[Primer/Deck] Pox

[AnvilOfCrom]

Would not have helped against Reanimator and burn.

No, but Pithing Needles all day were really annoying.

[Hardcore]

You seem to have done well despite that, suggesting an answer to needle is not necessary. If it ain't broken don't fix it.

[mkalevv]

G/B Loam Pox.

How many Assassin's Trophy are you running? Main/board split?

My current removal suite (main deck) involves:

1x Pernicious Deed
1x Golgari Charm
1x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Toxic Deluge
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Diabolic Edict


I'm thinking to drop my Maelstrom Pulse and an Abrupt Decay, and run a 3-1 split - keep 1 Abrupt Decay in the MD and 2 Sideboard to swap out for Death and Taxes or Miracles. I currently have Dread of Night in the side for DnT. I'll find something to cut to make room for the additional card.

[AnvilOfCrom]

@mkalevv
How is your G/B list looking? With the release of Assassins Trophy i really wanna try the Green Black Version

[fluuu]

is There any Discord Chanel?

[aslidsiksoraksi]

is There any Discord Chanel?

yes
https://discord.gg/MtqhYh
enjoy!

[Hardcore]

yes
https://discord.gg/MtqhYh
enjoy!

Thanks!

[TravisParsley339]

Pox won a GP trial at Richmond also:

https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=19982&d=329612&f=LE

Thanks for the shoutout.
I have since included 1 Tomb of Urami and believe it to work quite well, especially with Rituals.
My current build has now increased to 2 Totems, and 3 Bontu’s.
I have recently added two inquisitions which run along side 4 thoughtseizes, and 1 lilly last hope mainboard.
My local matches are a bit more successful with this build. I have a two star event this weekend. We will see how it does.

[Kaono]

3-1 at weeklies last night -- likely 4-0 if I stopped keeping 1-land hands on the draw.

2 Cursed Scroll
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Fatal Push
3 Innocent Blood
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
4 Sinkhole
1 Beseech the Queen

8 Swamp
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Cabal Pit
1 Maze of Ith
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard:
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
4 Dark Confidant
2 Chains of Mephistopheles
2 Bitterblossom
4 Surgical Extraction

Beat Elves 2-0, Grixis Delver 2-1, Mono-B Reanimator 2-0; lost to UWR Stoneblade 1-2.

Been really enjoying this list online and have had decent success. Debated a long time on turning it into G/B Loam Pox for Trophy -- ultimately I think I like straight mono-black best and don't think I would change anything.

No rituals because the format is slower and I want to grind out wins via CA and resource denial. 6 planeswalkers for that same reason, also helps end the game when things grind to a halt. A few fetches to fuel fatal push and help thin when Crucible is out.

I can't ever see cutting Confidant from the sideboard since he's so good both vs long grindy games and vs combo since our topdecks can be really bad. I prefer Surgical over Leyline both for Confidant reasons and because you can lean on discard to buy time until you draw Surgical but not the other way around. I also bring in a few surgicals vs things like delver to cut them off of a dual land after I wasteland them. Was a fun strategy when RUG delver was everywhere.

The one match I lost was after about 10 turns of drawing nothing and then losing to a topdecked JTMS. I think Plaguecrafter is really cool and is a versatile way to handle opposing planeswalkers while not being dead vs other matchups -- maybe like 1-2 in the sideboard?

Tangentially when's the last time a pure mono-b pox list played Dark Depths + Hexmage mainboard?

[Hardcore]

Good job! If you could write up your games too that would be nice.

[Kaono]

Good job! If you could write up your games too that would be nice.

Sure, I don't take notes at weekly but will do my best to recollect:

Elves: g1 I was on the play and t1 inquisition taking GSZ. He has 1 forest and casts birchlore ranger I think. I smallpox him and he doesn't draw another land soon enough. G2 he leads quirion ranger and I thoughtseize take a 1 drop leaving him with sylvan library. He plays it and then I play Chains of Meph. I get a Cursed Scroll out and kill everything he plays.

