MTG Salvation

I'll keep testing it - thanks for the comments guys. Its been getting played a lot with white here so maybe I should consider Hallowed Spiritkeeper and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

I recommend both of those cards, Pod or not.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I recommend both of those cards, Pod or not.

100%. Those should be in about every cube.

Sweet. They'll be in my next update

Birthing Pod was recently discussed here in the Random Cube Card of the Day thread.

How has this been in your cube at 2019? More support cards for this? especially with the new prime speaker?

What are good ways to support this archetype more?

I tried supporting Pod for a while, but it was just too hard to draft around. At the time, my cube was unpowered, and I think Pod was fast enough and had potential. The problem was that it was too hard to draft enough creatures at each spot in the curve that one would want to Pod up. It is fine to upgrade your creatures, attack with a 3-drop, pod it into a 4-drop, but unless you are generating value along the way, it's not that exciting.

Compared to other value engines that shine in unpowered cubes, like Recurring Nightmare, Survival of the Fittest, or Monarch cards, Pod never really shone. A couple people tried it to middling results and then I cut it.

I haven't cubed much these days, and powered my cube, so I don't anticipate Pod making a comeback soon. There are a few reasons Pod might be better these days like the recent influx of recursive black creatures. I also think Pod is better if your cube supports green aggro, which mine did not. Aggro creatures are generally good early and weak late, so Pod has a real use in upgrading them. Maybe in a couple of years black will have a real recursion and sacrifice theme and I'll give Pod another go. It's a fun, iconic card.

I think Prime Speaker is a fun card, and blue could be interesting in pod with untap effects like Pestermite. Pod cards add a "mini-game" of different-cmc-matters to draft, but the baseline power level of cube is so high that winning that mini-game doesn't have enough pay-off. At least that was my experience.

I still like it a lot. It doesn't seem overly difficult to grind out midrange value, even with just one creature at each CMC. Mana dork into Strangleroot Geist into Kitchen Finks into Vengevine into Thragtusk. Also pair with Mimic Vat.

We tried this for a bit but cut it about 7 years ago. Since then creatures have gotten way better, and many of the 'good stats' 2-4 drops were replaced by interesting ETB creatures. Do people run this in 2020? My theory is that if it's good it should be drafted as a generic value/grindy card rather than a dedicated Pod into huge creature chain.

The big issue with Pod IMO is that you kind of have to pick it early and warp your picks around it for it to function. It can still be a very powerful card in the right deck, but sometimes you just don't see any 4-drops that you'd want to pod away, or your curve skips 6, removing the option to find a Hornet Queen at some point. Also, your deck is often kinda meh when you don't draw the pod, as you're just playing a Gx creature-based midrange strategy.

I still cube it because it is reasonably powerful and a really fun card to play and draft with, but if I were going for pure power-level, I would probably cut it.

Value goes up quite a bit if you support creature-based combo decks. I just re-added it myself.

Pod is insanely strong. Back when it was legal in modern, the only deck that could hope to keep up with its value were the Treasure Cruise decks.

I've looked over my Green 3-5 curve section, 80% of the creatures will guarantee a positive trigger with Pod:

wall of blossoms
merfolk branchwalker
Eternal Witness
Llanowar Visionary
Jadelight Ranger
Manglehorn
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Ramunap Excavator - Could be used to play a land on the turn comes out. Then could be podded away.
Reclamation Sage
Tireless Tracker - Could get a clue the turn pod out. Could get additional clue turn after before podded away.
Viridian Shaman
Courser of Kruphix - Could be used to play an additional land. Then could be podded away
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove - Extra land drop for the turn and turn after. Not the best, but still okay.
Master of the Wild Hunt - Wolf the following turn + wolf fight trigger.
Nightpack Ambusher - Usually you won't get the trigger, but its a consideration
Oracle of Mul Daya - Could be used to play an additional land. Then could be podded away
Biogenic Ooze
Deep Forest Hermit
Deranged Hermit
Thragtusk
Whisperwood Elemental
Verdurous Gearhulk

Other targets:
Shifting Ceratops/ Questing Beast - I've pod for him to remove a planeswalker

This is not including the insane value off mass recursion effects, toolbox for right answers etc.
Agadeem's Awakening
Volrath's Stronghold
Recurring Nightmare
Living Death

Sun Titan
Sevinne's Reclamation
Reveillark
Luminous Broodmoth

Just looking through my green section, if your deck is 50% green, its almost a pretty good guarantee Pod will be good. Don't underestimate birthing pod.

