NeoPox

[Hardcore]

Once I was a stubborn Black deck player in the vintage environment. I got too burned by the futility of trying to disrupt decks that ran yawgmoth's will and quit, selling my cards. :cry:
Over the years I was tempted to start play Legacy, but past experience stopped me. Until I got reminded recently that there was a cards called Pox...

Not being content with the controlish Pox decks (seems there is only those), I tried streamline the Pox; rather than doing a little of everything I wanted it to focus on one thing only. This took some time. I have been doing playtest most of the spring, changing my deck constantly.
Eventually my deck become a Pox Discard deck. I figured I would use the discard effect of Pox, and smallpox, as a kill mechanism. In addition to The Rack put in Liliana's Caress, Quest for the Nihil Stone. I could win REALLY fast. Having several types of win cards was also nice. If my opponent evade the Caress, he could die to the Rack. Adding Ankh of Mishra was also fun (I may try build a Prison Pox later).
Still, it felt something was missing. What I need was really good library manipulation. But I realised drawing more discard was not the answer, neither tutoring for it. So sometimes the deck didn't do much at all.
So, having actually asked a professional for advice I radically changed the direction in my quest.


4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Desecration Elemental

3 Innocent Blood
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Smallpox
4 Pox
4 Inquisition of Kozilek

4 Dark Ritual
2 Kaervek’s Spite

23 Swamp

What we have here is a more agressive Pox. It gives up control elements in order to be fast. For example, Liliana of the Veil is really nice, but she doesn't fit in this deck because your mana is limited; you can't play a control card and a threat at the same time. Therefore you play the threat, leaving the control cards in your ring binder.
Btw, neither does it run slow big dudes. I tested Nihilith and Tombstalker. While nice they take time to get into play:/
Gravecrawler, otoh...
One big baddy that I like is the Desecration Elemental. He is really big, fast, have fear and a drawback that isn't a big problem in a deck with 12 men that want to get back from the grave.
I had an amusing game vs re-animator where he put Iona, Shield of Emeria into play, and I the Elemental. Guess who won?
This can be accomplished either by having the Elementall in hand, if the re-animator player play show and tell, or you by using entomb to put your baddy in the graveyeard when he play exhume.

Geralf’s Messenger is a little bit slow. But think of him as a Negator replacement. You use dark ritual to play him T1, and follow T2 with a Hymn or other disruption. Btw, he is a Zombie too, giving him synergy with Gravecrawler.
The Dark Ritual btw. is a core card. It let you play disruption and men on Turn one. That is sort of required for a fast creature based deck...

Kaervek’s Spiteis... interesting. Pox is probably the only deck where it doesn't hurt you much to play it to try finish a game.

Faerie Macabre is a maindeck card. Period. I know many say its place is in the sideboard, but drawing it means autowin vs re-animator and dredge. You remove Life from the Loam and targets for snapcaster mage. Against other decks it is a flying man, and that is not bad.

There are no Sinkholes, nor Wastelands. This is not a control deck. Funnily enough people still tend to complain that i destroy their lands^^

The graveyard tend to be too crowded for Nether spirit, and Mishra's factory is not good when you play spells so much, and of the double and triple black variety too.

Sideboard: Anything that suits you. But I can tell about a nice tech vs re-animator. Try Nevinyrral's Disk. That way you own them when they play their SB show and tell. (ND kills Emrakul too, btw.)

Finally I can add that playing Pox is fun for someone that always was uncomfortable facing UW control decks. It feels like the tables are turned; now it is THEIR turn to sweat!!!

[edited]

[evanmartyr]

Neat list. Few things.

1: Desecration Elemental is beyond awful. They don't have to do anything important, and they can kill it. So you have to have other creatures in play in order to keep it alive against nearly any deck, and that adds on to the mana cost and gives it a B or BB or higher upkeep cost. I think you may be thinking the Desecration Elemental's effect is universal, and it isn't: Whenever ANYONE plays a spell, YOU (the controller of Desecration Elemental) sac a creature.

2: Most Pox lists drop the fourth Pox for a fourth Smallpox, and for good reason. Smallpox is predictable, it's cheaper, and it usually has roughly the same effect on the board (obv hand and life total are another matter).

