I really enjoy CC, but comparing it to pod just feels wrong. Pod could usually get any hatebear in your Deck in play on turn 3, which allowed for a controllish, disruptive gameplan followed up by overwhelming card advantage. CC offers instant one time card and mana advantage, it's more explosive, which I think deckbuilders should focus on.
The fact that you can hold up CC along with instant speed disruption and cast it at the end of your opponent's turn does sound amazing in theory but I hate the tension between playing enough creatures and playing enough impactful instants. Maybe these decks have to be ok with hitting one creature rather than two Most of the time.
I would love some kind of cute chord value build and I would definitely play it over other BGx builds, but first of all that deck would have to be as viable as Rock's attrition strategy.
We like Sin Collector because it leaves a body behind, but if we have to play Birds, Walls and Chords to make it viable, Thoughtseize and Inquisition appear much more efficient.
Imo, the only reason to ramp into a chord would be an arsenal of hatebears that can completely screw certain decks (like Eidolon of Rhetoric screws Storm). However, I am afraid that a list like that would get crushed by midrange builds that can't be hated out.
Another thing I will be looking at is Fauna Shaman and the shenenigans it enables, but I am not too optimistic on that.
All the other options seem too cute. Garruk requires an opposing creature of power 1 or 2 to flip, then you have to protect him for at least one turn to sacrifice a creature and put another one into your HAND that you probably have to spend your turn on trying to resolve it. Summoner's Pact would be cool in an all in combo list finding either Melira or Spike Feeder, but given how easily our combos can be disrupted, I feel like the combo plan is not worth the effort.
What about Blue Moon as the deck of choice now? Blood Moon seems incredibly viable in a meta where Tron is trying to prey on BGx while Affinity is trying to race everyone.
I hope there is some viable podless list emerging from all the tears shed, but I honestly doubt it.
So let's hope they reprint Goyf, Lily and Bob at Uncommon in MMA2015 because else the switch to Junk is gonna cost me more than 700€ and I am more than reluctant to invest that amount all at once.
I think the problem with artifact lands is that they would enable some extremely explosive lists with Frogmite and Myr Enforcer, that can reliably dump their hand on turn two.
I am looking for a deck that I could recommend to my friend. He would like to play on a semi-competitive level and I think his budget is about 150€ (~200 USD, but I think he is a bit flexible if the "bang for buck" ratio is good).
Staples owned: None, but I could help him out with some cards so he has free access to: 3 Misty Rainforest, 4 Wooded Foothills, 4 Snapcaster, 1 Batterskull, Urza lands, Academy Ruins, all Shocklands in playsets
I was thinking about Titan-Omen-Scapeshift (without Cryptic), U-Tron, BW-Tokens and maybe RDW/Burn (Although I don't like RDW due to its weakness to Melira Pod, which is widely played here)
How would you rate these decks in terms of power level? Is there a valid option in that price range that I forgot to list?
Well it depends on your list too, but the only card that needs double green in my list is Eternal Witness and if you can cast a mana dork you already have that single green mana. Without Witness in hand I find myself assembling double black or white (depending on the rest of my hand) before double green. (Chord doesn't count since Pilgrim does provide green mana for chord.)
Is Grim Haruspex good enough? Troughout all the sacrificing you would have your own card-advantage machine, as well as some protection vs (mass) removal.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
- Quattro
Frankly, the card looks insane, but I think not in this kind of deck. It makes me want to build a new take on Aristocrats. The problem I see in Pod is that it doesn't generate immediate value. You need another creature and a sac outlet for it to do something. You do not want to pod it away, so you need another creature if you want to pod.
Another approach would be to compare it with Witness. Witness kinda "draws" a card as soon as she hits the battlefield and most of the time you get to decide which card that is (to some extent). Witness can then be podded away.
I might be completely wrong here. I got pretty excited when I saw the spoiler but I didn't think of playing it in a Birthing Pod deck.
