Now then, how would you like your spell-slinging to not originate from some wimpy book, but rather a molten, glowing, skull-fracturing Mjolnir?
Yeah, I thought so. Welcome to another episode of Card in Review, this time starring the lovely Sunforger.
Thor's hammer fits the sweetspot of being an interesting build-around card with powerful options, without being too powerful or degenerate. It is the Isperia to Survival of the Fittest's Zur. Its nature as a toolbox card makes it better suited to appearances in 250 or EDH, and needing mana open as well as a good amount of both creatures and instants for it to work means you have to fit it carefully into a build without making the deck useless without it. Fortunately, it is a very versatile card with the proper support, able to tutor up multiple spells for essentially free.
Keep the following in mind when using Sunforger:
- Casting spells with Sunforger triggers Storm, but not Rebound.
- You can pay Kicker, Entwine, Replicate, and Buyback costs when casting spells with Sunforger.
- You must pay all additional costs when casting with Sunforger.
- You cannot activate Sunforger unless it is equipped.
- Spells cast with Sunforger can still be countered unless otherwise stated.
- If one side of a split card qualifies for Sunforger, then you can cast either side of it (but not both).
- You cannot use the Overload version of any spell with that ability if you are casting it with Sunforger (as you aren't paying the mana cost).
- Spells cast with Sunforger trigger Extort.
- You cannot use Fuse abilities of spells cast via Sunforger (since they aren't cast from your hand).
- You'll want at least eight to ten targets for Sunforger in your toolbox to make it worthwhile. A 60 card deck can probably settle for five to seven. Fifteen or more is probably excessive unless your deck is completely built around it.
- Try not to cast it until you can use it. This isn’t a card to run out on turn three - it’s one you save until resources are low and you’re at 8 to 10 mana, then start using to generate immediate advantage.
- Whenever possible, leave it equipped with mana up when you pass turn. You’ll get more value by using it as a rattlesnake than trying to kill the scariest creature on your turn.
- Since you pay the same amount no matter the mana cost of the spell you're fetching, it might be tempting to load up on lots of expensive, powered-up versions of cards to get the most bang for your buck. Keep in mind that you'll be drawing into these cards, though, and having a Warleader's Helix in your opening hand is a lot less comforting than a Lightning Bolt.
- Sunforger is still a hammer made out of lava. +4/+0 is substantial enough to make any creature a threat, and sometimes, you just gotta beat a nail with your hammer.
Ultimately, the strength of your Sunforger is contingent on the toolbox of spells it's drawing from. Red and white fortunately have plenty of options... most of them from white. I'll try to cover a wide variety of options before mentioning what doors are opened when you start to include multicoloured cards.
Creature Removal
Chances are, since you're in the colours of these cards, some of them you would have been planning on playing anyway. Removal is a key component of a Sunforger toolbox, but you don't want to run too much spot removal.
Swords is to this day the best piece of targeted removal in the game, but Path and Condemn do decent impressions. Renounce the Guilds is an unusual choice that can do a lot of heavy lifting in certain matchups. However, it might be more appropriate as a sideboard option, since I really chafe at running what might be dead cards.
Oblation and Chaos Warp are versatile options that get callouts for having extra effectiveness in EDH where they can tuck away a commander for good. However, they have dangerous downsides built in. They seem less necessary with Sunforger to me, since you already have all the versatility you need by being able to search out any spell you want. Condemn can also tuck an attacking commander while featuring a much more modest drawback, but the scariest creatures aren't always attacking. Wing Shards has the same restriction, but it doesn't target, doesn't destroy, can take out multiple creatures and even resists countermagic. If you'll recall, it's wise to have a few different types of removal handy.
Other Removal
Sunforger has plenty of efficient options to pick from for artifact and enchantment removal. Disenchant is the straightforward, no-frills way to go about it, and Wear/Tear is functionally the same when Sunforged since you can't fuse it. Divine Offering and Serene Offering get you a little boost in life at the cost of flexibility, and Ray of Distortion opens the door for a (pricey) flashback later on. Allay and Shattering Pulse are both interesting in that you can cast them from your library and then put them in your hand, but the Sunforger is mana-intensive enough without having to leave mana for buyback open as well.
