I am a really big fan of this deck. It did amazing for me during my Magic online Prelims & Finals. I even ran into bad variance during the second part of the tournament, struggling with several no land hands but due to this decks ability to mull I still ended up with a solid finish. I outright won the prelims going 6-0 and then finished in the top 16 of the finals with a final record of 7-2. The deck was perfect and I plan on playing it a lot more.
The problem is we lose the attrition war vs the two most playd decks in the format (jund/junk)
So if we don't fix this, we won't be able to make it tier 1
Sorry, I have to be completely blunt if you can't beat Jund with tokens your list is not good or you don't know how to play the deck. It should be about 65/35 in your favor. The reason to play tokens is because it does well against fair decks: affinity, jund, delver.
Here's my current list... Pretty stock list with a small twist. It's been working pretty well. I have more than 15 cards in the sideboard and I am hoping to trim it down to 15 tonight after testing (any suggestions welcomed).
So for about three weeks straight my friend and I tested Junk extensively. On the last week I switched into lingering jund basically removing Paths for lightning bolts and adding Olivia (because she is amazingly amazing in the meta right now). Went to a big tournament and what I ended up losing to was a wurmcoil two games in a row and a dredge (more specifically, loleth troll). So, I learned that Path is needed. The Meta is so diverse with many annoying creatures to deal with that should find a home in your deck. Path is essentially the best premiere LATE game removal spell. The key word is late game - Yes they can be used early but I rather not use them before turn 3. If you're going to run Path you just need to make sure you are also playing some early game removal spells as well. In my list, I ran 4 path, 2 darkblast, 3 Decay with 6 Discard. It's a great kill spell you just need to mitigate the advantage of them getting a land...IE don't kill a Birds of Paradise turn 1 or path them when they are mana screwed.
If you are Having trouble with Burn then pick inquisition over thoughtseize. You can run the Finks but it would be advised to switch the Anger of the Gods for Bondfire of the Damned. This way here you can still play a sweeper but not have a finks as a liability. Also, just look up instant speed life Gain - On a side note... Having played Tokens for a long long time, Timely reinforcements no longer works against burn because of the skullcrack. You want either an abundance of life gain (obstinate Baloth, Finks, Courser) or instant speed life gain. Rest in the Weary is a perfect example (except that it is white). Take a look through Magiccards.info for these cards. If you need cards to cut for the finks (assuming you really want to beat burn) then one dark confident seems like a starting point. Also, a more in depth explanation of beating RDW/Burn is to play as many cards that can interact with theirs. That's how their decks works - they play an abundance of crap that most players can't interact with. So you beat the deck by playing cards like counterspells, Life gain and discard (but NOT thoughtseize).
____________
On another note, I've recently moved over from Junk to jund after several hours of testing junk. My big reason for the switch is Olivia. I couldn't get over how insanely powerful she is right now. If you untap with Olivia...you probrably win the game. I didn't really like the coursers...I don't like having a MUST have double green spell when we already have double black and double red spells. I also don't think it applies pressure fast enough. I've cut them from the deck and added 2 Olivia - what are people's thoughts on this? Is having 3 - four drops too much?
So I've been playing with POD decks for a bit now. I read an article on Starcity games about KIKI pod. The writer explained how he eventually added 3 lotus Cobra and 3 Courser of Kruphix and never turned back. I brought the idea over to Melira POD and it seems really awesome! Anyone else ever try this out?
I basically cut Melira combo and went with just the Angel Combo. I've added more value creatures like Skinrender, Fiend hunter, Exarch... Basically, many enters the battlefield triggers that help apply pressure and gain value. You get to generate so much more mana and deploy threats so much faster. You end up running 9 fetches which end up helping Courser choose the right card on the top of your deck so it feels like you never gas out. Courser will also gain more life than finks and block more threats.
After playing several game ones against various decks this is the list that I have settled on. I am anticipating lots of Melira POD, Rock/Jund, Twin and affinity.
Brief Card explanation:
Miran Crusader. We tested a lot of decks and on the way of testing we realized that this guy is a house against POD and BG rock decks. Surprisingly, he's not as bad as I thought he would be in other matchups. The only time I wish he was a Knight or smiter is against Tron and only because he can't survive pyroclasm. I also like how I don't have to run a bunch of crappy lands to get max value out of him unlike Knight of the reliquery.
