Since I already have other two decks (Mayael and Ayli) that are more tuned and kinda cutthroat, I wanted to build something more casual and fun oriented. So, I decided to build around Roon of the Hidden Realm, with as many creatures as possible. The only non-creatures are a few flicker effects, the ones that are repeatable or do it more than one creature at a time. Also, I don't want to use any tutors or cards that can be considered "unfun", so Fierce Empath, Woodfall Primus, Seedoborn Muse and the likes are off the table. I do play Deadeye Navigator and Bane of Progress tough, so that kinda invalidates my point.
I need some advice to better balance the deck. I feel like the curve is a bit too high for the low amount of ramp I'm running, maybe I should cut some of the more expensive removal creatures for Yavimaya Dryad and the like. Are there must include creatures that I missed?
As a long time Pod player (since 2012 and now made orphan by the banlist) this deck is exactly what I want to play. I will complete my playset of Rhinos soon and assemble the deck in time for the weekend and will let you know how it went.
What do you guys think of Elspeth in the board for the grindy matchups and Duress for Scapeshift/Control?
How is Firewalker bad against red sweepers? Sure, he can't save other creatures, but he doesn't die (protection from red means that any damage caused by a red source to him is prevented) and you still gain some life.
The problem I have with this character is not Daretti himself, is that he could be printed in EVERY new Standard set. Old characters can not, and they need this kind of product to show up. So in my opinion it's a waste of space and fan service to print a new walker or legend when they could print a classic from the past. How many of you would prefer a new Gerrard, for example, instead of Jazal? Yawgmoth? Jeska? Hurkyl? The Lithomancancer (is it spelled right?)? Leshrac? I know, new players won't know them, but it's an awesome way to instigate them to look up for the older lore. I'm betting that they will be printed, eventually, but still, missed your chance Wizards.
Also, how bad is Freyalise? I almost cried when I saw how underwhelming one of the biggest characters in Magic's lore is.
Jazal is a bad example considering he's Ajani's DEAD brother.
Yeah, and he appeared in ONE page in ONE comic telling Ajani's story. Not the definition of remarkable if you ask me. And I never said that the characters need to be dead.
The problem I have with this character is not Daretti himself, is that he could be printed in EVERY new Standard set. Old characters can not, and they need this kind of product to show up. So in my opinion it's a waste of space and fan service to print a new walker or legend when they could print a classic from the past. How many of you would prefer a new Gerrard, for example, instead of Jazal? Yawgmoth? Jeska? Hurkyl? The Lithomancancer (is it spelled right?)? Leshrac? I know, new players won't know them, but it's an awesome way to instigate them to look up for the older lore. I'm betting that they will be printed, eventually, but still, missed your chance Wizards.
Also, how bad is Freyalise? I almost cried when I saw how underwhelming one of the biggest characters in Magic's lore is.
Every one who thinks that this and Dualcaster Mage (or whatever he's called) will be Legacy chase cards is incredibly wrong. Any Red card that cost 3 or more mana, does nothing by itself, doesn't fit on Delver and doesn't hate on others decks have like 5% of chance of seeing extensive play in a format like Legacy. Not every card is ScavOoze or TNN.
if Wurmcoil is in Feldon's deck, not in the Black one, I will totally get one for me. Super stoked about this, the Brother's War and the Ice Age is my favorite storyline since I have just started to play. Love all the characters from that story. Still wondering who the red planeswalker will be...
So Ive been having a tough time vs mirran crusader lately what creature beats him? or what card ect ideas?
Path straigh up kills him. RestoAngel, Archangel, Linvala, Reveillark, all of them trade with him in combat. Lingering Souls can buy some time. If he's a big part of your meta, have 3-4 Path in your sideboard.
regarding melira/spike angel, which do you prefer? I myself play both combos but am leaning towards angel, but that's mostly because I love hot chicks with wings. I know it's very very clunky, but with a sac outlet and either spike/finks you can even have dat 4 card redneck combo!
I prefer Melira, mainly because Spike Feeder is SO much worse as an individual card than her. Also, I don't miss the Archangel finishing power, because I play more 4-drops than most people. Playing both takes a lot of space, so I think that's the worst option.
I've grown to dislike Woodland Cemetery. Any land that cannot tap for green on turn one can be extremely awkward with our seven 1-drop mana dorks. I decided to try Marsh Flats instead—it serves as an untapped green on turn one and another fetch that can find Godless Shrine.
Some time ago I played Llanowar Wastes over Cemetery and it was actually good, the life loss was rarely relevant (surprising, I know) but I'm happy with Cemetery for now. I've been playing 1 Marsh Flats over a Misty Rainforest for months now, and have never looked back.
