MTG Salvation

This is a fast, glass cannon build for Purphoros meant to produce high pressure and surprise blowouts before Turn 7 in an otherwise moderately paced meta.


Strengths:
- Fast, all or nothing
- Hard to remove general
- Hard to stop damage
- Primary win condition doesn't target, doesn't use redzone
- Tuck resistant, two sub-generals geared for a swarmy aggro alternate win
- Multiple, redundant avenues to infinite etb/token loops

Weaknesses:
- Fast, all or nothing
- Cannot dismantle pillow forts
- Vulnerable to watchdogs focusing key early pieces

The Spanish Inquisition [Cards That Hit My Playgroup Outta Left Field]:
- Sword of the Paruns
- Grinning Ignus
- Chancellor of the Forge
- Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician

Dubious Performers:
- Myr Propagator (While it can produce an infinite or reliable triggers, this buddy doesn't bring much bang)


In my playgroup's meta, this build typically either wins on a lethal amount of Purphoros triggers by Turns 5-7 or the deck gets swamped in hate from the table and fizzles. The build is designed specifically for this kind of glass cannon all-in play: late-game the only recourse is to drop something like Obliterate and race for another blowout. Strong early plays are Norin+Genesis Chamber as a clock, Goblin Matron or Imperial Recruiter into Kiki-Jiki to assemble chain plays, or priming Quest for Pure Flame in time for your first spammy turn.

Neat list. Seems more well-rounded than my all-in token approach as you seem to keep creatures around to, gasp, do stuff. You run pretty much no draw though, is that a problematic?

I misread Twinflame and for a moment I thought that you found a 2-cost sorcery Chancellor of the Forge. My enthusiasm has now been dampened I'm liking Overblaze, but it eats a lot of your mana to make it happen, do you still go big after that? Quest for Pure Flame needs to be cut right now as it's horrible each of the Purphoros 2-damage dings is separate, so you're effectively playing a delayed shock with that enchantment.

You sure run a lot of untap toys here, I'd guess mainly for Krenko and possibly Kiki. I really don't get Changeling Berserker. One-off untap with the aid of a sac outlet?

Read Pure Flame again. It's not the next time, it's that turn at all. So Purphoros very quickly fills it with counters (a single trigger if there are enough opponents), and every shot from there to end of turn is doubled. It's great to drop early and then suddenly kill the table when say... Chancellor fills it up.

Haha, I wish Twinflame were that good but it's actually one of the weakest cards in the list, always flirting with the chopping block. Chancellor IS a favorite target XD.

Overblaze is typically weaved into a big chain of plays - one of those turns where you make tokens to sac tokens to make more tokens, dropping 4 to double the damage off even 1/3rd of such a chain is usually extremely profitable.

Yeah, the untaps are all about Kiki and Krenko. Changeling Berserker can be a one-off untap or ETB re-trigger with two Purphoros triggers attached, can see a valuable creature safely through a wipe, and can loop infinitely with Kiki-Jiki. Picked it over Lightning Crafter [which I run in Krenko] for the ability to protect and double-proc anything, not just goblins.


Draw, shockingly hasn't been much of an issue - I don't even end up getting much use out of Skullclamp, so much so that I rejected the idea of throwing in Knollspine Dragon moments after it occurred to me. The only time draw has proven a harsh mistress has been when I've mulliganed a dud hand repeatedly into ANOTHER dud hand, which is rare. The deck has enough value cards and synergy that it only takes a board presence of two or three cards to start roaring.

That and I'm a pretty lucky dude.

*rereads flame* okay, now what do I cut to make room for this in my list, that is the question probably Chandra, I'm yet to be happy to see her.

Yeah, I agree, Knollspine Dragon would be quite lame in this list, as you pretty much need to have Krenko out to draw a respectable card total if you're dedicating 7 of your mana to the dragon. I was thinking more along the lines of Wheel of Fortune.

