Meet Your Commander: Quintorius, History Chaser
The Lorehold Spirit precon from Secrets of Strixhaven brings us one of the most unique planeswalker commanders we've seen in a while. Quintorius, History Chaser is a 4-mana red/white planeswalker that starts with 5 loyalty and turns your graveyard into a Spirit-generating engine.
His abilities work in perfect harmony:
- Passive: Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, create a 3/2 red and white Spirit creature token. This is the heart of the deck — every recursion spell, every flashback cast, every escape becomes a free body on the board.
- +1: Discard a card, draw two, then mill one. This is incredible — it fills your graveyard with fuel while keeping your hand stocked. Card advantage and graveyard setup in one ability.
- −4: Spirits you control gain double strike and vigilance until end of turn. With even 3-4 Spirit tokens on board, this is a lethal alpha strike dealing 24+ damage.
Key Synergies: How the Deck Works
Quintorius breaks the traditional Boros mold. Instead of aggressive combat tricks, this deck plays a graveyard value game that generates an army of 3/2 Spirits through recursion.
The Core Loop
The game plan is simple but powerful:
- Step 1: Fill the graveyard — Use Quintorius's +1, looting effects, and self-mill to stock your graveyard with cards.
- Step 2: Recover and trigger — Cast spells with flashback, return permanents from the graveyard, or use escape mechanics. Each time cards leave the graveyard, you get a 3/2 Spirit.
- Step 3: Overwhelm — Build a critical mass of Spirits, then use the −4 to give them all double strike and vigilance for a devastating swing.
What Triggers Quintorius?
Understanding exactly what creates Spirit tokens is crucial for building the deck:
- Flashback — Casting a spell from the graveyard and then exiling it triggers Quintorius.
- Escape — Casting with escape exiles cards from the graveyard — each escape cast is a trigger.
- Recursion — Returning a card from graveyard to hand or battlefield means it leaves the graveyard — trigger!
- Delve/Exile effects — Anything that exiles cards from your graveyard counts.
Notably, Quintorius says "one or more cards" — so returning five cards at once still only creates one Spirit. Cards that trigger multiple separate instances of cards leaving the graveyard are more valuable than one big batch return.
Best Upgrades: Graveyard Fillers
Before you can get cards out of the graveyard, you need cards in it. These spells work alongside Quintorius's +1 to ensure you always have fuel.
Faithless Looting is the single best card you can add to this deck. For just one red mana, you draw two and discard two — putting exactly what you want in the graveyard. But here's where it gets insane: its flashback means you cast it again from the graveyard, which exiles it when it resolves, triggering Quintorius for a free 3/2 Spirit. Two uses, two rounds of card filtering, and a Spirit token — all for under 50 cents.
Thrilling Discovery is a Lorehold-flavored upgrade that discards two cards (graveyard fuel) and draws three. The 2 life gain is a nice bonus. At just {R}{W}, it slots perfectly into the early game to set up your graveyard while maintaining card advantage.
Best Upgrades: Recursion Engines
These are the cards that will trigger Quintorius repeatedly, generating Spirit after Spirit. Each one removes cards from your graveyard — and each removal is another 3/2 body on the battlefield.
Sevinne's Reclamation
$0.60
Sun Titan
$0.35
Karmic Guide
$1.48
Past in Flames
$4.13
Reconstruct History
$0.15
Sevinne's Reclamation is a recursion all-star. It returns a permanent with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield — triggering Quintorius. But the real magic happens when you cast it from the graveyard with flashback: you get a copy, meaning two permanents return and two Spirit triggers fire. At 60 cents, this is a must-include.
Sun Titan is a powerhouse that triggers Quintorius every single turn. Whenever it enters or attacks, it returns a permanent with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard. With vigilance built in, it can attack and still block — and every swing generates a Spirit token alongside whatever you're recurring.
Karmic Guide is an Angel Spirit — yes, Spirit! — that returns any creature from your graveyard to the battlefield when it enters. This triggers Quintorius and puts a threat back on the board. Its echo cost means it will die next turn unless you pay, but that's often a feature — you can sacrifice it to other effects or just let it go and reanimate it later for another trigger.
Past in Flames is an explosive play. It gives every instant and sorcery in your graveyard flashback until end of turn. If you've been filling your graveyard with Quintorius's +1 ability, this turns all those spent spells into a cascade of flashback casts — each one exiling from the graveyard and creating a Spirit. One big turn with Past in Flames can generate 4-6 Spirits.
