What are people's thoughts on a single copy of Strangleroot Geist over a second Voice? It's a decent beatdown dude, and you can win with just it and a Pod on board.
I tried the geist, and I found it more to be a do nothing card. You can combo from it with just a pod, but that's all it really does. When I ran it, I never had a situation where I wanted to pod into it and just having it in the 60 and hoping it would be a useful draw felt like a waste of space. I also just cut my second exarch in favour of a second wall of roots, so I have no reason to need it again. I just got my second voice and I am loving it. Voice always seems like a card that you want either two of or none in the match up, so it makes boarding easier and it makes your opponent play at your pace.
Just so you know, Gideon is still CMC 5 even as a creature.
Also, since Zealous Conscripts gives it haste it probably would have been a better play to just attack with animated Gideon, if all he was missing was one damage. Which doesn't prevent sacrificing him to Pod (to find nothing) in second main if something goes wrong.
Personnaly, I'm a bit dispappointed that Ajani Vengeant has more or less replaced Gideon in UWR decks. I would have loved to steal a Gideon, animate it, and Phantasmal Image it....
Yeah I'm bad at this game lol. Thanks for pointing this stuff out though guys, it'll help me not to make misplays like that again.
Just so you know, Gideon is still CMC 5 even as a creature.
Also, since Zealous Conscripts gives it haste it probably would have been a better play to just attack with animated Gideon, if all he was missing was one damage. Which doesn't prevent sacrificing him to Pod (to find nothing) in second main if something goes wrong.
Personnaly, I'm a bit dispappointed that Ajani Vengeant has more or less replaced Gideon in UWR decks. I would have loved to steal a Gideon, animate it, and Phantasmal Image it....
I once put a Gideon on a mimic vat! It was awesome!
My opponent demanded a judge call on that one, but yes, you can have a Gideon on mimic vat:)
I've only played against Jund (a lot though) and that matchup actually feels quite favorable. Even with main deck Anger that some lists have adopted. It's not a walk in the park but it's definitely not unwinable either. Our CA engine (Pod) beats theirs (Bob, Chandra) by miles. And at some point they run out of answers and you can either combo off or just kill them with the beats. Don't know if Junk is tougher especially since they don't have access to Anger, but if you haven't played against him more than a couple of times then it could be varience. But if it's something else then I'd consider Baneslayer Angel or Sigarda over Thragtusk as the first thing. I've thought of cutting Thragtusk all together, he just feels so underwhelming in a world of Bolts and 5/6 goyfs. I've recently added Engineered Explosives to the board and i've been very impressed with them so far. They are versitale and sweeping Bobs and Goyfs off of the table is quite good, since Goyf is the biggest problem for me when I'm playing against rock type of builds. Goyf is basically a 2 for 1 since you often are forced to trade two of your dudes for one of theirs (while hoping he doesn't turn it into a completely one sided blow out by removing one of your blockes). And speaking of Goyfs I think that Brian added a 2nd Ooze to the deck to fight Goyf. Putting in a 3rd in the board might be an answer as well.
With Harbinger in the mix then it sounds like an "all-in" Doran build. Haven't played against that. I doubt that you will run into that a lot in tournaments and such. Or do you just wanna beat your friend? In that case what is his deck list in general terms?
Ive been playing kikipod for the past couple of weeks, but before I had been playing jund and BGx for years.
Your midrange plan is strong here. If you can stick a scooze longer, get in flying beats, or get gavonry township active asap should be your best bet. Scooze keeps their scooze small and makes them waste mana EoT trying to eat stuff in response (so you can go off on your turn or EOT chord for wit getting back chord).
VoR tokens do work here, especially if you can force removal on your turn. If you have 2 voice out, Id almost say its a good move to try and combo off to bait out removal.
Finks can cause bad trades and gets dumb with resto and gavonry.
BGx tried to trade you card for card. Whoever can force the most 2-1s will win.
Obliterator basically is unblockable for you if you dont have walls out.
Save your paths for him in the late game.
Early game get rid of bobs.
Flyers are a problem for rock too, if you can stall out the ground and swing over the top.
EE is really good against obliterator rock. bob, goyf, and scooze are all 2cc.
I'm not an expert but against removal heavy decks I tend to grind them out. Finks into Resto is the most important chain here. Just gaining 4 while increasing the clock is a good strategy. Also getting an Ooze online is the key as they tend to have a lot of stuff to prey on in those matchups and can get ridiciously big and can hold back his team while you attack in the air. If he got his own Ooze(s) online then I try to look for Linvala, I do that since I tend to value the Ooze battle pretty highly (overvalue them maybe). But it is in these matchups that Ooze tends to shine.
