Cut&Paste from Gathering.com, seems a great place to start.
By Carlos Gutierrez
Birthing Pod may have been banned in Modern, but it's still legal in Legacy. Despite that, we seen almost none of the Birthing Pod engine in Legacy. Caleb Durward did a few experiments with a BUG-based Pod deck featuring Baleful Strix and Brainstorm, but beyond that, we haven't seen anything in the vein of Kiki-Jiki or Melira Pod variants. Winglerw28 is looking to change that.
Legacy is a format that is built around cheap, efficient threats and interactions. This is a deck that goes over the top of that with a powerful and disruptive midrange engine. Your primary gameplan involves curving mana creature into Birthing Pod. If Pod resolves, you get to start grinding out value by tutoring up powerful silver bullets like Glen Elendra Archmage. Alternatively, you can just start podding up Siege Rhinos and Sun Titan to outclass opposing Batterskulls and Tarmogoyfs.
The primary Pod chain in this deck involves turning a two-drop into Deceiver Exarch to untap your pod, then podding your mana creature into Phantasmal Image copying the exarch. Then you can pod into Restoration Angel to flicker your Exarch and untap Pod, getting Karmic Guide to rebuy Restoration Angel and flicker the exarch again. Then Karmic Guide turns into Sun Titan and you get to start grinding out serious value with Phantasmal Image and other powerful recursive threats.
The backup plan is to just cast powerful threats like Siege Rhino a few turns early off of mana creatures. Eventually your opponent will run out of Force of Wills and your threats will start sticking and beating down. You've also got some of the most powerful disruption in the format backing up both of your plans, like Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay, so the beatdown plan is definitely going to get there in a good number of games.
I'm a little surprised that this deck doesn't have a singleton Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to just combo off instead of chaining up to Titan. It's not great to have an utterly uncastable card in your deck, but that's a problem that is easily solved by playing a few copies of Brainstorm to go with the Pod shuffle engine. If Pod is going to be a thing in Legacy, I think this is a great place to start.
What you do think?
Can we tune it to make it legacy viable?
Anything can be legacy viable. I think the problem with pod is cost based. Pod is good late game and you need to create chains that start early. Then you pod chain needs to have threatening pieces/tools. Assuming the cheapest plays it feels like pod is most likely to be online turn 3. That seems late for an engine that isn't winning the game anytime soon.
Perhaps with enough disruption/ramp that is independent of pod there could be potential.
Actually I have ideas so maybe this will be the next project.
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Restoration Angel is pretty bad in Legacy. Keeping 3W open to do flash tricks is too cute.
Meanwhile, cheap discard is an absolute must (without counterspells). The OP Rhino-Pod list pretty much auto-scoops to combo in G1, and a number of the expensive cards are just dead against any Ux tempo deck. It looks like fundamentally a Modern deck, not realizing how broken Legacy combo can be and how important tempo is. MD Thoughtseize, plus tutorable discard at both 2cc and 3cc (Tidehollow and Sin Collector) and a lower overall curve give the deck more interactive options. I like.
would academy rector with a few value gods or big enchantments have a place in this deck? I've been toying around with the idea to set up alternate win conditions with a single omniscience and rune-scarred demon for a living wish for emrakul with a wishboard. List is essentially the same as gimps in post #7 but I replaced the pontiff and bops with an academy rector, an omni, and a living wish. Still have no clue what would be good wishboard material or even if pod would even care to have a wishboard option at all.
what do you think?
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BUGATTI SMOKESTACK BABBY
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By Carlos Gutierrez
Rhino Pod — Legacy | winglerw28
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Deceiver Exarch
1 Eternal Witness
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Restoration Angel
2 Siege Rhino
1 Karmic Guide
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Reveillark
1 Sun Titan
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Birthing Pod
1 Sylvan Library
1 Bayou
2 Forest
1 Gavony Township
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
1 Plains
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Windswept Heath
1 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Flusterstorm
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Meddling Mage
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Peacekeeper
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Sower of Temptation
3 Thoughtseize
What you do think?
Can we tune it to make it legacy viable?
Perhaps with enough disruption/ramp that is independent of pod there could be potential.
Actually I have ideas so maybe this will be the next project.
-----The Legacy Flowchart-----
Tiny Leaders Overlord
What about swapping AD for counters, say Daze?
And I'm surely dropping the md Anafenza. A Pestermite has much more utilities and also goes along with Kiki.
a recent daily result
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Siege Rhino
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Eternal Witness
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shriekmaw
1 Sin Collector
1 Thragtusk
1 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Birthing Pod
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Thoughtseize
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
3 Marsh Flats
2 Bayou
2 Forest
2 Gavony Township
2 Savannah
1 Karakas
1 Plains
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
Dunno, just seems too cute about ending games.. Will gladly have other opinions about this list.
Anwyway, I'll be able to playtest my brew next wednesday and post results.
Meanwhile, cheap discard is an absolute must (without counterspells). The OP Rhino-Pod list pretty much auto-scoops to combo in G1, and a number of the expensive cards are just dead against any Ux tempo deck. It looks like fundamentally a Modern deck, not realizing how broken Legacy combo can be and how important tempo is. MD Thoughtseize, plus tutorable discard at both 2cc and 3cc (Tidehollow and Sin Collector) and a lower overall curve give the deck more interactive options. I like.
what do you think?