Abyssal Persecutor was never a problem for me to get rid of when I needed to and he was almost always the first four drop I went for. He just wins games fast.
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs is my anti-Twin and anti-horde army guy. It's pretty funny to watch someone land Grave Titan and have their tokens be worthless unless they pay 3 per.
The sideboard so heavy on red sweepers was because our local meta is usually all inexpensive, aggro decks but the last few weeks it has been different so those slots are going to change quite a bit.
I think I'm going to try out the Pod-Twin idea next time I can go up to a tournament and see how it does. But, I have a feeling that I'll just wind up going back to G/B overall and going a bit less tool-boxxy. I will still keep Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs as my anti-Twin, anti-Aggro. He's just that good.
Your deck is too reliant on having Birthing Pod. If you don't draw it or if your opponent has an answer for it, the deck just fizzles out. You should make a deck with a certain strategy in mind and having Birthing Pod to generate board advantage.
Basically Hand Disruption and Creature Removal with a bit of Enchantment removal as well. Obviously you wouldn't run all of these but any of them could work.
Any reason you aren't running manlands? Also, your list is a bit removal light. How is your splintergay matchup? Isn't Kazuul a huge dismember target? I friggin love your creature selection, I'm just worried that without 1cmc discard and 2cmc removal I'd be outpaced by beatdown.
I suppose most of the reason is because I hadn't thought to try them. I've never been a huge fan of them in the first place but this cycle is pretty powerful.
Kazuul is a huge dismember target (a lot of the deck is) and he's pretty fragile against Twin builds that have it (which should be all of them) but I really like him for making things more complicated for them. I probably will replace the Pyroclasms/Slagstorms in the sideboard with actual answers to that deck.
I have played this now at around six tournaments. I started with G/B and then moved to Jund. I quickly cut the discard and removal out as they were underperforming.
But, now that I am most likely headed back to G/B (or probably even if I stay at Jund) I'll probably find room for Despise as it's planeswalkers that are mostly ruining my day.
I suppose most of the reason is because I hadn't thought to try them. I've never been a huge fan of them in the first place but this cycle is pretty powerful.
Kazuul is a huge dismember target (a lot of the deck is) and he's pretty fragile against Twin builds that have it (which should be all of them) but I really like him for making things more complicated for them. I probably will replace the Pyroclasms/Slagstorms in the sideboard with actual answers to that deck.
I have played this now at around six tournaments. I started with G/B and then moved to Jund. I quickly cut the discard and removal out as they were underperforming.
But, now that I am most likely headed back to G/B (or probably even if I stay at Jund) I'll probably find room for Despise as it's planeswalkers that are mostly ruining my day.
Vampire Hexmage doesn't cut it for you? You have enough 1cmc guys to fetch one up. I would also suggest Duress over Despise, simply because you can also pull whatever artifact hate they may have at the time. Pod is such a huge target and without it we basically fold. I would suggest 4 Duress 2 Vampire Hexmage in the sideboard, maybe even mainboard depending on your meta.
Also, what are you generally siding out for Pyro/slag?
This is by no means a permanent list, but let me defend my choices:
Mainboard:
Birds are obvious, allows 2nd turn Pod and whatever 3 drops you may have. Combination of Sylvan/Viridian: Viridian sucks against control if you have no pod. They'll just keep it alive and you'll never get your land drop. He rocks against aggro though. Vice versa for Sylvan.
Perilous Myr is also wicked against aggro, and 2 damage is always welcome in a podding.
Spellskite protects your pod while chumping goblins. Win.
Glissa is a tank who can potentially revive pods/myr/whatever else.
Manic Vandal is mainboard because everybody is running artifacts these days including Magnet, Spellskite, WCE, etc.
Tuktuk feeds pod sexily.
Pilgrim's eye is situational, but he has gotten me out of binds before.
Not entirely sold on Liliana's specter, but card advantage is nice.
Entomber is a duress bear who can also grab Valakut/Colonnades in rare instances.
Metamorph - Also not entirely sold on this one. Could possibly be a Thrun instead.
Baloth has saved me from aggro many times, hence the second in the SB.
Persecutor beats face and wins in a few turns, nothing techy about him.
Skinrender makes titans manageable and can also shut aggro up for a minute.
Urabrask is choice against exarch twin, though he is a bit slow to the punch. Could be replaced with Kazuul or anything else.
Acidic is obvious, threat eliminator, needs no explanation.
Mitotic is a great podder, but using him for beats is acceptable, though kinda slow.
Brutalizer does what Acidic Slime doesn't, sends Gideon/Koth into the bowels of your library.
Massacre Wurm may be best suited for the sideboard. He wipes aggro but is generally useless otherwise.
Inferno Titan can end games, but he isn't really suited for podding out of. Wurmcoil Engine or Grave Titan would probably be better in this spot.
Sheoldred can add insult to injury if she sticks. Not sure if she's really important TBH. Probably the biggest target in the deck.
I really wish there was room for more removal. If we cut the fat we could throw in some Gofer/Dismember.
