[Primer/Deck] Pox

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

Warping Wail.

My magic coach pointed me to this card and I'm somewhat regretting mentioning it here, but after careful review of the card, some call it "Eldrazi Charm", I'm certain Pox would love it in the 75 somewhere.

There's apparently a NEW form of colorless mana. [facepalm]

http://www.magicspoiler.com/mtg-spoiler/warping-wail/

This could be new secret tech to deal with my biggest problems. Going to get 4, maybe even 8 of these bad boys once they're printed, I only hope they're cheap enough.

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We already run wasteland, Mishra's factory and some of us run thespian stage to provide the "new colorless" mana, so that should not be too much of a concern. The Envelop part seems like a corner case but could definitely be useful(we are not the type of deck that keeps mana up often), the exiling a creature seems like the best mode but still a worse Disfiguremost of the time but they both hit Deathrite Shaman which is big, making a token seems to be the least likely to be used.

None of these modes thrill me but the versatility of having all 3 modes is nice. I also think GB Pox has more options with Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm so it will probably be a much better card for mono black pox.

As i understand it there is no new mana, only a clarification.
A circle with a number in it is a cost, and a circle with the symbol show that mana is produced (of the colorless type).

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

As i understand it there is no new mana, only a clarification.
A circle with a number in it is a cost, and a circle with the symbol show that mana is produced (of the colorless type).

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Yeah the way I understand it is that there is now a distinction between colorless mana and mana of any color. The new Kozilek cost 2 colorless mana and 8 mana of any color for example. A swamp can be used to pay for mana of any color, but not for the colorless mana portion of cost. Definitely a strange concept.

i think mana of any color can still be used to pay for generic colorless cost. But it is hard to make up or down of it.

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

i think mana of any color can still be used to pay for generic colorless cost. But it is hard to make up or down of it.

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Nope. (<>) HAS to be paid for with colorless mana, such as from Rishadan Port. (1) (2) (x) and the like can be paid for with any mana.

Whoa, I'm glad my corner case deals with GSZ, Show and Tell, Entreat the Angels, Council's Judgment, Terminus, Ancestral Vision, most tutors, elves, goblins, DRS (I really hate dat guy), Delver, Young Pyromancer, Vendillion Clique, Death and Taxes (almost the whole damn deck), Swift spear, Rift Bolt, (lots of burn sorceries lets just say), Ponder, Infect (how many 1 power or toughness creatures they run?), Hymn to Tourach, (huff puff) :eek:

Is that everything? I do hope nobody notices this. I think the <> is colorless only so us 4 Wasteland/Mishra's runners can easily meet that demand. Pox's ultimate problem is how many "staple's" the Mono-B deck has and I'm quickly running out of room... :frown:

On another note, it meets ALL of Pox's original creed: It disrupts our opponent, provides mana, AND deals damage (though it's weak, I'll kill you at 1 hp if I must).

There was not much fun to be found in the new set. Hope you get a success with that charm.

I'm definitely not as excited as that guy for the eldrazi charm card, but I definitely don't plan on including it in any of my pox lists. Colorless can be difficult to come by with only 4 wasteland which are usually getting fired off immediately, then I'm left with 4 land that can cast a card like that in Mishra's Factory. I think the card can be cute but we definitely have better options currently.

Can anyone explain to me why someone would choose to remove Hymn to Tourach from their main deck? I noticed Kurtis Frazier's list and I'm guessing it's because once Mephistopheles is on the battlefield, such 2 for 1's are no longer necessary? It's one of the best card advantage spells in Legacy for the price out done only by Smallpox and Pox as sorceries.

Is Chains also the best card Mono-B has against miracles? I understand Abrupt Decay is definitely the 'big one' but I don't want to open myself up to needing stifles, fetchlands, and getting Wastelanded.

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

Can anyone explain to me why someone would choose to remove Hymn to Tourach from their main deck? I noticed Kurtis Frazier's list and I'm guessing it's because once Mephistopheles is on the battlefield, such 2 for 1's are no longer necessary? It's one of the best card advantage spells in Legacy for the price out done only by Smallpox and Pox as sorceries.

