Purphoros, Forger of Goblins [[Primer]]

Commander / EDH freakingShane

SCORE: 235 | 208 COMMENTS | 55034 VIEWS | IN 155 FOLDERS


Contains No Gluten —Feb. 18, 2017

Primer is fully operational (and hopefully typo-free!). The deck is as resilient and efficient as I know possible, for the direction that I am building this in.

I now consider this deck retired, but that does not mean that I won't continue to update it. If I discover any card or a new set offers a new card that fits the deck, I will of course add it. Anything to make this deck as oppressive and heavy as the Hammer of Purphoros itself!

freakingShane says... #1

Panharmonicon is sooooo powerful in this deck (and really any deck that has ETBs or triggers, which is almost all of them).

Even playing Siege-Gang Commander with Pan out deals 28 of Purph is out. Pan just makes it so easy.

January 27, 2017 11:25 a.m.

SFCD says... #2

I'm not one of those "SOL RING OBVS GOES IN EVERY DECK" kind of guys but wouldn't Ring and/or Crypt be great to land an early Purph?ANyway, love the deck! :)

February 14, 2017 7:34 p.m.

freakingShane says... #3

Thanks for stopping by, SFCD! And the reason why is actually because this is played more as a Duel Commander deck than a group Commander deck.

Obviously those two could easily find a play in here, because a turn 2 Purphoros, God of the Forge is always good. ;)

February 14, 2017 11:54 p.m.

TheRedGoat says... #4

Okay, so I realize you have a ton of goblin-centric synergies in addition to your Purphoros plays, so I'm about to unload a bunch of stuff that works as infinite ETB effects and just let you look over them. I've never piloted a Purph/goblin deck even so I'm not about to know where to cut unless you drop all aggro for full combo plays (which I again state I wouldn't know if that is better or even what you're wanting). Anyway. The list of possibilities as follows:

Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle and any creature that creates one or more creatures when it enters or dies.Suggested options not already in your build include Pia Nalaar (for her low cost), Tuktuk the Explorer (same reason), or alternatively Su-Chi. Some of these can work with token creation on death due to the triggers going on the stack at once. By sacking the creature for mana 2 mana, you then stack the triggers to get the token that you can also sac for mana in response to the mantle trigger, thus having 4 mana to revive the first creature.

Mana Echoes does have an infinite loop with Goblin Warren and Phyrexian Altar (yes I get you aren't using it but Skirk Prospector will do the same thing). The Echoes will generate the colorless mana you need, and then one of the three can be sacked for R, and then use it all to sack the other 2 goblins for 3 new tokens. This is a "closed loop" because it doesn't generate extra tokens, but you do get infinite colorless mana in addition to the ETB triggers.

Given the right mana rocks/mana ramp Paradox Engine and Ancestral Statue can create an infinite loop of spell casting for storm triggers or also creature etb. The same is true for Cloudstone Curio and Cryptic Gateway with any or your creatures that make mass tokens ETB. Maybe something could be done with Akki Rockspeaker too if you had cost reduction?

Mana Echoes also can make Krenko, Mob Boss or even Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker go infinite when used with Umbral Mantle and/or Sword of the Paruns (and the right board state).

I can also mention that you are not about to find anything close to enchantment hate in mono-red except through Apocalypse, so I really wouldn't bother changing it out unless you'd want something like Descent of the Dragons in for even more tokens.

Burn at the Stake does happen to have several options for replacement if you'd prefer instant speed effects over easy-ish mass damage.

Lastly, would you say you're ever in need of more combat supportive effects like what Hellrider and Hero of Oxid Ridge or even Bloodmark Mentor and Goblin Wardriver?

Also, sorry for the wall-o-text.

February 16, 2017 2:44 a.m.

freakingShane says... #5

Thanks for checking out my deck and coming back with great suggestions, TheRedGoat!

Mana Echoes is in my "Possible Additions" section and I've been really needing to test it out. I knew it had value, but man did you enlighten me on how much value!

I don't think the Cloudstone Curio/Paradox Engine/Ancestral Statue combo(s) are up my alley; although, Cryptic Gateway actually could be another nice cheater card for this deck.

I'm glad you agree about Apocalypse having its place in here. I have caught so much flack for it, mainly just because of the "pitch your hand" line, but that truly is minor compared to the value of removing an Enchan-Tron deck's board presence. As for Burn at the Stake, I do like it, but I would love to hear what you would recommend for an instant speed replacement (or just replacements in general).

For me, the extra combat support isn't too necessary. I actually had Hellrider in my early stages of this deck, and it (for me) didn't do enough to justify a spot. Seeing as how easy it is for me to become unblockable, or pseudo-unblockable, I haven't had to worry much about those extra pings of damage.

Once again, thanks so much for your recommendations, TheRedGoat! Mana Echoes definitely will be tested soon, because the value is extraordinary and seems like an auto-include. Let me know some ideas you have for what to replace Burn at the Stake with; I am curious to see what you have in store.

February 16, 2017 10:39 a.m.

TheRedGoat says... #6

Okay, so presuming that Outnumber and Gempalm Incinerator are not what you'd want, those being creatures only for targeting, then Massive Raid and/or Last-Ditch Effort are your "better" options over Burn at the Stake. While both cards are less damaging, and the effort destroys your own board, the ability to do so use them in response to a board wipe or have them waiting for a sudden spike in damage highly underrated.

February 17, 2017 1:40 a.m.

freakingShane says... #7

I actually had Massive Raid, which I liked but I was overzealous with the "three times the damage" that Burn at the Stake has.

I'll actually just slip Raid back in there, because instant speed is undoubtedly more useful than sorcery speed. Plus, cheaper CMC never hurts, haha.

Thanks, again, TheRedGoat!

February 17, 2017 9:17 a.m.

beninator says... #8

Maybe consider Flowstone Slide? It's kinda expensive to cast for high impact but it can potentially be a boardwipe that gets around indestructible and/or protection from Red.

February 17, 2017 9:19 a.m.

freakingShane says... #9

That isn't a bad card, beninator, but I've never been a huge fan of costs (which explains why I don't have Goblin Onslaught , haha). Since I have Apocalypse I don't worry too much about indestructible or red-protection.

Thanks for the suggestion though! I appreciate you checkin' out the deck! :)

February 17, 2017 11:35 a.m.