In: bridge, bomb, 2x chains -- out: karn, beseech, 2x sinkhole

UWR Stoneblade: I keep a 1 lander on the draw and never find a 2nd black source so scoop it up. G2 I hymn him a few times and smallpox away a TNN before winning with 3 factories. G3 I lead discard into sinkhole island wasteland tundra leaving him with only plains. I play a chains next turn. He rebuilds his lands as I draw land and plays some stuff like SFM etc that I answer with innocent blood and discard. I draw more useless stuff and he eventually plays a jace and fateseals me to death.

in: needle, bomb, 2x chains -- out: tabernacle, karn, beseech, crucible (pretty sure this sb strat is wrong)

Mono-B Reanimator: g1 he's kind of slow out the gates so I use discard to buy a ton of time and I think I kill him with factory. g2 he powers our a t1 packrat + create a rat and I smallpox one away. He doesn't have cards in hand or land (I think he mulliganed to) so just hits me for 1 for a while. I play a bridge. He reanimates a Grave Titan but can't attack. Tabernacle keeps his lands locked down. I play and eventually Ult a lily further constricting his mana. Eventually I find a wincon and he concedes.

in: bridge, needle, 4 confidant, 2 chains, 4 surgical -- out: crucible, 2 scroll, bomb, push, cabal pit, karn, lili last hope, 4 sinkhole

Grixis Delver: I keep a 1 lander on the draw and again die before finding any relevant action. g2 I mull, inquisition him and take ponder, he thoughtseizes and takes innocent blood and I'm left with only land. We exchange a few resources and then he cast a bitterblossom when I only had two urborgs in hand and a 3rd in play. I rip a lili last hope off the top, but he pithing needles it. I'm hitting him with mishra's factory so his life is getting kind of low. I use fatal push and cabal pit to kill faeries and then draw ratchet bomb to clear the way for lethal. g3 was very one sided and I use discard/wasteland/pox to destroy his board while assembling lotv/karn/lili last hope and bridge. He scoops it up.

in: bridge, bomb, 2 chains -- out: 4 sinkhole

[Hardcore]

Awesome! I notice you boarded out karn and sinkhole a lot. Is this a sign they are less viable nowadays?

[Kaono]

Awesome! I notice you boarded out karn and sinkhole a lot. Is this a sign they are less viable nowadays?

As long as the best decks are Miracles and Grixis Control I'll be keeping them in. Just so happened I faced faster decks this week.

I do think Sinkhole is borderline and I cut it completely in Grixis Delver days (I guess those were more DRS days). I play it primarily for nostalgia reasons it just so happens to not be completely terrible in the current meta.

Karn is of a similar story. If the meta shifts away from control he's a flex spot that can easily be changed.

[naynay666]

Sure, I don't take notes at weekly but will do my best to recollect:

Thanks for the writeup.

Karn is great 85% (an arbitrary and made up %) of the time so I will keep jamming him. Against anything too fast he comes out.

I've never tried Bob in Pox. Probably because I don't own him anymore. I do remember Reid Duke jamming them in a few videos a little while ago. Good for Combo and Control you say? I may have to start scooping some up.

The Sinkhole + Surgical plan against RUG Delver and other greedy manabases was at one point the most fun I was having at my weeklies.

Plaguecrafter seems like he would see a lot of Jace's bff Snapcaster Mage. In my mind I compare it to Hero's Downfall or To the Slaughter- both of which see little to very little play.

[naynay666]

I finally got to go to my weekly this week.

0-2 Burn
2-0 NO Rug
2-0 UB Shadow
2-1 Ad Nauseam

Burn

I didn’t stand a chance. I ripped the hand and killed some creatures but lost to inevitability. Game 2 I hit Nether Void at 5 life while my opponent had 5 lands. Died.

Natural Order Rug

Noble H, Innocent Blood. Goyf, Innocent Blood. Next Goyf gets Mazed for a while and then I stick a Smallpox. Fast forward Truename names Nathan and hits once or twice. Eventual Liliana downticks and eats a Bolt. Stuck a Scroll early and missed a ridiculous amount of activations with a 50% chance.
Totem and Bitterblossom finish him off.

