BUG Pod has more good utility creatures than Bant Pod, that being said, BUG Pod doesn't have access to the nutty shenanigans you can do with Venser. I honestly think each deck has about the same level of power, and its just a matter of who starts podding first.
As for the argument of "If Bant Pod gets Dignitary + Venser, it's gg for BUG Pod"...that doesn't really work. All BUG Pod has to do is:
a) get one of it's utility creatures that can kill Dignitary
b) Just get out Sheoldred, oh look, you have to sacrifice the Dignitary on your upkeep now
I can see each of these decks running Skaab Ruinator, and I could see BUG Pod possibly running Deciever Exarch though it isn't nearly as good without Sun Titan. The key difference between the decks is just a one colour difference, but since said colours are white and black...it's all a matter of what you want more with the deck.
If you want to be able to control the board better by killing mostly everything your opponent puts out, go with BUG Pod.
If you want to slow your opponent down and give them a sense of helplessness as they can't do anything, go with Bant Pod.
On a final note...why haven't I seen a single decklist with Solemn Simulacrum?? that card is boss in Pod decks o.o
First and foremost, you'll notice the only actual Illusion still in the deck is Phantasmal Image. This is because playing as a control deck, he is the only illusion that is still good, and when I say good, I mean he's F^&$ING AMAZING!! Clone Solemn Simulacrum, Sun Titan, Sphinx of Uthuun, or their big threat for only 2 mana? HOLY CRAP!
Basically, if you have a Titan in hand, and an Image and Lord in the graveyard, you win unless they wrath.
Auramancer is in there in case you end up losing your Xenograft and need a way to get it back.
Jace Beleren is just good, and Sun Titan is going to be very sad when he rotates out =(
I haven't yet put together the sideboard, though I am thinking about something along the lines of this:
I think a lot of people want to put Solemn in this deck for the simple reason that if you copy it with Phantasmal Image:
1. It gets you ANOTHER land, so you can get in there even faster
2. When your Image eventually dies, it gets you to draw an extra card
3. A fast deck like this needs card draw. what better than something that hits people, then draws you a card when your opponent finally decides to get rid of it?
Okay...so I have been going over some ideas, on how to make this work, and it surprised me that no one has of yet, considered how good Grand Abolisher would be in here. Basically it makes it so all your Phantasmal Illusions can't be touched during your turn, so you're free to attack, and not worry about them targetting your creature with anything in response. I also feel that this deck would work best with a sort of Aggro/Control blend...and this was the best I could come up with (bear with me here xP)
For the last decklist that was posted I would make some changes...
-3 Plains
+1 Island
+2 Tectonic Edge
-1 Sun Titan
-1 Gore Vassal
-1 Throne of Geth
-1 Marshal's Anthem
-2 Venser the Sojourner
+2 Mana Leak
+1 Wall of Omens
+3 Ponder
Now for the explanation.....
Basically in this deck, Tectonic Edge will be amazing since you can keep recurring it with your Sun Titan(s), meaning you can constantly get rid of problem lands.
Gore Vassal, Marshal's Anthem, and Throne of Geth don't really do anything for you, and take up space where you could be running better cards, like Ponder for example (that card is effin amazing!)
Venser is good, but you don't need 3, in my opinion, you don't even need two. If you are controlling the board well enough, then 1 should be fine, because you don't NEED Venser, but when you get him he's an asset.
Same with Sun Titan, if you want this to be a control deck, you need more cards to help you focus on controlling your opponent. However unlike Venser, this deck works off of the Titan, which is why you want 3. Having 3 Titans makes it so they will consistently show up, but not so much that you have multiples in hand that aren't that useful (trust me, if you have nothing to recur with the Titan, and have 2+ in hand, you are making a very sad looking face).
Now why didn't I get rid of a Phantasmal Image? Simply because it isn't just Sun Titan, it is every one of your creatures, as well as every one of your opponents creatures, for only 2 MANA! This card is so good that you will want to have 1 in hand very often, and a lot of the time, having multiples will be brilliant. Opponent plays a Sphinx of Uthuun, sure now you can Fact or Fiction as well but instead you only pay 2 mana!
Like the Phantasmal Image, Wall of Omens, and Mana Leak are good cards you want appearing a lot, or at least cards you want the best chance of having for the first couple of turns, therefore running 4 of each is good.
And Ponder....well it's Ponder...enough said.
Another card to consider for this deck would be Sphinx of Uthuun as a 1 of if you can find the space, though I can't think of what else to take out for it.
Bant Pod utility:
Stonehorn Dignitary
Venser, the Sojourner
Sun Titan
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
BUG Pod Utility:
Skinrender
Entomber Exarch
Morkut Banshee
Reaper of the Abyss
Sheoldred, Whispering One
Massacre Wurm
BUG Pod has more good utility creatures than Bant Pod, that being said, BUG Pod doesn't have access to the nutty shenanigans you can do with Venser. I honestly think each deck has about the same level of power, and its just a matter of who starts podding first.
