Hoping to get some feedback on my GB Pod deck. Overall, I've been really happy with it, but it feels like the list could be a lot tighter. It's very much a toolbox build, with multiple levels of recursion and resilience built in.
(as a side note, I'm not a huge fan of infinite combos, which is why you won't see an at-will free sacrifice outlet in this deck.)
I think the most important thing to know is how your meta handles the Pod itself. Like, your list is fine (you have some questionable cards but we'll worry about that later), but the real issue is that your deck is pretty janky if your Pod gets picked off. Anyone who's played the game for more than a day should know how good Pod is and so a competent group of players would ensure to shut it down. Once Pod is removed from the equation, which it often would be in my estimation, you have an awkward deck with no consistency, no draw, 23 lands + a whack of 5-7 drops, etc. This will also be true when you fail to draw a Pod, which isn't that unlikely in a 60 card deck with no tutors and/or draw. I feel like your only concern is how the deck functions when everything is going right. That's... fine... but I feel like you really should prepare for the worst and hope for the best when it comes to multiplayer. Like, how many of your draws are just plain abysmal if your Pod gets removed? How many of your creatures are marginal do-nothings?
That's a fair criticism, and one issue I'm trying to shore up. As far as drawing pod, so far it hasn't been that hard - the deck mulligans well, and I haven't had to drop below 5 cards to get either a pod or Demonic Tutor in my opening hand.
On the other hand, Pod gets a lot of hate. While there isn't a ton of targeted removal in my meta, Surgical Extraction and Quash-type effects are played - that's one reason Riftsweeper made the list. Non-exiled destruction doesn't hurt very bad - Glissa tends to be my first pod target, and she gives me a ton of protection. Though, even when hit by an Extraction on pod, the deck doesn't perform as poorly as you might think without it. Grafted Wargear + the resiliency of my board can still go the distance.
Still, I'm sure the list can be improved and given better consistency. I would love to cut some of the crap like Quillspike et al. out.
That's a fair criticism, and one issue I'm trying to shore up. As far as drawing pod, so far it hasn't been that hard - the deck mulligans well, and I haven't had to drop below 5 cards to get either a pod or Demonic Tutor in my opening hand.
... over an extremely limited sample size I must imagine. The odds of drawing 1 or more Pods/DT is only 47.4562% and even if you assume mulligans to 5 you're still never going to bat 100. This deck isn't like Dredge in that it can mull to 1 and still win off of a Bazaar, and I can't imagine that going to 5 looking for one is much better. I appreciate the anecdotal evidence and all, but the reality is that you're not always going to see one. Just ask any of thousands of Pod players playing their decks in Standard and Modern lol.
On the other hand, Pod gets a lot of hate. While there isn't a ton of targeted removal in my meta, Surgical Extraction and Quash-type effects are played - that's one reason Riftsweeper made the list. Non-exiled destruction doesn't hurt very bad - Glissa tends to be my first pod target, and she gives me a ton of protection. Though, even when hit by an Extraction on pod, the deck doesn't perform as poorly as you might think without it. Grafted Wargear + the resiliency of my board can still go the distance.
Well, I assumed that people who axe Glissa fairly quickly too, and also that you wouldn't always have the option to nab her. I never said that the deck would perform poorly, just inconsistently. All of the cards are fairly random and most are only good in certain situations. Feels iffy to me that you'd want to be ripping random cards off the top. Wargear is fine, but it's only a 2-of. You may have a legitimate threat, but so should the other players.
Personally I'd like to see something more focused. I feel like you have 1 too many creature in all of your slots that you just plain won't be grabbing very often. An R.Skele (4 seems like a bit much), the Syphon Mage, any of the 4 drops and the Gleancrawler could all stand to go in my mind. It just seems like this deck is going to consistently want the other creatures as Pod targets or as plain old value spells.
I'm pretty open to any suggestions you want to make, even to rebuilding the deck from the ground up, really. My meta is pretty competitive - there are 5-7 other players, most of whom are as good or better than I am, and they tend to play powerful decks. So far, my successful decks have been toolbox-type answer decks that still have enough threats to win. I'm hoping to turn this into another one, but it's not quite there yet
I'm pretty open to any suggestions you want to make, even to rebuilding the deck from the ground up, really. My meta is pretty competitive - there are 5-7 other players, most of whom are as good or better than I am, and they tend to play powerful decks. So far, my successful decks have been toolbox-type answer decks that still have enough threats to win. I'm hoping to turn this into another one, but it's not quite there yet
The deck doesn't need a complete overhaul or anything. I'm just a bit worried that you'll encounter games where you fail to draw a Pod/lose it and promptly rip random cards from your deck and spin your wheels for 8 turns while you cobble a plan together. My personal issue with toolbox plans in 7 player games or whatever is that you can't react to what 7 other players are doing. It's a losing proposition more often than not. You're better off creating your own powerful gameplan and hoping that it pans out in my experience.
