I feel like a Birthing Pod will always be strictly better than a Fauna Shaman in any situation. Not only does the shaman not synergize with our persist, it's going to have sickness. Also, the reason you run a 1x of anything in this deck is as a toolbox creature that can be fetched with pod or chord. Why fetch for another fetcher?
Especially in a deck that has a lower curve and does not need the bigger ramp, Lotus Cobra is too unreliable. Sometimes, you stick a Cobra and your third land does not come. Other times, Cobra gets Bolted (imagine a day when all your BoPs get Bolted, but worse). Cobra also can't wall stuff (it also encourages a suicidal mana base, but Melira Pod's mana base is pretty suicidal anyway).
I've had more success with Lotus Cobra in Twin Pod because its combo pieces have higher cmcs, but I'm even thinking of pulling it for Wall of Roots there because it's quite unreliable and I didn't really need the explosive starts, anyway. Plus, Twin Pod can play a non-suicidal mana base effectively, and the life loss from fetches and shocks has gotten to me.
I'd stick with Wall of Roots or Noble Hierarch (4 BoPs are a must) in a deck that doesn't need the huge ramp.
Interesting. I've got a budget (missing mainly the lands) version of Melira pod now, and I'm really liking what it can do. It's pretty resilient, as far as creature based combos go. But yea, thanks for the advice; don't feel like dropping the $$ on a card that won't get me there.
I don't remember seeing this in earlier discussions, but what's the general consensus about Lotus Cobra? It seems to me that we play enough fetches to make it useful, and even more so if Knight of the Reliquary is in there as well. In an ideal world, T1 BoP, T2 Lotus, fetch-cobra float2, tap land for 3 and then we have any 3CMC (or Pod if you want to pay the life). Certainly faster than Wall of Roots, but much more fragile.
If you've got both the Thoughtsize and birds/hierarch in your opening hand, which is best to drop first?
I feel like a Birthing Pod will always be strictly better than a Fauna Shaman in any situation. Not only does the shaman not synergize with our persist, it's going to have sickness. Also, the reason you run a 1x of anything in this deck is as a toolbox creature that can be fetched with pod or chord. Why fetch for another fetcher?
Just my view
Interesting. I've got a budget (missing mainly the lands) version of Melira pod now, and I'm really liking what it can do. It's pretty resilient, as far as creature based combos go. But yea, thanks for the advice; don't feel like dropping the $$ on a card that won't get me there.
Opinions?