[Primer/Deck] Pox

The biggest reason I'd never suggest excluding Big Bro Pox is due to the threat density and clock speeds. Granted, you can say 'play 2 threats! then you get double the clock speed!' There's also time limits to consider. We don't run 12 threats, usually 6-9 I'm seeing in newer lists so hitting with that 2nd threat wouldn't statistically be that common place. That and blockers, I hate blockers.

Awesome sauce occurs when you're at 3 lands, 1 recurrable threat, and 3 cards in hand. Happens often enough. And always faster than your opponent can balance their hand/resources. When you lose 1-2 cards to Pox and they lose 3-6 cards, there's ultimate card advantage to be had.

The idea that Dig Through Time is one of our worst issues is a real one. "Skipping" 7 turns to get 2 cards you need is crazy over powered. Chains of Mephistopheles is probably our strongest weapon against this thing, though it's prohibitive wallet cost doesn't help many. Thankfully, it's not a staple and we've got land destruction to deal with top decked spells. I'm bringing back my 1-of Crucible to Waste/Ghost Quarter lock.

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

The biggest reason I'd never suggest excluding Big Bro Pox is due to the threat density and clock speeds. Granted, you can say 'play 2 threats! then you get double the clock speed!' There's also time limits to consider. We don't run 12 threats, usually 6-9 I'm seeing in newer lists so hitting with that 2nd threat wouldn't statistically be that common place. That and blockers, I hate blockers.

Awesome sauce occurs when you're at 3 lands, 1 recurrable threat, and 3 cards in hand. Happens often enough. And always faster than your opponent can balance their hand/resources. When you lose 1-2 cards to Pox and they lose 3-6 cards, there's ultimate card advantage to be had.

The idea that Dig Through Time is one of our worst issues is a real one. "Skipping" 7 turns to get 2 cards you need is crazy over powered. Chains of Mephistopheles is probably our strongest weapon against this thing, though it's prohibitive wallet cost doesn't help many. Thankfully, it's not a staple and we've got land destruction to deal with top decked spells. I'm bringing back my 1-of Crucible to Waste/Ghost Quarter lock.

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I'm not saying Pox is bad. I'm saying it is not mandatory.

Chains is/was a good "hate" card against drawing engine, but DTT IS NOT affected by Chains. How unfortunate...

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

What would be the 'flex slots' in this established deck you speak of?

For my opinion, the 'must have' cards in traditional Pox would be:
Innocent Blood
Inquisition of Kozilek
Hymn to Tourach
Sinkhole
Smallpox
1-2 Pox
Liliana of the Veil
Wasteland

That's half a deck right there. Are we even allowed wiggle room anymore? :cry: I think the reality of a Pox deck's strength ultimately lies in the Sideboard's ability to heal a game's problems vs. the 'band aids' that others use. (one - shot temporary effects)

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I should have simply written "deck" rather than "deck list" in the post above* since we're not RUG Delver with 54 fixed slots, but Ralf and kombatkiwi have pretty much answered the question and expressed my thoughts already.

I also wouldn't say that the card Pox is mandatory, but I would definitely add a playset of Mishra's Factory and a few Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to the list above. Furthermore, I can't come up with a good reason for not including both 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and 1-3 The Abyss and in your 75. The irony with the deck is that although a fairly good version can be built on a budget, a fully powered Pox deck certainly should have access to the not so budget-friendly stuff from Legends, including Chains of Mephistopheles and possibly Nether Void (I usually prefer Sphere of Resistance or Trinisphere here).

* Edited now.

the new planeswalkers in the Origins set are cool. Unfortunately it is not to blacks advantage. (Green ramp will be silly)

Any tips for miracle / Omni as sideboard choices ?

I'm struggling right now to settle on a proper sideboard and I'm asking for help from mono black players.

I won't lie I'm not playing Pox but a mono black (home brew) which I'm very happy with so far.

