Purphoros, God of the ETB Triggers [cEDH PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Aggro Combo Competitive Mono-Red Multiplayer Primer Stax

battle_jelly

2 drop (20)

• 1x Abrade
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dark-Dweller Oracle
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Firecat Blitz
• 1x Fork
• 1x Goblin Instigator
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Magmaquake
• 1x Mogg War Marshal
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Ruby Medallion
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Starstorm
• 1x Tibalt's Trickery
• 1x Treasure Map  ^Flip
• 1x Twinflame

0 drop (39)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Glacial Chasm
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Kher Keep
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Roadside Reliquary
• 1x Smoldering Crater
• 18x Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1x Urza's Saga
• 1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
• 1x War Room

3 drop (16)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Ensnaring Bridge
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Goblin Matron
• 1x Grinning Ignus
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Jeska's Will
• 1x Magus of the Moon
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Mimic Vat
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

4 drop (5)

• 1x Beetleback Chief
• 1x Krenko, Mob Boss
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Treasonous Ogre

1 drop (16)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Curse of Opulence
• 1x Earthquake
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Goblin Welder
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x March of Reckless Joy
• 1x Norin the Wary
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Tempt with Vengeance
• 1x Vandalblast

5 drop (3)

• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Memory Jar
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

3 drop (1)

• 1x Fable of the Mirror-Breaker  ^Flip

1 drop (1)

• 1x Skullclamp

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Catch me on discord: https://discord.gg/XdnP9ht

Want to destroy all of your opponents quickly and at the same time without attacking? With tokens, here's how.

After lots of research, testing, and changes, this work of art is a great Purphoros EDH primer (or so I've been told by the upvotes and this deck in multiple wishlists). This is a very competitive Purphoros deck, and there's been lots of changes to make this deck start faster, protect itself from disruptions, and covers its weaknesses. It's also a pretty fun deck to play. Best thing about this simple deck is that new EDH players can learn EDH through this deck easily and rack up some wins, too! (Proven this fact in multiple bases and shops!)

To begin with, Purphoros, God of the Forge is used as the commander instead of Krenko, Mob Boss because of a few reasons: Show

1. He can damage several opponents at once with his ability just by sitting there as an indestructible enchantment. Literal God status.
2. You can tutor for Krenko with multiple cards ("target Goblin card", etc), but you can't easily tutor for Purphoros with pure red decks.
3. He is an Indestructible Enchantment first, which protects him from board wipes that "destroy" and anything targeting creatures.
4. Speeds up the game. Seriously, a Commander that deals 2 DMG to every opponent for every creature ETB will speed up games like nothing you've seen before.

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What makes this deck good? Several points:

1. Really Low Mana Curve Show

That's a super important factor to many Magic players, especially those that want to stay relevant in the competitive Commander games. The average cEDH mana curve is about a 2.8-3.5, while this deck is usually sites below a 2.4. You'll have a fun time playing an aggressively fast deck!

2. Deck Cycling/Drawing/Tutoring Show

I've played many red decks before, and I've always noted how tough they are in going through decks, looking for things, or having less than a card or two in my hand... for several turns. This deck has changed a lot in terms of draw power and the like. Cards like Scroll Rack and the Wheels are essential with this deck. More than 10% of the deck here that can fix up my hand, or lack of.

3. Great Mana Ramp Show

Now Red decks have to get their mana in the unusual manner, because mana-ramping is more of a Green deck style. I was able to find a few good cards that works well with this deck. Most of these cards are used to bring out Purphoros out faster and out again if he somehow leaves the field. However, these cards can also be used to focus on the heavy mana cards for Mid to Late game WinCons like Firecat Blitz and Tempt with Vengeance. More than 10% of the deck is there to ramp out a T2-T3 (or even a T1) commander play.

4. Control Show

This part of the deck has been adjusted the most recently. I have been in quite a few discussions and debates about the impact of all the blue decks in play. There's a lot. To keep this deck on top of them, there are cards that will counter the counter spells, prevent OPPONENTS from searching/ extra turns, and make all non-basic lands into mountains. That would be a perfect time for a random win with Price of Progress. Notice that we playing this mono-red deck can't do most of those things and play mostly basic lands. We're just leveling the game to make it somewhat fair for us poor mono-red players.

5. Destruction Show

None of the boardwipe cards will affect Purphoros even as a creature (still indestructible). Go wild. Some of these cards I recommend have "evoke" abilities which can come out cheaper and have the chance to be abused from the graveyard by means of Mimic Vat or Feldon of the Third Path. Some of the destruction cards have dual natures, which can maximize their usefulness in different situations (like Abrade). You could add more boardwipes, depending on your Meta, so I'll be sure to add some to the recommend list below.

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How to Play: Show

Early game (Turns 1-4):

1. Ramp. Try to have a hand of 2-3 lands/ramping cards. Opening hand should have a cheap ramp to bring out Purphoros by turn 2-4.

2. Set up field: If you have a control or ramp card, put it out. You want to protect your Commander a bit, and you want to set up for a good fight. Also, try not to bring out any token ramp cards until Purphoros is out, pretty simple.

3. Bring out Purphoros. Watch your devotion stay below 5 and especially your blue opponent's untapped mana!

Mid-Game (5-12):

1. Tokens, tokens, tokens.

2. Should be winning. You just need Purphoros's ability to set off 20 times (in a 40 life game). You need to be aggressive, because in multiplayer games, you WILL be the target. Purphoros is not a great diplomat.

Late Game (+13):

1. Huh. Probably Purphoros died once or something, and that's why you're here. Anyways, it's a very simple deck: just keep building up your control, draw, Purphoros comes out again, and tokens.