The sideboard needs work, probably Nature's Claim and Hex Parasites. Other dude was right about the list though, Pod gets Memoricided and the deck is almost dead. It might benefit us to stick in more 2-ofs or even 3-ofs. I'm also afraid of getting molested by MBC discard.
What are your thoughts?
As for the Twin deck combo, i saw something rly funny todayy.
RUG Twin/Pod. he plays a white 2/5 to fetch Splinter Twin from his deck while having 3 Exarch in play. If he plays the aura he wins......but he cant. Cos the opponent (U/B) has a spellskite down. RUG doesnt draw any removal for spellskite and he wins by a small margin attacking with the exarch (opponent with like 20+ lands in pay and in hand, bad luck).
So, in the end. Afraid of Twin combo? Cast a Spellskite and their 2 cards combo suddently becomes a 3 cards combo (exarch, Aura, Removal).
Now, what worries me for G/W (M12) and G/B (the 1 i'm playing), are the monored and tempered steel MU.
I'm playing 2 Perilous Myr MD, but if i dont draw them in those MU i'm pretty much done.
As for the Twin deck combo, i saw something rly funny todayy.
RUG Twin/Pod. he plays a white 2/5 to fetch Splinter Twin from his deck while having 3 Exarch in play. If he plays the aura he wins......but he cant. Cos the opponent (U/B) has a spellskite down. RUG doesnt draw any removal for spellskite and he wins by a small margin attacking with the exarch (opponent with like 20+ lands in pay and in hand, bad luck).
So, in the end. Afraid of Twin combo? Cast a Spellskite and their 2 cards combo suddently becomes a 3 cards combo (exarch, Aura, Removal).
Now, what worries me for G/W (M12) and G/B (the 1 i'm playing), are the monored and tempered steel MU.
I'm playing 2 Perilous Myr MD, but if i dont draw them in those MU i'm pretty much done.
Any1 has any idea?
That weakness is really only very apparent in the RUG Pod lists(UR or Grixis don't have this problem as much). They don't run that much permission or removal. It makes those decks much weaker to disruption of the combo, so they go to plan B which isn't nearly as strong if you match them on Tempo. Frost Titan can lay down big beats but a U/B plays enough removal. This deck usually sides into Vengevines for combat UB but it lacks the CA to support them. I think unfortunately that is the greatest weakness of these sort of lists as they can't protect their Combo as well and are still weak to the Combo decks postboard if the opponent knows the plan. They are best against other Twin decks(since they have multiple angles of attack) and are decent against Valakut since they can Twin Combo for the win, but the UGx mana disruption plan is weaker against decks that play lots of permission and disruption and the Vengevine plan is actually not that supported in CA.
Still I do like using the Pod to support creature based Combo. I mentioned before I really disliked the Toolbox 1 ofs decks, and I started using the Pod for incremental advantage redundancy. But if you are going for tutoring redundancy it does make it ideal for combos. Pre-bannings I tried a Puresteel/Stoneforge Pod deck which basically used Germs, and Glint Hawks to guarentee you got the big hitters on board. Recently I tried a list using it to make redundancy in Grand Architect Lists .. letting you get Architects quickly and doing the Treasure Mage to Solemn Simulcrum ramp tactic so the deck didn't have to waste slots on subpar cards that relied on counters and proliferation.
My most recent creation though is using the Vengevine combo.. I found Birthing Pod can be more consistent than even Fauna Shaman and Dredgevine at getting those board states. And unlike Dredgevine you don't have to lose other cards to the grave yard. The ability to go 2-4 With Exarch to get Vengevines is great for the alpha strike, but Sea Gate Oracle provides a critical role of making sure Bloodghasts and Vengevines keep coming back. Garruk provides ramp and Overrun, which pretty much covers all the bases. Vengeful Pharaoh the most recent addition allows a resilient 5 drop, which allows the deck to run greedy while keeping a fairly low curve. It gives easy access to Grave Titan if needed while keeping the top end relatively light.
The way you play out the list involves pretty much attacking where you can. It is completely different than most pod decks as you often just chain to 4. If you land a Garruk a couple Vengevines and Bloodghasts will usually finish the game. So often the plan is chain to 4 as many times as you can early (I usually use Sea Gate Oracles early, since the CA is better to fight through the early removal rather than use up my quick up to Vengevine Exarchs which I save for later). The deck can win without Pod with Garruk overrun off the creatures or landing a Grave Titan etc, but it definitely likes having the Pod hence it's a 4 of.
As for the Twin deck combo, i saw something rly funny todayy.
RUG Twin/Pod. he plays a white 2/5 to fetch Splinter Twin from his deck while having 3 Exarch in play. If he plays the aura he wins......but he cant. Cos the opponent (U/B) has a spellskite down. RUG doesnt draw any removal for spellskite and he wins by a small margin attacking with the exarch (opponent with like 20+ lands in pay and in hand, bad luck).
So, in the end. Afraid of Twin combo? Cast a Spellskite and their 2 cards combo suddently becomes a 3 cards combo (exarch, Aura, Removal).
Now, what worries me for G/W (M12) and G/B (the 1 i'm playing), are the monored and tempered steel MU.