Here is the list (for those interested):

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
10 Swamp
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Geralf's Messenger
2 Empty the Pits
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dark Ritual
4 Geth's Verdict
4 Soul Spike
2 Cruel Bargain
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Infernal Contract
4 Innocent Blood
4 Inquisition of Kozilek

SB: 1 Spinning Darkness
SB: 1 Cranial Extraction
SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Cabal Therapy
SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 4 Extirpate

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralf

Any tips for miracle / Omni as sideboard choices ?

I'm struggling right now to settle on a proper sideboard and I'm asking for help from mono black players.

I won't lie I'm not playing Pox but a mono black (home brew) which I'm very happy with so far.

Here is the list (for those interested):

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
10 Swamp
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Geralf's Messenger
2 Empty the Pits
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dark Ritual
4 Geth's Verdict
4 Soul Spike
2 Cruel Bargain
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Infernal Contract
4 Innocent Blood
4 Inquisition of Kozilek

SB: 1 Spinning Darkness
SB: 1 Cranial Extraction
SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Cabal Therapy
SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 4 Extirpate

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Against miracles they are likely to baord out terminus because pox doesn't really run creatures. Run empty the pits, which late game can give them the 1-2 punch EoT

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Originally Posted by wuberg

I should have simply written "deck" rather than "deck list" in the post above* since we're not RUG Delver with 54 fixed slots, but Ralf and kombatkiwi have pretty much answered the question and expressed my thoughts already.

I also wouldn't say that the card Pox is mandatory, but I would definitely add a playset of Mishra's Factory and a few Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to the list above. Furthermore, I can't come up with a good reason for not including both 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and 1-3 The Abyss and in your 75. The irony with the deck is that although a fairly good version can be built on a budget, a fully powered Pox deck certainly should have access to the not so budget-friendly stuff from Legends, including Chains of Mephistopheles and possibly Nether Void (I usually prefer Sphere of Resistance or Trinisphere here).

* Edited now.

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I say Pox is mandatory due to the slow clocks. 1/3 life means your enemy has less time to play. That and for BBB, it's a great early bomb [kills hands] or late bomb [kills lands]. Of course, if your enemy has 4 creatures on the board, Smallpox isn't 'better' but you still get the card advantage. 4 of Pox is too much though. Did you choose those two artifacts due to their mana costs or the 'can't' clauses?

Also, with the cards you've mentioned, the 'list' is effectively 40+ cards or so. I argue against Tabernacle due to traditional lists running Nether Spirit. That 1 mana upkeep is precious. :eek:

With this in mind, I guess my best top-deck killers in the sideboard will remain as 2 pithing needles and 2 of 'that other thing' which I'm still searching for. I suppose it's time to save up hard for them Chains of Mephistopeles. :cool:

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

The idea that Dig Through Time is one of our worst issues is a real one. "Skipping" 7 turns to get 2 cards you need is crazy over powered. Chains of Mephistopheles is probably our strongest weapon against this thing, though it's prohibitive wallet cost doesn't help many. Thankfully, it's not a staple and we've got land destruction to deal with top decked spells. I'm bringing back my 1-of Crucible to Waste/Ghost Quarter lock.

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Against decks like Blade Control and other heavy users of Dig Through Time and also using Snapcaster Mage, is siding in Leyline of the Void overkill? Assuming that we're running no other graveyard hate. I'm on the fence if it's too much dedication to a card that isn't a straight up threat, but also causes us so much misery.

Better to try wreck their game plan instead.

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Originally Posted by PirateKing

Against decks like Blade Control and other heavy users of Dig Through Time and also using Snapcaster Mage, is siding in Leyline of the Void overkill? Assuming that we're running no other graveyard hate. I'm on the fence if it's too much dedication to a card that isn't a straight up threat, but also causes us so much misery.

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I would definitely bring these in against an opponent sporting Snapcaster Mage and DTT. Relic is another great option here, as it cantrips and keeps them off of DTT without having you crack it.

edit: DTT is part of their game-plan. If you can close them off of an entire game zone, then why not?

