I am currently building a Type 4 stack, and have been playing this format for the past week or so.  After playing the format, I quickly realized which cards are just too broken to be included.  For example, Consumptive Goo is WAY too broken....trust me on this one.

Needless to say, I've got nearly all the same cards, or am currently trading to include the ones listed that I currently don't have, and playtesting to ensure the deck is balanced.  I did notice however, that there was one card in my stack that hasn't made anyone's list so far:  Pox.

I think it's a fun card, as well as a great removal spell....without being too political or one sided.  It doesn't get countered very often, as usually everyone gets blasted equally. and it does hurt those with board supremacy, and equalizes things on the board a bit.   You should see some of the expressions on my opponent's face when I've cast this....priceless!

Your thoughts?

I agree, Mana Drain can really ruin your day... but you'd still  have the same disadvantage running Elvish Spirit Guide, as it also costs 3 to cast (assuming you're trying to hard cast it, of course).  The spirit guide is great mana acceleration, but the Call is useful card advantage - if it dies, it'll come back for another target for the Rancor..and keep the pressure on.

This, combined with Berserk, is why I prefer it over the Wild Mongrel (card disadvantage, and not as good in the mid to late game versus control).  For example, an opponent thinks he'll win next turn, he'll definitely block an attacking Wild Mongrel, due to the obvious threat....but a lone 3/3 elephant token wouldn't hurt that much, would it, because he'll just take only three damage and still win next turn, right?  You'd be surprised how often they get Jedi Mind Tricked.

On point 1:  I agree, it's low, but the deck hasn't a card with a casting cost bigger than 3, with most being only 1 or 2.  I haven't had much trouble with mana screw using the Diamond, but it does help (and has helped) the potential of putting on the pressure with multiple threats on the first turn.  Perhaps a Lotus Petal would work better.

On point 2 and 5:   I made a mistake....the 3 cards should be Grim Lavamancer instead of the Piledrivers.  My brain must have shorted out.  Right card, right functionality, wrong name.  I get the two confused sometimes.  I'll edit to correct.

On point 4:  Yes, Call can be drained....just like most any other card, I suppose.  But, the beauty is, do they use the drain and counter it and waste yet another counter next turn, and risk not having a counter for the River Boa or Rancor?


Ape:  I like the deck, as it really has a great chance against the top tier decks, but you're in trouble if you encounter several rogue decks like white weenie or some other non-tier deck or three during the tourney.  I might consider the Wild Mongrel to replace the Call of the Herd with them (solving the problem noted in the paragraph above).   I still like the Call's better, though.  Maybe I'll have to playtest.

Well, I haven't posted in this forum for quite some time, but I have a R/G beats decklist to contribute.  This paticular deck has earned a lot of victories and respect from vintage tourney players in my local area, and a older version drew for 1st place in a Lotus Tourney just last year.  Without further ado, here it is:

Land

4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
5 Mountain
5 Forest
1 Strip Mine

Other Mana Sources

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Diamond
1 Sol Ring


Red

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Incinerate
4 Kird Ape
3 Grim Lavamancer (substitute Gorilla Shaman, if your metagame demands it)  **edited**
2 Price of Progress
1 Fork

Green

4 River Boa
3 Skyshroud Elite
4 Rancor
3 Call of the Herd
3 Hidden Gibbons
3 Berserk

Sideboard

4 Red Elemental Blast
2 Shatterstorm
3 Naturalize
3 Damping Matrix
3 Maze of Ith


This deck is extremely fast, yet flexible enough for a varied metagame.  It has a lot of main deck hate for U or U/W  based control decks like  (the primary weakness for R/G decks), and the sideboard is flexible enough to deal with Stax and Affinity.  Thoughts?

Played in a Lotus tourney over the weekend, and ran into bad pairings.  (3 R/G weenie, and 1 mono-red Goblins) in first 4 rounds.  Needless to say, I went 3 and 3 for the tourney.

However, it did expose a weakness in my sideboard:  cheap creature elimination.   I thought having 3 Cursed Scroll maindeck would help, but it never came into play fast enough.   I'm going to drop the Ensnaring Bridge and replace them with Infest  (1BB - Sorcery - All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn)

That should help out.  BTW, my son playing our version of R/G beats tied for First place, and split the first prize (which was a Unlimited Black Lotus) in cash.  This makes me feel a little bit better about my performance...almost.

