Conditions Allow - Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice EDH

Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice by Chris Rahn
The Boros Legion's Last Hurrah?
Hello, and welcome back to Conditions Allow, the article series where I take a legendary creature with a drawback and turn it into a strength. With Strixhaven here, we're getting a new interpretation of half of the two color pairings. The red-white pair, Lorehold, is particularly exciting because it fulfills a request many players have had for some time: commanders that don't just care about the combat step. But is that a fair accusation for Boros commanders? And is it really a doomed strategy in EDH? In order to find out, let's build around the Boros Legion's leader herself: Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
Count On Me
Boros isn't usually thought of as a color that interacts with +1/+1 counters, but white certainly is. This year gave us both Basri's Lieutenant
You don't have to lose access to the creatures you sacrifice, either. Sigil of the New Dawn
Assembling the Legion
Of course, your primary source of +1/+1 counters is going to be Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
Selfless Spirit
Most importantly, all of those creatures have a base power and toughness less than two. Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
White is also very good at resurrecting small creatures. Sun Titan is a staple for good reason, but this deck can also make good use of Custodi Soulcaller. I'm not going to include Bishop of Rebirth, for the sake of keeping the creature curve low, but it's definitely worth considering. In a deck playing this many creatures with one toughness, it might be a better pick than Cauldron of Souls.
Dying on Your Terms
Despite its aggressive bend, this is an aristocrats deck. And no aristocrats deck would be complete without sacrifice outlets. Spawning Pit is perfect, as it allows us to sacrifice Imperial Recruiter to re-trigger its enter-the-battlefield effect, and generate creature tokens. Dark-Dweller Oracle is a source of card advantage, helping you dig for vital cards. Finally, to help pay for all of the activated and triggered abilities in the deck, Ashnod's Altar converts any extra tokens into mana.
Another method to kill your own creatures is to attack with them. Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature when she attacks alongside it, so Together Forever and Cauldron of Souls can safely pluck it out of the graveyard if it is blocked and killed. Most of the time, though, you'll prefer your creatures survive combat. Reconnaissance plucks your creatures out of combat before they can be killed, or untaps them at the end of combat to simulate vigilance. Loyal Unicorn actually grants vigilance, while preventing combat damage to attacking creatures. Finally, Iroas, God of Victory keeps your creatures alive and makes them harder to block. Not only does this let you attack with impunity, it helps with the goal of ultimately winning through combat damage.
Aurelia Mentor EDH
View on ArchidektCommander (1)
Creatures (26)
- 1 Alharu, Solemn Ritualist
- 1 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
- 1 Anger
- 1 Basri's Lieutenant
- 1 Benevolent Bodyguard
- 1 Captain Lannery Storm
- 1 Custodi Soulcaller
- 1 Dark-Dweller Oracle
- 1 Goblin Cratermaker
- 1 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
- 1 Imperial Recruiter
- 1 Iroas, God of Victory
- 1 Loyal Unicorn
- 1 Mangara, the Diplomat
- 1 Mentor of the Meek
- 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
- 1 Recruiter of the Guard
- 1 Remorseful Cleric
- 1 Robber of the Rich
- 1 Selfless Savior
- 1 Selfless Spirit
- 1 Shinewend
- 1 Stoneforge Mystic
- 1 Sun Titan
- 1 Tajic, Legion's Edge
- 1 Twilight Shepherd
Artifacts (18)
Enchantments (8)
Instants (8)
Sorceries (2)
For a commander that supposedly only cares about attacking, Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice seems really cool. Forcing you to attack to create +1/+1 counters avoids some of the durdlier play patterns that Simic and Sultai decks can fall in to. In order to get the extra value from sacrificing creatures, you have to be attacking and moving the game forward. As someone who constantly forgets that the combat step even exists, the reminder that combat is good and needed is much appreciated.
Let me know what you think. If you've played with Aurelia, what cards have stood out for you? Is it really possible to win with Swiftblade Vindicator? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!