Kick Start My Heart | Winota, Joiner of Forces EDH

Commander / EDH RW (Boros)

Suns_Champion

Creature (25)

• 1x Angrath's Marauders
• 1x Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder *f-etch*
• 1x Captain of the Watch
• 1x Evangel of Heliod
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Geist-Honored Monk
• 1x Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero
• 1x Goblin Instigator
• 1x Goblin Rabblemaster
• 1x Goldnight Commander
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
• 1x Hanged Executioner
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Iroas, God of Victory *list*
• 1x Legion Warboss
• 1x Lena, Selfless Champion
• 1x Loyal Apprentice
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Resolute Blademaster
• 1x Selfless Spirit
• 1x Thalia's Lancers

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Fervor
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Mass Hysteria
• 1x Penance
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Land (36)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Kher Keep
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 10x Mountain
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 10x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Temple of Triumph

Artifact (10)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Conch Horn
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Idol of Oblivion
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Tome of Legends

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Commander (1)

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Dragon Fodder
• 1x Fumigate
• 1x Hordeling Outburst
• 1x Krenko's Command
• 1x Mob Rule
• 1x Molten Birth
• 1x Not Forgotten
• 1x Servo Exhibition
• 1x Tempt with Vengeance
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

Instant (10)

• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Raise the Alarm
• 1x Rootborn Defenses
• 1x Secure the Wastes
• 1x Silence
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Wear / Tear

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Sideboard

Artifact (5)

• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Slate of Ancestry
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Throne of the God-Pharaoh

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Assemble the Legion
• 1x Break Through the Line
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Tectonic Reformation

Creature (4)

• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Mogg War Marshal
• 1x Silverwing Squadron
• 1x Stormfront Riders

Instant (3)

• 1x Entrapment Maneuver
• 1x Make a Stand
• 1x Savage Beating

Land (4)

• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Mishra's Factory

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Chandra, Acolyte of Flame

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Satyr's Cunning

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Maybeboard

Creature (12)

• 1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 1x Cartographer's Hawk
• 1x Evangel of Heliod
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Hero of Goma Fada
• 1x Homura, Human Ascendant  ^Flip
• 1x Krenko, Mob Boss
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Mirror Entity
• 1x Ogre Battledriver
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Verge Rangers

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Cathars' Crusade
• 1x Divine Visitation
• 1x Elemental Mastery
• 1x Heat Stroke

Artifact (3)

• 1x Crystal Ball
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Smuggler's Copter

Instant (4)

• 1x Chance for Glory
• 1x Fight as One
• 1x Reinforcements
• 1x Unbreakable Formation

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Players of the Boros legion have had a rough time since EDH was created. Lack of draw and ramp. Commanders that only focus on attacking, and weren't very good at that. Over the last few years, however, we've seen some improvements in the commander department. Firesong and Sunspeaker, Feather, the Redeemed, and Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero. Then in Ikoria we got Zirda, the Dawnwaker.

And then, I saw the Legend that just might Kick Start Boros' Heart. I hope it never stops.

I've played a lot of Boros.

I've played jank Boros, artifact Boros, combo Boros, control/ETB value Boros, fling Boros, spellslinger/burn Boros, Sunforger Boros, tribal Boros, and voltron Boros. I have been a dedicated player of the Legion for years. If there's one thing in MTG I can call myself an expert in, it's Boros EDH.

Winota is the best thing to ever happen to Boros.

Winota, Joiner of Forces is a 4/4 Legendary Creature - Human Warrior for . So right of the bat, we're getting fair stats for the mana cost, a criticism I leveled at Firesong and Sunspeaker back in the day. Along with good stats, Winota has a wall of text. And unlike most walls of text, this one changes everything.

Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It gains indestructible until end of turn. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.

It's a lot to take in all at once.

Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. This part of the ability does nothing on its own of course, but look at this. It counts tokens. It counts them individually. And it looks at the top 6 cards, which is basically a Dig Through Time for Boros.

You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Any human. No CMC limit. It doesn't go to your hand, it goes onto the battlefield. Not only that, but it also comes in attacking. We just took two extra turns in Boros.

It gains indestructible until end of turn. There are no downsides to attacking now. Everywhere is safe for our new humans.

Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. And that's it. No need to sac the creatures at end of turn, no need to exile the other 5 cards, no need for anything.

The reason why Winota is the best thing to ever happen to Boros is not the card advantage. It's the fact she makes going into combat with Boros so irresistibly enticing, so overwhelmingly powerful, and so thrillingly fun. She's not like Iroas where the value can't quite get you there. She's not like Kelemne where it comes too late. She's not like Aurelia where you have to suit the commander up. She's not like Feather where you have to play bad cards to maybe get 2nd place at optimized tables. Winota's hoop, the thing she's asking you do do, is easy. Attack with an army. Her reward, another army. She doesn't gain life or deal direct damage. She makes the combat phase the most important part of the game.

