So I had a tough choice last weekend. Go to my homecoming game at the University of Minnesota, most likely not sober, or attend the Ravnica: City of Guilds prerelease. This normally wouldn’t be a tough choice for me (obviously the football game is the correct choice), but I have been lacking in playing Magic in real life recently and something changed my mind. If you watched the game between the Gophers and the Purdue Boilermakers (“overrated! overrated! overrated!”) you know that the game was indeed quite the spectacle. The Gophers were down by eight with time running out. We had the ball on the three yard line and 1st down, then somehow it leads to a 4th and 8 with almost no time remaining. We get the touchdown, the 2-point conversion and eventually win in double overtime for the huge upset.
I, however, was not in attendance of that game. I chose to sit next to a bunch of fat, sweaty, annoying dudes playing a card game. I am glad I went though because I made around $400 between winning packs and selling after the prerelease itself.
I was pretty excited for the first time in a while to be playing in a Limited format in real life that wasn’t Champions block. Champions got so boring that I won’t even draft it on MODO anymore. The set also looked pretty fun with the gold cards coming back. I am a huge fan of drafting two-color decks and the set seemed like it would fit my style very well. I was hoping to get some sort of Red/White sealed with some Archangels and Lightning Helixs and actually I got something very close to that. Here’s the pool of cards that I received for the prerelease:
Antoine Ruel (frown)
Red:
Coalhauler Swine
Dogpile
Excruciator
Goblin Fire Fiend
Blockbuster(!)
Rain of Embers
Barbarian Riftcutter
Flame Fusillade
Goblin Spelunkers
Viashino Fangtail
Flash Conscription
Viashino Slasher
Galvanic Arc
Smash
Sparkmage Apprentice
White:
Nightguard Patrol
Leave No Trace
Devouring Light
Faith’s Fetters
Concerted Effort
Festival of the Guildpact
Conclave Equenaut
Loxodon Gatekeeper
Wojek Siren
Votary of the Conclave
Black:
Clinging Darkness
Infectious Host
Mortipede
Roofstalker Wight
Shred Memory
Strands of Undeath
Thoughtpicker Witch
Blue:
Drift of Phantasms
Zephyr Spirit
Belltower Sphinx
2 Drake Familiar
Compulsive Research
Lore Broker
Peel from Reality
Quickchange
Stasis Cell
Tattered Drake
Terraformer
Vedalken Dismisser
Vedalken Entrancer
Wizened Snitches
Green:
Transluminant
Stone-Seeder Hierophant
Recollect
Greater Mossdog
Gather Courage
Elvish Skysweeper
Trophy Hunter
Artifacts/Non-Basic Land:
Spectral Searchlight
Terrarion
2 Selesnya Sanctuary
Hybrid:
2 Boros Recruit
Boros Guildmage
Selesnya Guildmage
Gaze of the Gorgon
Gold:
Lightning Helix
Thundersong Trumpeter
Skynight Legionnaire
Razia’s Purification
2 Consult the Necrosages
Psychic Drain
Dark Heart of the Wood
Shambling Shell
Seeds of Strength
Congregation at Dawn
Selesnya Evangel
I was thrilled to see so many good White and Red cards and I also had four hybrid cards in those colors. For me, building this deck was very easy because I didn’t really need to look at the other color options that I had. My black was terrible and most of my Blue cards sucked. My deck was telling me what colors to go and I listened. Here’s what I came up with:
2 Boros Recruit
Boros Guildmage
Selesnya Guildmage
Thundersong Trumpeter
Viashino Slasher
Sparkmage Apprentice
Goblin Spelunkers
Nightguard Patrol
Skyknight Legionnaire
Viashino Fangtail
Loxodon Gatekeeper
Conclave Equenaut
Wojek Siren
Lightning Helix
Leave No Trace
Spectral Searchlight
Devouring Light
Galvanic Arc
Faith’s Fetters
Flame Fusillade
Flash Conscription
Razia’s Purification
The deck is a bit light on creatures, but all of the spells are insane. Razia’s Purification was kind of disappointing however. Every time I could cast it, I never really wanted to because my creatures were always smaller. It seems like its only good when you are already ahead in the game. Spectral Searchlight was by far the best card for me all day. Being able to accelerate your mana or be able to nugget your opponent is just absurd. Especially in a deck like this where I have a lot of burn spells. My deck was a lot faster than every other deck I faced, so the Searchlight or Flame Fusillade usually won me the game after my early creature assault. I only managed to go 5-2 however, with losses to two people I know (Brent Heaser and Gerry Thompson). I did win the random half of a box that they give away to each pod, which was pretty lucky.
Anyway, I want to move on to a new part of the article, which is going to be drafting the Red/White Boros Guild. I’ve decided to write an article on drafting each of the four new guilds because I believe other people are just going to be covering one color. This first section will be on drafting the White/Red Boros Guild including commons, uncommons, and the rares. The Boros guild is the fastest of all the guilds, with the Selesnya guild close behind. To win with the Boros, you need to exploit its speed. With an early creature rush backed up by burn and flyers is usually the only way to win with the Red/White color combination and this set is no exception.
