Blame Game is one of the rare Boros precons that does not ask you to win by simply turning your own creatures sideways as quickly as possible.
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser wants the rest of the table to do the attacking for you. She suspects creatures, goads suspected creatures and rewards combat between your opponents with extra cards. Instead of racing three players at once, the deck tries to manipulate combat so that opposing creatures are pointed anywhere except at you.
That gives Blame Game a very different upgrade path from a normal red-white aggro deck. You do not need more generic attackers. You need better ways to force combat, more protection from the creatures you are provoking and enough political card advantage to keep the engine running.
The precon already has many of the pieces required for that plan. The best upgrades make those pieces more consistent and reduce the number of expensive cards that are powerful in isolation but do not contribute directly to Nelly’s forced-combat strategy.
Nelly Borca Rewards Combat Between Your Opponents
Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser costs for a 2/4 Human Detective with vigilance.
Whenever she attacks, she suspects target creature and then goads all suspected creatures. A suspected creature has menace and cannot block, which makes it naturally more likely to participate in combat rather than sit back defensively.
The goad part is what turns that status into pressure. A goaded creature has to attack each combat if able and has to attack a player other than you if able.
That interaction gives Nelly a repeatable way to identify the creature you most want removed from defensive duty and push it toward somebody else’s battlefield.
Her second ability is even broader. Whenever one or more creatures an opponent controls deal combat damage to one or more of your opponents, you and the controller of those creatures each draw a card.
The creatures do not have to be suspected. They do not have to be goaded. If an opponent attacks another opponent naturally and connects, Nelly can still reward both of you.
That is why the deck works best when it encourages combat across the entire table rather than relying only on Nelly’s attack trigger.
Blame Game Already Has an Excellent Forced-Combat Core
The stock deck contains several of the strongest cards available for this strategy.
Disrupt Decorum can goad every creature you do not control, often creating an entire turn cycle where opponents are forced to attack each other. It remains one of the most commonly played cards in Nelly decks today.
Vengeful Ancestor provides repeatable goad on a creature while punishing opponents when their goaded creatures attack. Agitator Ant uses +1/+1 counters as an incentive while goading creatures that accept the bonus.
Bloodthirsty Blade is particularly useful because it can repeatedly move between opposing creatures and force them into combat. Shiny Impetus combines goad with Treasure generation, giving you an economic reward while somebody else’s creature is forced to attack.
Hot Pursuit supports the same plan at a broader scale, while Take the Bait can turn an opponent’s attack into a much larger forced-combat event.
These cards continue to dominate current Nelly lists. Disrupt Decorum, Hot Pursuit, Vengeful Ancestor and Take the Bait all appear among her highest-synergy cards.
That means the heart of the deck is already present. The upgrades should strengthen it rather than replace it.
The Best Blame Game Upgrades Make Goad Harder to Ignore
One of the cleanest additions is Bothersome Quasit.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, it goads a creature an opponent controls. More importantly, goaded creatures your opponents control cannot block.
That second line is extremely relevant for Nelly. Once opposing creatures are goaded, Quasit removes their ability to sit back as blockers, which makes combat between your opponents more reliable and increases the chance that Nelly’s draw ability will trigger.
It also scales naturally with the deck because Blame Game already contains many noncreature spells, including removal, pillow-fort pieces and political effects.
Agrus Kos, Spirit of Justice offers a different kind of synergy. Whenever Agrus enters or attacks, he can suspect a creature that is not already suspected. If the chosen creature is already suspected, he exiles it instead.
That gives you another source of suspect while also turning the status into potential removal later. Because Nelly goads all suspected creatures when she attacks, Agrus can help increase the number of creatures caught by that trigger. His double strike and vigilance also make him a respectable attacker independently of the political engine.
Aurelia, the Law Above fits the broader combat plan extremely well. Whenever any player attacks with three or more creatures, you draw a card. If someone attacks with five or more creatures, Aurelia also deals 3 damage to each of your opponents and gains you 3 life.
A deck designed to force opponents into combat will naturally create the exact situations Aurelia rewards.
Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos is another interesting addition. Alexios changes controllers every upkeep, grows with +1/+1 counters and must attack each combat if able while being unable to attack its owner.
