[Deck] Pox

[eternaldarkness]

Your thinking about Blinkmoth Nexus. Mishra's Factories are also base 2/2 similar to Mutavault. Factories being artifact creatures really isn't that big a deal; not a whole lot of people will board in artifact destruction against Pox. And if they do just to get rid of Factory, then that's one less answer to Crucible. The reason why I would consider Mutavault over Factory would be if I'm in a Merfolk heavy meta where my manlands can piggyback ride on their lords. Other than that, the pump ability makes Factories the better choice.

[Poxrocks]

Eternaldarkness summed up my reasoning behind Mishra's Factor > Mutavault.

Even in a Merfolk meta you'll only be piggybacking on Lord of Atlantis with Mutavault. With two Lord of Atlantis on the table Mutavault is better than Mishra's Factory. However, you're also probably screwed because you opponent has two Lord of Atlantis on the board, presumably with all his other fishies.

[Smea.gol.lum]

I'm planning to take Pox to GP Amsterdam and haven't settled on my sideboard cards yet.
So far it looks like this:
3 Null Rod
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Extirpate
3 Pithing Needle
3 open slots

I'm still desperately searching for an answer for aggro, but haven't found an adequate one yet.
Perish is good against certain decks, but it doesn't help so much against Zoo, which is a bad matchup(at least fast Zoo).
Lately, I've been testing Spinning Darkness, but I had mixed feelings regarding the disharmony with Tombstalker.

Any proposals?

[Grollub]

You could try Deathmark if you're contend with spot removal, but feel like Spinning Darkness' alternative cost hampers your Tombstalkers too much.

[Poxrocks]

Withering Wisps is great against aggro. Unfortunately, it take a turn to be effective.

Infest (or even Massacre depending on the meta) won't kill a fully grown Kird Ape/Goyf/Nacatl, but it can clear a board of all the other annoying creatures eating your edict spells.

[zathe922]

Powder Keg or Ratchet Bomb? I guess Damnation could work but it is probably to expensive for pox.

[jin]

Consuming vapor is quite a lot cheaper and very good against zoo... Life gain is really helpful... Also 2 for one is good

[TokenMaster]

I generally prefer Powder Keg to deal with Zoo. Consuming Vapors is okay, but will definitely be too slow if Zoo gets the momentum early. If Zoo is a really big problem in your meta, then Phyrexian Cusader might be really helpful. First Strike with infect will automatically render their Kird Apes useless, and protection from boros colors makes it immune to removal. Can't stop a Tarmogoyf, but it stops everything else.

[jin]

I generally prefer Powder Keg to deal with Zoo. Consuming Vapors is okay, but will definitely be too slow if Zoo gets the momentum early. If Zoo is a really big problem in your meta, then Phyrexian Cusader might be really helpful. First Strike with infect will automatically render their Kird Apes useless, and protection from boros colors makes it immune to removal. Can't stop a Tarmogoyf, but it stops everything else.

Keg sucks vs Zoo. The crusader is interesting..

[bowvamp]

The crusader can only be viewed as creature hate against zoo though, because no other sources of damage in the deck help him to kill your opponent. I'd rather play Wall of Tanglecord, Wall of Junk or Shield Sphere. If your list supports it Meekstone could be useful, although it does nothing to goblins, and allows other creature strategies to amass a swarm and swing for lethal. If you're running white, there's Island Sanctuary, and Ghostly Prison.

[TokenMaster]

The crusader can only be viewed as creature hate against zoo though, because no other sources of damage in the deck help him to kill your opponent. I'd rather play Wall of Tanglecord, Wall of Junk or Shield Sphere. If your list supports it Meekstone could be useful, although it does nothing to goblins, and allows other creature strategies to amass a swarm and swing for lethal. If you're running white, there's Island Sanctuary, and Ghostly Prison.

Walls can get killed by removal, and the ones you listed can also be destroyed by Qasali Pridemage. Also, the Crusader is more than just an empty blocker, because infect will instantly render Kird Apes and anything with power 2 or less unable to deal damage in the following turns, which can give you plenty of time to start fighting back. Walls will just keep blocking one creature at a time without being able to shut them down.

[Smea.gol.lum]

Hmm, Infest doesn't do anything against Zoo as well as against Merfolk most of the time.

Damnation and Consuming Vapors are too slow.

The walls obviously suck in conjunction with Smallpox and Innocent Blood as well as Phyrexian Crusader (with lifelink maybe, but without it's far too slow).

