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Aernil
09-12-2010, 03:13 PM
General Idea

When the spoiling for Futuresight began a few years ago, I was looking through the spoiler an discovered 2 very nice cards I immediatly thought of as awesome as hell: Nihilith and Tombstalker
Well, I preordered both, and started to build a (at that time Extended) deck around both of them, still only able to play and test on MWS.
The core idea was to use a crapload of discard to empty your opponents hand, preferable with a suspended Nihilith, to get either a quick Nihilith or a quick Stalker on the field, and kill the opponent before he recovers.
Smallpox was added due to its ability to feed both Nihilith and Stalker, while basically destroying a turns worth of cards.
For further reading the original post from me on salvation: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=76081
(still quite arrogant at that time^^)

When the whole fancy stuff in Extended rotated out, I decided to try to port it to Legacy, where the idea was to play a little bit more consevative cards (like Smother instead of Innocent Blood) with a greensplash for the beloved Goyf and a higher focus on mana denial (Sinkhole).
The splash also enabled some good Sideboardcards, like Krosan Krosan Grip.
The List at that time:

// Lands
6 [UNH] Swamp
3 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [TE] Wasteland
3 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 Bayou

// Creatures
4 [FUT] Tombstalker
4 [FUT] Nihilith
4 [FUT] Street Wraith
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf

// Spells
4 [TSP] Smallpox
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [FE] Hymn to Tourach
4 [US] Duress
4 Sinkhole
4 [ON] Smother

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 4 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [MM] Snuff Out

It performed quite well, so I decided to build it (altough I've never been to a Legacy tournament nor expected to attend one in near future)
As I owned almost not a single card playable in Legacy, I decided to drop the splash and add Pox.
I rebuilt the deck from the basis of Nihilith, Tombstalker, Smallpox and now Pox with additional changes to support the Pox plan.
The deck performed OK, but I was still not satified running just 8 real winconditions.
But then Zendikar was released and this nice little fellow came along:


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/Hard_Drugs_and_Hot_Luck/Bloodghast.jpg

So I made the current list:

// Lands
10 [UNH] Swamp
3 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
4 [TE] Wasteland
3 [ON] Polluted Delta

// Creatures
4 [FUT] Tombstalker
4 [FUT] Nihilith
4 [ZEN] Bloodghast

// Spells
4 [TSP] Smallpox
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [IA] Pox
4 [OD] Innocent Blood
4 [FE] Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 3 [DK] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [US] Duress
SB: 4 [ON] Smother



[B]Cardchoices
Tombstalker
Well, the beater #1 in this deck. It feeds from your graveyard, getting cheaper for the thing this deck does: blowing things up
Well, there has been said enough for Stalkers sake, so I think no further comment is needed.

Nihilith
The beater #2 of this deck.
While it seems like a real bad card, it usually does what it's supposed to to: Get fast on the field, and deal evasive damage.
Altough it's not a great topdeck, nor that good in matchups where you need you destroy something asap, he'll still is incredible fast.
In a format filled with Fetchlands and Cantrips, it's even without additional cards pretty fast on the field (altough you might want to ensure it doesn't get Plowed/Countered/Stifled/whatever'd)
It's also immune to Counterbalance.

Bloodghast
And finally the last beater.
It doesn't seem THAT good, but it clearly is.
Usually gets discarded to Pox and Smallpox, comes always back, protects Nihilith and Stalker from Smallpox, Pox and Innocent Blood, and post Pox swarms around any defense left.
It's hard to imagine, but that card just wins more games than Stalker or Nihilith.

Smallpox
Well, it is one of the stars in this deck: It kills creatures, destroys lands, forces to discard, removes 3 counters from Nihilith and makes your Stalkers 3 mana cheaper.
Also get's rid of any unpleasent creatures like Progenitus, Emrakul and other fatties.

Chrome Mox
Well, having more mana available post Pox is always good.
The card disadvantage is hardly an argument against it.

Pox
Probably the most powerful card in the deck.
It works the same way as Smallpox, but additionally ensures that you need less attacks to kill.

Innocent Blood
CMC1 removal that doesn't target and is mostly one-sided.

