Strength in Numbers! Sharing My Boros Mice Aggro

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Before We Start

Hi everyone, I’m MarkWen, an old newbie who played through Theros, some core sets and Khans of Tarkir, quit for real-life reasons, and came back at the beginning of this year.
I’m very happy that at the MITQ qualifier at CM on 20241215, I made Top 4 with Boros Mice and earned my spot at next year’s MIT#9. The moment I qualified I really breathed a sigh of relief, and it gave all the effort I put into practicing a proper answer!
I’d also like to thank cephille’s MTG World for inviting me to share my journey preparing Boros Mice. Getting to leave my footprints in the Guildmages’ Forum community is genuinely moving ><

I chose an aggro deck to prepare for this MITQ because when I came back this year, I downloaded MTGA for the first time mid-year (back when The Wandering Emperor hadn’t rotated out yet), netdecked a Mono-Red aggro deck (Slickshot Show-Off MVP) in two weeks and climbed to Mythic with it, which set the direction for my future Standard preparation. Before I started seriously building for Standard, the only paper Magic I played was Sealed, Draft, and Commander.

I started seriously preparing for Standard after BLB came out. At first I tried a White-Blue flyers tempo deck, but it got smashed in practice matches, so I took it apart XD
When I started browsing deck sites like MTGGoldfish, I noticed Heartfire Hero was being used heavily in aggro decks. I checked my collection and found I happened to have exactly four copies! So I decided to prepare mono-red Mice aggro.

Compared with the Mono-Red aggro deck from before the rotation, the two play quite differently. Mono-Red Mice depends much more on whether you have creatures on board and on the order you play your cards, and its card filtering is weaker than the old red aggro deck. So when I first practiced Mice aggro on MTGA, there was always a wall in front of me: I reached Diamond but could never climb to Mythic, and this went on for two months.

It wasn’t until DSK arrived that I finally decided to turn mono-red Mice into Boros Mice. I want to thank Guildmages’ Forum for the article Duskmourn Standard Preliminary, which showed the Boros Mouse list. Without that article as a core, I would never have had the follow-up ideas.

Deck Introduction

Decklist link

Settling on a Direction

The addition of Sheltered by Ghosts made me, someone who leaned toward mono-red Mice, move to Boros Mice. The original aggro deck mostly just kept posing problems to the opponent, but was relatively weak at removing the opponent’s creatures. This Aura gives the Mice a certain amount of answering power while also applying more pressure, and since it targets, it also works nicely with the Mice’s valiant.

At the same time, the arrival of Shardmage’s Rescue makes it easier to protect creatures on board; combined with offspring, the Mice stay alive on the battlefield even more often!

Compared to a red aggro deck that runs cards like Screaming Nemesis, this build gives up the ability to burst out on an empty board; still, I like the overall tempo of this deck more.

Land Configuration

An aggro deck wants lands to be usable the moment you draw them, and I’m no exception, but among the nonbasic lands I only have a full four Battlefield Forge. Since the fastland Inspiring Vantage always enters tapped as your fourth land, I chose to play only three.

Why only one copy of each of the other utility lands? Because when I practice, I really dislike lands that can only produce colored mana for specific targets, so I made that choice. (If you draw it, you draw it, and vice versa XD)

Creature Choices

Like most aggro decks, Heartfire Hero, Emberheart Challenger and Manifold Mouse are of course at four copies. What’s more unusual is that I also run a full four Flowerfoot Swordmaster. The reason is that after the turn-two buff, the damage it deals is on par with Heartfire Hero; there’s also a chance to make two of them on turn three, keeping the board even or even ahead. Its valiant effect also gives +1 power to every Mouse on the battlefield, which is a lot of pressure when the opponent doesn’t sweep the board.