And that's all Boros has ever needed.

There's a few things you should know about this deck.

It's not complicated. And it's not subtle.

This deck is all about smashing face in a way no EDH deck ever has. To do that, we need to first jump through Winota's considerably generous hoop. Attack with non-human creatures. A lot of them.

The bread and butter of this deck are the 1-3 mana token producers:

• Dragon Fodder
• Goblin Instigator
• Goblin Rabblemaster
• Hanged Executioner
• Hordeling Outburst
• Krenko's Command
• Legion Warboss
• Legion's Landing  
• Loyal Apprentice
• Molten Birth
• Raise the Alarm
• Servo Exhibition

These ensure that when Winota hits, we will have an army that can immediately attack and start churning through our library. In addition, there are some X-Spell token producers and some late-game plays to keep us relevant in later turns should things go wrong.

The key to Winota, in my opinion, is playing as many non-humans as possible turns 1-3, dropping Winota turn 4, and immediately attacking with 3-5 tokens. We'll be hitting hard, very early, and hopefully, our value can propel us to an early win.

Backing those up are some man lands, that double as attackers in a pinch: Blinkmoth Nexus, Mishra's Factory.

There are some pretty great Humans in Boros.

A lot make non-human tokens, and those are crucial for providing blockers the turn the are cheated out, and for increasing our attack power next turn. Captain of the Watch, Geist-Honored Monk, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Evangel of Heliod, etc.

Some humans serve as great protection pieces, like Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero and Lena, Selfless Champion.

The real allstars are the combat effects, like Goldnight Commander, Angrath's Marauders, and Resolute Blademaster. They get us across the finish line.

There are of course humans that provide draw, tutors, and bounce effects too. Stormfront Riders is a great way to get high value ETBs back to our hand, while also creating more tokens. Again, this is not a very complicated deck, but you get your synergy in where you can.

A critical flaw in Winota's gameplan is that without her, the deck basically folds. There is so little room for draw, removal, ramp, pet cards, support cards, or synergy pieces when you have to cram in so many non-humans and humans. Thus, I've decided to focus on protection. Keeping what I have is critically important in this deck. Victory only requires two swings. We have to stay on board to finish the game. Combat protection, anti-counterspell and removal, and anti-boardwipe tech.

• Boros Charm
• Deflecting Swat
• Eldrazi Monument
• Flawless Maneuver
• Iroas, God of Victory
• Lightning Greaves
• Rootborn Defenses
• Selfless Spirit
• Teferi's Protection
• Silence

I think Silence and Grand Abolisher are the most important pieces here. Being able to cast Winota and attack without the fear of interruption is amazing, even if it means holding back a turn to cast Silence and Winota.

This deck doesn't run a lot of draw outside of Winota's ability. The ramp slots are also taken up by early token producers. That's because Winota is so good, she can't be bothered with that nonsense.

This deck doesn't run a lot of board wipes or removal. We can't be bothered by those either. Here in the Legion, we don't remove permanents, we remove players.

Synergy: While this is a very simple deck, I've found some techy stuff to capitalize on her ability. It comes from the desire to get humans stuck in my hand or graveyard back on top of the library. Conch Horn, Not Forgotten, and Penance are some spicy includes for Winota.

Mob Rule is a great way to recruit a quick army to finish a game.

Land Tax is a great way to thin the deck to guarantee hitting humans.

Grenzo, Havoc Raiser is an amazing goad/draw tool. He really shines here.

The Gods are with us: Iroas, God of Victory is an amazing protection piece that can also get some attack triggers in if we devote ourselves to him. Devotion is easy in the deck because we are cheating out high costed creatures turn 4. Purphoros, God of the Forge is the primary non-combat wincon, but works best with our attacking and cheating strategy. Having him out, attacking, and cheating in a couple of token producers quickly closes the combat damage gap.

Conclusion: Winota, Joiner of Forces has single-handedly made Boros aggro viable in EDH. She is, in my opinion, the best Boros Legend in EDH.

If you like the deck, leave an upvote, comment, or suggestion. I'd be happy to hear it. For the Legion!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 2 Mythic Rares 40 - 12 Rares 22 - 5 Uncommons 9 - 3 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.12
Tokens	Eldrazi 10/10 C, Elemental 1/1 R, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Elephant 3-3 G, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Goblin 1/1 R, Knight 2/2 W w/ Vigilance, Kobolds of Kher Keep 0/1 R, Satyr 1/1 R, Servo 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 RW, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Thopter 1/1 C, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	EDH, New Deck Ideas, Inspirational Decks, Boros EDH, copy/paste, Cool Decks, EDH ideas, Commander, awesome decks, Boros
Based on	Fantastic Mr. Fox | Zirda, the Dawnwaker EDH Suns_Champion EDH