I assume the infinite Kiki/Changeling loop is popping an extra changeling each turn with Kiki, or is there some infinite hidden in there?

Yeah, the infinite loop is copying Changeling with Kiki, championing him, and a sac outlet. Jiki and the Changeling ETB an endless number of times, everyone dies to Purphoros triggers. Otherwise, it's a surprisingly versatile protection and utility piece that Matron and Moggcatcher can tutor.

I actually tried out several versions of Chandra in earlier versions of this list and yeah... she just never made me think "Yes! This is the play I wanted to make!" when topdecked. The cast from grave one was kind of cute as a finisher when I was running a Hostility focused list, though.

I only run Chandra for the draw, but at 6 mana it is a bit disappointing.

Neat combo with Kiki. The only infinite I found in my version is Ignus + Genesis Chamber + Phyrexian Altar, but I deliberately avoided putting infinites in. I think I'll go try out Ib, as his body may just squeeze in a few extra points of damage if drawn at an unfortunate time.

Ib is such a quirky little dude. I was tooling around in quick 1v1 with a friend earlier today and Ib had a starring role in a 72 damage Turn 6. People don't seem to be braced for his style of win-at-all-costs tricks.

Oh hey, looking at your list, what is the trick with Hellion Eruption? Careful timing and drop it only when you have less than five devotion? Otherwise, you haven't got haste enablers and it kills Purphoros if he's a creature.

With so many spells, have you considered running Guttersnipe as a sub-boss?

Hellion Eruption is pretty much Mogg Infestation 2.0, and I always try my absolute hardest to have Purphoros be an enchantment. It's pretty hard to get rid of him when he's in that state, whilst upping the devotion and having him turn into the dude activates all the [card]Terminus[card]es of the world.

In fact, in the current build I'm testing, I cut Young Pyromancer as he's just a dude and can get offed very easily. Don't your stick-around dudes like Rapacious One run into trouble?

In the case of Rapacious One, I can usually eat a chump blocker/deal some damage/get some dudes/deal some more damage at least once before he draws any removal. In general though, redundant strategies and initially unassuming looking dudes are a big part of how I get around getting trashed by removal - a lot of flashier, more obvious targets get played at my group's tables and I often sneak by to a sudden win with this deck and Krenko if there isn't a player at the table dedicating themselves to reminding everyone that my decks win out of nowhere with fairly tame-looking cards all the time.

With the whole Terminus thing....
The friend that most often watchdogs me in games started running a lot of enchantment-hating utility cards and tucks for just this purpose. I can't rely very much on either side of the devotion clause, so DPS ASAP and race for that win.

I'm digging your list, but you must be scared to death of Oblation, Hinder, Chaos Warp, and their ilk. Thought about adding Gamble to dig out your big guy if he gets tucked? Planar Portal works, too, but it's most likely too slow for your list. How do you feel about Treasonous Ogre? I liked him in my Animar build, very much an all in guy. Finally.. Goblin Warrens can really get things moving quickly in lieu of an infinite loop..

I used to run the Warrens in a previous build, but getting it to pay out early and cheap took too many specific cards being out at once. Ended up being too resource-intensive when I have options that play nice with a smaller board presence.

Nah, the tucks are alright. My local meta plays A LOT of them, too, but they're annoying (especially Hide), not game ending - if Purphoros is gone, it becomes a Kiki-Jiki deck, then a Krenko deck, then Ib, then Kazuul. Game impact doesn't start really limping until you're down to Ib, the deck can bounce back from some pretty harsh punishment. Where the deck fails is when little, versatile pieces start getting systematically removed. All the big flashy parts are interchangeable.

I really, REALLY want to love Treasonous Ogre. So badly. I want him to be a great card and he's too slow and underwhelming every time. He's getting yet another chance at glory in the Marath list I'm brewing.