Hymn to Tourach
Disruption, -2 counter for Nihilith, enough said

Sensei's Divining Top
Ensures you get the cards you need while in topdeck mode.
Usually there to dig for gas. Also quite solid with fetchlands.
Because you empty your hand quite fast, always having one is really the thing you want, and multiples get either discarded or shuffled back.
Usually the first card to get borded out.

Metagame Slot
Sinkhole
If you expect more creatures, replace this slot with removal, when facing combo Thoughtseize/

[B]Sideboard
The Sideboard really depends on your Meta, but generally I'd suggest
Graveyardhate:
[CARDS]Extirpate and/or Tormod's Crypt

Additional discard (hoping to slow Combo)
Duress and/or Thoughtseize

and depending what you expect
Additional spotremoval (Smother/Deathmark, Snuff Out)
Sweepers (Perish/Infest/Engineered Plague)
or whatever else might help against decks you expect


==============================================================

Day of Disease

Born to Kill - Match Analysis

==============================================================

Zoo
This matchup really depends if you are able to get rid of their first tur drop.
If you manage that in time, you should be able to destroy their manabase before they burn you out.
Generally you should be able to remove anything dangerous and kill them in time.
In this matchup you really want an early Smallpox or Pox (Smallpox first turn on the draw if possible, and Pox asap)
Playing Pox may actually kill you, so you shouldn't play it if Zoo has more than 2 lands.
If you run additional removal, get them for G2 and 3
I wont give you totally utopical percentages, but I'd say the overall Matchup is
FAVORABLE

Merfolk
This is actually kinda hard.
The only valid targets for Wasteland are Mutavaults or their Wastelands, unless they splash.
Whatever they splash, we are happy about it.
The key here is keeping the Lords off the Table and don't get your important Spells countered.
Resolving an early Hymn or Smallpox/Pox usually is the most important goal, ensuring they can't swarm.
If you don't, you generally get overwhelmed by vast amounts of fish.
Board removal
EVEN

Counter-Top Bant / Threshold in whatever Colorcombination
Here DoD really shines.
You just have craploads of Must-Counters, and you generally have more brutal plays than them.
Usually you should be able to either keep them off UU, or just ignore Counterbalance and play Stalkers/Nihilith.
DoD is pretty much designed to win that match, so I'll say
FAVOURABLE

Storm Combo
Meh.
No really.
It's really about having Hymns and pressure or not.
If you have, you might be able to win, but that isn't sure either.
if you manage to chain Hymns, Duress/Thoughtseize and Poxes, you have a solid chance of winning.
Board in whatever you have, and hope you have a Mox in your hand.
UNFAVORABLE

Death and Taxes / other White Weenie
Well, should be easy.
Destroy their lands, kill their creatures, let them discard a bunch is the way of winning.
Luckily DoD does all the same time.
Try to not get your Creatures removed, and you should win with ease.
VERY FAVORABLE

Burn
Totally unwinnable.
Seriously; unless they get manascrewed and you have a good combination of Hymns and Smallpox, you're screwed.
Unless you run 8 additional discarders in your Sideboard, you are also pretty much f***ed G2 and G3.
VERY UNFAVORALE

Landstill
Let DoD do whatever it does, but meanwhile try to keep Factories off the table and win via Bloodghast.
Whatever you board in, it shouldn't matter much, you'll probably winn unless you either screw it up or you have real bad luck.
FAVORABLE

Vengevine Survival
Well, it's a coinflip if you win G1, but G2 and G3 should be yours if you are running 4 Extirpate in your Sideboard.
If they play Waterfront Bouncer, you should first get rid of it, then whatever's left.
EVEN- SLIGHTLY UNFAVORABLE

Random Kiddies
Suspend Nihilith, play Pox, discard Bloodghast, play Stalker, win.
Resolving Pox usually is a win^^
WIN


[B]This is essentially mono-black Team America, more than a slow Pox deck.
This is an aggressive deck, it's not Pox.
If you have to play Pox in defense, you do something terribly wrong.
This also explains the low landcount of just 20:
You really need 3 mana just once: casting Pox
This decks focus is on Tempo, so neither LftL, Top nor Crucible of Worlds are to be considered.

