Our precious Richard (Newby Boo) loves Guardian of the Guildpact. He's always trying to take advantage of it in new ways. Recently, he shared a list using Runes of Protection to slow the opponent down while he beats them down with Guardian. I took inspiration from that list and wanted to build a super value based Midrange deck to utilize Guardian.
Guardian of the Guildpact isn't game-ending as a 2/3, but Caw-Gates as shown us what happens when you can pump it. Initiative has been a great way do that on curve. Going to the Forge to put two +1/+1 counters Guardian doubles the clock. Trap! hits for 5 life plus our 4/5 Guardian swining in. If we're including the Inititiave we might as well add Palace Sentinels and Prismatic Strands. Hiding behind Initiative and Monarch has been the cornerstone strategy of Boros Bully.
Another package I added was Idyllic Grange and Eagles of the North. Grange is another way to get a +1/+1 counter on Guardian. Eagles of the North has been an over-performer in testing. Fetching Idyllic Grange is the obvious appeal, but hitting this off of Throne of the Dead Three has been game-winning. Getting a 6/6 flier with an anthem has been lethal with Spirited Companion and Inspiring Overseer crowding up the board.
Ephemerate in some ways really hold the deck together. Flickering Spirited Companion and Inspiring Overseer keeps the cards flowing. You become turbo initiative with Goliath Paladin to speed run those rooms. There's the utility of getting multiple Dawnbringer Cleric triggers or locking the opponent out of combat with Stonehorn Dignitary. Sometimes you need to steal back the Initiative or Monarch back on their end step.
Mind Stone was a thought that I had early on while putting this deck together. Ramping into Goliath Paladin and Guardian of the Guildpact was its initial use. Once I started testing it felt like a perfect fit. Ramping into our most important threats and then popping it later to draw more action felt fantastic. Mind Stone adds to the cantrip plan we have going on. Main deck Relic of Progenitus plays a similar role. Being mono colored allows us to play cards like Mind Stone. We can run this out without having to worry about fixing our colors.
We're also on a quest to test of new cards and I think this might be a decent home for Hidden Courtyard This can find us some action in super grindy games we can afford to run a few tapped lands with some upside. Caves are not great with bounce lands but we don't have to worry about that.
Sideboarding:
The sideboard is feeling tight at the moment. Lots of tools to handle the top of the meta. Arashin Cleric and Holy Light for the Burn decks. Dust to Dust for all flavors of Affinity and Standard Bearer for any deck with All That Glitters. More Relic of Progenitus for Terror decks and Destroy Evil for some flexible removal.
This deck was exciting to brew and it feels strong. Combining Guardian of the Guildpact with Initiative and Idyllic Grange has been powerful and a different way to attack this style of deck. I felt like a mad scientist splicing together the aspects of Boros Bully and Boros Ephmerate mixed with some innovations. Shoutout again to our beloved Newby Boo for giving me the inspiration for the deck. We've been brewing a lot this season so if you like what we're doing we'd appreciate if you browse the website for more. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel for some League action. We have a Discord, something, something, call to actions. Thanks so much for reading and joining the Fellowship!
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