Much Abrew: Flamepainter Boros (Standard)
Hello, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Much Abrew About Nothing. Efreet Flamepainter is a really cool and potentially powerful card. If it can get in combat damage, it will allow us to cast two instants or sorceries from our graveyard for free each turn, which is an immense amount of value. The problem is that it isn't always all that easy to get in combat damage with a 1/4—even a 1/4 with double strike. However, now, thanks to Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Efreet Flamepainter has a new best friend in Angelfire Ignition, with the sorcery giving Flamepainter haste, trample, and +2/+2, which will allow us to attack by surprise and also get in damage through blockers, greatly improving our chances of flashing back some spells for free. Even better, we also get Moonveil Regent as a way to draw through our deck to find Efreet Flamepainter and our best spells, while also stocking our graveyard with stuff to cast for free with Flamepainter! Is Efreet Flamepainter a real card in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Standard? Let's find out on this week's Much Abrew About Nothing!
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Much Abrew: Flamepainter Boros
Discussion
- Record-wise, we finished 3-2 with Flamepainter Boros. Both of our losses came in really close games: one to Mono-Green, where we managed to win the game where we were on the play but lost both when we were on the draw, and one to an Alrund's Epiphany control deck that managed to take an absurd number of turns by copying its namesake sorcery. On the other hand, we managed to beat Sultai Ramp, Rakdos Aggro, and Golgari Midrange pretty convincingly. Even when we lost, the deck felt pretty competitive.
- The sweetest synergy of the deck is Efreet Flamepainter with Angelfire Ignition to give it haste, +2/+2, trample, and some other less-important abilities, which makes it much, much easier to actually hit the opponent with Efreet Flamepainter even if they have some blockers. When we get to cast two instants and/or sorceries from our graveyard for free with Efreet Flamepainter, it feels like one of the best cards in Standard. The problem is that it usually isn't easy to get in combat damage with a 1/4, but Angelfire Ignition mostly solves this problem all by itself. While we don't have any super-expensive instants or sorceries to cast with Flamepainter (outside of Emeria's Call), even just flashing back random burn spells offers a lot of value and a good way to close out the game, backed by other aggressive threats.
- The other key card in the deck is Moonveil Regent, which not only gives us a way to fill our graveyard for Efreet Flamepainter but also keeps us drawing through our deck to find threats, removal, and burn to close out the game. The Dragon also works really well with our multi-color flashback spells Angelfire Ignition and Sacred Fire. In the late game, we often can flash them back when we are empty-handed and draw two cards, which should find us something else we can cast to draw some more cards, which opens up some weird little combo-esque turns where we sort of storm off with cheap burn spells.
- Sunrise Cavalier was a pleasant surprise in the deck. While a 3/3 haste, trample for three isn't what it used to be a few years ago, the ability to smash in for hasty damage works well with all of the burn in our deck. Thanks to Play with Fire, Sacred Fire, Lorehold Command, and the extra damage from Angelfire Ignition, we've got a lot of reach to close out the game if we can get our opponent's life total low enough, and a couple of Sunrise Cavalier attacks really helps support that plan.
- Only running two Showdown of the Skalds looks a bit strange—the saga was great pretty much every time we cast it, which makes it tempting to add in another copy or two. But between Efreet Flamepainter and Moonveil Regent, there just isn't much room for more four-drops in the deck without hurting our curve.
- We lost a game to Furycalm Snarl coming off the top of our deck when we really needed an untapped land to play a removal spell and stabilize. While it's a necessary evil because there aren't a lot of other dual-land options in Standard at the moment (at least, rare dual lands), it was a good reminder of just how bad the Snarls are. Hopefully, Innistrad: Crimson Vow will complete the slow-land cycle so we can get rid of the Snarl for good.
- All in all, I really liked Flamepainter Boros. When I think of Boros aggro, the first thing that pops into my head is mindlessly spewing my hand, attacking, and hoping for the best. Flamepainter Boros is a very different kind of Boros aggro deck. It's overflowing with neat synergies, stocked full of card draw, and sometimes almost feels like a combo deck masquerading as an aggro build. Plus, it's really sweet to see Efreet Flamepainter be competitive in Standard. It wasn't good enough before rotation in a world full of Ikoria and Eldraine, but thanks to Angelfire Ignition, it might actually be a competitive card now!
Conclusion
Anyway, that's all for today. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.
