[Primer/Deck] Pox

[Mr. Safety]

I think Lost Legacy would be fine against Sneak/Show, actually pretty good. I just don't see the matchup very often. I would definitely want 4x Dark Ritual if I were to lean on Lost Legacy. Sneak/Show is actually very weak to targeted discard. They aren't a t1 deck, most likely a t2-3 combo. Cabal Therapy is very good against them, just name Show and Tell. Targeted discard + Surgical Extraction is also really powerful against them. If they have the nuts, then they have the nuts. Sometimes they are just unbeatable. Pox does have some really good cards against them though:

1) Thoughtseize/Inquisition/Therapy: grab/name Show and Tell 99% of the time.
2) Wasteland: kill their Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors, it will slow them down by at least 1 turn.
3) Liliana/Smallpox/Innocent Blood: sacrifice effects are very good against Emrakul, can be mediocre against Grisel because you know they are digging for Force in response.
4) Pithing Needle (side): name Griselbrand 99% of the time, unless they have a Sneak Attack on the battlefield then it might be correct to name that.

A likely better option is to play Ensnaring Bridge in the sideboard. Bridge is classic tech for Pox decks and pairs up with Bitterblossom in a huge way, it's basically a combo-lock against anything using the attack phase to win. I also like the Helm/Leyline line of attack because Show and Tell lets you put in Helm for free. If you see the matchup a lot, Fleshbag Marauder is pretty good tech against them. Bontu's Last Reckoning seems to be ok as well, but not sure how good. Others would have to pipe in on that.

[AceOfJacks]

Greetings everyone.

I have recently come into an opportunity to acquire one, possibly two, English Tabernacles. I am a fan of mono black Pox, but I recently put it down due to my LGS having a lot of DnT and SnS decks. While the DnT has settled down and the 4c Delver decks have taken over again, there are still several people who actively play Sneak Show, Reanimator, Mono red prison (both stompy and prison variants) and even Eldrazi decks.

My question is, knowing that the local metagame has these things, should I allow myself to get binder raped to get these Tabernacles? I have all the other expensive pieces: 4 Lilis, 2 Chains, 2 Nether Voids, 1 Abyss. All I am missing is that expensive piece of real estate. Thoughts? Is it worth it to allow myself to get bent over? If so, should I attempt to acquire TWO Tabernacles? OR just go for one?

[aslidsiksoraksi]

Hi Ace

I saw you wrote that you put Pox down b/c of a lot of DnT? I feel like that matchup is not all that bad, in fact we might be favored, so I was surprised to hear that - maybe you can say more. It's especially not bad if you have Tabernacles.

As for the other match-ups, I'm not a huge expert. Tabernacle won't do a ton against any of those decks except maybe Eldrazi; if you don't want to play what you already have against them, then getting Tabernacles won't help much. If you just want to play Pox, I don't think Reanimator is a horrible matchup provided you can board correctly (Leylines, Surgicals...). I haven't played a ton against the other matchups, but my feeling is that they're not great but not unwinnable.

I'm no expert though, so I'll defer to the opinions of others here. If you end up not wanting those Tabernacles maybe refer me, I could go for one

[ntropy]

As a pox player who had his Tabernacle stolen, its not crucial, but with the resurgence of decks like Deathblade and Eldrazi, it is pretty good. I would only run a second one in the board if I knew I was playing in a meta infested with creature decks. Also, I would generally take any opportunity to trade up into a card like Tabernacle, they only come along so often.

[kombatkiwi]

Also, I would generally take any opportunity to trade up into a card like Tabernacle, they only come along so often.

Basically this.
In pox it's probably better than not having one and even if you don't end up playing Pox much its still essential for Lands (and the most expensive card there) so you could potentially build a 2nd deck too.

[mykatdied]

Greetings everyone.

