn spells.

205:
Grifter's Blade; Conclave Phalanx (Foil); Compulsive Research; Conclave Equenaut; Shred Memory; Drake Familiar; Leave No Trace; Centaur Safeguard; Terraformer; Wojek Siren; Selesnya Sanctuary

My Pick:
Centaur Safeguard

I'm not sure that this can be justified in the long run. The Blade plays nicely with all my guys and amounts to a combat trick. Were I to go back, I might have taken it over the Safeguard.

I don't like the Equenaut in Boros because he feels too slow. Either you power him out early at the cost of three or four points of damage, or he shows up late to less effect than he would have had if he had come early. But I'm probably wrong.

I had an Angel up there already, though, and felt it was overkill. The Siren would have been nice, though; I tend to undervalue it, preferring Rally as “the better pump spell,” but the Siren can certainly lay the hurt, save a guy, etc.

But the Safeguard will certainly be played, gains life upon leaving the field, and can swing with abandon. I was also a little worried about my dude count at this point.

So. Safeguard it is.

206:
Conclave Equenaut; Skyknight Legionnaire; Fiery Conclusion; Thoughtpicker Witch; Dizzy Spell; Caregiver; Vedalken Dismisser; Boros Fury-Shield; Viashino Slasher; Roofstalker Wight

My Pick:
Skyknight Legionnaire

No question in my mind about this one. I'd rather have this over the Fury-Shield any day, although perhaps I should have remembered the round-the-table trip of my first Legionnaire and taken the Shield. Still, though, I need guys. And if cheaper guys aren't on offer, I'll take the best available guys.

207:
Blockbuster; Vindictive Mob; Twisted Justice; Peel from Reality; Rally the Righteous; Infectious Host; Dizzy Spell; Vedalken Dismisser; Boros Fury-Shield

My Pick:
Rally the Righteous

Yet another choice of things that cost three – and again, in my opinion, Rally is better. I have yet to use the Rally during my opponent's combat phase, although I have often used it as a two-for-one against a particularly nasty blocker, netting some damage in the process.

I like the card. More than the Fury-Shield. I'm probably wrong.

208:
Perilous Forays; Voyager Staff; Viashino Fangtail; Zephyr Spirit; Gate Hound; Incite Hysteria; Convolute; Wojek Siren

My Pick:
Viashino Fangtail

Number two! I don't understand how this got to me. Must have been one heck of a pack.

209:
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion; Ethereal Usher; Quickchange; Boros Recruit; Nightguard Patrol; Ordruun Commando; Torpid Moloch

My Pick:
Nightguard Patrol

Garrison's gone, didja notice? Patrol's still there, at least, although I probably should have taken the Recruit... My three-spot is more crowded than Bistro Jeanty in November.

Mmm...Crepes... Huh? Oh, sorry.

210:
Greater Forgeling; Leave No Trace; Sundering Vitae; Goblin Fire Fiend; Sparkmage Apprentice; Coalhauler Swine;

My Pick:
Leave No Trace

At least I was able to redeem another poor choice in this pack and take the Leave.

211:
Grayscaled Gharial; Rally the Righteous; Sabertooth Alley Cat; Boros Garrison; Viashino Slasher

My Pick:
Sabertooth Alley Cat

This was way wrong; it should have been the Garrison. I've heard mixed things about the Alley Cat, but my feeling is that Boros wants to tap out each turn playing dudes, not shepherding two points through. Even if you look at it as a trade, or an Arcable creature who's then a pain to deal with, I'm not sold on him. He certainly fills the “unchecked aggression” role nicely.

212:
Seed Spark; Stone-Seeder Hierophant; Goblin Spelunkers; Terraformer

My Pick:
Goblin Spelunkers

It probably should have been the Seed Spark, if for no other reason than to take it out of the hands of the Selesnya players. My fascination with Mountainwalk, although now under control, seems to still lead me to the wrong pick a lot of the time.

213:
Shred Memory; Drake Familiar; Leave No Trace

My Pick:
Drake Familiar

My totally unsupportable little blue splash now includes a flyer that can bounce my Arc... And my Copy Machine... Hmmm...

214:
Dizzy Spell, Viashino Slasher

My Pick:
Viashino Slasher

See Sabertooth Alley Cat. This ain't going in the main, ever.

215:
Dizzy Spell

So I got good things, with a little lapse of judgment in letting the Grave-Troll go. I was feeling pretty good about my situation at this point, although I really wanted to open a Helix, a Swiftblade, or some other backbreaker in my third pack...

