[Primer/Deck] Pox

I agree on the port point for the same reason I can't run Sensei's Divining Top in Pox. That 1 mana used always is cause for regret. That and SDT without fetchlands gives you garbage after 4 turns. Port works in them Aether Vial decks cause you know, free creatures...

Going to own Nether Void this month before it's price goes out of control.

The price tags on Ensnaring Bridge and Crucible spiked something fierce recently and I'm not a fan of Legacy's barrier of entry going up even further. On the other hand, the price of Force of Will speculation means I get to fight more FoW decks which Hymn to Tourach lovers will always enjoy.

Outside Chimeric Idol and Nether Spirit, if only there were more threats that didn't cost anything to punch your opponent in the face and dodge Poxing at the same time.

Cursed Scroll, though effective it is without question, is still annoying when your mana is tight and you have to choose between casting a bomb (like Pox), or punching for 2 using 3 mana. I'm actually considering ditching my Cursed Scrolls for just all Idols and damning the consequences cause Jace's stupid Fateseal laughs in the face of traditional weenies :mad:

Haunted plate mail is something that was being tested for a bit when it got released. It dodges sorcery speed removal, plus abrupt decay and it punches pretty hard. The 4 cmc isn't ideal though.

Personally I liked having top. I ran it with dakmor salvage which was actually pretty good.

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Originally Posted by mykatdied

Haunted plate mail is something that was being tested for a bit when it got released. It dodges sorcery speed removal, plus abrupt decay and it punches pretty hard. The 4 cmc isn't ideal though.

Personally I liked having top. I ran it with dakmor salvage which was actually pretty good.

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Top with loam, cycle lands and fetches is pretty disgusting actually. For the green black variants, I think the first top is very good since you can't then get locked with multiples.

I dislike the top in mono black since it had too few ways to clear it.

Hi i'm currently going through sideboard again, I written some explanations on why I have cards. Suggestions ste welcome as always, Im mostly looking if there are any alternatives I should look for.

1 Barren Moor (replaces bojuka bog when irrelevant)

1 Coffin Purge (makes entomb grave yard hate 3 entomb =4 more graveyard cards for 1)
1 crop rotation (where you need faster combo or are afraid of wasteland)
1 Duress (1 more clean discard spell)
1 raven's crime (for decks that board rip but still weak to dicard / miracles, also combo)

2 Engineered Plague (just kills decks and strategies)
1 Krosan Grip (top + enchanment hate the fifth decay)
1 Maelstrom Pulse (see below)
1 Vraska, the Unseen (both kills jace, Maelstrom can also act as the fifth abrupt decay vs goyf)

1 Null Rod (storm, vial and top)
2 Sphere of Resistance (storm and food chain)
2 Trinisphere (omnishow, storm and burn)


Cards I had in sideboard are: massacre, sdt, Extirpate, Cabal Therapy, surgical extraction, karakas, chains of mephistopheles and many other removal / hate cards. Is there anything people noticed works especially well in a certain Meta (Gp snd bigger) since my local Meta is semi stagnant and I know what I need there.

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Originally Posted by Toxboy

Top with loam, cycle lands and fetches is pretty disgusting actually. For the green black variants, I think the first top is very good since you can't then get locked with multiples.

I dislike the top in mono black since it had too few ways to clear it.

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I agree in bg it is better. What I am saying is that running it with dakmor salvage in mono black was actually fine. Salvage allows you to keep a card you need while only having to mill 2. Which in my experience wasn't bad at all. I actually had some decent games with it.

I think 1-2 Top in mono-B isn't terrible as long as you're on 5-6 fetches. I'm not sold on cursed scroll in the current meta, it doesn't clock fast enough to make headway against miracles, tarmogoyf/KotR decks, Mentor or lands. the tarmo/KotR isn't too troublesome because you are usually decent vs those decks anyways, but lands and miracles are already rocky. I just tried Nihilith tonight, and HOLY SMOKES, I was impressed. suspended one turn 2 vs lands, he cracked horizon canopy to dredge a loam... ya, I wasn't complaining about the clock. Pox (the card) is spectacular against miracles, but feels slightly underwhelming everywhere else. I also don't condone cutting the mana accelerants, whether one shot or permanent, largely because you want the ability to deploy chalice/hymn/liliana/Nether Void etc. early. A lot of hate cards are costed so that they can be played around them when they're deployed at the appropriate part of the curve, so cheat it harder.

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Originally Posted by mykatdied

I agree in bg it is better. What I am saying is that running it with dakmor salvage in mono black was actually fine. Salvage allows you to keep a card you need while only having to mill 2. Which in my experience wasn't bad at all. I actually had some decent games with it.

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I will add to this that the reason milling only 2 at a time was good is because it allowed me to have a liliana on board and float more removal with top while milling lands if I didn't need them

Yesterday was my first tourney win since -96, i think(?). The deck felt ok previous week (3-1) and i just made small tweaks.

Out: the fourth Urborg, two skull cage, two Surgical Extraction

In: two swamp, a fourth liliana of the veil, three shrieking affliction


The deck


4 Bloodghast
3 tombstalker
4 nihilith

4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Pox
4 contagion
4 liliana of the veil
2 sensei's divining top

14 Swamp
4 bloodstained mire
3 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
4 wasteland


SB
2 extirpate
2 surgical extraction
4 chalice of the void
4 engineers plague
3 pithing needle


I don't have exact recall of the duels but i will do my best.

I got a bye for the first round. A surprise but i was cool with that.

