YES YES YES TO KARN! Restart the game and do it again! I will pay $25 entry to go 0-0-6 and have the whole damn store hate me, I just have to make sure I have 13 Zombie tokens. I'm gonna be testing this weekend against Solar Flare, Kessig, and U/W Humans. I'll let you know how it goes, seriously I can't wait to put these cards in sleeves.
A lot of these suggestions are great (greatly stupid! which is just what I wanted), but some come dangerously close accidentally putting in an efficient win-con.
I like chancellor of the spire, but he beats kinda hard into an empty board and I might accidentally win with that. I thought about the Drownyard too, since we're effectively milling them with the Extractions and Memoricides, but the mana sucks too hard.
After bombing at states I've decided to exact my revenge by taking this to game day, my hope is to go 0-0-6. Looking for any other creative suggestions.
Don't bother mentioning that I have no solid win-cons, that is intentional, I don't want to win, in fact I think there are too many win-cons. And yes, I will actually take this deck, it'll be blast.
So you Surgical Extract/Nevermore/Memoricide all of their win-cons, wrath wrath wrath everything they play then, if you decide to win it's by beating down with Snapcaster or Soldiers or (hehe) resolve an Army of the Damned.
By the way, the Bitterheart/Curse is there so that I don't auto-lose to Wolf-Run decks as the curse kills Inkmoth the moment it gets activated.
Rules for suggestions:
- no suggesting efficient win-cons
- no card draw
- suggestions must be stupid, in fact I want the stupidest thing you can think of
Arc Trail - Hmm.... do I play Shock or Geistflame? Oh... I'll play both, in one card.
Brimstone Volley - is really good. Especially when you Doom Blade their dude, bump Chandra down by two, and double Volley for ten life, that just ends games on their own.
Dissipate - I passed on this card initially, but then a friend was trying a U/B control deck with it and I saw that it's really good. With so much flashback and Sun Titan shenanigans running amock. Counter a spell and exiling something at the same time can be critical. It's well worth the mana.
Olivia Volderan - a great 1-of. She gets out of control quickly. Again I thought nothing of her until I saw her in action. Either she wins you the game or she dies quickly leaving your opponent with one less removal spell for the other finisher you've been sitting on.
Sever the Bloodline - Again, another card you just have to play with. It handily deals with Wurmcoils as well as having a manageable flashback cost. Think of it as a Maelstrom Pulse just easier to cast, has flashback, and only hits creatures... not so bad, really.
Bloodgift Demon - Arena on a 5/4 body.... yes please. He also is a must deal-with as a pseudo C-Sphinx.
No Ponder/Think Twice/ Desperate Ravings? - Yup, didn't like them. Once you hit B-Demon or C-Sphinx you're fine. Plus you've been holding on no problem with all the counter magic/removal/Flashmaster Chan.
Sideboard
I love this particular Trinket Mage package. Spellbomb is just good right now as a cantrip and graveyard hate. The elixir is great against the aggro matchup and reshuffles Mages + Spellbombs again for future use.
Phantasmal Image - No reason not to have a pair of these guys waiting in the wings.
I tried Lilly, but she's not Jace. You don't just toss her in a deck with B in it and call it a day.
Lastly, I really want to get two Tribute to Hunger in the MB. The lifegain is not irrelevant, plus these Hexproof jerks are the real deal, there's a ton of dead cards in your MB against decks with lots of these guys, it'll take some tweaking, but these can definately fit.
Just throwing this out there, I've goldfished it only, no testing and yeah I think that without the right start, it just dies to a racy aggro deck. But maybe some work on it will fix that. Anyways, here's my first thoughts. I would appreciate suggestions.
Jace's Archivist might be pretty good in the dump-your-hand and burn their face then activate the archivist to refill. But I don't think he'd be good here.
This has been solid in testing but there's not much to test against, not knowing how the metagame is going to be. It beats Tempered Steel pretty handily. Anyhow thoughts would be appreciated.
No sideboard yet. I know that 4 Desperate Ravings seems a bit much, but it really isn't, in testing I've not found it to be a problem. What's fun about this deck is that it draws a ton of cards and you effectively have two hands, one in your hand and the other in your graveyard. Also Delver of Secrets is the nuts, this card it for real, trust me.
I've had quite a few games with T1 Delver (show an instant or sorcery), T2 Delver (set up an instant or sorcery with Ponder), T3 Chandra's Phoenix which equals 11 damage by T3 and you still have 3 cards in hand and at least one of them will cantrip.
Am I right on this: you play Snapcaster giving your Force of Will flash until the end of turn, then you pay FoW's alternate cost (i.e. exiling a blue card from your hand) and basically have extra FoW's in your deck, more or less. Right? This card will definitely see play as a 2-of in a ton of legacy decks.
