Scion of the Forge

By Gavin Verhey

When Gavin Verhey was eleven, he dreamt of a job making Magic cards—and now as a Magic designer, he's living his dream! Gavin has been writing about Magic since 2005.

When Theros first came out, W/R Purphoros, God of the Forge, decks were all the rage. Cards like Assemble the Legion and Elspeth, Sun's Champion, allowed you to pump out tokens really quickly, triggering Purphoros or hitting them with Purphoros later. As devotion decks took over, the Purphoros decks were deemed a little too slow. As it turns out, once you add green for mana acceleration, the deck gets a boost and might be a contender.

With Born of the Gods, Purphoros found a new ally in Brimaz, King of Oreskos. The deck always needed a cheaper token maker, and the cat king performs that task admirably. The real unsung hero might actually be Scion of Vitu-Ghazi, a card that saw play briefly at Pro Tour Dragon's Maze. While there are no Advent of the Wurm tokens to populate, there's still the elemental token left behind from Voice of Resurgence.

If I were a slow control deck, I'd be terrified to play against HeroesofKern, as his deck is jam-packed with must-answer threats. Against aggressive decks, you absolutely have to draw the early brick walls in your deck like Courser of Kruphix, Brimaz, or Sylvan Caryatid, but if you do, you should be in good shape. Overall, it's a pretty good spot to be in.

HeroesofKern’s Naya Tokens

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Other (60)

3 Forest 2 Plains 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Stomping Ground 4 Temple Garden 1 Temple of Abandon 4 Temple of Plenty 1 Temple of Triumph 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 4 Courser of Kruphix 4 Elvish Mystic 3 Purphoros, God of the Forge 4 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Voice of Resurgence 3 Chained to the Rocks 4 Domri Rade 3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1 Xenagos, the Reveler

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Chained to the Rocks 4 Centaur Healer 2 Gruul Ragebeast 4 Mistcutter Hydra 2 Mizzium Mortars 2 Unravel the Æther

Colorless (75)

3 Forest 2 Plains 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Stomping Ground 4 Temple Garden 1 Temple of Abandon 4 Temple of Plenty 1 Temple of Triumph 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 4 Courser of Kruphix 4 Elvish Mystic 3 Purphoros, God of the Forge 4 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Voice of Resurgence 4 Chained to the Rocks 4 Domri Rade 3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1 Xenagos, the Reveler 4 Centaur Healer 2 Gruul Ragebeast 4 Mistcutter Hydra 2 Mizzium Mortars 2 Unravel the Æther

75 Cards

Common (75)