I'm playing 2 Perilous Myr MD, but if i dont draw them in those MU i'm pretty much done.
Any1 has any idea?
I changed my G/W to G/W/U to add less creatures and a couple day of j, thos should be fatal to mono red and ww, add board sweapers and hold back your full creature assult untill you play it, and my addition of blue seems a good choice against all decks so far
This is by no means a permanent list, but let me defend my choices:
Mainboard:
Birds are obvious, allows 2nd turn Pod and whatever 3 drops you may have. Combination of Sylvan/Viridian: Viridian sucks against control if you have no pod. They'll just keep it alive and you'll never get your land drop. He rocks against aggro though. Vice versa for Sylvan.
Perilous Myr is also wicked against aggro, and 2 damage is always welcome in a podding.
Spellskite protects your pod while chumping goblins. Win.
Glissa is a tank who can potentially revive pods/myr/whatever else.
Manic Vandal is mainboard because everybody is running artifacts these days including Magnet, Spellskite, WCE, etc.
Tuktuk feeds pod sexily.
Pilgrim's eye is situational, but he has gotten me out of binds before.
Not entirely sold on Liliana's specter, but card advantage is nice.
Entomber is a duress bear who can also grab Valakut/Colonnades in rare instances.
Metamorph - Also not entirely sold on this one. Could possibly be a Thrun instead.
Baloth has saved me from aggro many times, hence the second in the SB.
Persecutor beats face and wins in a few turns, nothing techy about him.
Skinrender makes titans manageable and can also shut aggro up for a minute.
Urabrask is choice against exarch twin, though he is a bit slow to the punch. Could be replaced with Kazuul or anything else.
Acidic is obvious, threat eliminator, needs no explanation.
Mitotic is a great podder, but using him for beats is acceptable, though kinda slow.
Brutalizer does what Acidic Slime doesn't, sends Gideon/Koth into the bowels of your library.
Massacre Wurm may be best suited for the sideboard. He wipes aggro but is generally useless otherwise.
Inferno Titan can end games, but he isn't really suited for podding out of. Wurmcoil Engine or Grave Titan would probably be better in this spot.
Sheoldred can add insult to injury if she sticks. Not sure if she's really important TBH. Probably the biggest target in the deck.
I really wish there was room for more removal. If we cut the fat we could throw in some Gofer/Dismember.
The sideboard needs work, probably Nature's Claim and Hex Parasites. Other dude was right about the list though, Pod gets Memoricided and the deck is almost dead. It might benefit us to stick in more 2-ofs or even 3-ofs. I'm also afraid of getting molested by MBC discard.
What are your thoughts?
I really like that list quite a bit and will give it a shot. Aggro decks seem to have disappeared in our area so I will probably stick with Ranger and take those pyroclasms/slagstorms out of the side.
I know I already posted this a few pages back, but I really love the list and would appreciate any suggestions to make it better!
I'm liking duress because it's good for twin matchups and it also nabs planeswalkers, which I don't really have any answers for MD aside from face pounding.
White is a lot better than I thought it'd be. Hawks and splicers give so much value and Sun Titan brings back swords/splicers along with O-rings which I can't wait to add. I do sorta miss frosty and his deck manipulating friends (preordain/sea gate oracle).
Anyone think Elesh Norn or Sheoldred deserve a spot MD? I'm also trying to find space for another Hero of Bladehold or an Obstinate Baloth. Also taking any SB tips possible as I've always been bad at those.
I know I already posted this a few pages back, but I really love the list and would appreciate any suggestions to make it better!
I'm liking duress because it's good for twin matchups and it also nabs planeswalkers, which I don't really have any answers for MD aside from face pounding.
White is a lot better than I thought it'd be. Hawks and splicers give so much value and Sun Titan brings back swords/splicers along with O-rings which I can't wait to add. I do sorta miss frosty and his deck manipulating friends (preordain/sea gate oracle).
Anyone think Elesh Norn or Sheoldred deserve a spot MD? I'm also trying to find space for another Hero of Bladehold or an Obstinate Baloth. Also taking any SB tips possible as I've always been bad at those.
I want to try it out a bit but at first glance I am not really fond of the Cobras. The Sword of Feast and Famine has me a bit torn - great card but does it really fit the deck?
I want to try it out a bit but at first glance I am not really fond of the Cobras. The Sword of Feast and Famine has me a bit torn - great card but does it really fit the deck?
I think the same about the cobras and Sword. But the sword could work in here actually. And since he's using black i would recommend Sheoldred over Elesh.
Yeah, I went away from the toolbox build to make the deck more consistent. The Pod chain from 4-6 is pretty good. You have Entomber Exarch to strip removal/counters so that Frost Titan lives and doesn't get countered, Acidic Slime to kill a land, and Frost Titan to take out another land.
All this land destruction and discard makes it really hard for them to deal with Frosty.
If you don’t draw Pod, you still have a good chance of going t3 Entomber, t4 Slime, and t5 Titan because of all the mana ramp and multiple copies of each creature.
