MTG Salvation

"A lengthy battle of countermagic, Capsizes, Humilities and creatures followed. At one point Tobler cast a Masticore and it was looking like he was about to win the game shortly. However, he forgot to pay upkeep by discarding a card and Masticore ended up in the graveyard. Despite that mistake, Tobler was gradually winning. He was attacking with a pair of Thieving Magpies soon joined by a Morphling.

When McArthur was down to six life, Tobler attacked for the kill. McArthur sacrificed his Resistance Fighter to prevent Morphling damage and Tobler did not realize he could spend a blue mana and make Morphling untargetable in response. This mistake did not help McArthur's game plan too much as he was too far behind already and Tobler won on the following turn."

Two mistakes for everyone to see...might as well just win anyway! (Lost the match, though)

I've forgotten more epic misplays than most people will ever make.

I don't really collect anything but the cards themselves, but I do have a 1999 U.S. Nationals semifinalist trophy.

HandwrittenHero,

I've been ignoring this forum for a bit. I wasn't using any information I was getting here. So, I decide to check it out again today and I see your advice. I'd have to say it's pretty good because I kinda 'got there' before seeing it.

Re: lands

My mana base actually ended up at 4 Darkslick, 8 fetches, 2 Islands, 3 Swamps, and 6 Forests. If I put Ponder in, I'd probably run your exact recommendation.

Re: Image

I did cut a Myr for an Image. It's amazing.

Re: Frost Titan

I've run this guy a couple times now. I like him, but I'm not sure I like him enough. He may actually end up in the sideboard.

Re: Ponder vs. Removal

I want Ponder or See Beyond in the deck - even if it's just two or three copies, but I will not abandon spot removal. I can can see cutting up to two creatures - perhaps Skinrender and/or a Sylvan Ranger - and one Doom Blade for two or three Ponders or See Beyonds.

I built this a while ago. The idea is to use ramp as ramp and extra turns as ramp until you can use extra turns to take extra turns and win. I've played a lot of 4-5 player games with this and it wins most of them. I haven't bothered with any combos short of infinite extra turns. The deck definitely has some chaff in it, and I could easily replace some of the garbage with Defense of the Heart, Tooth and Nail, and combo creatures, but I haven't. I haven't put Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir or Winding Canyons in the deck, but I should.




Molder Slug, Energy Flux, and Titania's Song - If I can get away without artifacts, why not punish others for running them? Energy Flux negates most artifact ramp and kills artifact-centric decks. Titania's Song usually means I get attacked by living Lightning Greaves and Sol Rings, but it shuts down so many scary things, like Tormod's Crypt.

Steely Resolve - It's a cheap, non-artifact way to give Gorgons shroud. I should probably also play Dense Foliage as it hurts many strategies (I'm looking at you, Uril) out there and helps Damia not die.

Lilting Refrain and the Seals - the fewer cards I want to hold in hand the better with Damia.

Cadaverous Bloom and Zombie Infestation - The infestation is a cheap way to maximize drawing with Damia. Cadaverous Bloom is just insane. It lets you cast Damia early with mana up for protection, and with Damia out, you ensure seven new cards a turn and every card you don't need makes GG or BB. Even without Damia, you can use it to cast a massive Stroke of Genius or any other draw X spell.

Timetwister is often imitated but never replicated. I just wish it was easier to afford so I could have it in more than one commander deck.

I got laughed at by the player I traded a Pirate Ship to for his Serendib Efreet back in 1994.

I rarely use it, but I think Mana Vortex is just a cool card.

I'll always have a soft spot for Flash, Morphling, and Thieving Magpie.

Before there was Thieving Magpie, there was Sea Sprite + Curiosity.

Oath of Scholars can be quite fun even though it's not exactly the good Oath.

Attunement helped my first Enchantress combo deck along very well. Come to think of it, I think I should throw that into my Damia commander deck...

Someone mentioned Time Elemental. While I don't use it anymore, I have a stack of them mostly because I'm a huge fan of Amy Weber's card art.

Quote from LovelyRita

So you find your one copy of him with mana open. Then what? Why even find him if you're only going to run one copy? Why not Archon of Justice? What if they play a spell targeting him? Are you going to shuffle your one copy into your library and pray that he doesnt mill the cards you need? Or are you just going to play him as an expensive flying dross crocodile and watch him die?

I have a a three phase plan from my first post in this thread.

1. Put him in a deck
2. ?
3. Profit!

You run him because he enables self-milling. I'll pray he puts the cards I need in my graveyard into my graveyard. Of course, I'd rather just copy him and activate the copy to ensure what I need in the graveyard gets there.

Why would I run Archon of justice if I want to mill myself? I'm not talking about throwing him into Bant Pod as a 1-of, afterall.

The idea is to run this guy in a deck with Birthing Pod so you can find your one copy of it with 4-5 mana left open and then somehow win. We're not talking about throwing him into Bant Pod as a one-of. We're talking about exploring his potential. For that, the card Birthing Pod is possibly the best tool to start with. This is coming from someone who 'gets' Birthing Pod.