I have recently come into an opportunity to acquire one, possibly two, English Tabernacles. I am a fan of mono black Pox, but I recently put it down due to my LGS having a lot of DnT and SnS decks. While the DnT has settled down and the 4c Delver decks have taken over again, there are still several people who actively play Sneak Show, Reanimator, Mono red prison (both stompy and prison variants) and even Eldrazi decks.

My question is, knowing that the local metagame has these things, should I allow myself to get binder raped to get these Tabernacles? I have all the other expensive pieces: 4 Lilis, 2 Chains, 2 Nether Voids, 1 Abyss. All I am missing is that expensive piece of real estate. Thoughts? Is it worth it to allow myself to get bent over? If so, should I attempt to acquire TWO Tabernacles? OR just go for one?

DnT can be a tough match up if they have vial. If you have things like engineered plague or dread of night you should be fairly favored if you draw them. Cursed scroll and night of souls betrayal also do a lot of work in that match up. Tabernacle is a decent way to tie up their mana for turns if they don't have wasteland up for it.

At worst tabernacle is a great investment and trade fodder for power, duals, etc. So trading up to two when the opportunity arises is great

[AceOfJacks]

Thank you all for the fast and precise replies. I know topics like this usually end up having a lot of trolls on other forums, and I appreciate the feedback as opposed to the "omg another noob asking about expensive cards" replies. I will work on getting the Tabernacles after the weekend, as the LGS owner told me to talk to him after the incredibly busy Black Friday weekend. Hopefully they don't sell for cash over the weekend

[Mr. Safety]

Keep in mind that Tabernacle will always retain its value as well. If you are inclined it opens up Lands as a deck to play.

[ClimbGneiss]

Played in a 5 round 1k today.
Went 3-2 officially, but scooped to me friend with a 1-0-1 record at the end of our match in the 3rd round, we were in our third game at time. More on that match below. Ran out this list :


3 Bloodghast
1 Nether Spirit
1 Cursed Scroll
=5

1 Raven's Crime
2 Cabal Therapy
3 Thoughtseize
=6

3 Collective Brutality
4 Smallpox
=7

3 Fatal Push
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Diabolic Edict
=8

3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Life From The Loam
2 Pernicious Deed
=7

1 Entomb
1 Crop Rotation
=2
=35

4 Wasteland
4 Bayou
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Swamp
1 Forest
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Mishra's Factory
1 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Cabal Pit
1 Bojuka Bog
=25

Sb
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pithing Needle
1 Null Rod
1 Golgari Charm
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Choke
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Chains of Mephistopheles
1 Crop Rotation*
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Lost Legacy
1 Duress


Rd1 vs Miracles (0-2)
G1, mulled to 6 after having a 6 lander in my opening 7. Should have kept. On 6, I ended up mana screwed out of my green spells and he got a mentor chain going.
G2, opponent won with mentors, I think I played into his counterspells a lot.

Rd2, vs mono black pox. (2-0)
G1 on the draw. Opponent t1 casts ritual into Liliana and ticks up, I bin Bloodghast and next turn bin life from the loam. I proceed to grind him out easily.
G2 opponent gets Liliana, Ensnaring Bridge, Nether Void and tabernacle into play. He chops my lands in half approximately 3 times. I'm holding his Nether Spirit at bay with my own and my 3 Bloodghasts are chilling out. I Wasteland away his Tabernacle and wait for a green source followed by Abrupt decay so I can hit the bridge and then kill liliana. He eventually scoops when he realizes we are going to time and I'm up a game.

Rd 3 vs miracles (1-1-1, scoop to 1-2)
G1, I cast Raven's Crime turn 1 on the play and proceed to grind my opponents hand to dust. My opponent top decks a couple of cantrips and sets up an entreat and wins.
G2, I cast Chains of mephistopheles, needle on jace and Pernicious Deed waiting for entreat or mentor. I hold off my opponent long enough to swing into his life total with Bloodghast. I eventually have to pop Deed after he creates some monks with mentor and I finish him off with mishras Factory in the face of deed.
G3, we are rushing. He counterspells some stuff, I take an early jace with thoughtseize. He gets an early mentor which I dispatch with Fatal Push after fetching I think. I eventually assemble cabal pit, Cursed scroll, mishras Factory and I think Abrupt decay in my hand. We go to t5 and I tell him I'm going to scoop because he's got the better record. I'm confident ill win the match but he shows me entreat on top of the library. I have the answer for one angel but the other will bring me to 5 life. The following turn, I'll be able to cabal pit and Cursed scroll and from there I'm in the driver seat but there's still plenty of match.

