T6 onward: Protect the pair and laugh maniacally at your self-perpetuating, direct damage dealing, self-pumping win engine.
MrMonday
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I want to use it in my Boros deck. He even fits the mana cost!
.Blaze.
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
My favorite God. Side from Red finally having a REALLY insane card in EDH this also seems like it can make it into various R/X decks in standard.
Umbric
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Soon people will see synergy with Hammer of Purphoros and Master of waves and Izzet will actually become a thing, I'm both looking forward and scared of standard this rotation
Avensai
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The big daddy of Big Red, I am looking forward to seeing how much damage this man can inflict, especially with monsters like Assemble the Legion and Elspeth, Sun's Champion in the same format. Awesome, awesome card.
I really want to run this in monored with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Guttersnipe Creatures are burn spells! Lands are burn spells! Burn spells are DOUBLE BURN SPELLS! What's a "dead draw?"
NARFNra
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Goblin tokens.... Human tokens.... Holy crap. Just holy crap. He kills them in 10 creatures flat. That's scary. Krenko's Command? Take 4. Thatcher Revolt? Take 6.
Blasphemale
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing is sick! I rated it 5/5 stars without even looking at the comments. 2 damage by just having a creature enter the bf is so overpowered! Hold on to your Burning-Tree Emissarys people because this thing will dominate standard, powered up by ''creature storm'' builds that blow out an opponent in a few turns. RDW becomes Purphuros DW.
Flyheight
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I came here to say something about how nuts this is with tokens, but darkterrorblade has already summed it all up nicely.
Also, EDH. I need to make one for him now. Grinning Ignus
The only problem I can see with him is fulfilling the devotion cost due to tokens not having mana symbols and most a red deck not being very color intensive or just being more burny than permanent. That said, that is the ONLY reason I'm not rating this a 6/5, forget Gatherer limitations, a mere 5/5 will have to suffice.
We may have a Dega problem in Modern though, I do NOT look forward to seeing this and Lingering Souls together.
Kashi70
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I'd say he's the best of the god cards. Not my favorite, but the closest to being broken. Play Increasing Devotion the turn after to deal damage to an opponent equal to half of their starting life.
Awesome from a variety of angles; especially intriguing as a commander. Great since it deals damage to all your opponents, and yet for that very reason it puts a target on you. 4 CMC and indestructible is of course awesome for a commander, but on the other hand this presents quite the Achilles' Heel in the form of Pacifism et al.
Frostwall
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I went to the prerelease yesterday with a friend who's really into red. He was excited for this guy so I told him I'd give it to him if I ended up getting him. Imagine my dismay when I find a foil version of him in the back of my last pack.
Lord_of_Tresserhorn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The best of the gods!!!
Awesome synergy with his Hammer. Turns mountains into hasty Golems that shock, too!
Additionally, I have too appreciate that he is verbose they dropped the devotion reminder text.
I know it's not in standard anymore, but just imagine this with Thatcher's Revolt!!
EDIT: I managed to get him in the red pre-release pack on the first day. :)
Now, I admit, I built my deck wrong, but he was rather useless, actually. I never got the devotion together since I did not have enough red permanents, and once I had him out, I never managed to play enough creatures to make his shock really useful.
But today, a guy used him against me, in combo with Akroan Horse... :O Absolutely deadly!! He did not have to attack me a single time. My Divine Verdicts were useless since I was never able to declare the horse to be a blocker. I once Journey's Ended it (mainly to get the scry) but of course he just played it again. In the mean-time, I got mana-screwed and was unable to come up with stuff that would kill him before the treacherous horse killed me... And the damned soldier tokens kept blocking my Shipbreaker Kraken.
Amazing card. Opened 1 in sealed. He really puts in work. Almost as good as Erebos in limited. As for constructed, he is likely better. Scary to think of how Assemble the Legion and Krenko, Mob Boss could abuse it.