Next game I tried to jam a t1 Lily but the Ritual gets Dazed. He gets off to a rough start and I am able to kill a slow stream of creatures. He counters the previously mentioned Lily but I topdeck another and she sticks. He flashes in a Clique to surprise block a Totem but Maze of Ith helps out my team. I kill it and he can’t beat it from where he is and scoops to a Totem and a Hellbent Scroll.

UB Shadow

Starts the Suicide quickly and sticks a Delver. Counters my first killspell, flips/swings, succumbs to the next killspell. Eventually gets low enough to stick 2 Death Shadows that I quickly kill the next turn. Totem and Scroll wrap it up.

Game 2 he keeps a 1 lander with a lot of cantrips but no threats. Turn 2 Chains and he turn 3’s a Ratchet Bomb. I played a Totem for pressure and as a distraction but he kept the Bomb at 2. To protect the Chains I dropped a Liliana which made him go to 3 counters. Next turn I swing and he pops. When I pass the only thing he can do (in the face of Chains) is Thoughtseize which gets the copy of Totem I was holding onto. He topdecks threats while I topdeck answers before finding a Scroll and a Factory.

Ad Nauseam

I had an opener sculpted to wreck any creature deck but alas that is not what he is on. Thoughseize snags a redundant Brainstorm after he Brainstorms in response. A few useless draws later I cut him off when the storm count rapidly climbs.

Game 2 turn 2 & 3 Hymn, turn 4 Nether Void, scoop.

Game 3 turn 0 Leyline before my turn 1 IOK gets Brainstormed so I took a Ritual instead of the hidden LED and Infernal Tutor. Turn 2 Ritual into Nether Void seals the deal.

3-1

The List
3x Dark Ritual
1x Fatal Push
4x Innocent Blood
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Smallpox
1x Toxic Deluge
4x Liliana of the Veil
2x Karn, Scion of Urza
1x Bitterblossom
1x Chains of Mephistopheles
1x Nether Void
2x Cursed Scroll
1x Ensnaring Bridge
2x Phyrexian Totem
1x Maze of Ith
4x Mishra's Factory
20x Swamp

SB
2x Pithing Needle
1x Extirpate
1x Surgical Extraction
2x Diabolic Edict
1x Bontu's Last Reckoning
2x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x The Abyss
4x Leyline of the Void
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal


I still am not crazy about Dark Ritual but it won me my final game so I guess I'm holding them a while longer. I still don't miss Wasteland & Urborg muddling up the manabase. People still play around Wasteland even when they don't see it game 1.

I would like to fit 2 copies of Ratchet Bomb in the 15, but space is tight.

[Hardcore]

Good job, guys!
Seems you don't have much problem with counters. I have, but I wonder if I should have cabal therapy in the main or sideboard.

[naynay666]

Sorry to flood the thread with another report but...


Saturday I played an EW Trial outside of Richmond, VA. Same list above but -1 Diabolic Edict +1 Ratchet Bomb.


Tes
Game 1 I lost the die roll and watched a Ponder. IOK snags an LED. Next turn’s Thoughtseize snagged another. Turn 4 I drop a Karn, upticked and was given a land before he cast Empty the Warrens making 6 dudes. Downtick for a Cursed Scroll and snagged a Goblin but I (not Karn luckily) got hit by 5 twice until I top decked Toxic Deluge. I paid 1 of my remaining 5 life to kill all the Goblins. Karn started farting out Karnstructs until lethal happened.

-2 Karns, 2 Smallpox, 2 Innocent Blood, Ensnaring Bridge, ???
4 Leylines, Surgical, Extirpate, Ratchet Bomb, Night of Souls’ Betrayal.

Game 2 Double Leyline with another IOK snagging another LED. I was at 19 life when my opponent made 10 Goblins. Killed one, took 9, Deluged the rest. Liliana, Cursed Scroll and Phyrexian Totem wrapped it up quick.
2-0
(1-0)

4c Loam
Game 1 I killed a steady stream of creatures but Garruk Relentless is a very difficult engine to keep up with.