301:
Light of Sanction; Wojek Embermage; Keening Banshee; Flow of Ideas; Golgari Signet; Conclave Equenaut; Quickchange; Conclave's Blessing; Golgari Brownscale; Muddle the Mixture; Screeching Griffon; Centaur Safeguard; Votary of the Conclave; Civic Wayfinder; Dogpile

My Pick:
Light of Sanction

This pack is rife with possibility. The Embermage is easily the most attractive card, giving me a grand total of three pingers, and slaughtering Saprolings with a creepy kind of nonchalance. I feel, in fact, that I need to justify the Sanction, as I currently have nothing that would damage my team. If I had the Embermage, I would need the Sanction, because then in the mirror (heh, what mirror?) there's the small problem of nerfing your own guys.

So here's the thing: I really, really want to pull off a one-sided Wildfire… In Constructed. Light of Sanction is, like, crucial to that particular effort. So that was going through my head. Also, I had two Fangtails already, which are lovely, and less fragile than the Embermage. So I went with the rare.

302:
Mindmoil; Clutch of the Undercity; Belltower Sphinx; Compulsive Research; Faith's Fetters; Golgari Brownscale; Goblin Fire Fiend; Necromantic Thirst; Vedalken Entrancer; Screeching Griffin; War-Torch Goblin; Coalhauler Swine; Gaze of the Gorgon; Drift of Phantasms.

My Pick:
Faith's Fetters

RidiculousHat pointed out in the forums that Mindmoil essentially reads “Play a land, play the best spell in your hand, get a new [hand],” and I agree that that can be a Good Thing.

But what if I have two spells that I'd like to play? What if I have great cards in hand, and I draw Mindmoil? What if Mindmoil triggers and I draw into cards that represent the answers to all my woes (thus ostensibly fulfilling the purpose of the Mindmoil), if only I could keep them in hand (thus cruelly highlighting the drawback)?

What if I have Mindmoil in an opening hand? Strikes me as a mulligan, especially if I will have dumped my hand before the 'moil hits the board. I feel like there are too many situations where I'd rather keep my hand.

That explains my reticence to pick the 'Moil here, just as I didn't pick it tenth. I spent this long saying all that because Faith's Fetters is far and away the best pick here. I know I keep yammering on about how I need guys - but for heaven's sake, the Fetters!

303:
Dark Confidant; Selesnya Sagittars; Duskmantle, House of Shadow; Chant of Vitu-Ghazi; Galvanic Arc; Thoughtpicker Witch; Drake Familiar; Caregiver; Gather Courage; Thundersong Trumpeter; Drift of Phantasms; Woodwraith Strangler; Terrarion

My Pick:
Galvanic Arc

Speed Dating with Dark Confidant:
Hi, I'm Bob. I could kill you in Limited. I'm worth tickets. I have nothing to do with your deck, but you might want four of me for... Something. In Constructed anyway, when you can plan around me. I work for this guy named Chris Pikula, he's pretty cool. Oops, that's my time. Watch out for this next guy, he keeps hitting people on the head for no reason.

Galvanic Arc is in the pack. 'Nuff said. Bob is great and all, but I'm in this to win.

304:
Telling Time; Flame-Kin Zealot; Compulsive Research; Conclave Equenaut; Shred Memory; Drake Familiar; Leave No Trace; Tidewater Minion; Centaur Safeguard; Terraformer; Wojek Siren; Selesnya Sanctuary

My Pick:
Flame-Kin Zealot

I was berated on the boards for not picking this second in my last draft last draft. Well, here I am. I can change! I swear it!

I will say that the Safeguard is still a great card. It's more the uncommonality of the Zealot that tips the scales.

305:
Junktroller; Sell-Sword Brute; Brainspoil; Dromad Purebred; Dryad's Caress; Rain of Embers; Sabertooth Alley Cat; Stinkweed Imp; Golgari Rot Farm; Viashino Slasher; Roofstalker Wight

My Pick:
Sell-Sword Brute

Junktroller is kinda handy. He's the last thing you want to see come down on the other side if you're Boros (or interested in dredging, for that matter). A case can be made for hatedrafting it, but I couldn't justify that when I finally had some two-drops to consider. The rest of this pack is pretty bad for my deck, so another Brute goes on the pile.

