i'm trying to sneak a huntmaster of the fells into my list. i think it gives us midrange gas. going to try it at GP RVa, anyway. my question is about where to slot it in--do you think i can get away with 2 restoration angel rather than 3? i realize i'm cutting it fine because of its importance in a bunch of chains. here's the list as is:
I don't like running only 2 resto's they're import and so so good. If you really want it, I'f consider dropping Linvala or one of the 4drop persisters tbh
No, by all means. You cant afford cutting Linvala its like the best card against Bgx twin and the mirror!!!
so what do i cut? do i throw fauna shaman in the sideboard and bump my curve up with an extra 4-drop? keep in mind i am committed to trying 1 HMF main.
so what do i cut? do i throw fauna shaman in the sideboard and bump my curve up with an extra 4-drop? keep in mind i am committed to trying 1 HMF main.
Yeah I would say cut fauna shaman. I still need to cut her from my list.
A lot of lists i've seen haven't been playing a Strangleroot Geist, I am a huge fan of it in comparison to what I cut(Fauna Shaman). He isn't that good in any of the unfair matchups, but against fair decks, he can be a big problem. He alone enables the Exarch > Exarch > Resto > Kiki chain. Also, this may be more cute than good but, with a Persist creature, Strangleroot Geist, and Phantasmal Image, the Image can copy either the Geist or Persist dude, then un-die/persist as the other, and keep coming back over and over until one of them is removed.
About my sideboard, there's no Affinity where I play, so i don't have Kataki, War's Wage. There's a lot of Tron, Twin/Kiki, Melira, BGx and random brews.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard
BMono-BlackB GWGW AggroWG UWBEsper ControlBWU
Modern GRWUKiki PodUWRG RGZooGR BRGJundGRB GRGR TronRG
EDH RUGAnimar, Soul of Elements ComboGUR GWBTeneb, The Harvester ReanimatorBWG
Here's a situation that I run into quite a bit, and I'm never sure what the best course of action is. Say you have 3 mana and your opponent has 2, and they probably have a Mana Leak. Your hand consists of: Domri, Pod, and Finks/Voice/some other efficient beater. What do you cast first? Do you try to draw out the counters or start making a board presence ASAP?
Also, regarding Eiganjo, I think that Minamo does the job better in the vast majority of cases, and having another single-color utility land would be tough on the already-unstable manabase. Id just stick with the School.
Here's a situation that I run into quite a bit, and I'm never sure what the best course of action is. Say you have 3 mana and your opponent has 2, and they probably have a Mana Leak. Your hand consists of: Domri, Pod, and Finks/Voice/some other efficient beater. What do you cast first? Do you try to draw out the counters or start making a board presence ASAP?
Also, regarding Eiganjo, I think that Minamo does the job better in the vast majority of cases, and having another single-color utility land would be tough on the already-unstable manabase. Id just stick with the School.
Playing against blue I would drop finks or voice in this situation. Most of the time it will be finks though because it also dodges spell snare and fully utilizes your mana. This sets you up for your next turn where you can attack with finks, drop a land, cast pod and then sac the finks for a resto angel. Now you are in a situation that forces them to tap mana.
If they leaked your pod then on your next turn cast voice to bait another counter, then drop land, then cast Domri.
Plus one - win via mid range game.
In any case, I like Domri as the best threat against a control deck so I typically do not use him as the counter spell bait.
Sooo KotR just became a lot more better. Nice!
Since Zoo and bitterblossom decks just became better how is the matchup against zoo / how will the matchup against bitterblossom.dek be?
From my experience, the UB Faeries match-up is brutally in your favour (they can't handle Voice of Resurgence, keep slamming down the combo for days), but the BW Tokens match-up is hairy (pack those Izzet Staticasters).
Sooo KotR just became a lot more better. Nice!
Since Zoo and bitterblossom decks just became better how is the matchup against zoo / how will the matchup against bitterblossom.dek be?
Against Zoo we should be pretty good with all our Finks (it might cause us to have to run 4 Finks or a Huntmaster/ Tusk in the main but I doubt it) and Restos. For bitterblossom decks Im a little worried especially if they are removal or counter spell heavy (which I am guessing they will be). Against UB Fae we might actually be in a little trouble but I am not 100% sure until it gets played obviously. All in All though I think we will be alright.
Also Izzet Staticaster just got way better #nicebitterblossom.
Oh yeah staticcaster is HUGE time to mainboard her again. I dont see faeries be problematic if we just keep dumping our hands via manadorks. Also Loxodon Smiter is a thing.
Wall of Roots also just got better.