3: Messenger is phenomenal, but I might cut back on the number just so you don't have so many 3cc spells. Trying to force the curve further towards 1 is nearly always a good thing in Pox-type lists, since mana stability is a total pipe dream if you have too many 2-4cc spells. Maybe -1 Messenger, -1 Desecration Elemental, -1 Faerie Macabre for +3 1-2cc Zombie duder of your choice? This is the suggestion I feel least strongly about, since it really is an amazing creature.

4: Kaervek's Spite is AWFUL. It is not worth playing. It's a dumb, all-in card that sits dead in your hand until your opponent is at 5 life or less, tops your curve, and requires you to have spent MORE mana that turn making absolutely sure that any blue decks don't have ANY countermagic.

[Hardcore]

Hi!

Yeah, I know how the elemental work:wink: Yes, you don't want him in other decks, but here I have eight creatures, bloodghast and Messenger, that I can sacrifice and get back on the board without them being considered cast.
After my discard the opponent won't have that much left to play at the time the Elemental get into play. Top decking a spell every turn won't save him then.

I would run a fourth smallpox if there was room, but I prefer the real Pox because by reducing the lifetotal Pox make the creatures I play bigger:cool:. That is important since this is not a control deck.

Spite works. All my men return to play easily. I only need one land to get going again should I fizzle. My opponent will then be at five life at most and that makes anything I play a threat. Especially Bloodghast; draw card, play land, land fall -> bloodghast -> haste -> attack.
I may consider replacing one by a tutor of some sort. This could destroy the surprise effect however.

Blue control? It is just one of the decks in Legacy, and they don't have counterspells in hand all the time:smile: They need proper counters too. Daze is easy to play around. Btw. a bonus is that including spite make Inquisition of Kozilek useful even in midgame!
The combination of Messenger and spite is also nice. "Lose seven life."

In short; Playing Spite and Elemental is about timing and judgement. I need to playtest more, but so far I haven't regreted having them in the deck. It was IoK that felt weak:tongue: because it, while neccessary, only was useful if you could play it very early.

Spite and Elemental = :cool:

[evanmartyr]

If the rare occasions that Desecration Elemental hit play also see you have zombies in play and vampires recurring all the time, and your opponents without enough spells to cast to remove it, then you're winning and you could just use a creature that is also useful in OTHER situations.


Spite works. All my men return to play easily. I only need one land to get going again should I fizzle. My opponent will then be at five life at most and that makes anything I play a threat. Especially Bloodghast; draw card, play land, land fall -> bloodghast -> haste -> attack.
I may consider replacing one by a tutor of some sort. This could destroy the surprise effect however.

There are better ways to reduce your opponents life total below 10 to make "anything" a threat than sacrificing all your permanents and discarding your hand. Pox decks rely on their ability to operate completely off 2-3 lands and having Pox be an equal hit to you and your opponents resources, but with a game plan for yourself that can operate after taking a hit.

The recurring aggressive creature suite is great. Truly, it's a neat addition and I like it. But you're going up the curve to weird creatures (Elemental) and using old sui-black tech (Spite) in an attempt to make the deck faster or whatever when you really don't need to; speed isn't the point. Medium, recursive pressure that they can't handle because you nuked lands and their hand repeatedly is. Buried Alive or Entomb might be pretty good in this deck, as a few-of, if you're looking for something that is useful OUTSIDE of the "all in to your dome" situation.

You could probably play 4x Wastelands to help with all this if you threw in 4x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or whatever (makes all your lands swamps?).

[Hardcore]

Re: NeoPox

I think you misunderstod; I do play Spite as a finisher. My point was that in the event of a failure it won't hurt me much. IOW I found it worth the risks.
Secondly, the potential for doing seven or more is nice.
BTW, the Elemental's Fear ability is something I actually have found useful.
Still, maybe they are Win More cards. I will consider alternatives when playtesting.

Wastelands are expensive, and controlish. One reason I switched from control pox was because I often found myself in midgame with fewer lands than my opponent! So I asked myself; Why bother with Sinkhole and Wasteland?
I could squeeze in the fourth Smallpox though...
BTW, I had real problems vs. a 93/94 deck that played Maze of Ith and Icy manipulator (Would love a black creature with shroud, like perhaps Frightshroud Courier, Stromgald Crusader)
So I have considered including one or two targeted land destruction spells in SB, but only if the meta demanded it.

