Hello folks of MTGSalvation. I am posting for some recommendations or pointers as to what sort of deck I should build next. My all time favorite card in magic is Birthing Pod. It has so much awesome flavor, it's from my favorite set and it turns your whole deck into a toolbox. I love love love it. What I am looking for is some help. I want a deck that can utilize it as a sort of toolbox (as mentioned above) instead of a combo piece. We have a player in our local meta who runs it in a Xenagod deck to great success. Xenagod powers up and hastens whatever comes out of the pod and since the card allows for any creature to come out of his library (based on what creatures he has on the field, of course) it turns the combo into threat to be reckoned with. I desperately want to build a deck that uses pod in a similar fashion. I've been heavily considering Jund as the color combination with commanders like Kresh and Karrthus being at the top of that list. Kresh has lost appeal to me because he does nothing to help the creature coming out of the pod (though he benefits from the sacrifice) and Karrthus has been rough for me because whenever I consider Jund Dragon Tribal I keep thinking that it would be better off as a Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck. If any of you have an idea that may help please leave a response! I'll be playing around with Jund Dragons until then, I guess.
The problem with Dragons in regards to Pod is that you lack early game utility, and the dragons themselves tend to only be really good if you have haste or a card like Dragon Tempest out. What you want is a spread of creatures over all CMC's from 1 to 9, so whatever you have on the field can be put into the birthing pod to get something else. The combination of Green Sun's Zenith and Dryad Arbor even enables you to get an empty field into a 1 drop and work from there. Also, you have to make sure all creatures are good on their own without the need to pod them out.
I feel a Selesnya base is especially good for this, as you can put in a lot of silver bullets at various mana costs such as Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Beyond that, you can add any colour you want to customize the build to your liking.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Birthing Pod is among my all-time favorite cards, too.
Lou Cypher's recommendation of Selesnya for Birthing Pod shenanigans is a sound one, especially since W gives you ways to tutor for the Pod and to get it back from the graveyard when it is invariably destroyed. You might also consider Meren of Clan Nel Toth as your general. Birthing Pod has great synergy with Meren, as she can return things you have sacrificed to the Pod, and black has the best tutors. Combine with edict-on-a-stick creatures and things like Grave Pact and Sheoldred, Whispering One for more fun.
Either way, don''t forget things like Sculpting Steel to copy your Pod. People will target the Pod with exile removal if they run any, so you will want the option of having more than one copy.
Even if I'm not trying to do combos with it, I love having access to Felidar Guardian when I'm playing Pod. Being able to jump from 3 to 5 in one turn is fantastic. Plus, Pod decks generally make heavy use of ETB/LTB effects, so the cat has plenty of general utility.
So, yeah, I guess this is another recommendation for GWx. Generals like Saffi Eriksdotter or Karador, Ghost Chieftain could be worth looking at as they can mitigate or even take advantage of the need to sacrifice the creature. I have a Saffi deck and Pod is one of the best cards in it, albeit with the caveat that the deck is oriented more towards combo than value.
Yep, definitely for Selesnya. Or combinations including Selesnya. (Abzan gives you Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Bant gives you clones. Naya gives you Warstorm Surge.) ETB triggers (Yes, you want Aura Shards. Also deals with some nonsense you'll no doubt see.) and death triggers are also good in Pod, by the way: That way you'll get value at each step along the chain.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Yeah, I've definitely seen Selesnya work with Birthing Pod to great effect. I would build Naya but that lends itself to Kiki-Pod way too easily and that may as well be a Tana/Tymna Blood Pod deck at the point. Bant is interesting but THE commander for it would be Derevi and there are just so many Derevi decks. Rubinia is an interesting one, I suppose. I'm not a major fan of any of the abzan generals either to be perfectly honest so I feel like my options are limited to something within Bant or Selesnya.
Rubinia would be interesting just because of the steal effect, IMO.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I have a few suggestions for you that I am going to be a bit more broad with:
Try to find a commander who has an ETB effect, on cast effect, death trigger, or somehow helps the rest of the deck to do essentially that (like Karador, Ghost Chieftain). Personally I like it when the commander itself rotates through play nicely.
If you plan to pod off your commander, focus heavily at the mana cost just above your commander as something you want to dedicate more creature slots and versatility to it.
Focus on fast value creatures. You wan't creatures that get their value when they enter the battlefield or die and not value over time creatures or creatures who attack or defend well.
Brutalizer Exarch - assuming you want an answer to the GR god you mentioned. I don't often run this guy but if you want to be a pod deck and you want a means of stalling / answering him its one of the few ETB effects that will exile their commander. There are some others too but I think this one will be more likely to trigger.