Adding Valley Questcaller is already strong just for giving all Mice on board +1/+1, not to mention that as long as the opponent doesn’t remove it, every Mouse cast afterward can scry 1 to check whether the next card is useful. I only play two copies because in my testing that was least likely to disrupt the Mice’s attack tempo, after all, this one is a Rabbit XD

The slot for Cheeky House-Mouse originally held Monastery Swiftspear, but after talking with a friend before the tournament, I figured that since my deck is built around Mice, I might as well switch to this card, and in the end it replaced Monastery Swiftspear.
Skrelv, Defector Mite, Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Mabel, Heir to Cragflame are each a single copy because they are legendary.
The reason I specifically included Inti, Seneschal of the Sun is that it widens the advantage while speeding up filtering, and the trample it gives the target creature breaks board stalls in a tight position and tips the advantage to my side.

Other Spells

In an aggro deck, Monstrous Rage is naturally a four-of, Sheltered by Ghosts is one of the core pieces of the deck and has to be a four-of, and Might of the Meek is the only way to draw cards in this deck, so it also has to be a four-of. Shardmage’s Rescue was originally a four-of too, but after discussing with a friend I chose to add one more creature, Skrelv, Defector Mite, in place of the fourth copy. As for Rabid Gnaw, I play two: besides being instant-speed single-target removal that triggers valiant, when I target a creature enchanted with Sheltered by Ghosts it also gains some extra life. Honestly it should have been swapped for Boros Charm (but I still hadn’t received mine before the tournament QQ).

Sideboard Choices

The sideboard idea is basically this: against decks like Domain or White midrange, which have lots of sweepers and whose mid-to-late-game card quality crushes ours, we bring in lots of burn and switch to a tempo burn plan. The creature count drops by a certain amount, and the goal is to take away half their life early, then finish with burn in the midgame or with the Forge.

• Urabrask’s Forge x3: To beat control decks that can’t deal with artifacts (except mono-white tokens).
• Ghost Vacuum x2: To beat graveyard decks, such as White-Blue Abhorrent Oculus or Blue-Green Otters.
• Get Lost x2: To solve some tricky problems (usually brought in during aggro mirrors).
• Shock x2: Usually used to kill creatures (a downgraded version of Burst Lightning).
• Lightning Strike x2: A substitute for the Boros Charm I couldn’t get.
• Exorcise x1: To solve some tricky problems (brought in against midrange and Domain).
• Callous Sell-Sword x1: A finisher that raises the burst ceiling (only one copy because I only owned one before the tournament).
• Sunspine Lynx x1: Since there are quite a few Blue-Black control and midrange decks whose nonbasic lands usually far outnumber their basics, I chose this to replace Screaming Nemesis as a final finisher.
• Invasion of Regatha x1: A finisher, but it basically never got used.

Editor’s note: Reading this far, I truly feel that Mark’s sharing is a huge encouragement for newcomers who are still piecing together a deck! It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford the expensive mainstream cards; try cheaper downgrades instead! In the right situation and with a correct understanding of the match, even a little footsoldier can win the day. Keep building, keep competing, keep thinking. Magic might not always be Pay to Win XD, but it can definitely be Think to Win!

20241215 CM MITQ Sideboarding Strategy

1. Take out 1 each of Mabel, Heir to Cragflame, Cheeky House-Mouse and Rabid Gnaw;
2. Take out 1 each of Shardmage’s Rescue, Valley Questcaller and Manifold Mouse

The first three basically come out after game one, and the last three I adjust depending on the situation.

On the day of the 20241215 CM MITQ, I only sided out the first three plus 1 Shardmage’s Rescue, mainly swapping in Shock, Get Lost, Sunspine Lynx and Callous Sell-Sword. That day I figured that forcing in Urabrask’s Forge in a sideboarded game would actually make me lose by taking too long, so it never got a chance to play. Otherwise, against midrange or control, putting in all three Forges is completely reasonable.

The final sideboard came out like this after discussing with a friend. The reason for leaning toward burn is that the hardest matchup for my Boros Mice is mono-white tokens: with no creatures on the board it’s very hard to deal damage. So my default plan was that if I really ran into mono-white, I would swap in every card that can deal damage on an empty board, but luckily I never faced mono-white that day.

Matchup Overview

Boros Burn

Deck reference

The player on the play has the advantage. Against this type of deck, as long as you can keep one creature on the board, there’s basically a chance to turn the game around, so whether Shardmage’s Rescue is in hand matters a lot; Sheltered by Ghosts can directly deal with Screaming Nemesis and thereby boost your life total. The rest depends on both sides’ draws.

