[Standard][Opinions] Post-Gatecrash Boros Aggro

A few thoughts based on the spoiled cards.

One, you're totally whiffing on the battalion mechanic - I don't think I see anything in that actually has it in there.  It might seem underwhelming, but I'd imagine it can be huge in a lot of scenarios.  I'm thinking specifically about Frontline Medic and Legion Loyalist.  The loyalist gives you another option at the one-drop and will offer first strike and trample when the battalion triggers.  Frontline medic also works beautifully with Hellrider as you can attack into their defenses completely without any fear of losing your creatures - something that should be quite convenient. 

Two, I'd also keep an open mind toward Hellraiser Goblin for the haste and Blind Obedience to ensure that you outrun them.  Lastly, from the new stuff, why not toss in Aurelia as a one-off?  Worst case scenario you hit her and are able to log two turns worth of Hellrider triggers to victory.

Three, I see you don't have a sideboard listed (that's fine) but I would definitely add Rootborn Defenses as a second option to protect against board-wipes.  To that end, any tokens you can run with would be cool (I'm thinking Lingering Souls/Midnight Haunting - with the Haunting actually being the better option).

I know that Boros is going to be crazy... so good luck with it.

By all means, all suggestions are optional... take em, leave em, ultimately playtesting gets the final word there.

My thought behind potentially SB'ing Rootborn and including Frontline Medic in the mainboard is to let you save those Boros Charms for when they drop Supreme Verdict.  Don't forget that Boros Charm can, and will, be countered a LOT as people are going to be expecting it and, at instant speed, it opens the door for Dispel.  To to that end, a bit of added redundancy wouldn't hurt  especially for free in the case of the medic.

The haste is good, but can you guarantee they'll be dead by turn 4-5?  If not, you're going to run into a big wall of Thragtusk and Restoration Angel more often than not, and with nothing all that large on your end, what happens once they put a larger presence on the board?  Blind Obedience would deal with this in a significant way, as their blockers come in tapped (no flash resto blockers).   As the other option Aurelia might be a high cost, but realistically, she gives you that finisher that you're lacking at the moment - you don't even need to get through if you're triggering Hellrider for two attack phases - and I'd wager you'll be able to play her twice for every time she's stuck in your hand, so not that much of a risk there as a 1-2 of.

I know a token boros is going to be sick and you're not going that way, but I don't think any of these would slow you down that much and they give you a bit more consistent protection for your creatures.

Madcap skills is in my opinion the worse version of Pyreheart Wolf which I think you should be running instead, I wouldn't be opposed to you using both, however madcap is a great way to get yourself 2 for 1ed, meaning they kill the creature with the enchantment, they use one of their cards to take out 2 of yours, whereas with the Pyreheart Wolf they're going to have to waste 2 spells to kill your wolf and if they try to block it to death they'll get killed by your other creatures in no time flat.

Also Legion loyalist is pretty ok in some situations but I prefer to have it in sideboard, it's most relevant ability is to ignore tokens and so you don't really need that main deck unless you see A LOT of lingering souls near you.

I think that although I know you want to curve out at 4 Zealous Conscripts is alot better for your sideboard than Act of Treason, if you're bringing in something like that it's usually against life-gain cards, like Thragtusk and Centaur Healer a,d if you bring in Act of Treason it'll just undo their healing but not help put any more damage into them, if you have a conscripts you will bash in for additional damage rather than just undoing their damage.

Also for the record Hellraiser Goblin is an absolutely TERRIBLE card even in a 100% aggro deck because it lets your opponent make all of the decisions, as soon as you cast the goblin they are now the one who makes every single decision for the rest of the game regarding combat.

Seems like a pretty sweet deck overall, I know I wouldn't want to run into it

I have been thinking about that. Just not sure what to remove in the SB. Since Act of Treason is my only decent response to Midrange decks, I could see:

-2 Pillar of Flame
+2 Erase

Thanks for the suggestions.

Although I disagree with the Zealous Conscripts being at 4 in an aggro deck designed to win turns 4-6. I also probably won't even see 5 mana by turn 5 with my luck. Probably better for me to use Act of Treason against Midrange decks.

Pyreheart Wolf is good, I just don't like that I can't even use its effect until turn 4, when I could be using Madcap Skills effect turn 2 with 1 drop creatures. That's where the Legion Loyalist comes into being useful here. I will test it though. Overall from what I can judge I see Madcap Skills' pros outweighing its cons. And if spot removal becomes a thing at my FNMs, I can worry about it then. I really do want to try and make it work though.

I agree with you wholeheartedly on Hellraiser Goblin

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