Rd 4 vs Mono White Soldiers with Suppression Field (2-1)
G1,I curve out removal well even though my opponent is dropping a soldier every turn. I pepper in extremely lucky discard and sacrifice my Mishra's Factory to therapy to hit a soldier which would have generated 3 1/1s upon entering play, this saved the game as I was able to eventually establish loam + lilly + cabal pit lock on him even through suppression field.
G2, I went 1 for 1 against his creaters but my Deed was too late to the party and he had two suppression fields. I was stuck on 3 mana for most of the game vs both thalias and got walloped.
G3, I hit the perfect curve of push t1, Edict t2, liliana t3, and made short order of his hand my combining Raven's crime and loam with cabal pit and liliana.

Rd 5 vs Grixis Delver.
G1, opponent got off to running start with two pyromancers. Fortunately I had the removal to kill both while opponent only generated one token I think. I used Liliana for spot removal at some point and eventually ground out my opponent by wasting their red sources and swing with bloodghasts.
G2, my opponent laid down an early deathrite but was clearly short on lands I spent time trying to find enough lands to deal with his 2nd and 3rd threat. I never caught up and he laid down an angler when I had nothing but a deed to answer with. I scooped to the angler as I was at low life and wouldn't have time to draw into an answer (deluge) bc he had a counter.
G3. This was a quintessential pox vs Delver game. For, perhaps, 15 to 20 turns I drew literally nothing but wastelands, lands, loams, pushes, edicts, smallpox, liliana and colective brutality. My opponent cast at least 3 Gitaxian Probe and was always greeted by more bad news. I spent most of the game wsiting for a win con.opponent surgicaled Wasteland and loam which was fine. I used a nice Golgari Charm to wipe away young Pyromancer and 2 tokens which broke my opponents heart. I eventually played Liliana with a needle in play ob liliana. I coaxed my opponent into Plains his 3rd Surgical when he targeted Diabolic Edict (whiff, they both were already cast) and it opened the door to entomb for Nether Spirit which I had been waiting to do cuz I figured my opponwnt ran 3 surgical, and then I Abrupt decayed the needle. My opponent scooped it up.

So, while I was technically 3-2, I feel comfortable saying that the deck went no worse than 3-1-1 and had a good chance of being 4-1.

I highly suggest the green black version of pox over mono black. Josh Edelstein and I had a back and forth maybe 5 to 7 pages in the thread back and our deck lists are fairly similar. He is heavily leaning into the deed plan and I play ~3 to 4 cards on the 75 that don't play well with deed.

I am finding that Cabal Pit has been amazing for me. If I did change the deck, I'd lean further into the crop rotation /entomb/loam/utility lands plan. I've been spit balling some (probably bad) ideas based on running multiple Raven's crimes, loams, cabal pits, smallpoxes n and collective brutality.
The weaknesses are creature swarms, decks with lots of basics, jace the Mind scuptor, and combo (altho I didn't hit any).

[AceOfJacks]

Update on Tabernacle.
They only had one.

But ...

Got it!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00002466465461



Now, to brew the mono black list to wreck the store ...

