I'm fairly new to this deck. I picked it up because Infect went kaplooey. Played Infect for years. I love this deck, though! I've actually been running a one of Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and I absolutely love it. It kind of has a Standstill feel to it and is a big body with reach. IDK if this has been thought of or tried yet, but I figured that I'd throw the idea out there.
I love playing this deck but it seems that collectively we need to have a better answer for the aggro decks. If that could somehow be addressed it would then have potential. Otherwise it seems if you were to play a tourney you are a big underdog to every one of those style decks.
Hi! I've recently been trying a similar list to Todd Steven's list, more based in value rather than land destruction (almost the same but removing 2 Stone Rain). I actually run 4 Courser, 2 Tracker and 2 Whisperwood Elemental, and I'm pretty happy with they. Courser helps to fight aggro decks, specially Burn, and provides us better draws, cause one of the biggest problem of the deck is that sometimes we stop the game with B Moon and LD but can't apply pressure because don't find threats. Tracker is good but sometimes I remove she cause is very fragile. W Elemental is a house in a great number of matchups. Ive removed 4 Bonfires and only run 1 sb (plus 2 Anger). After playing lots of games I realized that is a bad card. Have you tried some of those creatures? What do you think?
4 courser feels like too many. they don't provide extra value in multiples besides the minor life gain, which doesn't matter against any deck besides burn. and they don't close out the game fast enough against uninteractive decks, which this deck can struggle against. i do like the idea of tracker but haven't found the room for it. whisperwood elemental feels much too slow for a 5 drop - is that your full suite of creatures?
I'm onboard with the removal of Bonfires. It seems that people either love them or hate them. I'm not a fan, to be honest. It seems that there are a lot more powerful things that we could be doing with 5 mana other than Wisperwood Elemental. Tracker is decent, as it provides some card draw in grindy matchups whereas the deck has none otherwise.
I've been playing iterations of this for a while, I can say that going aggro is the way to go. Lightning Bolt's and Stormbreath Dragons do WORK. Accelerating out of the gates after stalling the opponent is a great way to keep a game in your favor.
So I've been playing ponza in comp leagues for a bit now. I've tried madcap emperion and don't like it much. Some decks just fold to it game one but 2 and 3 they typically had some sort of answer, usually in the form of artifact destruction. Some games it was just a matter of who topdecked an answer first.
I'm liking running 3 titans and 1 6 drop Chandra. Flamecaller has been good in a lot of matches. I've also been running 1 huntmaster, matchups where he hasn't done much, none of the other 4 drops or thrag would have been any different. Intact thrag outs three only thing I've cut completely.
Went 3-1 playing this deck for the first time tonight at FNM. I liked it a lot. I practiced a few matches the last few days and made some last minute changes to the deck. I went down a Molten Rain for a mainboard Obstinate Baloth, went down 2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance for 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, and added some graveyard hate to the SB. I don't know if it was just me but whenever I would resolve a Chandra she would either die and not be terribly helpful, or she would just close out a game a little quicker that I feel I would have won anyway. Huntmaster just seemed to be able to turn games in my favor in practice and continued to do so in my matches tonight.
Bonfire of the Damned seemed pretty great sometimes against wide decks or tokens but pretty terrible against bigger threats. I think they are good enough to keep in the MB. I killed 1/1 tokens with them a few times without casting it as a Miracle. Although my meta sees a lot of Bitterblossom and Tokens so it might just be better in my meta. Huntmaster of the Fells was really good for me. I never regretted having it. He pinged the opponent for 2 and gained me 2 a lot tonight and I also flipped him and started beating for 4 a couple times. I've also never seen Infect in my store a single time so I am thinking of dropping the 2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast from my SB. I actually brought her in once tonight just to have as an extra body because I brought out my 4 Blood Moon's in a match tonight and just didn't have much to bring in creature wise. So I think going down 1 and bringing in Thragtusk maybe? Not sure.