Currently the highest rated legendary creature in the entirety of MtG. It is the 3rd highest rated legendary, just before Gaea's Cradle and Tolarian Academy. It's higher rated that Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
This is just ridiculously power-creep, IMO. An indestructible 6/5 for 4 should just never happen, IMO. And THEN it acts as constant burn. And the drawback is pretty tiny.
As a tribute to the god of the forge, I offer this humble suggestion of reprint Siege-Gang Commander in M15.
Raikoo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So this in a deck with Food Chain and Misthollow Griffin, infinite mana and infinite damage that gets around pesky Leyline of Sanctity and Imperial Masks.
So, I was thinking about this combo... Purph and Hostility. Would this just be a good combo or am I right in thinking that Purphuros, God of the Forge will make and infinite combo with Hostility?
GreenBuster
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@ Ganjalf Hostility doesn't trigger off of Purphoros's triggered ability, only off spells.
However, Hostility allows you to effectively double the damage of a burn spell and get creatures in the process. In multiplayer it gets even better because you are damaging everybody and not just the opponent you were targeting with the burn spell.
10 damage worth of burn would turn into 10 creatures and 20 damage to each opponent.
It looks like he could make Molten Birth into a playable standard card.
Yojimbe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I was hoping to get one of these in Theros and, lo and behold, here he is staring back at me in my first booster! I don't play standard anymore, so I'm not sure how well he'll do in that format. EDH though? He instantly went into my krenko commander deck. The possibility that he can turn my goblin machine into 10 direct damage puts the deck over the top. Great card in mono red and will see a lot of constructed outside of standard.
the Curio also goes conveniently with: Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Mountain - okay, rules question: can you stack the trigger with this and with Bloodthirst so that a Furyborn Hellkite triggers itself into a 12/12 ?
this card really brings out my inner timmy... hello there army of the damned. anyway, i got the best pull ever today! 6 packs of theros; 3 foils, Erebos, God of the Dead, this guy and Xenagos, the Reveler! it was insane!
Cloudchaser.Kestrel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@pastprophet - yes, you should be able to trigger it so.
I haven't seen anyone mention Akroan crusader yet - so I'm just going to put that out there. He seems built for an Akroan token, overrun deck with lots of coordinated assault's to make the firbreathing first strike.
Grainedefeu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Best combo with this guy as your general in EDH game: Malignus + Elemental Mastery = GG for ALL opponents… ;o)
emlit
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Should be renamed to Superfluous, God of Excessive Abilities.
Deadling
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Definitely looking forward to getting a few of these. Been a good while since I made a decent red deck. I think I've been waiting for this guy.
I love it when people quote card prices, like they know what they're talking about. This is @ you "SirLibraryEater". 60$ for two? Are you insane? Do you live in some 3rd world country that only sells 1 box of boosters per month? This card isn't even worth 15 bucks atm.
infernox10
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ever since my group and I saw this card spoiled, we've been scrambling for ways to break him open in Standard. Thoughts so far:
Mono-U, splash R for only Purphoros. Revolves around Master of Waves triggering a bunch of times. This deck seems the most likely, but we're unsure of how it stands up against other metagame staples. This deck doesn't concentrate on Purphoros's "devotion" clause, though it can accidentally be triggered by, say, Frostburn Weird
Young Pyromancer/Guttersnipe build. Basically explains itself. Load up on Instants and Sorceries, using Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, and Purphoros activations as primary win con. This one seems a little weaker, considering the combo pieces, but the deck as a whole feels cohesive.
G/R "Good Stuff" Ramp. Basically the one I'm going for. He isn't "broken open" by this build, but rather supports it. Concentrate on powering out big fatties with Elvish Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid, and other mana dorks. He turns your late-game mana dorks into 2 damage to your opponent, instead of dead draws. Also provides inevitability with Xenagos, the Reveler.
There may be others, but these three are what we're trying.
