commander · Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser
Blame Game (MKC).
A Boros forced-combat politics deck led by Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser, compel opponents to attack each other, redirect damage to your benefit, and leverage Boros combat triggers for incremental advantage.
The Commanders
Blame Game is a Boros forced-combat and politics deck from Murders at Karlov Manor. Nelly Borca compels opponents to attack each other rather than you, redirecting the aggression of the table while you benefit from every swing. The deck uses effects like Frontier Warmonger and Disrupt Decorum to force combat, then profits from damage redirection and combat triggers. Against creature-heavy aggressive pods, this deck thrives, because the chaos it creates is very hard to play around.
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser forces opponents to attack. She generates an Accusation token on the target player, making them attack you or another specified player. Combined with political enchantments that pay off both the attacker and you, Nelly turns combat into a source of value rather than a threat. She's an unusually interactive commander in a color pair that usually just goes wide.
Key Cards
Disrupt Decorum
The deck's most powerful political tool. Disrupt Decorum forces each other player to attack with all their creatures this turn if able, and those creatures must attack players other than you. Every opponent's board attacks everyone except you simultaneously. Against three opponents, this creates massive combat that depletes multiple boards while you sit safely behind it. With 91% inclusion in Nelly Borca lists on EDHREC, it's the most sought-after forced-combat effect available.
Brash Taunter
An indestructible creature that converts damage into player damage. Whenever Brash Taunter is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target. Set up a Blasphemous Act: Brash Taunter survives the 13 damage and reflects 13 to any player. That's a one-card, 13-damage bullet at instant speed inside your own board wipe. Combined with damage redirection effects, Brash Taunter becomes the most dangerous card in your deck in terms of sudden life swing.
Boros Reckoner
Whenever Boros Reckoner is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to any target. A 3/3 first strike for three mana, Reckoner is the deck's most efficient individual threat in combat. If an opponent attacks you with a 5/5 into Reckoner, Reckoner takes 5 damage and deals 5 damage to any target. Combined with Blasphemous Act, which deals 13 damage to each creature, Reckoner reflects 13 damage to any player during the wipe. Boros Reckoner and Brash Taunter together create a 26-damage combo inside one board wipe.
Darien, King of Kjeldor
Converts incoming damage into tokens. Whenever you're dealt damage, create that many 1/1 white Soldier tokens. Against opponents who force combat back at you or against burn effects, Darien generates a Soldier army from every point of damage. In a forced-combat deck where opponents occasionally swing at you, Darien turns those attacks into resources. Being dealt 10 damage creates ten Soldiers, which then serve as sacrifice fodder, blockers, or an attacking force.
Frontier Warmonger
An additional forced-attack effect with a twist. Frontier Warmonger gives all creatures you control mana bonuses when they deal combat damage to players, and each player who attacks gets that mana reward. This pushes opponents to attack each other rather than you. Combined with Nelly Borca's direction of attacks, Frontier Warmonger turns the entire table into a forced-combat environment where staying aggressive against other opponents always benefits everyone except the person who doesn't attack.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Damage dealt to opponents is doubled. Damage dealt to you is halved. Gisela is the deck's top-end threat and its best defensive tool simultaneously. She makes Boros Reckoner reflect 26 damage from a 13-point Blasphemous Act instead of 13. She makes every combat damage your creatures deal hit twice as hard. She makes every forced-combat swing at you deal half as much. Against a deck that wants opponents fighting each other, halved incoming damage and doubled outgoing is an overwhelming asymmetry.
How to Play
The first three turns are about mana rocks and setting up defensive pieces. Brash Taunter and Boros Reckoner come down early to disincentivize attacks against you. Turn four, Nelly Borca comes out and you start directing forced combat at other players. The mid-game is about letting opponents' boards deplete against each other while you develop your own position behind the combat manipulation.
Win conditions: Brash Taunter plus Blasphemous Act deals 13 damage to any target. Boros Reckoner plus Blasphemous Act adds another 13. With Gisela in play, that's 52 total damage split between two targets. Or close with Gisela plus a wide board of Darien Soldiers, swinging with doubled combat damage. The deck rewards reading the table: knowing when to force combat, when to hold back, and when to end the game before opponents regroup.