As for Doran, being less agressive with the Wall of Roots counters might be a decent strategy and maybe look for Spellskite more often than you'd normally would since it serves double duty.
I don't know. Trying to remember how I approach Jund and I think it's something like this.
I just built an incomplete deck, and I have a few questions on how to play.
First off, when should I mulligan? While goldfishing, I noticed Pod is very important as an engine (there's a reason the deck is called Kiki-pod...), but I feel like mulliganing until I have pod in hand is extremely inefficient.
Second, as my deck is incomplete, I don't yet have Noble Hierarchs or Chord of Calling. Until I do, is Arbor Elf the best replacement for Noble Hierarch? And does Domri Rade act as a replacement for Chord of Calling?
And is Linvala extremely necessary? Because I don't have one, and I don't really want to buy her if she's not necessary.
Thanks
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2 Lands, a mana dork and a T2/T3 play is my personal starting hand requirement against an unknown opponent. Against a non-red deck 1 land and 2 dorks can be fine as well on the draw (though risky, so it depends on the rest of the hand). Sometimes 2 lands without a dork can be fine if you have something to do T2 and especially if you know what you're up against and you know that your T2 play will affect him in some way (Kataki vs. Affinity, Voice vs. Control, Ooze vs. Jund etc.) Games with Pod and games without it are very different but the deck is build to attack from different angles so mulling down to Pod is not a needed. Especially because people are prepared to deal with it both pre and post-board (mulling down to 4 and then get Pod Mana Leaked or Maelstrom Pulsed would be a disaster).
Arbor Elf is obviously good with shock lands but terrible played off of Grove. That's why people tend to replace Hierarch with Avacyn's Pilgrim. I have no personal experience with either of them though. I guess it also depends on your mana base.
Some decks play Domri some play Chord. I have only experience with Chord which I have mixed feelings about. I've heard people saying they have mixed feelings about Domri too, so neither of them are perfect I guess. If you already have Domri you might as well just go with those.
Linvala is one of the best hate bears in the deck. She does get sided out a lot but when she hits, she hits good. She's good against Affinity, Melira, Kiki, Twin, Big Zoo, G/W variants and even shutting down opposing Oozes and Lavamancers off of random decks like Jund and Burn is pretty useful. It would be a huge loss to run the deck without her I reckon.
I just built an incomplete deck, and I have a few questions on how to play.
First off, when should I mulligan? While goldfishing, I noticed Pod is very important as an engine (there's a reason the deck is called Kiki-pod...), but I feel like mulliganing until I have pod in hand is extremely inefficient.
Second, as my deck is incomplete, I don't yet have Noble Hierarchs or Chord of Calling. Until I do, is Arbor Elf the best replacement for Noble Hierarch? And does Domri Rade act as a replacement for Chord of Calling?
And is Linvala extremely necessary? Because I don't have one, and I don't really want to buy her if she's not necessary.
2 Lands, a mana dork and a T2/T3 play is my personal starting hand requirement against an unknown opponent. Against a non-red deck 1 land and 2 dorks can be fine as well on the draw (though risky, so it depends on the rest of the hand). Sometimes 2 lands without a dork can be fine if you have something to do T2 and especially if you know what you're up against and you know that your T2 play will affect him in some way (Kataki vs. Affinity, Voice vs. Control, Ooze vs. Jund etc.) Games with Pod and games without it are very different but the deck is build to attack from different angles so mulling down to Pod is not a needed. Especially because people are prepared to deal with it both pre and post-board (mulling down to 4 and then get Pod Mana Leaked or Maelstrom Pulsed would be a disaster).
Arbor Elf is obviously good with shock lands but terrible played off of Grove. That's why people tend to replace Hierarch with Avacyn's Pilgrim. I have no personal experience with either of them though. I guess it also depends on your mana base.
Some decks play Domri some play Chord. I have only experience with Chord which I have mixed feelings about. I've heard people saying they have mixed feelings about Domri too, so neither of them are perfect I guess. If you already have Domri you might as well just go with those.
Linvala is one of the best hate bears in the deck. She does get sided out a lot but when she hits, she hits good. She's good against Affinity, Melira, Kiki, Twin, Big Zoo, G/W variants and even shutting down opposing Oozes and Lavamancers off of random decks like Jund and Burn is pretty useful. It would be a huge loss to run the deck without her I reckon.