Darkblast: So under appreciated! Solid against POD, and completely destroys UR delver. Against JUND, you win Tarmogoyf face offs and their dark confidents never get to trigger. The only creature that survives in the twin match up is Exarch. You also get the bonus of dredging up Lingering souls. Not too bad for a 1 casting cost instant and has tested very well.
Card changes to consider:
Adding a darkblast: Albeit I love this card I feel like any extra copies go to the sideboard. This card is awful against tron and scapeshift.
3rd Lingering Souls: there's an argument to be made for it at 3 or even 4. Problem is, when this card is good it's great - but if its not a fair deck were playing against then it's a terrible card which makes me think they belong in sideboard.
4th Lilly: I had to cut something and this is a card that gets taken G2/G3 against POD and affinity. I also don't like drawing two so it went down to three.
Qasali Pridemage: I really like the thought of him but is he strong enough? He gives us more answers to birthing pod, he kills everything in affinity, kills Courser of Kruphix against Jund, Splinter Twin against Twin and isn't dead against tron. However, I really don't have anything I can cut to add him.
Garruk The wildspeaker: 18dmg on turn five with just Lingering souls sounds great - if I added the third souls then this could be viable - but otherwise, I am thinking sideboard against the grindy match ups is where he belongs.
I don't have a fully tested sideboard yet I want to test it more before I post it.
I have been testing games 1 a lot and this is the list I am settling on so far. I feel like there will be a lot of Melira POD, Jund/Rock, Splinter twin and Affinity decks at my next big event. That being said, this is my main deck: (I don't know how to link the cards though, sorry,)
This sideboard only works in theory so I won't include it until I can test it properly - if you have sideboard cards that proved worthy please let me know.
Let me know what you guys think - The Miran Crusaders perform very well against POD and the Rock decks. They are also descent against Jund as they are limited on way to deal with them and 1 crusader blocks or attacks through everyone of their creatures - I thought they were going to be terrible in other match ups but they've been okay often going 1 for 1 with a piece of removal or slowly chewing away at chump blockers... Unopposed they represent a descent clock as well and certainly stronger than loxodon smiter and unlike knights, you don't have to run a bunch of crappy lands. The mana of double white and double black may seem like a problem but after 27 fished hands I only mulled 2 for color issues. Also, after about 50 games I rarely had a problem with color... if I did, it was because I fetched like an idiot. Darkblast has been solid in so many situations. For obvious reasons against POD and affinity but they also kill everything but 3 Exarch against twin. Opposing Dark confidents never live - You win combats in a tarmogoyf face off and UR delver literally can't beat a dark blast. When you dredge, you get the bonus of lingering souls every now and then. Other than that, this is a typical list - let me know what you think.
Other cards to consider in the main:
Qasali Pridemage: Not tested yet but I really like the idea of having more answers for Birthing POD. It also kills splinter twin, everything in affinity and Courser of Kruphix against Jund.
3rd Lingering Souls: This card is a double edges sword. When its good, it's amazing - but when you're not playing a fair game... it's so bloody slow!
Garruk (original, overrun version): Solid card against Jund/rock decks. If I went with 3 lingering souls I would be more likely to include him in the deck. I am leary on double green spells since green is the lesser color in the deck.
2nd Darkblast: I have no idea what to cut to run a second of these. The problem is that it REALLY sucks against tron and non-twin combo decks. I feel like it can only stay at one.
4th Lilly: Again, I had to cut something and this card wasn't amazing against POD, Twin and Affinity. Getting two also sucked.
Let me know what you guys think... I have a tournament to go to in about a week so I will be testing sideboard intensely very soon.
I've talked to my friend about something like this quite a bit. What we discussed would be to run 3 swords. Another card that should be considered is Voice of ressurgence - it allows you put out another creature should they want to stop your sword from being used - I would rather cut something for a third sword. Lastly, our original reason for this was to make use of bitterblossom. We felt like slapping a sword on a creature was inevittable with bitterblossom out.