I think with the recent B&R update, there will be very little that changes in our deck. Sure Knight of the Reliquary got more powerful with the banning of Deathrite, but Zoo and Faeries just became decks again. Kitchen Finks will probably be our most versatile creature in handling these new decks.
Can anyone help an aspiring Pod player out? I want to try the deck and am looking for a "baseline" version to start out with. I've found countless decks online but there seems to be endless variations. Some play Fauns Shaman, some Cunning Sparkmage, some play blue for Deciever Exarch some don't play blue some play Kitchen Finks etc...I would say my meta is aggro heavy if that helps. I'd brew up my own list but my understanding of the deck and it's chains and combos isn't up to par and I'm a miserable deck builder besides!
I would suggest starting with Koopa's build. Things will be in flux though with the recent unbannings. In an Aggros heavy match up I would say go to 4x Kitchen Finks and possibly a few Wall of Roots.
In regards to deceiver exarch you will want to run at least one so you can combo out. Many people have been running two lately. Also, izzet staticaster should be better than sparkmage especially if we see bitter blossom.
Fauna Shaman is in and out of favor but she can be very good and can single handedly win games with her fetch ability. Treat her as Birthing Pod #5.
The chains and other combos can be found in the primer. It's easy once you've played a few games with the deck.
Can anyone help an aspiring Pod player out? I want to try the deck and am looking for a "baseline" version to start out with. I've found countless decks online but there seems to be endless variations. Some play Fauns Shaman, some Cunning Sparkmage, some play blue for Deciever Exarch some don't play blue some play Kitchen Finks etc...I would say my meta is aggro heavy if that helps. I'd brew up my own list but my understanding of the deck and it's chains and combos isn't up to par and I'm a miserable deck builder besides!
Have you tried reading the primer at the very beginning of this topic? That's a valid starting point that will help you understand the basics of the deck. I also suggest you have a look at this primer by Josh Utter-Leyton. It is quite old, but most of the ideas expressed there are still true: it is the best resource I ever read for a beginner Kiki-Pod player.
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Anyway, I played a couple matches vs. Zoo, trying to accommodate the changes I wrote about. These matches probably aren't very indicative since the decks might be quite far from being optimized. I can confirm that the manabase needs tweaking, IMO. This will probably be the most difficult aspect (as usual, with this deck). Besides that, Chord and Witness performed fairly well even vs. Zoo. I'm not sure that they are the way to go, though: I love the ability to play at instant speed, but Chord is glacially slow. I am still not so convinced that Domri can make it in the new environment, though. Wall of Roots was a blessing: huge butts are crucial in this MU. If I switch back to Domri, I might try to change at least 1 Roots to be Omens. I've always been a fan of that card in Pod, and now that good blockers have become useful again I see no reason not to pack it. Finks was also a MVP (surprise, surprise).
I actually have this primer open in another tab and have been reading it. I just thought is ask since so many relevant cards have been printed since that article was written and I don't want to build a subpar deck.
I actually have this primer open in another tab and have been reading it. I just thought is ask since so many relevant cards have been printed since that article was written and I don't want to build a subpar deck.
I actually have this primer open in another tab and have been reading it. I just thought is ask since so many relevant cards have been printed since that article was written and I don't want to build a subpar deck.
I like the idea, as KotR is one of my favorite cards, but I'm quite scared to run Tec Edge/Ghost Quarter since the first two turns are so green intensive in so many games. That being said, many lists run Gavony Township and hold up just fine, so I will play around with the idea. (For the record, my build does not run Township.)
I feel like Fauna Shaman is... well, she's my least favorite card in the deck by a long shot. I've been considering Meddling Mage in her place, or Magus of the Moon. Magus seems solid, as with a birthing pod we can all but ignore him and continue to generate card advantage while hindering our opponent. On the same edge, if he ever becomes a problem, simply pod him away. Shores up our weak tron matchup as well. Any thoughts?
I actually have this primer open in another tab and have been reading it. I just thought is ask since so many relevant cards have been printed since that article was written and I don't want to build a subpar deck.
I actually have this primer open in another tab and have been reading it. I just thought is ask since so many relevant cards have been printed since that article was written and I don't want to build a subpar deck.
I don't like running only 2 resto's they're import and so so good. If you really want it, I'f consider dropping Linvala or one of the 4drop persisters tbh
so what do i cut? do i throw fauna shaman in the sideboard and bump my curve up with an extra 4-drop? keep in mind i am committed to trying 1 HMF main.