Edit:
This Primer is probably far from finished, expecially the Match Analysis.
Tomorrow I'll post a tournamentreport in the corresponding subforum

Purgatory
09-12-2010, 07:59 PM
I just took the second list for a spin on MWS and I must say that it topdecks horribly. I kept drawing into lands and Chrome Moxes I didn't need. Also, Bauble as the only card-draw in the deck seems meh, what about Night's Whisper instead?

bakofried
09-12-2010, 08:11 PM
*Edit
Either I'm an idiot or he saw and edited his post. Thanks for the recognition.

Shawon
09-12-2010, 09:14 PM
Nice thread/deck name. I'm currently tinkering with a LoamPox deck and I was thinking of a cool name for it.

I have some suggestions that you may take at your discretion:

Run 2-3 Pox. 4 Pox is too many. After one resolved Pox, you likely won't cast another Pox before you win, because a) you can't, since it's BBB and b) casting another will help your opponent. You said it yourself you only need to cast it once. Furthermore, multiple Pox in your hand when you don't want to cast Pox is problematic. Last but not least, against dangerous Zoo or Burn, losing life with Pox will help your opponent burn you out faster. Pox is the best spell in the deck, but it is the most conservative spell in the deck and you need to run conservative numbers of it.

Cut a fetchland or two. You can't have your cake and eat it too, that is run 4 Pox and 6 fetchlands. I recommend cutting 1-2 Pox and 2 fetchland if you're running mono-black. Fetchlands make you more vulnerable and they have bad synergy with Pox. Furthermore, you don't really want to thin out your deck of lands as you may need to draw into them after Smallpox or Pox.

Run 1st turn discard. Inquisition of Kozilek is the ideal candidate. Why not Thoughtseize or Duress? Thoughtseize costs life, you can't afford to lose to your own spells. Duress can't stop turn 2 Tarmogoyf or turn 1 Lackey/Lynx/Nacatl. Inquisition is the best discard for Day of Disease. You also don't care about their 4cc+ spells since you're chiming away at their lands. Speaking of which...

I get you want to be an aggressive Pox-based deck and I think the suggestions will help you stay on that path, but more efficiently.

Vacrix
09-12-2010, 11:50 PM
Mishra's Bauble looks extremely weak, a wasted slot at best. You ought to replace it with Innocent Blood or Duress.

CorpT
09-13-2010, 12:27 AM
Mishra's Bauble looks extremely weak, a wasted slot at best. You ought to replace it with Innocent Blood or Duress.

Any time the justifaction for running a card is that it gets pitched to Pox or is an easy card to sideboard out, you know you've got a terrible card.

sclabman
09-13-2010, 12:49 AM
Undiscovered Paradise will help the Bloodghasts return consistently. I had a similar deck that used the Paradises.

Shawon
09-13-2010, 12:58 AM
Any time the justifaction for running a card is that it gets pitched to Pox or is an easy card to sideboard out, you know you've got a terrible card.

Actually, its purpose is to draw a card after (Small)Pox resolves. But it's still a weak synergy, thus wasted slot, at best. It should be replaced with Inquisition of Kozilek.

martyr
09-13-2010, 01:35 AM
Have you thought about shaving down a few of the 4-ofs to make room for an additional card? Most Pox decks don't even run 4 Pox anymore, so going to 3 or even 2 of those is probably fine. Dropping a Chrome Mox would probably be good since you don't reasonably want to see 2 in a game and the added cards would be reducing the overall curve of the deck by a bit. Ghastly Demise isn't a completely consistent turn 1 answer to much, and it's antergistic with Tombstalker. Finally, your game against combo must be frickin' terrible, given you have almost zero ways of answering anything they'll do or preventing them from doing it. Here's a suggested list:


10x Swamp
6x Fetch
4x Wasteland
3x Chrome Mox

2-4x Duress (3)
4-3x Thoughtseize (4)
4x Innocent Blood
4x Smallpox
4x Hymn to Tourach
2-3x Pox
4-3x Snuff Out/Vendetta

4x Nihilith
4x Tombstalker
4x Bloodghast

Something like that seems like it would have more relevant turn 1 plays than your current list, without sacrificing much at all. 8 super cheap creature removal spells seems like overkill, and switching a few of the Ghastly Demises to Snuff Outs seems good; your best turn 1 targeted removal is either Vendetta or Snuff Out, so which you use depends on your meta.