Couldn't sleep last night, ended up thinking about changing my Junk list to something new. Some of the changes I thought about making touch on the arguments of Mastodon, which were very sound.
Important here is that it still features the classic disruption element of a Junk build, which is one of its largest merits according to me. Albeit (minimally) trimmed down, the disruption should still be pretty effective (especially in fighting combo).
One of the most important cuts made is obviously Dark Confidant. I'm not entirely sure whether this is correct, but I must say that I was a bit disappointed with Bob's performance lately. Maybe this is just me though. I did want to try something without him.
Instead, I mainly added a small equipment package. Two swords of X and Y, and two copies of Steelshaper's gift. One copy of Batterskull to top things of, since it is a great late game target for Gift. To power this out faster, I wanted to include some number of ramp creatures. I ended up going for a playset of BoP, and 2 copies of Noble Hierarch. Because of these one drops I also added two copies of Gavony Township, which can be tutored for by Knight of the Reliquary and also plays very well with Lingering souls. Due to the possibility of three mana on turn two, I probably want a third copy of Liliana of the Veil but am unsure on what to cut for it.
Overall, I think this deck features some neat interactions, and also looks like fun to play. The largest problem with it is that by adding six turn one creatures I am lowering my power in top deck mode. The flipside is that alongside six copies of targeted discard, I will most likely always have a good turn one play.
I included Goyf over Bob in this list, but I figure it could also be the other way around. I just opted for the more resilient threat.
Keep in mind that this deck could be completely worthless, it's just something I concoted last night. I honestly think it could have potential though, but I'm not a pro, so what do I know. If it wasn't for my exams I'd test it this weekend, but sadly it will probably have to wait until july.
I am looking to start testing this deck. I've been playing BW tokens and I want to start playing something not too far off the beaten path but something that can apply pressure a bit faster than 4-5th turn - also, I've played BW tokens since March 2012 and I am half sick of attacking with ONLY fake cards. Don't get me wrong, BW tokens is still awesome - it's won me a lot of events and prizes but its time to move on to greener pastures...
SO, I am attending a PTQ soonish and I expect to see Jund, Affinity, Melira Pod, UWR, Burn as the heavy contenders with some smaller tron/scapeshift precenses. I am sure like always there will be some fringe play of merfolk, boggle and combo - we all now modern is a mix bag of fun so that's why I am sticking with the deck that has one of the most average match ups.
I would like a deck list to start testing off of and it would help if I knew which cards were better/worst in each given match up. I would like to keep the deck list basic and adding twists to it myself.
Also, because I've have lots of experience/success with BW tokens the idea has crossed my mind of a typical junk list with a Tokens undertone to it. In other words, using a full set of lingering souls, possibly a hero of bladehold, Brimaz, 1-2 zealous persecution, gavony township and sorrin would be the pumps for said tokens. What I really like about the tokens was how good it's MU was against affinity - part of that was because flying tokens kills eveything they equip with plating. The token production also made life difficult for the jund players which was always nice. What are you're thoughts on a semi-token approach to this deck? How has lingering souls performed for you?
Let me know what you guys think - hopefully advice is given by players with lots of success and experience with the deck.
Right off the bat I'd like to point out that this attempt at a primer is being made the day of the Dark Ascension complete spoiler, so not everything has been tested to the ground or 100% considered. Comments are especially helpful at this point.
Objective: Play cheap, fast, resilient creatures that overwhelm your opponent early and are hard to deal with. The inclusion of Birthing Pod gives the deck mid-late game presence and works an extra shift by pumping your Undying creatures.
How is this different/better than other Pod decks?: This deck, in theory, has more of a chance of winning without drawing into it's Pod. It thrives on 1-3 mana, unlike the more mid-range/control Pod variants which have declined in relevance thanks to supr-fast decks like Delver and U/W Humans.
Doesn't this deck fold completely to Grafdigger's Cage?: Not completely. With main-board Acidic Slime and Beast Within we already start off Game 1 with an answer. In the sideboard we are running Red and Green which are the best colors to take care of Artifacts, although ironically the flashback of Ancient Grudge is useless against Cage. Not going to lie, losing both Pod and undying in this deck is painful, but if you play your cards right you can get around the Cage.