I tested Buried alive when I played fewer creatures and perhaps I should see what it can do for the deck now. Entomb. however, need good targets. Filth perhaps? But then I would have to play Urborg. Problem is it can mess up the mana having multiple of urborg in the deck

[SpeedOfDark]

Hi there,

Cool looking list. Always a fan of MB anything. And I like how angry your list looks! :P

As evanmartyr mentioned, not a big fan of desecration elemental, but who knows, maybe it works somehow. However, if you want to test some different "top of curve" creatures as 1-2 ofs, I would recommend Abyssal Persecutor and Phyrexian Obliterator. Both of these have the same "holy shit, I am huge and scary" factor, but with almost no drawback. And obviously abyssal persecutor's "drawback" is almost irrelevant in your list, as you can kill him whenever you please. Given you list, I would probably go with abyssal persecutor.

If you are looking for some more low curve creatures, I highly recommend carrion feeder. He brings a lot of power to the table with him:
1. creature type: zombie.
2. can become permanently huge by repeatedly eating bloodghast or gravecrawler.
3. another way to purposely kill your own geralf if you need the extra damage/bigger body.
4. if you decide to try abyssal persecutor, its another way to kill him ftw when the job is done.

Personally, I would play cabal therapy over inquisition of kozilek in this deck. You have many ways of flashing it back with little to no effect on your board. And with some practice, its not that hard to guess hit often enough on the first try, which if you do (or if your opponent has 2 or more copies of a nonland card in hand) its basically like you get to inquisition 2x or more. Similarly with carrion feeder, it has synergy with abyssal persecutor if you end up playing him.

[evanmartyr]

When I suggested Buried Alive I thought about Filth, and then if you ran black duals/fetches you could actually squeeze in Wonder, Valor, etc and have them be somewhat worthwhile. Other than Wasteland (which is a minor concern in a truly mono-black deck) and Price of Progress it wouldn't hurt you that much, and flying could be a pretty big boon.

[Hardcore]

Flying wouldn't be bad, but swamp walk is probably better. Still, this assumes my opponent have Goyfs with sidekicks to sacrifice. I could perhaps just get damnation, or something, in SB to increase my creature destruction part.

But all ideas are very welcome!

[Hardcore]

I am thinking of replacing the Innocent Bloods with Funeral Charm since the function of IB is mostly to kill small things that protect big guys from pox effects.

I also did a search for zombies and found Death Baron which seems a quite nice guy. The idea is that it would replace entomb/filth/Urborg, tomb of yawgmoth. Rather than sneak past any defence they get destroyed. May not work vs Iona... but I am unsure how deathtouch and protection from black interact:/.
The Baron would of course replace the elemental.

Also Dakmor Salvage, two of.

[Basara]

wow , i like this deck is absolutely disruptive and powerfull , and also is cheap to build!! , i am going to test this build

: //creatures 4 Gravecrawler 4 Geralf's Messenger 4 Bloodghast 1 Abyssal Persecutor 4 Carrion Feeder
//disruption 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 3 Hymn to Tourach 3 Innocent Blood 4 Dark Ritual 4 Smallpox 3 Pox
//lands 22 Swamp
SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 3 Faerie Macabre
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Dystopia
SB: 2 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 2 Phyrexian Revoker
Can this be the deck to put phyrexian crusader on?? , he is virtually unkillable by most of the format , and is pseudoremoval in the form of infect....also for a deck this aggressive 22 lands isnt too much??? , what about cutting down to 20..lands..and i dont know about black sideboards any suggestions???


Pd:how can i make decklist with bluetags like everybody does , so they can see the image of the card???

[Hardcore]

@Basara,

it is really easy http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?18250-ANNOUNCEMENT-Card-tags-%282.0!%29

[Hardcore]

@Basara,

they way I play it it suck to get mana screwed. I want to play Big Pox at least once every game, and then small pox once or twice for creature control.
This means I need to draw more lands to reliably be able to play more creatures and spells. Try include two Dakmor Salvage

I have considered phyrexian crusader but he doesn't get back from the graveyard, and deals damage as poison counters to players.
It shpould be possible to make Poison Pox I guess...