I've considered Relic, since I wouldn't run a full four in the side, there'd be one or two open slots, get some room for more variety. Not convinced totally yet, because that turn zero feels so good and it dodges Decay, I feel it's the safer card. But maybe stepping out of the comfort zone every once in a while is good, no?

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Originally Posted by PirateKing

I've considered Relic, since I wouldn't run a full four in the side, there'd be one or two open slots, get some room for more variety. Not convinced totally yet, because that turn zero feels so good and it dodges Decay, I feel it's the safer card. But maybe stepping out of the comfort zone every once in a while is good, no?

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the cantrip on relic is nice if you see draw an unwanted second. also, if it's not in your opener, it comes online a lot faster and a late leyline won't stop them from dtt. i'm playing zombies and am trying 2 relic 1 leyline of the void for now.

i have tried nihil spell bomb, which does the same thing. The reasoning was to take advantage of the combination of gy hate and cantrips, making the deck leaner and more efficient.

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

I say Pox is mandatory due to the slow clocks. 1/3 life means your enemy has less time to play. That and for BBB, it's a great early bomb [kills hands] or late bomb [kills lands]. Of course, if your enemy has 4 creatures on the board, Smallpox isn't 'better' but you still get the card advantage. 4 of Pox is too much though. Did you choose those two artifacts due to their mana costs or the 'can't' clauses?

Also, with the cards you've mentioned, the 'list' is effectively 40+ cards or so. I argue against Tabernacle due to traditional lists running Nether Spirit. That 1 mana upkeep is precious. :eek:

With this in mind, I guess my best top-deck killers in the sideboard will remain as 2 pithing needles and 2 of 'that other thing' which I'm still searching for. I suppose it's time to save up hard for them Chains of Mephistopeles. :cool:

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I would never run less than four Smallpox, but have tried zero big Pox with reasonable results which is why I don't consider it 100% mandatory. However, I do agree that it's a very powerful card and 1-2 main is pretty sweet. The reason for why I usually prefer Sphere of Resistance and/or Trinisphere over Nether Void is that they drop earlier and effectively do the same job against e.g. Storm. Nether Void does have benefits since it creates a harder lock and can't be destroyed by Abrupt Decay, but it's also trickier to time with your own resources, not to mention that it destroys The Abyss due to the World supertype.

Not running Tabernacle because you have a Nether Spirit main is silly, the same line of argument would prohibit The Abyss as well. Given that the opponent have more creatures than you, she/he will be more severely affected. Furthermore, you can stack the triggers so that you have Nether Spirit in play every second turn and Mishra's Factory is still alive and kicking.

Pithing Needle is indeed great in Pox since it can adress both artifacts and planeswalkers that are otherwise problematic for us. I've been running one main and it seldom disappoints. Oppression is a pretty fun card until you've gotten your hands on Chains. It's a somewhat different effect of course (best in a discard heavy build in my experience), but it wrecks some of the decks that you would want Chains against.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

i have tried nihil spell bomb, which does the same thing. The reasoning was to take advantage of the combination of gy hate and cantrips, making the deck leaner and more efficient.

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I can see the reasoning for this. Relic being a two-way effect sucks.

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Originally Posted by Kanti

I can see the reasoning for this. Relic being a two-way effect sucks.

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relic's first ability can be really useful though when it comes down early game.

Yeah, when I posted that I was thinking about my Loam Pox build. I don't think I'd like Relic too much in there, but in Mono-B Pox there is no reason to run Nihil Spellbomb, Crypt, or any other cheap artifact gy hate. It keeps opponents off delve, blows up if you need it to, and cantrips.

Newish magic player (5 years off and on) new to Legacy (a few months.) Like many others I saw Reid Duke play this deck and fell in love with it. Here's my current list and some results.

