Card Spotlight - Underground Boss

Card Spotlight returns after the release of the Oversky Expansion. In this series we will investigate how the Oversky has shaped the Faeria landscape. Expect to read about old and new cards and discover what decks they can feature in. Included in every article is a video of one of these decks in action!

Underground Boss

When it comes to generating Faeria advantage, Underground Boss is one of the best. This big rat has a very solid Attack and Life value coupled with a powerful Combat ability. Every time Boss attacks or defends in combat, you gain 2 Faeria. This allows Red decks to generate value through attacking enemy creatures. What’s even better is a Gift of Steel can lead to multiple combat triggers producing a huge Faeria advantage. One thing to remember is Combat abilities trigger on both Structures and Orbs.

Gift of Steel pushes Underground Boss to a 6/8 creature. The investment is two cards and eight Faeria which does seem like a lot. However, the Combat ability of Boss refunds you Faeria spent every time he’s in combat. At a base Life of 5, it’s quite likely that the Boss can have multiple Combat triggers. Gift of Steel pushes Boss to a massive 8 Life, giving the creature a better chance of surviving combat. Gift of Steel accelerates the power level of Boss considerably, allowing multiple combat triggers to generate a Faeria advantage over your opponent.

Another tool Red likes to utilise is the Syland Horsemaster. This gives Red mobility and a way to push towards an enemy Faeria Well or Orb. Syland Horsemaster can have a major impact at any stage of the match. However the early game can give Red a big advantage if combined with Underground Boss. A turn two or three Boss is very dangerous when combined with mobility. Not only do you have the opportunity to clear an enemy harvester but you gain Faeria back from Boss’s Combat ability. The aggressive push also puts you in range of setting up an aggressive Mountain for future Axe Grinders.

Red Combat creatures have great synergy with Yellow. As mentioned above, mobility is very strong in Red and it’s no surprise Red has very limited mobility options within its colour. Yellow gives Red enormous reach with Khalim’s Training and Flash Wind. In the past we haven’t seen much of Underground Boss in the Red Yellow decks because the combination usually goes down a burn route. Boss could still find it’s way into a Combat Red Yellow if you value the Faeria generation.

Why play Underground Boss?

Underground Boss is currently one of the best creatures in the game. It gives you Faeria through combat and is a threat on board. Gift of Steel is always a fear when facing down an enemy Underground Boss. The card is also really annoying to destroy because any combat gives the user Faeria. Combat is currently the best route for Mono Red decks.

Red Control is a tier one choice in the current meta. You might notice that there are no Oversky cards featured in this build. Red didn’t get much from Oversky to boost the power of its Mono build. This doesn’t surprise me because Red Control was a tier one deck before Oversky’s release. Red Control offers you solid creatures and the best removal. It’s the perfect deck to climb the ladder. CAP-10 would make the cut if it didn’t cost four special lands. Red Combat enjoys the luxury of playing neutral lands for Horsemaster and setting up better Bomb Slinger positions.

There are other options for including Underground Boss. Monthly Cup Champion ESOfDawn and Player/Caster SuperbLizard came up with this interesting Blue Red build. It focuses on the Combat creatures to generate Faeria to play Gemshell Tortoise. The whole idea is being able to use Gemshell’s draws the turn it is played which is why there are plenty of cheap removal options in the deck.

Conclusion

There have been talks about Gift of Steel being too strong. I don’t believe Gift of Steel is the issue but rather the insane value you gain from Faeria based Combat abilities. Underground Boss and Brigand both have the potential to snowball an advantage with multiple Combat triggers. This is why I rate them both as two of the best creatures in the game. Faeria is all about resources and the Underground Duo are the best when it comes to producing extra Faeria.