Hammer Update 12/26/2024

A SECOND update on Hammer just a week after the last one? I’ve been having a lot of fun, so YEP.

To not waste anyone’s time, here are the 2 lists (and one with a bit more spice) that I’m digging right now, so feel free to enjoy. I am still holding off on an actual SB guide since the meta is still so in-flux, but I will discuss where I find the SB cards shine below.

Boros Hammer

Azorius Hammer

Boros Hammer (Turtle Juke)

First off, let’s discuss the elephant(s) in the room:

Leyline Axe vs. Memnite

“Leyline Axe costs FOUR. What if we draw it??”
“What if we draw a MEMNITE after our opening hand?”

“Then we play the memnite”

“And do what with it? Be sad as our 1/1 does nothing?”

raises finger “Yeah… I guess you’re right. Let’s try the axe.”
And then we immediately killed someone with an axe.

As a note, I was the axe hater in the above conversation. Sometimes it’s nice to be very wrong 🙂. 

A 4-mana equipment is definitely a real cost. You may draw the card and be unable to cast it, which would be bad. You may also draw it when you have SFM or 4 mana in play and flash it in with aid to kill your Opponent. Axe does a lot of things that I didn’t think it would, and I’ll discuss that here.

Let me first be clear that memnite has been pretty terrible the entire time I’ve played it recently. People are playing more creatures than they used to, meaning that it won’t necessarily get through with a hammer, and it often can’t even attack without a hammer attached to it since it loses to everything in combat. Additionally, drawing it later in the game is close to a dead-draw, so the idea that Axe is that much worse than memnite simply doesn’t hold up. 

Ignoring the +1/+1, Axe giving double strike AND trample is huge. For a while I’ve wanted additional ways to push damage through blockers aside from Shadowspear, which this does a good job of. It also means a single hammer equipped is lethal 90%+ of the time. Outside of the Champion interaction, even the ability to pay 3 to put Axe on a Sentinel, Construct, or other knucklehead you have in play is pretty good. If you flood out, you can even strap up an inkmoth and attack for 4 poison. Axe has really impressed, and I am unclear if we should ever cut it. This is also ignoring the possibility you have a Shadowspear, Boots, or Nettlecyst in play to pump up some extra damage. Keep in mind that Nettlecyst carrying an axe is 6 damage if you have 0 other artifacts/enchatments in play. Obviously not ideal, but a real thing.

Additionally, the fact that it is an artifact that often costs 0 but will almost always survive meltdown/wrath of the skies is huge for rebuilding with a paladin/opal. 

Fervent Champion

Let me also clarify a couple things about this card. Firstly, I thought this guy was wildly unplayable, and I’m pretty sure before Axe was in the deck, he was. Secondly, I tested Axe in the Blue-White build first and liked the Axe independently. I do not think Champion is mandatory in the deck, but he has really impressed me as a way to provide immediate pressure with an axe, and enabling turn 2-3 kills more consistently thanks to him picking up Axe for free. 

Champion also plays really nicely post-board when you want to pressure people without needing all your pieces is key. For example, being able to play Champion on 1, start swinging for 4+ damage every turn while holding up interaction like Chant/Surge/Pierce is a very nice play pattern that we simply don’t have access to without the card.

Also to note, If you aren’t playing Axe, then DEFINITELY don’t play this card.

Notes on current configuration changes:

Nettlecyst - This card plays a lot better when you have Axe in your deck, and I don’t mind having the body to grab with SFM. I like its inclusion most of the time 

Forge Anew- Without Kappa in the main and leaning more into the Hammer plan, Forge Anew makes its return. The card is very good as an expensive equipper, but especially post-meltdown/Wrath since it acts as both hammer and equipper all in one.

No Maindeck Kappas (see SB notes below)

Sideboard cards of note

Kappa Cannoneer - Kappa is a great card, and is one I think I’m still figuring out. I’m happy to have access to the card, but I’ve found that the meta is just an extremely fast place right now. As I’ve played the card more, I really think Kappa serves its role best when it acts as a way to dodge opposing hate. Specifically Kappa does its best work against decks that rely on Stony Silence/Collector Ouphe effects paired with targeted removal/disenchants. While I don’t think Amulet is a spot where we want it due to their speed, I really like it against the other Green Sun Zenith decks like Yawgmoth. The fact that we can deploy this thing reliably as early as turn 2-3 means that we have a great backup plan. You may notice that I have a third build which includes a blue splash in the Boros build SOLELY for the sideboard Turtles. I haven’t gotten to actually play this build much, but I like the theory, and I’ll be playing it more going forward.