Tucks suck big time. This guy's list seems a bit more versatile, able to cope with Purphoros gone, but obviously it's not ideal. I ran Planar Portal and its friend Ring of Three Wishes for a while, but never really got any mileage out of them. Getting to 6 mana is easy enough, but not having the thing be poofed by the time it's your turn isn't.

One thing that I noticed with Mana Echoes is that you find yourself starved for red when you try to go off. Maybe running some more colorless stuff like Snake Basket and Myr Battlesphere will help you explode out of nowhere every now and then in yet another fashion.

Also wow, this list is getting tons of views and comments. Maybe if I labelled mine as competitive and didn't say "help" in the title I'd have some attention too

I dunno, I would have glossed over your thread without the help in the title : P
Seemed like an invitation to jam about builds

In the vein of Snake Basket, I used to run Orochi Hatchery. Switched it for... Myr Incubator, I believe, and found it worked out to similar mana for a much more game-ending pile of dudes.

I love Mana Echoes so much. Myr Propagator, Krenko, Kiki-Jiki, Myr Matrix and Splinter Twin all have infinite combos involving it. Table usually panics when it hits play.


So, I'm contemplating giving Howl of the Horde a spin - if only for the thrill of triple-casting Mogg Infestation after a chump swing. Thoughts?

How much mileage do you actually get out of Rapacious One? Seems a bit slow and unreliable.. I think for 6 I might try out Thopter Assembly instead. Though you do have to love that the spawn ramp you. Thopter Squadron is another thing that can get out of hand quickly, have you tested it? Howl of the Horde, I'm not sure. There are so many doubling spells already, and if you're casting Mogg Infestation you're winning pretty much already right? I love the Snake Basket idea. Orochi Hatchery is too slow, yeah.. Myr Incubator is awesome. There's also Spawning Pit if people love wiping your board a lot, and gives you another out to Purphoros being tucked as well.

I actually have two pinch-hitters on the bench if I decide I'm eating too much tuck - Claws of Gix and Despotic Scepter can save the big guy regardless of his devotion mode. But it hasn't been a problem enough to throw those in so far.

Yeah, Rapacious One is... a mixed bag. I get good mileage on him in stalled games, but I feel like there has to be something a little faster and more synergistic for my build. None of the recent sets have answered my prayers for a good beater that gets along with as well as Rappy, though. Something similar for 4 CMC or a mono-red Spawnwrithe type would tickle my fancy.

Hm.

I might put Tooth and Claw back in somewhere. Answers wipes kind of like Spawning Pit, wasn't bad at eking out the last few Purphoros triggers needed to win when I tried it before.

Mogg Infestation isn't as much winmore as it is secure-the-win. Plus, in a pinch, you can use it as a faux-boardwipe on somebody who's being problematic.

Some Purph lists swear by Tooth and Claw and Spawning Pit, but I noticed I tend to get better mileage if I let my board live. It's always chumps, and people are sometimes not all that comfortable sending something that isn't a 420/420 trampling omnath into a sea of myrs and goblins. I guess Spawning Pit is more versatile, if also more costly - get counters off chump blocking etc.

Thopter Squadron goes infinite the split second it hits the table, assuming Mana Echoes. Myr Matrix takes 15 mana to take off (10 if it's already on the table), pretty much demanding action earlier in the turn, but is less sensitive to disruption. I guess that Thopter Squadron can be used to burn off any excess mana at the end of your turn, turning 2 mana into a ping to the enemy or even potentially sparing some of its +1/+1 counters for flying chumps. Maybe one of these is not a bad idea. Off to gatherer to see if there's any mana-cheaper ones.

EDIT: Nope, Thopter Squadron is the cheapest. You get Pentavus with two more +1/+1's, no sorcery speed limitation and no flying for 2 mana more. Plus, Pentavus makes Pentavites, making the infinite a tiny bit harder

Great call on that anti-tuck tech, I'll keep it in mind for sure.