Great, thanks a bunch!  

Thanks for the clarification!    I knew there was errata on the Winter Orb, but I wasn't sure about artifacts in general.

For the Chimeric Idol, I assume I have to 'Float' two mana during the Idol's activation during the attack phase, declare it as an attacker, then tap and use the Kill Switch.

Questions concerning Kill switch:

1.  If Kill Switch is used if you have The Rack in play, what happens?  If the Rack is tapped, does the effect (damage for each card below 3 in hand) happen?  I guess it would be the same as the old Icy Manipulator/Winter Orb combo from awhile back.  Does it still work?

2.  Is there a possible way to stack the Kill Switch activation with the Chimeric Idol, permitting the Idol to attack, while shutting down all other artifacts in play?

I'm just looking for clarification....thanks in advance!

Bottomless Pit is very strong against control/combo.  If you've got a heavy Sligh metagame, I'd recommend the Funeral Charms.  Edicts seem to be more situational than I'd like...and they stink against heavy aggro.

I still like running the Sinkhole in the Pox deck.  With 4 Pox, 4 Sinkholes, 3 Vindicate, (and don't forget) Balance in the deck....you can really wreck havoc.  Remember, there's plenty of targets out there in Type I......

Sure, it seems like the deck is trying to do too much, but when you're playing against control, an early sinkhole or two can really make a difference.  Control decks  require a stable mana base to drive all the counterspells/removal.   Denying their land, or better yet a specific color of mana, forces the Control player to waste counterspells to protect their mana base.  If they counterspell a turn 2 sinkhole....that should be telling you something.  Of course, this means your Hymns and Pox's are more likely to be  effective when they come into play.  Better yet, an early turn Dark Ritual, Duress....no land in their hand? Go ahead and cast a Sinkhole instead of the Hymn. Save the Hymn for next turn, because maybe he'll draw a key card....now, he can't cast it due to the land you destroyed....making the Hymn possibly even better.

If they don't counter an early Sinkhole, that should tell you something else.  

I usually side out my Sinkholes against aggro decks, or to include cards from the sideboard that are just 'win' against a particular deck.  Even if you do decide to sideboard out the sinkholes for games 2 or 3 in a match,  your opponent will be more wary about keeping a suboptimal 2 land draw.  He knows land destruction is in your deck.  If he mulligans away a hand that he would normally keep against other decks, you're already one step closer to victory.

Yeah.  When used at the right time, it's not such a problem, I'm just concerned that it might hurt during the mid/late game.  



Bottomless Pit is strong against combo/control decks.  The only reason I'm running Chains of Mephistophles over the Pit is the timing issue of the Pit.  Before they changed the upkeep timing issues, the Rack processed at the end of upkeep.  Now, it no longer does so....the active player can choose when it resolves.  He can process the Rack first, then process the Pit, making it somewhat less effective.

Mono-black Pox is, imho, just as strong as the builds that splash white/or red.  I think it depends on the metagame, and how much black hate folks are running in the sideboard.  I do think the anti-artifact hate red provides, given the current metagame (TnT, Stax) makes this well worth considering.

Now, I suppose I need to pick up a set of Badlands....



I agree!



I promised myself I wouldn't tweak the deck, but I did go ahead and pull the Vampiric Tutor for the Demonic Consultation.  I think I'll be ok, as long as I'm not going for any of the restricted cards.



They seem to be working quite well....I don't mulligan anymore than I would have to normally.  Having white on the playfield sooner really helps get the balance/vindicate working.  I don't have to use a tutor to fetch a source of white mana, and can use the tutors to grab that card I really need instead



Can you post a decklist?  I wouldn't mind giving the splashed red version a try...


In other news....during playtesting tonight, I realized the power of having the one Entomb in the deck.  Yes, it proved useful in getting the Nether Spirit into play sooner.  Even when Nether Spirit is already in play/in the graveyard, and you draw Entomb, it's still not a dead card.  Because it is an instant, it can be cast in response to your Yawgmoth's Will, putting that Balance/Dark Ritual/Hymn to Tourach from your deck into the graveyard first before the Will resolves.

I never tried running Necropotence...somehow, it seems counter-productive in a Pox deck.  You can't use both effectively during the same game, but it could be a useful transformational strategy.