Phantasmal Image is the lol because you can sac Birds to Pod and get Titans and Slimes
What's this? No mainboard spells? Only creatures and Pods? We've been talking about this a lot and it seems like a good move because:
1. Most of your outs are the creatures themselves, the fact that they are creatures are just a bonus
2. You don't want to draw into non-creatures when pod is online
3. You want to draw threats when pod is not online.
It seems crazy, but it also sounds reasonable. I'm willing to give it a try. In theory, you've got a great early game against aggro, a decent mid-game filled with problem solvers and ramp, and a bomby, limited-feel late game.
Re: sideboard. If a certain card type (a.k.a. Planeswalkers) are giving us too much of a hard time, we've got Oblivion Rings and Beast Withins to replace the creatures that are lackluster in the given matchup.
I really like the feel of the deck and the colors, and I'm going to post my own GWB list soon--I think you can get away with 3 or 4 spells though... dump a Brutalizer Exarch and those Solemn Simulacrum for some Blade Splicer and maybe an Oblivion Ring--of all the non-creature spells to begrudgingly add to your deck, I do think that'd be the most versatile and the one least likely to make you frown if you draw it late.
for G/B(which also seems to be part of all 3 color lists)
I think a single vengeful pharoh for when your podding would be great
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Playing:
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Best Reminder text ever:
Warrior's Oath RRTake another turn after this one.
At the end of that turn, you lose the game.
(YOU DON'T LOSE IF YOU'VE ALREADY WON.) Check out my Lotuses
Formerly Jersam515.
I really like the feel of the deck and the colors, and I'm going to post my own GWB list soon--I think you can get away with 3 or 4 spells though... dump a Brutalizer Exarch and those Solemn Simulacrum for some Blade Splicer and maybe an Oblivion Ring--of all the non-creature spells to begrudgingly add to your deck, I do think that'd be the most versatile and the one least likely to make you frown if you draw it late.
I actually agree with that statement, it was just that most of my teammates voiced their opinion that non-creature spells are pretty much moot in the deck so we agreed to test without non-creature spells first.
I do believe that O-Rings should be in there over the Exarch and some Solemns, because the stuff the exarch gets rid of can be dealt with by the O-Ring handily, lands being less of a concern once Valakut rotates.
Yeah, it's a very fun deck--it'll be interesting to see how things go after a week or two of M12.
Here is my GWB build, pretty similar with a little more removal and a slightly more toolboxy feel. Still deciding on Sylvan Ranger vs. Viridian Emissary, but I think the tri-color necessitates the former. We'll see. And Vengeful Pharaoh is a cool card idea, not sure if I like it always putting itself on the top of the library. Definitely worth testing.
White and its Wall of Omens really makes the Rock deck approach more sound. The versatility of white adds to the deck's ability to win without Birthing Pod/survive long enough to draw it. With normal threats like Thrun, Drana, Wurmcoil, the Titan and Sheoldred, one definitely does not need to draw the Pod to win... but the card draw certainly makes it more likely to happen anyway. White also really shines in the board, where a single Kor Firewalker or Mirran Crusader can really cause mono-colored decks to strike out against the build.
Yeah, it's a very fun deck--it'll be interesting to see how things go after a week or two of M12.
Here is my GWB build, pretty similar with a little more removal and a slightly more toolboxy feel. Still deciding on Sylvan Ranger vs. Viridian Emissary, but I think the tri-color necessitates the former. We'll see. And Vengeful Pharaoh is a cool card idea, not sure if I like it always putting itself on the top of the library. Definitely worth testing.
White and its Wall of Omens really makes the Rock deck approach more sound. The versatility of white adds to the deck's ability to win without Birthing Pod/survive long enough to draw it. With normal threats like Thrun, Drana, Wurmcoil, the Titan and Sheoldred, one definitely does not need to draw the Pod to win... but the card draw certainly makes it more likely to happen anyway. White also really shines in the board, where a single Kor Firewalker or Mirran Crusader can really cause mono-colored decks to strike out against the build.
Thoughts?
Looks nice. But have you thought of Day of Judgment?. Pretty "Suicide" idea. But works pretty well with Mimic Vat and the lot of options we have to imprint with this deck. Your deck looks totally awesome, and i will give it a try. With a few changes of my own. Im thinking on taking out that Doom Blade and adding one more Blade Splicer. What do you think?. We could just take out Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre from the side and add the Doom blade there. Could you explain me how do you use Ulamog? How does he works for you when you use him?.
Looks nice. But have you thought of Day of Judgment?. Pretty "Suicide" idea. But works pretty well with Mimic Vat and the lot of options we have to imprint with this deck. Your deck looks totally awesome, and i will give it a try. With a few changes of my own. Im thinking on taking out that Doom Blade and adding one more Blade Splicer. What do you think?. We could just take out Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre from the side and add the Doom blade there. Could you explain me how do you use Ulamog? How does he works for you when you use him?.
Man Ulamog would be a terrible card if I was actually trying to use him haha--he's there for the rare mill matchup (never know, I faced one recently). Absolutely not for anything but mill.