I've played quite a bit of W/B/G pod. My philosophy with regards creature choices is that they really need to give value when they hit board or when they die, otherwise you're not getting anything out of pod-ing them. So here's a short list of what I take to be viable creatures (this doesn't include anything from ZEN)
White:
Blade Splicer
Hero of Bladehold (swing then sac, obviously)
Elesh Norn (the absolute best creature to top out at)
Archon of Justice
Black:
Entomber Exarch
Grave Titan
Skinrender
Green:
Viridian Corruptor
Acidic Slime
Other:
Solemn Simulacrum
Wurmcoil Engine
Glissa (she has no relevant ETB effect, but you still just run her as a 1-of)
Spellskite (same as Glissa)
Phyrexian Metamorph
Precursor Golemn (Why aren't more people playing this card in pod decks, he is amazing? Especially if you go Precursor Golemn -> Grave Titan -> Elesh Norn, if they don't wrath then you just won the game.)
I am convinced that W/B/G is the way to go on this type of deck and I believe that ISD will continue to give us good utility cards for the deck. And I think that Garruk 3.0 needs to be tested in a pod deck, I have a feeling he'll be good.
Transform is fine, it is just fine. No biggie. So far none of the transform cards seem constructed playable. Garruk probably will be, so sometimes some people will have a transform card --- whoop-dee-do.
Further more this will just add a new strategic dimension to drafting, i.e.:
- Open the pack
- Hmm there's a transform card in it
- Do I take the transform card and signal to everyone at my table that I took it and might be playing that color such that they can more effectively deny me that color? Or, do I pass it signalling that I'm not playing that color? OR do I take it even though I'm not playing that color and have people think they're denying me my color when, in fact, they'll be passing me my colors?
In the aggro matchups I've tried (I haven't tested against any top tier aggro yet, just some homebrew stuff) I definately take out Bloodghast, but here's my rationale for why I've kept Smallpox in: most weenie aggro decks have a low land count, it kills a creature, and, since they're aggro, they usually have no way of drawing cards, so the discard is relevant.
I would drop the Hexmage as the only scary PW is Gideon and he dies to Doom Blade pretty easily.
I found that Vampire Nighthawk and Wurmcoil engine off the sideboard really help with the aggro matchups, the lifegain is what really does it. How is it with 3 Batterskulls, I would be worried about drawing them too early. Plus, I'm running Grim Discovery which doesn't bring back a Batterskull in case you need to pitch one to Smallpox.
Testing has shown this has a great mainboard game against Caw-Blade and other U/B control decks. I haven't had the opportunity to test against Valakut, but I have a feeling that early Smallpox is probably pretty good.
A lot of these suggestions are great (greatly stupid! which is just what I wanted), but some come dangerously close accidentally putting in an efficient win-con.
I like chancellor of the spire, but he beats kinda hard into an empty board and I might accidentally win with that. I thought about the Drownyard too, since we're effectively milling them with the Extractions and Memoricides, but the mana sucks too hard.
Help me think of a clever name for the deck, btw.
Yes.
Don't bother mentioning that I have no solid win-cons, that is intentional, I don't want to win, in fact I think there are too many win-cons. And yes, I will actually take this deck, it'll be blast.
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Bitterheart Witch
Spells
4 Surgical Extraction
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Despise
1 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Timely Reinforcements
4 Day of Judgment
3 Memoricide
2 Life's Finale
1 Army of the Damned
3 Nevermore
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Curse of Death's Hold
Land
3 Darkslick Shores
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
5 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Swamp
4 Celestial Purge
1 Divine Offering
2 Stony Silence
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Witchbane Orb
1 Bitterheart Witch
1 Curse of Death's Hold
So you Surgical Extract/Nevermore/Memoricide all of their win-cons, wrath wrath wrath everything they play then, if you decide to win it's by beating down with Snapcaster or Soldiers or (hehe) resolve an Army of the Damned.
By the way, the Bitterheart/Curse is there so that I don't auto-lose to Wolf-Run decks as the curse kills Inkmoth the moment it gets activated.
Rules for suggestions:
- no suggesting efficient win-cons
- no card draw
- suggestions must be stupid, in fact I want the stupidest thing you can think of
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Olivia Volderan
2 Bloodgift Demon
2 Consecrated Sphinx
2 Inferno Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Instants
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
4 Mana Leak
3 Brimstone Volley
3 Dissipate
3 Arc Trail
2 Sever the Bloodline
Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
Lands
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Dragonskull Summit
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Island
4 Mountain
1 Stanasia Bloodhall
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Swamp
4 Despise
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Trinket Mage
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Slagstorm
3 Memoricide
Arc Trail - Hmm.... do I play Shock or Geistflame? Oh... I'll play both, in one card.
Brimstone Volley - is really good. Especially when you Doom Blade their dude, bump Chandra down by two, and double Volley for ten life, that just ends games on their own.