I've always found Sinkhole invaluable.  I prefer them over wasteland because it is equally effective against both multicolored and monocolored decks.  If they're short the mana type they really need, they'll have to hold cards, making your discard even more effective.

Urza's Bauble really are great, because they can be reused for free after the Yawgmoth's Will.  However, I can't find the space for them without removing even more valuable cards from the deck.  I suppose it's possible to run fewer numbers of certain cards, but this would make cards like Demonic Consultation even more perilous.  I don't think the benefit outweighs the risk in this case.

The Phyrexian Furnace seems like a great idea....but I still prefer the Tormod's Crypt.  One and done, I say.

The Skeleton Scrying might be good in the mid/late game, but it falls into the same trap that Mind Twist does:  it's too inefficient for a Pox deck.  Yes, you heard me, inefficient.  Rare is the time that you will have more than 3 lands in play, limiting their potential.  Before the Scrying becomes useful enough in the mid/late game, by that time you should have already cast a Pox or two, reducing the land/life available - thereby limiting the number of cards you could potentially draw.  I think the additional life loss is just too dangerous for my tastes.  In addition, it would make my Cursed Scrolls and Yawgmoth's Will much less effective.  That, plus the fact that putting in Chains of Mephistophles from the sideboard, will make running Skeletal Scrying a definate no-no.

As for the fetch lands  - the Mirage block fetch lands might be ok, but it slows the mana development as they come into play tapped.....versus the newer fetch lands, which do provide deck thinning, but at a cost of one damage.  Pox is already doing enough suicide, my opponent doesn't need any additional help.

Forgot to add, I'll be playtesting this version for the next couple of weeks, before making any new changes.

It's also possible to run Sphere of Resistance instead of the Nether Void...just be sure to run 4.  This effect isn't shut down by the Null Rod, if you choose to run them.

Defense Grid might be a sideboard option as well.


I also love the Shade more than Visara.   Under the Nether Void/Sphere, it's much easier to cast, but once in play, it can be pumped...huge.

How successful are you with the Demonic Consult?  I've heard arguments that it's better than the Vampiric Tutor, but the drawback hurts when you have to consult for that Spirit.

I plan on picking up a couple of Contamination just in case I decide to run the mono-black version.  As it stands, it's only a couple cards difference.  I think I should pick up a couple copies of Gates of Phyrexia as well.

I don't know if I could qualify my top 8 apperance in a PTQ as a 'sneak' (as it was a Tier 1 deck at the time in extended) but I did beat decks I would have expected to have much more trouble with:  3 of my wins were against sligh, white weenie, and sui black.  Maybe you're right.  I did sneak in.

Already, my deck is transforming....thanks to everyone's input.

Land (22):

12 Swamp (-1)
4 Scrubland
3 Tainted Field (+1)
2 Mishra's Factory  (-2 Wasteland - I decided I needed the damage dealers more ...and because I am now running 3 Vindicate in the main, and one in the sideboard, non-basic Land Destruction isn't as big an issue)
1 Strip Mine

Artifacts (10):

4 The Rack
3 Cursed Scroll
3 Chimeric Idol

Black (25):

4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 Pox
1 Nether Spirit
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Entomb  (I'll give it a try...)

(-2 Diabolic Edict - Vindicate is much more useful against control)

White (4):

1 Balance
3 Vindicate  (Really a game breaker)


Sideboard:

4 Cabal Therapy
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Chains of Mephistophles  (maybe 2, but discarding effect is cumulative with more in play)
2 Gate to Phyrexia  (extra artifact control)
1 Vindicate

Remember, my Pox is unpowered, but if someone were to give me a Lotus and a Mox Jet to throw in, I certainly won't refuse.

Currently, I would sideboard in

4 Cabal Therapy
3 Chains of Mephistophles
2 Vindicate

against Stax to replace 3 Cursed Scrolls, 3 Chimeric Idol, 2 Diabolic Edict and 1 Rack, I think I've nearly got the same effectiveness against some matchups as if I ran the Null Rod in the sideboard.  I think those 8 cards would be more versitile than the Null Rod, overall.   For example,   I can *always* sideboard in the Cabal Therapy and remove something less effective.

Of course, I could always run Null Rod in the sideboard.....

