MTG Salvation

Quote from lev1atan

Well, an article about kikipod written by you would be awesome

seconded.

GG Brian Liu -- Wins biggest constructed GP of all time; answers every question in MTGSALV with articulation and depth.

Quote from Ryzaru

I never took out pod, in any matchup including the 2 GW or W hatebears matchups. In most matchups, I take out a kiki, either a glen-elendra or a redcap, 1 wall if my opponent wasn't attacking me, and combinations of finks, voice, linvala and ooze. There is always atleast 1 kiki to exploit opportunities.

gotcha. i've ordered 3 chords and 2 more roots from Face to Face that will be waiting for me when i get back from Richmond. definitely going to pilot your list. first change--lose the 2 domri. thanks brian and congrats again.

subbak: was it valentin mackl or patrick dickman? the tarmo twin?

first, welcome and congrats to brian. pretty exciting for kiki pod to finally get some respect.

second, i think this answers the chord of calling vs domri debate. i've been pretty vocal about my love for domri. after this weekend i'm confident in saying i'm wrong. my friend day 2'd with melira pod and chord was consistently his best card. by far.

third, here's my own experience:

round 1 (1-0): won 2-0 vs RUG Twin. was able to combo off both games while keeping him in check. i didn't see him play any remands, which probably helped.
round 2 (1-1): lost 1-2 vs Green Tron. i hate this matchup and was scared of seeing it. game 2 i went for the aggressive play and avalanche rider his tower with a restoration angel in hand. i got pyroclasmed for a 2-dork blowout on 2 lands. game 3 i had 3 chances to topdeck win in a row and missed all 3.
round 3 (1-2): lost 1-2 vs 8 Rack. this loss was all my fault. i took game 1 easily and punted both game 2 and 3 with stupid misplays. should have won. oh well.
round 4 (2-2): won 2-1 vs Affinity. game 3 i forced him to sac everything to ravager and then to sac to Cranial/Inkmoth. had path in hand.
round 5 (3-2): won 2-0 vs Infect. game 1 i combo'd off turn 4. game 2 he had lethal turn 4. game 3 i combo'd off turn 4.
round 6 (4-2): won 2-0 vs UWR Control. game 1 i resolved a pod and snuck out the combo. game 2 i drew an opening hand with smiter and thrun.
round 7 (4-3): lost 1-2 vs UWR Control. game 3 i had a gas opening hand and then drew 8 lands and 3 pods. we both knew there was nothing i could do.

i dropped after that just in time to watch my friend beat Osyp in a feature match. overall i had a good time, but was disappointed at my rounds 2 and 3. the day could have been a whole lot different had i drawn well or not punted. too be sure i was questioning my deck choice until i watched Brian take the whole thing. there's a modern PTQ coming up and i think i'll try to find some Chords.

*edit* i do have a question for Brian re: sideboarding. i found myself taking out a pod on the draw. what do you think of this play and how did you approach sideboarding in general (specifically about targets you took out given the low amount of flex spots).

i'm playing 0 Walls currently. maybe i should just go back to one. so here's my final list and sideboard. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE:

went 3 - 0 tonight. 2 -1 v Mystical Teachings, 2 - 0 v UWR Geist, and 2 - 0 v Jund. i didn't combo off once in 7 games--everything was beat down. a few thoughts:

- moving Huntmaster of the Fells to the sideboard was a good call, and he is an absolute beast in the situations where i side him in (UWR and Jund tonight);
- playing a Loxodon Smiter mainboard was a good call. there's so much UWR or straight up blue counters in this meta that he's super relevant (and his body is huge with an exalted dude);
- siding out 1 Birthing Pod on the draw is a really good play. i did it every time and it helped free up a slot.

there's only one last decision i need to make to finalize my list: the Kiora's Follower slot. she seems to attract removal as soon as she's played, so obviously opponents are concerned about her. that said, she is slow and cute. if she sticks around she's great, but often i don't even want to play her. i think a third Voice of Resurgence is just better, but i suspect Anger of the Gods will see a fair amount of play. tough call.

how many of us are going to GP Richmond and playing KikiPod? i am--anyone else?

here's a few changes i made today:

mainboard:

-1 Fetch--now 4 Mesa 3 Misty. added a Copperline Gorge. i haven't noticed a difference in goldfishing and i think it helps--even marginally--with life loss;
-1 Linvala--moved her to the sideboard;
+1 Knight of the Reliquary--small change to reduce curve. i think she's really good in a non-DRS format, can fetch gavony's if on midrange, and survives bolts. still wondering if this should be a 4th Finks instead.

sideboard:

-1 Obstinate Baloth--i don't think it's too relevant right now without a proliferation of Jund;
+1 Relic of Progenitus--i think i want as much graveyard hate as i can get. this makes 2 Relics in board and 1 Scooze main.

waffling on avalanche riders vs. sowing salt. riders if retrievable via pod, but it's 2-1 yourself if you're not getting it from Finks. it also hits only one land, whereas salt removes all copies.

still undecided on moving from 2 Domri to 1, and if so what to add.

pretty bad showing for me tonight:

0 - 2 v UWR Control

this matchup is so hard. if i can resolve a pod and get some sort of board state i can take off. if not i'm pretty much boned. i didn't.

