When a new set has ten multicolor legendary critters, you can bet that people will quickly try to build Commander decks around all of them. We’ve already seen many online, and you can expect to see many others as the weeks ensue. I figured I would take a stab as well and build around one of the legendary leaders that I think has a lot of multiplayer potential.
Tajic, Blade of the Legion is great because you are guaranteed a four-drop indestructible creature game after game. He injects a useful enough battalion trigger onto that powerful indestructible platform. Indestructible keeps him from being slaughtered by most mass removal, combat, and a lot of targeted removal. Send those Terminates and Murders elsewhere!
I can think of three easy ways to build a Tajic deck. The first is to build around Tajic mechanically. Use the indestructible dude to roll off a passel of mass removal that your critters survive because of their various abilities. You could have indestructible bodies with sweepers or damage based removal with pro red or Cho-Manno, Revolutionary type characters. In both of these Tajic decks, removal keeps your guys alive and smashes the others.
A second option is to build around his type—a deck that is Solider crazy. You could load up with Daru Warchief, Captain of the Watch, Enlistment Officer, and many other Solider enablers. Soldiers for the win! The problem is that this is a very heavy tribal deck that resembles every other tribal Soldier deck.
The third option is to build around his guild with a bunch of Boros cards designed to rock Tajic and his Sunhome buddies. This would be a lot of fun. But you might be forced to play creatures that are not super hot in multiplayer in order to fit the theme.
So I am combining themes two and three in a flavorful way. Despite some great cards fitting my theme mechanically, such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, they will not be here. Instead I am focusing on Soldier creatures that work in a Boros way and Boros creatures that work in a Soldier way.
Are you ready for my deck?
We are Boros! We will take anybody that will accept our creed! We have Minotaurs, Goblins, Cyclops, Elementals, Angels, Humans, Viashino, and Giants.
Creatures (27)
- 1 Solemn Simulacrum
- 1 Glory
- 1 Anger
- 1 Taj-Nar Swordsmith
- 1 Catapult Master
- 1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
- 1 Firemane Angel
- 1 Razia, Boros Archangel
- 1 Brion Stoutarm
- 1 Stonehewer Giant
- 1 Balefire Liege
- 1 Duergar Hedge-Mage
- 1 Figure of Destiny
- 1 Nobilis of War
- 1 Captain of the Watch
- 1 Pilgrim's Eye
- 1 Stoneforge Mystic
- 1 Basandra, Battle Seraph
- 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
- 1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
- 1 Odric, Master Tactician
- 1 Aurelia, the Warleader
- 1 Firemane Avenger
- 1 Foundry Champion
- 1 Sunhome Guildmage
- 1 Boros Reckoner
- 1 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (36)
Spells (33)
- 1 Coat of Arms
- 1 Swords to Plowshares
- 1 Sol Ring
- 1 Mobilization
- 1 Decree of Justice
- 1
- 1 Congregate
- 1 Loxodon Warhammer
- 1 Lightning Greaves
- 1 Empyrial Plate
- 1 Sigil of the New Dawn
- 1 Insurrection
- 1 Tithe
- 1 Orim's Thunder
- 1 Goblin Trenches
- 1 Captain's Maneuver
- 1 Lightning Helix
- 1 Sunforger
- 1 Mass Calcify
- 1 Rise of the Hobgoblins
- 1 Armillary Sphere
- 1 Glory of Warfare
- 1 Conqueror's Pledge
- 1 Nomads' Assembly
- 1 Sword of Vengeance
- 1 Argentum Armor
- 1 Into the Core
- 1 Boros Charm
- 1 Aurelia's Fury
- 1 Assemble the Legion
- 1 Wear
- 1 Legion's Initiative
- 1 Gleam of Battle
The first thing I cared about was creature type. Since Boros is so cosmopolitan when it comes to who is allowed in, I was as well. Brion Stoutarm looks fine alongside Sunhome Enforcer, and Balefire Liege is good against Flame-Kin Zealot.