Matches: Round 1, 2-0 - Soul Sisters
Out life gained them surprisingly both games. Huntmaster of the Fells, Scavenging Ooze and Obstinate Baloth really shined here in game 2. Game 1, 2 Monstrous Stormbreath Dragon's, in my opening hand nonetheless, can be pretty devastating against a mono white deck apparently. Game 1 he got up to 36 life in the first few turns. I Beast Within his Serra Ascendant and then follow up the next couple turns getting my Stormbreath's out. Hitting him for 4, 8, 14 and 14 closed out the game. Game 2 I just kept gaining just as much life as he could while going wide with all my creatures. I was able to then Bonfire of the Damned his 1/1's and just swung with everything for a one turn win even with him up so much life.
Round 2, 1-2 - Death Shadow Aggro
Got lucky game 1 with a pretty good opening hand. Was able to disrupt his lands turn 2 and rush an Obstinate Baloth out turn 3. Just beat him down before he could establish. Games 2 and 3 he fought through Blood Moon and I just couldn't keep up with him casting Tarmogoyf and Death's Shadow every turn. His creatures were bigger than mine and he was going wider on the board each game.
Round 3, 2-0 - Esper Control
Seems like an incredible matchup for us. Their main plan seems to be swinging with Celestial Colonnade and counterspells. Both games he never even got up to enough lands to even activate his Colonnade. Game 1 he couldn't find enough counterspells and game 2 I was able to get Thrun, the Last Troll out early. Wasn't a fun matchup for him to say the least. He never even hit me for damage IIRC.
Round 4, 2-1 - RG Burn
Life gain against Burn seems to be a nail in the coffin for them and I pack a ton of MB/SB lifegain. One game he was able to get Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, and Kird Ape out very early and I couldn't stabilize. The other 2 games I was able to gain too much life and he just ran out of gas.
Overall I was pretty happy with how the deck played out. Here is the full list I was running:
Ive been playing ponza for a couple of months now and I'm starting to tinker with a few things. I wanted to get some thoughts and opinions on the list I will be trying out this week.
Sideboard:
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Beast Within
2 Crumble to Dust
1 Shatterstorm
1 Primal Command
First thing you'll notice is I took out the 2 birds and put in 2 burning-tree emissary. I just found myself not liking the bird a whole lot and it doesn't do much other than mana. Drawback of the Burning-Tree Emissary is it's not repeatable mana. My other thought here is Voyaging Satyr. The other glaring change is the Oblivion Sower. This was just kind of a why not, let's see what happens. The last obvious change is the Rishkar's Expertise and I think that's pretty self-explanatory.
I do have a question. Is there a reason not to play Fulminator Mage or something like Destructor Dragon?
Thanks for the feedback. BtE has been good to get a creature on the board turn two in addition to being able to cast Stone Rain or Blood Moon, however in order to do that I already have to have the necessary mana so I see your point. Any thoughts on Voyaging Satyr as an extra way to spam Utopia Sprawl, the two-cost is a drawback of course.
Like I said Oblivion Sower, is a "why not, let's see how it goes". Yeah it's not close to Inferno Titan and is really a coin toss on whether you get anything good out of the four whether a land or not.
I see what you're saying about Creeping Mold, I'm not a huge fan of Beast Within but I have been learning more of the tricks to playing it lately.
Chandra, Firebrand is good at eliminating opposing mana dorks and the -2 copy instant or sorcery is pretty handy and nice when you can use it with a Stone Rain.
Fulminator Mage I thought could be an additional threat and if it's targeted you can sac it to take out a land. But I don't know what I would take out for it.
Do you have any cards that are outside of the norm that you particularly like to play or find useful?
How do you play against fast aggro or the new death shadow deck?
I am now playing 2 exclusive lists of this deck. One dragon heavy and the other more traditional. The dragon version is slightly better against shadow decks but that deck is just hard to deal with
My current list. I'm new to this deck, so it's pretty stock. I own it in paper and have also been playing a lot online. Tron and fair deck matchups seem to be okay. Death's shadow is pretty rough, as it is for most decks... Lightning Bolt and Stormbreath Dragon are great. Planeswalker removal is pretty rough, unless you have one of your Beast Within or they bring loyalty down and you have a bolt. But either way, win percentage has been pretty decent and I'm really enjoying the deck.