I agree with Badabing's excellent advice. I'm running Pilgrim instead of Hierarch for budget reasons as well. I'm also running slightly different lands for the same reason.
My main advice is to play the deck a LOT. Goldfishing is good if you don't have a real opponent. But playing in actual games is essential. This deck has a LOT of decisions, so practice is paramount.
Another key to keep in mind is that Brian played the deck in more of a controlling role. You don't always go for the kill as soon as you have pieces. Instead, gain advantage with value pod chains and force them to spend time fighting infinite Finks. Pod is just as much about knowning when not to go for it as it is knowing when to go for it. Chord of Calling contributes heavily to playing the Control role. You can win a lot of games by responding to a key play by Chord for Scavenging Ooze, Spellskite, or similar.
I played in a GP Trial this past weekend and went 4-0-1 and then conceded the Top 8 finals to a friend who plans to go to the GP. My list is essentially Brian's with a few minor mods. I ran Phantasmal Image because of both the chaining potential and because I love the general versatility. I ran a maindeck Thalia, Guardian of Thraben to combat control and storm decks. Its also great against Jund. It made up for my budget limitation of 1 Voice.
In my Sideboard I ran Magus of the Moon for punishing mana bases, and Sigarda, Host of Herons for fighting Jund.
I beat Melira-Pod (stole Linvala to power a Pod chain win), Robots (Fiery Justice is awesome), WRB "Junk" deck (in Swiss and in Top 8), Splinter Twin (Chording Spellskite ftw), and Storm.
My Intentional Draw into Top 8 I played for fun and was totally crushed by Merfolk. I can't block, so his light disruption stops me from comboing and I die around turn 4.
Jund and Tron were the matchups I was most concerned about, but I didn't face them. My sideboard definitely was focused on those matchups.
I just built an incomplete deck, and I have a few questions on how to play.
First off, when should I mulligan? While goldfishing, I noticed Pod is very important as an engine (there's a reason the deck is called Kiki-pod...), but I feel like mulliganing until I have pod in hand is extremely inefficient.
Second, as my deck is incomplete, I don't yet have Noble Hierarchs or Chord of Calling. Until I do, is Arbor Elf the best replacement for Noble Hierarch? And does Domri Rade act as a replacement for Chord of Calling?
And is Linvala extremely necessary? Because I don't have one, and I don't really want to buy her if she's not necessary.
2 Lands, a mana dork and a T2/T3 play is my personal starting hand requirement against an unknown opponent. Against a non-red deck 1 land and 2 dorks can be fine as well on the draw (though risky, so it depends on the rest of the hand). Sometimes 2 lands without a dork can be fine if you have something to do T2 and especially if you know what you're up against and you know that your T2 play will affect him in some way (Kataki vs. Affinity, Voice vs. Control, Ooze vs. Jund etc.) Games with Pod and games without it are very different but the deck is build to attack from different angles so mulling down to Pod is not a needed. Especially because people are prepared to deal with it both pre and post-board (mulling down to 4 and then get Pod Mana Leaked or Maelstrom Pulsed would be a disaster).
Arbor Elf is obviously good with shock lands but terrible played off of Grove. That's why people tend to replace Hierarch with Avacyn's Pilgrim. I have no personal experience with either of them though. I guess it also depends on your mana base.
Some decks play Domri some play Chord. I have only experience with Chord which I have mixed feelings about. I've heard people saying they have mixed feelings about Domri too, so neither of them are perfect I guess. If you already have Domri you might as well just go with those.
Linvala is one of the best hate bears in the deck. She does get sided out a lot but when she hits, she hits good. She's good against Affinity, Melira, Kiki, Twin, Big Zoo, G/W variants and even shutting down opposing Oozes and Lavamancers off of random decks like Jund and Burn is pretty useful. It would be a huge loss to run the deck without her I reckon.
I agree with Badabing's excellent advice. I'm running Pilgrim instead of Hierarch for budget reasons as well. I'm also running slightly different lands for the same reason.
My main advice is to play the deck a LOT. Goldfishing is good if you don't have a real opponent. But playing in actual games is essential. This deck has a LOT of decisions, so practice is paramount.
Another key to keep in mind is that Brian played the deck in more of a controlling role. You don't always go for the kill as soon as you have pieces. Instead, gain advantage with value pod chains and force them to spend time fighting infinite Finks. Pod is just as much about knowning when not to go for it as it is knowing when to go for it. Chord of Calling contributes heavily to playing the Control role. You can win a lot of games by responding to a key play by Chord for Scavenging Ooze, Spellskite, or similar.
