With Secrets of Strixhaven setting the MTG world on fire over the last three weeks, it’s a great time to reflect on our first visit to the best school in the Multiverse. Original Strixhaven was a massive set for the game, introducing a fresh concept and delivering on it in spades. It also brought with it a ton of excellent cards, many of which are still played in decks today. Unfortunately, some gems from the set, like Hofri Ghostforge, have been lost to time over the five years since MTG Strixhaven’s release. This is a crying shame, since Hofri is a unique Boros Commander with some nasty combo potential.
Hofri Ghostforge MTG
Hofri’s appeal as a Commander lies almost entirely in its second ability, which essentially resurrects your nontoken creatures for free on death. As a value engine, this is hugely powerful, letting you squeeze extra triggers out of powerhouse creatures like Sun Titan and Solemn Simulacrum. Even if you’re not netting extra enters or leaves value, it’s just a great way to preserve your stats on board in the face of board wipes and removal.
To make the most of this ability, running a few sacrifice outlets will let you cash in your creatures and create copies on demand. There’s a ton of choice in this department, from classics like Ashnod’s Altar, to more specialized options like Martyr’s Cause. Since Hofri creates token copies of your fallen friends, you can also include some token doublers, like Anointed Procession and Ocelot Pride, to really maximize your value.
As potent as this ability is when used with your own creatures, it’s arguably even better when applied to your opponents’. With Threaten effects like Act of Treason and Zealous Conscripts, you can steal the best opposing creatures and sacrifice them, creating a copy and exiling the original in one fell swoop. If you go down this route with Hofri, Helm of Possession is a particularly spicy inclusion, serving as both a sacrifice outlet and a theft effect in one.
While it’s easy to get caught up in Hofri’s second ability, it’s worth remembering that it also offers a hefty Spirit Typal buff as well. Low-to-the-ground Spirits like Skyclave Apparition and Atsushi, the Blazing Sky make great inclusions here for this reason, letting you pursue a beatdown plan if the grindy Midrange plan falters.
The Ghosts With The Most
Thanks to its second ability, Hofri Ghostforge also unlocks some sweet infinite sacrifice loops. With Hofri, Mistmoon Griffin, and a sacrifice outlet, for example, you can easily end the game on the spot. To do this, start by sacrificing the Griffin, to exile it and create a copy with Hofri. With the original Griffin’s dies trigger on the stack, sacrifice the token copy, and you can stack the triggers so the original returns to your graveyard before its own ability resolves.
This will bring the original Griffin right back into play, letting you repeat the loop as many times as you’d like. You can pull off something similar with Moorland Rescuer, resulting in infinite enters and dies triggers in each case. If you use either Goblin Bombardment or Altar of Dementia as your sacrifice outlet, these loops can take the whole table out in one fell swoop.
For a slightly funkier line, you can use Eternal Scourge and Ashnod’s Altar alongside Hofri. Sacrifice Scourge for two mana, then you can cast it from exile for three and sacrifice both it and the token for four mana. You can repeat this loop for infinite mana, which you can then funnel into something like Walking Ballista for the win. While this is possible with the lines above too, the Eternal Scourge line is notable for letting you cast Scourge infinite times as well. This opens up additional wins through cards like Grapeshot and Aetherflux Reservoir, giving your Hofri deck new angles of attack.
Lost To History
Whether you build it as a grindy Midrange deck, an aggressive Spirit Typal brew, or a dedicated Combo list, Hofri Ghostforge is incredibly flexible. This versatility is reflected in the range of archetypes the card heads up according to EDHREC, but sadly its quality isn’t reflected in their numbers. By the current stats, just 1,826 players run Hofri in the command zone, which is surprising given how much it has to offer.
For those who want to try this funky Boros legend out themselves, however, this low popularity is a blessing in disguise, as it means Hofri can be had on the cheap. Near-mint copies of its recent Secrets of Strixhaven Commander reprint are available for just $0.10, with near-mint foils from the original Strixhaven set only slightly more at $0.85. At these price points, Hofri is a no-brainer pickup, and a fantastic starting point for a budget Boros brew in Commander.
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