Hi all, i'd like to ask if it's a stupid choice to put 1 auriok Champion in the side against twin!
Hmm. That's not the worst idea, actually. It keeps you from dying to Exarch and doesn't die to Bolt, Anger of the Gods, or to Flame Slash.
That said, we've already got both mainboard and sideboard hate for Twin (Spellskite, Combust, Path, Linvala) and all of those cards are also really good in other matchups. If you're seeing a lot of Twin at the store on Thursday or whatever, I could see it being darn good. In a wider meta, however, I'd like my sideboard to be a little more nimble.
mm i think you're right, my meta had a lot of twin but it keeps changing so a versatile sideboard is allways a better idea.. i'm thinking where champion could be good against other decks, but i dont see any
Yeah, Auriok Champion maybe isn't the best sideboard card. Spellskite also doesn't die to Bolt or Anger, and it can stop all of the combo pieces, not just Exarch and Twin. Linvala basically reads, "If you aren't holding Flame Slash or Cryptic Command, you die." So I agree with MrDelirious, it just gets outclassed. As for other matchups it's good in, it can buy you an extra turn against Angel Pod, and it's also good in the mirror.
Kiki Pod has a better combo and a better midrange plan than Melira Pod. In short, it's a better deck. The only downsides are the mana and the fact that it's insanely hard to play. If anyone played the deck absolutely perfectly, they'd probably win 95% of their games, but you're going to make a lot of misplays with Kiki. I'd suggest Kiki if you're an experienced player and are willing to commit to the deck.
That's a huge statement. If a deck could win 95% of the games it would probably be hit by the ban hammer.
It's a general consensus that Melira Pod has a better midrange/value plan. I think Restos are pretty good as a beat stick, but what makes you think this deck is better on the midrange plan than Melira Pod? What about Angel Pod? (this is a genuine question, not irony)
I think you misinterpreted my statement a little. What I'm saying is that in around 95% of games, there is a way to win. However, in some of those games, even the slightest misplay can cause you to lose, and because the deck has so many options, you'll lose a lot of games to misplays. My point was that the deck is really hard to play, but the longer you play, the better you'll do. I'd actually disagree with the statement that traditional Melira Pod's midrange plan is better than ours, simply because of Resto. We have Voice, Finks, Redcap, Scooze, and the rest (well, not Pontiff) just like they do, but we also have Resto. I think Angel Pod's midrange plan is a little better than ours, but their combo is expensive, hard to chain into, and doesn't really have those "Oops, I win" moments like Melira does. I'd really look at Angel Pod as more of a midrange deck with a combo finish. As I said, Kiki's biggest problem aside from being hard to play is bad mana, and that's probably one of the main reasons Melira sees so much play.
Well, being a 4C Gifts player I definitely understand the point about "always" having a way to win with a toolbox deck. I wouldn't say 95% of the time, because even if you choose the right line of play your opponent can do the same and reach their endgame faster, but anyway, that's all subjective.
I'm looking into this deck in case my recent foray into 4C Gifts doesn't work out.
It's a great deck. I play Kiki or Gr Tron depending on the meta, and while I built Tron to play in combo-light metas, I originally built Kiki because it's really fun to play. It's also quite good right now, so that's a plus.
On another note, there has been talk in the past of cutting either red or blue to make the mana better. I saw an interesting list on Gavin Verhey's article today that cut red entirely and ran only a single Forest and some Mistys to cast Pod. If we were to cut a color or colors, which ones would be the best? Some ideas I have are red (not being able to play Kiki doesn't hurt us that much), white (I have an interesting list that I was testing a while ago which I called Faerie Pod), green and red (that list looked pretty sweet), or blue (hurts the chains, but helps the midrange plan).
With regards to cutting Kiki, I really don't see it. We have so many ways to simply generate value off of Kiki, not just win the game. To name a few, Eternal Witness, Avalanche Riders, Kitchen Finks, Voice of Resurgence, Murderous Redcap, etc.
I meant not casting Kiki wouldn't hurt us. You'd still play Kiki, but no red sources.
Without a way to get it into play from your hand or into your library from your hand I'm just not a fan. Automatic mulligans and literal dead draws are just not good.
Kiki Pod has a better combo and a better midrange plan than Melira Pod. In short, it's a better deck. The only downsides are the mana and the fact that it's insanely hard to play. If anyone played the deck absolutely perfectly, they'd probably win 95% of their games, but you're going to make a lot of misplays with Kiki. I'd suggest Kiki if you're an experienced player and are willing to commit to the deck.
I think you just summed up my thoughts on kiki-pod I agree whole-heartedly. When people ask me how Kiki does against this or that or if it has a bad matchup against a certain deck, I find myself usually saying that, as long as you know your game plan and have experience with the deck, you can beat anything. The only really bad matchup is scapeshift. I feel like playing this deck is like a puzzle game, there's usually a way to win, you just have to find out how. The mistakes you can make with this deck are really punishing and even the slightest one can cause you to lose the game.
Is everyone now running Eidolon of Rhetoric over Ethersworn Canonist? Is the extra mana a problem over being boltproof? What are the results of people testing?
One of the advantages of costing 2 is also that it can be chorded in mid combo to stop them cold, which is slightly harder for Eidolon, but could still be worth it..
Personally, I like Eidolon over Canonist because the extra mana isn't a huge deal due to dorks, and being Bolt-proof is pretty big. Sometimes coming down on T2 against Affinity can be pretty big if you're on the play and they have one of those draws where they can't do much on T1. Also, due to Affinity, artifact removal tends to be a little more prevalent than enchantment removal.
Kiki Pod has a better combo and a better midrange plan than Melira Pod. In short, it's a better deck. The only downsides are the mana and the fact that it's insanely hard to play. If anyone played the deck absolutely perfectly, they'd probably win 95% of their games, but you're going to make a lot of misplays with Kiki. I'd suggest Kiki if you're an experienced player and are willing to commit to the deck.