Arbor Elf might also be more workable with the extra fetches.
I had a question about a sideboard slot: Ethersworn Canonist versus Eidolon of Rhetoric versus Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. Currently I'm using Thalia because of the 2/1 first strike body, though the current thinking is more to go with the Bolt-proof Eidolon. I know whichever card of the three is brought in against Storm and decks that rely on Snapcaster (Thalia is also very marginal against Living End/Restore Balance decks); is there anything else that one of them does better/worse than the other, and do they get used anywhere else?
Before I got my Hierarchs I tried Arbor Elf. The problem was that he produced some terribly unimpressive interactions where your hand would be full of Thickets, Woodland Cemeteries, Godless Shrines and Townships (If you go all fetches and shocks it might work a little better though). I then switched to Pilgrim which worked perfectly. Hierarch is basically worth it for Exalted, G and U rarely feel relevant.
At the two stores that I play at Storm is dead and I haven't found it worth a slot in my sideboard anymore. If you expect it, I would go with Eidolon, I had my Canonist bolted and lost the same turn, it's not fun.
Most other aggro decks: Zoo, Infect, B/W Tokens, anything where you'll be blocking a lot. Souls should buy you the turn or two you need to get stable and turn the game around. It's also alright in long attrition matches because of the inevitability with Gavony Township in the late stages of the game.
I'd add Rock and Jund (especially the Wrench Mind lists), be wary of Ooze though. I also bring it vs. most control decks. Obviously it combos very well with Chord and Township/Angel triggers, but it's also useful if you're bringing 1 drop silver bullets and want to be able to pod into them. It's surely one of the more versatile sideboard cards.
I went 3-1 at my LGS Wednesday, beating Affinity, bad burn, and good burn/sligh. This week the prize is FTV, so I'm expecting a big turn out. *So far* my meta does not include Tron or Scapeshift. But I continue to struggle with control.
I Lost to essentially BBS-- Ub draw go with Thoughtseize, Snapcaster, Cryptic Command, et al. Game two I resolved a turn 2 Pod and I thought the game was over. Shadow of Doubt is an absolute killer against us. He had so much card advantage there was nothing I could do. Game three I resolved three spells that survived until my next upkeep. Do I just hope to avoid it? I don't mind dedicating 3-10 SB slots, but I'm just not sure what would even help. The best option really is Thrun, isn't it? Maybe I can get one by Wed. But is one enough?
Thanks in advance. It was just a really frustrating match.
Usually resolving a Voice of Resurgence can get you ahead in these matches, especially if they can't remove it instantly after untapping. I have never played with Thrun and it makes perfect sense vs countermagic although I would be concerned about the discard you mentioned.
From my experience it could also be correct to bord out pods completely making the shadow nothing more than a bad cantrip that you have to play your fetches around. To me Chord seems way better in the control matchup since it's an instant.
Question from a relatively new pod player. If I go the 4/2/2 Verdant/Misty/Marsh Flats, which land am I replacing in favour of a basic Plains? Woodland Cemetery? A basic Forest?
My standard list plays 4/3/2 and I still have room for 3 Forests, 1 Swamp and 1 Plains along with the cemetery. If i had to cut anything (which I did for the U splash for instance) it would be 1 or 2 forests. I feel that having at least one basic of every main color is absolutely neccessary.
In a deck with so many 1'offs the choice of each one matters a lot, and as such I would like to discuss our "Terror-on-a-stick" card
What are peoples thoughts about Shriekmaw vs. Nekrataal?
Shriekmaw: can pod from a 4cc, can evoke for 1B, has fear.
Nekrataal; can pod from a 3cc, works with Revillark (Pod Nekrataal into revillark, revillark gets back Nekrataal when it dies +1 other creature), has first strike.
Im torn - as i see most people playing Sjriekmaw, but when I think about it, it seems like Nekrataal has more synergy with the rest of our deck, especially thinking about the number of 3 drops we can use to get the nekrataal, vs. the low number of 4 drops we have to get the Shriekmaw, not to mention the time it takes to get there.
