Hey people -
Ever since Purphoros was spoiled, I've wanted to break him. He's such a powerful card, and he's basically unanswerable if he hits. I feel like there's a ton of potential, but I'm not sure which direction to go, so I figured Id just present my ideas here.
Option 1: Dega Purphoros
This is the obvious option, but I don't know how powerful it is. Purphoros being on the board turns Lingering Souls in to 8 damage to the face. Young Pyromancer is the nuts. Etc etc. The problem here is you're slow, you want to drop you dudes early so by the time Purphoros hits it might be too late, and a lot of the cards are competing with eachother's ideas.
It plays a ton of powerful cards, and everything synergizes really well. I wanted to avoid playing anything that was only good with purphoros out, because you can only really play 3 of him and he doesnt hit until turn 4 anyways.
I dont know what kind of matchup this would have against teir 1, because of how predictable and methodical it is. Not quite fast or powerful enough, maybe?
Option 2: RW Midrange Purphoros
This is definitely a "danger of cool things" deck. It seems really fun but I feel like it doesn't play enough disruption or have enough steam to pull through. But it can definitely lay the hurt on.
Purphoros synergises really well with his hammer, hasty tokens are scary, Reckoner is great for devotion and giving you time / being beefy. There's no draw and minimal disruption, and I dont know if blood moon fits, but it can potentially win you games on its own and eats enchantment removal that could otherwise hit your hammer or your god.
Option 3: Everything else
I've got a few other ideas floating around (RB suicide purphoros, UR fairy tempo, mono R, etc), but I think these are probably the closest to existing archtypes that could work. Any ideas on how to break this guy?
Do you think you'd have enough left over by the time you have a purphoros on the board and an emtpy the warrens left in your hand? I feel like most of the time it'd be a 4 mana Gather the Townsfolk, and occasionally if you hold on to a card you otherwise could have used by turn 5, it will be two of em.
I just feel like you'd have to build Warrens in to a combo shell to make that work. Or a ramp shell or something. Rituals, Satyr Hedonist, etc.
There were some interesting decks being played on MTGO a few months ago that were Gruul Zoo variants. They had BTE, Priest of Urabrask, Storm Elemental, and Myr Superion. Going that rout would offer the Beats backup plan. Combo's (2x BTE or 2x Priest and Curio, Porphoros->infinite dmg).
Combo Elves with Cloudstone Curio too, but that could be kind of a win-more since that combo usually ends up with infinite mana when it happens.
That could be a viable alternative to my second list, I guess. I'm just inherantly worried about a deck relying a 4cc drop that doesn't pack disruption. In modern, to be competitive, you need to be close to winning by then or have screwed with your opponent sufficiently to not be close to losing.
And to be clear, I am trying to make something competitive. I don't know if its at all possible, but I have a plenty large collection of fun jank, I just want to explore the potential for a new archtype.
Yeah; I don't think the deck can revolve around The Mountain Man. He's too slow as a win con in his own, plus you don't want him in multiples. The only reason I could see it being viable is that you can convince your opponent that you're playing a weird gruul beats deck and make them tap out to keep from dying and then go Summoner's Pact into Prophoros and break out the oops I win combo.
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You could combo out w/ heartless summoning and 2 myr retrievers. Another idea would be staying on theme and have his hammer to tag along plus some splicers in the deck to generate a bunch golem tokens.
Some other Ideas:
1) Blinking effects + blade splicer? Blade splicer is pretty good on it's own too.
2) Budget Idea: Midnightguard + Presence of Gond + Purphoros, god of the forge
Only thing though is that those 2 cards can win on there own, they don't need the extra help. They also require 2 extra colors of mana.
You could combo out w/ heartless summoning and 2 myr retrievers. Another idea would be staying on theme and have his hammer to tag along plus some splicers in the deck to generate a bunch golem tokens.
I also really enjoy this combo. It's simple, and only require 1 extra color of mana.
Some other Ideas:
1) Blinking effects + blade splicer? Blade splicer is pretty good on it's own too.
2) Budget Idea: Midnightguard + Presence of Gond + Purphoros, god of the forge
Only thing though is that those 2 cards can win on there own, they don't need the extra help. They also require 2 extra colors of mana.
I also really enjoy this combo. It's simple, and only require 1 extra color of mana.
