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  1. #1
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    Master Shake's Avatar
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    Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    First thing - This deck probably needs a better name. Trade Pod is stupid.

    Introduction

    While looking around TC Decks (For those of you who aren't using TC Decks, you're missing out on literally the best deck repository on the Internet) and I'm looking for something silly to build so I'm looking at the Rogue section, where I come across these lists:

    http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.ph...3&iddeck=60518
    http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.ph...8&iddeck=58187
    http://thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.ph...1&iddeck=56182

    For convenience, I've included the basic list here:

    1 Dryad Arbor
    1 Gilded Drake
    1 Glen Elendra Archmage
    1 Kitchen Finks
    1 Masticore
    1 Phyrexian Metamorph
    1 Quirion Ranger
    1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
    1 Scryb Ranger
    1 Selkie Hedge-Mage
    1 Spike Feeder
    1 Spike Weaver
    1 Triskelion
    1 Wall of Blossoms
    1 Wickerbough Elder
    1 Wood Elves
    2 Eternal Witness
    2 Noble Hierarch
    2 Phantasmal Image
    2 Reveillark
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Tradewind Rider
    4 Wall of Roots

    1 Green Sun's Zenith
    4 Birthing Pod

    1 Gaea's Cradle
    1 Savannah
    2 Misty Rainforest
    4 Tropical Island
    4 Verdant Catacombs
    7 Forest


    The deck looked incredibly silly, and like it could maybe even compete, so I decided to sleeve it up, considering that I had most of the cards. I've played the deck on-and-off for the last 3 weeks and I've settled on this as a tentative list:

    4 Birthing Pod
    1 Green sun's Zenith

    Creatures, Sorted by Mana Cost

    4 Noble Hierarch
    2 Birds of Paradise
    1 Quirion Ranger

    1 Wall of Blossoms
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    4 Wall of Roots
    1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
    2 Phantasmal Image

    2 Eternal Witness
    2 Kitchen Finks
    1 Viridian Shaman
    1 Wood Elves
    1 Spike Feeder

    1 Masticore
    1 Master of the Wild Hunt
    1 Phyrexian Metamorph
    1 Wickerbough Elder
    3 Tradewind Rider (I can only find 3!)
    1 Glen Elendra Archmage
    1 Spike Weaver

    1 Reveillark
    1 Murkfiend Liege

    1 Sun Titan
    1 Triskelion

    6 Forest
    4 Tropical Island
    2 Savannah
    1 Gaea's Cradle
    7 Fetch Lands

    Card Selection

    Since there are so many different cards in the deck, I'll be categorizing them by type:

    Birthing Pod, Green Sun's Zenith - Birthing Pod is the linchpin of the deck, while it is entirely possible to win games without the card, after only a couple of activations, you're generally so far ahead that most decks are unable to get back in the game. Green Sun's Zenith is a loose slot, but theoretically helps to increase the stability of draws, but is certainly a card that can be cut.

    Tradewind Rider - By far, the most common win condition in the deck stems from concessions resulting from Tradewind Rider activations. Against Slower combo decks, any control deck and most mid-range decks, Tradewind Rider must be answered before it loses summoning sickness or it viciously takes them out of the game. I'd not hesitate to play this card as a four-of if I was able to get my hands on the last copy.

    Mana Guys - The inclusion of BoP and Noble Hierarchs in the deck is somewhat obvious as the deck tends to be quite mana-hungry. Wall of Roots also falls into this category, but also lets you stave off early creatures. A plethora of one-costs allows you easy access into Phantasmal Image, which fulfills a number of uses, but also lets you hit Scavenging Oooze.

    Clones - The three Clone effects in the maindeck, 2 Phantasmal Image and 1 Phyrexian Metamorph offer nearly endless utility, often copying your own Eternal Witness or other value creature, but can also be used to make an unstoppable wall of Spike Weavers or even infinite combo with Triskelion and Reveillark. The clones let you jump around mana-costs for Birthing Pod which is incredibly useful, and always return to a Lark trigger.

    Utility Creatures - The number of creatures that fulfill some useful role in the deck is high, and the potential cards that can fill those roles is even higher. I've identified that you want to have at least these roles filled in the deck's 75 (76 in my case, something 77)

    (Special Note about Spikes, they can allow you to remove the -1/-1 Counters from a Persisted Kitchen Finks or Glen Elendra Archmage. This is useful.)

