Hello and welcome to A Seat at the Table, the column where I pick a commander and talk about what I’d include in the 99. This week, another of the most popular legends from the new Jumpstart 2022 product!
Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran was as Boros as Boros used to come: combat focused and boring. Play your little guys and they get buffed. Okie dokie. Feather, the Redeemed, Firesong and Sunspeaker, Alibou, Ancient Witness, and Osgir, the Reconstructor are all examples of cooler Boros commanders that have come out in the more recent years.
Today, we’re looking at not just a cool Boros commander but an exploration into newer design space: Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier. Let’s take a look at this Red-White leader.
For 3W you get a 3/4 Legendary Spirit Soldier with a textbox that a lot of people have been getting excited about.
“Vigilance
Whenever Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier becomes the target of an ability that targets only it, you may pay {1}{R/W}. If you do, copy that ability for each other creature you control that ability could target. Each copy targets a different one of those creatures. ({R/W} can be paid with either {R} or {W}.)”
Important things to note:
- This only copies abilities, whether they are triggered or activated.
- To copy an ability, it costs two mana – one generic and one red or white.
- The ability must target Agrus Kos.
- The ability, if copied, is copied for all of the creatures you control if it could target them. You cannot pick and choose which creatures get picked. If a creature you control has Shroud, this will not bypass that.
What does that mean?
- You will need mana.
- You will need abilities that targets only a single creature.
- You will need other creatures to benefit from the ability being copied for them.
- You will need to protect Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier.
- Spells cannot be copied like with Zada, Hedron Grinder.
With all of that in mind, let’s talk about some spicy inclusions.
Let’s have a fun party right off the bat.
No, we’re not copying the Equip ability. But with Agrus being targeted with the combat damage trigger, if copied, you will blink all of your creatures, and tutor up basic lands equal to all those creatures. Do you have tokens? Now they’re lands! Do you have a bunch of value creatures with great enters-the-battlefield triggers? Have some more!
This interaction has been played to death online so I’ll keep it brief – THIS IS SO MUCH RAMP IN A COLOUR THAT ISN’T GREEN!
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Skullclamp (in decks with small token creatures)
Are you building Agrus to lead a team of weenies? Your Eternal Soldier leading a team of 1/1s to victory? What if you could equip Skullclamp to Agrus for 2R/W with a board of 10 1/1 Soldiers? You’d have 20 new cards in your hand. For 3 mana and little bit of set up. Hot damn, you’re going to want Skullclamp in a deck like this.
Jaxis, the Troublemaker is one of my fave mono-red commanders. Seeing the conversation about Agrus turn to Jaxis has warmed my heart. For three mana and discarding a card, you can tap Jaxis to copy Agrus, aka all of your creatures. They become “blitzed” copies of those creatures, meaning they will die, they will draw you cards, and they will hit the battlefield with haste to swing heavy. Sure, Agrus and Jaxis’s copies will die immediately, but that’s basically Divination… IN BOROS!
Kiki-Jiki and his new enchantment version from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty does a similar dance. HOWEVER, they cannot target Agrus Kos because he is legendary and they specifically require nonlegendary creature targets.
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Felidar Guardian / Flickerwisp / Conjurer’s Closet / Teleportation Circle / Eldrazi Displacer / Restoration Angel
These two bad boys let you blink without the combat step. Flickerwisp of course delays the return to the battlefield to the end step, but either way, being able to target Agrus and copy the blink for your entire board of creatures is value city. The Closet and Circle let you do it at every end step. Displacer is five mana (one colourless) for a mass team blink at instant speed. Resto Angel adds Flash but takes away angels. Either way, all of these are tools in the toolbox for Kos.
For more combat focus, Basri Ket’s +1 ability will give your whole board a boost and indestructible. If you pay the extra two on top of Key to the City’s activation of tap and discard, you get a board of unblockable creatures. A maxed out Paladin Class can take your board up a notch every turn for the low cost of two mana every combat.
Honorable Mention: Copy for combat (Delina, Wild Mage / Flamerush Rider / Fireflux Squad)
All of these trigger on attack. Delina, Wild Mage will make a copy of Agrus and everybody at least once and if you’ve gone very wide, you’re bound to hit 15-20 sometimes. Flamerush Rider requires the other targets to be attacking and will make flash in the pan versions that disappear at the end of combat.
Fireflux Squad is my favourite of the bunch. The idea is to make a ton of little token creatures. Attack with Fireflux Squad and target Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier, pay 1R/W and turn Agrus and all the attacking tokens will Polymorph into actual creature cards from your graveyard swinging in. Cheat out massive threats and cool ETBs for two mana on top of the Squads four.
There’s a lot of fun to be had with the new Agrus Kos. This guy is really interesting and will doubtlessly produce some extremely fun moments at the table. However, these can lead to complicated board states and stacks. Don’t be afraid to log on and ask JudgeChat for clarification and help.
Happy targeting!
If you have a commander in mind that you’d like to see covered on A Seat at the Table, message me @mikecarrozza on Twitter, Instagram, or Hive.
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