Yesterday I decided to throw my boros deck together at the last second and take it to a casual type 2 tourney at the local card store. I actually switched it from the Kiln Fiend build to the more equipment heavy build. All the Kiln Fiends and rebound spells were dropped. Instead, I put Stoneforge Mystics, Spikeshot Elders, Adventuring Gears, and Basilisk Collars. This seemed like more of a stable build than the less consistent Kiln Fiend build. Unfortunately, my lack of experience led to some serious losses. I really liked the look of Spikeshot Elders, but I was never able to use them once throughout the entire tournament. I think I'm going to try replacing them with Cunning Sparkmages instead and test that out. I also need to make some changes to the sideboard. Here's the list I used:
Lands (24):
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
5 Mountain
5 Plains
Creatures (23):
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Goblin Guide
2 Kor Skyfisher (I dislike these, but people recommend them)
2 Tunnel Ignus (Not as good as I thought they were)
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Spikeshot Elder (Never got to use a single one)
Spells (9):
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Journey to Nowhere (I like these a lot, but I never got to use them)
2 Burst Lightning (I don't really like these, but I used them a lot)
Equipment (4):
3 Adventuring Gear
1 Basilisk Collar
Sideboard (15):
1 Journey to Nowhere (In case I need to remove more stuff)
2 Tunnel Ignus (For ramp decks)
1 Basilisk Collar (Against artifact removal, I might need backup)
3 Arc Trail (Pyroclasm would hurt myself, so I use these instead. Mainly for elves)
3 Luminarch Ascension (Not as good as I thought)
2 Koth the Hammer (He's questionable)
3 Kor Firewalker (I fear RDW)
Round 1: UW Control
Game one my deck does what it's supposed to do and I without him being able to do anything. I decided to sideboard in Koth, because I knew he didn't have an early chance to kill him, and the 4/4 mountains would deal a lot of damage. I also threw in Luminarch Ascensions. But I didn't know what cards to take out.. In our first game he didn't play a single creature, so I decided to take out the Journey to Nowheres, and the Tunnel Ignus's. Game two, he countered my Koth, and Day of Judgmented my board. All I had was 2 Luminarch Ascensions on the field. One of them had three counters, but at that point, my opponent started swinging with his Celestial Collonade. At that point I was taking manland damage while I drew FIVE lands in a row. I lost to a manland.... I had two Burst Lightnings in my hand, but I used both on his two Jace Belerens. I'm really wishing I saved them for the Collonade.. Game three, he boarded in War Priest of Thune for my Luminarch Ascensions, and started the game with the white Layline on the field making all my burn spells USELESS. We both started off slow and all I got out was a Plated Geopede with Basilisk Collar. I got him down to 5 life with me at 34, but then he played Baneslayer Angel, followed up by Sun Titan. There was nothing I could do about it. 0-1
Round 2: BYE
I was really sad about this because mainly I was there to gain experience. I'm new to type 2 post rotation so I need to start playing again, and getting a BYE didn't help at all. 1-1
Round 3: RUG (ramp? control?)
Okay, I'm totally new to this deck.. Red was for Goblin Ruin Blaster, Lightning Bolt, and Raging Ravine (Pyroclasm in SB). Green was for ramp (Oracle of Mul Daya, Lotus Cobras, Explores, etc), and blue was for counter magic and Frost Titans. A pretty solid deck! His only way of winning was with Frost Titans, Jace's ultimate, or Raging Ravine, so it seemed like a shitty deck to me at first, but once the Frost Titans hit the field, I had nothing to deal with them. Game 1, I started strong with a Lynx and a Geopede, but then he played Jace the Mind Sculptor and bounced my Geopede. At this point I had the choice of either replaying Plated Geopede or equipping Steppe Lynx with Adventuring Gear and swinging for 8. I felt like I needed to get in as much damage as I could, so I played the Adventuring Gear and swung for 8 putting him at 9, but then he bounced my Steppe Lynx the following turn. That was bad for me.. As I spent my mana trying to replay my creatures, it gave him time to fish his way towards Frost Titan. When it came out, it tapped down my Plated Geopede, so I tried using Journey to Nowhere on it, but then he countered it... I had no answers in my deck, so he ended up beating me down until I died while he was still at 9 life... I didn't know how to sideboard against him. I noticed he was spending his early game ramping up, so I was thinking about putting in Luminarch Ascension. I knew I HAD to throw in the other 2 Tunnel Ignus's. I was thinking about putting in Koth like how I did against UW, but he had burn so I decided not to. I was also considering putting in the Arc Trails for his Lotus Cobras and Oracle of Mul Dayas, but there was nothing I was willing to take out. I ended up boarding out a Goblin Guide and Journey to Nowhere for the Tunnel Ignus's. I still don't know what would've been the best thing to take out. Game two, I pulled out a turn 2 Tunnel Ignus, but never saw much after that. Once again he ramped up to Frost Titan and destroyed me only triggering my Ingus' ability once.
1-2
After the match was over, he told me that the Tunnel Ignus's were really easy to work around and that it only slowed him down a little bit. When I asked about my sideboard, he suggested the Luminarch Ascensions, but agreed to not knowing what to take out. He said that Boros is hard to sideboard with because you need every card in the deck. Him and another player said that the Luminarch Ascensions are better with control decks and that they're too slow for my deck. They said that I shouldn't have to wait for the Ascensions because I want to be as fast and aggressive as possible. That first guy said I should try to Mulligan better because with boros I want to have a hand with 2 early playable creatures. To be honest I didn't mulligan once throughout the entire tournament because all of my hands had at least 2 lands in the them whether I had 2 creatures or not... When I think about it now, its the first 3 turns that are the most crucial for my deck. I guess I'll have to try again next week.
So the Tunnel Ignus wasn't as good as I thought it was. I could be wrong though, I did play against one ramp deck, but he said it only slowed him down a little bit, and it was easy to work around. The Spikeshot Elders NEVER came out, and even when I did have one in my hand, I didn't have the mana to use its ability. I'm considering replacing the Elders with Cunning Sparkmages to test those out. I'm also considering replacing the Luminarch Ascensions with Revoke Existence because it deals with Journey to Nowhere, Laylines, Eldrazi Monument, and Wurmcoil Engine. It could also deal with other equipment and I saw a player running Steel Hellkites too. If I take out the two main board Tunnel Ignus's, I could replace them with either 2 more Skyfishers or more burn spells.. I DUNNOOO. I'm sad that I did so bad, but I just need a lot more practice.
On a side note, I'm thinking about making myself an EDH deck. I have friends who play, so it seems like a lot of fun.
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