[Primer/Deck] Pox

[naynay666]

On Friday I went 3-1 With this.
Round One vs Burn I went 0-2 (geez who didnt see this coming)

Round 2 vs Bomberman I went 2-0 never felt pressured at all. Got Nether void both times which helped.

Round 3 vs Slow Depths I went 2-1 first game was a quick loss to a nasty 20/20. Sideboard went in and took the games.

Round 4 vs DnT 2-0 again, never felt pressured at all. K Command did wonders here. 2 for ones everywhere.

The K Command splash is spicy and I love it.

I was wondering why Burn was difficult with 4 Collective Brutality, but then I saw 4 SPox, 3 Thoughtseize, 4 Fetchlands and a Dismember. That's 14-18 life you are conceding even before 2 copies of Toxic Deluge. That mana base doesn't hold up well against Price of Progress either.

Good job on the rest. Bomberman is probably pretty easy with a Nether Void in play. The other two matches can be difficult, especially any Depths variant.

I want to K Command a Batterskull pretty badly.

Sinkhole seems odd to me in the board but it might make sense. My mana base strips a lot of the nonbasics- so with a red splash I would be tempted to consider Blood Moon.

[Marauder]

I have not been disappointed by the k command yet. The sideboard is a WIP right now though. I thought blood moon would be too detrimental to my own mana base so I decided against it. Thanks for the response!

[Hardcore]

Smallpox is good vs burn. Thoughtseize otoh is just something to discard with Smallpox. Price of progress is probably what makes it an auto loss.

[Mr. Safety]

Smallpox is good vs burn. Thoughtseize otoh is just something to discard with Smallpox. Price of progress is probably what makes it an auto loss.

That and their amount of live draws is absurd. Every spell does the same thing, and they draw one at least every other turn. Burn is overwhelmingly better at top-decking than Pox.

[Hardcore]

That and their amount of live draws is absurd. Every spell does the same thing, and they draw one at least every other turn. Burn is overwhelmingly better at top-decking than Pox.

Pox got lots of cards to blunt the assault; Smallpox, liliana, Hymn, connective Brutality, spinning darkness... Problem is to have fast ways to win. Find a solution to that and you should at least get a 50/50 match up. (I think i do better than that, but then I play aggro)

[Marauder]

I saw a list on top 8 that has Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the sideboard. He seems like the kind of creature that would crush burn. Especially being able to sac bloodghasts to pump. Thoughts?

[Hardcore]

I saw a list on top 8 that has Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the sideboard. He seems like the kind of creature that would crush burn. Especially being able to sac bloodghasts to pump. Thoughts?

I would say it is too slow. It swings for three on turn five. By that time you are dead unless you cast Hymn to Tourach, or Smallpox to show him down.
The idea of lifelink is clever but there is no creature that is both cheap to cast and hard to kill. Except for Contraband Kingpin.

[OmniStrata]

If burn is your problem and you run Crucible of Worlds, maybe you should sideboard Syphon Life.
*cue random explosions*

[Mr. Safety]

Pox got lots of cards to blunt the assault; Smallpox, liliana, Hymn, connective Brutality, spinning darkness... Problem is to have fast ways to win. Find a solution to that and you should at least get a 50/50 match up. (I think i do better than that, but then I play aggro)

[Marauder]

Witchbane orb is cute. My local shop has a few burn players. Most of the time I just hope not to get matched with them. With my red splash I was hoping I could get more than k command in there, but really that's it unless I wanted to play around with Daretti or Angrath.

[Mr. Safety]

Witchbane orb is cute. My local shop has a few burn players. Most of the time I just hope not to get matched with them. With my red splash I was hoping I could get more than k command in there, but really that's it unless I wanted to play around with Daretti or Angrath.

Blood Moon, then Sinkhole their basics.

[Pittplayer]

Blood Moon, then Sinkhole their basics.

Blood Moon the burn player? I hope you're joking.

[Mr. Safety]

Blood Moon the burn player? I hope you're joking.

Not advocating this against burn at all. This was in reference to splashing red further than just kcommand, in general. Sorry I wasn't clear.

[Pittplayer]

I have played Pox decks of all splashes. And let me tell you, the best card in red for Pox is... Faithless Looting.

[naynay666]

Sorry here's another short writeup.

LIST:

2x Bitterblossom
2x Fatal Push
3x Innocent Blood
1x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
2x Collective Brutality
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Smallpox
1x Toxic Deluge
2x Cursed Scroll
2x Phyrexian Totem
2x Karn, Scion of Urza
4x Liliana of the Veil
2x Liliana, the Last Hope
2x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Maze of Ith
4x Mishra's Factory
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
18x Swamp

Sideboard
2x Pithing Needle
2x Damping Sphere
2x Extirpate
1x Surgical Extraction
1x Diabolic Edict
2x Bontu's Last Reckoning
4x Leyline of the Void
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal

No Rituals, no Wastelands.

Rd 1 Goblin Food Chain
Odd number of players and I got the bye. Seconds in, like a Rampaging Goblin, the 10th Legacy player burst into the store and we paired up.
Game 1. I have had this matchup a handful of times but this was the first time a Lackey connected. It did what it does. After that he ran away with it the game going 8 goblins wide eating Lily after Lily after Lily. Whatever Goblins were left finished it up.

SB: NoSB and Bontu’s for both Bitterblossoms and a Smallpox.

