I think your choice between Akroan Crusader and Spark Elemental is a tough on indeed and may end with being a sideboard switch.

Spark Elemental allows you to drop the hammer right on first turn, it doesn't stick though, it's basically a lighting bolt to the face only it has a body. This would be doubly effective if you had some sort of recurrance.

Akroan Crusader on the other hand is still first turn, but doesn't come running out of the gate. However, he allows you to go wide stacking tokens each time he swings. With the mass buffs and having to be blocked 2-1 something will always get through.

With that said it could depend on what you play against wether or not you have the need to go wide or not. The lightning bolt on wheels may be better against heavy removal decks, so again having it as a side option might be your best bet. Hope it helps.

Yup, you guys sold me on the Akroan Crusader. He was my first pick in the original deck list, and I never should have strayed. But I do like your suggestion Mj3913 to sideboard the Spark Elemental in case I need to go burn heavy. And the reason I'd stick with the elemental over Lava Spike is simply because the elemental might (not super likely, but might) draw a blocker on turn 1 or 2, which could help keep the board clear for the double strikers.

Rift Bolt?

Toss up. Same utility early game. But late game, suspending could mean a missed opportunity and 3 mana is too expensive for this deck. The elemental is arguably a little better late game especially in conjunction with Anax and Cymede and Iroas, God of Victory. Who's going to block an indestructible 4/2 that requires two blockers? And if they don't block him, why not hit him with +3 damage and double strike?

Just thought of the card O-Naginata. It can give your guys trample and a decent buff.

Nobody ever gives Legion's Initiative any love :( So multifunctional. But I'm just ranting because I forgot about the card for a while :P

Also, Coordinated Assault and Blinding Flare are both great cards if you're trying to trigger heroics on multiple creatures at once. Rouse the Mob is another, but I prefer the first 2.

I really like this deck, kinds similar to what I play in modern, nice and aggro and the fabled hero really wrecks. Phalanx leader might be a decent addition, as it gives the permanent buff to your other stuff.

I just noticed you had already added Coordinated Assault but got rid of it. I'm guessing it was in favor of Martial Glory, which makes sense. I definitely recommend fitting in Blinding Flare however as you can use it on your turn and target multiple attackers for several triggers at once, as well as prevent blocks. Most of your creatures already have double strike, and iroas provides the other half, so perhaps 2 blinding flares and 2 madcap skills would give you more options by triggering more heroics when you've got iroas and a double strike creature already covered.

Would the card Double Cleave work well in this deck because it triggers heroic and gives double strike

TycoonMechanic, it would work but would be an inferior alternative to Boros Charm.

Have you tried Lagonna-Band Trailblazer? The fact that it doesn't dies to Lightning Bolt can be useful against any red deck

Ya know, __Tabs, I've considered it a couple times. But Favored Hoplite always wins out. In the instance you mentioned, most red players are going to Bolt him on my turn so they can have their Mana untapped on theirs. If they do that, I can pump the Hoplite with a spell, he'll be invulnerable for the turn, and I can attack. If they do Bolt on their turn, I'm not afraid to save a creature with a pump if I have to. I still net a counter on my creature and they're down a bolt. Only need to target him twice and he's out of Bolt range too. And that can be done turn 2.

The Trailblazer was good in standard. It's just too slow for modern. The fact that it is immune to bolt is, most of the time, irrelevant. Why would you bolt something that only deals 0-2 damage? IMO there are very few one drops that are worth bolting in modern.

Aggreed aside from delver or any infect creature a one drop probably isnt a game winner. Hoplite is a beast just targeting him in response makes him invulnerable to damage so that almost always wins.

Yup, and that's why he's earned the slot. He's a 1 drop that's difficult to kill and has the potential to be at least a minor threat. Though with the pumps in this deck, even an unblocked 1/1 token could become a serious threat, back when it still had the ability to make tokens. And he's quite a bit more powerful than that.

Thoughts on Monastery Swiftspear? Another good one drop and has haste/prowess as well. Not a soldier however :p

She's solid, though not nearly as effective as Favored Hoplite at that slot. I've won games with just him on the field.

I've been following this deck through its changes and built the most recent list (hope you don't mind) and it is just a blast to play. Awesome build.

s14sr20blktop - I don't mind at all. I post them up here for just that reason! I hope you have a blast dropping some serious Spartan pain on your opponents. No one ever expects to lose to a single Favored Hoplite before turn 5, but it's possible with this deck, and that's what makes it awesome! Have fun man. And if you figure out a way to make it better, let me know!

BTW, when I play this deck casually with friends I actually run it with 65 cards, adding in a 4th Madcap Skills and 4x Brute Force. It still functions fine and just brings that much more pain to the table. I highly recommend giving it a shot for the shiggles.

Absolutely, I love the Brute Force add. The only thing I ran into was the annoyance of holding multiple Anax and Cymede. Have you tried running one or two Preeminent Captain for a three drop since your on soldier theme? Or would it slow the deck down too much?

I've run into that as well. I usually just chalk it up as a side effect of how brutal Anax and Cymede are and how quickly they help you win. But I can certainly understand the rationale behind cutting a copy. I think the deck would still perform well. If I were to make that cut, then Preeminent Captain would definitely be my go-to. Being able to bring down Fabled Hero or Anax and Cymede for free with haste turn 4 would be amazing, since you'd probably also be paying to drop the other one.

I could see Preeminent Captain turn 3. Pay for Anax and Cymede turn 4, attack, drop a free hasted Fabled Hero, then use your left over mana to either trigger Anax for trample or if Hero is unblocked, hit him with a Titan's Strength.

Seems functional to me. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!