Is Stoneforge Mystic Really That Good?

Let’s face it. Commander can be expensive. Though commander is a casual format, it is becoming harder and harder to build a good commander deck without draining your wallet. As much as we want to, we don’t have unlimited amounts of money. There are often cards that would make your deck really powerful, but are on the other hand, really expensive. Commander shouldn’t be as expensive as formats like Standard. I believe there is a way to find the effects you need in your commander deck without having to pay too much to do it.

Let me introduce myself. I’m Kai Chang, and my mission is to try to help commander players in the same situation as myself, by writing about ways you can save money playing commander. I want this series to cover cheap, underrated commander cards, alternatives to expensive commander cards, which ultimately leads you to be able to have more powerful decks, play more commander, and have more fun playing Magic. Let’s dive right into it! Voltron decks, decks focused on killing your opponents with commander damage, need to suit up their commander with lots of equipment, to do more commander damage to win more quickly. Well, you don’t just need any equipment, you need certain equipment to get through certain board states. Well, how do you find the equipment in your deck? Tutors.

When thinking of equipment tutors, what first card comes to mind is [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card], but [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card] is a 25$ card, too expensive for many commander players. So, let’s look at some cheaper alternatives. We’re not going to look at equipment tutors like [card] Stonehewer Giant [/card] or [card] Steelshaper Apprentice [/card], because they are already heavily played as equipment tutors, and the goal of this series is to help uncover hidden gems, underrated commander cards, not to promote already heavily played equipment tutors.

First, we have [card] Godo, Bandit Warlord [/card]. It has the same enter the battlefield as [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card], so that’s not any worse than [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card] in that aspect. It does not have [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card] ’s second ability, and costs considerably more to cast. Commander is a slower format, so
Godo’s high mana cost isn’t very much of a downside.

Though Godo is red, Boros are the best Voltron colors, including Tajic, Aurelia, and more recently Kalemne, so they can usually include both [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card] and Godo, but I want to convince you that Godo isn’t just a budget substitution, that it’s even better than [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card].

[card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card] ’s second ability isn’t very powerful in commander, because, when you think about it, many of the powerful equipment in commander are two or less mana to cast already, such as [card] Umezawa’s Jitte [/card], [card] Lightning Greaves [/card], [card] Trailblazer Boots [/card], [card] Skullclamp [/card] et cetera. Sure, you can drop the Swords one turn earlier, but in commander, [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card]’s second ability is near useless. [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card]’s second ability also requires it to tap, so limiting it to only be able to drop only one equipment per turn isn’t very strong. The second ability does have one upside though; the equipment played by it can’t be countered, but Godo’s effect already automatically puts the fetched equipment onto the battlefield, so the downside of not having the second effect is lessened by that.

On the other hand, at first glance, Godo’s second ability seems very weak. It seems like something you wouldn’t play outside of a Samurai tribal deck, but, in fact, the ability is very strong in commander. Though they aren’t Samurai, vigilance creatures can still attack during the extra combat phase, because they are still untapped from the first combat phase. What good vigilance creatures are already played in commander? Well, as I mentioned earlier in the article, [card] Stonehewer Giant [/card] is usually in this sort of deck, and that has Vigilance, so it can take advantage of Godo’s second combat phase. Another card that you probably are including in your deck is [card] Sun Titan [/card]. Don’t tell me that attacking twice with [card] Sun Titan [/card] isn’t good. When your commander is suited up with some equipment, it probably also has vigilance. Attacking twice
with your commander is huge.

Let’s look at Godo versus Stoneforge Mystic in a Tajic decklist generated by EDHREC:
[deck title= Tajic Commander Deck]
[Creatures]
*1 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
*1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
*1 Angelic Overseer
*1 Anger
*1 Archetype of Courage
*1 Aurelia, the Warleader
*1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
*1 Boros Reckoner
*1 Captain of the Watch
*1 Firemane Avenger
*1 Frontline Medic
*1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
*1 Hero of Bladehold
*1 Iroas, God of Victory
*1 Legion Loyalist
*1 Mentor of the Meek
*1 Odric, Master Tactician
*1 Puresteel Paladin
*1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
*1 Silverblade Paladin
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Stoneforge Mystic
*1 Stonehewer Giant
*1 Sun Titan
*1 Sunhome Guildmage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*1 Assemble the Legion
*1 Cathars’ Crusade
*1 Gleam of Battle
*1 Glory of Warfare
*1 Land Tax
*1 Legion’s Initiative
*1 Mobilization
*1 Oblivion Ring
*1 True Conviction
*1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
*1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
*1 Boros Cluestone
*1 Boros Keyrune
*1 Boros Signet
*1 Darksteel Ingot
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Loxodon Warhammer
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Sunforger
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Sword of Feast and Famine
*1 Sword of Fire and Ice
*1 Worldslayer
*1 Aurelia’s Fury
*1 Boros Charm
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Condemn
*1 Enlightened Tutor
*1 Master Warcraft
*1 Oblation
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Return to Dust
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Austere Command
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Day of Judgment
*1 Martial Coup
*1 Steelshaper’s Gift
*1 Wrath of God
[/Spells]
[Lands]
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Boros Garrison
*1 Boros Guildgate
*1 Clifftop Retreat
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Mountain
*1 Plains
*1 Rugged Prairie
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Slayers’ Stronghold
*1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
*1 Temple of the False God
*1 Temple of Triumph
*1 Wind-Scarred Crag
[/Lands]
[/deck]
Out of the eight equipment in the deck, five are worth putting onto the battlefield with Stoneforge. Though more than half of the equipment are worth Stoneforging (new word), you are usually saving one or two mana, which is not very powerful. Meanwhile there are five vigilance creatures. Having five creature that can attack twice is better than having five equipment that you can play at a cheaper price, so in this decklist of Tajic, Godo would well outclass [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card], and should probably have [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card]’s spot in the deck.