Because i have almost all cards for Melira-Pod in my collection, i wanted to try it. But i am missing the fetchlands (except 2 Marsh Flats)so i want to know if that lack on fetchies will wreck this deck if i try to build without them. i will assamble those fetchlands in the future but i am interested in playing this deck on the next local event and i can not relay on asking others to lend thos lands to me.
Definitely play 4 Razorverge Thicket and 3-4 Overgrown Tomb/Temple Garden. Look for last Standard season's Junk manabases, they were atually pretty decent, shocks + check lands is still pretty good.
It suffers the same problem as Sun Titan, though it's worth noting that the legacy pod deck (BUG Nic Fit) actually plays Grave Titan or Frost Titan. It's kind of weird they go higher up the curve than we do.
They have much better ramp, card quality, disruption and Brainstorm. That's why.
Another 6-drop worth considering is Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. He can be another Melira and protect the board against wraths.
Not sure how it will work out but I'm going to try my above Probe idea tomorrow. I'll only get a couple games in since it's not a dedicated Modern night but I should get some feedback. Going to try this list:
Debating a blue land over the second Forest, but the question is if so which one. Watery Grave can be found by all 8 fetches but it's basically just swamp+life payment so I don't want to run it. On the other hand, while I think 3 basic Forests is overkill I've never been unhappy to have a second one so there's a pretty big cost to running it. Maybe I shouldn't even bother trying to play probe without paying life and instead counter that by fetching more basics which probe lets you do slightly easier since your land ratio is higher at 22/56 than 23/60.
The other question I'm having is the cut for Restoration Angel. I want to put it MB but the question is what comes out for it. Right now I'm thinking Redcap should be the cut. I love Redcap but I'm a bit high on removal right now for the archetype so I could probably trim one card without issue. On the other hand Redcap is one of the best cards to use with Restoration Angel so maybe that's not right... anyone have an opinion?
This list is pretty far off from the stock lists but it's full of things I want to try. Namely Sin Collector/Exarch MB, some sideboard plans like Pharika (seems like a very strong way to stabilize against Zoo and such), and the Probe idea. I'm pretty sure atleast 2 of the 3 won't work well but I want to try them out.
Never take out Redcap if you play with Melira. Against Twin, Tron and the mirror infinite life sometimes is not enough, and you might need a way to deal infinite damage as well. But RestoAngel is kinda of an auto include since you have Exarch and Collector main, but you already have one. You want to add another?
Also, having both Canonist and Eidolon against Storm seems like overkill. If there is lots of Storm where you play, I think it's better to play a hoser main than two hosers side. Have you tested it?
I'm doing the forum reorganization and have a question about Junk Pod (no Meliras involved). Are you guys mostly discussing the no-Melira strategies here? Or does it make sense to start a new thread for that strategy? Melira Pod is solidly Proven, but Junk Pod (which may deserve its own thread) qualifies for Established on its own. Let me know what you guys think.
Do you mean Angel Pod or combo-less Pod? I agree with @Wizards, Pod with combo (Angel/Melira) are basically the same deck, but without combo can be very different, at least in how the deck plays.
When Tron was popular I played Realm Razer, and it is the best sideboard card you can have (even trumping 4-of Fulminator Mages). But it just improves the matchup from unwinnable to barely winnable. Personally I don't think it's worth it, less so if you need to play Stomping Ground just to have a chance to cast it.
Two questions:
1. Is Melira Pod as competitive as Angel Pod? More? Less?
2. Is this the right thread to discuss Meliraless/Angel Pod lists? If not, where's the right thread and would we need a different primer?
You can discuss it here, since they are essentially the same deck. And yes, both are pretty competitive, just with slightly different strenghts/weaknesses. For example, Angel Pod is worse against Zoo/Burn with its lone Finks and higher curve, while Melira Pod has the advantage with 3-4.
