[SF] Boris - Control Yo Face (330 rating)

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So after of having a string of frustrating (but close!) losses with my Lance control deck, I decided to switch to something else. I still wanted to play control based (Blue White MTG player here, no interest in aggro kthx), but I needed a hero who could fight through the pain. Lance was breaking just before he could swing for the final turn or two to win. And so...

Mighty warrior! Warriors have access to Enrage and Rampage, along with the best draw engine in the game, Blood Frenzy. For some reason, attachment hatred is down, WAY down. My guess is this is due to the dethroning of Amber. But I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw a Sever Ties outside of a silly solo Jericho deck. So why Boris? Well, looking at all of the warriors, his ability is the most control based, probably followed by Logan, but I have an affinity for human fatties over shadow fatties. Ter Adun is just so bad - no decent player is going to summon a huge item for you to blow up for free. But never play an ally 4cc of lower? Doutbtful outside of solo decks or similar fatty decks. Boris got two big buffs in SF that many people overlook - one indirect and one direct. The indirect buff is that SF introduced a number of great 4cc allies that many people are using. Before SF, Boris' ability was almost always used on a 3cc ally such as Gargoyle, DMT, Jasmine, or Aldon. But now people are playing Iriana, Fortified Wisp, Murderous Hulk. All of these give Boris great value with his insta kill. The direct buff is Yari Marksman, who has incredible synergy with his ability.

So I began to put together a toolbox with Boris. I played against the computer a few times (I always do that with new decks to check for drawing consistency and to make sure the deck doesn't lose to complete trash) then took it to Quick Match. Results so far are 16-0, so quite good! I faced a variety of opponents too: Zal, Tala, Banebow, Baduruu, Victor, Majaya.

So after plenty of ado (I enjoy explaining my thought process), the deck:

4x Crippling Blow
1x Aldon the Brave
4x Blood Frenzy
2x Smashing Blow
1x War Banner
1x A Legend Rises
2x Artful Squire
1x Enrage
1x Rampage
1x Spectral Sabre
3x Stallwart Battleguard
3x Yari Marksman
3x Armored Sandworm
3x Braxonian Soldier
2x Aeon Stormcaller
2x Dragon's Tooth
2x Viska, the Scarlet Blade
2x Nathanias, People's Champion
1x The King's Pride

39 cards + Hero

With Warrior, I feel minimum deck size is important for the largest probability of drawing Blood Frenzy. I remember when Blood Frenzy was 2 mana and minimum deck size was 30 - T2 Blood Frenzy was sooooo strong. But I digress...


Does the deck look familiar? It's very similar to my Lance deck with warrior cards splashed in instead. The deck has the ability (with hero power) to destroy any card in the game besides Lythian Sledgehammer. Most of the synergies are obvious (Crippling Blow and Yari Marksman, i.e.), so I'll point out some not so obvious things.

1. I experimented with 1x Artful Squire and 1x Dawn Raid, but I felt I was trying too hard to get value out of Dawn Raid. The Squire can also be used as an ally for decent 4cc stats, but.... Nathanias can also summon him, and you can blow up you opponents 4cc item for free (I did this, it was devastating)!

2. Dragon's Tooth. This card has much stronger value in SF I feel due to its wording. You don't have to do damage to the ally to kill it, just attack it. This means Dakrarh, Viska, and the old familiar Armored Sandworns all fall victim to it.


Ideal start would be:
T1 - pass
T2 - Cripple opponent's ally / pass
T3 - Blood Frenzy
T4 - Stalwart / Marksman if opponent has 3 ally's + Hero ability if going second
T5 - Sandworm / Braxonian depending on opponent's board and Hero
T6 - Aeon / Viska depending on opponent's board
T7 - Nathanias
....

Games will be long. There's absolutely no early game here. Stalwart rewards you for playing slow though, and Boris' ability acts as clean up duty so you don't lose control of the board.

Enrage and Rampage will keep you alive through any face burn. Once you have the board, throw down The King's Pride, Aldon, and War Banner and enjoy the hard hits. My opponent usually goes from full HP to dead in two turns. He simply runs out of answers to my onslaught of fatties, and once they start sticking... gg.


Anyway, really enjoying the deck. I feel like it does what my Lance deck was trying to do but fell short. Plus the ever popular Zaladar matchup is much easier since your ability kills every ally in his deck besides a transformed Living Armor and you have a burst heal and a slow heal.

Love to hear others' thoughts. Would love even more for you to try it and tell me what you think!