I played a super-budget Pox Rack deck inspired partially by this thread at a local charity Legacy tournament just for fun, and had a blast. I decided that this is definitely a deck that I can develop (ie, acquire better cards for) and learn to play better. I was surprised by the number of choices and interactions. Of course my opponents were wracking their brains to remember what cards Pox plays, which was funny because I didn't even have the cards they expected. I have been playing MTG on and off for a long time, and don't have a ton of good cards from the old days, but boy was it fun to play Hymn to Tourach again!
I played a super-budget Pox Rack deck inspired partially by this thread at a local charity Legacy tournament just for fun, and had a blast. I decided that this is definitely a deck that I can develop (ie, acquire better cards for) and learn to play better. I was surprised by the number of choices and interactions. Of course my opponents were wracking their brains to remember what cards Pox plays, which was funny because I didn't even have the cards they expected. I have been playing MTG on and off for a long time, and don't have a ton of good cards from the old days, but boy was it fun to play Hymn to Tourach again!
The most epic part about budget lists is that they use cards that the established players would never consider, partly because we're stuck in old ways, partly because we can't imagine not having X or playing Y. But clearly there are things we could miss. How did the following cards do for you?
Recommendation: Your infest could be drown in sorrow if you want a straight upgrade - i.e. you don't want to worry about toxic deluge's life payment or massacre's alternative cost.
Here are a few notes on my card choices and how they played. I only played a limited number of games in the tourney, so this is based on a very small sample size. I only was able to test against some friends casual decks beforehand.
Dimir Machinations is mainly a transmute tutor because I only own one Liliana at the moment. I did actually use it to tutor for Tangle Wire, which was very effective in the game I was playing (other targets include Chimerica Idol and Phyrexian Arena). In some of my casual testing games, I have cast Dimir Machinations for its actual effect, and that has been surprisingly useful. It's a bit of a pet card to be honest, and probably too expensive mana-wise for serious inclusion. Phyrexian Arena also felt a bit expensive, and the one time I actually played it I felt like the damage it dealt to me outweighed its usefulness. I didn't get to side in the others so I'm not sure how they would have done, but Hypnotic Spectre is one of my all-time favorite cards.
Drown in Sorry sounds like a good idea. The scry would be very useful.
Thanks for the comments. My goal is to eventually create the more competitive builds that Dromar posted, but for now I am going to play the cards I have. Sorry to sidetrack this thread with discussion of a more casual build, but I wanted to just say that even missing some of the power cards, the basic deck idea was fun to play and I felt like it had some game against powered decks.
Game 1 - He wins the die roll and goes turn 1 veteran explorer. Crap. I kill off the explorer with funeral charm and lay down hymn, taking a veteran explorer and eternal witness. He hymns me back and I lose a swamp and smallpox. I cast liliana and shrieking affliction. He abrupt decays lily after taking three a couple of turns. He plays grave titan and beats me down.
Game 2 - I thoughtseize his green sun's zenith out of his opening hand. He plays deathrite shaman, but I answer with smallpox. He plays cabal therapy and strips my Liliana. We trade cards for a few turns. My discard removes his hand, but pernicious deed answers my pair of shrieking afflictions. Eventually he green sun's zenith for Thragtusk and the game ends a couple of turns later.
We play two games for fun after. Naturally, I win both and curse my bad luck at winning the games that don't count. Oh well.
Match 2: Jund
Game 1 - I lead with thoughtseize and see goblin rabblemaster, dark confidant, hymn to tourach and deathrite shaman, and some lands. I grab goblin rabblemaster. That was probably a mistake because I had an inquisition and could have taken the rabblemaster as a followup. Anyway, he casts the shaman and I respond with smallpox. He hymns me, but I cast a topdecked affliction. He plays the confidant, but I'm ready with another smallpox. He uses the punishing fire combo to ping me for one a couple of turns, but he can't answer Gurmag Angler.
Game 2 - He leads with deathrite shaman again. I hymn him and he loses two lands (a fetch and a waste). He plays dark confidant again, but I have the innocent blood and the smallpox for them. He extracts my remaining hymns, but he still can't answer my topdecked Gurmag Angler.
Match: Elves
Game 1: He wins the die roll and leads with quirion ranger. I answer with innocent blood. He casts nettle sentinel, which eats a smallpox. He eventually casts enough elves while I'm drawing swamps. I manage to cast a Gurmag Angler, but his ragtag army of elves and insects are now beating me down. We trade blows, with me at 4 and him at 2. I reanimate a deathrite shaman. He tries to go off with double nettle sentinel and double wirewood symbiote and glimpse of nature, but he can't finish me before his shaman seals the game.
Game 2: He leads with deathrite shaman. I hymn him and he loses an elf and a land. He plays a few elves and beats me down while I keep his hand empty. The elves eventually die (except for the shaman) to an engineered plague. I play a second plague to finish off the shaman. He beats me with a dryad arbor, leaving me at two before I drop a third plague just to kill the arbor. We both draw nothing of value for a few turns, but the time gives him access to green sun's zenith fetching scavenging ooze. I draw a fourth plague. I die with four plagues in play and three shrieking afflictions.
Game 3: I keep a risky hand with 2 thoughtseize, one hymn, a plague, a pox, a surgical extraction, and a swamp. I thoughtseize a glimpse of nature, leaving him with elvish visionary, natural order, a reclamation sage, and some lands. I extract the remaining two glimpses from his deck. He plays deathrite shaman off the top. I rip the swamp I need and hymn the visionary and sage from his hand. I topdeck a shrieking affliction while he summons a few elvish visionaries, birchlore rangers, and quirion ranger. I slay his army with plague after drawing my third swamp and my pox takes the deathrite shaman. The raven's crime/shrieking affliction does work, but he neuters that with another deathrite shaman. I eventually get Gurmag Angler and nether spirit out. We're both at one now, and he's forced to chump block. He draws crop rotation, bemoaning the fact he didn't draw it the previous turn. If he could cast crop rotation for dryad arbor, he could have won the game...
Game 1: I funeral charm and smallpox. He discards trinket mage. I reanimate the mage and fetch the rack, to the pleasure of the crowd watching. I get liliana out and things are looking good, even though he has three cloudpost out (well one Vesuva). He casts Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, who wipes out liliana and the mage. The Rack damages Ugin for a few turns, but Ugin's bolt per turn outpaces The Rack and I concede.