Let’s take a look at another deck, this time a EDHREC generated [card] Aurelia, the Warleader [/card] deck:

[deck title= Aurelia Commander Deck]
[Creatures]
*1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
*1 Angelic Overseer
*1 Anger
*1 Archetype of Courage
*1 Aurelia, the Warleader
*1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
*1 Boros Reckoner
*1 Captain of the Watch
*1 Firemane Avenger
*1 Frontline Medic
*1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
*1 Hero of Bladehold
*1 Iroas, God of Victory
*1 Legion Loyalist
*1 Mentor of the Meek
*1 Odric, Master Tactician
*1 Puresteel Paladin
*1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
*1 Silverblade Paladin
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Stoneforge Mystic
*1 Stonehewer Giant
*1 Sun Titan
*1 Sunhome Guildmage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*1 Aggravated Assault
*1 Assemble the Legion
*1 Land Tax
*1 Legion’s Initiative
*1 Oblivion Ring
*1 True Conviction
*1 Austere Command
*1 Steelshaper’s Gift
*1 Waves of Aggression
*1 World at War
*1 Wrath of God
*1 Argentum Armor
*1 Boros Keyrune
*1 Boros Signet
*1 Darksteel Ingot
*1 Darksteel Plate
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Loxodon Warhammer
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Sunforger
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Sword of Feast and Famine
*1 Sword of Fire and Ice
*1 Sword of Light and Shadow
*1 Aurelia’s Fury
*1 Boros Charm
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Enlightened Tutor
*1 Master Warcraft
*1 Oblation
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Return to Dust
*1 Savage Beating
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Wear // Tear
*1 Ajani Vengeant
*1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
[/Spells]
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Battlefield Forge
*1 Boros Garrison
*1 Boros Guildgate
*1 Clifftop Retreat
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Mistveil Plains
*1 Mountain
*1 Plains
*1 Rugged Prairie
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Slayers’ Stronghold
*1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
*1 Temple of the False God
*1 Temple of Triumph
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Wind-Scarred Crag
[/Lands]
[/deck]
Out of the ten equipment in the deck, seven are Stoneforgable. In all the creatures, four have vigilance. Though there are more Stoneforgable equipments than vigilant creatures, the commander has vigilance, so that makes Godo super worth it in this deck. This generated deck squeezed in Godo, though it’s only played in 33% of the Aurelia decks. I think it would probably still be profitable to cut Stoneforge from the decklist and add another different card, and save some money. So, in this deck, since the commander has vigilance, Godo is better than [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card].

To maximize the juice you can get out of Godo, try including some of these vigilance ­enablers: A good equipment that grants us vigilance is Ring of Thune, which is also just a great Voltron card Even if the card doesn’t do much or anything else other than to grant vigilance, if you have Godo out, those equipment become pure powerhouses, so cards like Avacyn’s Collar and Accorder’s Shield are also great additions to any deck with Godo. One last card that synergizes extremely well with Godo is Slayer’s Stronghold, because you can choose a new target every turn, so if your commander already has vigilance, you can your other big dude vigilance for the turn. These cards work fantastically well with Godo, but with Stoneforge, these cards are pretty trashy.

After looking at these two decklists and concluding that Godo is better in both decks, I think it’s worth it to play Godo over Stoneforge. Godo is only 3$, it’s one eighth as expensive as [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card], so not only is it better than [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card], it’s also cheaper. I hope this article has helped illustrate why Godo is so good in commander, and why you should play it over [card] Stoneforge Mystic [/card].

About the Author
Kai has been playing Magic since Innistrad, but only started playing more seriously in the Khans block. Kai's favorite format is EDH.

6 comments on Is Stoneforge Mystic Really That Good?

  1. Matt Rob says:

    Godo can bring a friend, too!

    Living Weapons can be tutored for. Bonehoard and Lashwrithe can get YUGE in some circumstances, and Scytheclaw is also an interesting one. You can buy all three for a grand total of $1.50, too!

  2. Anonymous says:

    So now a Godo buyout is imminent and it’ll be $22 within a week.
    Sadly this is becoming the common pattern; articles and podcasts try to help people play for cheap by pointing out good cards to buy at a reasonable price…. but they also drive up demand for those cards that results in the price getting jacked up.

    1. Jason Alt says:

      You don’t know what you’re talking about, “Anonymous”

  3. Erich says:

    Why are you comparing Godo to Stoneforge? Isn’t the more apt comparison between him and Stonehewer Giant? The reason Stoneforge is superior is because she comes down so early in the game. If you’re not playing her turn 2, then of course she loses s lsrge chunk of what makes her superior. Also, if you’re not playing Batterskull or bonehoard in an equipment deck, you’re doing it wrong.

  4. Anonymous says:

    I think you are missing a Pariah in your Tajik decklist.

  5. RizenSaga says:

    Yes Godo is decent in commander. Does he replace Stoneforge mystic? Depends on your goal. Stoneforge let’s you go hard threat very early, thin out your deck early. A third turn batterskull is simply amazing in any format.

    My EDH deck has very few large creatures with about 90% being 2 power or less. Recruiter of the guard and imperial recruiter both target stoneforge mystic which Isn’t usually my target with those, but under certain situations I can tutor for stoneforge Fetching deathrender to cycle creatures from my hand directly to play giving me huge advantage and potentially winning against 3 players before godo could of even been played. This isn’t my goal in the deck, but it is nice to have that extra option.

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