Aura of Courage Review - Easy Gaming Group

Hear ye! Hear ye! Let me tell you a tale adventurer, of a grand paladin gleaming in armour bringing their wrath upon all evil creatures (your opponents). You have rolled into the Aura of Courage, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms commander deck review and local upgrade guide brought to you by Unplug Yourself, Command This!, Top Deck, and Easy Gaming Group (EGG). The Aura of Courage is all about attaching auras and equipment to your creatures such as [Collosus Hammer] or [Rancor], making them huge and giving them abilities such as double strike, haste, ward and many more with cards such as [Shielding Plax] or[Winged Boots]. The commander of this deck [Galea, Kindler of Hope] is a value engine on their own making me think of a [Bolas’s Citadel] for auras and equipment (with the added benefit of attaching equipment instantly I might add).

This deck makes all your creatures a threat making your opponents wonder if the beefed-up creature is heading their way. Let us adventure on and see what the deck provides you with: https://www.archidekt.com/decks/1624445#Aura_of_Courage

On release, the deck will cost you 900-950 rand from local suppliers in South Africa
The value of the cards that you get in the deck sits at 1700 rand according to MTGGoldfish which uses TCGplayermid prices (this estimation of value may increase or decrease depending on exchange rates, playability of the cards, and the secondary market).
The deck is very focused on what it wants to do containing 15 auras and 16 pieces of equipment. Some of the removal included are also auras synergizing with your commander as well.
38 Lands- This is the perfect amount for the deck. The mana base is also very good albeit a bit slow for this strategy as many enter the battlefield tapped.
8 Ramp spells – The ramp included is great especially with the lands included. [Nature’s Lore] can go find lands such as [Canopy Vista]. The aura ramp spells are low-costed which helps you power into your commander and protect them as fast as you can as a bonus they work well with Galea as well.
9 Targeted removal- This deck contains a good amount of removal and balances it out between all permanent types. One can understand why there isn’t so much creature removal as you would want to make your creatures evasive making your opponent’s creatures not matter.
16 Card draw spells Most of these cards are a one-shot draw that when they enter the battlefield such as [Angelic Gift], these are great value with your commander. Cards such as [Sram, Senior Edificer] draws you tons of cards with his best friend [Puresteel Paladin].
3 Board wipes – Boardwiping your suited up creature does not feel good but sometimes you are so overwhelmed you need to press the emergency button. Cards like [Winds of Rath] are great as you keep your big creature while your opponents lose theirs. I would cut a board to make a spot for protection or ways to kill your opponents faster.
2 Graveyard shenanigans- This deck has low recursion as you would most probably want to protect your creatures before they go into the graveyard. Board wipes do happen and with them, your auras go into the graveyard luckily you have [Mantle of the Ancients]. [Open the Vaults] could be a cool addition to the deck although it has a high mana value card.
1 Graveyard exile effect – Certain playgroups will have a deck that plays with their second hand (the graveyard) and it is important to shut down the possible value they might get.
Game ending cards – This deck does not win with one card that puts them far ahead. One of the cards that I feel is going to win you games is the face commander of the deck [Galea, Kindler of Hope] since they are a big value engine that strings a lot of cards from atop your deck.
New cards – The deck contains 17 new cards of varying power levels the ones I am the most excited for especially for this deck are [Robe of Stars], [Holy Avenger] and [Mantle of the Ancients]. The robe is a great way to protect your commander from board wipes and even mass bounce effects. Phasing out even keeps the auras and equipment attached to it protecting them as well. Holy Avenger is a slam dunk in any future aura and equipment strategies giving double strike and letting you put an aura onto the battlefield. Lastly, Mantle of the Ancients is a recursion card with a huge upside that can turn the game on its head in an instant.

