Wotc has been telling us throughout the last month to ‘RAISE OUR AXES’ and, even though that’s very Viking and in theme for Kaldheim, I’m going to encourage us to raise our HAMMERS!
With the introduction of the latest god in mono red, Toralf, God of Fury, Magic techs all over are back to plotting new decks in anticipation of the Kaldheim set coming in February. But I can’t help but think in a more focused direction, weapon wise. Having a ‘God of Fury’ who carries a hammer that returns to your hand just sends this comic book nerd dreaming of Marvel’s favorite god, Thor and his mystical hammer, Mjolnir.
And, as many of you know, Magic the Gathering has had its fair share of hammers across the years. So I began to ‘assemble’ an arsonal of those hammers and ‘mighty’ warriors to wield them in battle! And, if you’re a fan of the comics, you know of the existence of such a band of warriors; all thors and all with hammers. This would be the mighty Thor Corp.
Now, for the most part, these characters are relegated to alternate dimensions and strange amalgam stories like the latest Secret Wars storyline. But the flavor is amazing. I was also tempted to ‘mock up’ some cards (I don’t do ALTs) picturing some our favorite “Thors” from the past 70 plus years of Marvel’s history. But I would LOVE to get some made up for a deck like this.
Let’s check this deck out.
I chose two rather cheap commanders that could work in tandem to pull off some ‘Voltron’ feats not usually seen. They both have partner (and both Kor which is fitting) and can come out together faster than some single commanders. Akiri, Line-Slinger ramps a +1 to power for each artifact you control. This adds to her already good start with three toughness. On top of that, Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist, at the beginning of your combat turn, he can attach all of your hammers onto Akiri; making her next attack possibly a final blow. But they are only there to pack a punch we know we can access when the mana arrives. The rest of the deck holds a myriad of ramps, support and protection that will keep your ‘Thor Corp’ functional and, hopefully, deadly.
First off, this type of deck is typically stronger in Boros. Red and White are a powerful combination for fighters of all types with any type of equipment Mtg offers. But’s we’re talking HAMMERS! So Let’s look at what equipment/hammers are available to us.
Surprising, but many of the cards we need for this deck were offered just last year in Commander Legends, Double Masters, Jumpstart and the sets in standard now. This hammer, the Sunforger, has a special Boros Caveat. When you tap a RW you unattach it and get to tutor a red or white instant with a 4 or less cost and cast it without paying. This is a sweet and powerful card. Let’s look at some of the cards this hammer can tutor out.
But, before we get neck deep in hammers, let’s talk about the card that started all of this! The new card, Toralf, God of Fury, brings us not only Kaldheim’s version of Thor, but of his hammer as well. As with all of Kalheim’s Gods, this is a MDFC with the God on one side and his hammer (the artifact) on the other side.
We didn’t make Toralf the commander, but he and his hammer have some cool abilities. First off, who every may be worthy to weild Toralf’s Hammer can tap the creature equipped and 1R and unattach. You heard me right. There is a plus to unattaching the hammer. When you do, it deals 3 damage to any target. And even though it’s flavorful to have Thor’s hammer (as it represents) return to your hand, this may prove to be an annoying trait.
But, if you don’t want to use this ability, it still adds +3/+0 to the equipped. If you equip the hammer to it’s owner, Toralf, it’s now an 8/4 with trample Be warned, the hammer doesn’t work this well on just any creature. It only ramps Legendary creatures which may also be a problem.
Toralf, by himself, brings the best advantage, as it should be. Not only does he have trample, when your opponent is dealt excessive non-combat damage (like via his hammer) Toralf deals that excess damage to any target BUT the orignal target of said non-combat damage. We really didn’t build this deck to react just to this ability, but there are many ways to abuse this in both standard and commander.
The Hammer of Purphoros brings the ‘hammer down’ giving all of your creatures hast and, although it cannot be equipped, it has a special aid if you have need of a creature on the field.
Tap 2R and sacrifice a land for a 3/3 Golem on the battlefield ready to carry all of those other hammers into combat!
The Hammer of Nazahn, however, CAN be equipped and brings a +2/+0 and indestructible to your equipped creature. That and its automatic equip as it enters, makes it a serious threat for ‘Voltroning’ which this deck is built to do in so many ways.
But it doesn’t stop here. Six more hammers (one actually being a sorcery) make the list and each bring their own advantage to the battle field. The actual equippments all bring ramps to power and/or toughness but each brings their own bit of expertise to combat. From trample, lifelink, flying and first strike, each weapon adds something unique to the creature.
Some added more. The Colossus Hammer has always been a hard equipment to make work. With a cost of 1 and adding a tremendous +10/+10 to the equipped, you would think this would make every deck. But the 8 equip cost has kept it from being viable in most formats.
However we have built several cards into this deck to work around this problem. They basically, in their own way, steal this hammer onto the creature or a creature; working around that exorbitant cost.
Another interesting aspect of this deck is the utility to ‘VOLTRON‘ these hammers onto themselves in an instant.
If you need to stick to newer cards, besides some of the hammers, you can build it out of sets published since the first of 2020. Not as potent, but possibly viable. Tool around with it. Tell us what YOU would do. show us some of your builds either in the comments below or in our social media. Hammers up! We’re ready for Kaldheim!!
AoE Table Top 