Cursed Totem - I am unsure this is the fix for the GSZ matchups that I referred to in my Kappa commentary, but I’m inclined to believe it would shine, especially against the Agatha’s Soul Cauldon shells. Obviously people can grab a rec sage/knight of autumn, but since you’d bring in surge as well, this may be a serviceable plan. 

Grafdigger’s Cage - This card has wildly overperformed in my experience (so much so that I’ve considered playing one in the main). The card plays well against any basically any Faithless Looting, Underworld Breach, or Green Sun’s Zenith deck. It even plays well against Frog shells because it turns off both Unearth, as well as the Oculus’s manifest dread. The Opponent will get to mill 2 cards, but they don’t get any 2/2s to clog the board. Additionally, I like this card over Soul-Guide Lantern against decks like Goryo’s Vengeance because often they will try to hate us out with Stony Silence, and Cage gets around that.

Lavinia - She shines against any deck with lots of free spells. I like her against Belcher, Mox Opal decks (Breach, Affinity, etc), Titan (plays well against FoV, Pact, and GSZ), and the really degenerate stuff like Song of Creation.

Sanctifier - I am as always, luke-warm on Sanctifier. I think we are well set up against most decks she’s good against (Dredge, Phoenix, Hollow One, etc), but it was how well she plays against Storm and Creativity at the moment. Not only does she dodge most (if not all) of their removal, but she also completely shuts off their current Persist backup plan. Turning off Faithless Looting flashback is a nice bonus. I am also much happier to play Sanctifier now that we can play her on 2 to disrupt and then suit her up with a Leyline Axe on turn 3 to attack for 6.

Whipflare - This, alongside Wear//Tear are the main selling points for the Boros build outside of Fervent Champion. Boros/Mardu energy are still very real decks and do a good job of presenting a fast clock while using ~3 pieces of interaction to keep us off-balance long enough to kill us. Whipflare cleaning up an entire board is great, especially if it lets you clear a flipped Ajani (or better yet, nuke the Ajani too). Honestly, we can probably just play Pyroclasm in this spot and it wouldn’t make much of a big difference, but I think Whipflare is slightly better. I am unsure if we have the space to board these in against Yawgmoth shells, but I’m inclined to believe we should find the room. 

Wear//Tear - Both Wear and Tear are great right now, and the ability to fuse as early as turn 2 is incredible. Not only is this great against the Mox Decks and Titan, it also shines against any number of other decks based on their hate. If you know most of their hate is in the vein of Stony Silence, simply bring in Wear//Tear and probably tag it or something else (leyline binding, chalice, etc).

Orim’s Chant - Chant still plays incredibly well against anything unfair, and that’s basically the only time you should bring it in. This includes Titan, Storm, Belcher, Song of Creation, Living End, and even plays pretty well against Goryo’s since you can Chant on upkeep if you are scared of a sweeper (Pest Control/Wrath), and you can also Chant in response to a Goryo’s to ensure they can’t Ephemerate their threat.

Spell Pierce - Outside of Kappa, Pierce is the main reason to play blue at the moment. Card is very flexible and mostly plays as 1-mana Negate in our deck. 

Surge of Salvation - As the Green decks have picked up more metashare and FoV has become more popular, Surge’s value has increased quite a bit. Additionally, as we see people slide back into playing spot removal, Surge will continue to go up in stock. People also really like Haywire Mite effects, especially out of decks like Underworld breach, so some number of Surges go a long way.

Tl;dr - Both Azorius and Boros are good builds right now, but I believe Boros with the Turtle splash is the best build going forward. The deck feels more streamlined than it used to be, so I advocate sideboarding fewer cards rather than more cards when you aren’t sure. Stay lean, and btfo your opponent.