Where are Blue/White/Black? So many good Pod targets being left out...: This deck isn't played the same way as previous Pod decks. There are very few ETB abilities here, we are more concerned with Haste and abilities that are relevant in combat. Yes, Archon of Justice, Phantasmal Image and the other Titans win a lot of games with other Pod decks, but the aim here is to win much faster than that. This deck also runs a lot of RR + GG so it's difficult to go into a third color. Ultimately, other colors don't have the speed of Red/Green, so sticking to dual colors saves us card spots and consistency.
Creatures
[SPOILER][spoiler=1CC]Birds of Paradise: Auto 4-of. Enables early Pod and makes your higher CC guys more playable. These guys can even get some damage in with Hellrider in play.
Young Wolf: I hear 2/2 creatures for 1 are good. Of course, by the time they get to that size they'll often be outmatched on the other side of the board. Good thing Birthing Pod can make two uses out of him.
Llanowar Elves: Birds #5-8. Depends on your curve, I personally don't feel the need for more than 4 Birds and 4 Emissary, but this will always be a good option.
Hex Parasite: Makes your Undying creatures live forever. Seems too powerful not to at least test out. Somewhat useless without partner creatures, though it hoses certain decks. Deserves testing.[/spoiler][spoiler=2CC]Strangleroot Geist: The amount of damage this guy can get in a game is just crazy. Pod him into a Chandra's Phoenix and watch the damage pile up. Once again, Undying gives two uses out of Pod.
Viridian Emissary: An old Pod staple, and it's no different here. A creature that both ramps and beats down early makes this elf an all-star in this deck.[/spoiler][spoiler=3CC]Chandra's Phoenix: Flying. Haste. Recursion. This guy's got it all. The number of Phoenix' you want to play is almost directly related to how much burn you run, but I would recommend at least two regardless of your burn suite. Remember, a single Gut Shot will bring all of your Phoenix' back to your hand so you can swing and Pod-to-4 all over again.
Pyreheart Wolf: Stuck at 3 land? Got this guy in play? No worries. Your Strangleroots and Young Wolves can win games they thought they never could with this Wolf swinging. Your entire team gains evasion? For [mana]3[/card]CC? With recursion? Sounds good.[/spoiler][spoiler=4CC]Huntmaster of the Fells: This guy will win you games. Possibly the best spoiled card in Dark Ascension, Huntmaster has a fantastic ETB ability that keeps you in the game against other Aggro and RDW decks and gives you another creature to your board. If you can manage to flip him at least once you're affecting the board to an often irreversible degree. If you are in dire need of a 5-drop it's even worth it to Pod into Huntmaster, get your life and wolf, and Pod him immediately up. All around fantastic card.
Hellrider: Haste is a powerful ability. Giving your smaller creatures fire power regardless of blockers is quite relevant for this deck. Undying creatures will get 2 damage in even if they're chump blocked twice. Very useful, and a 4/4 body is always appreciated.
Thrun, The Last Troll: A terrible creature to Pod away from, but if your drop can win you the game then just keep him in play. Thrun has proven himself to be a capable finisher and should clinch a spot in your sideboard against Control, if not one in your mainboard.
Hero of Oxid Ridge: Could go alongside or in place of Hellrider. The pseudo-evasion could be extremely useful in Token match-ups, but also possibly useless against other decks. Haste will almost make this playable.
Phyrexian Metamorph: This deck still has access to Clone effects even without blue. When copying undying, if Morph dies he will come back copying another creature/artifact of your choice as well gaining a +1/+1 counter. Great for killing tough to deal with Legendarys like Thrun, Geist, Olivia, Elesh Norn and the like.[/spoiler][spoiler=5CC] Vorapede: Trample. Vigilance. Undying. Big enough the first time around, Pod'ing away from him makes a migraine-inducing 6/5 Vigilance Trample. This is before you get around to your six-drop. Vorapede is our only creature with Trample (next to Wolf Run activations) so there shouldn't be any doubt about his inclusion in this list.
Urabrask the Hidden: It should be clear by now how important Haste is to this deck. Also, how this affects creatures on your opponents end takes a lot of stress away from chump-blockers. Works well as a target after Pod'ing a Huntmaster as any Wolf tokens made that turn can attack right away.