I played in a GP Trial this past weekend and went 4-0-1 and then conceded the Top 8 finals to a friend who plans to go to the GP. My list is essentially Brian's with a few minor mods. I ran Phantasmal Image because of both the chaining potential and because I love the general versatility. I ran a maindeck Thalia, Guardian of Thraben to combat control and storm decks. Its also great against Jund. It made up for my budget limitation of 1 Voice.
In my Sideboard I ran Magus of the Moon for punishing mana bases, and Sigarda, Host of Herons for fighting Jund.
I beat Melira-Pod (stole Linvala to power a Pod chain win), Robots (Fiery Justice is awesome), WRB "Junk" deck (in Swiss and in Top 8), Splinter Twin (Chording Spellskite ftw), and Storm.
My Intentional Draw into Top 8 I played for fun and was totally crushed by Merfolk. I can't block, so his light disruption stops me from comboing and I die around turn 4.
Jund and Tron were the matchups I was most concerned about, but I didn't face them. My sideboard definitely was focused on those matchups.
Path beat Combust for a slot due to Infect and Robots. Sowing Salt, Magus, and Avalanche Riders are there because I hate losing to Tron.
Hey Congrats!
I agree Merfolk is tough match too...
My list is very close to your, just curious if you would to share you side boarding(in's and outs) for Tron (I have a lot of monoU and UW gifts tron), jund/rock, and merlia, thanks
2 Lands, a mana dork and a T2/T3 play is my personal starting hand requirement against an unknown opponent. Against a non-red deck 1 land and 2 dorks can be fine as well on the draw (though risky, so it depends on the rest of the hand). Sometimes 2 lands without a dork can be fine if you have something to do T2 and especially if you know what you're up against and you know that your T2 play will affect him in some way (Kataki vs. Affinity, Voice vs. Control, Ooze vs. Jund etc.) Games with Pod and games without it are very different but the deck is build to attack from different angles so mulling down to Pod is not a needed. Especially because people are prepared to deal with it both pre and post-board (mulling down to 4 and then get Pod Mana Leaked or Maelstrom Pulsed would be a disaster).
Arbor Elf is obviously good with shock lands but terrible played off of Grove. That's why people tend to replace Hierarch with Avacyn's Pilgrim. I have no personal experience with either of them though. I guess it also depends on your mana base.
Some decks play Domri some play Chord. I have only experience with Chord which I have mixed feelings about. I've heard people saying they have mixed feelings about Domri too, so neither of them are perfect I guess. If you already have Domri you might as well just go with those.
Linvala is one of the best hate bears in the deck. She does get sided out a lot but when she hits, she hits good. She's good against Affinity, Melira, Kiki, Twin, Big Zoo, G/W variants and even shutting down opposing Oozes and Lavamancers off of random decks like Jund and Burn is pretty useful. It would be a huge loss to run the deck without her I reckon.
I agree with Badabing's excellent advice. I'm running Pilgrim instead of Hierarch for budget reasons as well. I'm also running slightly different lands for the same reason.
My main advice is to play the deck a LOT. Goldfishing is good if you don't have a real opponent. But playing in actual games is essential. This deck has a LOT of decisions, so practice is paramount.
Another key to keep in mind is that Brian played the deck in more of a controlling role. You don't always go for the kill as soon as you have pieces. Instead, gain advantage with value pod chains and force them to spend time fighting infinite Finks. Pod is just as much about knowning when not to go for it as it is knowing when to go for it. Chord of Calling contributes heavily to playing the Control role. You can win a lot of games by responding to a key play by Chord for Scavenging Ooze, Spellskite, or similar.
Thanks a ton everybody. I think I'm going to stick with Arbor Elf as I don't have Grove of the Burnwillows, so I run a lot of shocks instead. Also, I am partial towards Arbor Elf because while goldfishing one day, Arbor Elf won the game for me by letting me hardcast a topdecked Kiki-Jiki, which is something Avacyn's Pilgrim cannot do.
Now that we've cleared that up, could somebody critique my deck?