    Cards that 187, such as Uktabi Orangutan, Shriekmaw, Bone Shredder, Harmonic Sliver, Wickerbough Elder, Acidic Slime etc.
    Cards that allow you to creep ahead in card advantage independent of what an opponent is doing, such as Reveillark, Eternal Witness, Wall of Blossoms, Mulldrifter, Sun Titan, Master of the Wild Hunt, etc.
    Cards that keep you alive, such as Spike Feeder, Spike Weaver, Peacekeeper, Kitchen Finks, etc
    Cards that can disrupt an opponent, such as Glen Elendra Archmage, Heartwood Storyteller, Ichneumon Druid, Gaddock Teeg, Ethersworn Canonist, Thalia, Linvala, Aven Mindcensor etc.
    Cards that let you steal creatures, such as Sower of Temptation and Gilded Drake.
    Something that allows you to reuse Tradewind Rider, such asScryb Ranger, Seedborn Muse, Murkfiend Liege, Quirion Ranger.
    Something that allows you to Alpha-Stirke such as Murkfiend Liege... I can't really think of anything else.

    I'm sure there are role fillers that I haven't considered and I admit that this deck is far from completed and optimized, but I wanted to present the deck to the community to discuss. I've now played the deck in roughly 6 events, with an overall record of 17-3-3 where two of the draws are IDs and most all of the wins are against other, established decks.

    Two things I'd like to focus on, other than general optimization is to find an impressive 5-cost creature to go along with Lark and Murkfiend Liege, Sadly Acidic Slime is currently near the top of the list, but there has to be something better. The second is to find a very strong 3-cost creature that is able to stand alone and impact an empty field. I tried out Knight of the Reliquary but the white is just too much of a problem and his impact on the game isn't that huge, this isn't GW. On that same note, I know that Sun Titan is greedy, but It seemed like an obvious inclusion to me and I've enjoyed having him in the deck.

    With all of that said, I hope that some insights can be generated about what I think is a very fun, challenging*, interesting and high potential archetype.

    *Seriously, this deck's decision trees make it among the hardest decks, if not the hardest I've ever played.
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    Oh my goodness, it's been so great. People with stupid opinions now immediately acknowledge how dumb they are! Internet fights still have all the swears and name calling but now they're instantly undermined by my new suffix.

  2. #2

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    This is an evolution of old Survival decks. Previous versions also ran Fauna Shaman and Meriki to abuse the Rangers.

    This new Birthing Pod build seems much stronger.

    The overall problem is of course that this deck has 0 game against combo. It has slightly more game against Sneak Show, the current combo deck of choice.

  3. #3

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    I like the name... used to play this on MWS time to time (missing few to play on paper) and its real fun


    // Lands
    4 [ISD] Forest (1)
    4 [R] Tropical Island
    4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
    2 [US] Gaea's Cradle
    1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
    1 [R] Bayou
    1 [R] Savannah
    3 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs

    // Creatures
    2 [CMD] Eternal Witness
    4 [TE] Tradewind Rider
    4 [ARC] Wall of Roots
    4 [M12] Birds of Paradise
    1 [MOR] Reveillark
    1 [UL] Deranged Hermit
    1 [V10] Masticore
    1 [LRW] Sower of Temptation
    1 [BRB] Spike Weaver
    1 [NPH] Phyrexian Metamorph
    1 [EVG] Wood Elves
    1 [10E] Viridian Shaman
    2 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
    1 [US] Gilded Drake
    1 [SH] Wall of Blossoms
    1 [M12] Llanowar Elves
    1 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
    1 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
    1 [M12] Phantasmal Image
    1 [VI] Quirion Ranger
    1 [EVE] Glen Elendra Archmage
    1 [UD] Academy Rector
    1 [CHK] Yosei, the Morning Star
    1 [EVE] Murkfiend Liege

    // Spells
    4 [NPH] Birthing Pod
    2 [EX] Recurring Nightmare

  4. #4

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    I would think a full set of GSZ's plus some number of Hierarchs would be better than running any number of BoP or Wall of Roots, and maybe some Brainstorm to shuffle away an Arbor in case you draw it and want to GSZ for it. I mean, the lists run quite a bit of acceleration, and GSZ is really good since it accelerates and its a great topdeck even if your Tradewind Rider got killed and your Birthing Pod got countered.

