Upgrading Commander Precon - Blame Game (Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser)

The new set, Murders at Karlov Manor, showed us several interesting new mechanics, such as Suspect - a Suspected creature has Menace and can't block. Based on an unusual mix between Suspect and Goad, today we'll show you how to upgrade one of the 4 new precon Commander decks, "Blame Game", with Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser as our commander!

Blame Game is a Boros deck with two options for commanders: Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser and Feather, Radiant Arbiter. We chose Nelly Borca this time as she makes more sense with everything this deck wants to do: Goad and Suspect, but more Goad than Suspect.

Nelly Borca does her job well, as she triggers her own card draw through Goad. This will give you more advantage, considering it will remove blockers from your way to victory with Goad throughout the game. So, she is more likely the best commander for Blame Game.

Feather has another mechanic which, despite matching certain cards in this list well, can't take as much advantage of them as Nelly Borca. As a result, we dedicated an entire deck to Feather in an alternative list at the end of this article centered around aura-type enchantments.

Cards Removed

Precon decks always have too many lands, so, to open up some slots for other cards, we removed one basic land of each type. We removed cards that cost too much mana as well, such as Angel of the Ruins, Darien, King of Kjeldor, Etali, Primal Storm, and Ancient Stone Idol, even though we can play this last one for just a few mana.

We also removed other cards that seem relevant, but, in practice, don't make that much of a difference, such as Anya, Merciless Angel, and the aforementioned Feather, Radiant Arbiter.

The rest of the cards we removed were the least relevant cards in this entire list. The official list has a few removals that aren't the best options, so we replaced them for better cards, which we'll show later on.

Goading Creatures Even More

We brought even more Goading for this deck, and other excellent cards to have more synergy with this mechanic. It's important to keep in mind that this mechanic has a "flaw": the moment when there's only you and another player left. Hot Pursuit was an excellent addition that was released alongside this deck to address this issue, and can be a win condition if your last opponent just has far too many creatures.

Bothersome Quasit works well, as we have 40 non-creature spells that will trigger its Goading, besides preventing Goaded creatures from blocking. Like so, combats will be even more unequal between your opponents, and consequently between your creatures and theirs as well.

Speaking of combats without any blockers, we added Grenzo, Havoc Raiser to take even more advantage of that. Grenzo's abilities trigger any time one of your creatures deals combat damage, and can Goad enemy creatures or just plainly steal their cards. So, it is a way to limit their resources.

Another legendary creature that will help us significantly is Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer. With Blame Game, we can increase its power with cards like Agitator Ant and Orzhov Advokist, to take advantage of its first ability a bit better. Creating Treasures with its other ability works well too, considering we already have mana advantage through the mana rocks in this deck.

The Sound of Drums stands out because of everything it does: it Goads the enchanted creature, doubles the damage you dealt, and can return from the graveyard to your hand for just three mana. It is a card that, as long as it isn't exiled, will always be able to Goad a creature and deal a significant amount of damage to your opponents.

Taunt from the Rampart was an excellent addition to this format, and was clearly a great addition to this list. It works as well as Disrupt Decorum, but none of your opponents will be able to block. So, cards like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Fiendish Duo can end the game alongside Taunt from the Rampart; however, it's important to keep in mind that this will depend on each player's board state - the more creatures each one has, the better your odds are to end the game.

Finally, we have another Suspect trigger: Agrus Kos, Spirit of Justice. Alongside our commander, Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser, it will also exile Suspected creatures. After all, even though we can easily Goad creatures, we won't be able to do this all the time, so removing what's problematic to our game strategy will be essential.

Removals and Answers

This deck had just a few removals. Seal of Cleansing and Soul Snare were the only target removals, and, as we removed them, we added a few others that remove cards in a broader sense to deal with anything our opponents play.

We added Generous Gift, Stroke of Midnight, and Chaos Warp instead as removals. Even though Chaos Warp can, potentially, place an even more problematic permanent on the board, it is still an efficient Red removal.

The original list had Promise of Loyalty and Winds of Rath as global removals, so we brought another one: Blasphemous Act, which allows us to pay only one mana for a global removal. The interaction between Blasphemous Act with Boros Reckoner or Brash Taunter can be lethal for any opponent with 13 or less health, or even 26 or less health, if Fiendish Duo is in play.

Finally, we brought Boros Charm because of its versatility. It can protect our creatures by making them Indestructible, give Double Strike to an attacker, ours or our opponent's, or deal 4 damage directly, and, so, it can be a finisher at the end of the game - or 8 damage, if we have an effect on the board that doubles the damage we deal.

This is our upgraded Blame Game list! The original list already had outstanding cards, such as Trouble in Pairs, Hot Pursuit, and Take the Bait, which already made it quite strong. You can change this list even more if it works for you, but that will be up to your personal taste.

Alternative List with Feather, Radiant Arbiter

This list, fully dedicated to Feather, obviously works better with her, as we included cards like Ethereal Armor and All that Glitters. Keep in mind, this list is entirely independent of the precon deck in this article.

Affectionately nicknamed Gossip Boros, I had the pleasure of seeing this deck IRL, and I can say it is quite fun! Our changes bring a bit more consistency and more answers to this deck, making it even more interesting. Suspect creatures, force combats, and have fun with this list!

Did you like this deck? Do you prefer Feather? Did you like another Murders at Karlov Manor Commander precon? Share your thoughts!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!