2. Infinite Combos with cards like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

3. Price of Progress for that super late game damage prod.

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Infinite Combos and Other Win Conditions Show

Here are the infinite combos used in the deck, and some others that you may want to add in yours:

-Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker+Zealous Conscripts: Kiki makes a copy of the Conscripts which untaps Kiki to make another copy of Conscripts...

-Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker+Combat Celebrant: Kiki makes a copy of Combat bro which adds a combat phase and untaps Kiki to make another copy of Combat bro (Combat bro is vulnerable though)...

-Zealous Conscripts+Splinter Twin: Tap Conscripts to make a copy of itself and tap the next Conscript and make a copy and Tap that one...

-Dualcaster Mage+Heat Shimmer: Heat Shimmer targets a creature. While on stack, use Dualcaster Mage to target Heat Shimmer. In turn the Mage will make a copy of Shimmer which targets and makes a copy of Mage...

-Lightning Crafter+Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + 1 Goblin + sacrifice outlet= infinite damage. Useful if Purphoros isn't out. Overkill if he's in play.

-Grinning Ignus+Ruby Medallion: Not an infinite combo, but lasts a good amount as long as you have {R} to play. Also can set you up with a deadly combo with Empty the Warrens.

-Basilisk Collar+Goblin Sharpshooter: Amazing Board wipe combo.

-Ashnod's Altar+Nim Deathmantle+ETB creature with at least one token: infinite ETB triggers, and if the ETB creature produces more than one, you also have infinite mana!

-Extraplanar Lens+Snow-Covered Mountains: Use only Snow-Covered Mountains in your deck and get it "Imprinted" by the Lens, now only you can benefit for twice the amount of land on turn 3. It's sort of fragile, because having your Lens blown up on you (and it will be a big target) means being behind the curve.

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Cards that didn't make the cut (and why): Show

-Door of Destinies and similar Tribal-heavy cards: This deck focuses more on activating Purphoros's ability rather than fighting back with buffed up creatures. I pretty much expect the tokens that are generated to be chump blockers or sacrifices for amazing things.

-Empty the Warrens: Great card, and can combo beautifully with Grinning Ignus. However I find that needing to have 4 cards on the field for it to work (Purphoros + Grinning Ignus + Ruby Medallion + Empty the Warrens) is too much of a stack for me without an infinite combo.

-Sensation Gorger/Goblin Chirurgeon: Sadly, I do not have enough Goblin cards to satisfy this little guy. Otherwise he would be a great addition for any Goblin-heavy deck.

-Thopter Assembly: Great card. It can damage your opponents for 2 on turn 1, and 10 on turn 2. I was debating on putting it in the deck, but it's not an ETB effect, so I know that this card would be targeted first and easily.

-Insurrection: It's such a beautiful card, and normally a staple in heavy-red decks. However, I would hold this card for a good few turns without having enough mana to play it or there's nothing good on the table (board wipe!!) or someone would counter the card. Ugh...

-Furnace of Rath/ Gratuitous Violence: Reading through other people's red decks, these card seems pretty useful as it speeds up the game. However, User sonnet666 makes a good point. When Purphoros is out, he is the biggest target on the field, the "archenemy" as the user phrased it. When he has enough devotion, he becomes a creature, which is something that other opponents wait with anticipation and cards like Toxic Deluge.

-Goblin Offensive- Hilarious flavor text. Really wanted it. But... 4 mana for 1 little goblin? 5 mana for 2? 6 mana for 3- I'm just gonna stop there. It just... doesn't even add up to be worth it, sadly.

-Hellion Eruption: 6 mana to sacrifice all my little guys to make them bigger. What if I accidentally have too much devotion to Purphoros and I'd have to sacrifice him too... or what if I didn't want to sacrifice all of them? Or worse. Nothing to sacrifice. Tends to be a dead card for me.

Thran Dynamo/Gilded Lotus/Neheb, the Eternal: amazing ramp cards. Honestly, you can't go wrong with having either in your deck. I took mine out because they were late game mana, and I want earlier ones to bring out Purphoros faster.

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Modest Budget? Substitute! (Under $5 Cards) Show

I realize that not everyone has a heavy wallet, so I'll put down some cards that would have been in this deck, had I not gotten the more competitive (expensive) cards. Also, if you feel like you're missing something, check here:

Direct Damage: Mob Justice/Massive Raid/Burn at the Stake/Heartless Hidetsugu/Insult / Injury/Quest for Pure Flame

Mana: Battle Hymn/Fire Diamond/Vessel of Volatility/Neheb, the Eternal/Mind Stone/Coldsteel Heart

Tokens: Chancellor of the Forge/Myr Battlesphere/Pentavus

Destruction: Shivan Harvest/Vandalblast

Sac Outlets: Tooth and Claw/Spawning Pit/Ashnod's Altar

Draw: Wheel of Fate/ Goblin Recruiter/Dangerous Wager/Commune with Lava/Chandra, Pyromaster/Outpost Siege

Land: Madblind Mountain/Forgotten Cave/Smoldering Crater/Spinerock Knoll

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I'm always looking forward to any comments and/or improvements. Please also suggest what to exchange for said improvements. I enjoy any suggestions, and I try to put much thought about them. I tend to update often thanks to good reminders. If you like any of my decks, don't forget to give ol' Jelly here some love or catch me and my group on Discord, and we can chat there with other MTG folks:

https://discord.gg/XdnP9ht

Top Ranked	Achieved #4 position overall 7 years ago Achieved #2 position in Commander / EDH Primer 5 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.13
Tokens	1/1 R Token Creature Elemental Cat, Construct 0/0 C, Copy Clone, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Goblin 1/1 R, Gold, Kobold 0/1 R, Treasure
Folders	Awesome Decks, Goblins, Tagged - EDH, EDH ideas, Welcome to Nilbog, EDH, Possibly Build, Decks to play, EDH, commander decks