[Hardcore]

My current list:

4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
3 Faerie Macabre

3 Funeral charm
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
4 Pox
4 Inquisition of Kozilek

4 Dark Ritual
1 Kaervek’s Spite

21 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage

Funeral Charm feels nice. It kills small guys and make the bigger ones vulnerable to the pox effects. Then it is versatile, which innocent blood is not.

A card I am looking at is Death Baron
He would be a one or two of to replace the elementals. Still I am not sure I need the Deathtouch effect.

Note to myself: test go -Smallpox -Hymn to tourach and + 2 Burried alive

[Hardcore]

4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
3 Faerie Macabre

3 Funeral charm
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Smallpox
4 Pox
4 Inquisition of Kozilek

4 Dark Ritual
2 buried alive

17 Swamp
3 cabal pit
2 dakmor salvage


This is the current list.

[Aernil]

Maybe as inspiration:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?18807-Deck-Day-of-Disease&highlight=day+of+disease
Obviously I havent updated this thread in quite a time, but if there is interest in an update, feel free to say.

I personally think everything costing more than 3 (exluding pox) should not be played in an aggressive version of pox.
Id rather go with Tombstalker and/or Nihilith.
Both are faster and more threatening than for example Geralfs messenger

[Hardcore]

I had too few creatures in the deck, so I made some changes.

Here is the

BLACK SNOW :D


4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
1 Desecration Elemental
2 Gangrenous Zombies
3 Dark Confidant
2 Gatekeeper of malakir

4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
4 Pox

1 Entomb
4 Dark Ritual
1 Syphon life
1 Filth

19 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 Cabal Pit

I would love to have Faerie Macabre too, but I will run them in main only if the Meta require it.

[Hardcore]

I played against stoneblade the other day. Rather than have hate in main, I am thinking about tweaking my deck by replacing hymn for cabal therapy. Pity on the hymn, a really nice card, but if my opponent use mystic to bring up an artifact it is nice to remove it from his hand before he can play it.
"BoB" is horribly expensive, and I will wait with buying him until later.
StP should be banned:P it slowed down my deck terribly (or at least too much for my liking)

[Hardcore]

I kept the Hymns AND added Cabal therapy. Brutal.

4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
2 Desecration Elemental
3 Gangrenous Zombies
2 Akuta, Born of Ash

4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Smallpox
4 Pox

4 Dark Ritual

19 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 Cabal Pit

[Hardcore]

After heavy play testing vs an EDH deck(!), UB control and a combo deck (dream halls + conflux)
I have made some changes. Mishra's are a pain, and I must have an answer to them. My choice is to add two Death Baron to the deck.
Unearth give me more options with Buried Alive (which was put back as creatures no. 15 and 16!). Very nice synergy with Geralf's messenger.
Kaervek's Spite is a card I really like, and is very playable in the deck that laugh at Wrath of God. However there is a problem with Spite; I need play at least two, to make sure I draw them occasionally, but I never want two on my starting hand.
Something of a conundrum when I don't play tutors, right? I found the solution to this while typing, but first the deck as it look now:


4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
2 Death Baron
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Smallpox
4 Pox
2 Buried Alive
2 Unearth
4 Dark Ritual
2 Kaervek’s Spite
23 Snow-Covered Swamp

Only a few games of test vs Burn, but those went well.
First turn Dark Ritual and Buried Alive for three Blood Ghast is not bad.
The clock start at turn three, of course, but is fast and persistent.

Do you have a... Death Wish?
POX decks do! It is the solution to all my problems, baby. Ooh yeah!
"Batterskull? Let me check my sideboard.
Goblins? Let me check my sideboard. Combo? Let me... etc. etc.

I will post a new deck list if it works. How it may look like is anybodys guess, except that the Spites will be moved the SB.