Flyinpenguin117
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Once got this guy out with Scourge of Valkas and Utvara Hellkite. Its almost tragic how short the game was after that.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
EDH Generals who worship the great creations of Purphoros:
Norin the Wary for some consistent two damage pingin'. Fun in multiplayer.
filmfanaticryan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Commander, check. Combo pieces, Cloudstone Curio and any two zero mana Kobolds, check. Kill everyone. Degenerate combo achieved. Time to make a new EDH deck...
GoldmeadowGoatToken
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This guy does so much work in a Prossh EDH deck. Between dishing out obscene amounts of damage via the kobold token and having the option to make those 0/1's actually have the balls to stand up and fight!! Being indestructible means this is a sure thing almost all of the time too. His mana cost is about as playable as it gets when you're trying to balance three colors and if you manage to devote yourself to him, a 6/5 isn't the worst thing I've seen hit the table in an EDH brawl.
Wizard-of-the-Toast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Went straight into my Rith, the Awakener EDH deck. If you can manage to give him lifelink he's insane. I was lucky enough to cheat him out with a Lurking Predators, before dropping a True Conviction and swinging with Rith. It was one of those moments when everyone turned to look at the blue player, hoping for a salvation that never came.
orzhov20
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh, I see that creature you just put down finnaly raised your devotion high enough so he could be a creature. You know, the orzhov has punishments for creatures that deal damage. Executioner(/executioner's swing)!
QuarterBack
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mogg War Marshall is very happy even if you don't want to pay for his echo.
Big Purp might just be the best thing to happen to red EDH in a long time. Not even as a general, though he does that VERY well, but as a great tool to push past that pesky damage threshold.
Kelptic183
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Storm Herd instant win! Who would have thought Purphoros was a Brony?
EDIT: It's been months and there's no mention of Pentavus in the comments? Gatherer, I am disappoint.
Fun fact: the ancient Greek word for "dark red" or "purple" is porphúreos, which is almost always used in the context of blood being spilled. The more you know!
Casting Prossh twice from the command zone does 32 damage to each opponent.
Oh boy.
dnhodge
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combo with kiki-jiki, mirror breaker for insta kill
MtG_Maniac
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if we slap something with lifelink, say Basilisk Collar, on this dude, we got a whole lotta life coming our way... me likey.
TheWallinator74
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
That's too much potential damage, especially with all of the ways Red has to double it. Hell, this guy curves perfectly into Dictate of the Twin Gods!
Hunter06
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Wow, he tanked in value fast and hard...
Pretty good for most, non burn based RDW, like you find in Standard, and of course, hes really dumb in Krenko EDH, when he has a tendency to kill you instantly
3/5 Stars
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Purphoros is currently rated lower than Bottle Gnomes.
JojoTheSummonner
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Because the name "Purphoros, God of the Akroan Crusade" was too long.
Comments (74)
T5 Assemble the Legion
T6 onward: Protect the pair and laugh maniacally at your self-perpetuating, direct damage dealing, self-pumping win engine.
Creatures are burn spells! Lands are burn spells! Burn spells are DOUBLE BURN SPELLS!
What's a "dead draw?"
Also, EDH. I need to make one for him now. Grinning Ignus
We may have a Dega problem in Modern though, I do NOT look forward to seeing this and Lingering Souls together.
I do like that he's synergetic with his weapon, Hammer of Purphoros.
Awesome synergy with his Hammer. Turns mountains into hasty Golems that shock, too!
Additionally, I have too appreciate that he is verbose they dropped the devotion reminder text.
I know it's not in standard anymore, but just imagine this with Thatcher's Revolt!!
EDIT: I managed to get him in the red pre-release pack on the first day. :)
Now, I admit, I built my deck wrong, but he was rather useless, actually. I never got the devotion together since I did not have enough red permanents, and once I had him out, I never managed to play enough creatures to make his shock really useful.