Plans for the upgrade of the deck:

My plans for the deck were very simple in the sense that the deck is very focused on what it wants to be doing. What we are going to do is lower the curve, take out cards that do not exactly fit our theme, increase the power level of the auras and equipment, and finally increase the card draw from auras and enchantments. Hopefully, these upgrades sponsored by Top Deck will let the deck be more efficient within its theme.

Upgrades:

https://www.archidekt.com/decks/1624455#Aura_of_Courage_R350_upgrade

Cards out	Cards in	Reason
[Acidic Slime]	[Reclamation Sage]	Lowering the curve
[Clay Golem]	[Reality Shift]	Lowering the curve
[Prognostic Sphinx]	[Starnheim Courser]	Flying + theme upside
[Riverwise Augur]	[Sythis, Harvest’s Hand]	Repeated draw effects within the theme
[Realm-Cloaked Giant]	[Single Combat]	Board wipe but we keep our suited up creature
[Curse of Verbosity]	[Enchanter’s Presence]	Repeated draw effect without the fuss
[Netherese Puzzle-Ward]	[Eidolon of Blossoms]	Repeated draw effects within the theme
[Angel of Finality]	[Nettlecyst]	High synergy equipment
[Verdant Embrace]	[Ancestral Mask]	Lowering the curve, increasing power level
[Abundant Growth]	[Setessen Training]	Replaces itself and gives keywords
[Psychic Impetus]	[Aqueous Form]	Lower the curve for the same ability
[Valiant Endeavour]	[Fireshrieker]	Another way to get double strike
[Ride the Avalanche]	[Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist[	A strong card in the theme
[Song of Inspiration]	[Sage’s Reverie]	Card draw + pump
[Valorous Stance]	[Shield of the Oversoul]	Same effect with the added effect of flying
[Ebony Fly]	[Spirit Mantle]	Protection + evasion
[Moonsilver Spear]	[Unflinching Courage]	Lowering the curve
[Sword of Hours]	[Ethereal Armor]	Increases the power level of the deck
[Viridian Longbow]	[Hyena Umbra]	Lowering the curve + protection
[Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree]	[Mirror Shield]	Protection for our creature
[Mishra’s Factory]	[Bruna, Light of Alabaster]	Strong synergy with our deck and flying
[Diviner’s Potent]	[Satyr Enchanter]	Repeated draw on the theme
[Thriving Health]	[Glacial Floodplain]	Upgraded land to find with your ramp
[Thriving Isle]	[Arctic Treeline]	Upgraded land to find with your ramp

5 honourable budget mentions:

[Danitha Capashen, Paragon] – Great card in lowering the costs of equipment and auras with a lot of keywords already.

[Sigarda’s Aid] – Slam dunk in this deck causing all your auras and equipment to have flash is great. Not sure why it wasn’t included in the base deck.

[Open the Armory] – A good tutor card in the sense that it can find one of your toolbox auras or equipment to deal with a situation

[Dance of the Mance] – This card is extremely versatile in that it could be played as recursion or a late game-ender.

[Helm of the Gods] – This card is great since it fits so tightly in this theme it might be an auto-include in the future in the same vein [All that Glitters] should also be included.

[Blackblade Reforged] – I think most Voltron decks should run this card as it is an instant boost to your commander and each subsequent land you play grows your commander. With the face commander of this deck, it can act as a 2 mana +7/+7

How would I build the deck if I had no budget, well I am glad you asked me:

https://www.archidekt.com/decks/1644460#Aura_of_Courage_bells_and_whistles

By upgrading the deck to the fullest we get the best enchantments and most efficient artifacts. The land base is the best upgrade this deck gets as fetchlands are perfect to clear the top of your library for your commander so you can continue to cast equipment and auras. [Stoneforge Mystic] is great in any deck that has equipment as they can tutor and equip the equipment that was found. We also shave the mana curve as low as we can so we can get a quick kill on our opponents. This deck seems very inexpensive to upgrade and has many options available to it. With that our tale has ended adventurers, now go on and lay your hands on this deck and instakill your opponents. See you on the battlefield!