[Deck] Shadow Pox

[Top Deck]

the goal of shadow pox is to have disruptive effects like pox/small pox to take both players into a situation where both have fairly low cards in hands and low perms in play. i wanted to play a different style of monoblack pox aggro and dumping the nether spirit pox engine, and break the focus on LD and purge cards like sinkhole and 3 mana LD effects in favor of a more straightforward strategy.... big creatures with little or no cost and disruption. so i want this thread to be different from the standard "pox" decks in that the goals i want to achieve are different.

let me state my logic about some of these cards. pox decks are basically a symetrical (balance) type of effect and your top decks are probably going to be better than your opponent's.

however pox has a problem with both burn and recursion (ever play landstill with pox? and you find out quickly it is near unwinnable). also swarm creature decks can be somewhat problematic at times if coupled with burn (ala zoo).

so several new cards have been introduced that haven't received enough attention so i am posting once again.

1) bojuka bog --- this card is a house very recursion for very obvious reasons. it doesn't waste a slot because it is a land and we need land in pox since we are blowing up our's :D.

2) death's shadow --- wow this card is simply amazing... why? because we are always low on life in pox and often we need to cast a big threat with little or no mana (hence the desire to use tombstalkers)

3) dark depths + vampire hexmage --- now this is very strange because i came upon this decision based off the meta. right now pox can't beat ichorid because they don't lands or cards in hand to go off, but they do need bridge from below. what better way to beat that deck than just have 1 creature which allows you to nerf their bridges by just saccing? also with the huge flood of vial decks like merfolk and others, a land denial strategy is not as beneficial as before.

so i decided to incorporate both expedition map (to fetch either the bog and other goodies) and tabernacle. tabernacle is a house against swarm decks simply because they wont have the mana to maintain their army. and with that setup i figured i might as well replace my wastelands (which seem very dormant as of late) with the dark depths combo to give you a quick win con.


so here's my deck list:

lands: 23
swamp 16
bojuka bog 4
dark depths 2
the tabernacle at pendrell vale 1

creatures: 22
dark confidant 4
vampire hexmage 4
gatekeeper of malakir 3
nyxathid 4
death's shadow 4
tombstalker 3

spells: 18
hymn to tourach 4
wrench mind 4
smallpox 4
basilisk collar 1
expedition map 2

questions and suggestions are welcomed.

==============================
EDIT: the tombstalker is the swing slot it feels. i keep going back and forth switching it for quest of the nihil stone, extripate, and pox.
current list:

lands: 23
swamp 16
bojuka bog 4
dark depths 2
the tabernacle at pendrell vale 1

creatures: 19
dark confidant 4
vampire hexmage 4
gatekeeper of malakir 3
nyxathid 4
death's shadow 4

spells: 21
hymn to tourach 4
wrench mind 4
smallpox 4
pox 3
basilisk collar 1
expedition map 2

[Mystical_Jackass]

so here's my deck list:

lands: 23
swamp 16
bojuka bog 4
dark depths 2
the tabernacle at pendrell vale 1

creatures: 22
dark confidant 4
vampire hexmage 4
gatekeeper of malakir 3
nyxathid 4
death's shadow 4
tombstalker 3

spells: 18
hymn to tourach 4
wrench mind 4
smallpox 4
basilisk collar 1
expedition map 2

questions and suggestions are welcomed.

That's pretty cool, this was actually a new deck in progress I've been making. My idea was similar, but a little different too.
I run:

+3 Pox (staple in any Pox deck. Its an equalizer in life and helps your shadow beat faster)
+4 Duress (turn1 spot removal's important)
+3 Crucible (You lose lands fast to pox effects, this helps you rebound faster)
+4 Dark Ritual (you don't run enough turn1 plays, I'd say its a must with confidant)
+4 Bloodghast (it's a free spell to pitch to pox, with crucible its that much better)
+3-4 Factory/2-3 Urborg (a free attacker, wincond)
+4 Innocent Blood (I notice you run no removal, I would advise to put some in regardless if it's edict or smother or w/e)

Things I'd change:

-3 Tombstalker (running a playset of confidant, this could lose you games. Not worth the risk, I'd cut this and add more removal or dark rits)
-1 basilisk collar (too random...)
-4 bojukou bog (the comes into play tapped slows you down, you'll find yourself missing plays and it's only really effective against a few types like aggro loam, I'd SB this guy for most effeciency)

I guess I'm just sorta confused of the mechanics mainly. You're not running Pox or anything to speed up both of your life losses besides confidant, so it seems like death shadow's gonna be a dead card in your hand the first few turns. Maybe its just that I see you're tryint to do two different things, with depths combo & shadow and first glance they don't seem to flow together is all, is shadow mainly going to be used as a fat blocker till you get depths combo? Cause in that case just plain removal or bitterblossom might suite you better. Otherwise any tutors for putting your combo together

[Top Deck]

pox is something i used for the longest time. unless you have a higher land count or something like crucible, it isn't worth it. it does speed you to playing death's shadow right away, but most of the time i found smallpox was just better. and the only time i would pox anyhow is if i wanted a cruel edict type of effect.

so i figured if i just need it for that, i might as well run gatekeeper.

i was running bloodghast before he's very strong; however, unless you can wipe out all of their creatures he's pretty much useless. he basically becomes feed for smallpox so you don't lose your central threat.

bog i have to run because again in my meta a lot of people depend on the yard. bog is great for the mirror, dredge, lands, landstill, survival decks, etc. the come into play tapped is unfortunate, but i rather run it main than just autolosing game 1 to lands or something that would use knight of the reliquary.

now here are the tricky parts. death's shadow is something that you obviously keep in your hand until it is the right time to play it. the point isn't to bust out death's shadow turn 1 and try to get to less 8 or something right off the bat. the point of death's shadow is to let your opponent waste attacks and burn spells or what not and get you to your goal faster. tombstalker with bob sounds dangerous, but that's only because if you don't run death's shadow in the deck you don't get any advantages for it.

i only toss out bob early and then later pitch him to smallpox. stalker i can only play later in the game.

[Mystical_Jackass]

Gotcha. I guess I just disagree on the overall strategy, or way you're approaching it with the deck. That's all

(1) Dark Depths combo

This is just me, but if you're gonna run... well, if I was gonna run this I would prefer a set of Divining Top and possibly a few tutors to search for the combo. Since this is more of a combo you need consistency, less luck of the draw, so I'd either drop this or make it more effective. Otherwise you're making hexmage and/or depths less good alone as drops. That's my $.02 on that

(2) Death's Shadow

You run very little removal for the most part, so if he does come out against aggro he's pretty much gonna be a blocker or you swing with your 8/8, they chump, then kill you on counterattack. If you ran more removal like snuff out vendetta or smother that would give you more board control with confidant providing more draw, then your fatty could swing through once you've cleared the way. Use the life loss to create an advantage instead of reliance on your opponent to create that advantage for you putting you in a situational scenario.

[jrsthethird]

Plus you're pretty heavy on black mana so having 3 lands that do nothing isn't a good idea. Run a set of Urborg if you want that (if you draw 2 you can sac one to Pox).

Cut the Maps, DD, and Tabernacle, and add Swamps and targeted removal.

Or splash green for Living Wish and run an extra piece of each in the board, and throw your Tabernacle in there instead. Then you get Goyf and can drop Death's Shadow.

[Top Deck]

Plus you're pretty heavy on black mana so having 3 lands that do nothing isn't a good idea. Run a set of Urborg if you want that (if you draw 2 you can sac one to Pox).

Cut the Maps, DD, and Tabernacle, and add Swamps and targeted removal.

Or splash green for Living Wish and run an extra piece of each in the board, and throw your Tabernacle in there instead. Then you get Goyf and can drop Death's Shadow.

actually i also went this route before. it does work going the living wish route since it gives you a lot more versatility; however, you are going to be dependent on bayous and fetchlands. not saying it isn't hard to go that route. could be a quickier fix. if anything i would drop the tombstalkers over the death's shadows in favor of goyf.