When a house such as Bosh, Iron Golem is printed, a deck is sure to follow. Naturally, the Pros get to fiddle with him first and get all the credit, but we lower subjects play the cards too and enjoy building fun, effective designs. This is the tale of one such deck.

Let us start a few weeks ago, during our preparations for States, (which I did not attend due to scheduling difficulties,) where I had built the normal gauntlet of Affinity, Astral Slide and W/U control (depending on how many Eternal Dragons and Exalted Angels I wanted to proxy), Goblins, MBC, MWC, White Weenie, and G/B Cemetery (my favorite at the time). A quick stop at the local Friday Night Magic hangout found one of the better players exclaiming that his group from Midland, Michigan had the ultimate deck to break the format. Without permission (though I know that Joe and Bill could really care less if I divulge this deck, since it is already posted online), I give you:

Honorable Mention, Joe Knizacky 2003 Michigan States

3 Clockwork Dragon
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Bottle Gnomes
2 Duplicant
1 Triskelion
1 Myr Retriever
4 Fabricate
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Sylvan Scrying
1 Culling Scales
3 Oblivion Stone
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Mind's Eye
1 Myr Incubator
1 Mindslaver
1 Skeleton Shard

4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Cloudpost
2 Tree of Tales
2 Seat of the Synod
2 Forest
2 Island

Sideboard
2 March of the Machines
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Stabilizer
1 Myr Retriever
1 Damping Matrix
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Platinum Angel
1 Mindslaver
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Skeleton Shard
1 Culling Scales
1 Riptide Replicator

 Although my initial reaction was"How do you get colored mana?" the deck proved a serious threat at States, going seven undefeated rounds before finally being beaten (by U/W Control, I believe). The deck's overwhelming threat was the creation of huge amounts of mana through the Urza lands and Cloudpost, fending off beatdown with Bottle Gnomes and the MVP of the deck, Solemn Simulacrum, then crushing the opponent with a huge Clockwork Dragon (whose shrinking counter supply is easily renewed with the massive amounts of mana you generate). Oddly enough, the guy who originally turned me on to the deck included a Bosh in one of his builds at FNM, but failed to include a Mountain, so the sacrificial effect could never be brought to bear.

As much as I liked the deck (I built and messed around with the deck in the week following States), the Urza lands never seemed consistent enough for me, and required aggressive mulliganing in order to have the potentially degenerate draws the deck was capable of. I felt that the Dragon just didn't finish off the opponent in a timely fashion and was very vulnerable to artifact and creature elimination hate. Other kill methods, including attrition with smaller utility creatures, Myr Incubator, and recurring Mindslaver (Skeleton Shard + Myr Retriever + Culling Scales = recurring artifact of your choice) seemed to leave a bit to be desired, although the Incubator is an awesome finisher if dropped when your opponent has no answers.

Enter Pro Tour: New Orleans. Mr. Osterberg's deck. You know, the winning one. Who else shows up as the kill condition than Bosh, Iron-pitchin' Golem? With Lightning Greaves on the table, Bosh can single-handedly serve for twenty within the first two turns after he comes into play, and with the Goblin Welder trading him into play, that could easily start on turn 2! Suffice it to say, the deck ran Thirst for Knowledge and Goblin Welder... One card that is completely Type 2 legal and another that has a sorcerous equivalent in Trash for Treasure (Trash for Treasure through the rest of the article for brevity). Needless to say, it got me thinking...

What if one combined the backbone of Urza's Dragon with the kill conditions of Extended Tinker Stax?

First, I decided against keeping the Green element of the Dragon deck, since Red was now needed quickly to use the Trash for Treasure and Bosh's ability - plus it allowed me to run Flashfires, Pyroclasm, and Shatter in the sideboard. This encouraged me to drop the Urza lands and replace them with basics and artifact lands. Cloudposts were left in, since they could occasionally power out Bosh rapidly, and Talismans were added to even the land draw and up the artifact count. After a couple days of consideration and deck building, I put together the following monstrosity to take to a Friday Night at The Stadium in Bay City, Michigan.

"Just a Standard Boshing"
2 Bosh, Iron Golem
4 Solemn Simulacrum*
4 Bottle Gnomes
1 Duplicant
1 Platinum Angel
1 Myr Retriever
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Trash for Treasure
4 Fabricate
2 Scrabbling Claws**
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Talisman of Dominance
2 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Culling Scales
1 Mindslaver
1 Myr Incubator
1 Skeleton Shard
4 Cloudpost
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Glimmervoid
4 Island
4 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Stifle
2 Annul
3 Mana Leak
2 Defense Grid
3 Dark Banishing
2 Flash Fires
1 Culling Scales

* - At the tournament it was actually 2 Simulacrum, 2 Yotian Soldier due supply issues with the Swedish robot.
** - One of these was a Chromatic Sphere. I'm not really sure if I like the two Claws either, but they do help as a proactive deterrent to graveyard shenanigans, plus they draw you a card or sac for Bosh... They may soon find replacements in either Aether Spellbomb or Pyrite Spellbomb.