Acidic Slime: Auto-include. Not only is he a mainboard solution to Cage but also any ability lands, any equipment, O-ring, Emblem effects, etc. etc. etc. Oh, and he clears out a blocker. Must run at least one.[/spoiler][spoiler=6CC]Inferno Titan: The preferred Titan of the deck. By the time this comes into play your opponent should be within kill range, giving you a faster clock with this than other Titans.
Primeval Titan: Not a staple of this particular build but yes he is an excellent option. Any Green/Red build should be running some Wolf Runs and this should be considered if only for the fetch. Oh, and Trample. Titans are good.
Wurmcoil Engine: Another preferred finisher of Pod decks. No exception here, all of his abilities are powerful and the 6/6 body is desirable, of course. Being able to make any and all of your finishers get through blockers with Pyreheart Wolf is nice as well.[/spoiler][/spoiler] Other Spells
[spoiler]Birthing Pod: This is the name of the game right here. Makes your high curve playable. Not only does it keep your sac'd creatures alive with Undying but it actually pumps them as well. Have some Brimstone Volley's on the way with Phoenix on board? Sac, burn, recur, do it again! Run at least 3.
Jar of Eyeballs: A colorless Trigon of Thought that gets more useful as your creatures die. Your creatures will die a lot. Realistically, I'm not sure if there's room for this.
Beast Within: Great on your own Undying creatures if you need the pump as well as a 3/3 beater. You'll most likely want to hit Planeswalkers and other key cards of your opponent's, much the same way you would with Oblivion Ring, but being able to boost your own board as well as being instant speed gives this the edge over Ring.
Brimstone Volley: Note the synergy between Morbid and Birthing Pod and Undying. You'll pretty much always be able to hit for 5 with this, and it will get back any Phoenix that has made it's way into your graveyard.
Gut Shot: A key spell in today's Delver happy meta. Get's your Phoenix' back for free.
Arc Trail: Kills a creature and gets your Phoenix' back.
Slagstorm: Expect to see a lot more token decks coming into the meta with Dark Ascension. This is highly useful against those decks or it can be a double-sided Incinerate to the face. A lot of utility here, I would say it's a staple of the deck.
WhipFlare: Just as a budget version of Slagstorm, or if for some reason you need more than 4 of a board sweep.[/spoiler] Land
[spoiler]Copperline Gorge: Run 4.
Kessig Wolf Run: The colorless mana is a pain in a deck full of double and even triple colored casting costs. You really do need at least one of these in your deck, though.
Blinkmoth Nexus: Wins games with Kessig out. If you're running the two of them together you'll need to be running Primeval Titan.
Razorverge Thicket, Sunetal Grove, Clifftop Retreat: If you feel you can't run this deck without Blade Splicers or some other splash of White, run some of these along with a full set of Birds of Paradise.[/spoiler] Sideboard
[spoiler]Still need to wait and see what the meta turns into, and what this deck looks like after more Game 1s tested.
That's all for now; I'll be updating as comments, testing and other Lists come in!
I do think this deck has potential. Many of these pod decks focus way too much on the synergy of pod. If this is built strong enough and faster enough it will be hard for any tempo based strategies to get on top of it. I also suspect that it will do well against haunted humans and any other token based strategies - I could see it having a bad Ramp MU however.
My two cents: First off that Someone who commented already said some very valid points. What he said I aggree with except for taking out stranglefoot geist. This card is really strong. You do need llanowar in this list I feel it is important to add 2 llanowars into this deck. 1 emmisary can be cut for sure.
One flaw i see with you list is you have chandra's pheonix in it with no way of really returning it to your hand. I would add arc trail/incinerates vs slagstorm/beast within. Also, I don't like pyreheart wolf at two - I would cut it to 1 and add a daybreak Ranger. I could be wrong but it should be very strong in the meta. Killing flyers and delvers then flipping into something more monstrous.