The first real opponent was a guy who i knew play miracles.
First game i suspended a couple of nihilith which got sworded.
He then played Entreat the Angels for two tokens, while i had two shrieking afflictions in play. Angels are usually nasty to me but i realised i could race him because he was at 9 life (i was at eleven). I had two options: either get a blocker in play, Tombstalker, or play Pox. By casting pox i would cut his life to six, force him to discard the card he had in hand and keep Tomby a secret till next duel. I would win in any scenario unless he found a counter spell with his divining top. He did not.

Second duel i won by creature beat down. When it was over my opponent showed me two wear//tear in his hand. He had got wrong answers to my threats in both duels:-/
An impression i got from the games was that i managed to keep him short of mana.
Contagion was of little use so replaced it with surgicals i think.
Ripping fetchlands had been nice to do last week.
2-0

Next up was another player with a deck i knew: imperial painter.
Mono colored decks is its biggest weakness and burn is the worst.
Maybe pox is second:-), but i haven't asked.
Anyway killing painter is what i need to do in this game, and to stop grindstone. This is no problem. Contagion does not kill painter, so i replaced it with chalice.
2-0

Lastly I fought a bright guy who was new to magic. (if you started playing when Khans was released you are quite fresh:-). New or not it turned out he had a complete UBR delver deck.
He won first duel. I could play contagion but he got me with a flying 1/1 delver and two Elemental tokens:-D
The second duel he got a quick Gurmag angler in play, and a DRS buddy. I had a suspended nihilith. He wad at 12 and i at 15.
Since he was tapped out i played a fourth land and pox. He sacrificed the DRS and my nihilith attacked.
I think i won when i played a Tombstalker, next turn, which he had no answer to.

Last duel my opponent started with a delver. He was lucky again and could flip it with a force of will. Unfortunately he had kept a one land hand. I wasted it and procedeed to hymn his hand to pull his force. Once i did i played liliana to seal the win.

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Lastly I fought a bright guy who was new to magic. (if you started playing when Khans was released you are quite fresh:-). New or not it turned out he had a complete UBR delver deck.
He won first duel. I could play contagion but he got me with a flying 1/1 delver and two Elemental tokens:-D
The second duel he got a quick Gurmag angler in play, and a DRS buddy. I had a suspended nihilith. He wad at 12 and i at 15.
Since he was tapped out i played a fourth land and pox. He sacrificed the DRS and my nihilith attacked.
I think i won when i played a Tombstalker, next turn, which he had no answer to.

Last duel my opponent started with a delver. He was lucky again and could flip it with a force of will. Unfortunately he had kept a one land hand. I wasted it and procedeed to hymn his hand to pull his force. Once i did i played liliana to seal the win.

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Totaly off topic about the new player concept.

I like the concept of being a new player (I'm definetely new IMO), I started with RTR by playing edh and my first serious format was when I started playing standard in theres and after that since I'm Quite competitive people have started recognize me as a "Old" player at my local shop considering Standard.

And then you go to our legacy wednesday, when I by accidentaly tell them I started with Ravnica, the most common response is people Telling you about how that's when they got back from a big break around there, the following explanation that you mean RTR often brings in some comments about how new you are and also suprrise over that you play pox.

Though I have played long enough for serveral people being in fear of the pox deck, so many fair decks that just can't win against you. I also recently got used to players playing their warm up games in vintage and 93/94, full power ofc.

This is crap


Merciless Resolve
2B
Instant
As an additional cost to cast Merciless Resolve, sacrifice a land or creature.

Draw two cards.

You sought to anger me, Nahiri. Soon, you will see how well you have succeeded.

Drownyard Temple

I want this to be good, alongside Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth it could help keep our lands around longer into the late game. Problem I see is our curve tops out at 3, much to the point that we're typically struggling to make that jump from 2 to 3 lands, so this card would just amplify that break. In that regard, Dakmor Salvage might be a better choice. Thoughts?

Agree, DS is superiour. It actually does something useful.(and at no mana cost)

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Agree, DS is superiour. It actually does something useful.(and at no mana cost)

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wouldn't crucible of world be better in that respect since it also synergizes with our factories and wastes?

Dakmor salvage or crucible? They do different things for your deck. You can run both.

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Dakmor salvage or crucible? They do different things for your deck. You can run both.

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i was referring to Drownyard Temple..

Yes, but i disregard it because it cost mana, and it does not fetch land either. In short it does nothing.

This one looks interesting. Sort of a win more card, but it suits pox.



Asylum Visitor
1B
Creature - Vampire Wizard
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.

Madness 1B (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)

"The ravings of the mad are laced with eldritch knowledge


3/1

Is it better than Undead Gladiator? I tend to think not. Gladiator allows you to choose when to spend mana on drawing a card and when you want a threat (and can be on reserve in your graveyard.) And gladiator hasn't been used in ages.

If we're looking for the ability to draw additional cards, I like a pair of Sea Gate Wreckage over basically any other option i've seen. Loam Pox doesn't need much beyond loam plus barren moor in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Quitrex

If we're looking for the ability to draw additional cards, I like a pair of Sea Gate Wreckage over basically any other option i've seen. Loam Pox doesn't need much beyond loam plus barren moor in my opinion.

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I used to run Mikokoro, Center of the Sea a long time ago to get more cards. then I got cursed scrolls and learned drawing more is BAD if you want the C. Scroll to work. Now that I've decided to go full Chimeric route, I'll look into a 1 or 2 of Sea Gate since drawing more cards hurts less now. Though Mikokoro costs less mana, I'd rather not let them have a card.

Underworld Connections comes to mind as well but I hate bleeding when running a Big Pox or 2...