  5. #5

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    I should comment something about the players (David Gómez and Sergi Herrero), since the former is me and the latter is the creator of the deck. I told him I would blatantly copy his deck because

    a) it has Aluren creatures
    b) it has a full playset of "Survival of the Fittest"; and
    c) it has a combo kill involving Reveillark, which my Survival lists also shared

    That said, I can contribute what he told me about the list. He came up with it with the idea of crushing any GW Zenith variant, and he (and I too) has always won the matchup, which means the deck does get its job done. Creature-based decks in general tend to lose to this, Zoo not so much when it gets a godly hand, but otherwise its fine. Dredge is also fine between 0/0 clones, Spikes and the like; if you get to stick a Weaver, you should win. Other combo decks and most forms of blue control tend to be bad matchups, though Glen Elendra Archmage is your best bet and can win the game single-handedly, especially with a clone next to her. Planeswalkers are painful bombs against us and explains why he runs SB Spell Pierce.

    @ Master Shake: Sergi apparently didn't think about the creatures too thoroughly, most of them are just his favourites from his Survival times. He has also told me that the deck "doesn't kill", meaning it wins by having the opponent concede over multiple Tradewind activations and has the Reveillark combo mostly as a last resort.

    He too faces the problem of the 5cc cost creature, he wants to have two, one of which is Reveillark. The other one, according to him, should be something useful both when you're winning and when you're losing, last time I talked with him he said he would probably stick with Acidic Slime again. He doesn't like Murkfiend Liege or Seedborn Muse because topdecking any of them in a bad board state doesn't solve anything, despite their synergy with Masticore and Tradewind Rider. He generally prefers Seedborn Muse because Reveillark can bring her back. When I played the deck I decided to solve this dilemma by running a second Reveillark: she's good whenever you draw her and also lets you cast the first one without worrying too much if she gets countered. Curiously, though, I've found myself boarding one when in doubt, and when watching Sergi play I've seen him boarding whatever 5cc he's running alongside Reveillark too, so this decision may be partially a product of his own paranoia. No amazing 3cc creatures are needed, by the way, since Tradewind Rider already fulfills that role.

    The 1-of Zenith is actually an extra Quirion / Scryb Ranger slot and little else, and he tends to board it out when he doesn't know what to take, so it's true it could be cut entirely. In his words, "it doesn't really have anything good to find", which is why the initial full playset has gone down to a singleton.

    Last time I played this deck I made some little changes to adapt it more to my tastes. The main issue I found with Green Sun's Zenith is that it can't find anything good simply because the best creatures in the deck aren't green. I also saw the way Glen Elendra Archmage destroys control and how Spell Pierce tends to fall short, especially now that Wrath of God only costs , in addition to the fact that sometimes, the best way to take down a planeswalker is through another planeswalker. So, to the first list you've posted (the one I played) I made the following changes:

    -1 Selkie Hedge-Mage
    -1 Reveillark
    -1 Green Sun's Zenith

    +2 Chord of Calling
    +1 Venser, the Sojourner

    The sideboard includes an additional Glen Elendra Archmage, 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter, and I favor Negate over Spell Pierce. From what I've seen lately, I would probably go MD -1 Wall of Blossoms +1 Spellskite as well.

    Venser is just one of the many things Sergi has been trying, so I don't know where his potential reaches yet. Chord is a favourite of mine from Aluren and I find it much more fitting for the deck, since it can find the real bombs, it does its job at instant speed, and with it the SB silver bullets make much more sense, not to mention how Wall of Roots is like a Ritual when it comes to paying it. Garruk is my personal bet against control because I feel Venser kinda falls short in that matchup, although I still lack experience overall.

    Hope something from this wall of text enlightens you, anyway

  6. #6
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    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    If blue-based control is a problem, how about taking page out of Hulk Rebirth and running Carpet of Flowers and Xantid Swarm or City of Solitude in the SB? And from the crazy-enough-it-might-actually-work department there is Chalice of the Void which as a bonus helps against combo as well.