[Mr. Safety]

Played in a 5 round 1k today.
Went 3-2 officially, but scooped to me friend with a 1-0-1 record at the end of our match in the 3rd round, we were in our third game at time. More on that match below. Ran out this list :


3 Bloodghast
1 Nether Spirit
1 Cursed Scroll
=5

1 Raven's Crime
2 Cabal Therapy
3 Thoughtseize
=6

3 Collective Brutality
4 Smallpox
=7

3 Fatal Push
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Diabolic Edict
=8

3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Life From The Loam
2 Pernicious Deed
=7

1 Entomb
1 Crop Rotation
=2
=35

4 Wasteland
4 Bayou
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Swamp
1 Forest
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Mishra's Factory
1 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Cabal Pit
1 Bojuka Bog
=25

Sb
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pithing Needle
1 Null Rod
1 Golgari Charm
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Choke
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Chains of Mephistopheles
1 Crop Rotation*
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Lost Legacy
1 Duress



So, while I was technically 3-2, I feel comfortable saying that the deck went no worse than 3-1-1 and had a good chance of being 4-1.

I highly suggest the green black version of pox over mono black. Josh Edelstein and I had a back and forth maybe 5 to 7 pages in the thread back and our deck lists are fairly similar. He is heavily leaning into the deed plan and I play ~3 to 4 cards on the 75 that don't play well with deed.

I am finding that Cabal Pit has been amazing for me. If I did change the deck, I'd lean further into the crop rotation /entomb/loam/utility lands plan. I've been spit balling some (probably bad) ideas based on running multiple Raven's crimes, loams, cabal pits, smallpoxes n and collective brutality.
The weaknesses are creature swarms, decks with lots of basics, jace the Mind scuptor, and combo (altho I didn't hit any).

I think you will have diminishing returns if you play more than one Raven's Crime. Loam has a big fat target on it post-board, so I understand having multiples is at least reasonable. Honestly, with Entomb I would probably play more copies and drop to singletons of Loam, Crime, and even 1x each of Nether Spirit/Bloodghast. You are only playing 2x Therapy, so the sac-synergy isn't a real focal point.

Crop Rotation could cause problems considering you aren't playing that many sources of green mana. I wouldn't play CR with less than 26 lands, maybe even 27 (Wasteland/Factory/Cabal Pit/Bojuka Bog/Tabernacle...these aren't lands, they are effectively spells.) It's a great instant speed trick, but I wouldn't ever play more than 1-2. Entomb with an active Loam does the same thing really, it's just slower.

I think you are going to be disappointed with Pernicious Deed with only 25 lands, and without any actual ramp. Yes it does a lot, but it's abysmally slow and doesn't kill PW's. Maybe 1 in the sideboard, but I've tried maindecking it and even with acceleration (I was using Deathrite Shaman) it was too slow.

I suggest this:

-2 Bloodghast
-2 Pernicious Deed

+2 Entomb
+2 Lands (Barren Moor + Fetchland is what I recommend)

I just noticed...no Hymns!!! How did that work out for you? I guess Brutality is the sub for it, which is fine. Brutality does so much for this archetype, I think it's a great addition to any pox deck.

If you are really having trouble with creature swarms, I would suggest 1x Darkblast. Entomb really shines again at getting that available.

[ClimbGneiss]

I think you will have diminishing returns if you play more than one Raven's Crime. Loam has a big fat target on it post-board, so I understand having multiples is at least reasonable. Honestly, with Entomb I would probably play more copies and drop to singletons of Loam, Crime, and even 1x each of Nether Spirit/Bloodghast. You are only playing 2x Therapy, so the sac-synergy isn't a real focal point.

Crop Rotation could cause problems considering you aren't playing that many sources of green mana. I wouldn't play CR with less than 26 lands, maybe even 27 (Wasteland/Factory/Cabal Pit/Bojuka Bog/Tabernacle...these aren't lands, they are effectively spells.) It's a great instant speed trick, but I wouldn't ever play more than 1-2. Entomb with an active Loam does the same thing really, it's just slower.

I think you are going to be disappointed with Pernicious Deed with only 25 lands, and without any actual ramp. Yes it does a lot, but it's abysmally slow and doesn't kill PW's. Maybe 1 in the sideboard, but I've tried maindecking it and even with acceleration (I was using Deathrite Shaman) it was too slow.