Any thoughts on maybe Xenagos, God of Revels to have a 12/12 Inferno Titan with haste? Or any of your fatties doubling in size seems pretty great. Idk if it really fits in the curve, though. You'd have to spend a turn effectively doing nothing but casting Xenagos to set up the super punch.
I am now playing 2 exclusive lists of this deck. One dragon heavy and the other more traditional. The dragon version is slightly better against shadow decks but that deck is just hard to deal with
What's this dragon heavy list look like, if you don't mind.
Hey Ponza players, finding the match up against you difficult, I'm a control player. Is there any suggestions on how best to get a stranglehold on you? Does it come down to bolting the dork or should I be playing cards like Commandeer, Wear//TearHindering Light, Turn Aside or is plain old Negates good enough? Some of your draws are near unbeatable I can't say I'm comfortable in this match up if I'm being honest.
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UG Infect
Modern
UG Infect
GW Infect
EDH
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion
B Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4 courser feels like too many. they don't provide extra value in multiples besides the minor life gain, which doesn't matter against any deck besides burn. and they don't close out the game fast enough against uninteractive decks, which this deck can struggle against. i do like the idea of tracker but haven't found the room for it. whisperwood elemental feels much too slow for a 5 drop - is that your full suite of creatures?
UG Infect
Modern
UG Infect
GW Infect
EDH
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion
B Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Stomping Ground
1 Mountain
8 Forest
Planeswalker
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Nissa, Vital Force
Creatures
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Inferno Titan
2 Obstinate Baloth
4 Arbor Elf
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Beast Within
1 Primal Command
3 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Stone Rain
3 Blood Moon
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Dismember
Just wanted to share my current deck list.
Modern Only
Currently Running:
BG Midrange
what's the fracturing gust for? engineered explosives or shatterstorm seems better against most decks. what enchantments are you scared of...bogles?
Modern Only
Currently Running:
BG Midrange
I'm liking running 3 titans and 1 6 drop Chandra. Flamecaller has been good in a lot of matches. I've also been running 1 huntmaster, matchups where he hasn't done much, none of the other 4 drops or thrag would have been any different. Intact thrag outs three only thing I've cut completely.
I'm still figuring out mulligans and sb strays.
Bonfire of the Damned seemed pretty great sometimes against wide decks or tokens but pretty terrible against bigger threats. I think they are good enough to keep in the MB. I killed 1/1 tokens with them a few times without casting it as a Miracle. Although my meta sees a lot of Bitterblossom and Tokens so it might just be better in my meta. Huntmaster of the Fells was really good for me. I never regretted having it. He pinged the opponent for 2 and gained me 2 a lot tonight and I also flipped him and started beating for 4 a couple times. I've also never seen Infect in my store a single time so I am thinking of dropping the 2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast from my SB. I actually brought her in once tonight just to have as an extra body because I brought out my 4 Blood Moon's in a match tonight and just didn't have much to bring in creature wise. So I think going down 1 and bringing in Thragtusk maybe? Not sure.
Matches:
Round 1, 2-0 - Soul Sisters
Out life gained them surprisingly both games. Huntmaster of the Fells, Scavenging Ooze and Obstinate Baloth really shined here in game 2. Game 1, 2 Monstrous Stormbreath Dragon's, in my opening hand nonetheless, can be pretty devastating against a mono white deck apparently. Game 1 he got up to 36 life in the first few turns. I Beast Within his Serra Ascendant and then follow up the next couple turns getting my Stormbreath's out. Hitting him for 4, 8, 14 and 14 closed out the game. Game 2 I just kept gaining just as much life as he could while going wide with all my creatures. I was able to then Bonfire of the Damned his 1/1's and just swung with everything for a one turn win even with him up so much life.
Round 2, 1-2 - Death Shadow Aggro
Got lucky game 1 with a pretty good opening hand. Was able to disrupt his lands turn 2 and rush an Obstinate Baloth out turn 3. Just beat him down before he could establish. Games 2 and 3 he fought through Blood Moon and I just couldn't keep up with him casting Tarmogoyf and Death's Shadow every turn. His creatures were bigger than mine and he was going wider on the board each game.
