commander · Nahiri, the Lithomancer
Forged in Stone (C14).
A mono-white equipment and token deck from Commander 2014, led by Nahiri, the Lithomancer — generate Kor Soldier tokens, equip them for free, and create an indestructible Stoneforged Blade as the game-ending weapon.
The Commander
Forged in Stone is Commander 2014's mono-white equipment deck and Nahiri is one of its two planeswalker commanders. Her +2 creates a 1/1 Kor Soldier token, and if you control any equipment, attaches one to it for free. Her -2 searches your library for an equipment and puts it into play. Her ultimate creates the Stoneforged Blade — a zero-mana indestructible equipment that gives +5/+5 and double strike. The deck builds toward that Blade while using the token and equipment synergies to stay threatening throughout.
Nahiri, the Lithomancer turns every equip cost into a free action and generates soldiers to hold equipment. Her -2 tutoring equipment means she can find any piece in the deck on demand. Combined with the full white equipment support package — Puresteel Paladin for free equips, Stoneforge Mystic as a second tutor, Cathars' Crusade to pump the token army — the deck rewards aggressive equipment deployment.
Key Cards
Stoneforge Mystic
Searches your library for an equipment card and puts it in your hand. Pay one white and two colorless and tap to put an equipment from your hand onto the battlefield. Stoneforge Mystic is the second tutor for any equipment in the deck — it finds what Nahiri doesn't, and it puts the equipment directly into play at instant speed for two mana. Combined with Nahiri's -2 tutor, the deck reliably assembles its equipment package by turn four.
Puresteel Paladin
Draws a card whenever equipment enters the battlefield. When you have metalcraft (three or more artifacts), equipment has zero equip cost. In a deck running eight to ten equipment, Puresteel Paladin arrives and immediately generates card draw off every equipment that enters from that point on. Zero equip cost means Nahiri's token soldiers can swap equipment for free each turn, optimizing the attack formation at zero mana cost.
Cathars' Crusade
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Nahiri creates a token with her +2 every other turn. Each Kor token entry triggers Cathars' Crusade — putting a +1/+1 counter on every creature already in play. A board of twelve creatures all getting a counter every time a new creature enters scales into an enormous power level after five or six turns. The equipment then goes onto the biggest creature for lethal attacks.
Open the Armory
Search your library for an Aura or equipment card and put it in your hand. Another equipment tutor — the deck runs Nahiri, Stoneforge Mystic, and Open the Armory as three separate ways to find any piece of equipment in the library. Consistency is the mono-white strategy: find the right equipment for the situation, find it quickly, and deploy it for free with Puresteel Paladin metalcraft or Nahiri's free equip on tokens.
Stone Haven Outfitter
Equipped creatures you control get +1/+1. Whenever an equipped creature dies, draw a card. In a deck where every creature holds equipment through Nahiri's free equip trigger, every creature that dies draws a card. Combat trades are no longer losses — they're card draws. Stone Haven Outfitter converts the inevitable combat attrition of an aggro deck into card advantage that maintains your hand size throughout the game.
How to Play
Get Nahiri onto the battlefield by turn five and immediately start using her +2 to create equipped tokens. Stoneforge Mystic and Open the Armory find the specific equipment needed for the situation — Lightning Greaves for Nahiri's protection, Sword of Feast and Famine for combat advantage, or the best finisher in hand. Puresteel Paladin with metalcraft turns the mid-game equip cost to zero, enabling the entire token army to reconfigure freely. Cathars' Crusade compounds each token entry into a board-wide pump that makes the army formidable even without equipment. Win by attacking with a Nahiri-equipped army that grows each turn, or close with Nahiri's ultimate creating the Stoneforged Blade for an unkillable 8/8 double-striker.