Voice is perfectly fine against Affinity because the token becomes bigger than most of their team. Voice itself as a 2/2 is not very impressive, but you keep it in because it's 1) fast and 2) value. You have worse cards to take out like Chords, Spellskite, Metamorph, Seer #2, Pod #4, Reveillark.
Linvala shuts down Ravager which makes your removal much, much better. She's worth one slot post board if she isn't in your main already.
After a few play test sessions post-ban, I'm beginning to question Ranger's spot. Half of his appeal was searching up double DRS for incredible value. Now, he's at his best when he finds double Seer, which is fine but I could just be playing more sac outlets that have additional value and spread across the mana curve for Pod. My first thought is to try -1 Ranger, -1 Seer, +1 Aristocrat, +1 Valroz and see how that goes.
Some cards have been printed since this deck has last had any activity that are definitely inline with Heartbeat's style. Namely, Steam Augury and Epic Experiment.
This reminds me more of the version from 2005 with Fact or Fiction and Mind's Desire, since we're adding very functionally similar cards. Unfortunately, there's nothing quite like Nostalgic Dreams in the modern pool so a bunch of regrowth spells are necessary for the Gifts engine. Additionally, there is a weakness to DRS which must be addressed because he's far too popular. I just haven't decided how best to go about it.
The other major problem is that there is only one win condition. Surgical Extraction or Extirpate on Banefire would be game over. Emrakul could be an option, but he would just be a completely dead card for most games. Perhaps one in the sideboard is the best plan as those cards are typically found in sideboards only.
Gifts is in there first and foremost to assemble the Heartbeat + Harvest combo. So the most common piles looks something like one of these.
If only Heartbeat is needed:
Heartbeat of Spring
Nature's Spiral
Revive
Past in Flames/Mystic Retrieval
If only Harvest is needed:
Early Harvest
Revive
Mystic Retrieval
Past in Flames
If both Heartbeat and Harvest are needed:
Heartbeat of Spring
Early Harvest
Revive
Past in Flames/Mystic Retrieval
I think there's more potential in this deck and with some refinement it could be even better. It has a high density of powerful spells which is what is needed to power through BGx's discard or URW's counterspells. It just needs to get some games in under its belt.
The most important thing is not let them get two lords out. As long as that is the case, Redcap can kill their lord and keep them in-check.
Voice of Resurgence is also really great against them. Without Spreading Seas, they are forced to attack into it. Oftentimes that will result in a two-for-one in your favor. I feel that it's an overall positive match up and you're 0-2 was simply variance having its day.
I know a lot of people are dropping Metamorph because of the legendary rule, but that isn't why I liked him in the first place. That was an incidental benefit that we lost with the rule change. I most commonly copy either Finks or Redcap with my Metamorph. So that I can get the Persist from it and copy something else later that is more important. In the meantime it's another beater than produces incredible value.
In times of desperation, it can also copy opponents' fatties, like the Titans and Eldrazi. I simply like the options he provides for one slot, more than Linvala. She can keep chilling in my sb until an omnipresence of decks play game-winning activated abilities out of their creatures.
Fulminator Mage as a 1-of looks really bad to me. It doesn't work with Pod and it's a fool's errand to think one land destruction is going to keep Tron from assembling its holy trinity before you can kill them.
You could try to find a way to use Pattern of Rebirth. You'll likely need a sac outlet since Swords to Plowshares is the premiere removal within this format.
I pretty much never used Eternal Witness so it was cut. It's not like you're gonna Pod up Witness to get a Pod if you can just win instead. The most relevant thing Witness did over a few weeks was return lands - no joke.
Resto Angel would be pretty sweet at resetting the Persist dudes, but she is just another value creature. Metamorph will cover more bases which is what I'd use since modern is so wide open.
Why is 4 Deathrite Shaman too many for this deck, but not too many for every other deck in existence?
I'm curious why McClain (who played Matt Nass' list right?) left out sac outlets at two and three in Aristocrat and Varolz? Is the combo simply there to sometimes win but not really the primary goal?