I think I'll stick with Ratchet Bombs as they are astonishingly decent against 1-drop-Zoo which is the scariest version and also handles other problem cards like Bitterblossom.

[bowvamp]

I wasn't suggesting that you actually use any of the cards I said were equivalent to Crusader. Also, my main point was that Crusader is only going to be a reliably good blocker and is really bad dis-synergy with life loss effects. Death's Shadow costs less mana, kills more stuff, and is synergistic with life loss. Basically, crusader doesn't work very well.
Also, Sun Droplet works VERY well against burn-heavy zoo.

Right now I'm using a Semi-Nassif Board with 4 Leylines. What are you all using for gy hate, combo hate, and swarm-creature hate?

[Koby]

What are you all using for gy hate, combo hate, and swarm-creature hate?

This is my SB as of now:

2 Spinning Darkness
3 Perish
2 Smother
3 Extirpate
4 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Duress (3 maindeck, along with 3 IoK)

[Smea.gol.lum]

Have you tested Spinning Darkness a lot? Is it worth running it despite its dissynergy with Tombstalker?
I've thought about it, too, but have recently abandoned this idea.

My current sideboard looks like:

4 Leyline
2 Extirpate
3 Null Rod
3 Darkblast
3 Pithing Needle

In my testings I've often lost to control decks featuring Snapmages and Cliques.
It's really hard to stick a Liliana in this matchup and I've lost a bit of faith in my pox deck cause it's such a mess to play against these kinda decks.

[jin]

Have you tested Spinning Darkness a lot? Is it worth running it despite its dissynergy with Tombstalker?
I've thought about it, too, but have recently abandoned this idea.

My current sideboard looks like:

4 Leyline
2 Extirpate
3 Null Rod
3 Darkblast
3 Pithing Needle

In my testings I've often lost to control decks featuring Snapmages and Cliques.
It's really hard to stick a Liliana in this matchup and I've lost a bit of faith in my pox deck cause it's such a mess to play against these kinda decks.

How did you lose with Extirpate and Leyline? Which varient of Snapcaster is it?

I think you are running too many darkblasts in the sb...

I've tried spinning Darkness for several months, and it's not very impressive. I usually lose it to Pox or I don't have enough black cards to feed it. Pox isn't a really fast deck, so cards don't move around that often...

When you need Spinning Darkness (in the early game when creatures are still small), you really can't power it out through the alternative cost. I would rather play Contagion as the counters are permanent and makes multiple zoo creatures not viable.. of course this ultimately weakens your pox on them. In the end I cut both for cheap removal like Innocent Blood or Ghastly Demise/Dismember...

[Smea.gol.lum]

I'm losing primarily to the UW versions featuring Plow, Clique, Snapmages and many counterspells.

I don't think that boarding Leylines in only because of Snapcaster Mage is the right thing to do.

Another card I'm tinkering with in my sideboard is Engineered Plague:
It's very good against Elves, decent against Goblins and Merfolk and also helps against many control decks which are often running at least 6 wizards (Snapcaster Mage, Clique).

Riptide Laboratory on their side is an indicator for us to play Plagues on our side imo.

[jin]

I'm losing primarily to the UW versions featuring Plow, Clique, Snapmages and many counterspells.

I don't think that boarding Leylines in only because of Snapcaster Mage is the right thing to do.

Another card I'm tinkering with in my sideboard is Engineered Plague:
It's very good against Elves, decent against Goblins and Merfolk and also helps against many control decks which are often running at least 6 wizards (Snapcaster Mage, Clique).

Riptide Laboratory on their side is an indicator for us to play Plagues on our side imo.

hehe, sounds like you are just hating on Snapcaster decks. Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. UW Snapcaster decks have a lot more power than monoB Pox decks. Plus Snapcaster inherently negates some of Pox's abilities. It doesn't seem like a fair match up.

Maybe we should start playing chalice = ) <Edit: n/m spell snare will hit that...>

[bowvamp]

jin, what makes you say "UW Snapcaster decks have a lot more power than monoB Pox decks."? Actually, don't answer that question.

What do the BG Pox folks think about Khalni Garden.

[jin]

jin, what makes you say "UW Snapcaster decks have a lot more power than monoB Pox decks."? Actually, don't answer that question.

What do the BG Pox folks think about Khalni Garden.

LOL.. I guess I won't. But regarding the land, what do you mean? What purpose does it serve besides help your creatures live...?

CIPT is terrible, so there better be a good reason for the need of a 0/1 token..