I suggest this:

-2 Bloodghast
-2 Pernicious Deed

+2 Entomb
+2 Lands (Barren Moor + Fetchland is what I recommend)

I just noticed...no Hymns!!! How did that work out for you? I guess Brutality is the sub for it, which is fine. Brutality does so much for this archetype, I think it's a great addition to any pox deck.

If you are really having trouble with creature swarms, I would suggest 1x Darkblast. Entomb really shines again at getting that available.

Collective Brutality has been amazing. I don't really miss Hymn at all. The other CA engines have been effective enough and they all tend to be able to hone in more precisely against your opponent whereas, as you and any other faithful Hymn player would know, you go whole tournaments where you feel Hymn misses the good stuff.

Pernicious Deed has been so-so, but I was running under the recommendation from Josh Edelstein who has had great success with a very similar built to this. I originally was inspired by a post of his run GB pox without depths and I really liked building a GB list with collective brutality and smallpox and plenty of stuff to pitch onto the yard. He and I branch apart in that I really like the instant speed interaction of the 2 Edict and 3 push because you can be more efficient with your mana by casting spells eot and if you get countered no biggie. The deeds have been the best versus the many mentors and pyromancers I've seen lately, so I might stick with them.
If anything, it seems your advice has pointed me to keeping the list the way it is, even if that wasn't your intention.

[aslidsiksoraksi]

Alright guys, so I think I'ma get myself one of the juicy Pox cards for Christmas (getting yourself gifts is the reason for the season, right?). My question to you all is which card is most useful in MonoBlack Pox - Void, Chains, or Tabernacle? Obviously there's a price difference between them all as well, and that's a factor, but I can more or less swing any of them if it comes to it. Also, how many of each is optimal? Most lists I see don't run more than one of any of these, though occasionally you see 2 Chains in a deck.

Void seems to have the most style, but also possibly be too slow a lot, or win-more
Chains seems like a great card in certain matches, and again has all the Pox style, plus costs little enough that you can ritual it out. At the same time it seems dead in a some matches (e.g. D&T) and doesn't really effect the board or stop threats from hitting
Tabernacle is most expensive but also arguably most powerful

Thanks for advice!

[kranger]

Alright guys, so I think I'ma get myself one of the juicy Pox cards for Christmas (getting yourself gifts is the reason for the season, right?). My question to you all is which card is most useful in MonoBlack Pox - Void, Chains, or Tabernacle? Obviously there's a price difference between them all as well, and that's a factor, but I can more or less swing any of them if it comes to it. Also, how many of each is optimal? Most lists I see don't run more than one of any of these, though occasionally you see 2 Chains in a deck.

Void seems to have the most style, but also possibly be too slow a lot, or win-more
Chains seems like a great card in certain matches, and again has all the Pox style, plus costs little enough that you can ritual it out. At the same time it seems dead in a some matches (e.g. D&T) and doesn't really effect the board or stop threats from hitting
Tabernacle is most expensive but also arguably most powerful

Thanks for advice!

Hi!

beside Tabernacle I would go and get 2 Nether Voids. It's not only a win-more.
For me it is one of the main reasons to play Pox.

Chains is very often so-so. Depending strongly on the matchup if it is good or not. More a sideboard card rather than mainboard.
But especially with Geier Reach Sanitarium it is also a very funny card, at least for the Pox player :-)

Just my opinion!

[Hardcore]

A while back i noticed the most successful decks had run two void in the main. I do not if this still is true but I do vote for the card. It is brutal.