Less than four Voice of Resurgence feels suboptimal to me. That card is just bonkers in Pod with all its value. My other thought is that a nonzero number of Oozes should be in the 75 somewhere. Especially against any deck with sweepers, Ooze just goes into overdrive. And the fact Archangel is in the deck... just wow when those two hit the board together. Random, yes, but so strong.
I'd love to get some insight from some experienced Pod players about the list. Like, is Abrupt Decay necessary in the mb to fight GBx decks? Is it better to just play more value creatures instead of pushing the combo? Here's mine currently.
Blood Moon supplemented by Suppression Field was too many cards that sit there and potentially do nothing. I got beat down far too often while hoping to mana screw them. I quickly got over the cuteness of it and wanted some defense. I'm settled on a wall that cantrips and Phyrexian Unlife for now. With Field gone, I got to bring Crystal Ball back to the table, which you mentioned. It's seriously been my favorite new card in a long time. Even post-Ideal, it offers utility in that you won't be drawing any Forms
I think if you're going to play Possibility Storm, you have to guarantee it's going to do something relevant. The problem is that for every one time it works, it fails three times more often. And that one time it happens the way you want, you get a feeling of overwhelming satisfaction that blindsides you. If the win or loss is basically coming down to how you flip on PS, your deck better come out on top, know what I mean? I was losing games after I resolved PS, which shouldn't happen.
If Possibility Storm is added again, you probably have to play blue for Transmute. There isn't any other way to get around Storm's trigger that I've found. Most likely, the play is to use Tolaria West to find Ornithopter and storm into Emrakul. And obviously drop all other creatures. It's completely separate from the Enduring Ideal package, unless you also add Dizzy Spell and Gitaxian Probe. And drop all other sorcery spells, just like creatures. It can probably fit in the same deck if you want to brew it up.
I've never tried RW without Bloom. I can't imagine it would work though. You need more than four pieces of mana accel, and I can tell you from experience that Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Simian Spirit Guide, etc. aren't worth the space. If it nets 2 or more mana, then it's worth considering in my book.
I've been playing a full playset of Crystal Ball and it's been really good to be honest. My mentality is that aggro should just be a good MU without sweepers. If it's not, then reconsider the configuration of your build because Ideal should beat aggro. Phyreixan Unlife does that pretty much on its own and it's already incorporated in our combo! Man, that was pretty obvious. I figured all my builds with sweepers were pretty terrible in actuality because they didn't focus on the real problem...
Counterspells are still public enemy number one and Silence is still the best white spell at stopping those. Ricochet Trap out of the sb offers a redundancy in that effect, only reactive instead of proactive.
One other discovery I've made is that Stony Silence is terrible in this deck. You don't want to play multiples because they shut off our Blooms and Prisms, which are the only acceleration worth playing without investing a lot of space like Storm or playing green. Damping Matrix is definitely better, and might be the best choice, but it would have to come in for Crystal Ball every time. And I'm not sure if Crystal Ball should ever come out. The card I'm trying at the moment is Pithing Needle. It's so damn versatile I can't believe I hadn't tried it before. It's been very impressive against Pod and Twin and Tron, but I still want more games before I come to a verdict.
I just won the most grinding match in recent memory against Eternal Command. Dang both of our decks put out card advantage. I won with 11 cards in my library during a 40 minute game one. I also beat UW Restoration Angel control.
Random thoughts:
It's pretty clear I'm still in the process of figuring out which cards are good besides the 4-ofs. I'm close to 100% convinced those that are 4-ofs are the correct cards in the correct numbers. Lots of 1-ofs but plenty overlap in their purpose - I'm just trying to determine which is the best at what it does.
Echoing Truth and Cyclonic Rift were underwhelming in the control mirrors, but that is kinda expected.
Vedalken Shackles was fantastic even against control since it bogged down the few threats they actually do play. As a result of playing against UW control earlier, Crucible was added for decks playing four Celestial Colonnade. That card beats all of our threats besides Wurmcoil. And using Shackles on it feels really bad.
