WHO IS PURPHOROS?
Purphoros is a god who was first introduced in the Theros block. In lore, Purphoros crafts the landscape in a cycle of destruction and creation and inspires the artistic works of mortals. His Followers are famous for their masterwork creations. Purphoros wields a large hammer named Akmon. "All the world is Purphoros's Anvil"
DECK PLAYSTYLE: Purphoros, God of the Forge is the keystone of this deck. You'll abuse his triggered ability "Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Purphoros deals 2 damage to each opponent." by focusing on cards that drop multiple creatures on the battlefield at once.
This specific deck has a secondary focus on defense and artifact utility. In my experience this greatly increases your rate of survival and victory rate when your commander is removed.
-------------------- PROS - FAST -
This deck can reliably kill all opponents around turn 7-10, without interruption. - LOTS OF TOKENS -
A lot of cards drop multiple tokens. You'll often have a battlefield of little creatures. - HUGE PLAYS -
You'll often have huge plays where you deal 30+ damage to all opponents in a single turn.
-------------------- CONS - MONO RED -
Red is probably the weakest color in Commander due to it's lack of tutors and utility. - DON'T ATTACK -
If you like attacking with creatures, look elsewhere. You'll rarely attack with this deck. - RELIANT ON GENERAL -
You Commander is crucial to this deck. Without him on the battlefield you're at a severe disadvantage.
Purphoros, God of the Forge
(1) Mana Cost: Since he only requires 1 colored mana, This allows us to use the best early game ramp in the game including: Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and Mana Crypt.
(2) Indestrucible: Purphoros cannot be removed by excessive damage or destroy effects. This limits your opponent's removal options. They'll need counter spells, exile, sacrifice, or bounce effects to stop him.
(3) Devotion: Purphoros is always an enchantment and occasionally a creature. It should be noted that creature removal is the most common type of removal in Commander. This makes Purphoros much more vulnerable if you have five devotion. If possible, keep your devotion at 4 or less.
(4) Triggered Ability: This is his main ability. We'll abuse it by dropping as many creatures as possible while he's on the battlefield.
(5) Activated Ability: This deck doesn't attack that much, if at all. You'll get little value from this ability.
(6) Power & Toughness: Purphoros is pretty beefy, but you won't be attacking much.
PURPHOROS TRIGGERS
These cards abuse Purphoro's triggered ability: "Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Purphoros deals 2 damage to each opponent."
Norin the Wary
This card has the best value in the deck. For 1 mana, this will trigger Purphoros every turn!
Myr Battlesphere
7 mana for 5 creatures. This is a very versatile card. When it attacks, it deals immediate damage to the opponent and the other myrs in the deck can help power it. Being both an artifact and a creature, It's allows for shenanigans with Trading Post and Goblin Welder.
Skittering Invasion
7 mana for 5 creatures. It can help power the X spells in the late game.
Firecat Blitz
This X spell drops many temporary creature tokens. The flashback is great for a cheap finisher. However, if your about to sacrifice your mountains, ensure it's enough damage to kill all of your opponent or you have enough other sources of colored mana.
Tempt with Vengeance
This spell can drop a huge amounts of creatures for cheap. No opponent will ever take the offer, if you have Purphoros on the battlefield.
FINISHERS:
These cards are capable of huge plays dealing massive damage.
Chancellor of the Forge
This will double your creature count. By the time you play him you should probably already have a good amount of tokens, leading to a victory. Additionally, if he is in your opening hand he gives you an early blocker. Synergy with other goblin cards.
Chandra's Spitfire
Whenever purphoros triggers, this creature gets +3/+0 per opponent. Dropping Hordeling Outburst with 3 opponents results in this creature getting +27/+0. If that wasn't good enough, it also has flying making it easier to actually hit your opponents. You can fetch this card with both Imperial Recruiter and Flamekin Harbinger.
Grinning Ignus
This creature allows you to return him to you hand and recast him for R. This can easily net you 5+ Purphoros triggers on your turn, during the late game. This is increased if you have Phyrexian Alter or Skirk Prospector and a few creatures. Additionally, the 2R can be used to ramp into an x spell or another finisher. However, This can only be used at sorcery speed. I tend to ensure he's always in my hand at the end of my turn to avoid removal and high devotion, but It really depends on the situation. You can fetch this card with both Imperial Recruiter and Flamekin Harbinger.
Krenko, Mob Boss
Krenko doubles your goblin population each turn. Synergy with other goblin cards. His weakness is that he doesn't have haste and your opponents have 1 turn to remove him before he taps. When possible use Generator Servant to give him haste. You can fetch Krenko with both Goblin Matron and Goblin Recruiter.