I think the removal vs. Blade Splicer is totally dependent on your meta. I find myself playing against creature decks, so I like having even a little extra removal, but the Splicer is an amazing card so certainly a good replacement.
I don't know about Day of Judgment, maybe as a sideboard card? If elves get more prominent, then maybe...
I actually agree with that statement, it was just that most of my teammates voiced their opinion that non-creature spells are pretty much moot in the deck so we agreed to test without non-creature spells first.
I do believe that O-Rings should be in there over the Exarch and some Solemns, because the stuff the exarch gets rid of can be dealt with by the O-Ring handily, lands being less of a concern once Valakut rotates.
Testing this thing is going to be a blast.
Yup, i mean we dont really need Solemns that much. I think that 1 or 2 are enough. And Oblivion Ring is a great card. I think that we should use 2 atleast.
And another good card that im testing out is Mind Rot. It works perfect in this type of deck. You gotta check it out.
Man Ulamog would be a terrible card if I was actually trying to use him haha--he's there for the rare mill matchup (never know, I faced one recently). Absolutely not for anything but mill.
I think the removal vs. Blade Splicer is totally dependent on your meta. I find myself playing against creature decks, so I like having even a little extra removal, but the Splicer is an amazing card so certainly a good replacement.
I don't know about Day of Judgment, maybe as a sideboard card? If elves get more prominent, then maybe...
I see lol. I was thinking wth is that guy doing there? haha. Yup i feel like i prefer to sideboard some a few Doom Blade and instead of the main deck Doom blade to add an extra Blade Splicer.
You're right about DoJ. And even against Kred, or vamps, who knows lol, aggro decks =P.
Here is a deck list i made, Looks pretty similiar to your list--TheWarden89--, thats because i really liked your build. So dont think its a copy.
what's everyone think of the single vengeful pharoh for when you are podding
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Playing:
rock (G/) pod
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Best Reminder text ever:
Warrior's Oath RRTake another turn after this one.
At the end of that turn, you lose the game.
(YOU DON'T LOSE IF YOU'VE ALREADY WON.) Check out my Lotuses
Formerly Jersam515.
Your deck is too reliant on having Birthing Pod. If you don't draw it or if your opponent has an answer for it, the deck just fizzles out. You should make a deck with a certain strategy in mind and having Birthing Pod to generate board advantage.
And Spellskite
I suppose most of the reason is because I hadn't thought to try them. I've never been a huge fan of them in the first place but this cycle is pretty powerful.
Kazuul is a huge dismember target (a lot of the deck is) and he's pretty fragile against Twin builds that have it (which should be all of them) but I really like him for making things more complicated for them. I probably will replace the Pyroclasms/Slagstorms in the sideboard with actual answers to that deck.
I have played this now at around six tournaments. I started with G/B and then moved to Jund. I quickly cut the discard and removal out as they were underperforming.
But, now that I am most likely headed back to G/B (or probably even if I stay at Jund) I'll probably find room for Despise as it's planeswalkers that are mostly ruining my day.
Manaless Dredge
Standard:
Jund Birthing Pod Toolbox
Vampire Hexmage doesn't cut it for you? You have enough 1cmc guys to fetch one up. I would also suggest Duress over Despise, simply because you can also pull whatever artifact hate they may have at the time. Pod is such a huge target and without it we basically fold. I would suggest 4 Duress 2 Vampire Hexmage in the sideboard, maybe even mainboard depending on your meta.
Also, what are you generally siding out for Pyro/slag?
Hexmage and a discard are definitely going to make it in. The problem is, what to cut?
Manaless Dredge
Standard:
Jund Birthing Pod Toolbox
Here's a rough sketch based on your list:
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Copperline Gorge
3 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Raging Ravine
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Sylvan Ranger
1 Perilous Myr
1 Spellskite
2 Viridian Emissary
1 Glissa, the Traitor
1 Manic Vandal
1 Tuktuk the Explorer
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Skinrender
1 Urabrask the Hidden
2 Acidic Slime
1 Mitotic Slime
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Inferno Titan
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
4 Beast Within
4 Birthing Pod
2 Vampire Hexmage
4 Duress
2 Slagstorm
3 Pyroclasm
3 Dismember
1 Obstinate Baloth
This is by no means a permanent list, but let me defend my choices:
Mainboard:
Birds are obvious, allows 2nd turn Pod and whatever 3 drops you may have. Combination of Sylvan/Viridian: Viridian sucks against control if you have no pod. They'll just keep it alive and you'll never get your land drop. He rocks against aggro though. Vice versa for Sylvan.
Perilous Myr is also wicked against aggro, and 2 damage is always welcome in a podding.
Spellskite protects your pod while chumping goblins. Win.
Glissa is a tank who can potentially revive pods/myr/whatever else.
Manic Vandal is mainboard because everybody is running artifacts these days including Magnet, Spellskite, WCE, etc.
Tuktuk feeds pod sexily.
Pilgrim's eye is situational, but he has gotten me out of binds before.
Not entirely sold on Liliana's specter, but card advantage is nice.