-3 Dark Ritual, 4 Smallpox, Nether Void
+4 Leyline, Surgical, Extirpate, The Abyss, Diabolic Edict

Game 2 Double Leyline (what?) although it didn’t matter as I was outgrinded by a stream of removal and threats.
0-2
(1-1)

Turbo Depths
Game 1 he did the Depths combo thing you know how it went.

-2 Karns, Chains, Toxic Deluge, Fatal Push
+2 Pithing Needles, Surgical, Extirpate, Diabolic Edict

Game 2 I swarmed the board with Scroll, Liliana and Ensnaring Bridge. He Decayed the Liliana and the next turn came in with Duress. I Extirpated the Abrupt Decay in response and he scooped.

Game 3 My opponent went Urborg into Thoughtseize to start things off by taking a Bridge. Turn 2 he played Thespian Stage and the next turn he played Dark Depths. Eot of my following turn he cracked the combo. Still endstep I Dark Ritualed, Diabolic Edicted Marit and Surgicaled the Depths into concession.

The last game he brought in Rite of Consumption to go over Ensnaring Bridge but it didn’t happen.
2-1
(2-1)

Goblins
I kill 2 or 3 Goblins before sticking a Bridge and then run out of removal. He got wide enough for lethal and eventually found the Matron to find the Cratermaker to blow up the Bridge.

Game 2 had Aether Vials on 2-4. The first Ringleader flipped 2 Ringleaders and 2 Piledrivers. Eventually the same Cratermaker destroyed the same Bridge. Big swing for the win.

The two people who beat me didn’t lose to anybody else so my breakers were pretty sweet. I was 2-2 & 8th (outta 18?) before 5th round.
0-2
(2-2)

BR Reanimator
Game 1 turn 2 Griselbrand whatever who cares get that shit outta here.

Game 2 turn 0 Leyline turn 3 Phyrexian Totem gets Wore and Tore real quick. I stuck a Liliana and didn’t move her for 6-7 turns. It felt strange but she was waiting for an Iona that didn’t appear. I did however kill a Cryptbreaker over and over without it ever activating in an attempt to keep Liliana’s -2 live. My opponent got a Grizzy in play but by then Mishra’s Factory got in enough to prevent activation. Killed it and killed them.

-4 Hymns, 2 Karns, Fatal Push
+4 Leyline, Surgical, Extirpate, The Abyss

Game 3 turn 0 Leyline was Torn almost as fast. The hate hate is real. The Mishra beats started on turn 2 and the 2nd landed turn 3. I killed an unusually larger amount of Cryptbreakers and an occasional spicy boi to clear the way for Factories under an Ensnaring Bridge.
2-1
(3-2)

Top 8.
Crap. I am only in Richmond for the afternoon because I was going to a reunion show for a metal band down in Virginia Beach 100 miles away. Luckily they posted the time slots online and we knew what time we had to arrive by. It was harder to remember the Top 8 as detailed as I ended one match and immediately started the next.

UB Reanimator
Game 1 turn 2 Bitterblossom put in work while various edicts took care of any pressure. At one point I had to kill/force the Hapless Researcher to protect a Liliana and used an Innocent Blood instead of the Fatal Push but it didn’t come back to bite me the turn I was vulnerable. Push was pitched to the Princess eventually. Jin-Gitaxias drew my opponent 14 cards but I never had to discard to 0. Faeries kept constant pressure with a decent hand & Liliana to back them up.