• 1x Nether Spirit
  1x Bloodghast
  
  4x Lilliana
  4x Dark Ritual
  4x Thoughtseize
  4x Smallpox
  3x innocent Blood
  1x Pox
  1x Toxic Deluge
  4x Sinkhole
  4x Hymn to Tourach
  2x Cursed Scroll
  3x Crucible of Worlds
  
  4x Mishra's Factory
  2x Bojuka Bog
  1x Cabal Pit
  3x Urborg
  4x Wasteland
  10x Swamp
  
  SB
  
  3x Leyline
  1x Gate to Phyrexia
  3x Extirpate
  2x Pithing Needle
  3x Engineered Plague
  1x Sudden Spoiling
  1x Memoricide
  1x Tombstalker
  

My overall impression of the deck so far is very positive. I will be the first to admit I'm not an amazing magic payer, still making a lot of mistakes and need to put in more reps with the deck. It does however fit my play style and every win with it is very satisfying. Sideboard is very up in the air which I'll talk about later. I've played two events so far

SCG Worcester 5/23

Game 1 Omni-Tell
My first game at a legacy tournament - was obviously nervous. Match 1 I drew crap and mulled to 6 on the play. Opened up with thoughtseize saw double show and tell. Tried to beat up his hand as best I could but he hid is show and tell with brainstorm. Hard casted Emerakul sucks, and not instant speed removal is one of the biggest problems with my build currently.

Match 2 I sided in Extirpate. Didn't really help and I was pretty lost went pretty much like game 1.

Game 2 - ANT.

I don't remember much of this match up because it went really fast. Nice opening hands both matches beat up his hand quickly and got 2 quick scoops when he had 0 cards in hand.

Game 3 UW stoneblade
Match 1 drew good opening hand turn 1 lili w/ no force to stop it. Got down stoneforge and got batterskull in hand but was never able to cast it. Recurred wasteland, he no lands in play for 5-6 turns, multiple mishra's factory beatdown.
Match 2 no SB, didn't need it got him in a pretty early lili/Crucible lock and cursed scrolled him for literally 20 damage. This guy was not happy lol.

Game 4 MUD

This was a deck I'd heard of but never really looked into. Match 1 I was lucky enough to get a nuts draw, turn 1 lili followed by sinkhole, hymn etc etc.
Match 2 I was too cocky I was 2-1 at my first Legacy event and was playing against a deck with no blue in it! I don't think I boarded anything in. Mulled down to 6 on the draw with an OK hand. turn 1 chalice set to 1, then turn 2 trinisphere. Metal worker showed up and not far behind it was Blightsteel.
Match 3, I think I boarded here but not sure what it was. Looking back should have been pithing needle for metal worker, but anyway went a lot like match 2 with a bit of a grind turns 3-6ish.

Game 5 RWU stoneforge/delver (does this have a name?)

I felt good going into this with how badly I stomped on UW stoneblade and my friends RUG delver deck I played a few days before casually. Match 1 was pretty grindy but I ended up dying to a topdeck Clique and didn't draw an answer for several turns. By the time I did he was able to get out Jitte and blitzed out a snapcaster during my endstep.
Match 2 I was feeling a little defeated here and made a huge playmistake. I saw his hand turn 1 with thoughtseize, had 2 spell pierce. Turn 2 drew dark ritual and tried to play engineered plague naming wizards... oh yeah about those spell pierces.

I played another small tournament at my local store lost game 1 to omni show, and game 2 to Lands I won't go into as much detail but I think omni is a tough matchup and lands is winnable but I drew crap both games and had him on the ropes game 2 but didnt draw a 3rd land (2nd on board after smallpox) forever!

So things I lost to the most other than poor playing on my part - hardcast Emerakul and end of my turn Marit Lage. I think I need more instant speed edict effects in the board, I like sudden spoiling too because it has split second. If they have to pass the turn back to me I should be able to do a sorcery speed sac effect.

Sorry for the long post, will check back with changes, and any suggestions on my SB!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VonHannemark

Newish magic player (5 years off and on) new to Legacy (a few months.) Like many others I saw Reid Duke play this deck and fell in love with it. Here's my current list and some results.

