[Primer/Deck] Pox

With 2 Krosan Grips in the board and 4 Abrupt Decays in the main, I feel very confident against Counterbalance decks and decks that have some strong artifacts and enchantment s, or opposing Chalice even.

But Dolphy does make some good points, and it is true that Needle takes care of a lot of random problems too, and potentially earlier in the game. Ratchet Bomb is versitile and effective too. 4-6 of that group of cards could do you as part of the board.

I try to go after land destruction really hard against decks with Planeswalkers, make the land accquisition very difficult where they side them out as too slow and expensive.

With Sneak Attack/Blood Moon cleaning up recently, it may be best to add a Pithing Needle or two, probably losing one of the two Krosan Grips. Also I hate to have to add a basic forest, but Moon effects seem to be on the upswing at the moment.

Alright! Report Time!

I ended up with this:

4 abrupt decay
4 sinkhole
4 smallpox
4 liliana of the veil
4 chalice of the void
4 mox diamond
4 hymn to tourach
3 life from the loam
2 sylvan library
1 pox
1 nether spirit
1 syphon life
4 wasteland
4 mishra's factory
4 verdant catacombs
4 bayou
4 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
1 bojuka bog
1 cabal pit
1 tabernacle at pendrell vale
1 swamp
1 forest

Sideboard:

4 sphere of resistance
4 infest
3 surgical extraction
2 ratchet bomb
2 pox

Thanks for everyone's input on the deck and sideboard, it was a great help.

Lost Harbor Games in Westfield, MA was our host, and we ended up with 10 players - 5 rounds of swiss, cut to top 4, prizes for top 2.

Round 1 - Kevin with Zoo

I didn't take detailed notes, so this will be quick and dirty. Against Kevin, turn 2 Smallpox takes out Heirarch and land, and he never recovers. Game two was more of the same - I cut a Sinkhole, a Chalice, and my Syphon Life for 3 Infest. Zoo rolled over hard.

My sideboarding will appear pretty erratic, I was experimenting all day - I cut the SL because he runs Ooze, and I figured one less GY dependant card was good.

I win 2-0

Round 2 - Timothy with Grixis Tempo

Again, quick and dirty

1: I quickly put him to 0 lands, his deck doesn't run enough to recover, he scoops at 13 life and no permanents.

I board out one Sinkhole and one Life from the Loam for 2 Ratchet Bomb.

2: I mull to 6, fall behind to Lavamancer and Pyromancer, Ratchet Bomb gets stifled, I lose.

I board out the Bombs and the Libraries, in 4 Infest. Still experimenting.

3: I kept him off of land, and Infest plus Tabernacle was a blow out. He scooped at 5 life with no permanents.

I win 2-1, 2-0 overall.

Round 3 - Jeremy with Sneak and Show

1: He kept a hand that could have won with a land, but Sinkhole, Sinkhole, Smallpox, Smallpox meant he never got there.

I boarded out 4 Abrupt Decay, 1 Tabernacle, in 3 Surgical Extraction, 2 Pox.

2: I was able to chalice on 1 before any cantrips hit, but he drew into his Sneak Attack and Emrakul, GG

3: Surgical Extraction on Brainstorm was not enough. Show and Tell, Griselbrand hits, I might have been able to stay in it with Smallpox or Pox, but none were to be found. I also might have mixed these games up a little, my notes are just life totals...

I lose 1-2, overall 2-1

Round 4 - Sam with Affinity (No Ravagers, so Budget Affinity)

1: He started bashing with a fast start, but Sinkholes, Smallpoxes, and Abrupt Decays soon stabilized me. Chalice at 0 stopped Memnite. He scooped at 1 life and zero permanents.

I boarded out 2 Chalice, Sinkhole, Wasteland, Loam, Library for 4 Infest, 2 Surgical. They should have been the Bombs.

2: He mulls to 7, then 5, oops. I kept something awkward and lost to a metal swarm.

3: I got the Loam engine going with fetches, thinning all of my fetchables out of the deck, and Syphoning multiple times per turn after Hymn and Smallpox did their job. Again, he scoops at 1 life and no permanents.

I win 2-1, 3-1 overall

Round 5 - Ben with Shardless BUG

1: Ben mulls to 6. I shred his lands with everything - he never really recovered.

I board out 1 Chalice for 1 Infest.

2: I mull to 6. Ben gets a mighty board presence of Strixes and Agents, Lili and Jace. I pick up my cards.

I board out another Chalice and 2 Loams for 3 Infest.