Conclusion: 2-2 is not bad, but the nic fit and cloudpost matchups were just bad. I was surprised how difficult elves was, especially since I had four plagues in play when I lost the second game. There were quite a few delver and miracles in the room, which made the nic fit and cloudpost matchups more frustrating. Still a fun night though. Reanimate and Gurmag Angler proved their worth, winning a few games. I didn't mention it in the game descriptions above, but I often cast the Angler when I only had one untapped swamp left. I didn't miss tombstalker's flying, but casting my win condition a turn early was certainty helpful.
Thanks for the report!
Post and Nic Fit are almost impossible to beat in a long game as their topdecks become more powerful.
I think you're missing out by not running factory and bloodghast. They help close games a lot faster before allowing the opponent a chance to recover. Factory blocking is relevant and both help a lot vs planeswalkers.
If the opponent brings in graveyard hate, well they took something else out and they're essentially dedicating resources to removing things we discarded. I'd call that value.
1. Bloodghast: I've tested with him before (I actually own three copies) and I've never been satisfied with the vampire spirit. He can't block when I really want a blocker and his 2/1 body without evasion is often too small to really pressure opponents. I mean I can see 'ghast being useful in Nic Fit and Post, but against 'goyf or Thalia, 'ghast is almost a dead card. If I see a rise in matchups where 'ghast is good, I might switch out. However, I often see green variants of delver and death and taxes in my meta, and 'ghast is very subpar against those decks.
2. Mishara's Factory - My biggest hangup is not being able to cast a pox effect when I really need it I (I've lost games to that when I was running non-basic lands). Urborg can help, but suddenly I'm open to wasteland and price of progress while the all basics manabase makes me immune to those kinds of cards. However, I've given thought to adding a copy of factory in just to see if the extra body outweighs the mana problems.
My build's game 1 win percentage vs D&T is 36% (4/11) and vs BUG Delver is 73% (11/15).
Your creature win-cons are just as vulnerable to RIP post-board if they're inclined to bring it in and they are even more vulnerable to StP since bloodghast can chill in the graveyard and we can insta-kill it with something if we really need to save it. I'm guessing your percentage against D&T is comparable to mine since you also called the MU "Slightly Unfavorable to Unfavorable". D&T is a pretty easy MU to fix post-board with Dread of Night and Massacre or even maybe Darkblast.
My win percentage against BUG should speak for itself but bloodghast being blocked by goyf or removed by DRS isn't really something the deck cares too much about. Bloodghast is being discarded to a pox effect about 75% of the time, so anything we get out of it after that is just value.
I can understand wanting to run a rock-solid manabase with all black sources, but the work factory puts in outweighs the instability. My thorough testing has shown 20-21 black sources to be optimal in my list (which also has SDT and urborg to smooth things over). Learning to play around stifle, wasteland, and price of progress is just a part of Legacy for most decks. I've never had back to basics or blood moon brought in against this list.
Laser Brains, I like DC too but as it is I'm working on this version right now. Thanks though!
Dromar, I went and got two SDT and four Bloodstained Mire. Turns out that, yes, they and Entomb are very useful in conjunction with the SDT, allowing for finding that key card. Also I decided you're right about overkill with the Ratchet Bombs versus Lily, so I switched the sideboard a bit and have actually taken her out for a few games, when anticipating Needles. Twice I got people to name her, to no avail I did maintain the 4 Bombs though, as there is a heavy presence of Tarmogoyfs, Deathrite Shamans, Kird Apes, Wild Nacatls, Glistener Elves, etc. at my shop.
In the main 60, I wanted to try 2 Racks and 2 Shrieking Affliction to lessen the vulnerability to dedicated artifact hate like Smash to Smithereens and Ancient Grudge. I know plenty of cards can take care of either of them, but I figure the off chance of catching someone with an anti-artifact card in their hand cause they saw The Rack last game, but having Affliction working them this game would be great.
I like a Coffin Purge in the sideboard. I'd keep the 2 Extirpate as well. I'd also consider 3 The Rack and 1 Shrieking Affliction or 4 The Rack and 1-2 affliction sb. It's probably a meta decision, but I think making sure that game 1 is as good as possible is important.
I wouldn't run coffin purge. Surgical effects are way more powerful vs ANT and dredge (and pretty much everything else I can think of that we would bring in yard hate against). Removing ALL the copies and potentially taking cards out of their hands is generally more powerful than either removing two cards or being able to entomb it.
I wouldn't run coffin purge. Surgical effects are way more powerful vs ANT and dredge (and pretty much everything else I can think of that we would bring in yard hate against). Removing ALL the copies and potentially taking cards out of their hands is generally more powerful than either removing two cards or being able to entomb it.
Peace
I don't disagree and is why I suggested keeping both copies of extirpate. It may not be worth he sideboard slot.
Getting back into legacy, I remembered one of Dromar's early lists from the main pox primer and gave a modified version a go this past weekend at a small monthly event at my LGS.
I didn't do half bad for not playing Legacy in about a year (very sadly). I went 1-1-1 in a 9-person tournament. The field had grixis delver, lands, 2x burn deck, elves, Miracles, and affinity. I did not know the meta going in to the tournament and the store would not give any hints. I put together the list I had saved from a while ago at first and then goldfished for a few hours the night before just to get back in the spirit of pox and re-familiarize myself with the interactions of the deck. I decided to add maze of ith and an extra urborg last minute because it is a card I have never been unhappy to see in the past. I tried my best to make a very versatile sideboard.
Just wondering - what might the people here have put in their sideboard (and why) going into a local event without any knowledge of the meta? I assumed burn and affinity would be there, and my buddy had elves. Also, what changes might you make now, knowing the meta I faced. I know there are also a few stoneblade and storm decks lurking (but not present).
So this is how it went:
Round 1: UW Miracles (1-1) Game 1 went very long (40 mins) as we each had an answer for each other's threats. I had a liliana out most of the game and Maze of Ith stopped him from killing her with Snapcasters, angels, and Cliques. He managed to get rid of all my racks I had drawn and path my nether spirit and factories. Finally he was able to get a bigger angel miracle off when I had him at 1 life. The game was frustrating and I feel I should have won. I aqm also pretty sure he didn't pay for a fetchland somewhere - people standing by had to keep reminding him. After that game, we had about 7 mins left in the round, and he tried to go as slowly as possible when setting up. He took forever to decided to mulligan and then proceeded to do the most intricate and slow pile shuffle I had ever seen - killing 2 whole minutes.