I haven't put any time in behind the wheel though, so feel free to call me on any stupid generalizations I've made.

Grollub
09-13-2010, 07:39 AM
Fetchlands looks out of place here, they open you up to random fetchhate, weaken your bloodghasts and pox recovery plus inflicts even more damage to youself. The only redeeming factor is they help Tombstalker, but considering how many cards Pox and Smallpox throws in the bin it hardly looks worth it.

Rigero
09-13-2010, 08:07 AM
you forgot that fetchland's recurr Bloodghasts twice. They are fine. The only thing i don't like with this deck is that after a while you are just topdecking and have nearly no chance to make cardadvantage.

martyr
09-13-2010, 12:04 PM
you forgot that fetchland's recurr Bloodghasts twice. They are fine. The only thing i don't like with this deck is that after a while you are just topdecking and have nearly no chance to make cardadvantage.

This is why I suggested shaving down the redundant cards and running more gas: you do NOT want to draw a Chrome Mox when you're topdecking.

Shawon
09-13-2010, 04:05 PM
If you're running 20 lands, you need to be running Dakmor Salvage. It not only guarantees you recover from Pox effects, but it conveniently triggers Bloodghasts, and Dredging can help set up casting Tombstalker.

keys
09-13-2010, 08:15 PM
If you're running 20 lands, you need to be running Dakmor Salvage. It not only guarantees you recover from Pox effects, but it conveniently triggers Bloodghasts, and Dredging can help set up casting Tombstalker.

It seems good but CIPT cripples it.

Wouldn't a pair of Crucible of Worlds be worthwhile in this with all the Pox, Wastelands, and fetches to recur Ghast?

Also, not to take anything away from the OP, I'm pretty sure there's a Pox thread already.

J.V.
09-13-2010, 08:21 PM
Cabal Therapy... Seems good.

Vacrix
09-13-2010, 09:44 PM
Agreed. It looks great in the Bauble slot, and has great synergy with Bloodghast.

martyr
09-13-2010, 10:05 PM
It seems good but CIPT cripples it.

Wouldn't a pair of Crucible of Worlds be worthwhile in this with all the Pox, Wastelands, and fetches to recur Ghast?

Also, not to take anything away from the OP, I'm pretty sure there's a Pox thread already.

CIPT doesn't really cripple it, it just makes it slightly worse than a basic Swamp...and with 2 or so in the deck, how often is it going to come up? If you're really that scared of it, you could run an Undiscovered Paradise or two to recur Bloodghasts, although dredging stuff into the yard seems pretty solid with Tombstalker...but it might not be necessary.

Crucible seems win more; the deck is far more aggressive than classic Pox lists. Running 12+ win conditions, four of which recur essentially for free, makes you the beatdown a lot of the time. Crucible is more suited to a grinding plan, of which versions running Sinkhole or Raven's Crime are more able to take advantage.

There is a Pox thread, but none of the serious decklists in that thread run 12 aggressive creatures. This is essentially mono-black Team America, more than a slow Pox deck.

I can't believe I missed Cabal Therapy + Bloodghasts. /facepalm

Aernil
09-14-2010, 11:03 AM
@ Bauble
I just quote my answer from the tournament report I wrote:


Although Bauble seems really weak and bad I really love them.
I see them as kind of weak brainstorm in this deck:
It's a cantrip, it fills the yard, it costs neither speed nor mana, has a nice synergy with fetches or allows to see what the opponent will get next turn.
...
And to the issue of boarding them out:
I board them out not because they are bad, but because I just need all the other stuff in my deck.
...
To bring it to the point: Bauble is currently the best way for this deck to play a 56 cards deck.
So basically I think running kinda 56 cards is superior to running 56 + 4 not THAT awesome cards.
But don't quote me on that, I need to test Therapy.
Im shocked I didn't think of them myself after I added Bloodghast.