I'm gonna stick with this version and hopefully get some games in against aggro and combo tonight.
Echoing Truth should not be in your deck just because of Curse. I said that's a pretty bad play but the situation with Shackles is completely reasonable. That's the main reason I'd play the Curse.
1. Steal creatures with Shackles
2. Cast Curse of the Swine on them for 2/2s on our side.
3. Untap Shackles and reuse.
Echoing Truth could be like a 1-of because it is highly versatile. Shutting down Empty the Warrens for two mana is a thing of beauty. The benefit of bouncing boars is incidental.
I really like Tec Edge. I think man lands are going to be a problem here.
What do you think about that? Spending the mana and deck space on draw spells may not be the way to play MUC in this format. I think Modern is too fast on average.
Cryptic Command is an automatic 4-of in a MUC deck. Like, no questions about it. There isn't a more versatile card out there and four mana should be no problem if all goes according to plan.
Vendilion Clique, also unmatched in versatility and power among creatures, is a 4-of because you don't want to waste counters protecting them. If one bites the dust, so be it. The point of MUC is inevitability so you want to counterspell the stuff from them that actually wins. A removal spell on your clock probably doesn't spell the end of the game.
Spell Snare is one of the few hard counters in this format and it gives a huge edge on the draw, which I think is going to be an uphill battle for this deck. Plus, its cost is very nice Snapcaster. I would at least advise it in some number.
I was thinking Curse of the Swine from Theros would be useful. One idea I had was to steal their creatures with Vedalken Shackles and then turn them into 2/2 boars on your side via Curse only after your opponent manages to get another threatening creature into play. And if you have some number of Echoing Truth in the deck then you can still fall back on casting Curse on your opponents creatures and hopefully dealing with all the boars at once. That's obviously a pretty bad answer, but it's available if you play Echoing Truth.
Evacuation would actually be really sweet with Curse of the Swine and Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage, and Venser as your creatures. I really like that idea in fact. It's like Wrath of God for blue, and you can hopefully do it on their end step to force them to discard some good stuff.
The best creatures for MUC are Snapcaster Mage and Vendilion Clique with Faerie Conclave providing the manland angle. Clique offers evasion, disruption, instant-speed, and all the good stuff you really want. Snapcaster is just ultra value on legs. It's hard to think of a creature better suited for a slow blue deck.
I would start this deck with
20ish Snow-covered Island
4 Scrying Sheets
2 Faerie Conclave
Those are staples IMO and a good start for the lower curve exemplified by most modern decks. Now you just need good support spells like counters, draw, and bounce. And they need to work with Snappy for the value.
Linvala shuts down Ravager which makes your removal much, much better. She's worth one slot post board if she isn't in your main already.
4 Scalding Tarn
7 Forest
6 Island
3 Mountain
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Early Harvest
4 Heartbeat of Spring
4 Steam Augury
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Epic Experiment
3 Ideas Unbound
1 Past in Flames
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Revive
1 Nature's Spiral
1 Banefire
This reminds me more of the version from 2005 with Fact or Fiction and Mind's Desire, since we're adding very functionally similar cards. Unfortunately, there's nothing quite like Nostalgic Dreams in the modern pool so a bunch of regrowth spells are necessary for the Gifts engine. Additionally, there is a weakness to DRS which must be addressed because he's far too popular. I just haven't decided how best to go about it.
The other major problem is that there is only one win condition. Surgical Extraction or Extirpate on Banefire would be game over. Emrakul could be an option, but he would just be a completely dead card for most games. Perhaps one in the sideboard is the best plan as those cards are typically found in sideboards only.
Gifts is in there first and foremost to assemble the Heartbeat + Harvest combo. So the most common piles looks something like one of these.