Sideboard:
+2 Chains of Mephistopheles, +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Null Rod. -2 Sensei's Divining Top, -4 Pox.
Game 2 I won very fast with great discard and a T1 rack. Had needled his Tops and a chains in play. I won on turn 3 (after time was up) - the look on his face lol...
Round 2: Affinity (1-2)
Game 1 I poxed him to death - he lost 5 cards from one pox, then I was able to get a creature with a mishra's factory block+pump (his misplay). I killed him to death with Bloodghasts and my spirit.
Game 2 I lost to a cranial plating, he was at 2 life. - didn't draw any hate.
Game 3 - kept a very risky hand in order to keep the null rod and 3x rack staring me in the face and lost to a faster cranial plating (equipped before I landed my rod). My opening hand was swamp, entomb, 3x The rack, Null Rod, Bloodghast. I entombed a dakmor salvage to hit my second land to play the rod - a turn too late. Racks got him to 5 though, but plating ultimately did me in as I couldn't get him to sac the equipped creature (he had 4 creatures out).
Round 3: Burn (2-0)
This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Both games he had my life total down very low, but he was never able to get there. His deck was more creature-centric burn with Ball Lightnings and such, so it was a bit better than it could have been for me. He had a really hard time getting his lands poxed away. I got multiple racks both games. Maze of Ith was very helpful, negating his ball lightning and a few more.
Sideboard:
-4 Hym to Tourach, -2 Pox, +3 Extirpate, +1 Cursed Totem, +2 Syphon Life.
Can't wait to play this again.
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Legacy:B The Gate // B Pox Modern:RGB Dredge // RBG Goblins // B The Gate // UBR Tezz AoB Control // RBG Prison Pox EDH:RBU Thraximundar // R Norin the Wary // RWB Kaalia of the Vast // BUR Grixis Combos // BU Gisa and Geralf Tribal Tiny Leaders:BUW Sydri, Galvanic Genius // R Feldon of the Third Path
your sideboard choices vs burn look very wrong to me. Discard and pox both work well here. Syphon life have i not run, so no comments, but extirpate does nothing. Probably same with totem. It stops Grim lavamancer, but what else?
Thinking back on it, I should have kept in the Discard, but pox seems risky to me with the life loss...
Extirpate - I figured use it to exile some burn spells, and possibly hit some in the hand
Regardless of my list - what would you bring in against burn?
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Legacy:B The Gate // B Pox Modern:RGB Dredge // RBG Goblins // B The Gate // UBR Tezz AoB Control // RBG Prison Pox EDH:RBU Thraximundar // R Norin the Wary // RWB Kaalia of the Vast // BUR Grixis Combos // BU Gisa and Geralf Tribal Tiny Leaders:BUW Sydri, Galvanic Genius // R Feldon of the Third Path
I have won games vs burn where i poxed twice (kill tool being the Rack). It is fun and fast:-).
Burn is very weak against discard. However it is vital that you have threats in play to avoid a long game.
Otherwise he will just bolt you with his top deck till you are dead.
If you want to be cruel then chalice of the void is recommended. Do not forget to play it on two, too. Not all burn spells cost 1 mana. Wheel of torture can be played if you worry about compatibility with chalice.
My sideboard is a mess because I don't own a lot of the all-star cards I wish I had like Canonist, Moonlight, Null Rod, etc.
Anyway, my tournament report:
R1 vs Death and Taxes 0-2.
Couldn't do much against Thalia and Rishadan Port.
R2 vs BUG Delver 2-0.
Bitterblossom won G1, Skeletons won G2.
R3 vs Dark Maverick 2-0.
My oponent couldn't do much, G1 Smallpox caught him off guard with a Bayou+Dryad board and no more lands in hand. G2 I picked the Decay from him hand, extirpated it and Liliana just destroyed him.
R4 vs Goblins 2-0.
Affliction and Darkblast shined bright here. I believe the only damage I took came from my fetchlands and Smallpox.
R5 vs Abzan Stompy 2-1.
G1 Smallpox ruined his mana and Lily+Affliction won despite Trinisphere. G2 he managed to win with Knight of the Reliquary while at 1 life, with two Afflictions in play and both of us hellbent. G3 he locked T1 Chalice at 1, T2 Chalice at 2, T3 Trinisphere, then cast KoR.
T8 Quarterfinals vs ANT 2-1.
G1 Therapy caught THREE Gitaxian Probes, it was easy to keep him handless from there. Game 3 Rest in Peace and Liliana kept him handless+graveless for Affliction to kill.
T8 Semi-Finals vs BUG Control 2-1.
G2 I won with Skeletons and a lot of removal. G3 I got Rest in Peace and Bitterblossom in the battlefield after extracting Abrupt Decay, all he had was Deathrite and lands.
The final match would've been with the Death & Taxes player but we split because it was near closing time and he had to hurry home.
I'm very impressed and very happy with the decks' results, altought I already see somethings to be fixed (I may need one more land and 2 more removal in place of 1 each of Inquisition, Therapy and Smallpox, also they sideboard is a mess). This build attacks the local meta from somewhere they're not used to and it's very fun to play.
My sideboard is a mess because I don't own a lot of the all-star cards I wish I had like Canonist, Moonlight, Null Rod, etc.
Anyway, my tournament report:
R1 vs Death and Taxes 0-2.
Couldn't do much against Thalia and Rishadan Port.
R2 vs BUG Delver 2-0.
Bitterblossom won G1, Skeletons won G2.
R3 vs Dark Maverick 2-0.
My oponent couldn't do much, G1 Smallpox caught him off guard with a Bayou+Dryad board and no more lands in hand. G2 I picked the Decay from him hand, extirpated it and Liliana just destroyed him.
R4 vs Goblins 2-0.
Affliction and Darkblast shined bright here. I believe the only damage I took came from my fetchlands and Smallpox.
R5 vs Abzan Stompy 2-1.
G1 Smallpox ruined his mana and Lily+Affliction won despite Trinisphere. G2 he managed to win with Knight of the Reliquary while at 1 life, with two Afflictions in play and both of us hellbent. G3 he locked T1 Chalice at 1, T2 Chalice at 2, T3 Trinisphere, then cast KoR.
T8 Quarterfinals vs ANT 2-1.
G1 Therapy caught THREE Gitaxian Probes, it was easy to keep him handless from there. Game 3 Rest in Peace and Liliana kept him handless+graveless for Affliction to kill.
T8 Semi-Finals vs BUG Control 2-1.