But I'll rather test them in the Ghastly Demise slot, because I think Bauble @ opponent, Therapy next turn is kinda awesome XD

@ martyr:
You propably described DoD far better than I ever could have done.
I'll add it to the Primer

Edit:
@ Manabase
At the tournament I won I played 11 basics and 5 fetches (mainly because I have just that many) and 2 wastes (same reason) and I was never screwed.
I think at the whole tournament I had to mulligan not a single time.

@ Moxes
And I really don't want to run less than the full set of moxes, just because you want to see them every game.
Hell, I even won with hand without land but 1 or 2 moxes.

@ Pox
At the tournament I was quite happy to draw multiple Pox.
One is cruel, but two are generally deadly.
In one game I had 3 Poxes in hand, and played every one of them (first got countered).
I think Pox is just too powerful to run not the full set.
And you actually wanna see one every game, and multiples are also nice.

Plm
09-16-2010, 03:29 PM
Lately people have suggesting running a more creatures in the pox thread.

My pox list run 14 threats, but is more oriented aggainst combo ( inquisition & cabal therapy instead of bauble & demise) but the list looks like traditionnal pox stuff ( 38 cards are staple of mono black pox ).

I find the deck a really good version of aggro pox , going back to the roots of pox deck ( when I started to play pox it was with black knigts and hyppy, out aggroing the one necropotence player of hight school ).

I totally agree with the view of pox as an hypper flame rift with land destruction, discard and removal as nice perks ;).

This said I m going to sleeve this ( got every thing exept bauble from playing pox for looong) and bring it to the next tournament, thank you for thinking out side the pox .


@ cabal therapy : with only ghast as support and without duress, inquisition I'm not convinced . I my pox deck with 8 other targeted discard spells and bitterblossom as a supplement , I sometime found cabal laking ( well half the time it was an horrible discard fest , half the time it laid dead in my hand or graveyard).

I, for the moment, will keep going with bauble as they play well with : stalker, demise, fetchlands, pox, small pox , yeah quite a lot in fact.

As my meta was combo ( last time I checked ) I might go with inquisition instead of demise .

Wish you luck with the deck, and will be around playng the deck.

Sevryn
11-04-2010, 10:45 PM
So, for the 60% of the time you don't have Chrome Mox at the start of the game, isn't the lack of non-reactive one drops a problem? If you are on the play, Innocent Blood and Ghastly Demise can't be played. If you are on the draw, and they don't play a creature, you are in the same position. Has this been a problem?

Tacosnape
11-05-2010, 02:14 AM
Okay, I mean, I hate to be this guy, what with the hype of your list and all, but you do know Nihilith is absolutely horrible, right? Even when he hits, a 4/4 Fear isn't really all that frightening in this format. Plus, knocking off seven suspend counters? Even if you get it out in two turns, it's a terrible investment when you could be running something just flat out better. I get that the point is to have him swoop in for free after you go Pox-happy, but ugh, still.

Jeff Kruchkow
11-05-2010, 03:37 AM
Okay, I mean, I hate to be this guy, what with the hype of your list and all, but you do know Nihilith is absolutely horrible, right? Even when he hits, a 4/4 Fear isn't really all that frightening in this format. Plus, knocking off seven suspend counters? Even if you get it out in two turns, it's a terrible investment when you could be running something just flat out better. I get that the point is to have him swoop in for free after you go Pox-happy, but ugh, still.

But whats a better evasive beater? Everything else in Mono-B costs more and he already has 4x Stalker

Augustas
11-05-2010, 07:04 AM
nothing offensive, but how these two decks in the first post are different from "teched" eva green and pox decks?

Aernil
11-05-2010, 08:53 AM
I updated first post, so all my comments refer to that list.
First off, my advise to playing the deck:
If your Meta consists of large amounts of Vengevine Survival and/or Affinity, don't play this deck unless you are a masochist.
For the time being, I suspended playing the deck myself.

@Sevryn
There are 8 1-drops in the current list, 4 of them being reactive.
Additional to that there are the moxes, so the chance of being able to do something on turn 1 seem good enough.
In the last few tournaments doing something on turn 1 wasn't really the problem.
If you expect dangerous first turn play on the opposite side of the table (Belcher, Lackey, Trinisphere...) I'd replace the Sinkholes with Thoughtseize.