[xieyun006]

let me just say i love your build, i just registered to this forum so i can post on this thread. anyways, at first i didn't like your decision to go without hymn but on second thought inquisition works better with cabal, and most threats in legacy are within its range, so its all good

i ran a different kind of pox for a long time, primarily for multiplayer, and a card that works amazingly for me was animate dead, i understand its one whole mana more than unearth, but on the off chance that your opponent discards a decent creature, or you just happened to make them sac one it can be yours, and even if you play a creatureless deck it works just fine in your deck anyways. this way you can still keep your 4 or more cc creatures, should you want them. though the one less to power sucks sometimes.

now in defense of unearth, which is also an amazing card, one mana can win or lose the game, not to mention you can darkrit into a small pox, discard a creature and pull it back with unearth. something most people over look is the cycle ability on the card. there are times when i had an unearth in hand with a mediocre target and cycle into a win condition. both cards offer versatility and synergy so i think its just dependent on your play style

creatures wise i think that carrion feeder would be amazing for this deck, with or without Abyssal Persecutor, but between therapy, and feeder i feel its also worth it to run two of persecutor. especially if you consider animate dead.

have you ever heard of undead gladiator? its pretty amazing, in my opinion, just don't know where it would fit in this deck. same goes for butcher ghoul.

i agree with you that kaervek's spite in this particular deck is actually alright, but i would opt for death wish since it would open a whole new door for you. a door that you could use to grab the kaervek's if you so wish.

my deck list

with animate dead with unearth
creatures
4 bloodghast 4 bloodghast
4 gravecrawler 4 gravecrawler
3 carrion feeder 3 carrion feeder
3 geralf's messenger 3 geralf's messenger
2 abyssal persecutor 2 death baron

spells
4 cabal therapy 4 cabal therapy
2 inquisition of kozilek 2 inquisition

4 small pox 4 small pox
3 pox 3 pox
2 death wish 2 death wish

4 dark rit 4 dark rit
2 buried alive 2 buried alive
2 animate dead 2 unearth

land
21 snow swamps same
2 darkmor salvage

side board

1 pox
1 kaervek's spite
1 geralf's messenger
1 syphon life
1 animate dead
1 unearth
1 perish
2 faerie macabre
1 entomb
1 buried alive
1 engineered plague
1 contamination
1 innocent blood
1 death baron

this is just a quick brain storm side board needs work. wish i had time and money to put this together and play test but yeah all fee back appreciated.

[Hardcore]

Doh! Indeed, Animate Dead is an obvious step once Unearth is considered for the deck. Perhaps Dance of the Dead would work even better? It cost mana to untap, but the creature do get a boost. This make your stolen Goyf bigger than your opponents.:laugh:

The sideboard was eerily similar to my thoughts. Like yours mine is a collection of cards to consider, either for SB or MD. A work in progress indeed.

1 Gangrenous Zombies
1 Sleeper’s Guile
1 Nevinyrral’s Disk
1 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Kaervek’s Spite
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Plague
1 Gloom
1 Powder Keg
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Zombie Infestation
1 Innocent Blood
1 Surgical Extraction

I am not used to one-of SB, I like to have 3-4 copies of the important cards.
Death Wish is to me another kind of tutor. To get me answers to threats, or an edge.

[Hardcore]

A creature with potential? -> Guul Draz Vampire

[xieyun006]

yeah seams pretty awsome, but the thing is trying to get them to that 10 life point, ofcourse you could consider bump in the night, turn one dark rit into pox, turn two bump, turn three creature drops like crazy? that turn one pox doesn't always work out two well though, as you haven't looked at their hand, and you'll have no real advantage weather you were on the draw or not. so depends... oh and i think bump is an awsome replacement for spite, economical, powerful, and no draw back. that or even sign in blood.

[Hardcore]

My deck can either be suicide fast, by upping the creature count, or slower with more spells like unearth and death wish.
I like the former play style, and I have realised I need to revise my deck. Unearth style cards goes to the sideboard.

4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
4 Guul Draz Vampire
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Smallpox
4 Pox
2 Buried Alive
1 Death Wish
4 Dark ritual
22 Snow-Covered Swamp

18 cards in the creature category. Good, but I would prefer more. Still I'll test
it and see how it goes. Maybe the cheap casting cost of the vampires make a difference
Note: pushing an opponent to the magical ten lives require no additional tech.
Pox is all you need. The opponent do the rest when he fetch for land:-D

[Hardcore]

I got most of the cards for the main deck now and may bring it to the local tourney on Tuesday.
Until then I will test an addition of Bad Moon.

[Hardcore]

So, I did not get my Cabal Therapies in time for the tourney and choosed not to play.
Let us hope I get them next week.