G2 I won with Skeletons and a lot of removal. G3 I got Rest in Peace and Bitterblossom in the battlefield after extracting Abrupt Decay, all he had was Deathrite and lands.
The final match would've been with the Death & Taxes player but we split because it was near closing time and he had to hurry home.
I'm very impressed and very happy with the decks' results, altought I already see somethings to be fixed (I may need one more land and 2 more removal in place of 1 each of Inquisition, Therapy and Smallpox, also they sideboard is a mess). This build attacks the local meta from somewhere they're not used to and it's very fun to play.
Very interesting list! It has the best parts of The Gate, but it is clearly a Rack Pox build. A few questions:
1. I notice you're not running thoughtseize. Do you ever miss them?
2. How often do you board in lingering souls and in what matchups?
3. Is two bitterblossom enough/have you ever tested more?
4. Why oblivion ring over vindicate? Money/rarity issues? Is Emrakul the deciding factor?
My sideboard is a mess because I don't own a lot of the all-star cards I wish I had like Canonist, Moonlight, Null Rod, etc.
Anyway, my tournament report:
R1 vs Death and Taxes 0-2.
Couldn't do much against Thalia and Rishadan Port.
R2 vs BUG Delver 2-0.
Bitterblossom won G1, Skeletons won G2.
R3 vs Dark Maverick 2-0.
My oponent couldn't do much, G1 Smallpox caught him off guard with a Bayou+Dryad board and no more lands in hand. G2 I picked the Decay from him hand, extirpated it and Liliana just destroyed him.
R4 vs Goblins 2-0.
Affliction and Darkblast shined bright here. I believe the only damage I took came from my fetchlands and Smallpox.
R5 vs Abzan Stompy 2-1.
G1 Smallpox ruined his mana and Lily+Affliction won despite Trinisphere. G2 he managed to win with Knight of the Reliquary while at 1 life, with two Afflictions in play and both of us hellbent. G3 he locked T1 Chalice at 1, T2 Chalice at 2, T3 Trinisphere, then cast KoR.
T8 Quarterfinals vs ANT 2-1.
G1 Therapy caught THREE Gitaxian Probes, it was easy to keep him handless from there. Game 3 Rest in Peace and Liliana kept him handless+graveless for Affliction to kill.
T8 Semi-Finals vs BUG Control 2-1.
G2 I won with Skeletons and a lot of removal. G3 I got Rest in Peace and Bitterblossom in the battlefield after extracting Abrupt Decay, all he had was Deathrite and lands.
The final match would've been with the Death & Taxes player but we split because it was near closing time and he had to hurry home.
I'm very impressed and very happy with the decks' results, altought I already see somethings to be fixed (I may need one more land and 2 more removal in place of 1 each of Inquisition, Therapy and Smallpox, also they sideboard is a mess). This build attacks the local meta from somewhere they're not used to and it's very fun to play.
Very interesting list! It has the best parts of The Gate, but it is clearly a Rack Pox build. A few questions:
1. I notice you're not running thoughtseize. Do you ever miss them?
2. How often do you board in lingering souls and in what matchups?
3. Is two bitterblossom enough/have you ever tested more?
4. Why oblivion ring over vindicate? Money/rarity issues? Is Emrakul the deciding factor?
1. I think the only things I haven't been able to take away with IoK so far have been a Jace, a Iona and a Tendrills, but I still won those games so no, I don't really miss it.
2. Absolutely never, it was part of the board that night because I decided not to play Burn at 11 pm the night before an event and didn't know what to put in the sideboard, nowadays the sideboard looks more like this:
It's mostly removal because the main deck has a harder match vs creature decks and creature-based combos than it has against spell based combos and control.
3. Two is good, Bob has made sure I find them and three were showing up too much. I'm pretty sure I've won more games where I didn't draw Bitterblossom than those where I drew more than 1.
4. Yes, it was 100% S&T tech. Now I'm running the Marauders because even if they were Vindicated/Counciled out, Emrakul/Griselbrand won't return. I considered Ashen Rider but decided to go with something I could cast in case I needed it vs some rogue surprise.
Hello everyone, I've been building this deck for a long time and went to a local tourney a few weeks back, the meta is super developed with plenty of tier 1, 1.5 decks, I ended up going 1-3 but I think I (and the deck) can do far better in future events.
The list I played last tournament looked very similar to this one, but I had some minor changes, like only 2 skirges, 4 racks and 2 MD extirpate (now on the SB).
The tournament report is a few weeks old, so take the meta considerations with a grain of salt, speciallt since many players there can switch decks from week to week.
Match 1Elves:
I won G1 after some attrition and getting lucky with a 2nd turn Hymn on the play, followed up by more discard. Tombstalker finished the job shortly after.
G2 he comboed on the second turn so there was not much I could do.
G3 was an attrition fest again And I won afetr he tryed to combo with few creatures to chain. Pox (saccing Ghast) plus Skirge won my first competitive match in over five years.
M2 Grixis
The dream was over preety fast G1 He chained a crazy bunch of cantrips and overruned me with Young Pyro tokens and double bolt.
I remember siding in Leyline of the void in G2 to fight Dig Through Time, and it worked, but the cantrip chains kept his hand full of answers and I eventually died to a jace Ultimate. i cannot remember correctly bc my notes are messed up,, but I made a midsized mistake in G2, casting a shaman with a skirge in play and a therapy on the yard... not a huge thing but i kept making those kind of mistakes all afternoon.
M3 BUG control
This is the match that should have won but ended up loosing to my own mistakes. With a bit more practice this will be winnable.
He plays a Jace, Liliana, Ashiok, Loam hybrid. G1 I started with heavy disruption and manage to put him on 3 life, with a ghast in play and anotherone in the yard, instead of dredging the dakmor salvage also in the yard I drew a card and casted Cabal therapy plus flashback without attacking. He ended up winning that game afterwards...
G2 I disrupted him and poxed him to oblivion
G3 we went back and forth for a long drawn out game that ended with him decking me with Ashiok and Loam recursion. A turn before he ultimated Ashiok I decided not to play a Tombstalekr in my hand to "wait for a turn to see what he does" This is not the kind of deck that holds down cards to answer the opp threats, this is hands down aggro disruption, no hold barred attack. Next turn he erased my yard and i lost motivation and the game shortly after.
M4 Deathblade
G1 he starts with a fetch into tropical island into deathrite, I cast a blind therapy naming Brainstorm and hit jackpot. Then Hymn, smallpox ghast and skirge. He conceded.