As for the argument of "If Bant Pod gets Dignitary + Venser, it's gg for BUG Pod"...that doesn't really work. All BUG Pod has to do is:
a) get one of it's utility creatures that can kill Dignitary
b) Just get out Sheoldred, oh look, you have to sacrifice the Dignitary on your upkeep now
I can see each of these decks running Skaab Ruinator, and I could see BUG Pod possibly running Deciever Exarch though it isn't nearly as good without Sun Titan. The key difference between the decks is just a one colour difference, but since said colours are white and black...it's all a matter of what you want more with the deck.
If you want to be able to control the board better by killing mostly everything your opponent puts out, go with BUG Pod.
If you want to slow your opponent down and give them a sense of helplessness as they can't do anything, go with Bant Pod.
On a final note...why haven't I seen a single decklist with Solemn Simulacrum?? that card is boss in Pod decks o.o
That also lets you add in a control element as well since you also have Mana Leak and such
3x Seachrome Coast
3x Halimar Depths
2x Celestial Colonnade
5x Plains
7x Island
3x Solemn Simulacrum
2x Lord of the Unreal
2x Sun Titan
1x Sphinx of Uthuun
1x Auramancer
4x Ponder
3x Day of Judgment
3x Into the Roil
3x Mana Leak
3x Spell Pierce
2x Jace Beleren
2x Xenograft
First and foremost, you'll notice the only actual Illusion still in the deck is Phantasmal Image. This is because playing as a control deck, he is the only illusion that is still good, and when I say good, I mean he's F^&$ING AMAZING!! Clone Solemn Simulacrum, Sun Titan, Sphinx of Uthuun, or their big threat for only 2 mana? HOLY CRAP!
Basically, if you have a Titan in hand, and an Image and Lord in the graveyard, you win unless they wrath.
Auramancer is in there in case you end up losing your Xenograft and need a way to get it back.
Jace Beleren is just good, and Sun Titan is going to be very sad when he rotates out =(
I haven't yet put together the sideboard, though I am thinking about something along the lines of this:
3x Flashfreeze
4x Grand Abolisher
1x Day of Judgment
1x Mana Leak
1x Spell Pierce
1x Into the Roil
Let me know what you guys think about what layout here, through the little bit of testing I have done on MWS the deck works well.
1. It gets you ANOTHER land, so you can get in there even faster
2. When your Image eventually dies, it gets you to draw an extra card
3. A fast deck like this needs card draw. what better than something that hits people, then draws you a card when your opponent finally decides to get rid of it?
4 Grand Abolisher
4 Phantasmal Bear
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Sun Titan
4 Mana Leak
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Mimic Vat
2 Xenograft
3 Seachrome Coast
3 Halimar Depths
2 Celestial Colonnade
6 Plains
6 Islands
This is just a rough idea, but what do the rest of you think?
-3 Plains
+1 Island
+2 Tectonic Edge
-1 Sun Titan
-1 Gore Vassal
-1 Throne of Geth
-1 Marshal's Anthem
-2 Venser the Sojourner
+2 Mana Leak
+1 Wall of Omens
+3 Ponder
Now for the explanation.....
Basically in this deck, Tectonic Edge will be amazing since you can keep recurring it with your Sun Titan(s), meaning you can constantly get rid of problem lands.
Gore Vassal, Marshal's Anthem, and Throne of Geth don't really do anything for you, and take up space where you could be running better cards, like Ponder for example (that card is effin amazing!)
Venser is good, but you don't need 3, in my opinion, you don't even need two. If you are controlling the board well enough, then 1 should be fine, because you don't NEED Venser, but when you get him he's an asset.
Same with Sun Titan, if you want this to be a control deck, you need more cards to help you focus on controlling your opponent. However unlike Venser, this deck works off of the Titan, which is why you want 3. Having 3 Titans makes it so they will consistently show up, but not so much that you have multiples in hand that aren't that useful (trust me, if you have nothing to recur with the Titan, and have 2+ in hand, you are making a very sad looking face).
Now why didn't I get rid of a Phantasmal Image? Simply because it isn't just Sun Titan, it is every one of your creatures, as well as every one of your opponents creatures, for only 2 MANA! This card is so good that you will want to have 1 in hand very often, and a lot of the time, having multiples will be brilliant. Opponent plays a Sphinx of Uthuun, sure now you can Fact or Fiction as well but instead you only pay 2 mana!
Like the Phantasmal Image, Wall of Omens, and Mana Leak are good cards you want appearing a lot, or at least cards you want the best chance of having for the first couple of turns, therefore running 4 of each is good.
And Ponder....well it's Ponder...enough said.
Another card to consider for this deck would be Sphinx of Uthuun as a 1 of if you can find the space, though I can't think of what else to take out for it.
The cards show up in MWS, and I can build decks. However when I go to test them, or go online and have to load the deck I get an error that says:
'Load Deck Error: Cards not found in Base'
If after this I go back into MWS and load my deck, it's just the way I saved it, with all the cards in it and what not.
Can anyone help?