I'm glad you liked that combo. I'd say it's a bit harder to implement though. It's 4 card combo so unless the players built the deck AROUND Heartless Summoning and a bit more cantrips, I'm afraid my proposed idea will simply just be a novelty at best. LOL
About your idea on elemental tribe theme... Do you realize that Grinning ignus + "cost cutters" only net you a for every you spend? The way I see it, it goes like so:
1-tap source. (:symr:)
2-:symr: to cast Ignus (:0mana:)
3-:symr: to activate Ignus (:2mana::symr:) return ignus to hand
4-:symr: cast Ignus (:2mana:) tap source. (:2mana::symr:)
5-repeat 3-5
Hence, net result would be for you spend. It's not gonna be infinite.
I don't belive that combo is the way to go with Purphoros. In a format with 2 cards combos that have 16 picies (kiki/twin + Exatch/Mite) or 3 card combos with strong tutor (Pod). A 4 card combo with no efficient tutor is not enough.
An midrangery based on tokens would be the better option.
Something like BW Tokens, i think that either Dega or straight BR rather than RW. The disruptive and CA from black plus the token generation from red (red have some decente token generation: Young Pyromancer, Mogg War Marshal and Krenko's Command/Dragon Fodder).
This deck is not fast enough to deal with the combos of modern, so the disruption from black is more desireable than the stronger token generation from white.
Purphoros have a strong end game element, he can both kills the enemies by pumping the tokens that entred the field before him, or by dealing damage with the tokens that enters after him.
What about purphoros in a living end shell? Don't know if it's necessary or not, but does the deck usually win when it living end's? This seems to me like the biggest play you can make with the god- kinda similar to scapeshift even.
I almost posted this list in a separate thread but it fits here well enough since it revolves around Purphoros. Strangely enough I think another card that hasn't found a home fits in the deck as well, Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded. The idea would be pretty much to stall the game with your 1 drops and let Tibalt dig through the deck until you can get an Immortal Servitude and return all the 1 drops to the battlefield where Purphoros hopefully is. Fair warning that this is completely untested.
I think the best way to break this guy, and the most fun one, its with goblins.
4 Goblin Guide
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Krenko's Command
4 Dragon Fodder
3 Purphoros, God of the forge
2 Krenko, Mob Boss
4 lightning bolt
3 Goblin assault
4 Goblin chieftain
6/7 X?
21/22 lands
thats only an idea, but it should be really funny to mix goblins and Gods here.
If we cannot win via hitting with gobos, we can always make couple of shocks per turn.
I tried this, but the problem is that by the time that I cast Purphoros, I had already cast all of my spells and has to rely on my draws and any repeatable token generators that I had. It was funny with Krenko, but it generally seemed like useless win-more.
LOL That kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it? W/ all the Non-token goblins in play, you're bound to hit the devotion count.
I thought up of another in-theme combo Purphoros, God of the Forge + Splinter Twin + Battered Golem Make a golem, untap, purphoros triggers rinse repeat. Battered Golem + Splinter Twin is good enough on it's own though, since all the tokens have haste.
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Decks built:
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Norin + genesis chamber produce insane amounts of purphoros triggers.
Multiple myr servitors + a sac outlet trigger both purphoros and genesis chamber. Spawning pit seems pretty good with the red god, you can just sac everything, make tokens then sac them again to make more spawns and more purphoros triggers, etc.
Bolts and blasts are the removal we need to compete.
Iron myr for turn 3 purphoros seems good.
Galvanizer makes genesis chamber big. Also, combined with lodestone myr you can attack then tap all your artifacts and then untap all myrs and tap them again!
I think Mono-Red is the best way to go about this. I have my own devotion build that only runs Purphoros in the SB right now because I found that he is not really right for every matchup. I did not want to muck around with being trigger happy, but rather used him as the big, hard to remove, creature that he is. The trigger for me was just gravy. If you are interested in some of my choice you can find the thread here. I also recommend looking at this gatherer search I did for permanents with lots of R mana symbols. It gave me lots of ideas.
As I've mentioned in some other threads, if I'm going with devotion, I'm trying to find a way to break Nykthos for sure. After widening my search net a bit, my favorite card for making both nykthos and Purphoros good is Rise of the Hobgoblins. I've gone with a kind of big red control concept here, and I haven't even goldfished the thing. Just a concept at this point. As usual, disregard the sideboard as its just possibilities.
Not sure how I feel about the combo/nonbo with Legions Initiative and Rise. I've also got a much more aggressive red Nykthos deck but I'm not sure if Purphoros will make the cut, so I may have to find another thread for it.
*Edit* that Blood Moon won't work. Kills my Nykthos. To the sideboard with it!
Maybe in a more aggressive list he'd make the cut, but in a midrange or controlling strategy I don't think he's good enough. The synergy with Purphoros is nice, but it doesn't automatically warrant a slot because without Purphoros, what does he really do?