2 - 1 v Mill

mill is underrated i think. if it's not answered mainboard their game 1 is just a beating. after sideboarding i think i take a big lead. i was helped a little by his land situation. i won game 3 by swinging out for 1 point of damage per turn over 10 turns with a noble hierarch (ensnaring bridge on 0).

1 - 2 v UR Fae

i am convinced UR is better than UB. much better. i might have taken this match 2 - 1 but he had all the exile answers for Voice and Finks. i had a bye in round 4.

2 - 0 v White Weenies

not much to say. newer player, budget deck.

1 - 2 v Fae

same guy i've played over the last two weeks. looks like he figured out how to play against me. too much removal to live through, though it was close. i'd still call this a very favourable matchup.

2 - 0 v Fish

izzet staticaster was a house, including resto blinks to ping lords. no spreading seas hurt fish and the deck was just outmatched.

the interesting part of the night's playtesting was swapping a Wall of Roots for a Kiora's Follower. she won me both games i saw her. she allows pod chains without exarch. she suffers from a lack of haste, but her power is huge when she's paired with a pod.

here's the list i've been piloting for awhile and taking tonight. i'm interested in hearing your suggestions as to what to swap out for what (e.g., mainboard thalia / canonist, second wall of roots, chord in domri out, etc.). right now i'm thinking about going -1 Finks +1 Courser and -1 Domri +1 Kiora's Follower:

Quote from Alphez86

Quote from zmattk

Quote from Muten Yoshi

Just a quick question:

What do you guys think about kikipod in the current metagame? It saw really less play at the pro tour and im in a torn wether to concentrate on this or faeries for the future. I really want to stick to one deck a greater period of time.

Opinions?

Honestly, I don't think Kiki Pod is well positioned in the current meta. That doesn't mean you can't have success with it, or you can't win events with the deck. But just from looking at the top Pro Tour decks, we don't have a great matchup against anything except Melira Pod. Affinity, Zoo, Living End, Bogle, Storm, and Twin are all relatively hard matchups and the control decks are about 50:50. It's also very hard to win with more and more decks playing Anger of the Gods and Blood Moon. I was planning on playing Kiki Pod at GP Richmond, but I just think it's a bit too fragile for a large event like that, right now at least.

+1. I totally love Kiki Pod, but between Nacatls, Blood Moons and Anger of the Gods I think we might often find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

@ Muten Yoshi: honestly, Faeries don't seem to be in a much better place at the moment. I'm personally considering to switch either to Melira Pod or to Tempo Twin (or Tarmo Twin... Dickmann's list is so sweet!). Both decks have the ability to beat down while threatening an infinite combo, just like Kiki Pod does, but have better disruption and a much less greedier manabase. The idea of abandoning this deck is painful, though. It's so much fun to play

especially painful since i deconstructed UWR and traded away pieces to build my Legacy deck. i compromised on winning less to have more fun, because Kiki Pod really is the most fun deck to play in modern. that being said, i do want to be successful. so rather than abandoning the list, how can we effect changes to make it positioned to take advantage of the meta?

going to modern tourneys over the next two nights. going to play a Kiora's Follower to check its impact and keep Huntmaster mainboard. not sure what i'll swap out yet. expecting Tron, Faeries, and possibly a Blue Moon. will report back.

Quote from Valanarch

Quote from LegitKarona

I've only ever played against Kiki-Pod, so maybe this is an incredibly stupid question, but how much does adding white actually give you? You get some solid hate cards that all seem fairly replaceable, maybe you can cast Finks more often, and Resto, but every time I play Kiki-Pod they always wind up with some card or another stuck in hand and taking a pile of damage from lands. Has anyone tried a straight RUG build with more Exarch-type cards could be a lot more consistent and allow for more basics.

You seem to be missing that white gives you Voice of Resurgence. Also, Restoration Angel is very important since it allows Pod chains to happen.

and Qasali Pridemage and Harmonic Sliver, which are bullets. and Path to Exile in the side. and Linvala. but mostly Resto, which allows all the combos.

Quote from izzetmage

Quote from Lantern

Izzet, post up the top 8 archtypes (16 if you can) I'll add it to the OP

T8:
McLaren (UWR Control)
Lee (Blue Moon)
Wilson (Melira Pod)
Seibold (Affinity)
Dickmann (RUG Twin)
Fennell (Storm)
Alkio
Rivera (UWR Twin)

T16:
Boettcher (Ad Nauseam)
Zatlkaj (Jund)
McClain (Melira Pod)
Vidugiris (Storm)
Zheng
Budde (Storm)
Turtenwald (Scapeshift?)
Sochurek

LOL 3 Storm in T16. Nice.

Owen is on Big Zoo.