Game 2. EoT Push the first Goblin, hit a Hymn, Lil’ Hope uptick shoot a dude, turn 4 Night of Soul’s Betrayal scoop.
Game 3. I got an early jump and controlled the whole game partially due to his blowing up an Ensnaring Bridge instead of a Cursed Scroll.
2-1

Rd 2 Elves
Game 1. T1 fetch, drs. Cursed Scroll. T2 fetch, rec sage. Bitterblossom. T3 Played the bounce an elf insect. I didn’t drop Bridge to avoid it getting blown up immediately. T4 I kinda zoned out when he cast the third Glimpse and he woke me up by shaking a Craterhoof at me.

SB: Edict, NoSB and Bontu’s for both Bitterblossoms and Bridges

Game 2. Turn 2 and 3 Smallpoxes both hit really hard but he was able to chain Visionaries and Insects to recover faster than I could remove.
We played Games 3-5 anyway. Open with a Push or Innocent Blood, follow up with Hymn. Drop any of the Lilianas. Boardwipe or Karn. Boardwipe more. My opponent laughed the whole time. This is how the matchup has been going for me lately but I lost the two that Wizards cares about.
0-2 (3-2)

Rd 3 Big Eldrazi
Game 1. Kept Lil’ Veil, 2 IB, 3 swamps and a Factory on the draw. Chalice on 1. Draw an IOK. Swampass. T2 ThoughtKnot, strip Lily. Draw and drop Bitterblossom with a Factory. T3 Swing take 4. Draw a Cursed Scroll. Play Innocent Blood through a Chalice. Draw a land. The T4 Thoughtknot snag Cursed Scroll, noticed the play through the Chalice. Rip and drop a Lily, downtick. Draw a Hymn. T5 ThoughtKnot again. Smallpox, Hymn. After that I beat in with Faeries and Factories.

SB: He noted I didn’t seem too hindered by Chalice on 1. Which either means “side this out…” or a bluff. I sided out 2 Fatal Push and 1 Collective Brutality for 2 Bontu’s and 1 Diabolic Edict.

Game 2. Kept 3 Factories, Totem, Karn, Bitterblossom and a Hymn. Opponent opens with an Eldrazi Temple. Draw a Hymn, drop a Factory, pass. T2 Eldrazi Temple taps both oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit NOT A THOUGHTKNOT Grim Monolith, pass. Rip a Swamp, stick a Bitterblossom. Woo! T3 More Sol lands and the artifact that turns into a copy of a creature/artifact/land. Factory into Totem. T4 Trinisphere. Karn, exiles a Karn nets a swamp. T5 He drops a Karn. Swing & Kill his Karn, draw cards with mine. T6 he drops a body and counters my Hymn. Cast another strip a Newlamog that he could have cast the next turn. Eventually get a Lily on the board to help jam the Bitterblossom tokens, factories and Totem for the win. Alpha strike had Diabolic Edict backup.
2-0

Rd 4
Grixis Delver.
This opponent is a very tight magic player whom I always enjoy playing against. He had to go so he conceded to me. Bummer. I really want to practice this matchup specifically.

3-1 in the books, 2-1 forreal.

MVPs were Bitterblossom and the 1 mana removal spells. When they arrived early I won. The Hymns were also running hot last night. Collective Brutality did work in the Elves (fun) match(es).

Karn is wonderful- coming down and ticking to 6 means you don’t lose it the next turn like you do if you drop Lil Veil against two bodies. Lil Hope also has that going for her- going to 4 and killing or mitigating an attacker enables sticking around a little longer. 8 Walkers as a whole has allowed me to be more liberal with my Veil castings. It isn’t the end of the world if I lose a couple Lilianas early.

Never saw Maze but it would have been good in every matchup. I tried 2 and loved them but took 1 out for the 3rd Bridge (which I took out for an IOK). Bridge underperformed. It was blown up, too slow, not ensnaring enough or unnecessary. Both copies of Bontu’s Last Reckoning came in every game. Makes me think another maindeck wrath would also be good. Maybe next time I will swap the Bridges to double up on Deluge and Maze.

[Marauder]

How are we feeling about Bontu's Last Reckoning vs Toxic Deluge?

[naynay666]

How are we feeling about Bontu's Last Reckoning vs Toxic Deluge?

They both have their merits. I tried Deluge before Bontu's main but eventually went back. Deluge can suck in the face of Gumangler but was an Allstar against Elves or Goblins. When I need to kill all the creatures, I bring in extra Bontu's. Bontu's is best when they overextend and you don't have to worry about possibly being defenseless for a turn.

I suppose Toxic Deluge is superior turns 3-6 and Bontu is superior in the late game. That being said I wonder if I'm doing it wrong by maindecking Deluge and supplementing it with Bontu. Perhaps it should be the other way around.

[OmniStrata]

Huge advocate of Bontu's here. That reckoning is sweet when paid for via Totem or Dark ritual. Life loss is too much pain when poxing. Though I don't run Big Pox, I do miss the card. Aggro decks don't mind you bleeding to kill everything. But Dark Ritual into Wrath of God is epic. 1 land tapped next turn to live? Small price to pay. But it does depend on meta, ultimately. Lots of biggies, Bontu>Deluge, Weenies? Deluge>Bontu's.

[Marauder]

My meta supports deluge. Most of the time I cast it for 1 or 2. Few reanimators and show and tells around here. Lots of weenies though. I can see how they both have merit though.

[Brad Gibson]

Hello,

Long time reader, first time poster here. Thanks for everyone who has contributed to the thread, which has been very helpful in constructing legacy Pox.

It looks like Deathrite Shaman was just banned! Do you guys think this makes sinkhole more viable? I know the biggest problem is Daze and fetchlands, but DRS making mana didn't help... I also wonder if the meta will shift to a point where sinkhole is more disruptive.

-Brad