4 Forest
3 Island
3 Plains
0 Flooded Strand
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Windswept Heath
0 Breeding Pool
0 Hallowed Fountain
0 Temple Garden
0 Canopy Vista
0 Prairie Stream
0 Glacial Fortress
0 Hinterland Harbor
0 Sunpetal Grove
0 Azorius Chancery
0 Selesnya Sanctuary
0 Simic Growth Chamber
0 Blossoming Sands
0 Thornwood Falls
0 Tranquil Cove
0 Temple of Enlightenment
0 Temple of Mystery
0 Temple of Plenty
0 Command Tower
0 Seaside Citadel
0 Alchemist's Refuge
0 Blighted Woodland
0 Ghost Quarter
0 Krosan Verge
0 Reliquary Tower
0 Temple of the False God
1 Nephalia Smuggler
2 Mistmeadow Witch
3 Eerie Interlude
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Flickerwisp
3 Ghostly Flicker
3 Ghostway
4 Brago, King Eternal
4 Restoration Angel
5 Conjurer's Closet
5 Venser, the Sojourner
6 Deadeye Navigator
Card draw 11
2 Coiling Oracle
2 Elvish Visionary
2 Wall of Blossoms
2 Wall of Omens
4 Ephara, God of the Polis
5 Garruk's Packleader
5 Mulldrifter
5 Sages of the Anima
6 Prime Speaker Zegana
6 Soul of the Harvest
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
Ramp/land fetching 8
1 Noble Hierarch
2 Sylvan Ranger
2 Wall of Roots
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3 Wood Elves
3 Yavimaya Elder
4 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Fiend Hunter
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Reflector Mage
5 Acidic Slime
5 Indrik Stomphowler
6 Bane of Progress
6 Duplicant
6 Sunblast Angel
7 Angel of Serenity
7 Luminate Primordial
7 Phyrexian Ingester
Counterspells 6
4 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Kheru Spellsnatcher
4 Mystic Snake
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
5 Perplexing Chimera
6 Draining Whelk
Recursion/general utility 12
3 Eternal Witness
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Angel of Finality
4 Clever Impersonator
4 Spike weaver
5 Karmic Guide
5 Sky Hussar
5 Thragtusk
6 Linvala, the Preserver
6 Sun Titan
7 Diluvian Primordial
7 Resolute Archangel
I need some advice to better balance the deck. I feel like the curve is a bit too high for the low amount of ramp I'm running, maybe I should cut some of the more expensive removal creatures for Yavimaya Dryad and the like. Are there must include creatures that I missed?
What do you guys think of Elspeth in the board for the grindy matchups and Duress for Scapeshift/Control?
How is Firewalker bad against red sweepers? Sure, he can't save other creatures, but he doesn't die (protection from red means that any damage caused by a red source to him is prevented) and you still gain some life.
Yeah, and he appeared in ONE page in ONE comic telling Ajani's story. Not the definition of remarkable if you ask me. And I never said that the characters need to be dead.
Also, how bad is Freyalise? I almost cried when I saw how underwhelming one of the biggest characters in Magic's lore is.
Path straigh up kills him. RestoAngel, Archangel, Linvala, Reveillark, all of them trade with him in combat. Lingering Souls can buy some time. If he's a big part of your meta, have 3-4 Path in your sideboard.
I prefer Melira, mainly because Spike Feeder is SO much worse as an individual card than her. Also, I don't miss the Archangel finishing power, because I play more 4-drops than most people. Playing both takes a lot of space, so I think that's the worst option.
Some time ago I played Llanowar Wastes over Cemetery and it was actually good, the life loss was rarely relevant (surprising, I know) but I'm happy with Cemetery for now. I've been playing 1 Marsh Flats over a Misty Rainforest for months now, and have never looked back.
Definitely play 4 Razorverge Thicket and 3-4 Overgrown Tomb/Temple Garden. Look for last Standard season's Junk manabases, they were atually pretty decent, shocks + check lands is still pretty good.
They have much better ramp, card quality, disruption and Brainstorm. That's why.
Another 6-drop worth considering is Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. He can be another Melira and protect the board against wraths.
Never take out Redcap if you play with Melira. Against Twin, Tron and the mirror infinite life sometimes is not enough, and you might need a way to deal infinite damage as well. But RestoAngel is kinda of an auto include since you have Exarch and Collector main, but you already have one. You want to add another?
Also, having both Canonist and Eidolon against Storm seems like overkill. If there is lots of Storm where you play, I think it's better to play a hoser main than two hosers side. Have you tested it?
Do you mean Angel Pod or combo-less Pod? I agree with @Wizards, Pod with combo (Angel/Melira) are basically the same deck, but without combo can be very different, at least in how the deck plays.
When Tron was popular I played Realm Razer, and it is the best sideboard card you can have (even trumping 4-of Fulminator Mages). But it just improves the matchup from unwinnable to barely winnable. Personally I don't think it's worth it, less so if you need to play Stomping Ground just to have a chance to cast it.
You can discuss it here, since they are essentially the same deck. And yes, both are pretty competitive, just with slightly different strenghts/weaknesses. For example, Angel Pod is worse against Zoo/Burn with its lone Finks and higher curve, while Melira Pod has the advantage with 3-4.