[kranger]

Hi all,

after a very long time of Legacy and tournament absence in general I will grab my 75 to a local tournament tomorrow. Want to play mono black Pox.
So it would be really nice to get some opinions of experienced Pox guys on some thoughts going round my head :-)

1.) In which matchups do you generally side out Nether Void?
2.) Are 4 Urborgs a must? Or are 3 also acceptable?
3.) What is 1st priority when I play Pithing Needle against D&T. My assumption is 1st Rishadan Port and 2nd Aether Vial?
4.) Wouldn't be Rishadan Port also be a valid option in Pox? I very rarely see it in the lists.
5.) What are your opinions on the Leyline/Helm combo in SB? I tried the combo out in testing but did not win a single game with it. All matches I won only the "classical" Pox way.

Looking forward to reading your opinions

[ntropy]

Alright guys, so I think I'ma get myself one of the juicy Pox cards for Christmas (getting yourself gifts is the reason for the season, right?). My question to you all is which card is most useful in MonoBlack Pox - Void, Chains, or Tabernacle? Obviously there's a price difference between them all as well, and that's a factor, but I can more or less swing any of them if it comes to it. Also, how many of each is optimal? Most lists I see don't run more than one of any of these, though occasionally you see 2 Chains in a deck.

Void seems to have the most style, but also possibly be too slow a lot, or win-more
Chains seems like a great card in certain matches, and again has all the Pox style, plus costs little enough that you can ritual it out. At the same time it seems dead in a some matches (e.g. D&T) and doesn't really effect the board or stop threats from hitting
Tabernacle is most expensive but also arguably most powerful

Thanks for advice!

I play mono black pox with none of this stuff, and I honestly think that its fine without. That said, I am saving towards a pair of Nether Voids. I think they give you the ability to completely lock out your opponent, which is needed in some match-ups. I think Abyss, Chains, and Tabernacle are powerful, showy ways to fight cards and match-ups we are already good against. I would go one Tabernacle, one Abyss, and of course 2Chainz if I had the money lying around though. (2 Drop of Honey for the Splashy Green Splash!)

[aslidsiksoraksi]

Hi all,

after a very long time of Legacy and tournament absence in general I will grab my 75 to a local tournament tomorrow. Want to play mono black Pox.
So it would be really nice to get some opinions of experienced Pox guys on some thoughts going round my head :-)

1.) In which matchups do you generally side out Nether Void?
2.) Are 4 Urborgs a must? Or are 3 also acceptable?
3.) What is 1st priority when I play Pithing Needle against D&T. My assumption is 1st Rishadan Port and 2nd Aether Vial?
4.) Wouldn't be Rishadan Port also be a valid option in Pox? I very rarely see it in the lists.
5.) What are your opinions on the Leyline/Helm combo in SB? I tried the combo out in testing but did not win a single game with it. All matches I won only the "classical" Pox way.

Looking forward to reading your opinions

Hi kranger!

I haven't been playing the deck as long as some of the people here, but I'll give my 2 cents:
1. No idea, don't own them

2. I play 3 Urborg right now and I don't have too much of a problem. 4 is probably ideal, but I think 3 is fine.

3. I'd probably name Vial first. Vial gets around a lot of your disruption since our removal is sorcery speed. It also circumvents your mana denial. Port just slows you down a bit - our deck is designed to draw more lands and after a while port will just be meaningless unless they have a threat. So if I'm going in blind I'll name Vial but if I need to answer a threat or land something ASAP I think Port make sense.

4. Worth a shot I guess, though we have a lot of colorless lands already. Would be interested to hear your results if you test it

5. I've played the Helm combo in SB a bit. I like it. You probably know this but you bring it in against combo and very aggro decks (eg Burn). It's definitely won me games again Burn, SnT, and Turbo Depths. Often there are a lot of dead cards in those matchups, so bringing it in isn't too bad. Just don't lean too heavily on it, and don't skimp on disruption; that's always plan A.