306:
Molten Sentry; Lore Broker; Aura-touched Mage; Sell-Sword Brute; Stone-Seeder Hierophant; Rain of Embers; Infectious Host; Sparkmage Apprentice; Dogpile; Tattered Drake

My Pick:
Dogpile

All right, confession time: I love coin flip cards. I like the gambling aspect, the “what's going to happen now” drama involved with them. I know that normal people hate them; that's okay by me.

I also know that Aura-touched Mage makes a good chunk of sense with two Arcs. But I don't like the casting cost of the Mage, and I looove coin flip cards. Which is why my screenshot of this pick shows the Molten Sentry, proud as pie, up in the big card viewer corner of the screen. Imagine! A big Viashino-esque hasty sonuvabitch coming out of nowhere and winning the toss! It's more refreshing than a nice Roussanne with spicy Thai food!

However, after snapping the shot I came to my senses and picked Dogpile. This is actually better in G/W/r, and even then it's usually just to clear a blocker, but sometimes that's exactly what you need to do, and Boros can take advantage as well. The fact that it can go to the dome is also useful for the final two or three points.

307:
Boros Guildmage; Fiery Conclusion; Seismic Spike; Stone-Seeder Hierophant; Rain of Embers; Infectious Host; Sparkmage Apprentice; Dogpile; Tattered Drake

My Pick:
Boros Guildmage

One good card in the pack. I'll note briefly here that my first-round opponent conveniently forgot the Guildmage's second ability, since the full rules text doesn't show on the cards once they start to get all itty-bitty. This is a bad thing because the second ability is the good one, and he lost a Bramble Elemental to my Indentured Oaf.

308:
Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree; Boros Swiftblade; Smash; Sewerdreg; Surveilling Sprite; War-Torch Goblin; Stasis Cell; Courier Hawk

My Pick:
Boros Swiftblade

Everyone's favorite Jitte target makes a late appearance, shoring up the two-spot. This guy is less of a house in limited (unless, of course, you have pumps) but he's pretty dang handy nonetheless.

309:
Wojek Embermage; Flow of Ideas; Quickchange; Conclave's Blessing; Muddle the Mixture; Votary of the Conclave; Dogpile

My Pick:
Wojek Embermage

This is the part where you all say, “Well, for God's sake, anyone could get to the finals with this deck.” Yup.

310:
Mindmoil; Compulsive Research; Necromantic Thirst; War-Torch Goblin; Coalhauler Swine

My Pick:
War-Torch Goblin

It's kind of weird that someone took the Fire Fiend over the War-Torch Goblin, who pulls a similar duty and gets to pick a target. Also a little odd that the Research is still in the deck, and I was somewhat tempted to go for it. Alas, the relative lack of cheap bodies led me to the Goblin.

Yeah, no Mindmoil again. I wouldn't draft Teferi's Puzzle Box, either. Someday someone will tell me why they're different, but until then...

311:
Duskmantle, House of Shadow; Chant of Vitu-Ghazi; Drake Familiar; Caregiver; Woodwraith Strangler

My Pick:
Caregiver

Any dork in a storm, you know what I'm saying?

Late Picks:
Selesnya Sanctuary, Viashino Slasher, Sell-Sword Brute, Dizzy Spell

So, this was better, yeah? Got some Arcs, got a Fetters. Devouring Light is great. Dogpile is good fun. I've got a nice little collection of guys; some fly, some ping, some just beat down. I made one omission in building the deck, but I think that I was enamored with Light of Sanction. Here's what I came up with:

One mana:
War-Torch Goblin
Caregiver

Two mana:
Boros Guildmage
Boros Swiftblade
Sell-Sword Brute
Thundersong Trumpeter
Boros Signet

Three mana:
Centaur Safeguard
Nightguard Patrol
2 Skyknight Legionnaire
Devouring Light
2 Galvanic Art
Light of Sanction
Rally the Righteous

Four mana:
Flame-Kin Zealot
Indentured Oaf
2 Viashino Fangtail
Wojek Embermage
Dogpile
Faith's Fetters

Six mana:
Firemane Angel

Relevant sideboard cards:
Bathe in Light (oops)
Rain of Embers
Goblin Spelunkers
Instill Furor

If I had this to build over again, I would play the Bathe in Light over the Light of Sanction. The risk of nuking my own guys with the Embermage is slim and can be played around, while the Bathe in Light has risen substantially in my estimation. But, if I was going to play the Light of Sanction, I probably should have figured out a way to fit Rain of Embers, since it's the only card besides Embermage that benefits from the enchantment.