  7. #7

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)


  8. #8

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    Awesome report, Dan


    Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

  9. #9

    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    Opening the Source after months and seeing this thread in the top of the page has given me an heart attack =)
    Anyway, i'm not been playing very much in the last 6 months: but the Meta hasn't changed much, so i'll try to take this wonderfull deck again in the future.
    Later i'll read the last posts more carefully, anyway what i was brainstorming is:

    -Opposition, for me, is a very strong card right now. Eldrazi (here is well spread) should be a bad MU and Opposition is fuc*ing insane against them, and it's always good against midrange, tempo and some rogue decks.
    -Vial is a very good card that, unfortunately, works bad with Opposition, Fauna shaman and so on: i encourage you to try it, it has many props and many cons.
    -I hate FoW: i think we have to accept to lose against fast/hard combo in g1 if OTD, they are too clunky in too many MU, a bad topdeck and so on: moreover, it limits you very much in the deckbuilding phase
    -I think that Prelate is the best card for this deck in the last 4 years or so. I would play the 4x of it, being able to play it a t2 very often with 8 dorks (another cons about vial).
    -If we will stick with 0 vial and many dorks i think that some Gaea's Craddle and a Mirror Entity would be amazing
    -Vial and GSZ are contro-synergic
    -Leovold! Another creazy card we have to play!

  10. #10
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    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    Thanks Alexeezay and JackaBo! Great to have you back, Memories!! Looking forward to all of your posts, from all of you!

    Regarding Eldrazi, it's fading out of fashion it seems and I think it means we will need to pay some extra respect to fast combo again. Recently I tested double Leylines of Sanctity and the Void which cover most of the fast combo decks, at least slowing them down enough that we get a chance to interact. Except for Sneak and Show but we have other tools for that matchup. ... It also means we may not need Opposition that much after all, depending on local meta of course.

    You may be right regarding Prelates, I think I will get a third one to see how it goes.

  11. #11
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    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    Ok, so I tested a tiny bit more yesterday
    > Vials are not for me I think. Mana dorks set your game up faster. Most common/best starts are dork into GSZ X=2 or like Mother/2-drop, t2 prelate/leovold or similar...I'm also happy to draw dorks later on to discard them for Fauna, activate Opposition or clog up the board. Vial clearly has minus points here.
    > Meren overperformed, but I like Sigarda vs Karakas. Thoughts on 2nd Meren?
    > Red is still worth it. Enough tools vs Lands/Eldrazi now so Magus of the Moon got cut after bad experiences with Moons, but I like Keranos/Domri over Garruk (Keranos is untouchable and Domri comes early as 3-drop). Izzet Staticaster is more versatile than Orzhov Pontiff #2.
    > Peacekeeper > Selfless Squire. I tested versus Infect and you need the faster answer versus some decks.
    > I have only 1 Prelate so still on 4 Mages but that might switch up in the future.
    > Is 3 Opposition one too many? Should I cut 4th Mother and/or 8th Dork to fit in Bone Shredder or Decay? Shredder would be sweet with the Merens.
    > that leads me to: how necessary is Gaddock Teeg today with all the other hatebears? He hinders your own Opposition/GSZ/MBTrap. I like how he stops Engineered Explosives, Jace and Terminus at once...
    > 17th land Tundra, yes/no? Isn't only 16 lands too greedy? Maybe we need 1-2 Cradle as @Memories mentioned.
    > I realized that Scavenging Ooze is not the best in this deck because it`s so mana hungry. Maybe we should cut Ooze? I never searched for it so far.
    > Rishkar, Peema Renegade might be good here. He canget creatures out of kozilek's return/pontiff/persecution range and push our mana household for Meren/Zenith.
    > still don't know if I should and how to fit in some Abrupt Decay.
    > Note that this +sideboard is built mainly expecting these decks: Death&Taxes, Reanimator/Dredge, Miracles, Eldrazi, BGx, some Lands, some Infect, some Elves.
    Maindeck
    1 Forest
    2 Bayou
    2 Savannah
    2 Tropical Island
    1 Taiga
    1 Tundra
    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windswept Heath