Dimir Midrange

Deck reference

If we’re on the play we have a slight edge. Similar to the Boros Burn matchup, whether Shardmage’s Rescue and Sheltered by Ghosts show up on time, and whether the low-cost creatures Heartfire Hero, Emberheart Challenger and Flowerfoot Swordmaster survive a turn, is crucial.

Golgari Midrange

Deck reference

The approach is similar to the Dimir control matchup, but you don’t need to worry about counterspells in particular. Overall it’s somewhat easier than Dimir control, but being on the play is still more advantageous.

Overlord Domain

Deck reference

Before the opponent reaches five lands, see whether you can deal with them; again, the player on the play has the advantage. The harder version is the Domain deck that plays Zur, Eternal Schemer: once the opponent gains life even once, you basically can’t come back.

Mono-White Tokens

Deck reference

The hardest matchup, bar none. With all kinds of exile sweepers, lifegain and card draw, unless the opponent stumbles on lands and fails to draw a sweeper, you usually win less and lose more.

Opening Hands

The best case on the play is 2 lands (one red, one white), 2 to 3 creatures (two of them one-drops), and the remaining three cards in any mix, which is usually a great start.
If you have both Heartfire Hero and Flowerfoot Swordmaster on turn one, play the former first, since its pressure on turn two will be very strong; even if the opponent plays a tapped land on turn one and I have Sheltered by Ghosts, I’d still choose to put it proactively on Heartfire Hero, protecting the creature while also giving me more options on turn three. Also, if I have Manifold Mouse on turn three together with Monstrous Rage, I can give double strike and deal 14 damage while gaining 14 life! As long as the opponent doesn’t sweep the board, that’s basically a win.

On the draw you get to see one extra card, but since the main deck has no standalone removal and everything needs to pair with a creature on the battlefield, having two or more creatures in the opening hand is crucial, and in particular whether Flowerfoot Swordmaster is in hand matters a lot. After that it depends on whether tricks like Shardmage’s Rescue can block the opponent’s removal, and when Monstrous Rage and Sheltered by Ghosts show up.

The Most Memorable Match

The match that left the deepest impression was game one of the Top 8 match for a Top 4 spot, where I was on the draw and my opponent, on the play, mulliganed twice.
My opening hand was Flowerfoot Swordmaster, Shardmage’s Rescue, Monstrous Rage, Might of the Meek, Cavern of Souls, Battlefield Forge and Mountain. On turn one I played Cavern of Souls, named Mouse, and passed.

I did this because I wasn’t sure I’d keep having creatures later, so I planned to cast Flowerfoot Swordmaster with offspring on turn three to get two creatures on the battlefield; at the same time, with Cavern of Souls in play, I made sure the opponent’s counterspells were basically useless. Very luckily, I drew three gas in a row over the next three turns, and with Flowerfoot Swordmaster continuing to pressure the opponent, I won.

Besides the opponent’s double mulligan and my good draws afterward, my choice to endure the first two turns so that the board could keep applying pressure was also key to the win. Looking at their hand afterward, they were indeed holding a removal spell; had I chosen to play Flowerfoot Swordmaster on turn one and gotten it killed, and then drawn no creatures, I would have basically lost that game. I think choosing to play slowly and only using offspring on turn three laid the foundation for this win, and let me respond more calmly in the later matches, finally reaching my first qualification.

Conclusion

On my road with Guildmages’ Forum I’ve met a lot of helpful people, especially since coming back this year, and having friends to invite out for a game is truly the happiest thing for a card player!

However, the most important thing in playing is how you adjust your mindset. Although there are wins and losses along the way, that’s part of improving; once you’ve decided to play a tournament, steady practice is definitely the key, and the opinions of friends and seniors can also save you a lot of detours (I highly recommend MTGA; best-of-three practice is a blessing for introverts!)

I also hope this article can give newcomers like me, who only came back this year or just joined, some confidence: believe in your deck and practice steadily, and you will still reap rewards!