But then there is the Evoke to think of aswell..
What are some opinions on this from our pod community ?
Cheers.
~Skagen
Currently, I am slightly on the Nekrataal side for three reasons: Reveillark compatibility is nothing to shrug at and occasionally wins games. This deck is all about synergy. In addition, the 5 drop I seem to want in almost any situation that revolves around threatening creatures is Archangel anyway. She is able to race most creature strategies. So when I pod into a 5 drop with creatures on the other side of the table that threaten to kill me, it is Archangel most of the time (not so sexy if the opponent has removal though). But sometimes I can only pod into a 4 drop and while redcap shoots some creatures there are a lot it doesn't hit. Compared to the power level of the other 5 drops and the power level of the other 4 drops I think the effect is more relevant in the 4 slot even though there is some redundancy to redcap. Finally, I think that Nekrataal's combat stats are very relevant. With two power and first strike you kill almost every creature in the generic pod lists. I understand that Fear can be relevant too, so I would say the stats of both are really close.
I have played both and still haven't really decided which one's better, but since Shriekmaw seems to be the crowd's favorite I thoght I'd add my two cents and maybe get a discussion going.
That being said I decided to try out the blue list tomorrow.
I cut 1 Finks (now playing 3), and moved Melira and Seer to the sideboard to make room for Glen Elendra Archmage, Phantasmal Image and Deceiver Exarch. I removed two forests for Watery Grave and Breeding Pool (now playing 1 Forest).
The things I am not sure about are: Do I want the Exarch? I feel that jumping from 2 to 4 could be relevant, but without a combo he is probably too weak. Is it a good choice to move the combo to the sideboard? I have also thought about moving 2 Abrupt Decay to the Sideboard, but I expect to be playing against Twin a lot and I do not like the combo in that matchup. Or is there anything else I should probably cut?
The fact that you can hold up CC along with instant speed disruption and cast it at the end of your opponent's turn does sound amazing in theory but I hate the tension between playing enough creatures and playing enough impactful instants. Maybe these decks have to be ok with hitting one creature rather than two Most of the time.
We like Sin Collector because it leaves a body behind, but if we have to play Birds, Walls and Chords to make it viable, Thoughtseize and Inquisition appear much more efficient.
Imo, the only reason to ramp into a chord would be an arsenal of hatebears that can completely screw certain decks (like Eidolon of Rhetoric screws Storm). However, I am afraid that a list like that would get crushed by midrange builds that can't be hated out.
Another thing I will be looking at is Fauna Shaman and the shenenigans it enables, but I am not too optimistic on that.
All the other options seem too cute. Garruk requires an opposing creature of power 1 or 2 to flip, then you have to protect him for at least one turn to sacrifice a creature and put another one into your HAND that you probably have to spend your turn on trying to resolve it. Summoner's Pact would be cool in an all in combo list finding either Melira or Spike Feeder, but given how easily our combos can be disrupted, I feel like the combo plan is not worth the effort.
I am thinking about trying some UWR build, what do you guys think about its position postban? Is this deck viable versus Rock?
So let's hope they reprint Goyf, Lily and Bob at Uncommon in MMA2015 because else the switch to Junk is gonna cost me more than 700€ and I am more than reluctant to invest that amount all at once.
THIS!
For a second I was like "Fine, I'll just sleeve out my Pods and play junk instead." Then it hit me.
Staples owned: None, but I could help him out with some cards so he has free access to: 3 Misty Rainforest, 4 Wooded Foothills, 4 Snapcaster, 1 Batterskull, Urza lands, Academy Ruins, all Shocklands in playsets
I was thinking about Titan-Omen-Scapeshift (without Cryptic), U-Tron, BW-Tokens and maybe RDW/Burn (Although I don't like RDW due to its weakness to Melira Pod, which is widely played here)
How would you rate these decks in terms of power level? Is there a valid option in that price range that I forgot to list?