Yeah I would say cut fauna shaman. I still need to cut her from my list.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Spellskite
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Deceiver Exarch
1 Izzet Staticaster
3 Restoration Angel
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Zealous Conscript
2 Domri Rade
Artifact
4 Birthing Pod
Land
4 Arid Mesa
1 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
2 Gavony Township
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Negate
3 Path to Exile
2 Fiery Justice
2 Sowing Salt
A lot of lists i've seen haven't been playing a Strangleroot Geist, I am a huge fan of it in comparison to what I cut(Fauna Shaman). He isn't that good in any of the unfair matchups, but against fair decks, he can be a big problem. He alone enables the Exarch > Exarch > Resto > Kiki chain. Also, this may be more cute than good but, with a Persist creature, Strangleroot Geist, and Phantasmal Image, the Image can copy either the Geist or Persist dude, then un-die/persist as the other, and keep coming back over and over until one of them is removed.
About my sideboard, there's no Affinity where I play, so i don't have Kataki, War's Wage. There's a lot of Tron, Twin/Kiki, Melira, BGx and random brews.
BMono-BlackB
GWGW AggroWG
UWBEsper ControlBWU
Modern
GRWUKiki PodUWRG
RGZooGR
BRGJundGRB
GRGR TronRG
EDH
RUGAnimar, Soul of Elements ComboGUR
GWBTeneb, The Harvester ReanimatorBWG
Also, regarding Eiganjo, I think that Minamo does the job better in the vast majority of cases, and having another single-color utility land would be tough on the already-unstable manabase. Id just stick with the School.
Regarding running a 4-color deck without fetchlands:
MostlyLost on Cockatrice.
Playing against blue I would drop finks or voice in this situation. Most of the time it will be finks though because it also dodges spell snare and fully utilizes your mana. This sets you up for your next turn where you can attack with finks, drop a land, cast pod and then sac the finks for a resto angel. Now you are in a situation that forces them to tap mana.
If they leaked your pod then on your next turn cast voice to bait another counter, then drop land, then cast Domri.
Plus one - win via mid range game.
In any case, I like Domri as the best threat against a control deck so I typically do not use him as the counter spell bait.
Modern ~ GR Tron
From my experience, the UB Faeries match-up is brutally in your favour (they can't handle Voice of Resurgence, keep slamming down the combo for days), but the BW Tokens match-up is hairy (pack those Izzet Staticasters).
Against Zoo we should be pretty good with all our Finks (it might cause us to have to run 4 Finks or a Huntmaster/ Tusk in the main but I doubt it) and Restos. For bitterblossom decks Im a little worried especially if they are removal or counter spell heavy (which I am guessing they will be). Against UB Fae we might actually be in a little trouble but I am not 100% sure until it gets played obviously. All in All though I think we will be alright.
Also Izzet Staticaster just got way better #nicebitterblossom.
You know whats probably better than smiter? Great Sable Stag
Too much thinking otherwise
In regards to deceiver exarch you will want to run at least one so you can combo out. Many people have been running two lately. Also, izzet staticaster should be better than sparkmage especially if we see bitter blossom.
Fauna Shaman is in and out of favor but she can be very good and can single handedly win games with her fetch ability. Treat her as Birthing Pod #5.
The chains and other combos can be found in the primer. It's easy once you've played a few games with the deck.
Modern ~ GR Tron
I actually have this primer open in another tab and have been reading it. I just thought is ask since so many relevant cards have been printed since that article was written and I don't want to build a subpar deck.
The only new cards since that primer that people have experimented much with are Polukranos, World Eater and Kiora's Follower. Many people (including myself) are playing around with Knight of the Reliquary as well, along with a smallish toolbox of lands including Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarter and Minamo, School at Water's Edge (which can be used as tech to continue comboing off in response to a removal spell).
Regarding running a 4-color deck without fetchlands:
MostlyLost on Cockatrice.
I like the idea, as KotR is one of my favorite cards, but I'm quite scared to run Tec Edge/Ghost Quarter since the first two turns are so green intensive in so many games. That being said, many lists run Gavony Township and hold up just fine, so I will play around with the idea. (For the record, my build does not run Township.)
I feel like Fauna Shaman is... well, she's my least favorite card in the deck by a long shot. I've been considering Meddling Mage in her place, or Magus of the Moon. Magus seems solid, as with a birthing pod we can all but ignore him and continue to generate card advantage while hindering our opponent. On the same edge, if he ever becomes a problem, simply pod him away. Shores up our weak tron matchup as well. Any thoughts?
Since that primer was written didn't Voice come out?
Disregard, I'm a derp. Didn't realize Koopa keeps an updated list on page 1.