@Tacosnape
Be what guy?^^ If people don't question the cardchoices what's the point of this forum anyway?
And what hype? If you refer to my enthusiasm of the deck, sure as hell I am enthusiastic for it, it's still my brainchild and the one deck I had my first success(es) with.

I totally agree that Nihilith is a totally crappy card, at least on its own.
But the fact that it is cheap, evasive, hasty (most of the time anyway) and dodges Innocent Blood, Smallpox and Pox makes it just stupidly strong here.
In fact, ~70% of all games I won, I won with a combination of Nihilith, Pox effects and Bloodghast.
But either way, what "flat out better" would you suggest in it's place?

@Augustas
No offense taken.
It's neither a "teched" eva green if you refer to the first decklist, because this list is just there to illustrate the evolvement f the deck.
Neither its a teched Pox deck.
As I allready mentioned, it's as much a Pox deck because of running Pox than GU Madness is Threshold because of running Force of Will.
And relating to the "teched" part:
It's as much a "teched" Suicide or Eve Green than Dreadstill is a "teched" MUC.

bowvamp
11-05-2010, 01:18 PM
This deck IS pox because unlike comparing UG Madness to Threshold, the similarities between a typical pox deck and Day of Disease are many:

Tombstalker,
Nihilith,
Pox,
Smallpox,
Hymn to Tourach,
Sinkhole,
Duress,
Wasteland

These cards have been suggested as tech to pox:
Tarmogoyf (in the green splash)
Street Wraith
Smother
Chrome Mox

Yeah, I'd say your deck is pox. It's just playing a more aggro-ish version of the deck which is something that people in the pox thread have been working on for a while.
btw, Nihilith is a pretty good beater for pox.

Tru3z3rox
11-17-2010, 09:26 PM
Jitte. You're welcome.

Blackmagic
11-18-2010, 03:16 PM
Another suggestion for a good one drop in the current environment, pithing needle...

Stops aether vial and survival, pretty good reason to mainboard it.

stiltner88
11-19-2010, 01:45 AM
Has anyone tried The Rack in Nihiliths place? I going to take this for a spin on mwn. Testing both cards...

Hardcore
03-19-2013, 09:52 PM
I finally got the missing pieces, the Tomb Stalkers, to try this deck.
My result at the local tourney was 1-1-2, but I don't mind.
The important thing was to play and learn so I can make changes.


4 bloodghast
4 Tombstalker
4 smallpox
4 dark ritual
4 inquisition of kozilek
4 nihilith
4 pox
19 swamp
4 hymn to Tourach
2 dakmor salvage
3 darkblast
4 surgical extraction


SB:

3 Nevinyrral's disk
3 contagion
4 perish
4 stillmoon cavalier
1 umezawa's jitte

The sideboard sucks but I felt I owned few alternatives.
The disk is too slow and... actually only the contagion is decent. I will move the surgicals there too. They have to little impact unless you can target key cards, and only combo have those.
Another problem is the low creature count. Given that you can control the content of your own graveyard, using delve and landfall, one Nether Spirit may be useful. Then Akuta, born of ash looks good, too. While it is a legendary card the manner you play it, from the grave, mean running four in the deck is no problem.
Lack of card draw is a problem but the only reasonable tech is the Phyrexian Arena, but it may be better to have Buried Alive in the SB for grinding matches.
I am also pondering the need for manna boost. Dark rituals not really needed. I could increase my land count to 22.
Lastly I need more creature kill. Innocent blood is not so dandy when you have your only creature in play.
I am thinking Victim of Night would be best complement to Dark Blasts and sacrifice effects.

Hardcore
03-21-2013, 02:54 PM
As I mentioned my result was 1-1-2 first try with the deck.

My first opponent played BGW with Abrupt decay, Green sun Zenith and stuff. The pox effects were brutal, and the 2-0 result felt like expected against that type of deck.

My second opponent played some kind of Helldozer-Nic fit hybrid.
First game I used my surgicals to remove cards that would ramp up his mana, but it was having only one blocker that lost my opponent the duel.
Second duel his deck do what it is supposed to and he hardcast Emrakul.
Third duel we reach time and none of us can finish off the other.
Result 1-1

Next I met an infect player. Not knowing what to expect I still push him down to 1 life Close to losing, with eight poison counters, i topdeck a smallpox which I triumphantly slam on the table. Of course my opponent have a third (and fourth) Daze in his hand.
Typical.
Second duel I didn't Mulligan and lose because of my lack of creature kill. I remembered too late that the creatures is the weak point of infect decks.