Shenanigans!

I have a three phase plan with this guy.

1. Put him in a deck
2. ?
3. Profit!

Making him work with Scrapyard Salvo is combo kill, but probably too clunky.
Making him work with Boneyard Wurm may be better.
On the tamer side, he's a flashback enabler.

I envision any self-mill deck would want to play these with Birthing Pod so it can enter the battlefield with four or so untapped lands to pay to use its ability. Also, with the Pod, you can afford to play fewer copies.

After seeing Stitched Drake and the ruinator, my mind drew a connection to Serendib Efreet and Serendib Djinn even though the the Ruinator costs 1 less generic mana than the Djinn.

I don't think this card is going to compete directly with Titans for deck space. In Pod, he's competing with other three drops. I'd imagine any other deck that uses him either won't run enough land to play Titans reliably or will focus on, more often than not, having his initial casting be from the graveyard and not the hand.

This seems to have synergy with both the new Vess and the new mythic Demon, but as its detractors have pointed out, it's going to be near worthless against those "one big creature" strategies, especially if that one creature is a Consecrated Sphinx. I look forward to trying to make the card work. It is a good card to try with Frost Titan.

I abandoned Jund for BUG a while ago. We had a good run, but I was lured away by painless Spellskites, painless Metamorphs, Sea Gate Oracle, and SB countermagic.

I played RSD last week in BUG Pod. One time he showed up, I made 18 power in fliers that turn, with the last Demon tutoring for a mana leak. I was happy to have the demon over Sheoldred that time.

The second time I podded for him, I had sacced a bird for an Image to copy a Grave Titan, and then Podded my Image away for RSD finding a metamorph. My board was three lands, two zombies, a Birthing Pod and a Rune-Scarred Demon. My graveyard was a Bird and an Image. My opponent had land - one was a Mystifying Maze - and two zombies. In this case, Sheoldred would have taken several turns to do anything, and the Demon found me a copy of itself.

The third time I podded for him, I found a GftT and immediately killed an opposing Grave Titan. I had sacced a Wurmcoil to find the Demon. Because my opponent didn't have removal, I had a deathtouch token to kill the titan had it attacked, and I had relevant creatures in my graveyard, Sheoldred would have been the better creature that time.

After thinking about it, comparing Sheoldred and RSD's power in the deck is less dependent on matchup and more dependent on individual situations and the actual construction of your deck and sideboard. I haven't played that many games with the demon, but it has worked well enough that I'm going to keep testing it and playing it over Sheoldred until I'm convinced which is better. I don't want to settle on Sheoldred just because she seems to be the obvious choice.

What's stopping me from running them both is their cmcs of 7. I feel that would make my deck too top-heavy.

As a Pod player, my first instinct is to think of 1-off specialty creatures as answers to a problem, and each that I listed can slow down or stop Dungrove Elder. Some are maindeckable cards that happen to help. Some are sideboard cards. Some may be individually worthwhile, while others could fit into a larger sideboarding strategy or personal meta-tweak. Their level of effectiveness varies dependent on your exact Pod list, and the list of the Dungrove Elder deck you're trying to beat.

For the best chance at premium answers, it would be best to post your 75, the Elder-deck's 75(guessed, if necessary), how bad the matchup is for you, and how much maindeck and sideboard space you're willing to throw at this problem, if any.

I haven't had to face a Dungrove deck, but of course the Myr is a serious suggestion. I imagine it would hold off an Elder while I use other creatures to Pod up my chain of Entomber Exarch (Stampede), Acidic Slime (Forest or Sword), Massacre Wurm (Mana Dorks), and Sheoldred or Rune-Scarred Demon. Even if I can't Pod, the boarded-in Myr soaks an Elder's damage until the Elder gets trample or the Myr gets Dismembered.

Just because you haven't seen it used doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. Mirran Crusader is immune from Dismember and Beast Within. It blocks a non-trample Elder indefinitely, and it is hard for the Dungrove deck to deal with once you are on offense.

I would totally Pod away a slime for a Wurmcoil or Sunblast Angel(when there's a tapped Elder), and I would be happy to draw either assuming I get to six mana. Maybe not-so-much the Sunblast if I have a stalemate and my opponent just needs a Stampede to win.

Thrun is a bordeline maindeckable card that can help.

There's always Haze Frog. It counters a Stampede when flashed, and then Pods into Sunblast Angel to kill your opponent's field. I'm joking, of course......or am I?

Sure, these aren't all great cards, but they can work:

Darksteel Myr
Mirran Crusader
Sunblast Angel
Sheoldred, Whispering One
Thrun, the Last Troll

I like that the Myr can block no matter which swords they have.

Maybe in the context of the thread it may seem I was claiming UW is a bad matchup for Pod, but I was merely citing the empirical evidence of my own poor performance.