For example, I would probably build a Glissa Pod list if this were my deck. Executioner's Capsule over the Putrefys (the Capsule is an artifact), some Solemn Simulacrums, a Duplicant, more Wurmcoils, and then some nice revival and/or draw engines for Glissa. Phyrexian Reclamation, Oversold Cemetery, Haunted Crossroads, Distured Burial, anything. You don't need a bunch of them or anything, but 1-2 couldn't hurt, especially if you keep the Genesis in. I'd probably just ignore the whole Cauldron gameplan, or even if I kept the Cauldrons I'd ditch the Quillspike. I'd probably bump Glissa up to 2 or 3 copies since she seems like the 3 drop of choice in every situation and I'd always to have her. I'd also put Clamp back in there because the card is awesome and if you don't need cards then you're probably winning anyways. Phyrexian Metamorph seems pretty good too.
The more the deck revolves around Glissa, the more appealing it sounds to me. Again, it's purely subjective, but I would rather have a deck that draws a Glissa and follows it up with a Solemn and Wurmcoil engine as a consistent play than a deck that can sometimes do crazy things with Pod. A Glissa list can still Pod into stuff, that hasn't changed, but it's not clunky and awkward if it doesn't have one. It's still playing generically powerful cards. Like, even if Glissa dies, it's not like Wurmcoils and Duplicants are that easy to deal with. The deck will have recursion, great blockers, good draw, etc. Even though your current deck gives you more options, I'm not convinced that they're worth pursuing on average.
That's... a really good idea, actually. Now I'm having one of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments^^
I suppose picking up a few more Sad Robots and Wurmcoils is doable in the near future. Robot is a card like Rhystic Study - no matter how many I have, it never seems to be enough
Thanks for the suggestions; that was very helpful.
That's... a really good idea, actually. Now I'm having one of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments^^
I suppose picking up a few more Sad Robots and Wurmcoils is doable in the near future. Robot is a card like Rhystic Study - no matter how many I have, it never seems to be enough
Thanks for the suggestions; that was very helpful.
Eh, I only thought of of it because you had highlighted Glissa in your previous post. I kinda glazed over her and didn't really take notice until then. She's my favorite BG card by a mile, so I'm kinda disappointed in myself, because I love pairing her with Executioner's Capsule, Sylvok Replica and the other goodies that I've previously mentioned. But yeah, I agree about Sad Robots and even Wurmcoils. I pretty much want 4 in all of my decks and it's not particularly close.
(as a side note, I'm not a huge fan of infinite combos, which is why you won't see an at-will free sacrifice outlet in this deck.)
4 Birthing Pod
2 Grafted Wargear
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Phyrexian Reclamation
Creatures
CMC1
1 Hex Parasite
CMC2
4 Reassembling Skeleton
CMC3
3 Glissa, the Traitor
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Necroplasm
1 Sylvok Replica
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1 Savra, Queen of the Golgari
2 Solemn Simulacrum
CMC5
1 Genesis
1 Kagemaro, First to Suffer
1 Spiritmonger
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
CMC6
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
3 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
Land
9 Swamp
6 Forest
4 Tainted Wood
1 Verdant Catacomb
3 Overgrown Tomb
edit: revamped thanks to some suggestions from Cz.
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
On the other hand, Pod gets a lot of hate. While there isn't a ton of targeted removal in my meta, Surgical Extraction and Quash-type effects are played - that's one reason Riftsweeper made the list. Non-exiled destruction doesn't hurt very bad - Glissa tends to be my first pod target, and she gives me a ton of protection. Though, even when hit by an Extraction on pod, the deck doesn't perform as poorly as you might think without it. Grafted Wargear + the resiliency of my board can still go the distance.
Still, I'm sure the list can be improved and given better consistency. I would love to cut some of the crap like Quillspike et al. out.
