I have thought about this deck tech as I checked on the Youtube videos about the reviews and top cards of the upcoming Theros Beyond Death set. The card to serve as the centerpiece of the deck is Purphuros, Bronze-Blooded. In the Commander format, they mentioned that the card’s “Sneak Attack” ability which is a lesser version can be partnered with a few Red or artifact creatures that have good ETB abilities.

The initial creature lineup would look like this one.
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Skarrgan Hellkite
4 Terror of Mount Velus
4 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
4 Purphuros, Bronze-Blooded

Take note that we only have them as a playset in which later on we can cut one or two to give way spells or creatures with lesser mana cost to maintain a viable mana curve. The combo will take a while to setup so we must also consider our early turns on how we will handle our combat situations.

Drakuseth and the Terror of Mt Velus are your best creatures here to sneak in with Purphuros. The legendary flying Dragon’s 7/7 power along with its attack trigger can instantly deal huge amount of damage to opponents even with just one good timing of activation. It can also power your Devotion to Red by 3 so most likely that your God will also be attacking alongside.

The other creatures I am considering to have in my lineup are Phoenix of Ash, Torbran, Thane of Red Fell and Runaway Steam-Kin. Each of them has its specific purpose in the deck.

As for the spells, the usual burn Instants and Sorceries are inline to deal with early threats or for lethal damage to the life total.

I will follow up this blog post with a decklist once the needed assessments are done. Wrapping up for now, see you on my next one.