Rotation has arrived to MTG Arena. While we welcome Dominaria United, we must also say goodbye to Zendikar Rising, Kaldheim (and its awesome giants!), Strixhaven: School of Mages and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms.

With the rotation, a large number of cards are dropping out of Standard. Many of the decks that dominated the competition are going to either have to replace some cards with new ones or may even drop out of favour without suitable alternatives.

One deck that I enjoyed playing was the Boros Aggro deck that rose to become an Arena favourite in early summer. Needless to say, rotation meant the loss of a number of cards but I found it relatively easy to rework with new Dominaria cards (the same cannot be said for my WB Clerics deck and Noah mocked my first attempt but that’s a story for a different time).

Here is the Boros Aggro deck that I’ve begun to play with in Standard B01 (Updated 9/9 – See at end for more on the changes):

Creatures

• 2 Intrepid Adversary (MID) 25
• 4 Bloodthirsty Adversary (MID) 129
• 4 Brutal Cathar (MID) 7
• 4 Hopeful Initiate (VOW) 20
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan (NEO) 152
• 3 Shivan Devastator (DMU) 143
• 4 Sunrise Cavalier (MID) 244
• 4 Thundering Raiju (NEO) 166

Spells

• 4 Lightning Strike (XLN) 149
• 4 Play with Fire (MID) 154

Lands

• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
• 7 Mountain (SNC) 269
• 6 Plains (SNC) 263
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance (NEO) 276
• 4 Sundown Pass (VOW) 266
• 4 Wind-Scarred Crag (NEO) 282

It is early days but initial indications is that the deck plays much as it did before. The biggest change is the addition of a Shivan Devastator, a useful card to help smooth out the mana curve thanks to its flexible cost. Lightning Bolt took over burn duties from Roil Eruption.

On the creature side, the biggest loss is the stellar Luminarch Aspirant. For now, I’ve replaced the set with Intrepid Adversary but I expect that I could remove one or two in favour of additional Shivan Devastators if the new card’s promise holds up.

On the land side, I expect that the loss of the modal Pathway lands. For now, I’ve replaced them with 4 Wind-scarred Crags. Two Den of the Bugbear made way for a basic Mountain and a Sundown Pass. This will likely slow the deck down but how much remains to be seen.

If you managed to adjust your older Standard B01 Boros deck for rotation, what changes did you make? Let us know below.

Update (9/9): Since I posted the deck list, I have made two adjustments:

• I removed the 2 Angelfire Ignition and 2 Intrepid Adversaries in favour of 2 additional Shivan Devastators, 1 Bloodthirsty Adversary and 1 Lightning Strike. The Shivan Devastators work nicely across the curve while the Bloodthirsty Adversary’s haste feels more potent than the potential for counters later in the game. Finally, Lightning Strike is simply good removal.
• I added the 6 Plains I forgot to add in the first post.