But today, a guy used him against me, in combo with Akroan Horse... :O Absolutely deadly!! He did not have to attack me a single time. My Divine Verdicts were useless since I was never able to declare the horse to be a blocker. I once Journey's Ended it (mainly to get the scry) but of course he just played it again. In the mean-time, I got mana-screwed and was unable to come up with stuff that would kill him before the treacherous horse killed me... And the damned soldier tokens kept blocking my Shipbreaker Kraken.
Holy crap.
Oh and WTH he also boosts your creatures.
This is insane and should cost AT LEAST 6 mana.
Ban already.
Hostility doesn't trigger off of Purphoros's triggered ability, only off spells.
However, Hostility allows you to effectively double the damage of a burn spell and get creatures in the process. In multiplayer it gets even better because you are damaging everybody and not just the opponent you were targeting with the burn spell.
10 damage worth of burn would turn into 10 creatures and 20 damage to each opponent.
This + Worldgorger Dragon + Animate Dead
Cloudstone Curio
+
Crimson Kobolds
Crookshank Kobolds
Kobolds of Kher Keep
the Curio also goes conveniently with:
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
and
Mountain
-
okay, rules question: can you stack the trigger with this and with Bloodthirst so that a Furyborn Hellkite triggers itself into a 12/12 ?
I haven't seen anyone mention Akroan crusader yet - so I'm just going to put that out there. He seems built for an Akroan token, overrun deck with lots of coordinated assault's to make the firbreathing first strike.
I love it when people quote card prices, like they know what they're talking about. This is @ you "SirLibraryEater". 60$ for two? Are you insane? Do you live in some 3rd world country that only sells 1 box of boosters per month? This card isn't even worth 15 bucks atm.
Thoughts so far:
Mono-U, splash R for only Purphoros. Revolves around Master of Waves triggering a bunch of times. This deck seems the most likely, but we're unsure of how it stands up against other metagame staples. This deck doesn't concentrate on Purphoros's "devotion" clause, though it can accidentally be triggered by, say, Frostburn Weird
Young Pyromancer/Guttersnipe build. Basically explains itself. Load up on Instants and Sorceries, using Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, and Purphoros activations as primary win con. This one seems a little weaker, considering the combo pieces, but the deck as a whole feels cohesive.
G/R "Good Stuff" Ramp. Basically the one I'm going for. He isn't "broken open" by this build, but rather supports it. Concentrate on powering out big fatties with Elvish Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid, and other mana dorks. He turns your late-game mana dorks into 2 damage to your opponent, instead of dead draws. Also provides inevitability with Xenagos, the Reveler.
There may be others, but these three are what we're trying.
Krenko, Mob Boss, Prossh, Sek'kuar, Rith, Rakka Mar, Ulasht, Ib Halfheart, and lastly but not leastly, Hazezon Tamar.
SMASH!
ANOTHER!
I was lucky enough to cheat him out with a Lurking Predators, before dropping a True Conviction and swinging with Rith. It was one of those moments when everyone turned to look at the blue player, hoping for a salvation that never came.
Let's also add in some funstuff to make a forreals combo deck. I'll keep it in Standard and in as few colors as possible.
Growing Ranks
Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Young Pyromancer
Goblin Rally
Precinct Captain
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Devout Invocation
Evangel of Heliod
Barrage of Expendables
Five-Alarm Fire
Foundry Champion
Numbers have not been set yet, but I'll figure it out. Once I get this built, I expect big things.
And @Greenbuster
I believe Hostility still triggers, because although Purphoros is a permanent and he is on the field, he is still a spell, and he is still doing damage. It doesn't only activate for when a spell resolves.
EDIT: It's been months and there's no mention of Pentavus in the comments? Gatherer, I am disappoint.
-Swag_Crow
Oh boy.
Pretty good for most, non burn based RDW, like you find in Standard, and of course, hes really dumb in Krenko EDH, when he has a tendency to kill you instantly
3/5 Stars