Last game is against a zoo deck with isochron scepter and charms(!)
At this time I lose because of bad play. Still I value the experience; I learned that boarding the disk lead to slow play. That is not what this deck is about.

The core of the deck is nice: stalkers, ghasts, nihilith, poxes... Filling out the other slots well is the tricky part. Infernal tutor looks useful, a phyrexian arena too.
There is not much room, even for one offs, however. So I am thinking maybe replace the four Hymn to Tourach with two Duress. This would almost guarantee having discard available on turn one.
Cheap creature removal could be contagion, innocent blood, darkblast and snuff out.
(Maybe also dismember.)

So my modified list look something like this

4 bloodghast
4 Tombstalker
4 nihilith
2-3 Akuta, born of ash
0-1 Nether Spirit

4 smallpox
4 dark ritual
4 inquisition of kozilek
4 pox
19 swamp
2 Duress
2 dakmor salvage
2 darkblast
1 infernal tutor
1 phyrexian arena
3 snuff out

SB:
3 contagion
4 perish
2 duress
2 buried alive (for grindy games)
4 chalice of the void

I am also thinking about increasing the land count by two and remove the Dark rituals.
Chalice of the void is just an idea. The key spells cost two or more after all.

Mortox
04-05-2013, 02:29 PM
I am also thinking about increasing the land count by two and remove the Dark rituals.
Chalice of the void is just an idea. The key spells cost two or more after all.

Not sure about CoTV here, I mean setting it to 1 or 2 is bad for your deck, 1 kills your targeted discard (IoK, Duress) and 2 makes pretty much everything else unplayable; your options would realistically be 0 or 3 (6 mana) which just doesn't seem worthwhile.

GenioDeArena
12-30-2013, 11:14 PM
There is a big tournament in one month here un Buenos Aires and I want to play with this deck. Let me tell you that I've almost allways been a kitchen table player, but this time I want to get I feel it has some pros over the meta since it has a decent game vs Tempo and midrange and can defeat combo with some luck, plus, to be honest, I know from experience that playing against Pox decks is very hard and not many people test against it. I expect to find: Maveric, Sneak & Show, Death and Taxes, Rug, Bug, and Goblins, Fish, and Affy plus the usual homebrews.

For reference, this is the list that I´m testing right now (note that I´m on a budget so money cards are missing (mosty Liliana, Bitterblossom and Jitte, but I'll try to borrow them by the time the tourney is around the corner):


20 Swamp

2 Carrion Feeder
4 Gravecrawler
4 Bloodghast
2 Geralf's Messenger
2 Graveborn Muse
4 Tombstalker

4 Dark Ritual
2 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
4 hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
4 Pox

SB:
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pithing Needle
2 tormod's Crypt
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Massacre
2 Duress
2 Sadistic Sacrament

Twenty Swamps is as solid and stable as it can get. I've tried a combination of Mishra's Factories and Dakmor Salvages, but frankly, most of the times I've drawn them I wished they were basic lands instead.
The creatures need some explanation:
Ghasts and Stalkers are obvious choices, fast and furious beaters.
Crawlers are recurring one drops that feel very strong in paper and seem worth keeping after the little testing I've done so far. Discard and sacrifice fodder that easily recurs and helps Mr. Feeder grow into large proportions.
Carrion Feeder is a pet card of mine, he is there to protect Ghast and Crawler from Stp mostly but also becomes a fine beater in combination with the Crawler and some mana.
Geralf's Messenger is there for the extra reach that provides. The bad thing about him is that he ETB tapped in a deck that allready has 10 creatures that can't block.
Graveborn Muse is a big surprise borrowed from zombie decks, with 10 zombies in the deck (four of wich recur from the yard) it becomes a Confidant on steroids that draws two or three cards per turn if left unchecked.

