[DECK] Loam Pox

[GGoober]

This is a BG version of the deck Pox. The BW version is called Vaka Pox. Here's the thread on the development for BG Pox

First of all, why green, not white?

White:
Vindicate: Best targetted removal
StP: Best creature removal
Ghostly Prison: Stalls aggro

Green:
Life from the Loam: Easily the best land recursion engine, allows the deck to use Mox Diamonds, just as Aggro Loam does
Eternal Witness: Amazing card, especially with Volrath's Stronghold
Pernicious Deed: Best removal in the game.

Comparing both, I think that Vaka Pox is still a stronger build, but in an optimized build, Pernicious Deed + Witness + Loam + Volrath's Stronghold is easily the best board sweeper, with all the LD and disruption that Pox packs by nature.

Without further ado, here's the decklist for discussion and optimization:


Manabase (24 lands)
1 Forest
4 Swamp
2 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Polluted Delta
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Bayou
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
3 Mox Diamond

Pox disruption
4 Thoughtseize
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Smallpox
4 Sinkhole
2 Pox

Board control/threats
3 Life from the Loam
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Eternal Witness
3 Tombstalker

Sideboard:
4 Engineered Plague
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Krosan Grip
4 ?? Meta dependent cards

The deck plays a little like BRG Aggro Loam but has the win condition with Tombstalker. I'm considering playing with Epochrasite insteads since they function as better consistent creatures, but Tombstalker is easily the best creature in Legacy right now next to Goyf. Eternal Witness is the heart of the deck, and works great with Loam + Stronghold as in all BG control builds. The 24 lands allow you to play comfortably with 3 Moxes.

Turn one Moxes allow for an earlier Pox, or a turn 1 hymn, but most importantly, it allows you to play your 3cc spells on second turn. Eternal Witness would be able to bring back another thoughtseize/Hymn.

Unlike other Pox builds, this build focuses intensively on disruption the first 2 turns, much like Eva Green or Sui Black. It does so at the cost of its own cards, but there's much more recursion, immediately, to land bombs and recurr threats than in Vaka Pox thanks to Loam + Witness + Stronghold.

Garruk, when resolved, helps in the Pox plan of things. He allows you to double your mana with his +1 ability, and he is unaffected by Pox or Pernicious Deed. Many people know of the Extended build with Garruk + Death Cloud, therefore Garruk serves as a similar role in this deck. He's very much playable thanks to Mox + Loam, and the GG isn't an issue in the deck. After a resolved Deeds/Pox, Garruk would start sending in beasts, untapping lands for continued disruption, and probably would win the game by himself.


Comments would be appreciated, and here are some issues to consider:
- Stifle hurting the manabase and Deed activation. We might want to play safe and run less fetches. And on the Deed activation, I think that we should activate only when necessary, when opponents are tapped out of blue. It will seem fairly obvious if he has a blue open. Or we can simply bait, with a fetchland. It's almost instinct to stifle a Fetchland, and losing a land isn't as bad as losing Deeds, unless you can't blow it up for the required mana

- Heavy aggro matchup. This deck may have problems v.s. Heavy aggro, but the sideboard with Engineered Plague would help. I'm a huge fan of Powder Keg, and I'm intending for this deck to go Poxless, and end up with Powder Kegs. Not sure what to remove. EE is another possibility with the manabase. All these are recurrable with Loam + Witness + stronghold.