[Primer/Deck] Pox

[Hardcore]

ditto to that..

what build would you run in a meta with a lot of "fair" decks? would you go for a green splash(loampox) or a white splash(holy pox)..or would you go monoblack?

The question is "what would white and green do for me, against fair decks, that Mono B cannot?"
Your opinion on that is the answer you seek.

[Hardcore]

Here is my The rack/shrieking affliction list. It is just a test for goldfishing purposes but is perhaps of interest.

4 Bloodghast
4 pack rat
4 the rack
4 shrieking affliction
2 delirium skeins
2 dark withering
4 dark ritual
4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 pox
3 Liliana of the veil
1 chrome mox
20 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage

Delirium skeins is very powerful. Like a pox.

[Chatto]

Here is my The rack/shrieking affliction list. It is just a test for goldfishing purposes but is perhaps of interest.

4 Bloodghast
4 pack rat
4 the rack
4 shrieking affliction
2 delirium skeins
2 dark withering
4 dark ritual
4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 pox
3 Liliana of the veil
1 chrome mox
20 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage

Delirium skeins is very powerful. Like a pox.

Nice seeing you're still rocking Pack Rat


@ zenitramleirdag: I second Hardcore on his remark, and I would prefer a Loampox-build, but that is just preference right now

EDIT: I think my gut feeling tells me to go Mono Black, but I want to do the Green splash

[Ertai87]

congrats man, its always great to see pox finish good!
i'm a bit confused with the thorn of amethysts in the SB though..

edit: after looking at the report again..i'm surprised your turbo fog opponent was running other world atlas instead of font of mythos..

My metagame is very heavy combo, burn, and other spell-based decks. Thorn of Amethyst is basically Sphere of Resistance against them (in other words, really good), and I don't own Spheres but had Thorns sitting around in my binder unused, so I threw them in. Basically they're for Storm-type combo (including Tin Fins and Belcher) who can't win through it, and Burn, to slow them down. Your metagame may vary, but in my metagame they're useful.

About the Turbofog player, this player basically just plays whatever he feels like, and his collection isn't very big. He probably had a bunch of cards lying around and built the deck for cheap with whatever he had.

[zenitramleirdag]

Here is my The rack/shrieking affliction list. It is just a test for goldfishing purposes but is perhaps of interest.

4 Bloodghast
4 pack rat
4 the rack
4 shrieking affliction
2 delirium skeins
2 dark withering
4 dark ritual
4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 pox
3 Liliana of the veil
1 chrome mox
20 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage

Delirium skeins is very powerful. Like a pox.

i like delirium skeins in rack lists, it a boss with the bloody g's! last rites is another card i like, its effective against combo..you might wanna try it..

its good to see that lily found her way back in your deck again..

dark withering looks good on paper and i'm sure it could work with all the symmetrical pox effects, but i wouldn't replace the innocent bloods with it because innocent blood does its work with no conditions..same reason why i never ran tragic slip in my list..i just feel safer with the bloods because you just gotta answer that turn 1 Mother of Runes, Deathrite shaman, Noble Hierarch, Goblin lackey, Vexing Devil, Goblin Guide and many, many more..........

and pack rat! great card for pox! i think its a card that can help improve pox' top deck problems, any useless land that you draw during a top-decking war can be fed to the rats, though i'm not sure how they'd operate and how effectively they'd fare under 7 pox effects!..i would try to run the rats if i also weren't running NoSb in the main..here's a successful lists running pack rats that i'd like to share:
http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=6576&d=237772

another thing that i'm curious about your build is that you're not running any spot discard spells like inquisition of kozilek, thoughtseize or even duress to impact the game as early as turn one..i think this is very important for a mono black deck because there's just things that we can't handle once it hits the board and the proactive way of dealing with it via spot discard can spell the difference between winning and losing as early as turn 1..

just my 2-cents..

[Hardcore]

Well, since my preferred T1 play is ritual Liliana spot discards only advantage, cheap cost, is not that relevant. Besides, it is a Meta thing; I run into 12 post, miracles and bug/rug.

[zenitramleirdag]

Well, since my preferred T1 play is ritual Liliana spot discards only advantage, cheap cost, is not that relevant. Besides, it is a Meta thing; I run into 12 post, miracles and bug/rug.

the various spot discard spells' advantage is not only its cheap cost but its impact on your opponent's strategy if it resolves early in the game..the most value that you get from it is not just its low casting cost but the fact that you can choose a card to discard from your opponent's hand..funeral charm is a cheap discard spell but casting it turn 1 is not so hot..raven's crime is also a cheap discard spell, but it wouldn't hurt your opponent much if you cast it turn 1, you get value from raven's crime in the middle and end part of the game..so i implore you to reconsider what you said in "spot discards only advantage, cheap cost, is not that relevant."..

if your preferred turn 1 play is ritual into liliana, i suggest you max your lilies to 4 to increase the chances of that happening..

[OmniStrata]

Hardcore's got the right idea. Why include 1 cmc target discard if your meta has no combo? He's got a more aggressive deck so he needs the Inquisition of Kozilek slots for threats. My local meta is a 'perfect' hybrid where aggro, control, and combo all exist so I have to run 1 cmc discards in my version of Pox.

Those of you with a higher threat count or more creature based metas should consider Cry of Contrition. I'd run it myself if I had bloodghasts in my deck.

[Chatto]

Cry of Contrition

I like that one very much! Question what would you guys play for MBP sideboard in a very very diverse meta? It goes from Delver to Storm, with the occasional Tribal. Some experimental rogue decks, but most of the time just pretty standard meta.

Right now this is what I have sleeved:

Creatures (2)
2 Tombstalker

Spells (20)
4 Thoughtseize
4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Innocent Blood
4 Sinkhole

Other (12)
2 Nether Void
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Cursed Scroll
4 Liliana of the Veil

Manasources (26)
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
4 Verdant Catacombs
9 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
1 Nether Spirit
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Engineered Plague
2 Damnation
2 Pithing Needle
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Extirpate

Pretty straight forward... I really don't have the guts right now to experiment too much. So, some advice would be appreciated

EDIT: I almost forgot; there is also a bunch of guys playing (manaless) dredge

[coricho]

Great list!

I would use the 7-1cmc discard in a Dark Ritual-less build. 4 IoK and 3 TS

Manaless dredge you say?
Leyline of the void.
The force of will variant of the deck can't interract with it.
The Dryad arbor build can, but you "1cmc discard spell" the answer out of their hand.

How is Sensei for you?
I'm thinking of playing it, it's great when we are in top deck war (aka our goal)

Tombstalker is great but with 4 smallpox and 4 innocent blood I don't know.
What if they drop a KotR/Goyf and race the Stalker?

[Chatto]

Thanks! The deck feels great, but I'm still tweaking, and you have named all the tweaking points

Right now I just like the raw power of Hymn, and because I haven't had any problems I will keep this set-up.

Aah yes Leyline of the Void! Of course, but don't you want to play it as a 4-of? That would mean dropping my beloved Extirpate, but I think you are right

SDT has greatly improved how I play my threats, let me float some cards on top, basically gives me much more grasp on how to play this deck and the game as a whole. With three in my deck chances are I will have one by turn five or even earlier. Yes it is a bad topdeck, but with the inclusion of SDT I also included Fetchland to shuffle away those dead draws, just like any player would after Brainstorm. I would say in more disruptive builds like mine, SDT is a must.

I just need a fast finisher, and Tomstalker is just that. I am lucky not to have been in situations where I had to sac my lonely warrior to a IB or Smallpox. However, I would do it in a heartbeat! Also, with the inclusion of SDT you can float them most of the time (that's also because you only play two of them). Right now if I would include Leyline it would mean Some better SB options against those nasty Goyfs and Knights.

I was thinking about moving Tombstalker to the side in favor of Neher Spirit and Crucible, but I like it like this for now.

[Hardcore]

I have added a second Chrome Mox to my build; it makes turn one and two Pack Rats really nasty. Mox Diamond, otoh, sucks. Fantastic in LoamPox but for Mono it is easier to pitch spells than lands. A bonus is the low price of Chrome Mox^^

[zenitramleirdag]

if the meta is crawling with dredge, reanimator and other decks that totally abuse the graveyard; i feel i'd go for a playset of leylines in my board..but currently, their numbers have been attenuated by powerful maindeckable hate like DRS, RIP, scavenging ooze, etc. so i think in today's general meta, extirpates and/or surgicals would suffice(they're also effective against, combo and certain control decks)....still, it doesn't mean that GY decks are non-existent because you'd still occasionally encounter them, don't worry if you get blown out by dredge; i think thats a loss you can afford..

does your meta have a lot of dredge players? that's scary for pox!

when i was running a pair of stalkers a few weeks back, i actually liked thoughseizes more than the hymns in the main because its easier to force the tombstalker into play by getting rid of their removal or counters..

i've ran damnation in the board too, but i've replaced them with toxic deluges..because that 1 mana can sometimes spell the difference..but damnation is still sweet..

[jimmythegreek]

Got second this past weekend with legacy eight rack pox in a 31 man tourney(not sure if this is the right thread but the deck does have some number of small and big pox.) No real report, just some notes on the deck and opponents. Beat slivers, omni-show, ur delver, urw delver and death/taxes. My only losses were to miracles, the same miracles player beat me in the finals also. The deck I played was a creatureless discard pox featuring the rack, shrieking affliction and four main deck insnarring bridges. The bridges were awesome in the main and caught alot of people off-guard. Mvp's were liliana and thoughtseize all day. People all day were totally surprised by this deck and even more surprised to see mono-black in the finals. Brainstorm effects were a pain in the ass so im thinking some chains of mephistophles might be warranted? If people are interested in card choices or a decklist I would be happy to post my current creatureless pox list. Finally, this deck seems to be really well positioned right now and I couldn't be happier not playing a blue delver deck of sorts!

[zenitramleirdag]

Got second this past weekend with legacy eight rack pox in a 31 man tourney(not sure if this is the right thread but the deck does have some number of small and big pox.) No real report, just some notes on the deck and opponents. Beat slivers, omni-show, ur delver, urw delver and death/taxes. My only losses were to miracles, the same miracles player beat me in the finals also. The deck I played was a creatureless discard pox featuring the rack, shrieking affliction and four main deck insnarring bridges. The bridges were awesome in the main and caught alot of people off-guard. Mvp's were liliana and thoughtseize all day. People all day were totally surprised by this deck and even more surprised to see mono-black in the finals. Brainstorm effects were a pain in the ass so im thinking some chains of mephistophles might be warranted? If people are interested in card choices or a decklist I would be happy to post my current creatureless pox list. Finally, this deck seems to be really well positioned right now and I couldn't be happier not playing a blue delver deck of sorts!

hi jimmythegreek, welcome to the forum, congratulations..yes, we would like to see the list please..
too bad you couldn't post a report, we could've offered more insights..

[jimmythegreek]

hi jimmythegreek, welcome to the forum, congratulations..yes, we would like to see the list please..
too bad you couldn't post a report, we could've offered more insights..

Thank you for the welcome! I will post my deck list and any other relative notes once I leave work (and arrive at the beach:-).

[Chatto]

Hi Jimmy!

Congrats and like zenitramleirdag already said: a list and some insights on your matchups are more than welcome!

[beez]

Am I being too indecisive or instead wise with a toolbox anti-creature sideboarding approach?

Right now I have 1 Abyss mainboard and 1 each of Night of Souls Betrayal , Engineered Plague and Toxic Deluge in the sideboard. Obviously each of these are better against different types of decks than the others. I have thought about a second NOSB, but with no Rituals (Mox Diamond/ Loam varient) more than a couple 4cmc spells is too much when you include The Abyss as well.

[zenitramleirdag]

Am I being too indecisive or instead wise with a toolbox anti-creature sideboarding approach?

Right now I have 1 Abyss mainboard and 1 each of Night of Souls Betrayal , Engineered Plague and Toxic Deluge in the sideboard. Obviously each of these are better against different types of decks than the others. I have thought about a second NOSB, but with no Rituals (Mox Diamond/ Loam varient) more than a couple 4cmc spells is too much when you include The Abyss as well.

hmm, i've ran a ritualess build before in my mono black list..and my initial thought was not to put too many 4 cmc spells because it would make the deck too awkwardly heavy..but seeing Roberto Tomelleri's list made me reconsider, he has three 4cmc cards in his deck and he ran no rituals..so maybe it could work..plus, he has a singleton hero's downfall..its a solid spot removal but at 3cmc it feels too slow in legacy especially when you're not running rituals..but he somehow made it work..

[miccel]

hmm, i've ran a ritualess build before in my mono black list..and my initial thought was not to put too many 4 cmc spells because it would make the deck too awkwardly heavy..but seeing Roberto Tomelleri's list made me reconsider, he has three 4cmc cards in his deck and he ran no rituals..so maybe it could work..plus, he has a singleton hero's downfall..its a solid spot removal but at 3cmc it feels too slow in legacy especially when you're not running rituals..but he somehow made it work..

Hi...i use to play 2 cc4 in g1...post board sometimes 3..(actually I play 2 voids MD + 1 off SB and 3 abyss in my SB)...25/26 lands and 4 rituals!!! I can't play pox without rituals...only against miracle or bug shardless i don't like them!
Roby Tomelleri is my friend (i'm italian too)...he loves big demons but he tells me "your pox is better"...old school...
My last tournament was in genuary '14 but now i'm ready to come back in MTG...with pox of course!

Here my lists in 2013:

http://www.tcdecks.net/busqueda.php?...ide=&strict=on

(Last 1 is a suicide black...)

Now i've change my sideboard, i'm testing something like that:

1 void
2 chains of mephistopheles
2 p needle
3 the abyss
3 e plague
4 leyline of the void

MD i'm testing 1 mutavault (as a 5th factory) in place of 1 rishadan port...

Here my tool box for pox:



Sorry for my english(i can write only by smartphone)

Michele