Also, I think Inferno Titan is better than wurmcoil engine - i know with pod we want options but inferno titan just does everything this deck wants. For six drops I think it is also important to note that markov warlord could be a suitable option depending on how the meta sets up
I rather dislike this card. First of all, I don't see why you couldn't use the blueprints to make a second Dreadnought but that is secondary. My main issue is the combination of abilities. Flying is ok, hexproof on a dreadnough makes less sense but seems somewhat tolerable but ... lifelink? Really? On a machine?
Second, Vault Skirge. Play the blueprints turn 3, turn 4 Vault Skirge and BAM 8/8 flying hexproof lifelink.
I really think this should have been something like flying, trample, indestructible. That would actually make sense for a dreadnought and there's no cheap creature that has two of these abilities already.
Agreed 100%. Too powerful otherwise - I mean vault skirge + Blue prints is hard to disrupt. You can drop the blue prints, next turn drop the skirge and keep three mana open and just wait until you can safely target the skirge. Once flipped it basically wins. Aggro can't deal with gaining 8 life a turn, control can't target it so unless your playing white control you basically lose. Not to mention the flipped card also technically has haste. Which is why I agree both for flavor and power that the card should be sacrificed/shuffled into the deck to put a token into play.
...also, you can change it so it only targets non-token creatures that way there you can't just keep making more - altough with a 8/8 flying whatever whatever do you really need anything else?
You know, if it ain't broken why fix it? I really think the main deck is a genius build on its own and should only be altered to adapt to your local meta. Adding black will kill you - the land base cannot support it and would make your consistant deck, inconsistant...
... but I won't lie, I like the idea of Phyrexian crusader backed by some Wolf-Run Madness... Along with your 3 wurmcoils it becomes another card that Red decks choke on a little when you drop it....but again, land base cannot support it.
I am a really big fan of this deck. It did amazing for me during my Magic online Prelims & Finals. I even ran into bad variance during the second part of the tournament, struggling with several no land hands but due to this decks ability to mull I still ended up with a solid finish. I outright won the prelims going 6-0 and then finished in the top 16 of the finals with a final record of 7-2. The deck was perfect and I plan on playing it a lot more.
Here is my list:
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-esper-mentor#online
Sorry, I have to be completely blunt if you can't beat Jund with tokens your list is not good or you don't know how to play the deck. It should be about 65/35 in your favor. The reason to play tokens is because it does well against fair decks: affinity, jund, delver.
3 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Path to exile
1 Dark Blast
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Scavenging ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confident
2 Glittering Wish
4 Lingering Souls
3 Liliana of the veil
3 Stirring wildwood
4 Verdant Catacomb
4 Marsh flat
2 Overgrown tomb
1 godless shrine
1 temple garden
1 blood crypt
1 twilight mire
1 fetid heath
1 forest
1 plains
2 Swamp
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Treetop Village
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Slaughter Games
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Firespout
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Stony Silence
1 Pithing Needle
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Golgari Charm
1 Hide/Seek
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Loxodon Hierarch
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On another note, I've recently moved over from Junk to jund after several hours of testing junk. My big reason for the switch is Olivia. I couldn't get over how insanely powerful she is right now. If you untap with Olivia...you probrably win the game. I didn't really like the coursers...I don't like having a MUST have double green spell when we already have double black and double red spells. I also don't think it applies pressure fast enough. I've cut them from the deck and added 2 Olivia - what are people's thoughts on this? Is having 3 - four drops too much?
I basically cut Melira combo and went with just the Angel Combo. I've added more value creatures like Skinrender, Fiend hunter, Exarch... Basically, many enters the battlefield triggers that help apply pressure and gain value. You get to generate so much more mana and deploy threats so much faster. You end up running 9 fetches which end up helping Courser choose the right card on the top of your deck so it feels like you never gas out. Courser will also gain more life than finks and block more threats.
Creatures:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confident
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Miran Crusader
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Lingering Souls
Non-Creature Spells
4 Path to Exile
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Darkblast
Lands
3 stirring Wildwood
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown tomb
2 Godless Shrine
1 temple Garden
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Fetid Heath
Brief Card explanation:
Miran Crusader. We tested a lot of decks and on the way of testing we realized that this guy is a house against POD and BG rock decks. Surprisingly, he's not as bad as I thought he would be in other matchups. The only time I wish he was a Knight or smiter is against Tron and only because he can't survive pyroclasm. I also like how I don't have to run a bunch of crappy lands to get max value out of him unlike Knight of the reliquery.