That means you provide the table with an increasingly large creature that continually attacks opponents other than whoever owns it. In a Nelly deck, that can generate combat damage and draw triggers without requiring you to invest additional cards into goading it every turn.
If you want even more control over opposing combat, Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer can goad opposing creatures whose power is lower than his. He becomes particularly effective when combined with ways to increase his power, but he is still useful as a broad forced-combat effect even without building around him completely.
Pillow-Fort Cards Are Part of the Engine, Not a Separate Theme
Forcing opponents to attack is only useful if those attacks are not coming back at you.
That is why cards such as Ghostly Prison and Windborn Muse are so important in Blame Game.
Ghostly Prison taxes creatures that want to attack you. Windborn Muse provides the same effect on a creature. Neither card goads anything, but both make you a much less attractive destination once opponents are forced to attack.
That distinction matters because goad does not always guarantee safety. A goaded creature must attack a player other than you if able, but if there are no legal alternatives, it can still attack you.
Pillow-fort pieces reduce the likelihood that combat is redirected your way once your political setup begins to work.
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs provides another form of deterrence. Opponents can still attack you, but unless they pay additional mana, those attacks create Ogre tokens for you.
Comeuppance gives the deck a powerful defensive reset when an opponent tries to exploit a vulnerable moment, while Deflecting Palm can turn one enormous attacker against its controller.
The best version of Nelly therefore needs both halves of the equation: reasons for opponents to attack each other and reasons not to attack you.
Current Nelly pillow-fort lists reinforce that balance, with Ghostly Prison, Comeuppance and Windborn Muse all remaining highly represented.
You Do Not Need to Goad Everything Yourself
One of the most useful things about Nelly’s second ability is that normal combat still benefits you.
Suppose one opponent attacks another because it is already strategically correct. If at least one of those attacking creatures connects, Nelly can still give you and the attacking player a card.
That means the deck should not spend every card trying to force every possible creature into combat.
Instead, the best goad effects change situations where players would otherwise not attack.
A large utility creature sitting behind a defensive board is a perfect target. So is an enormous blocker protecting a combo player. Suspecting and goading those creatures removes blockers, creates pressure and often forces opponents to solve problems for you.
Meanwhile naturally aggressive decks may need very little encouragement. If one player is already attacking, Nelly turns their normal game plan into additional cards for you.
This is also where politics becomes a real resource.
The attacking player draws from Nelly as well, which means you can legitimately offer opponents card advantage for directing attacks elsewhere. You are not simply telling people what they should do; the commander itself provides them with a reward.
The strongest Nelly games often involve spending fewer resources than your opponents while still influencing where most of the combat damage goes.
Damage Multipliers Can Turn Forced Combat Into a Win Condition
Once the table is attacking constantly, effects that increase combat damage become much more dangerous.
Fiendish Duo is already in Blame Game and doubles damage dealt to opponents by sources controlled by other players. That means combat you encouraged between opponents becomes substantially more lethal without requiring your own creatures to attack.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight performs a similar role on a much larger body. Damage dealt to your opponents and their permanents is doubled, while damage that would be dealt to you and your permanents is halved.
Seven mana is a significant investment, but this is one expensive card I would be reluctant to remove because it directly amplifies both sides of the strategy: opponents hurt each other faster while you become harder to kill.
Brash Taunter gives the deck another unusual combat tool. It survives most creature combat thanks to indestructible and reflects damage it receives toward an opponent.
The point is not to fill the deck with expensive damage doublers. It is to have enough ways to make the forced combat matter.
If opponents attack each other for three or four damage every turn, the game may still take a long time. When those attacks suddenly become six, eight or more damage, the political engine starts functioning as a real win condition.
Which Cards Make the Most Sense to Cut?
The easiest cards to remove are expensive threats that do not contribute meaningfully to forced combat, protection or political advantage.
Steel Hellkite is powerful and flexible, but six mana for a generic flying threat is less compelling in a deck with such a specific identity.
Ancient Stone Idol can become cheaper when opponents attack, which is at least thematically relevant, but a large trampling creature is still not what Nelly most needs. If the list is becoming more focused, this is a reasonable slot to convert into another goad or protection effect.