• 1x Nether Spirit
  1x Bloodghast
  
  4x Lilliana
  4x Dark Ritual
  4x Thoughtseize
  4x Smallpox
  3x innocent Blood
  1x Pox
  1x Toxic Deluge
  4x Sinkhole
  4x Hymn to Tourach
  2x Cursed Scroll
  3x Crucible of Worlds
  
  4x Mishra's Factory
  2x Bojuka Bog
  1x Cabal Pit
  3x Urborg
  4x Wasteland
  10x Swamp
  
  SB
  
  3x Leyline
  1x Gate to Phyrexia
  3x Extirpate
  2x Pithing Needle
  3x Engineered Plague
  1x Sudden Spoiling
  1x Memoricide
  1x Tombstalker
  

My overall impression of the deck so far is very positive. I will be the first to admit I'm not an amazing magic payer, still making a lot of mistakes and need to put in more reps with the deck. It does however fit my play style and every win with it is very satisfying. Sideboard is very up in the air which I'll talk about later. I've played two events so far

SCG Worcester 5/23

Game 1 Omni-Tell
My first game at a legacy tournament - was obviously nervous. Match 1 I drew crap and mulled to 6 on the play. Opened up with thoughtseize saw double show and tell. Tried to beat up his hand as best I could but he hid is show and tell with brainstorm. Hard casted Emerakul sucks, and not instant speed removal is one of the biggest problems with my build currently.

Match 2 I sided in Extirpate. Didn't really help and I was pretty lost went pretty much like game 1.

Game 2 - ANT.

I don't remember much of this match up because it went really fast. Nice opening hands both matches beat up his hand quickly and got 2 quick scoops when he had 0 cards in hand.

Game 3 UW stoneblade
Match 1 drew good opening hand turn 1 lili w/ no force to stop it. Got down stoneforge and got batterskull in hand but was never able to cast it. Recurred wasteland, he no lands in play for 5-6 turns, multiple mishra's factory beatdown.
Match 2 no SB, didn't need it got him in a pretty early lili/Crucible lock and cursed scrolled him for literally 20 damage. This guy was not happy lol.

Game 4 MUD

This was a deck I'd heard of but never really looked into. Match 1 I was lucky enough to get a nuts draw, turn 1 lili followed by sinkhole, hymn etc etc.
Match 2 I was too cocky I was 2-1 at my first Legacy event and was playing against a deck with no blue in it! I don't think I boarded anything in. Mulled down to 6 on the draw with an OK hand. turn 1 chalice set to 1, then turn 2 trinisphere. Metal worker showed up and not far behind it was Blightsteel.
Match 3, I think I boarded here but not sure what it was. Looking back should have been pithing needle for metal worker, but anyway went a lot like match 2 with a bit of a grind turns 3-6ish.

Game 5 RWU stoneforge/delver (does this have a name?)

I felt good going into this with how badly I stomped on UW stoneblade and my friends RUG delver deck I played a few days before casually. Match 1 was pretty grindy but I ended up dying to a topdeck Clique and didn't draw an answer for several turns. By the time I did he was able to get out Jitte and blitzed out a snapcaster during my endstep.
Match 2 I was feeling a little defeated here and made a huge playmistake. I saw his hand turn 1 with thoughtseize, had 2 spell pierce. Turn 2 drew dark ritual and tried to play engineered plague naming wizards... oh yeah about those spell pierces.

I played another small tournament at my local store lost game 1 to omni show, and game 2 to Lands I won't go into as much detail but I think omni is a tough matchup and lands is winnable but I drew crap both games and had him on the ropes game 2 but didnt draw a 3rd land (2nd on board after smallpox) forever!

So things I lost to the most other than poor playing on my part - hardcast Emerakul and end of my turn Marit Lage. I think I need more instant speed edict effects in the board, I like sudden spoiling too because it has split second. If they have to pass the turn back to me I should be able to do a sorcery speed sac effect.

Sorry for the long post, will check back with changes, and any suggestions on my SB!