3: This game goes very long, with a lot of disruption either way. We go to time, me with a Nether Shadow, him with 5 life. I Abrupt Decay his Tarmogoyf, swing in. I top-deck Syphon Life to seal the deal.

I win 2-1, 4-1 overall.

Top 4: Me, Ben, Jeremey, and Dan with Infect Stompy. I play Ben with Shardless BUG again.

1: I keep this hand: Liliana, Smallpox, Hymn, Mishra's Factory, Wasteland, Wasteland, Wasteland. Would you? It didn't work out for me, he landed DRS (I should have thought of that and mulled. My bad) I was able to Loam back a Wasteland for 4 wasted lands, but I never found a second black source.

I boarded out 2 Loams and 2 Chalices for 4 Infest.

2: I kept a turn 1 Chalice on 1, which resolved, but I could not find a second black source, and his Liliana closed me out.

I ended up 4-2 for the day, which is better than I ever did with Burn. It's good to be back with Pox.

My only mainboard change will be to cut one Life from the Loam. I like that the deck doesn't rely on it, and I'd like to squeeze one more disruption slot in. I will be continually messing with the sideboard, but something to know: Engineered Plague on Human is GG vs Grixis Tempo.

Props:
Lost Harbor Games.
Not being paired against Tanner with TES.
Tabernacle as the 61st card.

Slops:
Sneak and Show.
Sloppy Keeps.

Why I love Legacy: the metagame was as follows:

Loam Pox
TES
Zoo
Grixis Tempo
Sneak and Show
Affinity
Shardless BUG
Infect Stompy
B/G Pox (no Loam)
Mono-Black Zombies?

Solid result, especially for a first try. Did you like the Chalice and Big Pox in there or would you rather have pinpoint discard and scroll? What situatons were best for Loam for you, and when did you not need it or want it? How well did it complement Sinkhole for you?

To be fair I have a lot of experience playing Pox, it was just my first try since Smallpox was printed... I like the single Pox in the main, it's just some additional back-breaking disruption. I will be cutting one or both from the side. I loved the Chalices, they turn off much of the format, and people aren't expecting them. I think it's really a matter of preference, I used to run Ritual and Duress effects, that was also good. I like having the main-board hate for storm, it makes me feel better about that matchup. Loam was great at pressing my advantage. Once I wiped out their hand/board, Loam kept the ball rolling. I think I will cut one, because multiples are not great. They do help dig for wincons by aggressively dredging. I took them out when I though folks were bringing in GY hate, or when I needed to be faster and more proactive. I've got another shot coming in a couple of weeks. I'll let you all know how I do there as well. Sadly I'm missing both Providence Open and GP DC. Keep Poxing!

My deck feel quite stable now (Finally, after close to two years work.)
The latest changes of increasing the number of lands, and reintroducing top, have been good. (tnx to the poster who had a deck with 27 lands)
I went 3-1 last tuesday and 2-2 today. The later result could have been better, but I failed to remove sideboard cards from my maindeck, and lost first duel in the second game to that. Small errors like that can make a big difference for the rest of ones tourney. The deck still felt nice. I defeated Stifle-nought and dredge. Losing to shardless agent (inexperience) and some kind of blade deck (that SB error).

Playing three each of Nihilith and Tombstalker is good, they don't flood my hand as often now.
However this mean I am a little short on win cons. I am thinking of adding Gatekeeper of Malakir
They would replace therapies and probes. Still, changes will be small from now on; the deck feels good.
Also I MAY play next time without sideboard. I am only fighting non-combo anyway:rolleyes:


4 Bloodghast
3 Tombstalker
3 Nihilith

4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Pox
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Sickening Dreams

3 Darkblast
3 Gitaxian probe
3 The Rack
2 Sensei’s Divining Top

21 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage


Oh, and Sickening Dreams have been useful. Mostly as finisher yet but that will change.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

My deck feel quite stable now (Finally, after close to two years work.)
The latest changes of increasing the number of lands, and reintroducing top, have been good. (tnx to the poster who had a deck with 27 lands)
I went 3-1 last tuesday and 2-2 today. The later result could have been better, but I failed to remove sideboard cards from my maindeck, and lost first duel in the second game to that. Small errors like that can make a big difference for the rest of ones tourney. The deck still felt nice. I defeated Stifle-nought and dredge. Losing to shardless agent (inexperience) and some kind of blade deck (that SB error).