Yeah, Thopter Squadron is a good call. Probably replacing Koth of the Hammer, unless I do Pentavus in place of Rapacious One instead. Even without Mana Echoes, they're essentially " : trigger Purphoros". That's pretty friggin sweet, no matter how you slice it.

The only thing about Tooth and Claw is that it doesn't really answer a board wipe. If you sac your board in response to the wrath, the wrath still wipes the tokens. Sure, you get your Purphoros triggers, but he won't always be on the board at the time of a wipe. Spawning Pit actually gives you a board presence after a wipe, and if it was Goblins you chucked, equivalent P/T. How about Siege-Gang Commander? He brings pals and gives you more to use those Goblins for. I definitely think Thopter Squadron and Pentavus both have a place. Has Koth underwhelmed? I'm guessing you mostly -2 him to get the ball rolling.

Love Siege-Gang in Krenko, but not as much here - Myr Battlesphere represents the lowest threshold accepted for dudes that don't offer effects beyond bringing more dudes. In this deck he's not part of a loop, doesn't grab other stuff to chain plays, and doesn't increase the value squeezed out of resources already on the board. For that reason, Emrakul's Hatcher is more appealing as its tokens immediately grant more resources regardless of what I have on the board.

Koth has underwhelmed badly. Just doesn't pay out fast enough. By the time he's really giving value I've gotten two ro three times his worth off altar effects and Battle Hymn. Thopter Squadron and Pentavus are looking much more effective than him and Rapacious One - to trigger Purphoros without losing resources, combos with Mana Echoes, and reduce my need for colored mana. Value and synergy for all.

Have you contemplated Firecat Blitz?

Siege-Gang Commander definitely has a spot on my list at least, as he's got pretty good mana to dude efficiency and, very importantly, craps out goblins which you can then go nuts with using Krenko. I run just about every single goblin maker there is in my list, as even though some look slightly underwhelming, they provide the right sort of tokens for Krenko and Goblin Warrens to work with later.

I used to run Tetravus, and it would always instil a surprising amount of fear into the opponents' hearts. He's like a wannabe Norin - pings everybody for 6 during your upkeep, but is very sensitive to removal, like all the members of that particular family appear to be. Still drying to decide whether I should try out Thopter Squadron or Pentavus, but they're both mana intensive and would actually like to stay on the board after they touch down. Consarnit

Firecat Blitz was in the original brew of this deck, and ended up getting cut with the increasing shift toward dudes with bodies that Kiki and Splinter Twin can manipulate. On the spells side I've kept only those that can produce really ugly amounts of creatures per mana, and with which the creatures stick around for chumping and the aggro off-tactic - things like Tempt with Vengeance, which is an absolutely amazing political card if anyone at the table is itching for a new game [and someone often is]. Always fun to see people agree to the offer to get back at the table for a sloggy match.

Siege-Gang Commander really is fantastic, I just wish he either brought more dudes with him or provided a better outlet for further plays by himself. If they print a token-buddies card like him in red or colorless capable of any kind of acceleration or tutoring at all, I will be on that faster than sound.

Hatcher doesn't count : P

After some soul searching, I cut Hellion Eruption (as the least effective "go big or go home" card) for Pentavus. Yet to see him in play, but I think this is the correct choice - the lack of sorcery speed restriction makes him far more versatile when not being an infinite wincon with Mana Echoes.

I think that the weakest link in your list may be Myr Propagator. It's quite possible I'm not "seeing it", but it strikes me as slow and mana intensive, even when coupled with Kiki/Twin.

Most of the time it's : trigger Purphoros, with Fervor it's plain : trigger Purphoros, and with both Fervor and Mana Echoes it's : kill everyone.

On one hand, it's one of the least attention drawing potential blowouts in the deck, on the other hand it spends most of its time being a fragile link between other combo pieces. A really efficient utility piece in the same CMC could convince me to switch out. Something filtery or a cheap creatures to other resources converter would be best.