Quest for Pure Flame
This allows you to deal 2x damage for a single turn. Purphoros triggers will add counters to this enchantment. Once used it doubles all sources including purphoros triggers, spells, and creature damage.
Tooth and Claw
This sacrifice outlet nearly doubles the efficiency the deck. Essential it adds X-1 additional Purphoros triggers if you sacrifice the creatures. Hordeling Outburst can triggers Purphros 5x instead of 3x. Siege-gang commander can triggers Purphoros 7x instead 4x. etc.
Myr Incubator
There are 20 artifacts in this deck excluding Myr Incubator. Activating Myr Incubator should be fatal for your opponents. It should be noted, artifact removal is the second most common removal in the Commander format. If you can manage to cast and activate on same turn, your chances of it resolving are much higher. Final Fortune is a great way to secure activation. If destroyed, Goblin Welder, Trading Post, and Buried Ruins can help for a second attempt.
Burn at the Stake
By the late game, you should have a small army of tokens. By tapping them all this can easily burn a single opponent for 30+ damage removing them from the game.
Hellion Eruption
This replaces all your creatures with 4/4 hellions and each hellion triggers Purphoros. The trick here is to ensure that your devotion is under 5 so Purphoros isn't sacrificed in the process.
Mogg Infestation
Not only does this double your creatures, but each new creature also triggers Purphoros. Synergy with other goblin cards. The trick here is to ensure that your devotion is under 5 so Purphoros isn't sacrificed in the process.
Final Fortune
Sometimes you just need 1 more turn to secure victory. Maybe you just dropped Myr Incubator and just need to activate it. Maybe you dropped Emrakul's Hatcher and have Firecat Blitz in your hand. Or Krenko, Mob Boss just needs to tap 1 more time. Whatever it is, you better calculate your move wisely, cause you'll lose at the end of that extra turn if you didn't.
Price of Progress
non-basic lands are a staple of EDH. This punishes multi-color decks that rely on them. In late games, I've seen players take 10+ damage from this card alone. Note that this burns all players, including you. Some of our lands have sac effects if you don't want to take the damage.
HATE / PROTECTION:
This set of cards removes threats from your opponent's board or deters opponents from attacking or targeting you.
SETUP:
1.) play Goblin Sharpshooter
2.) Attach Splinter Twin to Goblin Sharpshooter
3.) Tap Goblin sharpshooter to make a copy of itself.
4.) Tap the copy to kill any other creature with 1 toughness.
5.) Both Goblin Sharpshooters untap.
LOOP:
1.) Tap Goblin Sharpshooter to create a 2nd Copy of itself
2.) Tap the 1st copy to deal damage to any target
3.) Tap the 2nd copy to kill itself
4.) Both remaining Goblin Sharpshooters untap
LANDS: 35
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Crystal Vein
1x Darksteel Citadel
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Great Furnace
1x Kher Keep
23x Mountain
1x Spinerock Knoll
1x Spawning Bed
1x Zoetic Cavern
TURN 1-3:
GOAL: RAMP TO AN EARLY COMMANDER.
Ramp to an early general. the sooner he is out the better. There are many cards to help you get him out on turn 3 or if your lucky turn 2. getting your general out should be priority 1. However, while your ramping you can try to also set up your board and hand. Use cards like flamekin harbinger, imperial recruiter, goblin matron to find some MVPs (listed below).
Turn 4-6:
GOAL: CREATE TOKENS, TRIGGERING PURPHOROS.
If you haven't dropped your general yet, try to do so ASAP. The next few turns are to drop as many tokens as you can. Try to avoid dropping tokens in the first few turns if you can, saving them for when you commander out is normally beneficial. Other than dropping tokens you should be trying to set up defenses with cards like silent arbitor and ensnaring bridge. With your general out, your putting a large target on your forehead and ways to deter attacking creatures is needed.
9/30/13
- Young pyromancer
+ slumbering dragon
I find myself being attacked a lot and slumbering dragon helps deter them early. There was only 16 spells in my deck and the benefit of the pyromancer was lackluster.
9/30/13
- mycosynth wellspring
+ plague myr
Wellspring only fetches to hand which doesn't drop the general a turn faster. Plague myr allows general to drop faster and is a creature that triggers purphoros.
10/1/13
- empty the warrens
+ splinter twin
empty the warren only really combos with grinning ingus. splinter twin offers more utility and in the long run produces more tokens. Combos with goblin sharpshooter.