Etali, Primal Storm is individually powerful, but attacking with Etali pushes the deck toward generating value through your own combat rather than manipulating everybody else’s. It is completely playable at a casual table, but it becomes easier to cut as the Nelly plan tightens.
Elspeth, Sun’s Champion is another excellent standalone card that does not strongly advance the commander’s core engine. Six mana for token production and a potential sweeper can still be valuable, but a lower-curve political deck may prefer something that affects opposing combat immediately.
I would not automatically cut Feather, Radiant Arbiter, even though she leads the alternate strategy in the precon. She can redirect some spells you cast toward additional targets and has enough utility to remain interesting. But if your final build removes most of the spells that benefit from Feather, she can become one of the more natural thematic cuts.
As with the other Deck Forging guides, I would avoid forcing exactly five cuts regardless of the upgrades you choose. Remove the cards that contribute least to the specific version of Nelly you are building.
The Boros Mana Base Can Be Faster
Blame Game comes with a large number of utility lands, which is understandable for a precon designed to play long multiplayer games.
The foundation is solid. Command Tower, Exotic Orchard, Furycalm Snarl, Temple of Triumph and several basic lands provide the colors you need, while Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, Mind Stone, Talisman of Conviction and Sol Ring support the mana curve.
The first land I would replace is Temple of the False God. Nelly costs four mana and wants both colors available consistently. A land that does nothing before your fifth land is unnecessary in a two-color deck.
Myriad Landscape is functional but slow, while Boros Garrison can create awkward early turns because it enters tapped and returns another land to your hand.
Some utility lands are more valuable.
Rogue’s Passage can help Nelly attack safely when you need her suspect trigger. Access Tunnel can serve a similar purpose while Nelly remains at her printed power. Slayers‘ Stronghold gives creatures haste and additional combat relevance.
Because the deck is only Boros, improving the mana base does not require expensive fetch lands. Replacing a few of the slowest lands with untapped red-white sources or basics can noticeably improve sequencing.
For a broader rebuild, our Mana Base Upgrade Guide covers budget duals and fixing options in more detail.
How the Upgraded Blame Game Deck Wins
The upgraded deck should rarely look like the biggest threat during the first few turns.
You develop mana, establish one or two defensive pieces and cast Nelly when you can attack without exposing yourself unnecessarily.
Once Nelly begins attacking, suspected creatures accumulate across the battlefield. Her attack trigger then goads those creatures repeatedly, forcing them into combat and reducing the number of blockers available to their controllers.
Cards such as Disrupt Decorum, Vengeful Ancestor, Bothersome Quasit and Bloodthirsty Blade increase the amount of forced combat, while Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse and Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs make attacking you inconvenient.
That creates the ideal Nelly table: opponents still have creatures, but those creatures spend most of the game attacking each other.
Every successful attack between opponents can feed you cards. Damage multipliers such as Fiendish Duo and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight make those attacks increasingly difficult to survive.
You do not need a traditional combo finish if the table has already spent several turns dealing most of the damage for you.
Your own creatures then become much more relevant in the final stages, once life totals are low and opposing boards have been reduced through forced combat.
That is the core strength of Nelly: the deck wins by making other players spend creatures, life and combat steps against each other before you commit to finishing the game yourself.
PreconForge Verdict
Blame Game already contains an unusually coherent political Commander shell.
Disrupt Decorum, Vengeful Ancestor, Hot Pursuit, Take the Bait, Bloodthirsty Blade, Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse and Fiendish Duo all support the same broad plan: make combat happen somewhere else and profit when it does.
The best upgrades push further in that direction.
Bothersome Quasit adds repeatable goad while making goaded creatures unable to block. Agrus Kos, Spirit of Justice gives you another suspect engine with built-in removal potential. Aurelia, the Law Above rewards the larger combat steps your deck is already trying to create, while Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos supplies the table with a threat that continually attacks players other than its owner.
Then trim the expensive cards that contribute least to the political engine and clean up the slowest parts of the mana base.
The result is a Boros deck that plays nothing like traditional Boros. You do not need to attack every opponent yourself when Nelly can convince the rest of the table to do most of the work for you.