Let's divide the card-by-card analysis into parts: Threats, Utility, Mana, and Sideboard.

Threats
Seriously, folks, Bosh is a one man wrecking crew. I'd play three of him, but I don't know how I'd justify another eight mana spell in the deck, especially since you can't have two or more in play at the same time. His main claim to fame is being able to throw himself bodily at an opponent (for the bargain price of 3R) for eight colorless damage. Myr Incubator and Mindslaver also have their times in the sun, but generally, Bosh is the man.

Utility
All artifact heavy, non-Affinity decks should run at their core, four Bottle Gnomes and four Solemn Simulacrums. Not only do they make adequate blockers, they also gel well with the deck's mana curve and shrug off mass removal. Additionally, they get seriously ridiculous when there are spells around to recur them... like Trash for Treasure, Myr Retriever, and Skeleton Shard.

Of course, Thirst for Knowledge, Fabricate, and Trash for Treasure all help the deck flow nicely, and several other specific cards provide a nice toolbox to help facilitate wins (Platinum Angel, Duplicant, Scrabbling Claws, Oblivion Stone, and Culling Scales). The only thing I'm thinking of changing is replacing the Culling Scales with another Oblivion Stone. The Scales worked brilliantly in the Dragon deck, but usually ended up going through my Talismans if no other targets could be found, plus the amount of large casting cost permanents in other decks seems to be steadily on the rise.

Mana
I personally like the Glimmervoids. Of course, I didn't face anyone wielding Akroma's Vengeance that Friday, or I might be singing a different tune. The mana usually unfolds nicely, with double Cloudpost draws being my favorite. I would recommend using basic lands in place of the 'Voids if your metagame is heavily skewed to W/x control. The Talismans are awesome, picking up some of the slack for the missing Urza lands, making themselves targets of Trash for Treasure, and providing Black mana for the Skeleton Shard and Dark Banishings in the board.

Sideboard
Made, like all inadequate boards, in about twenty minutes, the board was supposed to give me answers, but instead gave me little against the decks I faced. If I were to do it again, the main thing I'd make sure of is that at least three of some combination of Shatter, Detonate, or Goblin Replica were in there. If I had to do it again, I'd run:

3 Dark Banishing
3 Pyroclasm
2 Shatter
2 Stifle
1 Goblin Replica
1 Culling Scales
1 Stabilizer
1 Defense Grid

In matchups against the gauntlet, let me say this first:"I don't believe numbers given to me by a guy writing an article." In any circumstance. Why? They're just numbers that could be derived by any number of means with any number of test deck configurations and sometimes, dammit, luck plays a part of how a certain deck's performance in the hands of a certain person on a certain day will play out. So I refuse to give you numbers so that you can dismiss them just like I would. Instead, I'll list the ways in which the deck deals with various Tier One decks, and a general guideline of how to best keep clear of obstacles and play around expected spells.

U/W Control
The worst matchup for Boshing is U/W Control. My opinion is that U/W Control is, hands-down, the defining deck of the format right now, and Standard Boshing is a big, dumb deck that does big, dumb things.

Counterspells and Akroma's Vengeance are the major threats, but don't dismiss the flying beatdown either. Unfortunately, Boshing has a number of support cards that can be relatively ignored by anyone packing Akroma's Vengeance, saving counters for large threats and card-drawing spells. (Thirst for Knowledge and Solemn Simulacrum are actually fairly high on the"must-counter" meter.) A win is not impossible to achieve, though.

The tenacity and occasional speed of Boshing gives it spectacular wins when Bosh can come out to play, or when a third-turn Myr Incubator can race the Vengeance clock. Tips for playing this matchup are to hold back playing artifact lands unless one absolutely needs the mana, and to concentrate on getting Simulacrum into play to build your mana base as solidly around basic lands as possible - something Affinity decks cannot afford to do. Stabilizer, Defense Grid, Stifle, and Dark Banishing are your friend in the second and third games, but don't hold your breath. This is normally a check in the loss column.

Affinity
Speak of the devil... Affinity is the new U/G, and if one doesn't agree with that statement, take a look at Geordie Tait's Sarnia Affinity article. Your tools to defeat Affinity are surprise, speed, and flexibility. (And surprise - The Ferrett, knowing that nobody expects the Boshing Inquisition) A quick Mindslaver or Incubator is huge in this matchup, but not strictly necessary. Play cautiously around their counters and don't worry about their creatures too much (although Broodstar is the main reason I run three Dark Banishing in the sideboard). Sideboarding involves adding the Defense Grid, Culling Scales, Goblin Replica, Dark Banishing, and Shatters to the deck.