Reconstruct History is on-flavor Strixhaven recursion. It returns up to one artifact, enchantment, instant, sorcery, and planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand — potentially five cards leaving the graveyard. While this is technically one trigger (cards leave simultaneously), the raw card advantage is staggering for just 4 mana.
Best Upgrades: The Explosive Enabler
Underworld Breach is the most expensive card on this list, but it's absolutely worth it. For just {1}{R}, every nonland card in your graveyard gains escape (cast it by paying its mana cost plus exiling three other cards from your graveyard). This is absurdly powerful with Quintorius — every single escape cast removes cards from the graveyard, triggering Spirit creation.
Picture this: you have 15 cards in your graveyard. You cast Underworld Breach, then start escaping spells one after another. Each escape exiles three cards (leaving the graveyard = Spirit trigger) and the spell itself also leaves. In one explosive turn, you can generate a swarm of Spirit tokens while replaying your best spells. This card single-handedly wins games.
Best Upgrades: Spirit & Token Support
Once you're generating Spirits consistently, these cards amplify your token army into an unstoppable force.
Hofri Ghostforge is the ultimate Spirit synergy piece. He gives all your Spirits +1/+1, trample, and haste — making your 3/2 Spirit tokens into 4/3 hasty tramplers. But his second ability is where the real synergy lives: whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, it gets exiled (triggering Quintorius!) and you create a Spirit token copy of it. When that copy leaves the battlefield, the original returns to your graveyard — ready to be used again. It's a recursion loop built into a Spirit lord.
Balefire Liege is a Spirit Horror that gives all your red creatures +1/+1 and all white creatures +1/+1. Since your Spirit tokens are both red AND white, they each get +2/+2 — turning 3/2 Spirits into 5/4 beasts. On top of that, casting red spells deals 3 damage to a target and casting white spells gains you 3 life. In a Boros deck, most of your spells trigger both.
Skullclamp is arguably the best equipment ever printed for token decks. Equip it to a Spirit token, and you get a 4/1 attacker. If it dies in combat, you draw two cards — which then fuel more graveyard plays, which create more Spirits, which you can Skullclamp again. This card turns every Spirit into a "draw 2 cards" when you need it, creating an unstoppable card advantage engine.
Best Upgrades: Sacrifice Outlet
Altar of Dementia is a free sacrifice outlet that doubles as a graveyard filler. Sacrifice a 3/2 Spirit token to mill yourself (or an opponent) for 3 cards. Those milled cards go to the graveyard, fueling more recursion, which creates more Spirits, which you can sacrifice again. Against opponents, it's also a win condition — generate enough Spirits and you can mill someone out entirely. The sacrifice being free (no mana cost) is what makes this card exceptional.
If the $17 price tag is too steep, consider Goblin Bombardment as a budget alternative — it lets you sacrifice creatures to deal 1 damage, turning excess Spirit tokens into direct damage.
Budget Breakdown
One of the best things about upgrading Quintorius is how budget-friendly the best synergy cards are:
- Under $1: Faithless Looting ($0.36), Thrilling Discovery ($0.35), Sun Titan ($0.35), Sevinne's Reclamation ($0.60), Hofri Ghostforge ($0.67), Reconstruct History ($0.15) — Total: ~$2.50
- $1–5: Karmic Guide ($1.48), Balefire Liege ($2.77), Past in Flames ($4.13), Skullclamp ($5.02) — Total: ~$13.40
- Premium: Underworld Breach ($13.40), Altar of Dementia ($17.06) — Total: ~$30.46
You can make 10 impactful upgrades for around $16 if you skip the two premium cards. Add them later when budget allows — the deck will still perform excellently without them.
Final Thoughts
Quintorius, History Chaser gives Boros something it rarely gets: a grindy, value-oriented game plan that doesn't just turn creatures sideways. The graveyard recursion theme means you're never truly out of gas — every card in your graveyard is a potential Spirit token waiting to happen.
The key to piloting this deck is patience. Use the early game to fill your graveyard with Quintorius's +1 and looting effects. In the mid-game, start recurring cards to build your Spirit army. And when the moment is right, use the −4 to give your Spirits double strike and vigilance for a devastating alpha strike that can eliminate players in a single combat phase.
This is Lorehold at its finest — history isn't just something to study, it's a weapon.