Quote from steve_man »

I'm going to be re-testing Birthing Pod (and testing Eldritch Evolution for the first time alongside it). One of my issues with Birthing Pod wasn't the card itself, but my own chain at the 3-4-5 cmc range. One big weakness in my cube for a while was the 4-cmc creature slot, which was eaten by planeswalkers over time. For example, in green I only ran Thrun / Questing Beast for a while (and Esika's Chariot I guess, but you can't pod into it), in white I only ran Palace Jailer / Restoration Angel / etc.

Fast forward to the present, there's a good amount of new 4-cmc creatures I'm playing now in green like Undermountain Adventurer / Caldaia Guardian and strong 3 and 4-cmc creatures in white like White Plume Adventurer / Seasoned Dungeoneer. Between things like initiative, MH2 evoke elementals, and Grist, the Hunger Tide, Birthing Pod / Eldritch Evolution has a lot new toys to sacrifice / cheat into play.

As the pod advocate and a player that played pod in constructed (EDH/ Modern) I will share my thoughts:

The problem I've found the mistake newers players make with pod is playing too many ETB/ LTB creatures in their pod chain in limited. The large majority of strong ETB/ LTB creatures are 3-6 drops and there are very few 2 CMC playables, which results in either very clucky decks or decks dependent on 4-6 mana dorks in their 40. These style of decks are often weak to sweepers out of control/ combo style decks.

Birthing Pod provides three advantages:
- Tutor the best creature in any situation
- Provide acceleration (going up the chain can go up on mana)
- Utilize ETB/ LTB effects.

I've found the best Pod targets at 4 CMC are often not ETB/ LTB effects, but strong utility creatures:
- Braids, Cabal Minion - This is often game over against ramp/ control decks
- Rankle, Master of Pranks - Haste is invaluable against planeswalkers
- Yawgmoth, Thran Physician - Fantastic in the late game/ provides removal
- Oracle of Mul Daya - Pod decks are often 16 lands - 24 spells and dork heavy, this generates land drops/ Card Advantage.

I would argue that outside of Murderous Redcap and Palace Jailer, these are better 4 CMC pod targets than Seasoned Dungeoner etc.

I would advice against Eldrich Evolution. I've tested the card before and I've found it to be only worthwhile outside of 3 drop into 5 drops such as Clocknapper / Arcane Savant or Taisgur, the Golden Fang into Archon of Cruelty.

The second problem is a one-shot tutor is often insufficient in creature combo decks as Heliod/ Persist creatures 2-3 creatures and these decks require effects that can tutor (or draw) multiple creatures/ cards to be worthwhile.

Prosperous Innkeeper is a a nice 2 mana creature that works well with ETB effects and birthing pod.
Most birthing pod decks are 3+ color and the body doesn't have a lightning rod on it's back the way other 2 cmc ramp decks do.
Lifegain offsets the phyrexian cost.. and if you have pod in play you can cast it and get residual value.

It's a low pick, but i've been enjoying the card in my cube at the moment.

Quote from LucidVision »

Prosperous Innkeeper is a a nice 2 mana creature that works well with ETB effects and birthing pod.
Most birthing pod decks are 3+ color and the body doesn't have a lightning rod on it's back the way other 2 cmc ramp decks do.
Lifegain offsets the phyrexian cost.. and if you have pod in play you can cast it and get residual value.

It's a low pick, but i've been enjoying the card in my cube at the moment.

I think I rather have a Wall of Blossoms or a traditional 2 CMC ramp creature over Prosperous Innkeeper. I feel if it was 1 CMC, it may not even outperform Gilded Goose