I guess that is what I have for suggestions. You have a lot of options on how to pull that off but generally speaking I like to mix it with black or white as my favorite colors to pick up for a pod idea.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
There is a lot to be said for GW. Easy access to tokens is a big plus, as is being able to tutor the Pod itself. However, I would recommend BG. Meren of Clan Tel Noth, as mentioned, is spectacular for this synergy, and if you don't want to go quite so powered Savra, Queen of the Golgari lets you wombo combo. Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Varolz, the Scar-Striped and of course Izoni, Thousand-Eyed, which brings home the salient point: Black and green in conjunction have some of the best self graveyard interactions.
Lots of great suggestions here, but just going to toss in that adding U can also give you ways to tutor it up, as well as giving you Phyrexian Metamorph and Clever Impersonator which can become 2nd copies of the pod for you to use.
Rubinia would be interesting just because of the steal effect, IMO.
Rubinia also sets up some other neat interactions with the access to blue artifact tutors and copying effects, as calamity_unbound noted (Copy Artifact is a thing, if you have old-school-card access). Fetch Pod, copy Pod, fetch other artifacts with high Pod synergy (Panharmonicon, for example). Steal people's good stuff, Pod their stuff, use Mimic Vat to make copies of the sacrificed stuff.
Warning, though, as a long-time Rubinia player (Rubinia was the second or third EDH deck I built back when I started the format)... some people have an irrational hatred of theft effects and will target the hell out of you, especially if you steal their stuff for Pod shenanigans and can back that up with grave hate or tricks like Mimic Vat. Also, if you run Rubinia, run some land destruction, because Rubinia hates Homeward Path.
Fortunately, green's arguably the best color for land destruction these days.
White also gets some land destruction, but that'll just make people hate you moar.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I think that any deck that wants to sac and recur its creatures is the way to go with Birthing Pod, making Golgari the ideal combination in my opinion. Of course, Abzan, Jund, or Sultai would fall under that as well. Basically, if you already want to run cards like Skullclamp, Greater Good, Smothering Abomination, etc. then running Pod and minding your mana curve makes sense.
You're thinking too two-dimensionally, my friend! Transreliquat your opponent's Pod, destroy theirs, then use your Transreliquat-Pod to Seize the Means of Production! The glorious proletariat Pod revolution will be ours!
You're thinking too two-dimensionally, my friend! Transreliquat your opponent's Pod, destroy theirs, then use your Transreliquat-Pod to Seize the Means of Production! The glorious proletariat Pod revolution will be ours!
Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I feel a Selesnya base is especially good for this, as you can put in a lot of silver bullets at various mana costs such as Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Beyond that, you can add any colour you want to customize the build to your liking.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Lou Cypher's recommendation of Selesnya for Birthing Pod shenanigans is a sound one, especially since W gives you ways to tutor for the Pod and to get it back from the graveyard when it is invariably destroyed. You might also consider Meren of Clan Nel Toth as your general. Birthing Pod has great synergy with Meren, as she can return things you have sacrificed to the Pod, and black has the best tutors. Combine with edict-on-a-stick creatures and things like Grave Pact and Sheoldred, Whispering One for more fun.
Either way, don''t forget things like Sculpting Steel to copy your Pod. People will target the Pod with exile removal if they run any, so you will want the option of having more than one copy.
Mimic Vat also has high synergy with the Pod.
I think with bant you get all of the best hate cards and the best ETB effects.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
So, yeah, I guess this is another recommendation for GWx. Generals like Saffi Eriksdotter or Karador, Ghost Chieftain could be worth looking at as they can mitigate or even take advantage of the need to sacrifice the creature. I have a Saffi deck and Pod is one of the best cards in it, albeit with the caveat that the deck is oriented more towards combo than value.
On phasing:
On phasing:
I guess that is what I have for suggestions. You have a lot of options on how to pull that off but generally speaking I like to mix it with black or white as my favorite colors to pick up for a pod idea.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
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I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Rubinia also sets up some other neat interactions with the access to blue artifact tutors and copying effects, as calamity_unbound noted (Copy Artifact is a thing, if you have old-school-card access). Fetch Pod, copy Pod, fetch other artifacts with high Pod synergy (Panharmonicon, for example). Steal people's good stuff, Pod their stuff, use Mimic Vat to make copies of the sacrificed stuff.
Warning, though, as a long-time Rubinia player (Rubinia was the second or third EDH deck I built back when I started the format)... some people have an irrational hatred of theft effects and will target the hell out of you, especially if you steal their stuff for Pod shenanigans and can back that up with grave hate or tricks like Mimic Vat. Also, if you run Rubinia, run some land destruction, because Rubinia hates Homeward Path.
White also gets some land destruction, but that'll just make people hate you moar.
On phasing:
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
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You mean RUGx. BP is green.
I think that any deck that wants to sac and recur its creatures is the way to go with Birthing Pod, making Golgari the ideal combination in my opinion. Of course, Abzan, Jund, or Sultai would fall under that as well. Basically, if you already want to run cards like Skullclamp, Greater Good, Smothering Abomination, etc. then running Pod and minding your mana curve makes sense.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
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Shouldn't white be involved in this revolution?
On phasing: