[Primer/Deck] Pox

[Mr. Safety]

It's a better chimeric idol, but still nowhere good enough. Factories, bloodghast, nether spirit, tombstalker, the new delver dude, all are better.

[ParisFlorian]

A two card combo that does not win the game on the spot is just casual gaming.
Legacy is highly competitive and fun things need to fit that constraint.

I agree that it is not enough on its own, but the point is that you don't play WoC for the combo ; you play it if in your meta WoC is already merely playable (ex lot of Burn, discard...) AND because it gets even better with Chains.
I don't design my deck for kitchen games, only to improve my win rates against the best decks of the format...

[kombatkiwi]

I agree that it is not enough on its own, but the point is that you don't play WoC for the combo ; you play it if in your meta WoC is already merely playable (ex lot of Burn, discard...) AND because it gets even better with Chains.
I don't design my deck for kitchen games, only to improve my win rates against the best decks of the format...

I agree with Hardcore, the card is just not good
- It only does something if the opponent has cards in hand, so it has serious lategame diminishing returns just like any other discard spell (thoughtseize etc)
- It only does something if the opponent has untapped mana available to cast a spell

Both of these factors make the card incredibly situational
You say it's good against burn, but only when
A) Your opponent passed the turn to you with cards in hand
B) Your opponent has mana available to cast spells that are in their hand
C) Your opponent can't use up all their mana/cards in response to the word of command

I don't think most opponents will not be sandbagging cards in their hand vs the mono-black discard deck. Unless your objective is to word of command their draw step to make them Lava Spike themselves? It just seems way too situational

It is good with Chains/Brainstorm but this is such a niche corner case; if you have Chains out and your opponent is drawing Brainstorms then you should be ahead anyway. If you want to play a card that's a great combo with Chains I think Geier Reach Sanitarium should be way better than this

[OmniStrata]

It's a better chimeric idol, but still nowhere good enough. Factories, bloodghast, nether spirit, tombstalker, the new delver dude, all are better.

The problem I found with Chimeric mass isn't the activation cost. Though 1 beats 3, for other activated costs. It's the casting cost. If x is too low, it's useless. If you want something beefy, you're probably not going to cast anything else that turn. It also turns into a catastrophic tempo loss if you make a 5/5 Construct only for it to go plowing your farm. In my tests, the X mana cost became too steep and high risk. Phyrexian Totem ended up being my go to in my older builds, though, many years ago, my ultimate first 3 turns were Dark ritual -> Chimeric Idol, Smallpox their first land and threat while discarding Nether Spirit, swing for 3, turn 3 hymn to tourach. It was brutal.

[Mr. Safety]

The problem I found with Chimeric mass isn't the activation cost. Though 1 beats 3, for other activated costs. It's the casting cost. If x is too low, it's useless. If you want something beefy, you're probably not going to cast anything else that turn. It also turns into a catastrophic tempo loss if you make a 5/5 Construct only for it to go plowing your farm. In my tests, the X mana cost became too steep and high risk. Phyrexian Totem ended up being my go to in my older builds, though, many years ago, my ultimate first 3 turns were Dark ritual -> Chimeric Idol, Smallpox their first land and threat while discarding Nether Spirit, swing for 3, turn 3 hymn to tourach. It was brutal.

Let me play Devil's Advocate a little bit here...I don't think the 'dies to removal' argument has ever been persuasive, certainly not for me. It's a tempo loss no matter how you shape it if your dude gets plowed.

I get that Idol has a '0' activation, but you have to tap all your lands. It is *likely* that if you are tapping your lands for Idol you have no other plays, or you are doing your plays pre-combat. I don't think it's a real issue with most of the spells. Thinking about it deeper, Chimeric Mass is strictly better in terms of potential. You can still pay 3 mana and have a 3/3, albeit costing 1 to activate. However, it's a fantastic mana-sink that scales up in a big way in the mid-late game. We aren't going to activate our Idol OR Mass in the face of potential removal; we play too few threats to risk that without clearing the way with discard first (or the threat recurs, like Nether Spirit/Bloodghast/Bitterblossom.) Your sequence above works just as easily with Chimeric Mass, provided you draw into a land in your first 3 turns.

In all honesty, the difference in activation cost is pretty small, basically negligible in my opinion. The truth is both options are pretty bad when compared to other threats we could be playing. I think even Gurmag Angler is better than both, and we don't even discuss that card in here because it doesn't have evasion like Tombstalker/Necropolis Fiend.

EDIT: Maybe we're saying the same thing, just differently? I mean, I know you aren't advocating Chimeric Idol for the newer era of pox...

[naynay666]

...many years ago, my ultimate first 3 turns were Dark ritual -> Chimeric Idol, Smallpox their first land and threat while discarding Nether Spirit, swing for 3, turn 3 hymn to tourach. It was brutal.

That sounds amazing. I played Chimeric Idol a few years ago and have no cool stories to share. Although lately I am jamming Totem and loving every minute of it.

[naynay666]

One problem I have been facing lately with Pox has been the repercussions of greedy manabase. 12 double black spells were made difficult with 8 colorless sources. Even with Urborg expelling darkness across the land we are still vulnerable to Wasteland, Blood Moon, Big Thalia and a ton of other things.

Former manabase:
13 Swamp
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
1 Maze of Ith

Current List:
20 Swamp
4 Mishra's
2 Maze

4 LotV
2 LtLH
2 Karn
2 Cursed Scroll
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Phyrexian Totem
1 Bitterblossom

2 Fatal Push
3 Innocent Blood
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
1 Toxic Deluge

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

Last Night's Weekly:

Dredge
G1 Lost the roll against a known Dredger. Hand is 4 Swamps, Thoughtseize, Lil' V, Ensnaring Bridge. Looting discarding 2 Dredgers. Swampass. Turn 2 he flipped Narco, C Therapy, Bridge from Below and Dredgers. Therapy blindly named Ensnaring Bridge. This is the drawback of being a known Poxer.

Out 4 Hymn, 2 Thoughtseize, 1 Smallpox, 1 Collective Brutality, 1 Innocent Blood
In 4 Leylines, 2 Lost Legacy, 1 Extirpate, 1 Night of Soul's Betrayal, 1 Bontu's Last.

G2 I mulled away an unkeepable and found a hand with 3 Swamps, Smallpox, C Scroll and IOK. Swamp pass. Land, Putrid Imp. I can't afford to let that outlet stick around and dude plays 12 lands so I take the opportunity to nuke the board. Responds by dumping 2 Dredgers and a 3rd to SPox. It keeps him landless for a while but he doesn't actually need mana to win. He Dredges into a Narco and Bridge. I drop a Scroll and pass. Dredge pass. Eventually the 3/1 Hasty Horror jawn makes it's way into the yard off of a Cephalid Threshold pop. Maze of Ith (and a combat math mistake) holds it down for Lil' V. 4 Zombies happen by the time I Extirpated the Bridges from Below (2 by now). My 2 Factories outclassed his 4 Zombies long enough to find a Leyline of the Void, Lily & Bridge. He scooped.

G3 My opener was 4 Swamps, I Blood, C Scroll and an Extirpate. I mulled it away. Even though it had a sideboard card my opponent hates that hand doesn't actually do anything and loses to both turn 1s he already had. My 6 was 3 Swamps, Fatal Push, SPox, Night of Soul's Betrayal. Awesome. LED, pass. Topdeck a Factory. Played it and passed. EoT crack LED drop some things. Dredged for a few more turns and got his game going and then I stuck a NoSB. Turns off so much. IOKed a looting, stuck a Karn. Upticked for a bit, found another Factory. Activated both Factories, downticked for a Karnstruct, play another Karn, downtick for another token. Next turn make another and drop a scroll, beat face.

It's been a while since I beat Dredge so this felt nice. Leylines put in work but NoSB was the MVP. 2-1

Thalia Stompy
G1 Won the die roll against a known. 3 Swamps, Push, IB, Hymn, Lil' V. White Eldrazi has never been a problem for me but my sideboard is slightly less anti-creature than before. Swamp pass. Petal, Temple, Thalia. Swampass. Tomb, Thought-Knot. Respond by pushing Thalia. He exiles Lily. Draw another IB. Swamp, IB, trigger, draw and play Bitterblossom. Thought-Knot, strip an IB, pass. Draw Lil' V, -2 draw a Collective Brutality. Nothing for a turn or so. Third-Knot Seer peels a Push and Chalice on 2 mitigates my hand. Faeries & Factories won with Maze & Lily support.

Out 1 Hymn, SP & IOK
In Diabolic Edict, Bontu's, 2nd Bitterblossom.

G2 He snap kept and I mulled away a hand that was dead to Chalice on 1. 3 Swamps, Push, TSeize, Scroll and a Lil' V. The 6 consisted of 3 Swamps, Push, Collective Brutality & a Smallpox. T1 Tomb, Thorn of Amethyst. Draw, swamp, pass. T2 Thalia. Draw a Factory and play it. Big mistake. T3 Waste my Factory, swing for 2, Petal, Hero of Bladehold. Draw whatever it doesn't matter you see where this went.

G3 Turn 2 Bitterblossom defined the game. Factories and Faeries beat through 2 TKSs and a Reality Smasher with a Jitte. Phyrexian Totem helped close it out.

2-1

Death & Taxes (known)
G1 I always feel confident in this matchup but when you lose the die roll and your opponent puts her T1 Rishadan Port down sideways to toss out a Vial you know it's gonna suck. Swamp, pass. T2 Vial tickup, land, pass tap swamp. Swamp, pass, EoT Mom, push your mom. T3 Vial tickup, land, pass tap a swamp. Swamp, pass, EoT that 3/3 Angel thing. Push that Angel thing. T4 Vial tickup, pass tap 2 swamps. Cursed Scroll with a lot of cards in hand. Vial in Mirrodin Crusader. This is where it gets hazy and I eventually lose.

TOut 1 Bitterblossom, 1 Totem and (probably) 1 Hymn, 1 Small Pox.
2 Needles, Bontu's, NoSB.

G2 Opener curved Cursed Scroll, Hymn, Toxic Deluge. The Hymn hit nothing relevant. I held off the Deluge to maximize value and mistakenly fired it off for 2 instead of 4 with a live Stoneforge Mystic and BSkull in hand. I thought the SFM was still sick but I was wrong. Lost to a Germ.

0-2

Miracles (known)
G1 My opponent started drawing cards for a while before tapping out for Back to Basics turn 3. I was pretty sure they don't play Daze and was attempting to force the Force with Bitterblossom but it stuck. Man am I happy it did. Shortly thereafter I dropped a Bridge and a Lil' Veil. My opponent then proceed to get about 6 bodies wide but they could do nothing as the Faeries ended the game. He dug and dug for Terminus but it never appeared. Late-game Brainstrom drew him 3 copies of Force. Ended the game with 7 Faeries, 2 Factories (1 perma tapped, 1 waiting) and a Totem.

Out 1 IB, 1 SPox, 2 ???
In 2 Needles, Bitterblossom, Bontu

G2 T1 Needle Jace. T2 Cursed Scroll and then my opponent sucessfully Predicted a blind Swamp off the top. It was kinda cool. Fast forward he dropped a Gideon (the one that makes Ally tokens and Ult's an anthem- I don't know white cards) and started farting out 2/2s. Bitterblossom only made two tokens before it and the Needle were Wore // Tore. By now I had a 2nd Crused Scroll and I needed it because he played a Jace. Faeries and Scrolls took out Gideon and a total of two JtMS's before one of my Scrolls was Snap // Wear'd and a Faerie Sworded. Once that happened the tempo shifted and he took over. My 2nd Needle on Jace was also blown up. With bodies on the ground, I attempted to play to my outs but in retrospect I should have scooped. My out was pretty much Deluge or Bontu's but by the time I drew them naturally the deck that did little beyond draw cards would have undoubtedly found a force.

G3 Totem T3, Lil' Hope T4. I controlled the early game heartily with a healthy hand and an advancing board but went to turns.

I misplayed around Prowess in a game I won and in a game I already lost. I killed Jace a bunch. I would consider that a win.

1-1-1

2-1-1

Playing 20 Swamps felt incredible. I noted which lands were replacing Urborgs and which replaced Wastelands and was able to keep 2 more hands than I would have otherwise kept. These were both games I won against (the nonbasic hating) Thalia Stompy. The Back to Basics would have stopped an otherwise keepable manabase of Urborg, 2x Wasteland. It shined the most in the face of Back to Basics but both my 2nd & 3rd round opponents had underutilized Wastelands at the end of multiple games. I will continue with this manabase for a little while.

[Hardcore]

Good job. I think 18 swamp is enough, considering you don't play Pox. Add two Urborg to get more utility out of the non - basics.

[naynay666]

Good job. I think 18 swamp is enough, considering you don't play Pox. Add two Urborg to get more utility out of the non - basics.

I drove home considering this. I think I will try 1-2 next week.

[Hardcore]

I wonder if I should get a pair of jackboots.

[naynay666]

I wonder if I should get a pair of jackboots.

Did your phone auto-correct Karn, Scion of Urza into Jackboots?

I had to look up what jackboots were.

[itsvan]

Hello naynay666, nice report!

I've been facing manabase problems too, but I agree with Hardcore, you should at least consider running a couple copies of Urborg.

I also used to feel confident in the D&T matchup, but I lost all my recent games against it. Sometimes its their mana denial plan, sometimes it's just Batterskull.

About your list:
- How are you liking the collective brutalities and bitterblossom on main?
- Considering you run 13 cards that cost 3 or more without dark ritual, do you get cards stuck in hand?

I liked your list a lot. I've been considering running bitterblossom on maindeck too, so your feedback will be appreciated.

[naynay666]

Hello naynay666, nice report!

I've been facing manabase problems too, but I agree with Hardcore, you should at least consider running a couple copies of Urborg.

I also used to feel confident in the D&T matchup, but I lost all my recent games against it. Sometimes its their mana denial plan, sometimes it's just Batterskull.

About your list:
- How are you liking the collective brutalities and bitterblossom on main?
- Considering you run 13 cards that cost 3 or more without dark ritual, do you get cards stuck in hand?

I liked your list a lot. I've been considering running bitterblossom on maindeck too, so your feedback will be appreciated.

Whatup Uncle?

Collective Brutality originally replaced Sinkhole during a time which I was running into Delvers with Daze with annoying regularity. It started as a 2-of but was quickly a playset. It was great in that matchup and almost every other fair creature deck with the exception of Big Red or Eldrazi (still ok). I was running 1 Nether Spirit and 1 Bloodghast (and 3 Rituals) at the time so I had a couple extra cards to ease Escalation costs. When I shifted away from those I dropped down to 2 to make room for Karn.

I view it as being kinda good at everything but it isn’t super strong everywhere. Often side at least 1 out. It is a very fun card to play though. Kills a lot of relevant creatures, especially after a kamikaze Factory. It also checks out what your opponent has going on but can be worse than Duress. Life gain is life gain. Most importantly it gives you a headsup if Liliana is safe or if you should reconsider. “You aren’t escalating?” is almost reliably “Not worth countering.”

Awesome against Elves and SFM decks. All modes annoyingly relevant against Burn and most Delvers.

Bitterblossom is a new addition but holy hell I am a fan. Flying is much stronger than I had considered. Disposable chump blockers keep the Walkers safe and their power is low enough to fly over the Bridge.

It is a great turn 2 play, especially after a Thoughseize. It makes the reactive deck passively aggressive. No great late but amazing after a Bridge. Although if you have 3 turns or less to survive, it is not the card you want. I was jamming 1 main 2 side, but was convinced to swap 1 for a lone Diabolic Edict.

Holy hell 13 cards sounds like a lot. There was a turn 4 that I wanted to play a Karn with a Maze instead of mana, but I didn’t run into any issues with missing a turn 3 play. I was activating 2 Cursed Scrolls with ease. Phyrexian Totem is still around to help with mana. I haven’t really missed Dark Ritual since I removed it B.K. (Before Karn). Speaking of which there are times when Karn causes a glut of cards in my hand, but it’s why he is there. If Bridge is out you play around it. If Scroll is out you play around it.

I am going to incorporate 2 copies of Urborg.

One thing I forgot to mention about 20 (18) Swamps was how good it makes Smallpox feel. For lack of a better word it feels streamlined. Reliably more castable and easier to make sacrificial decisions.

[Hardcore]

Did your phone auto-correct Karn, Scion of Urza into Jackboots?

I had to look up what jackboots were.

I play Pox. Is there anything more evil in magic? I rip my opponents deck and gameplan to pieces, and when they beg for mercy i play yet another Pox*. (it's not for fun** but I got to bring down their hand size so they die to shrieking affliction, you know).
My deck sleeves are the King in yellow, which is appropriate, but my deck box is a pink - skull one. Not good. How can I make my enemies tremble of fear with that? I could get a black one but black is a bit pale. It would have been so great to have a box in human skin. Properly harvested...
Jackboots is another way to signal evilness.

**that's why it's called "merciless",
*evil is not all fun. Often it is necessary cruelty. Ie. Work.

[Hardcore]

A pro-tip for those of you that play Bitterblossom; side it out against Mono-B opponents. If you don't you risk feeling silly when the BB get countered by Engineered Plague on fairies.

[ronco]

*evil is not all fun. Often it is necessary cruelty. Ie. Work.

"It's not work if you enjoy it."

[aslidsiksoraksi]

Nice report NayNay

The swamps in place of Urborg/Waste seems smart, though sad to see Wastelands go. It seems like a lot of your matchups were matchups where wasteland isn't that strong, but still. The 8 colorless lands is kinda clunky. Maybe since Wasteland is more of just a spell sometimes, you could cut 2 lands in general?

W/o wastes or sinks, I think we become much more of a traditional control deck, but more based in permanents (especially planeswalkers) than in the hand. Seems like a strong strategy, since without going all in on sinkholes the mana denial was more of a stall tactic anyway. The place it worked well was things like Delver or Turbodepths. If we lean into this plan, maybe more bridges and bitterblossoms could be good, since they protect the walkers? maybe 4-2 or 3-2?

I like the innovation, please keep reporting back!

[itsvan]

Thanks for the well thought response naynay666!
I'll make sure to keep it in mind before my next tournament.

@everyone
About sideboarding, does anybody have an updated guide or some tips against the most popular decks?
I play with the a more controlling list and usually finding out what comes in is not a problem. I often have trouble deciding what to cut, especially when Hymn to Tourach is involved.

I read the information on the first page of this primer and on mtgsalvation, but both seem outdated.

[Hardcore]

Thanks for the well thought response naynay666!
I'll make sure to keep it in mind before my next tournament.

@everyone
About sideboarding, does anybody have an updated guide or some tips against the most popular decks?
I play with the a more controlling list and usually finding out what comes in is not a problem. I often have trouble deciding what to cut, especially when Hymn to Tourach is involved.

I read the information on the first page of this primer and on mtgsalvation, but both seem outdated.

Generally speaking there are no new cards and no new tactics. While you could just copy the sideboard from any deck list online the fine tuning would still be left to you.
For that step I recommend this article https://www.channelfireball.com/arti...-sideboarding/

I can add that it is no sin to board in cards without taking any out. I do that frequently; for example when I want to overload creature kills. I have with success played with a 67 card deck after Sideboarding. So I try to keep at least ten cards in the sideboard. At least that self-imposed limitation makes me think a little about what to replace and with what cards.

[OmniStrata]

Generally speaking there are no new cards and no new tactics. While you could just copy the sideboard from any deck list online the fine tuning would still be left to you.
For that step I recommend this article https://www.channelfireball.com/arti...-sideboarding/

I can add that it is no sin to board in cards without taking any out. I do that frequently; for example when I want to overload creature kills. I have with success played with a 67 card deck after Sideboarding. So I try to keep at least ten cards in the sideboard. At least that self-imposed limitation makes me think a little about what to replace and with what cards.

67 card deck? SACRILEGE!! I've never thought of that... lol A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I thought running the 60 library limit was the most efficient way to get what you need. I'm thinking it'd work better with Karn since it draws all the time. I'll need to start doing that now as siding in and out is tougher for me ever since my infectious endocarditis last year.