EDIT: Maybe Spike Feeder, if you play it.
Frankly, the card looks insane, but I think not in this kind of deck. It makes me want to build a new take on Aristocrats. The problem I see in Pod is that it doesn't generate immediate value. You need another creature and a sac outlet for it to do something. You do not want to pod it away, so you need another creature if you want to pod.
Another approach would be to compare it with Witness. Witness kinda "draws" a card as soon as she hits the battlefield and most of the time you get to decide which card that is (to some extent). Witness can then be podded away.
I might be completely wrong here. I got pretty excited when I saw the spoiler but I didn't think of playing it in a Birthing Pod deck.
Before I got my Hierarchs I tried Arbor Elf. The problem was that he produced some terribly unimpressive interactions where your hand would be full of Thickets, Woodland Cemeteries, Godless Shrines and Townships (If you go all fetches and shocks it might work a little better though). I then switched to Pilgrim which worked perfectly. Hierarch is basically worth it for Exalted, G and U rarely feel relevant.
At the two stores that I play at Storm is dead and I haven't found it worth a slot in my sideboard anymore. If you expect it, I would go with Eidolon, I had my Canonist bolted and lost the same turn, it's not fun.
I'd add Rock and Jund (especially the Wrench Mind lists), be wary of Ooze though. I also bring it vs. most control decks. Obviously it combos very well with Chord and Township/Angel triggers, but it's also useful if you're bringing 1 drop silver bullets and want to be able to pod into them. It's surely one of the more versatile sideboard cards.
Usually resolving a Voice of Resurgence can get you ahead in these matches, especially if they can't remove it instantly after untapping. I have never played with Thrun and it makes perfect sense vs countermagic although I would be concerned about the discard you mentioned.
From my experience it could also be correct to bord out pods completely making the shadow nothing more than a bad cantrip that you have to play your fetches around. To me Chord seems way better in the control matchup since it's an instant.
My standard list plays 4/3/2 and I still have room for 3 Forests, 1 Swamp and 1 Plains along with the cemetery. If i had to cut anything (which I did for the U splash for instance) it would be 1 or 2 forests. I feel that having at least one basic of every main color is absolutely neccessary.
Currently, I am slightly on the Nekrataal side for three reasons: Reveillark compatibility is nothing to shrug at and occasionally wins games. This deck is all about synergy. In addition, the 5 drop I seem to want in almost any situation that revolves around threatening creatures is Archangel anyway. She is able to race most creature strategies. So when I pod into a 5 drop with creatures on the other side of the table that threaten to kill me, it is Archangel most of the time (not so sexy if the opponent has removal though). But sometimes I can only pod into a 4 drop and while redcap shoots some creatures there are a lot it doesn't hit. Compared to the power level of the other 5 drops and the power level of the other 4 drops I think the effect is more relevant in the 4 slot even though there is some redundancy to redcap. Finally, I think that Nekrataal's combat stats are very relevant. With two power and first strike you kill almost every creature in the generic pod lists. I understand that Fear can be relevant too, so I would say the stats of both are really close.
I have played both and still haven't really decided which one's better, but since Shriekmaw seems to be the crowd's favorite I thoght I'd add my two cents and maybe get a discussion going.
That being said I decided to try out the blue list tomorrow.
I cut 1 Finks (now playing 3), and moved Melira and Seer to the sideboard to make room for Glen Elendra Archmage, Phantasmal Image and Deceiver Exarch. I removed two forests for Watery Grave and Breeding Pool (now playing 1 Forest).
The things I am not sure about are: Do I want the Exarch? I feel that jumping from 2 to 4 could be relevant, but without a combo he is probably too weak. Is it a good choice to move the combo to the sideboard? I have also thought about moving 2 Abrupt Decay to the Sideboard, but I expect to be playing against Twin a lot and I do not like the combo in that matchup. Or is there anything else I should probably cut?