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you can't needle metalworker. Mana ability. Needle doesnt stop those.

uwr delver / stoneforge is called patriot aggro

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Originally Posted by wuberg

I would never run less than four Smallpox, but have tried zero big Pox with reasonable results which is why I don't consider it 100% mandatory. However, I do agree that it's a very powerful card and 1-2 main is pretty sweet. The reason for why I usually prefer Sphere of Resistance and/or Trinisphere over Nether Void is that they drop earlier and effectively do the same job against e.g. Storm. Nether Void does have benefits since it creates a harder lock and can't be destroyed by Abrupt Decay, but it's also trickier to time with your own resources, not to mention that it destroys The Abyss due to the World supertype.

Not running Tabernacle because you have a Nether Spirit main is silly, the same line of argument would prohibit The Abyss as well. Given that the opponent have more creatures than you, she/he will be more severely affected. Furthermore, you can stack the triggers so that you have Nether Spirit in play every second turn and Mishra's Factory is still alive and kicking.

Pithing Needle is indeed great in Pox since it can adress both artifacts and planeswalkers that are otherwise problematic for us. I've been running one main and it seldom disappoints. Oppression is a pretty fun card until you've gotten your hands on Chains. It's a somewhat different effect of course (best in a discard heavy build in my experience), but it wrecks some of the decks that you would want Chains against.

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Excellent points. I think the biggest point I see with The Abyss is that it won't save you from a bad board position. If they have a lot of damage on the field [3+ creatures], unless your HP is high, you're more than likely dead. Tabernacle on the other hand can hit the field and BLAM, that Dredge player lost all his threats. Night of Souls' Betrayal is my high impact card that is combination board wipe and 'extirpator' for weaklings. I suppose you would find it silly, but since I like Smallpoxing/Poxing with 4 or less land, I'm paranoid with my open mana. Though Tabernacle would be more epic in a non-creature Pox deck. I've tried Uba Mask in place of Chains since it is a replacement effect, and absolutely awkward against a dredger. However, it's high mana cost does hurt a bit.

I'm glad you mentioned Oppression, though I'm not sure how it affects someone who's drawing more cards. My ultimate bane is SDT since it allows a player to essentially play with the 3 top cards in their deck in their hand (or more depending on how many open fetchlands there are). High impact permanents are the name of the game here and Pithing needle is probably my strongest weapon here. Maybe I should just go out and buy more and run 4 in my sideboard. There's always targets a plenty to needle.

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Originally Posted by mykatdied

you can't needle metalworker. Mana ability. Needle doesnt stop those.

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Thank you, I definitely would have made that mistake in game!

Starcity Games Chicago is coming up mid-July. I've reverted back to my Reid-Duke flavored deck with 8 threats instead of 9, 1 Big Pox, and have swapped out my 'spell lands' and Crucible for a very special card I've found to be the ultimate top-deck killer for most of the decks in the deck-to-beat sections.

Both here and MTGSalvation.

My only hope is that luck won't force me to fight a stream of Dredge and Burn since both those deck archetypes, though rare, are 'anti-Pox' as it were.

I'll bring out my trusty gaming notepad and record all the nasty details and will post tournament report here when I can. If you're going to be there, I hope to see ya there.

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

I've found to be the ultimate top-deck killer for most of the decks in the deck-to-beat sections.

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Spicy! Any hints?

Are you going to bring Underworld Dreams? That seemed like it was working wellagainst Miracles for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PirateKing

Spicy! Any hints?

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The only hint I can give out:

My deck is Mono-Black Pox... :tongue: This will be my first like, 'big big' tourney so I don't want prying eyes. For Underworld Dreams, I won't be bringing it. It really doesn't matter what you draw if you can't cast it. :eek:

If you figure it out, please no talking... shhh. ^_^

Reading Carsten kotter's latest article i feel vindicated. Over a month ago i claimed at the lgs that dig though time was far better than treasure cruise. It is an insane card: you can dig for both an answer AND a threat! Discard is pretty useless against that.