Here it is:
Eventually, (hopefully by the end of this week) I'll have replaced the Tectonic Edge with a Raging Ravine, the Spirit of the Labyrinth and a Spellskite with Voice of Resurgence, the Village Bell-Ringer with another Murderous Redcap, and the Harmonic Sliver with a Qasali Pridemage. Eventually, I'll also likely replace the Thalia with a Linvala. I know I would like to fit another land in here, but I don't know what to take out. Maybe the Izzet Staticaster? Thanks!
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8 Mana dorks is probably too little too since you wanna have one in your opener as often as you can. Melira's curve is a lot smoother and lower so they can get away with it. We need something to push through those clunky draws. 23 lands also seems to be the norm for both decks. I haven't questioned that myself but I never had any reason to either. If I had to change the quantity if the lands, I'd probably bump it up to 24 since getting mana screwed is a lot more common to me than getting flooded.
Thanks a ton everybody. I think I'm going to stick with Arbor Elf as I don't have Grove of the Burnwillows, so I run a lot of shocks instead. Also, I am partial towards Arbor Elf because while goldfishing one day, Arbor Elf won the game for me by letting me hardcast a topdecked Kiki-Jiki, which is something Avacyn's Pilgrim cannot do.
Now that we've cleared that up, could somebody critique my deck?
Here it is:
Eventually, (hopefully by the end of this week) I'll have replaced the Tectonic Edge with a Raging Ravine, the Spirit of the Labyrinth and a Spellskite with Voice of Resurgence, the Village Bell-Ringer with another Murderous Redcap, and the Harmonic Sliver with a Qasali Pridemage. Eventually, I'll also likely replace the Thalia with a Linvala. I know I would like to fit another land in here, but I don't know what to take out. Maybe the Izzet Staticaster? Thanks!
I think its a good start. Definitely remove tectonic edge and put in 1 or 2 Gavony Township. It allows the all-dorks draws to kill quickly, and it makes Finks a perpetual blocker by negating the -1/-1 counters. A lot of attrition games are won via Township because it forces your opponent to kill every creature you draw.
I believe one should always run 4 Restoration Angel. I think he's the best card in the deck because he can two-for-one your opponent in many ways. Blinking targets of removal, flashing in to kill planeswalkers, flashing in to pick off attackers, blinking creatures after blocking, blinking Redcap to kill creatures at odd times. He is versatile, cheap, and a major headache for your opponent to play around.
Personally I run more Wall of Roots and less Finks because I have Chord, but without Chord I can understand preferring the Finks. Finks does seem good with Domri. I'm interested to hear some more about how Domri is in your testing.
Instead of EtB Tapped manlands, I'd suggest trying some of the Painlands from 10th edition like Karplusan Forest and the like. Having your land untapped is crucial at many points in the game. Also, I prefer Qasali Pridemage over Harmonic Sliver because he can come out off a one-drop instead of a two-drop. And he can also dodge Torpor Orb, which is very commonly played post-board. He doesn't combo with Restoration Angel, but one-drops are more expendable and more common than two's in general.
Spirit of the Labrynth seems effective only against Combo decks. I'm interested to hear how he is in your testing. I'd recommend running Voice of Resurgence if you can get your hands on one. It is expensive unfortunately. Also I agree that Glen Elendra Archmage should be in your list. She forms an excellent lockout as you transition from defense straight to the kill. Its one of the few "safe" pod targets which you can pod into and not worry about dying to opposing combo next turn. Thanks to Modern Masters, she's cheap too!
Analyzing the mana base on these decks is hard via the forums. Keep track in each of your games of how your color balance played out. I've made small changes over time to my mana base and it has helped. 2 Fire-Lit Thicket I recently added helped a lot, especially casting Kiki when required.
I think its an excellent base list, and good to get you playing games and gaining experience. I think it can be improved with some tweaking and budget-minded updates.
^ he's pretty right on with everything
I'll just restate how important it is to get gavonry townships, its what makes your midrange plan work.
since you don't have access to firelit thicket and and grove, I'd work 4 copperline gorge and maybe a check land or two.
Does anyone else side out their islands against merfolk?
I just shove in all the removal possible against them and try to leave in all my combo pieces.
Board Linvala in. Board all sweepers in (Fiery Justice is probably the best sweeper left, especially since it can kill their Linvala, but Izzet Staticaster at least pings mana dorks--at a price). Board in Aven Mindcensor to screw with their search. Board in all artifact-killing creatures--nuking their Pod is often that important. Boarding spot removal in isn't that bad an idea--Voice of Resurgence is probably one of the worst hate bears against the mirror, so it's worth boarding out. Bant Charm is very versatile removal against Pod--if you sideboard it, always board it in against Pod.