I don't understand why war elemental is good. It's just a big dumb vanilla. How often do your opponents have no creatures out and no removal? Am I missing something?
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
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Purphoros is a god who was first introduced in the Theros block. In lore, Purphoros crafts the landscape in a cycle of destruction and creation and inspires the artistic works of mortals. His Followers are famous for their masterwork creations. Purphoros wields a large hammer named Akmon.
"All the world is Purphoros's Anvil"
DECK PLAYSTYLE:
Purphoros, God of the Forge is the keystone of this deck. You'll abuse his triggered ability "Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Purphoros deals 2 damage to each opponent." by focusing on cards that drop multiple creatures on the battlefield at once.
This specific deck has a secondary focus on defense and artifact utility. In my experience this greatly increases your rate of survival and victory rate when your commander is removed.
1x Purphoros, god of the forge
PURPHOROS TRIGGERS: 14
1x Beetleback Chief
1x Emrakul's Hatcher
1x Mogg War Marshal
1x Myr Battlesphere
1x Myr Sire
1x Norin the Wary
1x Siege-Gang Commander
1x Firecat Blitz
1x Goblin Rally
1x Hordeling Outburst
1x Kuldotha Rebirth
1x Skittering Invasion
1x Tempt with Vengeance
FINISHERS: 12
1x Chancellor of the Forge
1x Chandra's Spitfire
1x Grinning Ignus
1x Krenko, Mob Boss
1x Quest for Pure Flame
1x Tooth and Claw
1x Myr Incubator
1x Burn at the Stake
1x Hellion Eruption
1x Mogg Infestation
1x Final Fortune
1x Price of Progress
1x Goblin Sharpshooter
1x Ingot Chewer
1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Silent Arbiter
1x Chaos Warp
1x Slumbering Dragon
1x Shivan Harvest
1x Defense Grid
1x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Shattering Spree
TUTOR / DRAW: 9
1x Flamekin Harbinger
1x Goblin Matron
1x Goblin Recruiter
1x Imperial Recruiter
1x Ichor Wellspring
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Wheel of Fortune
RAMP: 13
1x Generator Servant
1x Iron Myr
1x Plague Myr
1x Simian Spirit Guide
1x Skirk Prospector
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Expedition Map
1x Mind Stone
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Sol Ring
1x Seething Song
1x Trading Post
1x Goblin Welder
1x Splinter Twin
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Warping Wail
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
LANDS: 35
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Crystal Vein
1x Darksteel Citadel
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Great Furnace
1x Kher Keep
23x Mountain
1x Spinerock Knoll
1x Spawning Bed
1x Zoetic Cavern
COMMANDER
This is your commander.
Purphoros, God of the Forge
(1) Mana Cost: Since he only requires 1 colored mana, This allows us to use the best early game ramp in the game including: Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and Mana Crypt.
(2) Indestrucible: Purphoros cannot be removed by excessive damage or destroy effects. This limits your opponent's removal options. They'll need counter spells, exile, sacrifice, or bounce effects to stop him.
(3) Devotion: Purphoros is always an enchantment and occasionally a creature. It should be noted that creature removal is the most common type of removal in Commander. This makes Purphoros much more vulnerable if you have five devotion. If possible, keep your devotion at 4 or less.
(4) Triggered Ability: This is his main ability. We'll abuse it by dropping as many creatures as possible while he's on the battlefield.
(5) Activated Ability: This deck doesn't attack that much, if at all. You'll get little value from this ability.
(6) Power & Toughness: Purphoros is pretty beefy, but you won't be attacking much.
PURPHOROS TRIGGERS
These cards abuse Purphoro's triggered ability: "Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Purphoros deals 2 damage to each opponent."
Norin the Wary
This card has the best value in the deck. For 1 mana, this will trigger Purphoros every turn!
Kuldotha Rebirth
1 mana + an artifact for 3 creatures. Synergy with other goblin cards. Myr Sire, Ichor Wellspring, and Solemn Simulacrum are ideal targets. Occasionally a tapped Mana Vault during the early game is decent. Additionally Great Furnace or Darksteel Citadel during the late game. You can always return the destroyed artifact with Buried Ruins, Goblin Welder, or Trading Post.
Mogg War Marshal
2 mana for 3 creatures! You will never pay the echo cost. Synergy with other goblin cards.
Myr Sire
2 mana for up to 2 creatures. It's a great target for Kuldotha Rebirth. Being both an artifact and a creature, It's allows for shenanigans with Trading Post and Goblin Welder. Not to mention it can power Myr Battlesphere and be removed for Myr Incubator.