Entomber is a duress bear who can also grab Valakut/Colonnades in rare instances.
Metamorph - Also not entirely sold on this one. Could possibly be a Thrun instead.
Baloth has saved me from aggro many times, hence the second in the SB.
Persecutor beats face and wins in a few turns, nothing techy about him.
Skinrender makes titans manageable and can also shut aggro up for a minute.
Urabrask is choice against exarch twin, though he is a bit slow to the punch. Could be replaced with Kazuul or anything else.
Acidic is obvious, threat eliminator, needs no explanation.
Mitotic is a great podder, but using him for beats is acceptable, though kinda slow.
Brutalizer does what Acidic Slime doesn't, sends Gideon/Koth into the bowels of your library.
Massacre Wurm may be best suited for the sideboard. He wipes aggro but is generally useless otherwise.
Inferno Titan can end games, but he isn't really suited for podding out of. Wurmcoil Engine or Grave Titan would probably be better in this spot.
Sheoldred can add insult to injury if she sticks. Not sure if she's really important TBH. Probably the biggest target in the deck.
I really wish there was room for more removal. If we cut the fat we could throw in some Gofer/Dismember.
The sideboard needs work, probably Nature's Claim and Hex Parasites. Other dude was right about the list though, Pod gets Memoricided and the deck is almost dead. It might benefit us to stick in more 2-ofs or even 3-ofs. I'm also afraid of getting molested by MBC discard.
What are your thoughts?
RUG Twin/Pod. he plays a white 2/5 to fetch Splinter Twin from his deck while having 3 Exarch in play. If he plays the aura he wins......but he cant. Cos the opponent (U/B) has a spellskite down. RUG doesnt draw any removal for spellskite and he wins by a small margin attacking with the exarch (opponent with like 20+ lands in pay and in hand, bad luck).
So, in the end. Afraid of Twin combo? Cast a Spellskite and their 2 cards combo suddently becomes a 3 cards combo (exarch, Aura, Removal).
Now, what worries me for G/W (M12) and G/B (the 1 i'm playing), are the monored and tempered steel MU.
I'm playing 2 Perilous Myr MD, but if i dont draw them in those MU i'm pretty much done.
Any1 has any idea?
That weakness is really only very apparent in the RUG Pod lists(UR or Grixis don't have this problem as much). They don't run that much permission or removal. It makes those decks much weaker to disruption of the combo, so they go to plan B which isn't nearly as strong if you match them on Tempo. Frost Titan can lay down big beats but a U/B plays enough removal. This deck usually sides into Vengevines for combat UB but it lacks the CA to support them. I think unfortunately that is the greatest weakness of these sort of lists as they can't protect their Combo as well and are still weak to the Combo decks postboard if the opponent knows the plan. They are best against other Twin decks(since they have multiple angles of attack) and are decent against Valakut since they can Twin Combo for the win, but the UGx mana disruption plan is weaker against decks that play lots of permission and disruption and the Vengevine plan is actually not that supported in CA.
Still I do like using the Pod to support creature based Combo. I mentioned before I really disliked the Toolbox 1 ofs decks, and I started using the Pod for incremental advantage redundancy. But if you are going for tutoring redundancy it does make it ideal for combos. Pre-bannings I tried a Puresteel/Stoneforge Pod deck which basically used Germs, and Glint Hawks to guarentee you got the big hitters on board. Recently I tried a list using it to make redundancy in Grand Architect Lists .. letting you get Architects quickly and doing the Treasure Mage to Solemn Simulcrum ramp tactic so the deck didn't have to waste slots on subpar cards that relied on counters and proliferation.
My most recent creation though is using the Vengevine combo.. I found Birthing Pod can be more consistent than even Fauna Shaman and Dredgevine at getting those board states. And unlike Dredgevine you don't have to lose other cards to the grave yard. The ability to go 2-4 With Exarch to get Vengevines is great for the alpha strike, but Sea Gate Oracle provides a critical role of making sure Bloodghasts and Vengevines keep coming back. Garruk provides ramp and Overrun, which pretty much covers all the bases. Vengeful Pharaoh the most recent addition allows a resilient 5 drop, which allows the deck to run greedy while keeping a fairly low curve. It gives easy access to Grave Titan if needed while keeping the top end relatively light.
The way you play out the list involves pretty much attacking where you can. It is completely different than most pod decks as you often just chain to 4. If you land a Garruk a couple Vengevines and Bloodghasts will usually finish the game. So often the plan is chain to 4 as many times as you can early (I usually use Sea Gate Oracles early, since the CA is better to fight through the early removal rather than use up my quick up to Vengevine Exarchs which I save for later). The deck can win without Pod with Garruk overrun off the creatures or landing a Grave Titan etc, but it definitely likes having the Pod hence it's a 4 of.