G2 Long game. We went back and forth trading discard for counterspells for a while, but eventually he landed a batterskull and sworded all my dudes.
G3 I mulled twice to find a hand with lands, and kept one with threats but no disruption, He killed me with batterskull again.
All in all I believe that the pox strategy is potent, The only real time I felt out of my game was against Swarm plus burn, otherwise i attribute the losses to missplays and being out of practice with tournament play (really, the last tournament i went was an old Extended one).
Pros: The list is super disruptive, and hands with disruption and a clock are heavy contenders. First turn hymn rules. Skirge steal games, stalker seals them. If yoy play your cards right games tend to be very fast, wich leaves you time to see what the rest of the people are playing with...
Cons: Missplays, being in burn range, opp outdrawing you. Resolved noncreature threats are hard to deal with, as also are swarms.
Soulflayer is a test slot bc I couldn't find a third Stalker...
The leylines could very likely become extirpates and surgicals, to hose duals for the synnergy with therapy.
The next card on my buylist is Liliana, what can I remove for her?
In a few weeks I'll be playing again (job, college and girlfriend pull theyr weight against MTG spare time)
Thought, ideas on how to improve the list, playing tips, and any advice are welcomed.
Saludos!
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In case anyone is interested, here is my list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/26-04-15-budget-8-rack/.
Thanks for all the advice and discussion here!
The most epic part about budget lists is that they use cards that the established players would never consider, partly because we're stuck in old ways, partly because we can't imagine not having X or playing Y. But clearly there are things we could miss. How did the following cards do for you?
Dimir Machinations
Tangle Wire
Phyrexian Arena
Abyssal Persecutor
Hypnotic Specter
Shrivel
Recommendation: Your infest could be drown in sorrow if you want a straight upgrade - i.e. you don't want to worry about toxic deluge's life payment or massacre's alternative cost.
Dimir Machinations is mainly a transmute tutor because I only own one Liliana at the moment. I did actually use it to tutor for Tangle Wire, which was very effective in the game I was playing (other targets include Chimerica Idol and Phyrexian Arena). In some of my casual testing games, I have cast Dimir Machinations for its actual effect, and that has been surprisingly useful. It's a bit of a pet card to be honest, and probably too expensive mana-wise for serious inclusion. Phyrexian Arena also felt a bit expensive, and the one time I actually played it I felt like the damage it dealt to me outweighed its usefulness. I didn't get to side in the others so I'm not sure how they would have done, but Hypnotic Spectre is one of my all-time favorite cards.
Drown in Sorry sounds like a good idea. The scry would be very useful.
Thanks for the comments. My goal is to eventually create the more competitive builds that Dromar posted, but for now I am going to play the cards I have. Sorry to sidetrack this thread with discussion of a more casual build, but I wanted to just say that even missing some of the power cards, the basic deck idea was fun to play and I felt like it had some game against powered decks.
1 Tombstalker
1 Gurmag Angler
1 Nether Spirit
4 Shrieking Affliction
1 The Rack
4 Pox
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Funeral Charm
4 Innocent Blood
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Raven's Crime
1 Reanimate
3 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Extirpate
3 Massacre
1 Deathmark
Here we go:
Match 1: Nic Fit
Game 1 - He wins the die roll and goes turn 1 veteran explorer. Crap. I kill off the explorer with funeral charm and lay down hymn, taking a veteran explorer and eternal witness. He hymns me back and I lose a swamp and smallpox. I cast liliana and shrieking affliction. He abrupt decays lily after taking three a couple of turns. He plays grave titan and beats me down.
Sideboard: - 1 raven's crime +1 deathmark
Game 2 - I thoughtseize his green sun's zenith out of his opening hand. He plays deathrite shaman, but I answer with smallpox. He plays cabal therapy and strips my Liliana. We trade cards for a few turns. My discard removes his hand, but pernicious deed answers my pair of shrieking afflictions. Eventually he green sun's zenith for Thragtusk and the game ends a couple of turns later.
We play two games for fun after. Naturally, I win both and curse my bad luck at winning the games that don't count. Oh well.
Match 2: Jund
Game 1 - I lead with thoughtseize and see goblin rabblemaster, dark confidant, hymn to tourach and deathrite shaman, and some lands. I grab goblin rabblemaster. That was probably a mistake because I had an inquisition and could have taken the rabblemaster as a followup. Anyway, he casts the shaman and I respond with smallpox. He hymns me, but I cast a topdecked affliction. He plays the confidant, but I'm ready with another smallpox. He uses the punishing fire combo to ping me for one a couple of turns, but he can't answer Gurmag Angler.
Sideboard: -1 Raven's crime + 1 deathmark
Game 2 - He leads with deathrite shaman again. I hymn him and he loses two lands (a fetch and a waste). He plays dark confidant again, but I have the innocent blood and the smallpox for them. He extracts my remaining hymns, but he still can't answer my topdecked Gurmag Angler.
Match: Elves
Game 1: He wins the die roll and leads with quirion ranger. I answer with innocent blood. He casts nettle sentinel, which eats a smallpox. He eventually casts enough elves while I'm drawing swamps. I manage to cast a Gurmag Angler, but his ragtag army of elves and insects are now beating me down. We trade blows, with me at 4 and him at 2. I reanimate a deathrite shaman. He tries to go off with double nettle sentinel and double wirewood symbiote and glimpse of nature, but he can't finish me before his shaman seals the game.
Sideboard: - 3 Liliana - 1 Pox - 1 Raven's Crime -1 The Rack +4 Engineered Plague + 1 deathmark +1 Surgical Extraction
Game 2: He leads with deathrite shaman. I hymn him and he loses an elf and a land. He plays a few elves and beats me down while I keep his hand empty. The elves eventually die (except for the shaman) to an engineered plague. I play a second plague to finish off the shaman. He beats me with a dryad arbor, leaving me at two before I drop a third plague just to kill the arbor. We both draw nothing of value for a few turns, but the time gives him access to green sun's zenith fetching scavenging ooze. I draw a fourth plague. I die with four plagues in play and three shrieking afflictions.