If only Heartbeat is needed:
Heartbeat of Spring
Nature's Spiral
Revive
Past in Flames/Mystic Retrieval
If only Harvest is needed:
Early Harvest
Revive
Mystic Retrieval
Past in Flames
If both Heartbeat and Harvest are needed:
Heartbeat of Spring
Early Harvest
Revive
Past in Flames/Mystic Retrieval
I think there's more potential in this deck and with some refinement it could be even better. It has a high density of powerful spells which is what is needed to power through BGx's discard or URW's counterspells. It just needs to get some games in under its belt.
Voice of Resurgence is also really great against them. Without Spreading Seas, they are forced to attack into it. Oftentimes that will result in a two-for-one in your favor. I feel that it's an overall positive match up and you're 0-2 was simply variance having its day.
In times of desperation, it can also copy opponents' fatties, like the Titans and Eldrazi. I simply like the options he provides for one slot, more than Linvala. She can keep chilling in my sb until an omnipresence of decks play game-winning activated abilities out of their creatures.
Fulminator Mage as a 1-of looks really bad to me. It doesn't work with Pod and it's a fool's errand to think one land destruction is going to keep Tron from assembling its holy trinity before you can kill them.
I don't condone dropping Metamorph though. I find uses for it all the time even without the legendary rule as it used to be.
Resto Angel would be pretty sweet at resetting the Persist dudes, but she is just another value creature. Metamorph will cover more bases which is what I'd use since modern is so wide open.
Why is 4 Deathrite Shaman too many for this deck, but not too many for every other deck in existence?
Less than four Voice of Resurgence feels suboptimal to me. That card is just bonkers in Pod with all its value. My other thought is that a nonzero number of Oozes should be in the 75 somewhere. Especially against any deck with sweepers, Ooze just goes into overdrive. And the fact Archangel is in the deck... just wow when those two hit the board together. Random, yes, but so strong.
I'd love to get some insight from some experienced Pod players about the list. Like, is Abrupt Decay necessary in the mb to fight GBx decks? Is it better to just play more value creatures instead of pushing the combo? Here's mine currently.
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
3 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Woodland Cemetary
3 Gavony Township
4 Birthing Pod
3 Chord of Calling
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Viscera Seer
4 Voice of Resurgence
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Cartel Aristocrat
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Spike Feeder
1 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Murderous Redcap
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Reveillark
1 Archangel of Thune
3 Lingering Souls
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Spellskite
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Shriekmaw
Any obvious changes?
I think if you're going to play Possibility Storm, you have to guarantee it's going to do something relevant. The problem is that for every one time it works, it fails three times more often. And that one time it happens the way you want, you get a feeling of overwhelming satisfaction that blindsides you. If the win or loss is basically coming down to how you flip on PS, your deck better come out on top, know what I mean? I was losing games after I resolved PS, which shouldn't happen.
If Possibility Storm is added again, you probably have to play blue for Transmute. There isn't any other way to get around Storm's trigger that I've found. Most likely, the play is to use Tolaria West to find Ornithopter and storm into Emrakul. And obviously drop all other creatures. It's completely separate from the Enduring Ideal package, unless you also add Dizzy Spell and Gitaxian Probe. And drop all other sorcery spells, just like creatures. It can probably fit in the same deck if you want to brew it up.
I've never tried RW without Bloom. I can't imagine it would work though. You need more than four pieces of mana accel, and I can tell you from experience that Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Simian Spirit Guide, etc. aren't worth the space. If it nets 2 or more mana, then it's worth considering in my book.
Counterspells are still public enemy number one and Silence is still the best white spell at stopping those. Ricochet Trap out of the sb offers a redundancy in that effect, only reactive instead of proactive.
One other discovery I've made is that Stony Silence is terrible in this deck. You don't want to play multiples because they shut off our Blooms and Prisms, which are the only acceleration worth playing without investing a lot of space like Storm or playing green. Damping Matrix is definitely better, and might be the best choice, but it would have to come in for Crystal Ball every time. And I'm not sure if Crystal Ball should ever come out. The card I'm trying at the moment is Pithing Needle. It's so damn versatile I can't believe I hadn't tried it before. It's been very impressive against Pod and Twin and Tron, but I still want more games before I come to a verdict.