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
... over an extremely limited sample size I must imagine. The odds of drawing 1 or more Pods/DT is only 47.4562% and even if you assume mulligans to 5 you're still never going to bat 100. This deck isn't like Dredge in that it can mull to 1 and still win off of a Bazaar, and I can't imagine that going to 5 looking for one is much better. I appreciate the anecdotal evidence and all, but the reality is that you're not always going to see one. Just ask any of thousands of Pod players playing their decks in Standard and Modern lol.
Well, I assumed that people who axe Glissa fairly quickly too, and also that you wouldn't always have the option to nab her. I never said that the deck would perform poorly, just inconsistently. All of the cards are fairly random and most are only good in certain situations. Feels iffy to me that you'd want to be ripping random cards off the top. Wargear is fine, but it's only a 2-of. You may have a legitimate threat, but so should the other players.
Personally I'd like to see something more focused. I feel like you have 1 too many creature in all of your slots that you just plain won't be grabbing very often. An R.Skele (4 seems like a bit much), the Syphon Mage, any of the 4 drops and the Gleancrawler could all stand to go in my mind. It just seems like this deck is going to consistently want the other creatures as Pod targets or as plain old value spells.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
The deck doesn't need a complete overhaul or anything. I'm just a bit worried that you'll encounter games where you fail to draw a Pod/lose it and promptly rip random cards from your deck and spin your wheels for 8 turns while you cobble a plan together. My personal issue with toolbox plans in 7 player games or whatever is that you can't react to what 7 other players are doing. It's a losing proposition more often than not. You're better off creating your own powerful gameplan and hoping that it pans out in my experience.
For example, I would probably build a Glissa Pod list if this were my deck. Executioner's Capsule over the Putrefys (the Capsule is an artifact), some Solemn Simulacrums, a Duplicant, more Wurmcoils, and then some nice revival and/or draw engines for Glissa. Phyrexian Reclamation, Oversold Cemetery, Haunted Crossroads, Distured Burial, anything. You don't need a bunch of them or anything, but 1-2 couldn't hurt, especially if you keep the Genesis in. I'd probably just ignore the whole Cauldron gameplan, or even if I kept the Cauldrons I'd ditch the Quillspike. I'd probably bump Glissa up to 2 or 3 copies since she seems like the 3 drop of choice in every situation and I'd always to have her. I'd also put Clamp back in there because the card is awesome and if you don't need cards then you're probably winning anyways. Phyrexian Metamorph seems pretty good too.
The more the deck revolves around Glissa, the more appealing it sounds to me. Again, it's purely subjective, but I would rather have a deck that draws a Glissa and follows it up with a Solemn and Wurmcoil engine as a consistent play than a deck that can sometimes do crazy things with Pod. A Glissa list can still Pod into stuff, that hasn't changed, but it's not clunky and awkward if it doesn't have one. It's still playing generically powerful cards. Like, even if Glissa dies, it's not like Wurmcoils and Duplicants are that easy to deal with. The deck will have recursion, great blockers, good draw, etc. Even though your current deck gives you more options, I'm not convinced that they're worth pursuing on average.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I suppose picking up a few more Sad Robots and Wurmcoils is doable in the near future. Robot is a card like Rhystic Study - no matter how many I have, it never seems to be enough
Thanks for the suggestions; that was very helpful.
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
Eh, I only thought of of it because you had highlighted Glissa in your previous post. I kinda glazed over her and didn't really take notice until then. She's my favorite BG card by a mile, so I'm kinda disappointed in myself, because I love pairing her with Executioner's Capsule, Sylvok Replica and the other goodies that I've previously mentioned. But yeah, I agree about Sad Robots and even Wurmcoils. I pretty much want 4 in all of my decks and it's not particularly close.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Woodland Cemetery
7 Forest
4 Swamp
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Volrath's Stronghold
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
[1]
4 Birds of Paradise
[2]
3 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Yavimaya Elder
3 Glissa, the Traitor
1 Sylvok Replica
[4]
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Solemn Simulacrum
[5]
1 Acidic Slime
1 Genesis
1 Lord of Extinction
1 Primeval Titan
3 Wurmcoil Engine
[7]
1 Elderscale Wurm
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
[8]
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
Artifacts, etc.
4 Birthing Pod
1 Batterskull
4 Skullclamp
1 Nin Deathmantle
1 Demonic Tutor
Other [standard] cards I've rotated out include Thrun, the Last Troll, Tree of Redemption, Vorapede, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, and Grave Titan.