Game 3: I keep a risky hand with 2 thoughtseize, one hymn, a plague, a pox, a surgical extraction, and a swamp. I thoughtseize a glimpse of nature, leaving him with elvish visionary, natural order, a reclamation sage, and some lands. I extract the remaining two glimpses from his deck. He plays deathrite shaman off the top. I rip the swamp I need and hymn the visionary and sage from his hand. I topdeck a shrieking affliction while he summons a few elvish visionaries, birchlore rangers, and quirion ranger. I slay his army with plague after drawing my third swamp and my pox takes the deathrite shaman. The raven's crime/shrieking affliction does work, but he neuters that with another deathrite shaman. I eventually get Gurmag Angler and nether spirit out. We're both at one now, and he's forced to chump block. He draws crop rotation, bemoaning the fact he didn't draw it the previous turn. If he could cast crop rotation for dryad arbor, he could have won the game...
Match 4: Cloudpost
Game 1: I funeral charm and smallpox. He discards trinket mage. I reanimate the mage and fetch the rack, to the pleasure of the crowd watching. I get liliana out and things are looking good, even though he has three cloudpost out (well one Vesuva). He casts Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, who wipes out liliana and the mage. The Rack damages Ugin for a few turns, but Ugin's bolt per turn outpaces The Rack and I concede.
Sideboard: - 1 Shrieking Affliction - 4 Innocent Blood +3 Pithing Needle + 2 Surgical Extraction
Game 2: I thoughtseize a trinket mage and extract all the copies. He still has dark depths, krosan grip, and a Vesuva. He living wishes for Thespian's Stage. I needle the stage, but he has the grip for it of course. I concede when the 20/20 comes out.
Conclusion: 2-2 is not bad, but the nic fit and cloudpost matchups were just bad. I was surprised how difficult elves was, especially since I had four plagues in play when I lost the second game. There were quite a few delver and miracles in the room, which made the nic fit and cloudpost matchups more frustrating. Still a fun night though. Reanimate and Gurmag Angler proved their worth, winning a few games. I didn't mention it in the game descriptions above, but I often cast the Angler when I only had one untapped swamp left. I didn't miss tombstalker's flying, but casting my win condition a turn early was certainty helpful.
Post and Nic Fit are almost impossible to beat in a long game as their topdecks become more powerful.
I think you're missing out by not running factory and bloodghast. They help close games a lot faster before allowing the opponent a chance to recover. Factory blocking is relevant and both help a lot vs planeswalkers.
If the opponent brings in graveyard hate, well they took something else out and they're essentially dedicating resources to removing things we discarded. I'd call that value.
Peace
1. Bloodghast: I've tested with him before (I actually own three copies) and I've never been satisfied with the vampire spirit. He can't block when I really want a blocker and his 2/1 body without evasion is often too small to really pressure opponents. I mean I can see 'ghast being useful in Nic Fit and Post, but against 'goyf or Thalia, 'ghast is almost a dead card. If I see a rise in matchups where 'ghast is good, I might switch out. However, I often see green variants of delver and death and taxes in my meta, and 'ghast is very subpar against those decks.
2. Mishara's Factory - My biggest hangup is not being able to cast a pox effect when I really need it I (I've lost games to that when I was running non-basic lands). Urborg can help, but suddenly I'm open to wasteland and price of progress while the all basics manabase makes me immune to those kinds of cards. However, I've given thought to adding a copy of factory in just to see if the extra body outweighs the mana problems.
Thanks for the comments though!
Your creature win-cons are just as vulnerable to RIP post-board if they're inclined to bring it in and they are even more vulnerable to StP since bloodghast can chill in the graveyard and we can insta-kill it with something if we really need to save it. I'm guessing your percentage against D&T is comparable to mine since you also called the MU "Slightly Unfavorable to Unfavorable". D&T is a pretty easy MU to fix post-board with Dread of Night and Massacre or even maybe Darkblast.
My win percentage against BUG should speak for itself but bloodghast being blocked by goyf or removed by DRS isn't really something the deck cares too much about. Bloodghast is being discarded to a pox effect about 75% of the time, so anything we get out of it after that is just value.
I can understand wanting to run a rock-solid manabase with all black sources, but the work factory puts in outweighs the instability. My thorough testing has shown 20-21 black sources to be optimal in my list (which also has SDT and urborg to smooth things over). Learning to play around stifle, wasteland, and price of progress is just a part of Legacy for most decks. I've never had back to basics or blood moon brought in against this list.
peace
I like a Coffin Purge in the sideboard. I'd keep the 2 Extirpate as well. I'd also consider 3 The Rack and 1 Shrieking Affliction or 4 The Rack and 1-2 affliction sb. It's probably a meta decision, but I think making sure that game 1 is as good as possible is important.
I wouldn't run coffin purge. Surgical effects are way more powerful vs ANT and dredge (and pretty much everything else I can think of that we would bring in yard hate against). Removing ALL the copies and potentially taking cards out of their hands is generally more powerful than either removing two cards or being able to entomb it.
Peace
I don't disagree and is why I suggested keeping both copies of extirpate. It may not be worth he sideboard slot.
I ran:
1x Nether Spirit
3x Bloodghast
Spells (32):
1x Entomb
4x Innocent Blood
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Raven's Crime
2x Sensei's Divining Top
4x The Rack
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Smallpox
3x Liliana of the Veil
4x Pox
2x Dakmor Salvage
3x Mishra's Factory
1x Maze of Ith
3x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
15x Swamp
3x Extirpate
3x Pithing Needle
2x Chains of Mephistopheles
2x Null Rod
2x Engineered Plague
1x Cursed Totem
2x Siphon Life
I didn't do half bad for not playing Legacy in about a year (very sadly). I went 1-1-1 in a 9-person tournament. The field had grixis delver, lands, 2x burn deck, elves, Miracles, and affinity. I did not know the meta going in to the tournament and the store would not give any hints. I put together the list I had saved from a while ago at first and then goldfished for a few hours the night before just to get back in the spirit of pox and re-familiarize myself with the interactions of the deck. I decided to add maze of ith and an extra urborg last minute because it is a card I have never been unhappy to see in the past. I tried my best to make a very versatile sideboard.
Just wondering - what might the people here have put in their sideboard (and why) going into a local event without any knowledge of the meta? I assumed burn and affinity would be there, and my buddy had elves. Also, what changes might you make now, knowing the meta I faced. I know there are also a few stoneblade and storm decks lurking (but not present).