Until then here is a new card from M13 that look interesting:

~Disciple of Bolas
3b
Creature - ~ ?
When Disciple of Bolas enters the battlefield, sacrifice another creature then gain life and draw cards equal to its power
2/1

It is a bit expensive, but the sacrfice effect cost nothing, and I got plenty of recuring creatures. Dark Confidants are better, since the mana cost is half that of Disciple of Bolas. However, I suspect the cost in $ will be far lower.
It should not be unreasonable to play three of these.

[Hardcore]

Last Tuesday I brought my deck to the local gaming den; vasa Gaming in gothenburg.
It was not complete as the guy who would lend me confidants are in the US.


4 Bloodghast
3 faerie macabre
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Smallpox
4 Pox
3 Buried Alive
4 Dark Ritual
4 Funeral Charm

20 Snow-Covered Swamp (i had no more)


SB:
1 Faerie macabre
3 Attrition
4 contamination
4 gloom
3 kaervek's spite

I fought Sneak attack but can't recall much of that match.

Merfolk. I lost but learned they have No creature kill, and only win by getting more than one merfolk in play. in our second duel I started by playing Cabal theraphy and name Eather vial. I hit two.

I lost to Ant. the golden rule is to play any pox when we can. Even if it will mean we loose all mana.

Ub delver control. I actually got funeral charms to something: killing two delvers.


Next week I will add kalastria highborn and gatekeeper of malakir
Increasing the creature count is important.
I will also go to 22 lands to try reduce the number of mulligans.

[Hardcore]

I got a fifth place in last Tuesdays tourney with this configuration of my deck.
Confidants and jitte was added for obvious reasons; they Are really good cards.


4 Bloodghast
4 Dark confidant
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler

4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Smallpox
4 Pox

4 Dark Ritual
3 Umezawa's Jitte
22 Snow-Covered Swamp

I lost to some blade control my first game. Got a bye and then defeated a reanimator.

Next I faced a white deck with mystical and battterskull. Made a serious error in the third game and lost it. The final opponent played stax, although I didn't understood that during the game. still, that didn't stop me from winning.

I am considering thoughtseize instead of the other discard, freeing up space for more creatures.
A card like phyrexian revoker look useful.

[Zrobass]

Dont dont dont dont play Kaervek’s Spite. It's so obvious how AWFUL the card disadvantage is here. So -2. ALSO move the Fairie Macabre to the sideboard if anywhere. That will give you the room you need for better cards that work with the deck.


+1 Hymn to Tourach : Play the entire set of them.

You really should consider the following cards Diabolic Intent, Cabal Therapy, Bitterblossom, and FETCH LANDS :
-The Diabolic Intent will give you a sac outlet for your Geralf's Messengers and you have the Bloodghasts and Gravecrawlers too AND lets you search your deck for whatever you need.
-Cabal Therapy is a good sac outlet even if you wiff the first time around with it.
-Bitterblossom is an amazing card and should find a nice spot in your deck because it helps give you targets for pox and smallpox AND helps you accomplish board advantage. Don't be afraid to become like a suicide black deck.
-Fetch Lands..... Play 7 to 8 of them. It's so obvious how great they work with Bloodghast.

Sideboard should probably contain:
2-3x Diabolic Edict
3-4x Surgical Extraction
1-2x Engineered Plague
1x Ghastly Demise
1-2x Null Rod or Pithing Needle
2-4x Phyrexian Crusader
Just my two cents :)

[k2thej]

A card that is very good in pox that is often too quickly overlooked is phyrexian totem. It's a mana source that doesn't go away, and it becomes a beater when you need it too, and it dodges all the creature sacrifice.

[Hardcore]

so, I am constantly working on my deck, and it is time for another update.

I went 2-2 last tourney. Not a splendid result but ok. Jitte was king, especially vs goblin warrens. i would like to have a fourth, but three will do for now.
Inquisition of Kozilek is a good card but as it mostly work as
enabler for cabal therapy I will try improve card quality by replacing it with encroach.

The deck have lacked a proper sideboard because finishing developing main deck was first priority (Last time I even played without one!).
Unfortunately it still do, but now I have method for its construction:
it will be totally creature based. The intent is to steer me to replace creature with creature, rather than any of my disrupt elements. The creature that most often will be replaced is probably Geralf's messenger. The creature count will be the same and the casting cost.
I also want to have 16+ creatures so I put three faerie macabre in main deck.