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Creeping Tar Pit
6 Forest
3 Swamp
1 Island
Creatures(24):
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Bloodghast
2 Viridian Emissary
2 Sylvan Ranger
3 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Deceiver Exarch
4 Vengevine
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
2 Grave Titan
4 Go For the Throat
2 Hunter's Insight
4 Birthing Pod
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Nature's Claim
2 Dismember
3 Spellskite
4 Memoricide
3 Obstinate Baloth
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
I changed my G/W to G/W/U to add less creatures and a couple day of j, thos should be fatal to mono red and ww, add board sweapers and hold back your full creature assult untill you play it, and my addition of blue seems a good choice against all decks so far
Vi - Apollo - Armory - Sokai - Kylar - Gerr - CT -Dmitri
Amaya - Lilith - Lazarus - Yoko the Fox - Eli
Assume Nothing."
I really like that list quite a bit and will give it a shot. Aggro decks seem to have disappeared in our area so I will probably stick with Ranger and take those pyroclasms/slagstorms out of the side.
Thanks.
Manaless Dredge
Standard:
Jund Birthing Pod Toolbox
I'm liking duress because it's good for twin matchups and it also nabs planeswalkers, which I don't really have any answers for MD aside from face pounding.
White is a lot better than I thought it'd be. Hawks and splicers give so much value and Sun Titan brings back swords/splicers along with O-rings which I can't wait to add. I do sorta miss frosty and his deck manipulating friends (preordain/sea gate oracle).
Anyone think Elesh Norn or Sheoldred deserve a spot MD? I'm also trying to find space for another Hero of Bladehold or an Obstinate Baloth. Also taking any SB tips possible as I've always been bad at those.
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Blade Splicer
1x Hero of Bladehold
2x Vengevine
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
2x Acidic Slime
1x Grave Titan
1x Sun Titan
3x Birthing Pod
3x Sword of Feast and Famine
3x Duress
2x Go for the Throat
Lands(25):
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Marsh Flats
4x Sunpetal Grove
3x Stirring Wildwood
4x Forest
3x Plains
3x Swamp
I want to try it out a bit but at first glance I am not really fond of the Cobras. The Sword of Feast and Famine has me a bit torn - great card but does it really fit the deck?
I'd definitely make room for one of those 7 drops. I prefer Sheoldred, Whispering One but I know how powerful Elesh Norn can be.
Manaless Dredge
Standard:
Jund Birthing Pod Toolbox
I think the same about the cobras and Sword. But the sword could work in here actually. And since he's using black i would recommend Sheoldred over Elesh.
I tried out the combo in a BUG shell and I finally started winning again with a Pod deck running black
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
1 Viridian Emissary
1 Nest Invader
1 Phantasmal Image
3 Sea Gate Oracle
3 Entomber Exarch
3 Acidic Slime
4 Frost Titan
Spells (11)
4 Preordain
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doom Blade
1 Dismember
4 Birthing Pod
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Darkslick Shores
6 Forest
2 Swamp
2 Island
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doom Blade
4 Obstinate Baloth
2 Skinrender
2 Jace Beleren
2 Mana Leak
2 Naturalize
1 Sylvok Replica
I blogged about the deck here if you want more information about the deck, how I built it, and which decks I played against:
BUG Pod With 4 Frost Titans
Yeah, I went away from the toolbox build to make the deck more consistent. The Pod chain from 4-6 is pretty good. You have Entomber Exarch to strip removal/counters so that Frost Titan lives and doesn't get countered, Acidic Slime to kill a land, and Frost Titan to take out another land.
All this land destruction and discard makes it really hard for them to deal with Frosty.
If you don’t draw Pod, you still have a good chance of going t3 Entomber, t4 Slime, and t5 Titan because of all the mana ramp and multiple copies of each creature.
Phantasmal Image is the lol because you can sac Birds to Pod and get Titans and Slimes
3 Viridian Emissary
3 Perilous Myr
4 Glissa the Traitor
1 Sylvok Replica
4 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Archon of Justice
1 Acidic Slime
1 Precursor Golem
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Sun Titan
1 Grave Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Forest
2 Plains
9 Swamp
4 Beast Within
2 Sylvok Replica
2 Acidic Slime
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Perilous Myr
What's this? No mainboard spells? Only creatures and Pods? We've been talking about this a lot and it seems like a good move because:
1. Most of your outs are the creatures themselves, the fact that they are creatures are just a bonus
2. You don't want to draw into non-creatures when pod is online
3. You want to draw threats when pod is not online.
It seems crazy, but it also sounds reasonable. I'm willing to give it a try. In theory, you've got a great early game against aggro, a decent mid-game filled with problem solvers and ramp, and a bomby, limited-feel late game.
Re: sideboard. If a certain card type (a.k.a. Planeswalkers) are giving us too much of a hard time, we've got Oblivion Rings and Beast Withins to replace the creatures that are lackluster in the given matchup.
Yo dawg, I heard you like MTG so we put a game into your game so you can play MTG while you play MTG
Signature by KrackShott at Kracked Graphics!
Current Deck(s):
GUElvesUG
GWBThe Birthing RockBWG
I think a single vengeful pharoh for when your podding would be great
rock (G/) pod
9-2-1
Best Reminder text ever:
Warrior's Oath
RRTake another turn after this one.
At the end of that turn, you lose the game.
(YOU DON'T LOSE IF YOU'VE ALREADY WON.)