Round 3, 2-0 - Esper Control
Seems like an incredible matchup for us. Their main plan seems to be swinging with Celestial Colonnade and counterspells. Both games he never even got up to enough lands to even activate his Colonnade. Game 1 he couldn't find enough counterspells and game 2 I was able to get Thrun, the Last Troll out early. Wasn't a fun matchup for him to say the least. He never even hit me for damage IIRC.
Round 4, 2-1 - RG Burn
Life gain against Burn seems to be a nail in the coffin for them and I pack a ton of MB/SB lifegain. One game he was able to get Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, and Kird Ape out very early and I couldn't stabilize. The other 2 games I was able to gain too much life and he just ran out of gas.
Overall I was pretty happy with how the deck played out. Here is the full list I was running:
4 Arbor Elf
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Inferno Titan
Spells - 15
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Beast Within
1 Molten Rain
4 Stone Rain
3 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
1 Primal Command
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Blood Moon
Lands- 21
9 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spreading Algae
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Boil
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Shatterstorm
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
Dragon Stompy - R 11-6-0
Ponza - RG 8-4-0
Tron - BG 1-2-0
Naya Burn - WRG 2-4-0
Spirits - UW2-2-0
Dragons - R
4 Arbor Elf
2 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Inferno Titan
1 Oblivion Sower
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Banefire
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Beast Within
4 Blood Moon
4 Stone Rain
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Creeping Mold
1 Garruk, Wildspeaker
3 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
1 Rishkar's Expertise
9 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Beast Within
2 Crumble to Dust
1 Shatterstorm
1 Primal Command
First thing you'll notice is I took out the 2 birds and put in 2 burning-tree emissary. I just found myself not liking the bird a whole lot and it doesn't do much other than mana. Drawback of the Burning-Tree Emissary is it's not repeatable mana. My other thought here is Voyaging Satyr. The other glaring change is the Oblivion Sower. This was just kind of a why not, let's see what happens. The last obvious change is the Rishkar's Expertise and I think that's pretty self-explanatory.
I do have a question. Is there a reason not to play Fulminator Mage or something like Destructor Dragon?
Oblivion Sower doesn't do much and is worse than Inferno Titan.
Creeping Mold is much worse than Beast Within (and Acidic Slime).
Chandra, the Firebrand isn't even the 3rd best Chandra.
Fulminator Mage isn't particularly necessary with Blood Moon and Molten Rain would be better in this deck imho.
Destructor Dragon is just bad, Sylvan Primordial (or even Deus of Calamity) is much better and isn't played.
Like I said Oblivion Sower, is a "why not, let's see how it goes". Yeah it's not close to Inferno Titan and is really a coin toss on whether you get anything good out of the four whether a land or not.
I see what you're saying about Creeping Mold, I'm not a huge fan of Beast Within but I have been learning more of the tricks to playing it lately.
Chandra, Firebrand is good at eliminating opposing mana dorks and the -2 copy instant or sorcery is pretty handy and nice when you can use it with a Stone Rain.
Fulminator Mage I thought could be an additional threat and if it's targeted you can sac it to take out a land. But I don't know what I would take out for it.
Do you have any cards that are outside of the norm that you particularly like to play or find useful?
How do you play against fast aggro or the new death shadow deck?
4x Arbor Elf
2x Birds of Paradise
3x Inferno Titan
3x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Obstinate Baloth
1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
Spells
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Beast Within
2x Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4x Molten Rain
1x Stone Rain
1x Primal Command
4x Blood Moon
4x Utopia Sprawl
Planeswalkers
2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Lands
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Windswept Heath
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Misty Rainforest
4x Stomping Ground
7x Forest
1x Kessig Wolf Run
2x Engineered Explosives
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Chameleon Colossus
3x Kitchen Finks
1x Obstinate Baloth
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
2x Ancient Grudge
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Shatterstorm
UG Infect
Modern
UG Infect
GW Infect
EDH
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion
B Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
UG Infect
Modern
UG Infect
GW Infect
EDH
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion
B Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
What's this dragon heavy list look like, if you don't mind.