Darkblast: So under appreciated! Solid against POD, and completely destroys UR delver. Against JUND, you win Tarmogoyf face offs and their dark confidents never get to trigger. The only creature that survives in the twin match up is Exarch. You also get the bonus of dredging up Lingering souls. Not too bad for a 1 casting cost instant and has tested very well.
Card changes to consider:
Adding a darkblast: Albeit I love this card I feel like any extra copies go to the sideboard. This card is awful against tron and scapeshift.
3rd Lingering Souls: there's an argument to be made for it at 3 or even 4. Problem is, when this card is good it's great - but if its not a fair deck were playing against then it's a terrible card which makes me think they belong in sideboard.
4th Lilly: I had to cut something and this is a card that gets taken G2/G3 against POD and affinity. I also don't like drawing two so it went down to three.
Qasali Pridemage: I really like the thought of him but is he strong enough? He gives us more answers to birthing pod, he kills everything in affinity, kills Courser of Kruphix against Jund, Splinter Twin against Twin and isn't dead against tron. However, I really don't have anything I can cut to add him.
Garruk The wildspeaker: 18dmg on turn five with just Lingering souls sounds great - if I added the third souls then this could be viable - but otherwise, I am thinking sideboard against the grindy match ups is where he belongs.
I don't have a fully tested sideboard yet I want to test it more before I post it.
Let me know what you guys think about this list.
I have been testing games 1 a lot and this is the list I am settling on so far. I feel like there will be a lot of Melira POD, Jund/Rock, Splinter twin and Affinity decks at my next big event. That being said, this is my main deck: (I don't know how to link the cards though, sorry,)
Creatures (18):
4 Dark Confident (AKA BOB)
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Scavenging Oooze
2 Lingering Souls
3 Miran Crusader
3 Kitchen Finks
Non-Creature Spells (18)
4 Path
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Darkblast (this card is crazy good)
3 Liliana of The Veil
2 Inquisition of Kosilek
4 Thoughtseize
Lands (24):
3 Stirring Wildwood
8 Fetch Lands (marsh and verdant)
2 Swamps
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Godless Shrine
1 Temple Garden
2 Fetid Heath
2 Tectonic Edge
This sideboard only works in theory so I won't include it until I can test it properly - if you have sideboard cards that proved worthy please let me know.
Let me know what you guys think - The Miran Crusaders perform very well against POD and the Rock decks. They are also descent against Jund as they are limited on way to deal with them and 1 crusader blocks or attacks through everyone of their creatures - I thought they were going to be terrible in other match ups but they've been okay often going 1 for 1 with a piece of removal or slowly chewing away at chump blockers... Unopposed they represent a descent clock as well and certainly stronger than loxodon smiter and unlike knights, you don't have to run a bunch of crappy lands. The mana of double white and double black may seem like a problem but after 27 fished hands I only mulled 2 for color issues. Also, after about 50 games I rarely had a problem with color... if I did, it was because I fetched like an idiot. Darkblast has been solid in so many situations. For obvious reasons against POD and affinity but they also kill everything but 3 Exarch against twin. Opposing Dark confidents never live - You win combats in a tarmogoyf face off and UR delver literally can't beat a dark blast. When you dredge, you get the bonus of lingering souls every now and then. Other than that, this is a typical list - let me know what you think.
Other cards to consider in the main:
Qasali Pridemage: Not tested yet but I really like the idea of having more answers for Birthing POD. It also kills splinter twin, everything in affinity and Courser of Kruphix against Jund.
3rd Lingering Souls: This card is a double edges sword. When its good, it's amazing - but when you're not playing a fair game... it's so bloody slow!
Garruk (original, overrun version): Solid card against Jund/rock decks. If I went with 3 lingering souls I would be more likely to include him in the deck. I am leary on double green spells since green is the lesser color in the deck.
2nd Darkblast: I have no idea what to cut to run a second of these. The problem is that it REALLY sucks against tron and non-twin combo decks. I feel like it can only stay at one.