Hordeling Outburst
3 mana for 3 creatures. Synergy with other goblin cards.
Beetleback Chief
4 mana for 3 creatures. Synergy with other goblin cards.
Goblin Rally
5 mana for 4 creatures. Synergy with other goblin cards.
Emrakul's Hatcher
5 mana for 4 creatures. It can help power the X spells in the late game.
Siege-Gang Commander
5 mana for 4 creatures. Synergy with other goblin cards. It's ability to sac goblins for damage is great for killing your opponent's fliers or utility creatures like Dark Confidant or Fauna Shaman. This card can be fetched with Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter or Goblin Recruiter.
Myr Battlesphere
7 mana for 5 creatures. This is a very versatile card. When it attacks, it deals immediate damage to the opponent and the other myrs in the deck can help power it. Being both an artifact and a creature, It's allows for shenanigans with Trading Post and Goblin Welder.
Skittering Invasion
7 mana for 5 creatures. It can help power the X spells in the late game.
Firecat Blitz
This X spell drops many temporary creature tokens. The flashback is great for a cheap finisher. However, if your about to sacrifice your mountains, ensure it's enough damage to kill all of your opponent or you have enough other sources of colored mana.
Tempt with Vengeance
This spell can drop a huge amounts of creatures for cheap. No opponent will ever take the offer, if you have Purphoros on the battlefield.
FINISHERS:
These cards are capable of huge plays dealing massive damage.
Chancellor of the Forge
This will double your creature count. By the time you play him you should probably already have a good amount of tokens, leading to a victory. Additionally, if he is in your opening hand he gives you an early blocker. Synergy with other goblin cards.
Chandra's Spitfire
Whenever purphoros triggers, this creature gets +3/+0 per opponent. Dropping Hordeling Outburst with 3 opponents results in this creature getting +27/+0. If that wasn't good enough, it also has flying making it easier to actually hit your opponents. You can fetch this card with both Imperial Recruiter and Flamekin Harbinger.
Grinning Ignus
This creature allows you to return him to you hand and recast him for R. This can easily net you 5+ Purphoros triggers on your turn, during the late game. This is increased if you have Phyrexian Alter or Skirk Prospector and a few creatures. Additionally, the 2R can be used to ramp into an x spell or another finisher. However, This can only be used at sorcery speed. I tend to ensure he's always in my hand at the end of my turn to avoid removal and high devotion, but It really depends on the situation. You can fetch this card with both Imperial Recruiter and Flamekin Harbinger.
Krenko, Mob Boss
Krenko doubles your goblin population each turn. Synergy with other goblin cards. His weakness is that he doesn't have haste and your opponents have 1 turn to remove him before he taps. When possible use Generator Servant to give him haste. You can fetch Krenko with both Goblin Matron and Goblin Recruiter.
Quest for Pure Flame
This allows you to deal 2x damage for a single turn. Purphoros triggers will add counters to this enchantment. Once used it doubles all sources including purphoros triggers, spells, and creature damage.
Tooth and Claw
This sacrifice outlet nearly doubles the efficiency the deck. Essential it adds X-1 additional Purphoros triggers if you sacrifice the creatures. Hordeling Outburst can triggers Purphros 5x instead of 3x. Siege-gang commander can triggers Purphoros 7x instead 4x. etc.
Myr Incubator
There are 20 artifacts in this deck excluding Myr Incubator. Activating Myr Incubator should be fatal for your opponents. It should be noted, artifact removal is the second most common removal in the Commander format. If you can manage to cast and activate on same turn, your chances of it resolving are much higher. Final Fortune is a great way to secure activation. If destroyed, Goblin Welder, Trading Post, and Buried Ruins can help for a second attempt.
Burn at the Stake
By the late game, you should have a small army of tokens. By tapping them all this can easily burn a single opponent for 30+ damage removing them from the game.
Hellion Eruption
This replaces all your creatures with 4/4 hellions and each hellion triggers Purphoros. The trick here is to ensure that your devotion is under 5 so Purphoros isn't sacrificed in the process.
Mogg Infestation
Not only does this double your creatures, but each new creature also triggers Purphoros. Synergy with other goblin cards. The trick here is to ensure that your devotion is under 5 so Purphoros isn't sacrificed in the process.
Final Fortune
Sometimes you just need 1 more turn to secure victory. Maybe you just dropped Myr Incubator and just need to activate it. Maybe you dropped Emrakul's Hatcher and have Firecat Blitz in your hand. Or Krenko, Mob Boss just needs to tap 1 more time. Whatever it is, you better calculate your move wisely, cause you'll lose at the end of that extra turn if you didn't.