There are a couple options for hitting multiple targets, Return to Dust being the most versatile if you don't mind playing it on your turn. Orim's Thunder, meanwhile, can take out a creature as well as an artifact or enchantment.
Combat Tricks
The ability to pull spells out at instant speed means you can and should save them for when they'll be the most devastating - generally, this means in combat.
Having a pump spell lurking in the deck can make for decent surprise value. I prefer versatile ones like Martial Glory or Coordinated Assault, but just about anything - Strength of Arms, Brute Force, Slaughter Cry, Uncanny Speed, Rush of Blood, Moment of Heroism, Swift Justice, Aerial Maneuver, Strength of Arms, whatever - can work. It might be more effective to flash in surprise blockers, though - Pact of the Titan and Angelic Favor give you bigger bodies, but carry drawbacks that the smaller Midnight Haunting and Raise the Alarm don't. Errand of Duty is my favourite, as instant-speed banding can really let you mess with combat math.
Fight to the Death is not a great card, but is cool enough that I can’t fault anyone for running it. It can also create a nice damned-if-you-do scenario with token armies. If your opponent doesn't block your innocuous weenies, pulling out Rally the Peasants then immediately flashing it back can end the game then and there. If he does block, Fight to the Death will trade his creatures for your weenies who would be dying anyway.
Reactive Cards
It's wise to have at least one fog effect available. The versatility of Dawn Charm makes it my favourite, but Pollen Lullaby and Riot Control can both be effective.
There's no shortage of instants that provide protection, but flickering can do the same while being more versatile. Cloudshift can protect from targeted removal, undo theft, reset comes-into-play abilities or untap a surprise blocker - often, it's doing more than one of these at a time. Ghostway does the same for your entire board and even lets them dodge boardwipes.
Red gives you access to a variety of copy and redirection effects. Shunt and Fork are the most pared down versions, and I'd consider Wild Ricochet to be the most powerful - nothing can swing a game quite like Ricocheting a Violent Ultimatum or Time Stretch. Reiterate and Increasing Vengeance have the same questionable advantages of Allay and Ray of Distortion.
Mirror Strike, Harsh Justice and Retaliate are all eccentric defensive spells that can completely flatten an incautious attacking player.
Direct Damage
Throwing direct damage around might seem underwhelming when you can just sunforge for straight removal, but being able to hit a player gives you that much-vaunted versatility and there are some cards worth considering. Lightning Helix and its similarly-costed brothers are likewise cards you might be running anyway. Things like Fling, Price of Progress and Sudden Impact can hit for 20 or more damage in certain situations, and Skullcrack can really devalue an enemy's cards.
Sulfurous Blast and Volcanic Fallout won't take out anything massive, but they are sunforgable ways to sweep hordes of tokens or elves.
Hidetsugu's Second Rite is a hilarious silver bullet to have lurking at the back of your toolbox. Keep it in mind for anytime your opponent ends up at that magic number and you'll pull some surprise victories every now and then. It's not particularly reliable, but I guarantee your foe won't see it coming.
Miscellaneous
Lastly, you have a lot of options that are just interesting ideas. Enlightened Tutor is a card you really ought to be playing, and the criminally-underplayed Tithe can grab you a Mistveil Plains and Plateau from just one card. Argivian Find might be an interesting option in an equipment-heavy build.
Seething Song and Battle Hymn can make Sunforger actually produce mana, especially with the help of Manamorphose. Remember that Master Warcraft only lets you decide which creatures attack, not whom they attack. Colour hosers like Boil, Pyroblast and Celestial Purge can be completely vicious, but they're risky for anything other than the sideboard.
Is it worth sunforging for Final Fortune or Faith's Reward? Is Debt of Loyalty good enough to warrant using? You might have to do some experimenting of your own.