My thinking is that graveyard hate in main is not good enough.
Mana denial otoh should be good. If you have few land then dtt will not be as effective.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

Reading Carsten kotter's latest article i feel vindicated. Over a month ago i claimed at the lgs that dig though time was far better than treasure cruise. It is an insane card: you can dig for both an answer AND a threat! Discard is pretty useless against that.

My thinking is that graveyard hate in main is not good enough.
Mana denial otoh should be good. If you have few land then dtt will not be as effective.

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Dig through time can't be far better than treasure cruise. :tongue: If it was, it would be banned instead of Treasure Cruise. :eek:

Whoa, in magiccards.info, TC is banned only in Modern. :confused:

GY hate works if you can keep it empty indefinitely, so Leyline of the Void would be a mainstay. But I agree with your mana denial statement. You'll just have to draw 2 land instead of a threat/answer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OmniStrata

The only hint I can give out:

My deck is Mono-Black Pox... :tongue: This will be my first like, 'big big' tourney so I don't want prying eyes. For Underworld Dreams, I won't be bringing it. It really doesn't matter what you draw if you can't cast it. :eek:

If you figure it out, please no talking... shhh. ^_^

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i could be wrong but...
did you just buy what i think you did?! awesome!! :eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zenitramleirdag

i could be wrong but...
did you just buy what i think you did?! awesome!! :eek:

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Tell us, already.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by echofish

Tell us, already.

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I can tell you what it's not. It's not symmetrical. It's not Nether Void, though I do wish to get it sooner or later. :tongue: I need to test it at the tourney. It's less than a month away! Have some patience. :wink:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by echofish

Tell us, already.

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Yes, Please! :)

Hi guys

I have recently joined the ranks of Pox players. Two years ago when I first encountered Liliana's Caress I have immediately fallen in love with discard mechanic. And the time came when I started to become interested in Legacy. Then I found Pox and you know the rest ;]

The deck I have managed to put together so far looks as follows:

Mainboard

2x Cursed Scroll
3x Dark Ritual
2x Tombstalker
3x Hymn to Tourach
3x Innocent Blood
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Liliana of the Veil
2x Nether Spirit
2x Nether Void
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal
2x Pox
4x Sinkhole
4x Smallpox

Lands

11x Swamp
1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4x Mishra's Factory
4x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Wasteland

Sideboard

2x Chains of Mephistopheles
2x Engineered Plague
2x Ensnaring Bridge
3x Leyline of the Void
3x Pithing Needle
3x Surgical Extraction

Regarding the mainboard I, as many other players, have tried to find something that could speed things up. And for now I find Tombstalker to be quite effective.
I used to run one nether spirit but recently I've decided to find some space for a second one, mostly because many a time I was in a dire need of him, and he simply didn't show up. With one copy amongst 59 other cards he just rarely shows up to the point I felt I didn't have him at all. I have experimented with Sensei's Divining Top and I must say it helped quite a bit but only when it hit the board very early in the game. In the mid/late game it had very little impact on the game. On the other hand I'm extremely satisfied with Nether Void. This card really works wonders.
Sideboard is strictly meta dependant and the one above is my universal list. I've been thinking about a few changes as recently at my local shop I haven't had any real need to use leyline of the void. My idea is to - 3 Leylines and + 1 Engineered Plague + 1 Ensnaring Bridge + 1 The Abyss. And one more thing I've been considering to include is Black Sun's Zenith. It can wipe the board, even though it may not be able, at times, to kill goyfs or butterskuls it is still easier to defend against 1/2 goyf etc. And additionaly it serves as a shuffle effect and above all it's a recurring removal.

I will try to post any interesting things that can contribute to the topic. Let's spread the disease!

Cheers!