    4 Green Sun's Zenith
    3 Opposition

    1 Dryad Arbor
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Deathrite Shaman
    4 Mother of Runes
    4 Fauna Shaman
    4 Meddling Mage
    2 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
    2 Qasali Pridemage
    1 Quirion Ranger
    1 Scryb Ranger
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Gilded Drake
    1 Izzet Staticaster
    1 Gaddock Teeg
    1 Shriekmaw
    1 Sanctum Prelate
    1 Merieke Ri Berit
    1 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
    1 Tradewind Rider

    Sideboard
    3 Faerie Macabre
    3 Pithing Needle
    1 Invasive Surgery
    2 Mindbreak Trap
    1 Domri Rade
    1 Keranos, God of Storms
    1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
    1 Orzhov Pontiff
    1 Peacekeeper
    1 Flex slot - Abrupt Decay or Collected Company. Thoughts? Gaddock here would give me Bone Shredder or Pontiff main.
    Last edited by Alexeezay; 02-16-2017 at 01:32 PM.

  12. #12
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    Re: Trade Pod (Tradewind Rider Birthing Pod)

    I wrote a sideboard guide for the list above. Maybe it will be useful for you!

    Fauna Green (MOST) – Sideboardplan 15.02.2017
    Miracles: +3 Pithing Needle +1 Keranos +1 Domri Rade +1 Invasive Surgery +1 Collected Company
    -3 Opposition -1 Gilded Drake -1 Merieke -1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Quirion Ranger

    Death & Taxes: +3 Pithing Needle +1 Orzhov Pontiff +1 Domri Rade +1 Keranos
    -3 Meddling Mage -1 Sanctum Prelate -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Gilded Drake

    Grixis Delver: +1 Peacekeeper +1 Orzhov Pontiff +1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
    -1 Gilded Drake -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Tradewind Rider

    Shardless BUG: +1 Keranos +1 Collected Company +1 Needle -1 Gilded Drake -1 Qasali Pridemage

    Lands: +3 Faerie Macabre +3 Pithing Needle +1 Invasive Surgery(on the play)
    -1 Shriekmaw -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Gilded Drake -1 Izzet Staticaster -1 Meren -1 Tradewind Rider

    4C Loam: +2 Faerie Macabre -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Tradewind Rider < Overboarding here seems bad

    Maverick: +3 Pithing Needle +1 Keranos +1 Domri Rade +1 Orzhov Pontiff
    -4 Meddling Mage(depends on their version) -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Sanctum Prelate

    Dark Depths: +3 Pithing Needle +1 Peacekeeper
    -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Izzet Staticaster -1 Leovold -1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth

    Eldrazi: +1 Peacekeeper +1 Collected Company -1 Gaddock Teeg -1 Sanctum Prelate

    BR Reanimator: +3 Faerie Macabre +3 Pithing Needle +2 Mindbreak Trap +1 Surgery +1 Peacekeeper
    -4 Mother of Runes(not sure though) -2 Qasali Pridemage -2 Meren -1 Izzet Staticaster -1 Gaddock Teeg (mind Sneak Attack)

    Dredge: +3 Faerie Macabre +1 Invasive Surgery +1 Peacekeeper (+3 Needle vs. Manaless Dredge)
    -3 Opposition -1 Shriekmaw -1 Merieke (-3 Meddling Mage vs. Manaless Dredge)

    Show & Tell: +3 Pithing Needle +1 Invasive Surgery +1 Peacekeeper +1 Collected Company
    -2 Meren -1 Izzet Staticaster -1 Scavenging Ooze - some Rangers or Dorks. No idea what to cut lol :(

    Storm: +2 Mindbreak Trap +1 Invasive Surgery +1 Kambal +1 Orzhov Pontiff (+3 Faerie Macabre)
    -2 Meren -1 Shriekmaw -1 Gilded Drake -1 Merieke (-3 Opposition)

    Elves: +1 Invasive Surgery +1 Orzhov Pontiff +1 Peacekeeper +2 Pithing Needle (Wirewood Symbiote)
    -2 Qasali -1 Meren -1 Merieke -1 Gilded Drake

    Infect: +3 Pithing Needle +1 Peacekeeper +1 Orzhov Pontiff +1 Domri Rade
    -2 Meren -1 Gilded Drake -1 Scavenging Ooze -2 Green Sun’s Zenith

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