Top 10 Commons
Viashino Fangtail
In 999 I draft Anaba Shaman over Shock and Volcanic Hammer. I don’t know if it’s just me, but pingers tend to win games by themselves. Stall the board and shoot your opponent to death. Fangtail can even block and attack making him the best Red card by far in the set.
Galvanic Arc
Removal tends to always get the nod for me over creatures in Limited and this set is no exception. This is Red’s only real removal spell so if you plan on drafting Red, make sure to pick it up early. Remember if your opponent has mana up, make sure to put the Arc on the creature you want to kill so they don’t kill your creature in response and two-for-one you.
Skyknight Legionnaire
I had this guy in my sealed deck and he was insane for me. If you play him on turn 3 following a two-drop it’s very hard to lose the game because you already have your opponent on a fast clock. There are also not as many flyers in this set as previous ones so it’s important to pick this guy up early on.
Thundersong Trumpeter
I had this guy in my sealed deck also and he was just as good as the Skyknight. Against Green, he acts as a giant wall to buy you time to kill them and he can get your flyers through in the late game to finish your opponent off.
Veteran Armorer
I didn’t believe that this was a common at first, but it is. A Glory Seeker with a built in insane ability, sounds good to me. I always love to draft the fastest deck possible in every draft format and this card makes it so you don’t have to worry about your creatures trading with your opponents in the early game. Becomes even better with the number of him you draft.
Faith’s Fetters
I would have this higher, but because of the enchantment removal in the set it has to settle for sixth best. It might just be me also because I always take a creature over spells when forced to make a decision in draft. It stops problem artifacts and enchantments and also stops creatures. One of the best Pacifisms we have seen lately.
Conclave Equenaut
This can be even better with the number of early drops you plan on drafting, but it usually is going to be a 4-5 mana 3/3 flyer, which is still worth the price. Obviously way better in Green/White because of all the token generators you have, but its still the biggest flyer you can draft in Red/White.
Rally the Righteous
I did a 2v2 draft with some Zieglers and Gerry and this card literally won me four games. It’s a great finisher in a fast color combination like this and also combos very well with Trumpeter and Fangtail.
Nightguard Patrol
This card is very important to have in the white mirror match and the because he stops all of your opponent’s creatures and can still attack, which is something no other card in the set can do. However it is not very good against the Green/Black decks, but it does stop tokens pretty well.
Screeching Griffin
A four-mana 2/2 flyer that is unblockable to other flyers when you pay a mana is not much to look at, but if you are Red/White your deck will be faster than your opponent’s, so it has potential to end the game for you after an early assault.
Top 5 Uncommons
The Top 5 uncommons for drafting the Boros clan are obviously going to be all gold cards because they are usually more powerful than just White or Red cards, but here is the order I would put them in:
Lightning Helix
Two mana. Three damage. Gain three life. Instant. Ooooooooook. Just take it.
Flame-kin Zealot
A 3/3 haste for four is already a very solid card, but it pumps all other creatures you control when it comes into which is just flat out retarded. It is sometimes hard to cast it, but if you ever do, it’s going to be tough to lose.
Selesnsya Guildmage:
Who says that the Selesnya guild couldn’t be drafted in White/Red? One of the best double White 2/2’s we have seen in a long time and will probably see some play in WW.
Boros Guildmage:
I love this guy in Red/White. You can play him on turn 2 no matter what. Although the haste ability usually doesn’t come into play, giving another creature first strike for two mana usually will let you get in a lot of early damage and finish the game with flyers or burn spells.
Sunhome Enforcer:
Red/White doesn’t really have a lot of late game cards, so I gave this the nod over cards that could be in this spot like Divebomber Griffin. This guy combined with Trumpeter is not easy for your opponent to deal with.
Rares
I’m not going to go in depth about why each rare is as good as is because usually it’s pretty obvious, but I will list ones that you should never pass.
Hour of Reckoning, Loxodon Gatekeeper, Hunted Lammasu, Char, Flame Fusillade, Hunted Dragon, Agrus Kos, Brightflame, Master Warcraft, Firemane Angel, and Razia, Boros Archangel.
All of those rares can potentially win you the game straight up, especially ones like Razia, Boros Archangel. If you ever cast that one you just win straight up. The Loxodon Gatekeeper is also way underrated and is probably better than Razia. It stalls your opponent a turn and they can’t block any of your creatures. It’s especially good against Green token decks.
Some final tips on drafting the Boros guild.
- Make sure to remember to draft a curve. A couple one-drops, a lot of two-drops, 3-4 three-drops, and a couple 5-6 drops.
- Making bad trades in the late game to get through damage is ok. If you have ways to finish them like burn spells or flyers this will usually end up happening.
- Always take the White/Red gold cards or the hybrid ones early so people next to you don’t cak your colors.
Good luck drafting
Cak