Hello Amfibolos! What do you do if your GY gets jammed with creatures and you have Nether Spirits begging to come back? Old tech was Spinning Darkness to control the top 3 of your Yard but I've found Murderous Cut to be even better at keeping your GY creature free for Nether Spirit's attendance. Granted, Tombstalker can do it too. :cool:

10 win conditions. A faster clock is never bad, unless it eats into your disruption to the point where you're not disrupting enough. Why only 3 hymn to tourach?

It is really difficult to squeeze all those useful cards in just 60 slots ^^. I have Spinning Darkness but I didn't want to swap it for cards like Innocent blood or others. I had one plus 3 IB but later I inserted Big Pox instead of SD for obvious reasons. With 2 Tombstalkers and 1 Nether spirit I had only once encountered a match where I couldn't reanimate NS. And it was a second game against miracles. The first one was quite quick cause even without Sensei's DT my opponent drew angels twice in a row :/, so for the second game we had plenty of time and it so happened that we put each other in a prison situation. My tombstalker got countered and I had enough cards to not include the spirit in the delve cost, but no tombstalker and reanimation. But for half an hour we drew and discarded thanks to Liliana. If it hadn't been for the long game, such situation wouldn't occur. It has never been an issue for me, at least so far, that is why I want to try second Nether spirit to see how this is going to work for me. The reason for only three copies of hymn is that I wanted to have 2 big Poxes, I had to find space for 2 tombstalkers, Night of Souls' Betrayal and there is one flexible slot where I had Spinning Darkness, then SDT, now I have Nether Spirit and I would also like to test Black Sun's Zenith. I could exclude Dark Rituals but the explosivness it provides sometimes is ineffable. It can speed up Nether Void or under its effect I can still cast some more expensive spells. It was rather onerous to leave one behind but I will not cut Sinkhole or smallpoxes which have greater synergy with Nether Void as a mana denial sources.

Hey all, getting back into Pox after some time.

Decided to make a pretty standard list, albeit with some flair:

1 Nether Spirit

4 Liliana of the Veil

4 Dark Ritual

4 Smallpox
4 Sinkhole
4 Inquisition of Kozilek/Thoughtseize
4 Innocent Blood
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Word of Command

1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Cursed Scroll

1 Bojuka Bog
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Maze of Ith
1 Rishadan Port
1 The Tabernacle at PV
1 Spawning Pool
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Urborg, TOY
4 Wasteland
8 Swamp


Word of Command has been a pet card of mine and I'm always trying to find ways to play it. It's very good against 1 card enabler decks, like Show and Tell, and cards that search libraries--Natural Order their best guy, fail to find, etc. it's good at getting cards out of their hands and tripping up their mana for a turn. You can't tap them out like Slaver, but you can make them pay the cost of the spell awkwardly or not efficently, which FEELS like a Mana Short and more denial.

Ghost Quarter lock is a favorite of mine. :)

Suggestion and comments welcomed.

wizards are fucking stupid in the head. In the Magic Origins we don't get good cards to build our decks around, but hate cards for their previous mistakes. This is
how we are supposed to handle emrakul griselbrand etc:
http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/...8819981952.png



White got a better card for that purpose by the way:http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/...6693541737.png
Adding insult to injury

Hallowed moonlight is is playable even in main deck for all who play white. In fact it would make perfect sense to go BW pox since the card is a better diabolic edict that hit dredge, show and tell, reanimator, vial natural order etc etc etc. very hard. It is also rare and i will get a set or two least for money investment...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hardcore

wizards are fucking stupid in the head. In the Magic Origins we don't get good cards to build our decks around, but hate cards for their previous mistakes. This is
how we are supposed to handle emrakul griselbrand etc:
http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/...8819981952.png



White got a better card for that purpose by the way:http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/...6693541737.png
Adding insult to injury

---

LoL. Why does blue get one of the best aggro creatures in the game?! I say we get a Liliana that's BB with two loyalty to start and a +1 that says target player sacrifices a creature! :laugh:

I agree with you though, their R&D must be on some good stuffs.

I would prefer they used the banhammer. These new cards feels like wizard CHEATS, or unwanted charity.