Before going into detail I want to mention that my creature count is relatively low compared to other lists. This is due to some lategame cards and all the wheel effects in my list, which usually refill my hand to make sure that I always have a creature to throw around. Also, notice that this deck aims to wins in the lategame due to its philosophy, needing less creatures as my opponents usually already lost life. This allows me to play more utility cards. Just give it a try if you are sceptical =)
•
Ancient Stone Idol
Usually a top performer, 12 trample damage is huge especially when combined with cards like
Moraug, Fury of Akoum
,
Mirror March
,
Flameshadow Conjuring
. He is also tutorable with
Goblin Engineer
if you have graveyard recursion (
Trading Post
,
Goblin Welder
,
Daretti, Scrap Savant
,
Feldon of the Third Path
,
Buried Ruin
) or directly into your hand with
Hoarding Dragon
. Leaving behind a 6/12 trample artifact body proved to be very relevant and is just the cherry on the top as it fuels its own recursion with Goblin Welder and Daretti while also blocking almost anything on the ground or beating with 6 trample damage. You can even hardcast him if for example an elfball deck swings to you or even at your opponents. Love this card. So good.
•
Blightsteel Colossus
Top finisher, I once had a game with 9 additional copies with
Mirror March
killing the whole table. Good times. Also one of the best targets for
Mirage Mirror
,
Mirrorpool
and
Flameshadow Conjuring
for when you need 22 infect trample damage.
•
Bloodfire Colossus
is a boardwipe on a stick for just 4 mana. The 6 damage on each player also provides much needed range in the lategame, it scales nicely with copies and graveyard recursion. It always performs good (12 damage in total to one player) while also impacting the board.
•
Combustible Gearhulk
Although giving your opponent a choice usually leads to the worst outcome for you (never give an opponent a choice like
Browbeat
) they normally do not have a choice at all. Just choose the player with the lowest life and they will most likely let you draw three cards, which is incredibly good in monored. Bonus points for being an artifact (you know, recursion and stuff).
•
Crater Hellion
Purely included because of my creature heavy meta. Swap it for other fatties if your meta calls for it.
•
Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
Being legendary is a drawback because you cannot really copy this big boy. However, it represents 11 damage to the face and 6 damage to other faces or creatures or in any way you can imagine. The versatility and the multi target effect make this card a more than a worthwile inclusion.
•
Etali, Primal Storm
Legendary as well but copying this guy would be really unfair (it would be so much fun, though). Etali always performs and is responsible for the most game changing swings in any commander round. Great design, I enjoy this card very much.
•
Hellkite Tyrant
Stealing all the artifacts from your opponent is just good. The last mode will rarely be relevant, maybe if you are looping
Dockside Extortionist
.
•
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
This guy should obviously always come down with one additional fatty, which then gets bounced back to your hand at end of combat. Having this "free" cheating effect provides incredible amount of damage and value as you can use the same fatty an additional time (for example at EoT of your right opponent if you happen to have 6 mana).
Erratic Portal
synergizes nicely with Ilharg. You can bounce him back post-combat ending up with Ilharg and the other fatty in your hand again so that you have the same attack available on next turn. In that case, you never run out of gas. Having 2 red pips () will also most likely turn Purphy B. into a creature if the fatty cheated in with Ilharg also has 2 red pips (or only 1 red pip and you also have another permanent with one red pip on the board). This can be advantageous as Purphy B. can also deal damage but it renders your commander also vulnerable towards
Path to Exile
and the likes. So be aware of that.
•
Inferno Titan
Honetly, I do think that Inferno Titan has reached its peak long time ago. However, he still delivers beef with 12 damage total (without pumping) while 6 of the damage can be distributed freely. But the lack of evasion kind of sucks (unlike
Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
)
•
Meteor Golem
Artifact and can blow up every non-land permanent ? Sign me in. This guy allows this mono red deck to handle things red usually cannot handle (especially pesky enchantments). Obviously works great with copies and the likes.
•
Moraug, Fury of Akoum
This seems like a suboptimal inclusion because "we are not playing green, which is a prerequisite for landfall to be good bla bla". That is not true at all. I tested Moraug and he delivers. Even if you have only one (fetch-)land to play, this extra combat steps can lead to an explosive turn out of nowhere. You can and should always set him up properly. If you do not really need the mana, wait for your fetchland activations for the turn in which you drop Moraug. This is why I included almost all fetchlands.