Dissipate - I passed on this card initially, but then a friend was trying a U/B control deck with it and I saw that it's really good. With so much flashback and Sun Titan shenanigans running amock. Counter a spell and exiling something at the same time can be critical. It's well worth the mana.
Olivia Volderan - a great 1-of. She gets out of control quickly. Again I thought nothing of her until I saw her in action. Either she wins you the game or she dies quickly leaving your opponent with one less removal spell for the other finisher you've been sitting on.
Sever the Bloodline - Again, another card you just have to play with. It handily deals with Wurmcoils as well as having a manageable flashback cost. Think of it as a Maelstrom Pulse just easier to cast, has flashback, and only hits creatures... not so bad, really.
Bloodgift Demon - Arena on a 5/4 body.... yes please. He also is a must deal-with as a pseudo C-Sphinx.
No Ponder/Think Twice/ Desperate Ravings? - Yup, didn't like them. Once you hit B-Demon or C-Sphinx you're fine. Plus you've been holding on no problem with all the counter magic/removal/Flashmaster Chan.
Sideboard
I love this particular Trinket Mage package. Spellbomb is just good right now as a cantrip and graveyard hate. The elixir is great against the aggro matchup and reshuffles Mages + Spellbombs again for future use.
Phantasmal Image - No reason not to have a pair of these guys waiting in the wings.
I tried Lilly, but she's not Jace. You don't just toss her in a deck with B in it and call it a day.
Lastly, I really want to get two Tribute to Hunger in the MB. The lifegain is not irrelevant, plus these Hexproof jerks are the real deal, there's a ton of dead cards in your MB against decks with lots of these guys, it'll take some tweaking, but these can definately fit.
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Bloodgift Demon
4 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Sheoldred, Whispering One
4 Heartless Summoning
Spells
4 Ponder
4 Forbidden Alchemy
Planeswalkers
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Drowned Catacombs
4 Darkslick Shores
7 Island
9 Swamp
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Shock
4 Incinerate
4 Think Twice
4 Desperate Ravings
2 Devil's Play
4 Ponder
2 Tezzeret's Gambit
2 Chandra the Firebrand
Lands
9 Island
9 Mountain
4 Sulfur Falls
No sideboard yet. I know that 4 Desperate Ravings seems a bit much, but it really isn't, in testing I've not found it to be a problem. What's fun about this deck is that it draws a ton of cards and you effectively have two hands, one in your hand and the other in your graveyard. Also Delver of Secrets is the nuts, this card it for real, trust me.
I've had quite a few games with T1 Delver (show an instant or sorcery), T2 Delver (set up an instant or sorcery with Ponder), T3 Chandra's Phoenix which equals 11 damage by T3 and you still have 3 cards in hand and at least one of them will cantrip.
White:
Blade Splicer
Hero of Bladehold (swing then sac, obviously)
Elesh Norn (the absolute best creature to top out at)
Archon of Justice
Black:
Entomber Exarch
Grave Titan
Skinrender
Green:
Viridian Corruptor
Acidic Slime
Other:
Solemn Simulacrum
Wurmcoil Engine
Glissa (she has no relevant ETB effect, but you still just run her as a 1-of)
Spellskite (same as Glissa)
Phyrexian Metamorph
Precursor Golemn (Why aren't more people playing this card in pod decks, he is amazing? Especially if you go Precursor Golemn -> Grave Titan -> Elesh Norn, if they don't wrath then you just won the game.)
I am convinced that W/B/G is the way to go on this type of deck and I believe that ISD will continue to give us good utility cards for the deck. And I think that Garruk 3.0 needs to be tested in a pod deck, I have a feeling he'll be good.
Further more this will just add a new strategic dimension to drafting, i.e.:
- Open the pack
- Hmm there's a transform card in it
- Do I take the transform card and signal to everyone at my table that I took it and might be playing that color such that they can more effectively deny me that color? Or, do I pass it signalling that I'm not playing that color? OR do I take it even though I'm not playing that color and have people think they're denying me my color when, in fact, they'll be passing me my colors?
I would drop the Hexmage as the only scary PW is Gideon and he dies to Doom Blade pretty easily.
4 Bloodghast
2 Azure Mage
3 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Consecrated Sphinx
Spells
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Preordain
4 Smallpox
2 Grim Discovery
1 Into the Roil
1 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
1 Dismember
1 Consume the Meek
3 Jace Belerin
Artifacts
1 Batterskull
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacombs
4 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Verdant Catacomb
1 Misty Rainforest
5 Swamp
4 Island
1 Twisted Image
3 Flashfreeze
1 Thada Adel, Inquisitor
3 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Master Thief
4 Memoricide
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Testing has shown this has a great mainboard game against Caw-Blade and other U/B control decks. I haven't had the opportunity to test against Valakut, but I have a feeling that early Smallpox is probably pretty good.
Thoughts and advice is appreciated.