Here are some contenders for the SB:
stromgald cabal Just say "NO" to Esper. To Stp. To SFM...
faerie macabre ANT, Cephalid, doomsday etc.
phyrexian revoker Another Just say "NO" card.
soot imp Good against Elf combo, High tide etc.
gatekeeper of malakir When I simply face another beat down deck.

Honourable mention:
guul draz assassin
sorceress queen
coffin queen
stench of evil
sudden spoiling
restless apparition
sewer nemesis
angel's tomb
ob nixilis
jovial evil
emissary of despair

These are either too specific, or fit better in other decks or are not sb cards, or are not creatures etc.

[Hardcore]

Got my gatekeepers this Friday. They must gave got stuck in the mail somewhere.
Pity, I could have used them in my latest tourney two weeks ago.
I went 2-2 on that occasion. My first opponent played goblins with splash
for black creature kill and graveyard hate. He had no answers to jitte so I won 2-0.

I advanced and fought a storm deck that killed me with 20 goblin tokens turn 2. I eventually realized it was actually a BELCHER, but I found that out too late. 0-2 :-(

Round three I lost 1-2 to miracle control. my opponent was really lucky, and it didn't help my answers
stuck in the mail:)

Last round was a win but I can't recall what I faced.


Main changes in my deck is to replace the faeries with revokers.
Useful vs more decks it has the drawback of not being an aggressive creature.


4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Faerie Macabre
3 Kalastria Highborn
3 Swamp

3-6 slots I can put something useful in.
I an thinking Nevinyrral's disk

[Hardcore]

new enemies, new directions

Yesterday I fought in this big weekend tourney.
6 players paid 15$ for a chance to win a goyf.
(Weird; the weekly tourneys attract 2-4 times as many players.)
I went 1-2 but was happy. For a time I had felt I hit a plateau;
the deck needed to evolve but I was not sure how.

Post-Plateau:


4 Bloodghast
4 Gravecrawler
3 Withered wretch
4 Dark Confidant

4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy

4 Smallpox
4 Pox
4 Dark Ritual

3 umezawa's jitte

20 Snow-Covered Swamp


= 58 cards.

I really like Geralf's messengers, but they are best played when the Meta
have lots of non-white creature bases decks.
The wretches are zombies, have a useful ability and cost less to cast.
I used to play them in my type 1 deck back in he days, but its ability was too slow then.
Should work better in legacy.

Right know the deck is bit short on creatures. Like others I am waiting for RtR spoilers.
Preferably something costing BBB or less. Stillmoon cavalier look promising.
It is both StP and batterskull safe.

I still have no good answer to omniscience :/
Maybe they will ban show and tell?
I may try sadistic sacrament, or sphere of resistance
until then.

[kwis]

I think that playing BW pox might turn out to give you the options you need. The fact that it now has arguably the best Wrath effect in the game and you are already playing Bob suggests that SDTs and Terminus could find a home. It also allows you to use Vindicate, SFM, Disenchant effects, and Flagstones. It's also still friendly to stillmoon if you opt to use him.

I would play carrion feeder because he effectively functions like a shade when you have Gravecrawler in play. He seems like the easiest way for your deck to just get out of hand and win a game through massive creatures. He also has synergy if you're playing with terminus because you can kill the guys who like to be in the graveyard instead of putting them on the bottom. This might also be relevant if you happen to play in a field where terminus is popular.

One thing you might need to watch out for is grave hate. A lot of your deck goes from tedious to deal with to incredibly unimpressive if the opponent lands relevant grave hate like Relic or Leyline.

[Hardcore]

i haven't tested carrion feeder yet. He looks to have nice synergy with the crawler, being a zombie himself. tnx for reminding me of that one!

[Hardcore]

Deck building is a cyclical thing; you make changes in your effort to improve it, and then go back to the basics when it doesn't work. In my case that means start to play Hymn to tourach in the deck. They were included in the more traditional build earlier this spring, but I replaced them in my creature deck because I felt they were not so neccessary in a fast creature deck with lots of pox effects. Thing is the deck is not fast enough to be called aggro deck, and the creatures are just recurring, not threatening like Batterskull is. Then there is combo.
I also brought back the Messengers. Life loss is part of the plan after all. However I need some additional tricks and I will try Coffin Queen. A bit slow, but she is a Zombie actually, and with her I can get extra use out of Messengers, or that Emrakull I just forced my opponent to discard!

