It’s Tuesday O’Clock! Time to do a Deck Tech!
This week we are heading on into standard with a deck that I built myself, with the intention of keeping it super budget, while still being a fun deck to play. So that brought me around to build Boros Exert! Exert is a mechanic that was introduced in Amonkhet where you may choose to not allow your creature to untap during your next turn, in order for an extra benefit on this turn.
Exert is a very interesting mechanic because it asks you whether attacking with more power now is worth the downside of not attacking later. Learning when to and when to not exert can very often mean the difference between a success or a failure. One of the best things about exert however is the upside is so powerful, that if there is a way to circumvent the downside in any way, it can make your creatures far stronger than they should be.
One of the best ways to get around this downside is to play Always Watching. Because of the wording of exert, if your creatures never tap in the first place, you can completely negate the downside of exert. This often means that you will be swinging in with creatures far larger than they should be on turns 3 and beyond. Oftentimes a turn 3 Always Watching can make it impossible for your opponent to come back from.
Now that we have the engine of the deck, we need the fuel. The most powerful exert card in this deck, would have to be Glory-Bound Initiate. Glory-Bound Initiate can be a turn 3 4/4 lifelinker and can be a very difficult creature to block, especially in the early turns. One of the reasons why Glory-Bound Initiate is the best creature in our deck because we can play a turn 2 Glory-Bound, followed by a turn 3 Always Watching. This gives a 5/5 lifelinker every single turn for as long as we control Glory-Bound. Glory-Bound is a sweet card and deserves the full playset alongside the Always Watching.
Besides these 2 cards, the rest of the deck is very budget, clocking in at a friendly $18.00. The rest of the cards in this deck have ways to either exert or benefit off of exerting. You’re not always going to have a Glory-Bound Initiate into an Always Watching, so it’s worth having another game plan. While having a Glory-Bound or an Always Watching are nice, they are not necessary for the deck to function and steal games.
If you have more money to spend on the deck than what I have posted here, some really welcome upgrades to the deck may include cards such as Glorybringer and Samut, Voice of Dissent. Both of these cards can provide a lot of value to the deck and can make your lategame presence a lot stronger. Of course these cards aren’t necassary for the deck to function as is, but a Glorybringer with an Always Watching never hurt.
Boros Exert may not be the best deck in standard right now, but it is an aggro deck that will test your mental capacity, and provide lots of fun in every game! This is a great deck that one can quickly pick up for a week at Standard, and keep around for later as a fun deck to play with others. I hope you enjoyed this Boros Exert deck tech, and I will see you guys next week!
If you want a link to the full deck list, you can find the full decklist here.