Is Chains also the best card Mono-B has against miracles? I understand Abrupt Decay is definitely the 'big one' but I don't want to open myself up to needing stifles, fetchlands, and getting Wastelanded.

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Some people find that the random is sometimes not as good as selecting which cards gets the ax. I personally will never go without hymn, but if Kurtis is convinced that hymn isn't necessarily needed I find it hard to argue. He is likely the best mono black pox player I've come into contact with as his results are the most consistent.

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Originally Posted by mykatdied

Some people find that the random is sometimes not as good as selecting which cards gets the ax. I personally will never go without hymn, but if Kurtis is convinced that hymn isn't necessarily needed I find it hard to argue. He is likely the best mono black pox player I've come into contact with as his results are the most consistent.

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I think I read somewhere that cutting hymns for main deck chains was a direct response to the treasure cruise meta. Not only could hymn's 2 for 1 not keep up with cruise's 3 for 1, but it enabled their cruises even faster. Chains turned off cruise pretty hard. It may no longer be correct to forgoe hymns in the current meta.

i agree, kurtis uninclusion of the hymns in the main in lieu of the chains is definitely because of the treasure cruise era..but i think its worth mentioning that he didn't totally "uninclude" it since he still had 3 copies of hymn to tourach in his sideboard:

http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckd...p?DeckID=78242


i am also rocking with 4 hymns right now, though i can probably justify replacing them with one-mana, pinpoint discard spells if i were running a "ritualess" build so that i can have more turn-1 action..

if i were also maindecking surgical extraction(like what some players like to do), i would probably replace some copies of hymn with thoughtseize or duress..

Even during the treasure cruise era I was running 3 hymn and 1 chains in the main with an additional 2 chains in the board. I did not like the idea of not having hymn vs the other decks that it can straight up cripple when we already trashed UR Delver anyway. That deck was probably one of the lower concerns on my radar when i would pick up pox. Between their super greedy mana base and light threat count, that deck just never seemed a worry to me.

Two cards that would function well with the sacrifice effects of pox are scourge of nel toth
and veilborn ghoul.
The dragon may be better than Gurmag Angler considering it can be sacrificed and discarded.
Veilborn ghoul is like Squee but with landfall.
Buried Alive for two bloodghast and scourge of nel toth would be nice.

I feel like there might be a strong synergy between the upcoming new eldrazi Reality Smasher and Liliana of the Veil.

This new guy might be the beater "Pox" was looking for:
- haste + trample (haste is a real deal when it comes to take care of PW)
- 5/5 for 5 mana
- Can only be taken care if your opponent has 2 cards in hands (which is not likely to happen since the core strategy of Pox is to put everyone hellbent as fast as possible). Since, this guy is likely to be played after Liliana, there might be some food for thoughts.

Obviously, it does not have a great synergy with Smallpox and needs a colorless mana producing land to be played (4 mishra + 4 wasteland should be enough). I can see 5 mana being also a huge pain but who knows...

What do you think ?

You Must play rituals to make it viable. Or reanimate.

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

You Must play rituals to make it viable. Or reanimate.

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Dark ritual is obvious (almost every pox list is playing the playset).

Reanimate could be an interesting option:

You lose 5 lifes to ping your opponent for 5 in the same turn, leaving behind a threat that is hard to deal with.

would be great against jace.

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Two cards that would function well with the sacrifice effects of pox are scourge of nel toth
and veilborn ghoul.
The dragon may be better than Gurmag Angler considering it can be sacrificed and discarded.
Veilborn ghoul is like Squee but with landfall.
Buried Alive for two bloodghast and scourge of nel toth would be nice.

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Veilborn Ghoul reminds me of an overpriced version of Undead Gladiator. The gladiator has a much more desirable power to mana ratio and can dig when you're top decking garbage and you have plenty of mana on the field. When the game goes long enough, having 4-6 lands isn't impossible.

A friend of mine stopped posting in here due to busyness, but Ill post his list soon. Ive really liked the list and we havr been tuning it for over two years.

Definitely not budget, and no Rituals. Hard grinding.