I think that, overall, this is really what you want out of Boros. Good removal (still no Helix – boo!), some fat on the ground, and tempo. Faith's Fetters is a big deal; it helps answer any big walls or things like Selesnya Sagittars. So. To the games!

Round One: G/W/b Selesnya...maybe?
My opponent was ranked in the 1700s, and opted to play first. When he brought a Golgari Brownscale on his turn 3, I was ready for a long slog. Fortunately, I had kept a hand of plains, mountain, mountain, Legionnaire, Arc, Sell-Sword Brute, and War-Torch Goblin, so I was able to play guys, swing for a little, and then Arc up the Brute, nuking the Brownscale in the process.

The top of my deck was two lands and the Signet, so I had basically the cards I started with. Luckily, the best he could do on turn 4 was dredge and replay the Brownscale. I peeled off Faith's Fetters (lucky me!) and Pacified the Brownscale, sending the team.

Next turn came Carven Caryatid. D'oh! He still had only three lands, but Hot Tree Girl can definitely hold down the fort.

I drew Fangtail and played my Legionnaire, flying over for two. His next turn brought no land and he cast Life from the Loam with no targets, hoping to dig for lands next turn. My mad topdecking skills got the better of him, however, as Flame-Kin Zealot came off the top. Fangtail came down, the Legionnaire dealt another two, and now he was at eleven life.

He didn't dredge the Life back, found a second plains, and convoked out a Conclave Equenaut. The Zealot was ready, though, and I got ten damage through, trading War-Torch Goblin for the Equenaut. He conceded after seeing his card the next turn.

I didn't sideboard anything, but in retrospect I should have considered bringing in the Rain of Embers. I had to assume that he had some token generation, and wiping the board clear of Saprolings is always a good thing.

Game two, I mulliganed a six-land hand into plains, mountain, Swiftblade, Nightguard Patrol, Devouring Light, and Light of Sanction. Bleh, but not so bad as to be useless.

He played first, mulliganed, and laid down a swamp. This made me think that he was maybe just color-screwed the last time, although the game really didn't bear that out. He dropped a Selesnya Sanctuary on turn 2, bouncing the swamp, and I put down my Swiftblade. I had drawn an Arc and a second mountain (yay!). He replayed his swamp and then played Farseek for a forest.

His next turn saw a Selesnya Evangel come down, but it was promptly Arced and I sent my Patrol and Swiftblade. He then dropped his own Patrol, clearly hoping to trade, but I had drawn Dogpile and a fourth land and killed his soldier during my declare attackers step.

Frankly, the rest of it is scarcely worth reporting. He sat on four land and my Swiftblade and Patrol beat down for a while. He played and dredged Life from the Loam, sending Disembowel, Golgari Signet, and Mausoleum Turnkey to the graveyard. D'oh!

When I played my freshly-drawn Indentured Oaf on turn 7, it seemed all wrapped up. But he finally found a fifth land and got out Bramble Elemental. This was the game where he had to immediately throw it in the way of the Oaf and lost it to the Boros Guildmage activation. He acknowledged the mistake, conceded, and showed me the Fists of Ironwood that would have given him some time to try to recoup.

He complained a little about losing to a deck full of dorks, and I was off to round two.

Round Two: Boros Deck with green.
It came as a total surprise that there was another Boros guy at the table. If this hadn't been a mere five hours after my first RRR draft where I constructed the worst Boros draft deck ever, you'd think this guy read my earlier article and decided to prove that he could win a round with a deck that was just as bad.

In game one, I saw Boros Recruit (at least the ones I should have drafted), Benevolent Ancestor, and Thundersong Trumpeter. Sadly, no amount of tapping tricks could stop all the damage the double Legionnaires were dealing, and he was so busy tapping his dudes he didn't really get much traction on offense. When the Firemane Angel joined the party, it was lights out.

Second game he Helixed my Swiftblade on turn 3, but could again only manage a couple of Recruits. I had boarded in Rain of Embers to help out against his one-toughness dorks, and for once I was glad to see Light of Sanction in my opening hand. I was able to assemble a team of Brute, Patrol, and one Legionnaire with the Light on the board… And then I found Wojek Embermage. Sweeet.

I wiped out his recruits and began swinging in earnest, netting the win a bit later. I saw a forest in this game, but I have no idea what it was for... Maybe he got a Moldervine Cloak?

Round Three: Golgari, through and through.
This fellow had assembled quite the deck, and led off game one with a Birds of Paradise. I like the new art, by the way; it reminds me of the prized pet of some urban dweller.