So this is how it went:
Round 1: UW Miracles (1-1)
Game 1 went very long (40 mins) as we each had an answer for each other's threats. I had a liliana out most of the game and Maze of Ith stopped him from killing her with Snapcasters, angels, and Cliques. He managed to get rid of all my racks I had drawn and path my nether spirit and factories. Finally he was able to get a bigger angel miracle off when I had him at 1 life. The game was frustrating and I feel I should have won. I aqm also pretty sure he didn't pay for a fetchland somewhere - people standing by had to keep reminding him. After that game, we had about 7 mins left in the round, and he tried to go as slowly as possible when setting up. He took forever to decided to mulligan and then proceeded to do the most intricate and slow pile shuffle I had ever seen - killing 2 whole minutes.
Sideboard:
+2 Chains of Mephistopheles, +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Null Rod. -2 Sensei's Divining Top, -4 Pox.
Game 2 I won very fast with great discard and a T1 rack. Had needled his Tops and a chains in play. I won on turn 3 (after time was up) - the look on his face lol...
Round 2: Affinity (1-2)
Game 1 I poxed him to death - he lost 5 cards from one pox, then I was able to get a creature with a mishra's factory block+pump (his misplay). I killed him to death with Bloodghasts and my spirit.
Sideboard:
-4 Hymn to Tourach, -2 Top, +2 Null Rod, +3 Pithing Needle, +1 Cursed Totem
Game 2 I lost to a cranial plating, he was at 2 life. - didn't draw any hate.
Game 3 - kept a very risky hand in order to keep the null rod and 3x rack staring me in the face and lost to a faster cranial plating (equipped before I landed my rod). My opening hand was swamp, entomb, 3x The rack, Null Rod, Bloodghast. I entombed a dakmor salvage to hit my second land to play the rod - a turn too late. Racks got him to 5 though, but plating ultimately did me in as I couldn't get him to sac the equipped creature (he had 4 creatures out).
Round 3: Burn (2-0)
This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Both games he had my life total down very low, but he was never able to get there. His deck was more creature-centric burn with Ball Lightnings and such, so it was a bit better than it could have been for me. He had a really hard time getting his lands poxed away. I got multiple racks both games. Maze of Ith was very helpful, negating his ball lightning and a few more.
Sideboard:
-4 Hym to Tourach, -2 Pox, +3 Extirpate, +1 Cursed Totem, +2 Syphon Life.
Can't wait to play this again.
Modern: RGB Dredge // RBG Goblins // B The Gate // UBR Tezz AoB Control // RBG Prison Pox
EDH: RBU Thraximundar // R Norin the Wary // RWB Kaalia of the Vast // BUR Grixis Combos // BU Gisa and Geralf Tribal
Tiny Leaders: BUW Sydri, Galvanic Genius // R Feldon of the Third Path
Projects:
Gisa and Geralf Extreme-Tribal EDH
Esper Eldrazi Processor Control
Brewing with Kuldotha Forgemaster
Primer: "The Gate" - Mono Black in Modern
Modern Prison Pox - building a better plague
Extirpate - I figured use it to exile some burn spells, and possibly hit some in the hand
Regardless of my list - what would you bring in against burn?
Modern: RGB Dredge // RBG Goblins // B The Gate // UBR Tezz AoB Control // RBG Prison Pox
EDH: RBU Thraximundar // R Norin the Wary // RWB Kaalia of the Vast // BUR Grixis Combos // BU Gisa and Geralf Tribal
Tiny Leaders: BUW Sydri, Galvanic Genius // R Feldon of the Third Path
Projects:
Gisa and Geralf Extreme-Tribal EDH
Esper Eldrazi Processor Control
Brewing with Kuldotha Forgemaster
Primer: "The Gate" - Mono Black in Modern
Modern Prison Pox - building a better plague
Burn is very weak against discard. However it is vital that you have threats in play to avoid a long game.
Otherwise he will just bolt you with his top deck till you are dead.
If you want to be cruel then chalice of the void is recommended. Do not forget to play it on two, too. Not all burn spells cost 1 mana.
Wheel of torture can be played if you worry about compatibility with chalice.
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Scrubland
9 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Dakmor Salvage
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Dark Confidant
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Shrieking Affliction
3 Darkblast
3 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Raven's Crime
2 Bitterblossom
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Paraselene
1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Victim of Night
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Rest in Peace
4 Lingering Souls
My sideboard is a mess because I don't own a lot of the all-star cards I wish I had like Canonist, Moonlight, Null Rod, etc.
Anyway, my tournament report:
R1 vs Death and Taxes 0-2.
Couldn't do much against Thalia and Rishadan Port.
R2 vs BUG Delver 2-0.
Bitterblossom won G1, Skeletons won G2.
R3 vs Dark Maverick 2-0.
My oponent couldn't do much, G1 Smallpox caught him off guard with a Bayou+Dryad board and no more lands in hand. G2 I picked the Decay from him hand, extirpated it and Liliana just destroyed him.
R4 vs Goblins 2-0.
Affliction and Darkblast shined bright here. I believe the only damage I took came from my fetchlands and Smallpox.
R5 vs Abzan Stompy 2-1.
G1 Smallpox ruined his mana and Lily+Affliction won despite Trinisphere. G2 he managed to win with Knight of the Reliquary while at 1 life, with two Afflictions in play and both of us hellbent. G3 he locked T1 Chalice at 1, T2 Chalice at 2, T3 Trinisphere, then cast KoR.
T8 Quarterfinals vs ANT 2-1.
G1 Therapy caught THREE Gitaxian Probes, it was easy to keep him handless from there. Game 3 Rest in Peace and Liliana kept him handless+graveless for Affliction to kill.
T8 Semi-Finals vs BUG Control 2-1.
G2 I won with Skeletons and a lot of removal. G3 I got Rest in Peace and Bitterblossom in the battlefield after extracting Abrupt Decay, all he had was Deathrite and lands.
The final match would've been with the Death & Taxes player but we split because it was near closing time and he had to hurry home.
I'm very impressed and very happy with the decks' results, altought I already see somethings to be fixed (I may need one more land and 2 more removal in place of 1 each of Inquisition, Therapy and Smallpox, also they sideboard is a mess). This build attacks the local meta from somewhere they're not used to and it's very fun to play.
Very interesting list! It has the best parts of The Gate, but it is clearly a Rack Pox build. A few questions:
1. I notice you're not running thoughtseize. Do you ever miss them?
2. How often do you board in lingering souls and in what matchups?
3. Is two bitterblossom enough/have you ever tested more?
4. Why oblivion ring over vindicate? Money/rarity issues? Is Emrakul the deciding factor?
1. I think the only things I haven't been able to take away with IoK so far have been a Jace, a Iona and a Tendrills, but I still won those games so no, I don't really miss it.