Do not board Chord of Calling or Domri out--Chord is likely the best card in the deck in the mirror, but Domri is valuable removal and CA.
Does anyone else side out their islands against merfolk?
I just shove in all the removal possible against them and try to leave in all my combo pieces.
I wouldn't side out fetches versus merfolk, you only play 3 and most of the time they have spreading seas anyway. To be honest, I really like the match-up, especially if they have a non Aether Vial hand with Master of Waves. Since most of the time they cant outtap ever in the match you can easily play the EoT game with Restoration Angels and Chords. I won pretty easily 2-0 during the GPT this weekend, comboing even while he had 3 vapor snags and 1 echoing truth the second game....
We didn't play any games with sideboard, because we were playing for fun after IDing. I can see Fiery Justice and other removal being very important against them. My problem was that they killed very consistently around turn 4, regardless of what creatures I had in play. Unless I got a nut Pod draw, I can't race that. And one Vapor Snag screws up the nut pod draw.
I haven't actually encountered anyone playing the Kiki mirror so far. I have played plenty of Melira Pod, but with our superior ability to jump through the creature chain, it hasn't been hard to get the right card to shut them down. The main difficulty is when you have a hand which relies on 1 card and it gets Thoughtseized.
What do people think of running a Phyrexian Metamorph? It would allow some other pod chains, and could be very effective against opposing pod decks as you copy their Pod and do fun things with it.
Phantasmal Image's Illusion rider makes it sac itself whenever it's targeted. After it's targeted and it dies, the Izzet Staticaster ability itself fizzles.
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I tried the geist, and I found it more to be a do nothing card. You can combo from it with just a pod, but that's all it really does. When I ran it, I never had a situation where I wanted to pod into it and just having it in the 60 and hoping it would be a useful draw felt like a waste of space. I also just cut my second exarch in favour of a second wall of roots, so I have no reason to need it again. I just got my second voice and I am loving it. Voice always seems like a card that you want either two of or none in the match up, so it makes boarding easier and it makes your opponent play at your pace.
Rest in peace my one true love: Kikipod
Yeah I'm bad at this game lol. Thanks for pointing this stuff out though guys, it'll help me not to make misplays like that again.
I once put a Gideon on a mimic vat! It was awesome!
My opponent demanded a judge call on that one, but yes, you can have a Gideon on mimic vat:)
Your midrange plan is strong here. If you can stick a scooze longer, get in flying beats, or get gavonry township active asap should be your best bet. Scooze keeps their scooze small and makes them waste mana EoT trying to eat stuff in response (so you can go off on your turn or EOT chord for wit getting back chord).
VoR tokens do work here, especially if you can force removal on your turn. If you have 2 voice out, Id almost say its a good move to try and combo off to bait out removal.
Finks can cause bad trades and gets dumb with resto and gavonry.
BGx tried to trade you card for card. Whoever can force the most 2-1s will win.
Obliterator basically is unblockable for you if you dont have walls out.
Save your paths for him in the late game.
Early game get rid of bobs.
Flyers are a problem for rock too, if you can stall out the ground and swing over the top.
EE is really good against obliterator rock. bob, goyf, and scooze are all 2cc.
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As for Doran, being less agressive with the Wall of Roots counters might be a decent strategy and maybe look for Spellskite more often than you'd normally would since it serves double duty.
I don't know. Trying to remember how I approach Jund and I think it's something like this.
First off, when should I mulligan? While goldfishing, I noticed Pod is very important as an engine (there's a reason the deck is called Kiki-pod...), but I feel like mulliganing until I have pod in hand is extremely inefficient.
Second, as my deck is incomplete, I don't yet have Noble Hierarchs or Chord of Calling. Until I do, is Arbor Elf the best replacement for Noble Hierarch? And does Domri Rade act as a replacement for Chord of Calling?
And is Linvala extremely necessary? Because I don't have one, and I don't really want to buy her if she's not necessary.
Thanks
Arbor Elf is obviously good with shock lands but terrible played off of Grove. That's why people tend to replace Hierarch with Avacyn's Pilgrim. I have no personal experience with either of them though. I guess it also depends on your mana base.
Some decks play Domri some play Chord. I have only experience with Chord which I have mixed feelings about. I've heard people saying they have mixed feelings about Domri too, so neither of them are perfect I guess. If you already have Domri you might as well just go with those.