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Ever since Purphoros was spoiled, I've wanted to break him. He's such a powerful card, and he's basically unanswerable if he hits. I feel like there's a ton of potential, but I'm not sure which direction to go, so I figured Id just present my ideas here.
Option 1: Dega Purphoros
This is the obvious option, but I don't know how powerful it is. Purphoros being on the board turns Lingering Souls in to 8 damage to the face. Young Pyromancer is the nuts. Etc etc. The problem here is you're slow, you want to drop you dudes early so by the time Purphoros hits it might be too late, and a lot of the cards are competing with eachother's ideas.
3 Purphoros, god of the forge
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Dark Confidant
3 Tidehollow Sculler
Spells (22):
4 Lighting Bolt
4 Lingering Souls
3 Path to Exile
3 Gather the Townsfolk
3 Lightning Helix
3 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land (22):
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
3 Godless Shrine
4 Blood Crypt
4 Sacred Foundry
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
It plays a ton of powerful cards, and everything synergizes really well. I wanted to avoid playing anything that was only good with purphoros out, because you can only really play 3 of him and he doesnt hit until turn 4 anyways.
I dont know what kind of matchup this would have against teir 1, because of how predictable and methodical it is. Not quite fast or powerful enough, maybe?
Option 2: RW Midrange Purphoros
This is definitely a "danger of cool things" deck. It seems really fun but I feel like it doesn't play enough disruption or have enough steam to pull through. But it can definitely lay the hurt on.
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Vexing Devil
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Boros Reckoner
4 Spectral Procession
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Searing Blaze
3 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Blood Moon
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Clifftop Retreat
3 Mountain
3 Plains
Purphoros synergises really well with his hammer, hasty tokens are scary, Reckoner is great for devotion and giving you time / being beefy. There's no draw and minimal disruption, and I dont know if blood moon fits, but it can potentially win you games on its own and eats enchantment removal that could otherwise hit your hammer or your god.
Option 3: Everything else
I've got a few other ideas floating around (RB suicide purphoros, UR fairy tempo, mono R, etc), but I think these are probably the closest to existing archtypes that could work. Any ideas on how to break this guy?
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
I just feel like you'd have to build Warrens in to a combo shell to make that work. Or a ramp shell or something. Rituals, Satyr Hedonist, etc.
Combo Elves with Cloudstone Curio too, but that could be kind of a win-more since that combo usually ends up with infinite mana when it happens.
Just some Ideas.
Edit: Not storm elemental; Storm Entity
Standard: Mono Red #GetSwol
Elsewhere: Random Brews All Day, Erreday
~
And to be clear, I am trying to make something competitive. I don't know if its at all possible, but I have a plenty large collection of fun jank, I just want to explore the potential for a new archtype.
Standard: Mono Red #GetSwol
Elsewhere: Random Brews All Day, Erreday
~
On the works:
Leyline Deck Wins:symbu:Null 'n Void:symbu:
Decks built:
:symg::symb::symr::symw::symu:ChangelingsUWRBG
:symru:16 land Ignite Memories Combo:symru:
:symbu:Hunted Singularity:symbu:
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Figure of Destiny
1 Norin the Wary
4 Path to Exile
4 Lighting Helix
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Spectral Procession
2 Timely Reinforcements
4 Gather the Townsfolk
1 Increasing Devotion
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Arid Mesa
4 Rugged Prairie
4 Mountains
4 Plains
Some other Ideas:
1) Blinking effects + blade splicer? Blade splicer is pretty good on it's own too.
2) Budget Idea:
Midnightguard + Presence of Gond + Purphoros, god of the forge
Only thing though is that those 2 cards can win on there own, they don't need the extra help. They also require 2 extra colors of mana.
3) Elemental combo:
Brighthearth Banneret + Grinning Ignus (infinite bouncing, if you have a second Brighthearth Banneret, then it's infinite mana also)
Flamekin Harbinger (Search for either piece that you need)
Flamekin Spitfire (Alt win condition)
I also really enjoy this combo. It's simple, and only require 1 extra color of mana.
I'm glad you liked that combo. I'd say it's a bit harder to implement though. It's 4 card combo so unless the players built the deck AROUND Heartless Summoning and a bit more cantrips, I'm afraid my proposed idea will simply just be a novelty at best. LOL
About your idea on elemental tribe theme... Do you realize that Grinning ignus + "cost cutters" only net you a for every you spend? The way I see it, it goes like so:
1-tap source. (:symr:)
2-:symr: to cast Ignus (:0mana:)
3-:symr: to activate Ignus (:2mana::symr:) return ignus to hand
4-:symr: cast Ignus (:2mana:) tap source. (:2mana::symr:)
5-repeat 3-5
Hence, net result would be for you spend. It's not gonna be infinite.