Playing three each of Nihilith and Tombstalker is good, they don't flood my hand as often now.
However this mean I am a little short on win cons. I am thinking of adding Gatekeeper of Malakir
They would replace therapies and probes. Still, changes will be small from now on; the deck feels good.
Also I MAY play next time without sideboard. I am only fighting non-combo anyway:rolleyes:


4 Bloodghast
3 Tombstalker
3 Nihilith

4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Pox
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Sickening Dreams

3 Darkblast
3 Gitaxian probe
3 The Rack
2 Sensei’s Divining Top

21 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage


Oh, and Sickening Dreams have been useful. Mostly as finisher yet but that will change.

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With that many threats, I'd recommend a single Volrath's Stronghold and instead of Gatekeeper, go with Shriekmaw. I love its targetted kill and it can creature lock your foe with Stronghold if you just Evoke it all night long. But if your meta is Black creatures, Gatekeeper+Stronghold can work too.

Yeah, I have toyed with that idea. Thing is that it feels sort of 'indirect'. In other words; it is a control concept and is not improving my decks way of attack. *
(What the deck want to do is to cast pox after pox after pox after pox... I have considered naming it "S&M"^^)

The gatekeepers are useful, but added mainly because I wanted more dudes.


* this is why I don't play jitte in the main either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Punishing fire gives you inevitability, but not versus combo and control. A big beater like Tombstalker would be better.

Lavaclaw Reaches is worse than mishras factory, imho. Three mana activation cost? And then you want to inflate it...

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Last week I took out Lavaclaw Reaches and Punishing Fires and went with a traditional 4 Wasteland/4 Mishra's Factory build. That worked out better against UW Miracles, but cost me against Jund and Slivers(!). I'm going to try bringing back the Punishing Fires with Ghitu Encampments instead of Factories. Still more expensive to activate, but they provide colored mana and I feel like I still usually have spare mana (BB at least) to cast other spells.

I took the Tombstalker advice and added them in the board. Tombstalker would have won the match against UW Miracles except for singleton Terminus he had in the top 3 cards with an active Top. Sphere of Resistance has been awesome also so the plan against combo is Inquisition/Hymn and Sphere/Tombstalker. We'll see how that goes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Yeah, I have toyed with that idea. Thing is that it feels sort of 'indirect'. In other words; it is a control concept and is not improving my decks way of attack. *
(What the deck want to do is to cast pox after pox after pox after pox... I have considered naming it "S&M"^^)

The gatekeepers are useful, but added mainly because I wanted more dudes.


* this is why I don't play jitte in the main either.

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More dudes? Mesmeric Fiend + Gatekeeper = Overkill! :cool: EtB effects sound like something you must abuse

After reading a bit more, and removing mindbreak trap from my list I'm left with this.
I'm looking to take it to a 40ish man next weekend. Any thoughts?

1 Cursed Scroll
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sphere of Resistance

4 Lilliana of the Veil

1 Nether Spirit

2 Nether Void
2 Sylvan Library

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Sinkhole
4 Smallpox
1 Life From the loam
1 Innocent Blood
1 Thoughtseize

4 Bayou
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Mishras Factory
4 Swamp
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland

SB
2 Ensnaring Brigde
4 Pithing Needle
2 Pernicious Deed
1 Dismember
3 Extirpate
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Infest

I think I might just cut the sphere of resistance for another Crucible now that i think of it.

The last tourney took place after a major event in a nearby town, and was therefore small because of magic fatigue. Only five players... Mine Pox, Punishing Jund, Delver, Shardless BUG and Shardless Rug.
I defeated the Delver deck, 2-0, but went 1-4 vs the Shardless decks. Obviously I need to tweak my deck a bit.

The weakness of Shardless it that its strength, the card advantage, is a midgame phenomena. Since my deck is aggressive, or tempo, I figure my solutions should be focused on speed, not control. (I'll buy trinispheres for my other pox deck. When I build it:smile:)
Against this deck that means avoid my opponents means to handle my creatures. My creatures either have high CC, or recursion, which makes Abrupt decay useless and the Shardless player must rely on blocking. Unfortunately both the Agent and Baleful strix can stop the Nihilith, which is my most important creature (he is hard to counter because of the suspend thing). I have the choice of either kill the blockers, or just avoid them. In the first case a counter spell can put a wrench in my plans. Avoidance may be better, especially of the uncounterable kind:Filth This card give me that vs a deck that play swamps (Shardless Agent). To make sure it get into my graveyard without having to play more than one copy I will use Buried Alive. (Cool, it works with Bloodghasts too! And Vengeful Pharao, should i like to play it.) I could also add one or two Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth, but I do not own any. Better to wait until after testing to see if there is any point buying some.
Previously I have been reluctant to play Buried Alive, but running 24 lands may actually make it practical.