Linvala is one of the best hate bears in the deck. She does get sided out a lot but when she hits, she hits good. She's good against Affinity, Melira, Kiki, Twin, Big Zoo, G/W variants and even shutting down opposing Oozes and Lavamancers off of random decks like Jund and Burn is pretty useful. It would be a huge loss to run the deck without her I reckon.
I agree with Badabing's excellent advice. I'm running Pilgrim instead of Hierarch for budget reasons as well. I'm also running slightly different lands for the same reason.
My main advice is to play the deck a LOT. Goldfishing is good if you don't have a real opponent. But playing in actual games is essential. This deck has a LOT of decisions, so practice is paramount.
Another key to keep in mind is that Brian played the deck in more of a controlling role. You don't always go for the kill as soon as you have pieces. Instead, gain advantage with value pod chains and force them to spend time fighting infinite Finks. Pod is just as much about knowning when not to go for it as it is knowing when to go for it.
Chord of Calling contributes heavily to playing the Control role. You can win a lot of games by responding to a key play by Chord for Scavenging Ooze, Spellskite, or similar.
I played in a GP Trial this past weekend and went 4-0-1 and then conceded the Top 8 finals to a friend who plans to go to the GP. My list is essentially Brian's with a few minor mods. I ran Phantasmal Image because of both the chaining potential and because I love the general versatility. I ran a maindeck Thalia, Guardian of Thraben to combat control and storm decks. Its also great against Jund. It made up for my budget limitation of 1 Voice.
In my Sideboard I ran Magus of the Moon for punishing mana bases, and Sigarda, Host of Herons for fighting Jund.
I beat Melira-Pod (stole Linvala to power a Pod chain win), Robots (Fiery Justice is awesome), WRB "Junk" deck (in Swiss and in Top 8), Splinter Twin (Chording Spellskite ftw), and Storm.
My Intentional Draw into Top 8 I played for fun and was totally crushed by Merfolk. I can't block, so his light disruption stops me from comboing and I die around turn 4.
Jund and Tron were the matchups I was most concerned about, but I didn't face them. My sideboard definitely was focused on those matchups.
Full List
3x Chord of Calling
Creature (30)
3x Avacyn's Pilgrim
4x Birds of Paradise
1x Deceiver Exarch
1x Eternal Witness
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
2x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Murderous Redcap
1x Phantasmal Image
1x Qasali Pridemage
4x Restoration Angel
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Spellskite
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Voice of Resurgence
3x Wall of Roots
1x Zealous Conscripts
4x Birthing Pod
Land (23)
4x Arid Mesa
1x Breeding Pool
2x Copperline Gorge
2x Fire-Lit Thicket
1x Forest
2x Gavony Township
1x Grove of the Burnwillows
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Karplusan Forest
3x Misty Rainforest
1x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
1x Avalanche Riders
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Thragtusk
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
4x Sowing Salt
2x Path to Exile
1x Fiery Justice
Path beat Combust for a slot due to Infect and Robots. Sowing Salt, Magus, and Avalanche Riders are there because I hate losing to Tron.
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Currently playing Knight of the Reliquary - Retreat to Coralhelm Combo
Hey Congrats!
I agree Merfolk is tough match too...
My list is very close to your, just curious if you would to share you side boarding(in's and outs) for Tron (I have a lot of monoU and UW gifts tron), jund/rock, and merlia, thanks
Thanks a ton everybody. I think I'm going to stick with Arbor Elf as I don't have Grove of the Burnwillows, so I run a lot of shocks instead. Also, I am partial towards Arbor Elf because while goldfishing one day, Arbor Elf won the game for me by letting me hardcast a topdecked Kiki-Jiki, which is something Avacyn's Pilgrim cannot do.
Now that we've cleared that up, could somebody critique my deck?
Here it is:
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Arbor Elf
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Phantasmal Image
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Spellskite
1 Wall of Roots
1 Village Bell-Ringer
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Deceiver Exarch
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Restoration Angel
2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Zealous Conscripts
2 Domri Rade
4 Birthing Pod
Lands (22)
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
4 Arid Mesa
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Tectonic Edge
Eventually, (hopefully by the end of this week) I'll have replaced the Tectonic Edge with a Raging Ravine, the Spirit of the Labyrinth and a Spellskite with Voice of Resurgence, the Village Bell-Ringer with another Murderous Redcap, and the Harmonic Sliver with a Qasali Pridemage. Eventually, I'll also likely replace the Thalia with a Linvala. I know I would like to fit another land in here, but I don't know what to take out. Maybe the Izzet Staticaster? Thanks!