1 Mountain
4 Arid Mesa
3 Sacred Foundry
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Rugged Prairie
4 Wall of Omens
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Crystal Ball
4 Silence
4 Enduring Ideal
2 Dovescape
3 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Form of the Dragon
3 Blood Moon
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Pithing Needle
4 Wrath of God
3 Rest in Peace
3 Ricochet Trap
1 Blood Moon
So here's what I'm playing now! 24 lands because we want 4 on turn 4 - classic Magic!
17 Snow-Covered Island
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Faerie Conclave
2 Scrying Sheets
1 Academy Ruins
Creatures
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Vendilion Clique
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Spells
1 Echoing Truth
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Negate
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Evacuation
4 Cryptic Command
1 Jace Beleren
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Repeal
1 Mana Leak
1 Condescend
4 Vedalken Shackles
4 Spell Snare
2 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Dispel
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
3 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Vapor Snag
3 Annul
Random thoughts:
It's pretty clear I'm still in the process of figuring out which cards are good besides the 4-ofs. I'm close to 100% convinced those that are 4-ofs are the correct cards in the correct numbers. Lots of 1-ofs but plenty overlap in their purpose - I'm just trying to determine which is the best at what it does.
Echoing Truth and Cyclonic Rift were underwhelming in the control mirrors, but that is kinda expected.
Vedalken Shackles was fantastic even against control since it bogged down the few threats they actually do play. As a result of playing against UW control earlier, Crucible was added for decks playing four Celestial Colonnade. That card beats all of our threats besides Wurmcoil. And using Shackles on it feels really bad.
I'm gonna stick with this version and hopefully get some games in against aggro and combo tonight.
1. Steal creatures with Shackles
2. Cast Curse of the Swine on them for 2/2s on our side.
3. Untap Shackles and reuse.
Echoing Truth could be like a 1-of because it is highly versatile. Shutting down Empty the Warrens for two mana is a thing of beauty. The benefit of bouncing boars is incidental.
I really like Tec Edge. I think man lands are going to be a problem here.
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Scrying Sheets
2 Faerie Conclave
1 Academy Ruins
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Vendilion Clique
1 Trinket Mage
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
3 Spell Snare
1 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Peek
2 Into the Roil
1 Echoing Truth
2 Evacuation
2 Curse of the Swine
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chimeric Mass
2 Ratchet Bomb
4 Vedalken Shackles
What do you think about that? Spending the mana and deck space on draw spells may not be the way to play MUC in this format. I think Modern is too fast on average.
Vendilion Clique, also unmatched in versatility and power among creatures, is a 4-of because you don't want to waste counters protecting them. If one bites the dust, so be it. The point of MUC is inevitability so you want to counterspell the stuff from them that actually wins. A removal spell on your clock probably doesn't spell the end of the game.
Spell Snare is one of the few hard counters in this format and it gives a huge edge on the draw, which I think is going to be an uphill battle for this deck. Plus, its cost is very nice Snapcaster. I would at least advise it in some number.
I was thinking Curse of the Swine from Theros would be useful. One idea I had was to steal their creatures with Vedalken Shackles and then turn them into 2/2 boars on your side via Curse only after your opponent manages to get another threatening creature into play. And if you have some number of Echoing Truth in the deck then you can still fall back on casting Curse on your opponents creatures and hopefully dealing with all the boars at once. That's obviously a pretty bad answer, but it's available if you play Echoing Truth.
Evacuation would actually be really sweet with Curse of the Swine and Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage, and Venser as your creatures. I really like that idea in fact. It's like Wrath of God for blue, and you can hopefully do it on their end step to force them to discard some good stuff.
I would start this deck with
20ish Snow-covered Island
4 Scrying Sheets
2 Faerie Conclave
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Vendilion Clique
4 Cryptic Command
4 Spell Snare
4 Vedalken Shackles
Those are staples IMO and a good start for the lower curve exemplified by most modern decks. Now you just need good support spells like counters, draw, and bounce. And they need to work with Snappy for the value.