Rare Imports
Of course, as everyone except the design team for Legends knows, making a card gold allows for making it more powerful. Adding other colours to the cards in your Sunforger toolbox opens a lot of windows that straight red-white won't have access to.
Blue
Likely the strongest colour to add, blue opens the door to the wonderful world of hard counters. Things like Absorb, Render Silent and Double Negative are the most reliable for their lack of restrictions, but other fancier or more specific counters can be stronger in the right conditions. Steam Augury is the probably the strongest draw effect you can Sunforge for. Odds/Ends lets you perform a classic split card cheat - since Odds qualifies to be found by Sunforger, you can also choose to play Ends with it, despite being more than four mana.
Blue gives you access to plenty of other neat effects, though, with things like Mirrorweave, Vanish into Memory and AEthermage's Touch all able to make wacky plays.
Black
| Terminate | Unmake | Spontaneous Combustion |
| Utter End | Crackling Doom | Wrecking Ball |
| Hide/Seek | Delirium | Backlash |
| Cauldron Haze | Mortify | Rakdos Charm |
| Orzhov Charm | Mardu Charm | Kolaghan's Command |
Black mostly grants access to a little more no-nonsense spot removal, with cards that have the added benefit of being worth drawing into. Note that Wrecking Ball is one of very few options for taking out an unwanted land. Delirium or Backlash can be better than removal if you're pointing it at a Blightsteel Colossus or somesuch. Mardu Charm uniquely gives access to discard, as well as a couple other decent effects. Rakdos Charm gets the nod for being able to wipe out graveyards at instant speed and completely blow out token armies.
Green
Green's biggest contribution is allowing for powerful creatures tutors, the Call being the most straightforward and the strongest. It also gives you access to more powerful artifact and enchantment removal, the most impressive being the saproling-makers. Advent of the Wurm can make a 5/5 on demand, which is a welcome departure from the usual smattering of 1/1s you get from most token-makers. Rith's Charm is notable for its ability to take out nonbasic lands.
Multicoloured
| Punish Ignorance | Flurry of Wings | Trap Essence |
| Dromar's Charm | Crosis's Charm | Bant Charm |
| Esper Charm | Jund Charm | Abzan Charm |
| Grixis Charm | Temur Charm | Rith's Charm |
| Ready/Willing | Hit/Run | Trial/Error |
Five-coloured decks are usually going to be pretty pressed for spare cards by their very nature, but having a deck that could run any and all Sunforger targets it wants could be pretty impressive. Mostly you gain access to a couple neat countering effects, but most excitingly... charms! Sunforging for charms gives you options within options, with the likes of Bant Charm and Crosis's Charm giving you plenty of versatility with only a few card slots. Split cards are likewise versatile one-ofs.
Tying It All Together
Okay, so you know which spells you want to Sunforge for. But what about the rest of the deck? Sunforger can serve as the centerpiece of a deck, with much of the rest of it serving simply as ways to find, host and abuse your key equipment. Others simply throw it in as an afterthought, simply a nice late-game way to generate value when you're in topdeck mode. For instance, a red/white metalcraft deck that was already going to run things like Dispatch, Dispense Justice, Galvanic Blast, Master's Call and Argivian Find anyway, not to mention other equipment and guys to fetch them, has no reason not to make room for a Sunforger. However, a midrange red/white/black deck could simply run one as a possible way to pull out removal in the late game.
The following are cards that play nicely with Sunforger, whether by fetching it, making it easier to play or equip, or recycling instants you search for.
Stoneforge Mystic
Puresteel Paladin
Brass Herald/Auriok Windwalker
Leonin Shikari
Kazuul's Toll Collector
Young Pyromancer
Steelshaper's Gift
Wheel of Sun and Moon
Mistveil Plains
And lastly, as proof of concept, here are a couple 60-card sample decks that showcase Sunforger as a centerpiece. The toolboxes are a little more limited, and a full complement is usually better suited for an EDH deck or something similarly as large and diverse.
White/Black/Red
Green/White/Red
Five-colour Sunforger
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