I think you just summed up my thoughts on kiki-pod I agree whole-heartedly. When people ask me how Kiki does against this or that or if it has a bad matchup against a certain deck, I find myself usually saying that, as long as you know your game plan and have experience with the deck, you can beat anything. The only really bad matchup is scapeshift. I feel like playing this deck is like a puzzle game, there's usually a way to win, you just have to find out how. The mistakes you can make with this deck are really punishing and even the slightest one can cause you to lose the game.
agreed! every time I have lost with Kiki-pod, in review it generally came down to the smallest detail- such as when I cracked a fetch land....
So speaking of Scapeshift, how do we make a better game plan against them?? counterflux instead of negate? (just suggesting ideas, as I haven't got a clue on how to be more effective against them)
Kiki Pod has a better combo and a better midrange plan than Melira Pod. In short, it's a better deck. The only downsides are the mana and the fact that it's insanely hard to play. If anyone played the deck absolutely perfectly, they'd probably win 95% of their games, but you're going to make a lot of misplays with Kiki. I'd suggest Kiki if you're an experienced player and are willing to commit to the deck.
I think you just summed up my thoughts on kiki-pod I agree whole-heartedly. When people ask me how Kiki does against this or that or if it has a bad matchup against a certain deck, I find myself usually saying that, as long as you know your game plan and have experience with the deck, you can beat anything. The only really bad matchup is scapeshift. I feel like playing this deck is like a puzzle game, there's usually a way to win, you just have to find out how. The mistakes you can make with this deck are really punishing and even the slightest one can cause you to lose the game.
agreed! every time I have lost with Kiki-pod, in review it generally came down to the smallest detail- such as when I cracked a fetch land....
So speaking of Scapeshift, how do we make a better game plan against them?? counterflux instead of negate? (just suggesting ideas, as I haven't got a clue on how to be more effective against them)
An extra Spellskite in the board might work pretty well.
Kiki Pod has a better combo and a better midrange plan than Melira Pod. In short, it's a better deck. The only downsides are the mana and the fact that it's insanely hard to play. If anyone played the deck absolutely perfectly, they'd probably win 95% of their games, but you're going to make a lot of misplays with Kiki. I'd suggest Kiki if you're an experienced player and are willing to commit to the deck.
I think you just summed up my thoughts on kiki-pod I agree whole-heartedly. When people ask me how Kiki does against this or that or if it has a bad matchup against a certain deck, I find myself usually saying that, as long as you know your game plan and have experience with the deck, you can beat anything. The only really bad matchup is scapeshift. I feel like playing this deck is like a puzzle game, there's usually a way to win, you just have to find out how. The mistakes you can make with this deck are really punishing and even the slightest one can cause you to lose the game.
agreed! every time I have lost with Kiki-pod, in review it generally came down to the smallest detail- such as when I cracked a fetch land....
So speaking of Scapeshift, how do we make a better game plan against them?? counterflux instead of negate? (just suggesting ideas, as I haven't got a clue on how to be more effective against them)
An extra Spellskite in the board might work pretty well.
Is runed halo a worthy card to SB? I know UWR decks run it for protection and we could name celestial collonade, deceiver exarch, valakut, etc?
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Hmm. That's not the worst idea, actually. It keeps you from dying to Exarch and doesn't die to Bolt, Anger of the Gods, or to Flame Slash.
That said, we've already got both mainboard and sideboard hate for Twin (Spellskite, Combust, Path, Linvala) and all of those cards are also really good in other matchups. If you're seeing a lot of Twin at the store on Thursday or whatever, I could see it being darn good. In a wider meta, however, I'd like my sideboard to be a little more nimble.
It's a general consensus that Melira Pod has a better midrange/value plan. I think Restos are pretty good as a beat stick, but what makes you think this deck is better on the midrange plan than Melira Pod? What about Angel Pod? (this is a genuine question, not irony)
I'm looking into this deck in case my recent foray into 4C Gifts doesn't work out.
On another note, there has been talk in the past of cutting either red or blue to make the mana better. I saw an interesting list on Gavin Verhey's article today that cut red entirely and ran only a single Forest and some Mistys to cast Pod. If we were to cut a color or colors, which ones would be the best? Some ideas I have are red (not being able to play Kiki doesn't hurt us that much), white (I have an interesting list that I was testing a while ago which I called Faerie Pod), green and red (that list looked pretty sweet), or blue (hurts the chains, but helps the midrange plan).
Without a way to get it into play from your hand or into your library from your hand I'm just not a fan. Automatic mulligans and literal dead draws are just not good.
I think you just summed up my thoughts on kiki-pod I agree whole-heartedly. When people ask me how Kiki does against this or that or if it has a bad matchup against a certain deck, I find myself usually saying that, as long as you know your game plan and have experience with the deck, you can beat anything. The only really bad matchup is scapeshift. I feel like playing this deck is like a puzzle game, there's usually a way to win, you just have to find out how. The mistakes you can make with this deck are really punishing and even the slightest one can cause you to lose the game.
One of the advantages of costing 2 is also that it can be chorded in mid combo to stop them cold, which is slightly harder for Eidolon, but could still be worth it..
agreed! every time I have lost with Kiki-pod, in review it generally came down to the smallest detail- such as when I cracked a fetch land....
So speaking of Scapeshift, how do we make a better game plan against them?? counterflux instead of negate? (just suggesting ideas, as I haven't got a clue on how to be more effective against them)
An extra Spellskite in the board might work pretty well.
Is runed halo a worthy card to SB? I know UWR decks run it for protection and we could name celestial collonade, deceiver exarch, valakut, etc?