4th Lilly: Again, I had to cut something and this card wasn't amazing against POD, Twin and Affinity. Getting two also sucked.
Let me know what you guys think... I have a tournament to go to in about a week so I will be testing sideboard intensely very soon.
SO, I am attending a PTQ soonish and I expect to see Jund, Affinity, Melira Pod, UWR, Burn as the heavy contenders with some smaller tron/scapeshift precenses. I am sure like always there will be some fringe play of merfolk, boggle and combo - we all now modern is a mix bag of fun so that's why I am sticking with the deck that has one of the most average match ups.
I would like a deck list to start testing off of and it would help if I knew which cards were better/worst in each given match up. I would like to keep the deck list basic and adding twists to it myself.
Also, because I've have lots of experience/success with BW tokens the idea has crossed my mind of a typical junk list with a Tokens undertone to it. In other words, using a full set of lingering souls, possibly a hero of bladehold, Brimaz, 1-2 zealous persecution, gavony township and sorrin would be the pumps for said tokens. What I really like about the tokens was how good it's MU was against affinity - part of that was because flying tokens kills eveything they equip with plating. The token production also made life difficult for the jund players which was always nice. What are you're thoughts on a semi-token approach to this deck? How has lingering souls performed for you?
Let me know what you guys think - hopefully advice is given by players with lots of success and experience with the deck.
Thanks!
-Al.
The Meta as I know it:
2 Souls Sister
1 Burn
1 Mono Black Discard
1 Jund
1 Big Zoo
1 Faeries
1 Storm
Let's assume I can build anything....
What would you play???
How does it do against Jund, Tron, Pod, Twin, Gifts, Affinity?
I do think this deck has potential. Many of these pod decks focus way too much on the synergy of pod. If this is built strong enough and faster enough it will be hard for any tempo based strategies to get on top of it. I also suspect that it will do well against haunted humans and any other token based strategies - I could see it having a bad Ramp MU however.
My two cents: First off that Someone who commented already said some very valid points. What he said I aggree with except for taking out stranglefoot geist. This card is really strong. You do need llanowar in this list I feel it is important to add 2 llanowars into this deck. 1 emmisary can be cut for sure.
One flaw i see with you list is you have chandra's pheonix in it with no way of really returning it to your hand. I would add arc trail/incinerates vs slagstorm/beast within. Also, I don't like pyreheart wolf at two - I would cut it to 1 and add a daybreak Ranger. I could be wrong but it should be very strong in the meta. Killing flyers and delvers then flipping into something more monstrous.
Also, I think Inferno Titan is better than wurmcoil engine - i know with pod we want options but inferno titan just does everything this deck wants. For six drops I think it is also important to note that markov warlord could be a suitable option depending on how the meta sets up
So here is my suggested list:
- [CARDS]4 Birds of paradise
- 2 Llanowar elf
- 3 Viridian Emissary
- 4 strangleroot geist
- 3 Chandra's Pheonix
- 1 Daybreak Ranger
- 1 pyreheart wolf
- 2 huntmaster of the fells
- 1 hero of the oxid ridge
- 1 hell rider
- 2 Acidic Slime
- 1 vorapede
- 1 Urabrask the hidden
- 2 Inferno Titan
- 4 Birthing Pod
- 3 Arc Trail
- 2 Incinerate
[/CARDS]This is what I would play.
Agreed 100%. Too powerful otherwise - I mean vault skirge + Blue prints is hard to disrupt. You can drop the blue prints, next turn drop the skirge and keep three mana open and just wait until you can safely target the skirge. Once flipped it basically wins. Aggro can't deal with gaining 8 life a turn, control can't target it so unless your playing white control you basically lose. Not to mention the flipped card also technically has haste. Which is why I agree both for flavor and power that the card should be sacrificed/shuffled into the deck to put a token into play.
...also, you can change it so it only targets non-token creatures that way there you can't just keep making more - altough with a 8/8 flying whatever whatever do you really need anything else?
... but I won't lie, I like the idea of Phyrexian crusader backed by some Wolf-Run Madness... Along with your 3 wurmcoils it becomes another card that Red decks choke on a little when you drop it....but again, land base cannot support it.