I think its a good start. Definitely remove tectonic edge and put in 1 or 2 Gavony Township. It allows the all-dorks draws to kill quickly, and it makes Finks a perpetual blocker by negating the -1/-1 counters. A lot of attrition games are won via Township because it forces your opponent to kill every creature you draw.
I believe one should always run 4 Restoration Angel. I think he's the best card in the deck because he can two-for-one your opponent in many ways. Blinking targets of removal, flashing in to kill planeswalkers, flashing in to pick off attackers, blinking creatures after blocking, blinking Redcap to kill creatures at odd times. He is versatile, cheap, and a major headache for your opponent to play around.
Personally I run more Wall of Roots and less Finks because I have Chord, but without Chord I can understand preferring the Finks. Finks does seem good with Domri. I'm interested to hear some more about how Domri is in your testing.
Instead of EtB Tapped manlands, I'd suggest trying some of the Painlands from 10th edition like Karplusan Forest and the like. Having your land untapped is crucial at many points in the game. Also, I prefer Qasali Pridemage over Harmonic Sliver because he can come out off a one-drop instead of a two-drop. And he can also dodge Torpor Orb, which is very commonly played post-board. He doesn't combo with Restoration Angel, but one-drops are more expendable and more common than two's in general.
Spirit of the Labrynth seems effective only against Combo decks. I'm interested to hear how he is in your testing. I'd recommend running Voice of Resurgence if you can get your hands on one. It is expensive unfortunately. Also I agree that Glen Elendra Archmage should be in your list. She forms an excellent lockout as you transition from defense straight to the kill. Its one of the few "safe" pod targets which you can pod into and not worry about dying to opposing combo next turn. Thanks to Modern Masters, she's cheap too!
Analyzing the mana base on these decks is hard via the forums. Keep track in each of your games of how your color balance played out. I've made small changes over time to my mana base and it has helped. 2 Fire-Lit Thicket I recently added helped a lot, especially casting Kiki when required.
I think its an excellent base list, and good to get you playing games and gaining experience. I think it can be improved with some tweaking and budget-minded updates.
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Currently playing Knight of the Reliquary - Retreat to Coralhelm Combo
I'll just restate how important it is to get gavonry townships, its what makes your midrange plan work.
since you don't have access to firelit thicket and and grove, I'd work 4 copperline gorge and maybe a check land or two.
Does anyone else side out their islands against merfolk?
I just shove in all the removal possible against them and try to leave in all my combo pieces.
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Board Linvala in. Board all sweepers in (Fiery Justice is probably the best sweeper left, especially since it can kill their Linvala, but Izzet Staticaster at least pings mana dorks--at a price). Board in Aven Mindcensor to screw with their search. Board in all artifact-killing creatures--nuking their Pod is often that important. Boarding spot removal in isn't that bad an idea--Voice of Resurgence is probably one of the worst hate bears against the mirror, so it's worth boarding out. Bant Charm is very versatile removal against Pod--if you sideboard it, always board it in against Pod.
Do not board Chord of Calling or Domri out--Chord is likely the best card in the deck in the mirror, but Domri is valuable removal and CA.
Remember that Domri and Murderous Redcap (and Staticaster) can kill Phantasmal Image copying your Linvala.
Sticking Glen Elendra Archmage before they stick Pod/Domri is probably GG in your favour.
We didn't play any games with sideboard, because we were playing for fun after IDing. I can see Fiery Justice and other removal being very important against them. My problem was that they killed very consistently around turn 4, regardless of what creatures I had in play. Unless I got a nut Pod draw, I can't race that. And one Vapor Snag screws up the nut pod draw.
I haven't actually encountered anyone playing the Kiki mirror so far. I have played plenty of Melira Pod, but with our superior ability to jump through the creature chain, it hasn't been hard to get the right card to shut them down. The main difficulty is when you have a hand which relies on 1 card and it gets Thoughtseized.
What do people think of running a Phyrexian Metamorph? It would allow some other pod chains, and could be very effective against opposing pod decks as you copy their Pod and do fun things with it.
Check out Odds//Ends - My articles on Quirky Cards and Oddball Builds
Long-time PucaTrade member and sometime author. Send me cards!
Currently playing Knight of the Reliquary - Retreat to Coralhelm Combo
Phantasmal Image's Illusion rider makes it sac itself whenever it's targeted. After it's targeted and it dies, the Izzet Staticaster ability itself fizzles.