-4 Hymns, 2 Karns, Fatal Push, Nether Void, Toxic Deluge,
+4 Leylines, Surgical, Extirpate, The Abyss, Diabolic Edict, Bontu’s

Game 2 Leyline + Mishra’s Factory followed by a Ensnaring Bridge. Things happened and were destroyed. Factory beats FTW.
2-0


Miracles
Game 1 my opponent sat down and told me he hadn’t lost a match yet. I opened with a Thoughtseize to strip Counterbalance from a hand of Bstorm, Ponder, Force, 2 lands and a Fetch. After that I am pretty sure Hymn got Forced before I stuck a Bitterblossom & a Cursed Scroll. Jaceface comes down & a bunch of Faeries got tucked with Terminus. Phyrexian Totem and a Factory showed up but so did Teferi and Snapcaster. Scroll picked off the Snapcaster and Bitterblossom got tucked by Teferi (and Fatesealed by Jace) with a few Faeries floating around. Killed Teferi before Jace hit 12. Holy hell. Untap and swing. Drop a Karn. Make Karnstructs. Swing some more. One gets Sworded. Jace dies. Karn gets Judged by the Council. Totem finished the game.

-3 Dark Rituals, Nether Void
+2 Pithing Needles, Surgical, Extirpate

Game 2 early Pithing Needle on Jace. Thoughtseize made it safe for Chains. My opponent dropped a Counterbalance that never actually countered anything. A few turns later Chains was Judged. I played another Needle but on Teferi. I played something else, but I can’t remember and it doesn’t matter because Snapcaster flashed in and Council’s Judgment flashbacked. I followed it up with Phyrexian Totem that ran over Snappy and then my opponent.
2-0

4c Loam
Game 1 turn 1 Liliana of the Veil feels good but doesn’t last long. Sylvan Library recovers the damage done by Liliana at the cost of 12 life. I somehow fight long enough for Factories to get in.

-3 Rituals, 4 Smallpox, Nether Void
+4 Leylines, Surgical, Extirpate, The Abyss, Diabolic Edict

Game 2 mulliganed and kept the decent 6 for the Leyline and oh crap I left Chains in. I Thoughtseized something, took a little damage, answered some creatures, and then the Liliana Wars happened. I played a Liliana he played a Liliana and killed my Liliana. I played another Liliana and he answered another Liliana. He stuck a threat and I stuck a Bridge. His Liliana Ult’d and gave me the choice between 7 Swamps and 3 permanents that were not advancing my board. Kept the Swamps and laid down The Abyss. He sacked one of his two threats and dropped a Garruk Relentless to answer my out. I lost somewhere after that.

-Chains, ??
+2 Liliana the Last Hope

Game 3 had a solid 7 but no hate. Thoughtseized a Bob & Innocent Blooded a Thalia before laying down a Last Hope to uptick. I eventually landed a Liliana of the Veil and at one point got them both to 6. He found the Grove + Punishing Fire combo and focused primarily on Last Hope but my opponent did not have a lot of red mana to keep them both under control. I found a Leyline and he responded with Pfire, got it back & Pfired again to take out Last Hope. I found 2 Factories and a Cursed Scroll to hold down any small creatures he played and apply pressure. Golgari Charm took out Leyline of the Void and I had to slow down the Factory beats in order to survive a Pfire. Some Wastelands came around to take out the Factories anyway. My Cursed Scroll was Vindicated but I drew into another. Liliana controlled the board while Cursed Scroll ended the game.
2-1

I won a Bye to Eternal Weekend Pittsburgh AND made it down to VB on time. Saturday was awesome.

[Hardcore]

"I played a Liliana he played a Liliana and killed my Liliana. played a Liliana he played a Liliana and killed my Liliana.

How did this happen?

[pettdan]

Also, TES is not very dependent on its graveyard, I believe. I would guess that Smallpox is more useful than Leyline. Also, Leyline shuts off your Surgical and Extirpate.

Pretty sweet that you won, thanks for the report!

[naynay666]

Liliana Liliana Liliana?

I believe my first Liliana was Decay'd and the next was taken out via combat.

Also, TES is not very dependent on its graveyard, I believe. I would guess that Smallpox is more useful than Leyline. Also, Leyline shuts off your Surgical and Extirpate.

Pretty sweet that you won, thanks for the report!

I have way more experience against Ant than Tes but I saw a Past in Flames the first game and panicked. And yeah that game drew into a dead Surgical.