On the works:
Leyline Deck Wins:symbu:Null 'n Void:symbu:
Decks built:
:symg::symb::symr::symw::symu:ChangelingsUWRBG
:symru:16 land Ignite Memories Combo:symru:
:symbu:Hunted Singularity:symbu:
An midrangery based on tokens would be the better option.
Something like BW Tokens, i think that either Dega or straight BR rather than RW. The disruptive and CA from black plus the token generation from red (red have some decente token generation: Young Pyromancer, Mogg War Marshal and Krenko's Command/Dragon Fodder).
This deck is not fast enough to deal with the combos of modern, so the disruption from black is more desireable than the stronger token generation from white.
Purphoros have a strong end game element, he can both kills the enemies by pumping the tokens that entred the field before him, or by dealing damage with the tokens that enters after him.
An rough idea of what i'm going for
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Mogg War Marshal
1 Norin the Wary
4 Dark Confidant
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
3 Terminate
3 Mountain
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood Crypt
3 Swamp
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
2 Kher Keep
One thing to notice is that this list will probably never make purphoros a creature, wich is good, we don't want it path'ed or dismember'ed.
2 Doomed Traveler
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Legion Loyalist
3 Norin the Wary
4 Vexing Devil
2 Vicera Seer
2 Legion's Initiative
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
Spells 11
4 Lingering Souls
3 Unburial Rites
4 Immortal Servitude
Lands 22
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
2 Rugged Prairie
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Kher Keep
4 Mountain
Modern
xWBreakfast at Urza'sxW
UWGBantUWG
GWRNaya ZooRWG
I tried this, but the problem is that by the time that I cast Purphoros, I had already cast all of my spells and has to rely on my draws and any repeatable token generators that I had. It was funny with Krenko, but it generally seemed like useless win-more.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I thought up of another in-theme combo Purphoros, God of the Forge + Splinter Twin + Battered Golem Make a golem, untap, purphoros triggers rinse repeat. Battered Golem + Splinter Twin is good enough on it's own though, since all the tokens have haste.
On the works:
Leyline Deck Wins:symbu:Null 'n Void:symbu:
Decks built:
:symg::symb::symr::symw::symu:ChangelingsUWRBG
:symru:16 land Ignite Memories Combo:symru:
:symbu:Hunted Singularity:symbu:
4 norin the wary
4 myr servitor
4 iron myr
4 myr galvanizer
2 lodestone myr
3 purphoros, god of the forge
3 lightning bolt
4 galvanic blast
artifacts: 7
3 spawning pit
4 genesis chamber
2 hammer of purphoros
lands: 23
4 darksteel citadel
1 kher keep
18 mountain
Norin + genesis chamber produce insane amounts of purphoros triggers.
Multiple myr servitors + a sac outlet trigger both purphoros and genesis chamber. Spawning pit seems pretty good with the red god, you can just sac everything, make tokens then sac them again to make more spawns and more purphoros triggers, etc.
Bolts and blasts are the removal we need to compete.
Iron myr for turn 3 purphoros seems good.
Galvanizer makes genesis chamber big. Also, combined with lodestone myr you can attack then tap all your artifacts and then untap all myrs and tap them again!
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!
4 Frostburn Weird
3 AEther Membrane
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Purphoros, God of the Forge
2 Balefire Liege
Spells:19
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Legion's Initiative
2 Pyroclasm
3 Rise of the Hobgoblins
4 Anger of the Gods
3 Blood Moon
2 Assemble the Legion
4 Arid Mesa
12 Mountain
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Plains
1 Figure of Destiny
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Aurelia's Fury
1 Kargan Dragonlord
1 Rakdos Guildmage
1 Sunhome Guildmage
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Boros Reckoner
1 Crackleburr
1 Mirror Sheen
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Hellrider
1 Obsidian Fireheart
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Blood Rites
1 Demigod of Revenge
1 Deus of Calamity
1 Dominus of Fealty
1 Outrage Shaman
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Aurelia, the Warleader
1 Mindwrack Liege
Not sure how I feel about the combo/nonbo with Legions Initiative and Rise. I've also got a much more aggressive red Nykthos deck but I'm not sure if Purphoros will make the cut, so I may have to find another thread for it.
*Edit* that Blood Moon won't work. Kills my Nykthos. To the sideboard with it!