Goblins, Goblin Bidding, Haste Sligh
This matchup is a little draw dependent, but tends to be well in Bosh's favor. A God hand for the Goblin player can quickly annul a match that could have been easily won, but the tools at your disposal to crush beatdown are fairly extensive. Bottle Gnomes, Jens, Oblivion Stone, and a quick Bosh all cause problems for the Red Army, since the first three create card advantage for you, and the Goblin team can't handle the big guy if brought out fast. Pyroclasm, Dark Banishing, Culling Scales, and Goblin Replica (vs. Goblin Charbelcher) can assist you in the next couple of games, although the Banishing are more for decks that run the big guys (Goblin Goon, Blistering Firecat, and Clickslither,) and not the Bidding version. Speaking of Bidding, this is one of the best areas for the Scrabbling Claws to shine.

Other Decks
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only other major decks in the environment are R/G Land Destruction, B/G Cemetery, R/W Control/Slide, G/W Critter Control, and Mono-Black variants (Clerics, Zombies, or creatureless control.) R/G doesn't like the fact that the deck is running Talismans, and that it only costs 3 mana to do most of the deck's sick things, but I can see the Moldy Slug decks causing problems.

If they can start recurring Viridian Shaman, B/G Cemetery can be a huge threat, but Bosh is usually too much to handle for a deck that is primarily stuck at sorcery speed.

R/W and G/W are like playing U/W without counterspells, which is a far more favorable matchup, even though Vengeance is still bad times. Black just tries to empty your hand, and Persecute isn't all that effective a tool against you. Nekrataal and Terror are useless, and Oblivion Stone can clean up the bulk of undesirable permanents they can field. Consume Spirit is the main concern, although by the time they can normally put it to good use, you are bashing their head in with Bosh. Good times. Any beatdown-oriented deck generally has a large problem with the defenses of the utility cards in Boshing, and are usually of little concern.

How did it fare during the tournament? I went 4-1 against mostly inexperienced players. The only loss I posted was to a random Burning Bridge deck that Charbelchered me for a single shot eighteen points of damage in the first game and burned me out with fatal damage sitting on my side of the table ready for the untap in the third. Boshing beat its parent deck, Urza's Dragon, in the last game. For a display of why the deck wins, I'll quickly recount the endgames of the last two matches of the tourney:

Game one opened with both decks casting Bottle Gnomes and Solemn Simulacrum, with the remark that Simulacrums are by far the best card in the deck. Bill, my opponent, got some insane amounts of mana going with Urza lands but couldn't find a kill card. I finally Fabricated for Bosh and hardcast him the next turn, fully expecting Bill to play a Duplicant to get rid of him, (I did not have the sacrificial mana untapped.) When this didn't happen, I attacked with Bosh on the next two turns, only to be thwarted by Bottle Gnome blocking, and I threw a Culling Scales at his head for three, finally getting him below twenty life.

After the second attack, I left all my mana open and passed the turn. Bill put down an Oblivion Stone and blew it, but in response, I sacrificed a Yotian Soldier and Bosh himself to deal eleven damage, dropping Bill to six. Bill then played a Myr Incubator (which he could have sacrificed, but was waiting for the end of my turn), and passed. With seven mana I cast Trash for Treasure on a Seat of the Synod, and sacrificed Bosh for the final eight damage needed.

In game 2, Bill opened up with an Urza's Tower, and Chromatic Sphere, (before which he claimed that the nastiest draws usually open with the Sphere draws into Sylvan Scrying for the missing Urza land, and presto, you have seven mana on turn 3) and passed the turn to allow me to put down a Cloudpost. He used Sylvan Scrying to get a Mine, but didn't seem to have the third piece of the puzzle while I continued to develop my mana with another Cloudpost and a Talisman.

Eventually, he got down an Oblivion Stone, and I hard-cast Myr Incubator into play on turn 5 with one blue open. He blew the Stone at the end of his turn, but I had the Stifle. I untapped, holding a Thirst for Knowledge, and passed the turn.

This is where Bill screwed up. He drew and immediately played a Seat of the Synod. After some consideration, he played a Chromatic Sphere and sacrificed it. The needed Powerplant was the next card... Proper play on his part would have him playing and saccing the Orb with his two non-Urza lands, getting the Powerplant and using his two Towers, a Mine, and one Plant to cast and sac the Mindslaver in hand to ruin me (barring a counterspell drawn off the Thirst for Knowledge). Such was not the case, and he scooped in frustration while I counted twenty artifacts out of my deck.

Is the deck Tier 1? Probably not, but it is a blast to play! Trash for Treasure is not, by any means, a Goblin Welder, but its surprise value and reasonable casting cost make it a powerful card in the current environment. Another thing to consider is the fact that Standard Boshing is all Mirrodin Block throughout its main deck, which puts it on a collision course with Affinity for next summer. The components of the deck are relatively cheap to put together (barring the Simulacrums), and the deck is definitely powerful enough to put up a fight in most matchups.

If nothing else, sacrificing Bosh for the killing blow is a fine way to end a game.

Thanks for reading,
Weston Tulloch
westonhaus@hotmail.com
(Comments are welcome)