I am thinking on something like this:


4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
4 Dark Confidant
3 Coffin Queen

4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Pox
4 Hymn to Tourach

4 Umezawa’s Jitte

22 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Dakmor Salvage


I need jitte more than I need Smallpox, so I sent SP to the sideboard. The Pox OTOH is a life reducer and a real bomb.

I'll play with Hymns tomorrow, because I just bought them, but I am not sure I can get my hands on any coffin queens yet.

Sideboard cards:
4 Amethyst thorn
2 Sphere of Resistance
4 Dystopia

These are against what Carsten Kotter call "Combo Engine" decks. My sleeping habits have made me so stupid that it was not until recently that I recalled what you used cards like Sphere of Resistance for.
I want to have a total of six such artifacts because I want to be sure to get them into my starting hand, and that multiples in play is a guaranteed win.

I am also thinking of trying out an old favourite Ritual of the Machine against decks that run Knight Reliquary etc.
Nahhh... Maybe coffin queen is good enough.

Another problem is Maze of Ith. Something like a black Vindicate would have been nice:cool:



Edit:

Looking in the Gate thread I was reminded that I planned to have Dystopia in sideboard.
With the lifegain from Jitte it should be not too bad:tongue:

[Hardcore]

It is interesting to note how much ones deck building is
Influenced by the local current meta.
When combo was dominating it mattered less
that I had problem vs whiteish and greenish decks.
That has changed; the combo decks are less common now,
And there has been an increase in decks running Lingering Souls.
They are quite nasty but not that fast which is blessing.
Still, were discard was important to win vs combo
I now have a need for card quality. Knight of the Reliquary
simply is bigger than my zombies, and the sacrifice effects
From pox often fail to snag it. Of course this change happened just as
I had found a good card vs Combo Engine: Thorn's of Amethyst
Still, ToA will have permanent place in my sideboard along with
A Sphere of Resistance or two.

I had the opportunity to test some cards at a Legacy proxy
Tourney last Saturday.
Dystopia proved too slow as creature removal
When my opponent have an army in play. It suffers from the same
Shortcomings as pox; non-targeted sacrifice effects.

coffin queen provide a useful way to do tricks
(it is also a zombie). Not as powerful as Stoneforge Mystic, but it its versatile.

Noticing that many deck splash Black I will run a few Buried Alive, and Filth.
I also successfully tested play without any Dark Ritual. I rarely win by
Being fast in early game, and by eliminating them they won't be
Dead draws later on.

Finally I replaced Inquisition of Kozilek with Hymn to Tourach.
Again with the goal of increasing the card quality of the deck.


Currently my deck looks like this



4 Bloodghast
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
4 Dark Confidant
2 Coffin Queen
1 Filth

4 Cabal Therapy
4 Pox
4 smallpox
4 hymn to tourach
2 Buried Alive

3 Umezawa’s Jitte

21 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 dakmor salvage


I have not yet bought all the cards for
My sideboard, but I have finally an idea how
It will look:


4 Faerie macabre
4 thorn of Amethyst
3 Perish / virtues ruin
1 Umezawa's jitte
3 Stromgald Cabal


Stromgald Cabal work very well against
Miracle Control, and other decks relying on white.
I can recommend it.

[Hardcore]

I have bought Jovial Evil for my SB. It is like a black Price of progress. Decks with Lingering Souls and KotR etc, will be vulnerable to this. I figure that since my deck win by creatures I should focus on that "reducing opponent to zero life" aspect. So I try here to have a SB card that is not a removal, like Virtue's Ruin but a game ender. Only drawback is that it deals damage, not loss of life.

Of course, I have also ordered Perish:wink: Nothing like a good sweeper.

Untested is also Shepherd of Rot. I may replace the Confidants with it.
First I thought the Bloodghasts should go, but they are in some ways more usefull than BoB.

I really should print some proxies and go playtest. But the Klingons say: "The only valid test is combat!"
And I don't argue with Klingons.