I am pondering replacing the rack with 1cc spot discard in main deck. It is a good card, but may be better to have it in SB to bring in vs deck that are more susceptible to it. Like ordinary Burn or Delver.

Another aspect of relying more on gravyard in main is that the opponent typically have the GY hate in the SB.


4 Bloodghast
3 Tombstalker
4 Nihilith

4 Smallpox
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Pox
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Sickening Dreams
3 Darkblast

2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 filth
3 buried alive
22 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage

Hey all. I just played in a 30 man 5 rounder in Goffsville, NH with Loam Pox. I used the list I posted last with -1 Life from the Loam, +1 Pox. My side board was tweaked to this:

4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Surgical Extractions
4 Infest
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Dystopia


I did horribly, bashing through round after round of bad match-ups, punting round 5 for a big 1-4 record. I'll spare you the report. We'll just note that I was prepared for RUG, BUG, Blade, S+S, Storm and D+T, and I played against Elves, 12Post, Goblins, Bant Armageddon Nemesis!, and Palinchron/High Tide. I love Legacy. EE was great in the board, and Chalice was great in the main, but that about all I got! Peace!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dwell

After reading a bit more, and removing mindbreak trap from my list I'm left with this.
I'm looking to take it to a 40ish man next weekend. Any thoughts?

1 Cursed Scroll
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sphere of Resistance

4 Lilliana of the Veil

1 Nether Spirit

2 Nether Void
2 Sylvan Library

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Sinkhole
4 Smallpox
1 Life From the loam
1 Innocent Blood
1 Thoughtseize

4 Bayou
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Mishras Factory
4 Swamp
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland

...

I think I might just cut the sphere of resistance for another Crucible now that i think of it.

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Nice list. I agree with cutting the maindeck Sphere for a Crucible; 2 Nether Voids is enough tax main, and Spheres are nowhere near as versatile. I think the list really needs some acceleration. Splashing green makes Rituals really clunky, but instead you get to run Mox Diamond! (my favourite). Rituals are explosive, but Moxen synergize better with Crucible, Sylvan Library, etc. and serve to colour fix. They are also important for beating Blood Moon. I'd cut the singleton Thoughtseize (you have enough discard), Life From the Loam (Crucible is better with Nether Void, and 2 pieces of land recursion is plenty), and Innocent Blood, at least. I'd also try to squeeze in a third Sylvan Library. The card is nuts. The sideboard looks nice. You'll want to cut the Deeds if you run moxen, but I don't miss 'em. Consider replacing Infest with Toxic Deluge.

That is a very nice list, Dwell, good luck at your tourney.

My deck has evolved into a rather fast ginsu knife of a Pox deck. I have been liking it's speed at establishing board and hand control.

I actually liked a 2-2 split between Ritual and Diamond, but apparently Blood Moon is a thing again, so another Mox is good hedge against that.



1 Nether Spirit
1 Bloodghast

2 Sylvan Library

3 Mox Diamond
1 Dark Ritual

4 Liliana of the Veil

2 Entomb
2 Life from the Loam
2 Innocent Blood
4 Smallpox
4 Sinkhole
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Inquisition of Kozaliek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Raven's Crime

2x Cabal Pit
4x Bayou
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Mishra's Factory
4x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Wasteland
1x Swamp

Side
2 Toxic Deluge
2 Drop of Honey
1 Krosan Grip
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Sphere of Resistance
3 Extirpate
1 Surgical Extraction

Hi guys,

Below is the list that I'm currently running, I would really appreciate your feedback or any needed changes or problems that you see. Thank you.

16 Swamp
4 Mishra’s Factory
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Innocent Blood
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
2 Raven’s Crime
2 Pox
2 Phyrexian Arena
4 The Rack
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Necrogen Mists
4 Haunted Plate Mail
4 Noetic Scales

It's a rather unique take on pox, tuned for a more creature centered meta, with a higher emphasis on discard and on artifacts and enchantments.

Creatures (2)

2 Nether Spirit

Planeswalkers (4)

4 Liliana of the Veil

Lands (25)

13 Swamp
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Spells (29)

3 Cursed Scroll
4 Dark Ritual
1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Innocent Blood
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Sinkhole
4 Smallpox
1 Nether Void

Sideboard
2 Pithing Needle
4 Engineered Plague
2 Leyline of the Void
2 Extirpate
3 Spinning Darkness
2 Toxic Deluge

this poc deck took 12th place at scg lgacy event

Reid Duke's deck, right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Reid Duke's deck, right?

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Who else could have packed "Night of Souls' Betrayal" ?

Nope, it was a certain Matthew Everitt