Price of Progress
non-basic lands are a staple of EDH. This punishes multi-color decks that rely on them. In late games, I've seen players take 10+ damage from this card alone. Note that this burns all players, including you. Some of our lands have sac effects if you don't want to take the damage.
HATE / PROTECTION:
This set of cards removes threats from your opponent's board or deters opponents from attacking or targeting you.
Goblin Sharpshooter
This card is mainly used to counter other weenie token decks or destroy utility creatures like Dark Confidant or Copper Gnomes. Synergy with other goblin cards. This is also part of an infinite combo with Splinter Twin. This card can be fetched with Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter, and Goblin Recuiter
Ingot Chewer
1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Silent Arbiter
1x Chaos Warp
1x Slumbering Dragon
1x Shivan Harvest
1x Defense Grid
1x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Shattering Spree
TUTOR / DRAW: 9
1x Flamekin Harbinger
1x Goblin Matron
1x Goblin Recruiter
1x Imperial Recruiter
1x Ichor Wellspring
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Wheel of Fortune
RAMP: 13
1x Generator Servant
1x Iron Myr
1x Plague Myr
1x Simian Spirit Guide
1x Skirk Prospector
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Expedition Map
1x Mind Stone
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Sol Ring
1x Seething Song
UTILITY: 6
1x Trading Post
1x Goblin Welder
1x Splinter Twin
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
This card copies creatures with powerful "enter the battlefield" abilities. Siege-Gang Commander, Myr Battlesphere, Solemn Simulacrum, Goblin Matron are common targets.
1x Warping Wail
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
LANDS: 35
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Crystal Vein
1x Darksteel Citadel
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Great Furnace
1x Kher Keep
23x Mountain
1x Spinerock Knoll
1x Spawning Bed
1x Zoetic Cavern
TURN 1-3:
GOAL: RAMP TO AN EARLY COMMANDER.
Ramp to an early general. the sooner he is out the better. There are many cards to help you get him out on turn 3 or if your lucky turn 2. getting your general out should be priority 1. However, while your ramping you can try to also set up your board and hand. Use cards like flamekin harbinger, imperial recruiter, goblin matron to find some MVPs (listed below).
Turn 4-6:
GOAL: CREATE TOKENS, TRIGGERING PURPHOROS.
If you haven't dropped your general yet, try to do so ASAP. The next few turns are to drop as many tokens as you can. Try to avoid dropping tokens in the first few turns if you can, saving them for when you commander out is normally beneficial. Other than dropping tokens you should be trying to set up defenses with cards like silent arbitor and ensnaring bridge. With your general out, your putting a large target on your forehead and ways to deter attacking creatures is needed.
Turn 7+:
GOAL: PLAY FINISHERS.
Find a win con and use it. grinning ignus is a great finisher and fetchable with imperial recruiter or flamekin harbinger. kiki-jiki, mirror breaker is a great alternative, it's also fetchable with goblin matron, goblin recruiter, and imperial recruiter. If you used a creature to fetch kiki-jiki, you can always use kiki-jiki to copy that creature to fetch another creature. seige-gang commander is highly recommended with her out.
Dropping a large army at one time with, chancellor of the forge, mogg infestation, firecat blitz and hellion eruption are also great win cons. Sacrificing your army to tooth and claw or spawning pit for more creatures are also valid means to end the game. if you can easily swing to hit your opponent war elemental and chandra's spitfire are great damage dealers. quest for the pure flame and burn at the stake are also great for large burns. final fortune is a great card if you only need one more turn to win, just be careful and calculate before you use it.
NOTABLE ALTERNATIVES
R Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
BG Varolz, the scar-striped
9/30/13
- Young pyromancer
+ slumbering dragon
I find myself being attacked a lot and slumbering dragon helps deter them early. There was only 16 spells in my deck and the benefit of the pyromancer was lackluster.
9/30/13
- mycosynth wellspring
+ plague myr
Wellspring only fetches to hand which doesn't drop the general a turn faster. Plague myr allows general to drop faster and is a creature that triggers purphoros.
10/1/13
- mountain
+ ancient tomb
minus a mountain for more ramp.
10/1/13
- empty the warrens
+ splinter twin
empty the warren only really combos with grinning ingus. splinter twin offers more utility and in the long run produces more tokens. Combos with goblin sharpshooter.
R Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
BG Varolz, the scar-striped
It's basically another Kiki-Jiki, and it combos with Sharpshooter (and a 1/1)
Thanks!
Awesome utility card, not sure how I missed it.
R Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
BG Varolz, the scar-striped