I had Godo, Bandit Warlord in here for a long time, but I ultimately pulled him for flavor. I don’t see these folks letting a Bandit into their guild. Sad but true. (I replaced him with Taj-Nar Swordsmith.) I also felt cards like Gerrard Capashen; Aven Brigadier; and Kongming, “Sleeping Dragon” were a bit too much as well. But I did like Odric, Master Tactician, especially since his ability is basically battalion.
I assembled all of the legendary Boros creatures—Tajic, of course, plus Aurelia, the Warleader; Razia, Boros Archangel; and Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran. These are our leaders in battle! Once I’d done that, I looked for legendary friends. The aforementioned Brion Stoutarm and Odric joined our quest, but we needed some more leaders. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight easily slid in beside Razia and Aurelia. The Blade of Goldnight is nasty here. I also liked Basandra, Battle Seraph, who seems suitably Boros. Not every red/white card is Boros flavored.
Finally, I felt that lord Avacyn, Angel of Hope herself was suitably capable of leading and keeping the troops alive while fighting lawbreakers and mischief-makers. I liked Commander Eesha; Akroma, Angel of Fury; and Akroma, Angel of Wrath for this deck, but I just didn’t have a lot of space and wanted to steer clear of my usual suspects.
With our legendary pals set, I looked for my Boros adjuncts. These are Boros creatures in the guild that I felt worked. First was Foundry Champion. With all of the creatures my deck intends to have, it was a no brainer to toss it in. Both Firemane Angel and Firemane Avenger gave me valuable flying bodies, added to my angry Angel count, and suited my deck quite well. Meanwhile, Boros Reckoner is rocking the tournament world, but in multiplayer under our Boros Banner it’ll do well. Finally, Sunhome Guildmage has two nifty abilities, and I am particularly fond of spitting out Soldiers.
After that, I peered into the other creatures. Anger and Glory both were tossed in. Boros is gloriously angry. I also added the trio of Equipment tutors that are not Godo. Taj-Nar Swordsmith is suitably warlike, as is Stonehewer Giant. Stoneforge Mystic makes weapons for battle, so I left her in. After that trio, I included the duo of Solemn Simulacrum and Pilgrim’s Eye. Both are robots that will fight for any cause, really. They aren’t picky. The Boros will recruit them happily.
The next creatures were a few enablers. Nobilis of War makes my attackers strong, while Balefire Liege pumps a lot of my creatures. Captain of the Watch both pumps Soldiers and makes some. It’s really included for the second ability –no other Soldier lord was added. My final Soldier enabler was Catapult Master. I wanted more removal, and it suffices with its exiling of opposing goods.
I looked for more Boros-y creatures. We need more fuel for the army! In walked Figure of Destiny. We expect destiny to smile on us when fighting with it. We also bootstrapped a local hedge-maze to open some paths for us—Duergar Hedge-Mage to the rescue.
Now that our creature count was done, I wanted a lot of Soldiers. I looked for the many Soldier producers, so in went a lot of cards. Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Elspeth Tirel can both spawn Soldiers. I love Decree of Justice, and it works quite well alongside Nomad’s Assembly and Conqueror’s Pledge. These spells can give a strong shot of Soldier to the battlefield and are great post-sweeper to bring you back immediately into the fight. Rise of the Hobgoblins and Goblin Trenches are fine here too. The Boros have recruited Goblins in the past (Boros Recruit), so if the idea of Goblin Soldiers bugs you, don’t worry. They fit. Assemble the Legion grants a strong amount of token-age over time. Finally, Mobilization will make Soldiers as well as give my Soldiers vigilance.
After those additions, I decided to include one more Solider card and then move on to other needs: Coat of Arms. We need a standard to fight under, and with one mass Soldier spell or enchantment out, our horde will swell in size and pride under the Coat. I think this is the first time I’ve used Coat in a Commander deck in years. But it works here.