Myriad Landscape
is obviously the best land for that purpose. You might think that playing slower cards like Evolving Wild (EW) and
Terramorphic Expanse
(TE) just for more landfall trigger seems bad, however it fits perfectly with the gameplan of being the underdog, of being non-threatening when you happen to not curve out because you happen to drew that evolving wild. This is not cEDH here, so not curving out for one turn is acceptable if the inclusion of EW/TE allows for an explosive turn with Moraug. Usually two landfall trigger (that is 3 combat steps) are enough to take 1-2 player out and it's easily doable. Just have one fetchland on the board and drop your land for the turn and go ham or in case of EW/TE hold it and play and activate it once Moraug is on the battlefield (with a fetchland already on the battlefield this play would net 3!! extra combat steps, four in total). If you are more budget just play
Naya Panorama
,
Grixis Panorama
,
Jund Panorama
instead of the expensive fetchlands. There is an argument to be made to play the panaroma cards instead of EW/TE as the Panorama lands can still tap for without loss of tempo. However, their fetching requires which might prevent one more activation of Purphy B. in the deciding, Moraug dropping turn (you want to have as much fatties on the board as possible to really deliver during those extra combat steps). Inclusion of both EW/TE and the panoramas is possible but I decided against it as the mountain count is already quite low. Important Note: I also play
Valakut Exploration
(see below for details on that card) which also profits from the inclusion of fetchlands.
•
Myr Battlesphere
It performs just great. Leaves Myr tokens for all sort of artifact shenanigans behind and can deal a huge amount of damage. Scales terrifyingly good with copies of itself or turn for turn recursion (more and more Myrs are joining your forces)
•
Scourge of the Throne
Like Moraug, this card usually finishes the game due to the extra combat step. Note that you get more combat steps when you attack with copies of itself as each copy triggers seperately.
•
Terror of the Peaks
I was not able to properly see this card in action yet. My plan is to either hardcast or to cheat him in right before my turn starts to get the most value out of it. His triggered ability scales also nicely with copies and recursion or with token generators like
Myr Battlesphere
,
Utvara Hellkite
,
Wurmcoil Engine
and
Ancient Stone Idol
.
•
Utvara Hellkite
If this goes unanswered the chances of winning the game are very high. The scaling is insane (especially with extra combat steps as the generated tokens also trigger) and it triggers itself.
•
Wurmcoil Engine
Just pure value while also delivering a decent amount of beef. The lifegain helps you reaching the lategame. Works excellent with
Goblin Welder
and co.
Noteworthy Exclusions
There are too many to list and discuss them all here (and I haven't played many of them, so I cannot really give my insights on them, only my thoughts). Hopefully the comment section will be all about alternative fatties and their performances ;)
•
Phyrexian Triniform
I am considering the card and am still unsure. It sadly lacks any kind of evasion and the encore is useless text for this deck. However, it leaves behind 3 3/3 artifact tokens which can be used for shenanigans. With
Terror of the Peaks
on the board dropping the Triniform will lead to 18 damage just from its ETB and LTB trigger.
•
Worldgorger Dragon
and Bearer of the Heaven Combo: For those who see the combo for the first time, it is all about cheating Bearer of the Heaven at opponents turn just before your turn (not at their EoT! Bearer needs to die during their turn so that the board gets wiped at your endstep. Then on your endstep, you activate Purphy B. to cheat in Worldgorger Dragon in response to the delayed trigger of the Bearer. The dragon enters the battlefield exiling all your stuff. Then the Bearer trigger resolves and everything is destroyed including your Worldgorger Dragon triggering its leaving the battlefield effect. You get all your stuff back while your opponents are left with nothing. If your opponents can destroy the dragon before the bearer trigger resolves you get your stuff back which then also gets destroyed by the bearer. So do it with caution.
I decided against that combo as both combopieces don't accomplish much on their own. Although, Worldgorger Dragon can be cheated in in response to cards like
Jokulhaups
or
Apocalypse
ruining the day of your fellow
Jhoira of the Ghitu
player. Bearer of the Heaven needs more cards to work on its own. Cards like
Darksteel Ingot
,
Skyclave Relic
and
Soul of New Phyrexia
can be added.
•
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Could be a nice inclusion to have another copying effect in your deck. If you slot that card, you might also slot
Zealous Conscripts
for the infamous combo. The conscript is on its own a decent card to cheat in. Stealing any permanent for one turn might come in handy (huge creatures or planeswalker). However, playing Kiki-Jiki just for copying stuff is too vulnerable towards removal compared to enchantment and artifact based copy effects (
Flameshadow Conjuring
,
Mirage Mirror
). It also usually creates a lot of hate/attention after dropping it. I am unsure if it is worth it.
•
Homura, Human Ascendant
Not really a fatty but cheating this guy in will leave you with a pretty strong enchantment, giving all your creatures flying, +2/+2 and the shivan breath ability. I would'nt consider this card in the "fatty" slot since dealing 4 damage without any immediate effects is pretty bad in terms of what the fatties in this deck can usually do. The question you need to ask yourself is if your fatties need the evasion or the buff. If yes, this card might be a worthy inclusion in your list, it synergizes well with all the different token generator fatties like
Myr Battlesphere
,
Wurmcoil Engine
or
Phyrexian Triniform
or doublestrike fatties because of the shivan breath ability and the extra +2 power (
Dragon Tyrant
,
Terror of Mount Velus
,
Avatar of Slaughter
)