He got out a Shambling Shell on turn 2, never a good sign, and then played a Keening Banshee to nuke my freshly-minted Legionnaire. After that I was on defense, which is the last place Boros wants to be. Nightguard Patrol was able to hold the ground, but he just pumped his Banshee with the Shell a couple of times, dredging it back until - you guessed it - the Grave-Troll showed up to wreck me.

I told him I was the idiot who passed it and he lol'd and told me I wasn't the only idiot, since he got it third or fourth. Ah well.

Game two went my way with the very opening hand: War-Torch, Trumpeter, Legionnaire, Fangtail, plains, double-mountain. I drew another land, an Arc, the Dogpile, and the Fetters, and it was all over but the screaming. He did stick a Fists on my Goblin, but I Arced one of the tokens and sent the War-Torch after the other, keeping my Trumpeter and Legionnaire swinging. When Fangtail came down he conceded, with only three lands.

Game three seemed close for a while, but mostly because the trickle of life that my Firemane Angel provided from the graveyard was enough to sustain me through a ferocious beating. He went Birds, Wayfinder, Nightmare Void. Ouch. Me want cards. He showed good patience, stripping my hand with the Void and Strands of Undeath on his Wayfinder before laying down a Rotwurm and smashing face. All the dredging showed me a Stinky, two (count 'em, two) Banshees, Last Gasp, a Cloak, and other assorted green fat like Greater Mossdog and Siege Wurm. I never got even remotely close to being able to return the Angel to hand, and my supply of chump blockers was much diminished, what with all the discard.

Fangtail showed up to slow down the assault, but by then I was within range of the Rotwurm's activated ability, especially after he Scattered some Seeds at the end of my turn to ensure he had sufficient bullets. All over but the handshake, as they say.

So one learns from experience, it appears… Or else this time I was lucky not to have upstream interference and properly signaled downstream. Either way, this was a good deck. Although I didn't have the opportunity, it could even have played a kind of medium Boros game, sitting pretty on the ground and waiting for the Angel, or simply pinging along with the Fangtails.

Lessons Learned:
1) Assuming a near-ideal draft, I think Golgari beats Boros most of the time. Brightflame and a mana base that can play it for three or four might change that, but that's an awful lot to depend upon. Creature-for-creature, Golgari has better guys, access to green fat, and a couple of seriously potent flyers. Removal is better in Golgari, both because of the utility creatures like Stinky and Banshee, and because they have more of it in common slots. Fiery Conclusion, while definitely useful, is a two-for-one for your opponent, and you aren't likely to have a bunch of Saprolings loafing around as bullets. They can accelerate into their fatties while you can't. Maybe Sandsower, if you manage to pick one up, should come in, to help the cause and tap down scary things. Really, though, the only thing you can do is hope you can maintain tempo and then either burn them out, Rally, or otherwise finish them fast.

I suspect that Boros faces a similar (although maybe less difficult), matchup with a Selesnya deck, because the majority of their two drops have two toughness. Even if you draft Recruits (like you oughtta), the first Transluminant (or heaven forefend, Watchwolf) will stop the fun. Selesnya also has access to some quality white flyers and Trophy Hunter, which can slow or straight-up kill your air attack. Not pretty.

Here, however, Boros has the upper hand in removal, with lots of burny goodness against essentially, Faith's Fetters and “my creatures are bigger, so you must chump or die.”

2) Firemane is a perfectly good reason to give Boros a try, but if you do, Benevolent Ancestor should probably come up the ladder quite a bit. If you have the Angel, you're not going to depend solely on a flood of weenies to get the job done. Having some defense is never a bad thing. In the last match, although it probably wouldn't have saved me, having an Ancestor would have allowed me to hold off any smaller guys and continue to reduce damage from the Rotwurm.

3) I like the Incite and it should maybe be higher than Dogpile, but it never seems to make it into the deck. Bathe in Light serves the same purpose for one less mana, and can also save your team when they're on defense. Uncommons that should probably always be taken (except over the top three commons, depending on the circumstances of your draft) are Selesnya and Boros Guildmages, Indentured Oaf, Devouring Light, Bathe in Light, and any of the RW cards (Zealot, Swiftblade, Enforcer, and good ol' Crick and Watson).

None of this is anything new, and I'm probably forgetting something.

So that's a wrap. One horrible attempt at Boros, and one pretty good one. Thanks for all the comments in the forums, and best of luck in your next draft!