Standard: Boros Mice - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

During one of our live streams, I commented on how Bloomburrow is a set that prioritizes high synergy between its cards instead of individual power levels, making it necessary - in most cases - to combine some of its mechanics to get the most out of a deck.

This is the case of the list we'll be presenting today, the Boros Mice, which gained notoriety in this weekend's Challenges after placing two copies in the Top 8 of the events and presents itself as another promising Aggro deck in Standard, mixing "go wide" plans with spells to trigger the Valiant of its main creatures.

This is the list I've been testing on Magic Arena since Boros Mice first showed results in the Challenges, with changes made according to my experience and personal taste with what the deck proposes, and the current matchups found on the platform.

I believe that everything in it is quite straightforward and does not stray from what most other lists have tried, only changing some numbers in favor of greater synergy and/or including some cards from the Sideboard in the maindeck due to the need to be less “all-in” and more interactive in certain games.

It is possible to build the list with more linear plans (Best of One, for example, requires more Rabid Gnaw instead of Loran’s Escape since most opponents play Aggro), but this is a good starting point, and we can consider other options from there (is Rabid Gnaw better than Get Lost? Loran’s Escape worth maindecking, or can we swap it for Get Lost? Is 28 creatures the ideal number, or is it better to reduce to 24 and include more interaction?).

Maindeck

Flowerfoot Swordmaster is part of the heart of the deck, as it interacts with our two game plans: it puts two bodies on the board with one card, increases the power of all mice if we target it, and we can use its effect up to twice with its copy.

Heartfire Hero and Emberheart Challenger interact more with the “go big” plan, where we use spells like Monstrous Rage and Might of the Meek to increase its power and gain more reach during the game.

The Valiant plan is complemented by other creatures besides spells. Manifold Mouse rewards us for the Offspring mechanic or for playing two creatures in the same turn, while Cheeky House-Mouse is a cheap spell and another creature to put into play for the “go wide” plan.

Manifold Mouse can also copy itself when it comes into play and its ability, and when combined with pumps like Monstrous Rage, it is almost as lethal as Embercleave - a function shared with Mabel, Heir to Cragflame, whose equipment token also turns any creature into an immediate threat in addition to interacting with our “go wide” plan.

Despite not being a mouse, Valley Questcaller is our main enabler for the go wide plan and helps us filter the top while we play our creatures. Its body is pretty decent on its own, so four copies seem ideal given that Mabel is a legendary creature.

Might of the Meek triggers our creatures’ Valiant, gives them evasion, and draws a card - all for one mana. It’s one of the main reasons to play Boros Mice today.

Monstrous Rage is the main red pump we have in Standard today, and any creature with it becomes a threat in addition to hindering our opponent's blocking math.

Loran’s Escape and Rabid Gnaw are flexible slots and depend on what you want to do in the games. It’s possible to give up their synergy with the list in favor of removals, just as we can decrease or increase the number of some of them in favor of proactivity and/or to protect ourselves from the opponent’s removals.

Today, I'm leaning toward running two more Loran's Escape in the maindeck and opening up two slots in the sideboard for more removal and/or other ways to interact with sweepers.

In addition to the eight untapped duals we need to play Aggro, Cavern of Souls fixes our mana while protecting us from counterspells, especially No More Lies early in the game that can make the difference between winning before a Sunfall or losing Game 1 because of it.

Rockface Village triggers our creatures' Valiant and gives them the benefit of immediate impact. Another necessary card in the list, but we don't want more than two copies of it.

Sideboard

Our hate against other permanents. All of them were selected considering their flexibility.

Get Lost, Destroy Evil and Abrade deal with enchantments or artifacts while also resolving small or large creatures, and Nettle Guard is another mouse for the list that allows us to keep the high number of creatures we have in the deck as much while responding to problematic permanents.

Lightning Helix is a need in the colors against Aggro, especially against Gruul Prowess, but it can be used in many other matchups, with Mirror included.

Loran’s Escape comes into play in games where we know the opponent has a lot of interaction, and where our more proactive target spells lose a lot of value because of it.

Tocasia’s Welcome is my choice among the slots that belong to games where we need more gas because we have enough creatures to trigger it with some frequency. Other options include Urabrask’s Forge and Invasion of Gobakhan, or even accept that this list loses to Sunfall or other sweepers and look for ways to be faster than those answers.

Domain Ramp

IN

OUT

Golgari Midrange

IN

OUT

Gruul Prowess / Mono Red Prowess

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Boros Mice

IN

OUT

That's all for today. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!