Those mentioning Nether Void as a great card - maybe can you say more about it? It feels like it could be a nail in the coffin, or else a straight win if you ritual it out. But it's not particularly proactive... Not saying it isn't great or anything, but it feels like Trinisphere - often you draw it and you wish it was a removal spell

[mykatdied]

Alright guys, so I think I'ma get myself one of the juicy Pox cards for Christmas (getting yourself gifts is the reason for the season, right?). My question to you all is which card is most useful in MonoBlack Pox - Void, Chains, or Tabernacle? Obviously there's a price difference between them all as well, and that's a factor, but I can more or less swing any of them if it comes to it. Also, how many of each is optimal? Most lists I see don't run more than one of any of these, though occasionally you see 2 Chains in a deck.

Void seems to have the most style, but also possibly be too slow a lot, or win-more
Chains seems like a great card in certain matches, and again has all the Pox style, plus costs little enough that you can ritual it out. At the same time it seems dead in a some matches (e.g. D&T) and doesn't really effect the board or stop threats from hitting
Tabernacle is most expensive but also arguably most powerful

Thanks for advice!

Tabernacle is a fairly clear favorite for many reasons.
1. It compliments the mana denial and creature removal plan very well.
2. It ports over to other decks like Lands, 12 Post or some Vintage decks if you're into that.
3. It is rarely a double edged sword as we don't run many creatures. At worst it could be a non mana source when you want one.

Nether Void is like the second but has more cons than pros.
1. Great vs Combo.
2. You can lock yourself under it fairly easily.
3. Doesn't really port over to other decks.

Chains is really the last thing I would pick up if at all.
1. Great vs cards like Brainstorm, portent, predict and Jace's 0 ability.
2. Not great vs cards like Griselbrand, Ponder, Preordian etc.
3. Doesn't port over well.

[aslidsiksoraksi]

Just thought I'd share a cool story. Played at the local store the other day, thought I'd try out Liliana, Last Hope as I'd seen she does pretty well in some matchups and has something to offer both against small dweeb aggro type decks and also against control with her ultimate.

So the match is against Turbo Eldrazi. I had played this guy the week before and lost 1-2, the last game going almost to time with everyone watching us as he totally stomped me with Ulamogs and Emrakuls (was actually kinda cool). This time around, I lose the first game to misplaying with my factories (I should have gone for his head but I decided to try and keep down his second Ugin ). I won the second to hating out his manabase extra hard (3x MD Sinkhole is good here) and making him discard Kozilek the Distortion just in the nick of time.

Last game then, and now of course the crowd gathers since we both play slow decks. I manage to get Liliana Last Hope down pretty quick and slowly uptick her. He lands Bottled Cloister, blanking all our discard. Then he drops Thought Knot to pressure her, but I use her +1 on it, and then he runs it into my Factory (he's an experienced player, so I don't know why he did that, but I think the fear of her ultimate kinda messed with him). I am basically biting my nails because I'm dead to Ugin, but I manage to get her ultimate. Make 2 zombies. He has a TKS and is drawing three cards a turn off of Endbringer and Cloister. Still no Ugin. I make 4 more zombies. He drops Ulamog, Infinite Hunger, kills a scroll and a zombie. At this point our game is the end of Innistrad, Liliana's endless ranks of zombies against the Eldrazi menace.

I swing 5 zombies into his 3 Eldrazi, get in 4 damage. He drops to 4 and I know I have him next turn, as long as that pesky Spirit Dragon doesn't show up. End of my turn, make 4 zombies. He untaps, draws off Cloister, draws for turn, draws off Endbringer... still no Ugin. He plays Glimmerpost and goes up to 7. Then he sits there thinking for about 5 minutes solid. Finally he plays another TKS and passes the turn. I untap and throw the Factory in with the zombies for just enough to win the game.

In conclusion, my first game with LtLH went pretty well. I think she's better than Ob Nixilis, for example, though he would also have won that game I think. If you want to know about this matchup - key cards to make them not get are Ugin and Kozi the Distortion. The former is hard to interact with for us, and the latter will draw them a full hand and then we just lose. Other than that their guys are just big things you can kill with Smallpox. Mess up their mana and try to win fast (Tombstalker would have been good I think).

Much love to the Pox fam, keep turning swamps sideways!