2. Absolutely never, it was part of the board that night because I decided not to play Burn at 11 pm the night before an event and didn't know what to put in the sideboard, nowadays the sideboard looks more like this:
2 Uba Mask
2 Fleshbag Marauder
2 Toxic Deluge
2 Victim of Night
3 Rest in Peace
3 Surgical Extraction
It's mostly removal because the main deck has a harder match vs creature decks and creature-based combos than it has against spell based combos and control.
3. Two is good, Bob has made sure I find them and three were showing up too much. I'm pretty sure I've won more games where I didn't draw Bitterblossom than those where I drew more than 1.
4. Yes, it was 100% S&T tech. Now I'm running the Marauders because even if they were Vindicated/Counciled out, Emrakul/Griselbrand won't return. I considered Ashen Rider but decided to go with something I could cast in case I needed it vs some rogue surprise.
4x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
2x Scrubland
10x Swamp
4x Cabal Therapy
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Raven's Crime
1x Sadistic Sacrament
4x Smallpox
4x The Rack
4x Dark Confidant
3x Reassembling Skeleton
4x Shrieking Affliction
4x Liliana of the Veil
2x Ethersworn Canonist
3x Paraselene
3x Rest in Peace
3x Shrivel
4x Surgical Extraction
I had Ethersworn Canonist around because I was expecting Storm to do better but it still worked as an extra beater vs Dark Maverick, and Paraselene was the last nail in this match's coffin taking Leyline of Sanctity and Sylvan Library in one fell swoop.
For Miracles, T1 Inquisition of Kozilek+Surgical Extraction on Counterbalance pretty much spelled my victory right there. Without the balance countering my discard was unprofitable and so he ended up unable to get out of The Rack range. The Reassembling Skeleton having pseudo-uncounterable, pseudo-flash helped a lot too.
This board was designed for my possible competition. I guess going wider with my meta I'd go for something like:
2 Vindicate
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Paraselene
2 Rest in Peace
2 Shrivel
3 Surgical Extraction
All ideas all welcome. Thx!!
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Cabal Pit
1 Dakmor Salvage
3 Mishra's Factory
10 Swamp
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
//Spells
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Dark Ritual
1 Darkblast
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Innocent Blood
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Phyrexian Arena
2 Pox
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Smallpox
3 The Rack
4 Bloodghast
2 Tombstalker
2 Trinisphere
3 Pithing Needle
2 Duress
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Darkblast
2 Extirpate
My decklist at the mooment is:
8 swamp
4 mishra's factory
4 wasteland
4 dakmor salvage
3 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
4 mox diamond
3 the rack
4 deathrite shaman
4 skittering skirge
4 bloodghast
1 soulflayer
2 tombstalker
4 cabal therapy
4 hymn to tourach
4 smallpox
3 pox
The list I played last tournament looked very similar to this one, but I had some minor changes, like only 2 skirges, 4 racks and 2 MD extirpate (now on the SB).
The tournament report is a few weeks old, so take the meta considerations with a grain of salt, speciallt since many players there can switch decks from week to week.
Match 1Elves:
I won G1 after some attrition and getting lucky with a 2nd turn Hymn on the play, followed up by more discard. Tombstalker finished the job shortly after.
G2 he comboed on the second turn so there was not much I could do.
G3 was an attrition fest again And I won afetr he tryed to combo with few creatures to chain. Pox (saccing Ghast) plus Skirge won my first competitive match in over five years.
M2 Grixis
The dream was over preety fast G1 He chained a crazy bunch of cantrips and overruned me with Young Pyro tokens and double bolt.
I remember siding in Leyline of the void in G2 to fight Dig Through Time, and it worked, but the cantrip chains kept his hand full of answers and I eventually died to a jace Ultimate. i cannot remember correctly bc my notes are messed up,, but I made a midsized mistake in G2, casting a shaman with a skirge in play and a therapy on the yard... not a huge thing but i kept making those kind of mistakes all afternoon.
M3 BUG control
This is the match that should have won but ended up loosing to my own mistakes. With a bit more practice this will be winnable.
He plays a Jace, Liliana, Ashiok, Loam hybrid. G1 I started with heavy disruption and manage to put him on 3 life, with a ghast in play and anotherone in the yard, instead of dredging the dakmor salvage also in the yard I drew a card and casted Cabal therapy plus flashback without attacking. He ended up winning that game afterwards...
G2 I disrupted him and poxed him to oblivion
G3 we went back and forth for a long drawn out game that ended with him decking me with Ashiok and Loam recursion. A turn before he ultimated Ashiok I decided not to play a Tombstalekr in my hand to "wait for a turn to see what he does" This is not the kind of deck that holds down cards to answer the opp threats, this is hands down aggro disruption, no hold barred attack. Next turn he erased my yard and i lost motivation and the game shortly after.
M4 Deathblade
G1 he starts with a fetch into tropical island into deathrite, I cast a blind therapy naming Brainstorm and hit jackpot. Then Hymn, smallpox ghast and skirge. He conceded.
G2 Long game. We went back and forth trading discard for counterspells for a while, but eventually he landed a batterskull and sworded all my dudes.
G3 I mulled twice to find a hand with lands, and kept one with threats but no disruption, He killed me with batterskull again.
All in all I believe that the pox strategy is potent, The only real time I felt out of my game was against Swarm plus burn, otherwise i attribute the losses to missplays and being out of practice with tournament play (really, the last tournament i went was an old Extended one).
Right now my Sb looks something like this:
2 necroplasm
2 pithing needle
2 ratchet bomb
3 leyline of the void
2 engineered plague
2 duress
1 sadistic sacrament
1 massacre
Pros: The list is super disruptive, and hands with disruption and a clock are heavy contenders. First turn hymn rules. Skirge steal games, stalker seals them. If yoy play your cards right games tend to be very fast, wich leaves you time to see what the rest of the people are playing with...
Cons: Missplays, being in burn range, opp outdrawing you. Resolved noncreature threats are hard to deal with, as also are swarms.
Soulflayer is a test slot bc I couldn't find a third Stalker...
The leylines could very likely become extirpates and surgicals, to hose duals for the synnergy with therapy.
The next card on my buylist is Liliana, what can I remove for her?
In a few weeks I'll be playing again (job, college and girlfriend pull theyr weight against MTG spare time)
Thought, ideas on how to improve the list, playing tips, and any advice are welcomed.
Saludos!