Now I wanted Equipment for my people to wield. I originally had Skullclamp, but I pulled it (not in flavor). I also had to steer clear of the awesome Batterskull, Konda’s Banner, Umezawa’s Jitte, and Nim Deathmantle. Instead I have two armors: Empyrial Plate and Argentum Armor. Lightning Greaves will protect your legs. Then Sword of Vengeance and Loxodon Warhammer will smash face.
And then there is Sunforger. I had to add it to a Boros themed deck. That’s why the three different creature tutors are here—for the Boros Equipment. You can unequip it at instant speed for a tutored instant for no mana to be played immediately. So what ones did I add?
Congregate
Lightning Helix
Order // Chaos
Wear // Tear
Orim’s Thunder
Into the Core
Tithe
Swords to Plowshares
Boros Charm
Those instants give my Sunforger a ton of flexibility and also flesh out a lot of needs of my deck. There is my artifact, creature, and enchantment removal plus various tricks.
After my Sunforger additions, I had only a few spots left open, so I tossed in some nice cards to round things out. I wanted the Boros Insurrection to be successful, so in went Insurrection. Playing it can win games. One trick I’m particularly fond of is Mass Calcify. Very few of my creatures are not white. If I lose something like Anger or Solemn Simulacrum to it, that’s alright. It will clean out a lot of boards and prepare for a Boros Advance right down the middle.
A final trick is the Captain’s Maneuver, which will turn back damage to where it should have been all along. I played this card heavily and ended the Phage hijinks at my multiplayer table. Oh look, your Phage just hit yourself for four damage! Sorry! It’s the Magic equivalent of my father grabbing my hand, slapping me with it, and then asking why I just hit myself.
In addition to the two Elspeths, I really enjoy what Ajani Vengeant and Ajani, Caller of the Pride bring to this team. Caller of the Pride is great at inflating one person. We have fewer flyers than I like, so the jump and double strike can prove useful. Finally, its ultimate is crazy in a format where you begin with 40 life. Ajani Vengeant is quite the angry kitty. You can lock down a permanent like a nasty creature. I love using it as a recursive Lightning Helix when you have need. Because of that, I rarely reach the ultimate (also, because someone fears losing all of their lands, if AV gets close someone is bound to burn or smash him out). I just stick with the first two abilities.
The problem with red/white as a color combination is that you have a few options to search up lands, but it’s never enough. That’s why I added the two creatures to the deck along with Tithe. Sometimes I’ll run Weathered Wayfarer, Eternal Dragon, or Kor Cartographer. But in today’s deck, Armillary Sphere was a good choice as a way to grab two basics from one card early.
I wanted to add some options with the land selection. Both Sunhome and Slayers’ Stronghold grant the deck some nice tricks. I needed mana, so I pulled out Maze of Ith, but Kor Haven made the cut because it taps for colorless mana. After adding these special lands, I looked to see what else was a nice idea, and I rolled with Ghitu Encampment and Daru Encampment. The first gives me a cool manland to add to my creature count when needed. You would be surprised how often simply showing a land that can turn into a 2/1 first strike keeps away opposing creatures that would die to it. The Daru land will pump Soldiers, making it a nice choice for the deck as well.
The deck lacks a lot of flyers, so I added Gargoyle Castle to become a flyer if severely needed. Then I rolled the prototypical selection of Reliquary Tower. I wanted Temple of the False God, but I didn’t feel its flavor. After that, I fleshed out the deck with mana lands that were Boros-tastic and called it. I was lucky Command Tower actually feels in the flavor of Boros!
A few cards I cut include Glorious Anthem, Lieutenant Kirtar, Sword of War and Peace, Maze of Ith, and Ajani Goldmane.
I hope that you enjoyed my Boros/Soldier flavored Tajic deck! As always, feel free to make changes based on your own metagame, card collection, and style. Enjoy!
Until later,
Abe Sargent