The God of the Forge
By: Misha Popenuk
With the arrival of summer and the full release of khan’s block into standard, it seems like a good time to look back at Theros block and see what fun we can have with old favorites in the format before they rotate out. When thinking of the iconic cards of Theros you can’t help but think of the gods. While they all have their own flavor, one that always seemed on the edge of making waves in standard was Purphorous, God of the Forge.
While this super star of blacksmiths had some play in mono red variations when the set first came out, he has been relatively quiet since some of the key pieces to the deck rotated out. However, now that we have the full tool set of Khan’s to work with it seems like a great opportunity to have some fun with the card before he rotates out for good. Purphoros’ abilities go very well with the mechanics built into Khans. While there are different deck constructions one could make using the synergies of raid and dash to trigger the comes into play as well as the pump ability, the build below uses the many prowess enabling token spells to maximize Purphoros’ hits while ensuring that you always get value from your spells even if you are never able to swing in for the win.
In addition to the many token interactions which allow us to get maximum damage from the god’s first ability, there are also some key enchantments from the new sets that grant further redundancy and stability to the deck, as well as increasing the clock for mid-range and control match ups. The deck is rounded out with some returning heavy hitters in the versatile removal of Chain to the Rocs as well as Elspeth to finish out the job. Below is the complete deck list:
Creatures:
Rabble master x4
Monastery Mentor x4
Purphoros x2
Spells:
Chain to the Rocks x4
Hordeling outburst x4
Dragon Fodder x4
Secure the Waist x2
Stoke the Flames x4
Raise the Alarm x4
Enchantments:
Outpost Siege x2
Impact Tremors x4
Plainswalkers:
Elspeth x2
Land:
Temple of Triumph x4
Battlefield Forge x4
Mountain x10
Plains x2
Total Cards: 60
Let’s discuss some of the key cards in the deck:
Impact Tremors: The most important card in the deck besides Purphoros himself. We are pushing the limits of token generators to maximize the damage dealt from Impact Tremors and Purphoros.
Outpost Siege: A little more expensive to cast, but it does everything your red deck wants to do, draw you more cards to keep your hand full, or put that last point of damage in for the win. After all, you unfortunately have to chump block with your tokens sometimes.
Hordeling Outburst: We need to make tokens and this makes the best kind, goblins to help out the synergy with Goblin Rabblemaster. Just watch out for Bile Blight!
Dragon Fodder: When four goblin making spells aren’t enough, add four more!
Monastery Mentor: This card does it all. It creates massive amounts of tokens and even provides a solid back up plan to win if Purphoros and Impact tremors aren’t cutting it.
Thanks for reading!
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