The SB is a mess, basically because of my lack of tournament experience.
Yard hate is there because this is Legacy... Still could use some insight on wich cards are better.
Needles are ther mostly for Jace and Planeswalkers in general, but also have a variety of uses like Belcher, Griss, Sneak Attack, Vial.
Ratchet and Massacre are ther for the creature based MU's, also Ratchets help agains a variety of problems, mostly Enchantments, PW, Artifacts, tokens.
Extra Discard and Sacraments are there for combo and decks that rely on specific cards to work.

Give me your thought and ideas because I've never been toany large tournament, outside from league play, tournament ever.

Edit: Also thinking about -2 Graveborn Muse -1 Geralf's Messenger for +3 Blood Artist. Since he breaks the Symmetry of Pox and Smallpox, replacing slower cc cards for faster ones. T2 Artist into T3 Pox seems strong.

Zupponn
12-31-2013, 05:00 PM
Instead of {card}{/card}, use {cards}{/cards}. I also can't help but think that your list looks a lot like the Zombardment/Walking Dead lists. Maybe you'll find some ideas there.

GenioDeArena
01-01-2014, 12:58 PM
Yeah I took many ideas from those decks. This is sort of an hybrid between Pox and the Walking Dead.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the imput, I've fixed the cardtags.

Happy new year!!!!!!!!

kinda
01-02-2014, 02:45 PM
There is a big tournament in one month here un Buenos Aires and I want to play with this deck. Let me tell you that I've almost allways been a kitchen table player, but this time I want to get I feel it has some pros over the meta since it has a decent game vs Tempo and midrange and can defeat combo with some luck, plus, to be honest, I know from experience that playing against Pox decks is very hard and not many people test against it. I expect to find: Maveric, Sneak & Show, Death and Taxes, Rug, Bug, and Goblins, Fish, and Affy plus the usual homebrews.

For reference, this is the list that I´m testing right now (note that I´m on a budget so money cards are missing (mosty Liliana, Bitterblossom and Jitte, but I'll try to borrow them by the time the tourney is around the corner):


20 Swamp

2 Carrion Feeder
4 Gravecrawler
4 Bloodghast
2 Geralf's Messenger
2 Graveborn Muse
4 Tombstalker

4 Dark Ritual
2 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
4 hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
4 Pox

SB:
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pithing Needle
2 tormod's Crypt
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Massacre
2 Duress
2 Sadistic Sacrament

Twenty Swamps is as solid and stable as it can get. I've tried a combination of Mishra's Factories and Dakmor Salvages, but frankly, most of the times I've drawn them I wished they were basic lands instead.
The creatures need some explanation:
Ghasts and Stalkers are obvious choices, fast and furious beaters.
Crawlers are recurring one drops that feel very strong in paper and seem worth keeping after the little testing I've done so far. Discard and sacrifice fodder that easily recurs and helps Mr. Feeder grow into large proportions.
Carrion Feeder is a pet card of mine, he is there to protect Ghast and Crawler from Stp mostly but also becomes a fine beater in combination with the Crawler and some mana.
Geralf's Messenger is there for the extra reach that provides. The bad thing about him is that he ETB tapped in a deck that allready has 10 creatures that can't block.
Graveborn Muse is a big surprise borrowed from zombie decks, with 10 zombies in the deck (four of wich recur from the yard) it becomes a Confidant on steroids that draws two or three cards per turn if left unchecked.

The SB is a mess, basically because of my lack of tournament experience.
Yard hate is there because this is Legacy... Still could use some insight on wich cards are better.
Needles are ther mostly for Jace and Planeswalkers in general, but also have a variety of uses like Belcher, Griss, Sneak Attack, Vial.
Ratchet and Massacre are ther for the creature based MU's, also Ratchets help agains a variety of problems, mostly Enchantments, PW, Artifacts, tokens.
Extra Discard and Sacraments are there for combo and decks that rely on specific cards to work.

Give me your thought and ideas because I've never been toany large tournament, outside from league play, tournament ever.

Edit: Also thinking about -2 Graveborn Muse -1 Geralf's Messenger for +3 Blood Artist. Since he breaks the Symmetry of Pox and Smallpox, replacing slower cc cards for faster ones. T2 Artist into T3 Pox seems strong.

Contamination? Seems good with 4 bloodghast and 4 gravecrawler.