Check out my Lotuses
Formerly Jersam515.
I actually agree with that statement, it was just that most of my teammates voiced their opinion that non-creature spells are pretty much moot in the deck so we agreed to test without non-creature spells first.
I do believe that O-Rings should be in there over the Exarch and some Solemns, because the stuff the exarch gets rid of can be dealt with by the O-Ring handily, lands being less of a concern once Valakut rotates.
Testing this thing is going to be a blast.
Yo dawg, I heard you like MTG so we put a game into your game so you can play MTG while you play MTG
Here is my GWB build, pretty similar with a little more removal and a slightly more toolboxy feel. Still deciding on Sylvan Ranger vs. Viridian Emissary, but I think the tri-color necessitates the former. We'll see. And Vengeful Pharaoh is a cool card idea, not sure if I like it always putting itself on the top of the library. Definitely worth testing.
8 Forest
2 Marsh Flats
2 Plains
3 Sunpetal Grove
5 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures:
1 Acidic Slime
1 Archon of Justice
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Blade Splicer
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Entomber Exarch
1 Glissa, the Traitor
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lone Missionary
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Perilous Myr
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Skinrender
1 Sun Titan
3 Sylvan Ranger
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Wall of Omens
1 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Birthing Pod
1 Doomblade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Mimic Vat
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Kor Firewalker
1 Massacre Wurm
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
4 Memoricide
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Go for the Throat
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Spellskite
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
White and its Wall of Omens really makes the Rock deck approach more sound. The versatility of white adds to the deck's ability to win without Birthing Pod/survive long enough to draw it. With normal threats like Thrun, Drana, Wurmcoil, the Titan and Sheoldred, one definitely does not need to draw the Pod to win... but the card draw certainly makes it more likely to happen anyway. White also really shines in the board, where a single Kor Firewalker or Mirran Crusader can really cause mono-colored decks to strike out against the build.
Thoughts?
Signature by KrackShott at Kracked Graphics!
Current Deck(s):
GUElvesUG
GWBThe Birthing RockBWG
Looks nice. But have you thought of Day of Judgment?. Pretty "Suicide" idea. But works pretty well with Mimic Vat and the lot of options we have to imprint with this deck. Your deck looks totally awesome, and i will give it a try. With a few changes of my own. Im thinking on taking out that Doom Blade and adding one more Blade Splicer. What do you think?. We could just take out Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre from the side and add the Doom blade there. Could you explain me how do you use Ulamog? How does he works for you when you use him?.
Man Ulamog would be a terrible card if I was actually trying to use him haha--he's there for the rare mill matchup (never know, I faced one recently). Absolutely not for anything but mill.
I think the removal vs. Blade Splicer is totally dependent on your meta. I find myself playing against creature decks, so I like having even a little extra removal, but the Splicer is an amazing card so certainly a good replacement.
I don't know about Day of Judgment, maybe as a sideboard card? If elves get more prominent, then maybe...
Signature by KrackShott at Kracked Graphics!
Current Deck(s):
GUElvesUG
GWBThe Birthing RockBWG
Yup, i mean we dont really need Solemns that much. I think that 1 or 2 are enough. And Oblivion Ring is a great card. I think that we should use 2 atleast.
And another good card that im testing out is Mind Rot. It works perfect in this type of deck. You gotta check it out.
I see lol. I was thinking wth is that guy doing there? haha. Yup i feel like i prefer to sideboard some a few Doom Blade and instead of the main deck Doom blade to add an extra Blade Splicer.
You're right about DoJ. And even against Kred, or vamps, who knows lol, aggro decks =P.
Here is a deck list i made, Looks pretty similiar to your list--TheWarden89--, thats because i really liked your build. So dont think its a copy.
5 Forest
8 Swamps
2 Plains
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge thicket
Creatures(27):
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Lone Missionary
3 Wall of omens
2 Sylvan Ranger
1 Perilous Myr
1 Glissa, the traitor
2 Blade Splicer
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Skinrender
1 Thrun, the last troll
1 Entomber Exarch
1 Archon of justice
2 Acidic Slime
1 Mitotic Slime
1 Sun Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Grave Titan
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
4 Birthing Pod
2 Mimic Vat
2 Go for the throat
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Kor Firewalker
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Day of judgment
1 Massacre Wurm
2 Sylvok Replica
3 Memoricide
3 Beast within
2 Doom blade
What do you think about it?. Any comments? Suggestion?.
I think that Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is an excellent card to use, but i dont know how to make it fit in.
Im gonna test this deck with Sylvan Ranger first, because there aren't many aggro decks in my meta atm.
rock (G/) pod
9-2-1
Best Reminder text ever:
Warrior's Oath
RRTake another turn after this one.
At the end of that turn, you lose the game.
(YOU DON'T LOSE IF YOU'VE ALREADY WON.)
Check out my Lotuses
Formerly Jersam515.
Vi - Apollo - Armory - Sokai - Kylar - Gerr - CT -Dmitri
Amaya - Lilith - Lazarus - Yoko the Fox - Eli
Assume Nothing."