Sure, Stax is a bad matchup.  I'm sure that Stax and other decks have their bad matchups as well.   I think that the majority of decks out there are tuned so keenly to beating the other Tier 1 decks, they won't have a maindeck or sideboard answer when a random Pox deck rears it's ugly head.   Just hope you don't play against the bad matchups, and have as effective a sideboard as possible.   That's all anyone can do.

Back in a Extended PTQ tourney in '99, I ran Pox mostly due to the prevalence of the High Tide deck at the time.  I didn't matchup against High Tide all day, yet I was able to make the Top 8.  Go fig.

Great suggestion, specifically for the mono-black build of Pox.   The only thing I can see is that if you're running one Nether Spirit  (like I am) it means you to have to hope for a tutor to get the combo into play.  Running more than one Spirit runs a much bigger risk of ending up with 2 in the graveyard, effectively rendering the whole thing moot.

IMO, Mono-black versions would want to run at least 2 Contamination.  The Gates  to Phyrexia (isn't that about the only artifact kill that black carries other than the worthless warp artifact?), is an excellent idea as well.

The white versions would not necessarily run them  (Contamination would definately hurt the white support), because of the artifact/enchantment removal White provides.

True, that.  The main reason I've chosen to play pox in the first place is that I really enjoy playing it....win or lose.  You should see the expression on the opponent's face sometimes.....  "What the....POX??!??"  Of course, with all the sideboard hate everyone's packing for the Tier 1 decks, Pox might be able to sneak higher than it normally would (or should), as most decks just aren't prepared for the disruption game Pox decks play.  Sure, the Sui sideboard hate would work somewhat, but Pox and Sui are totally opposite as to their style.  

Maybe I should sideboard Nether Void just for kicks and really watch them squirm.

Seriously, though....If I was a much more bloodthirsty player, I'd spend the dough to run a top tier deck.   Still, I love to play Pox.  The metagame will swing another direction eventually....maybe for the better.  Pox will be on the sidelines....waiting.



Of course, I could go that route if I added a Lotus, or moxen. Of course, one of the minor reasons I play Pox is the fact that I no longer have the Power 9.

Somehow, I don't feel that the zorb helps me get closer to a victory condition.  Sure, it's good for life gain lost, but...in a Pox deck, you're denying resources to yourself as well as your opponent.  Sure, it's a great move in response to a Balance, but with Pox, I don't think that sacking even more lands to put myself in a worse mana situation than my own opponent is worth it.  And against Stax, that'd be the last thing I'd want to do.

Yep, you're right about that.  I had my deck names terminology mixed up...

 

This is where I think Chains of Mephistophles will help.  It will not stop their tutoring spells, but it will definately shut down Ancestral, Scroll Rack, and the like.



I played a tourney over the weekend, and did pretty well, if you consider that:

a.  My first match was all about mulliganing down to 5 both games.  You'd think you'd draw one land or two out of the 22 in the deck.  Sigh.

b. Second round had me paired against my son playing our version of R/G beats (while unpowered, with a good draw it can do well over 20 damage by turn 4).  He won game 1, but it was a good fight.   I had control in the second game with an early Ensnaring Bridge, until he topdecks a well-timed Burning Wish for Shatterstorm.  Not good.  For me, anyways.

c.  Third round bye.   Sigh.

d.  Fourth round:  Beat a mono-red deck silly.  1st game, my opponent died without a land in play.  (Sinkhole, Strip Mine, and Vindicate are some good.)  2nd game, Ensnaring Bridge and Cursed Scroll ruled the table (No Ball Lightning for you!).   I was so firmly in control, I didn't have to think twice about casting Pox.   Which I did.

I didn't receive my Chains I ordered, so played the tourney without them. (Maindecked 2 Vindicate instead).  After the tourney, I decided I'll maindeck the Vindicate instead of the Chains, and run 3 Chains in the sideboard.  I'l give this sideboard some testing:

4 Cabal Therapy   (Very, very good, especially after a Duress.  I ran the combo with Nether Spirit to my heart's content)
3 Chains of Mephistophles
2 Vindicate (And two in the main deck.  I'm not completely sold on the Seals of Cleansing yet when Vindicate does the same thing, and more)
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Ensnaring Bridge (Helped against Sligh, R/G Beats, other Aggro decks.  Better than expected)

I hadn't thought about Urza's Bauble.  I did play those before in some sort of butchered R/G beatdown deck with Stormbind a long, long time ago when Extended was a new format.

Of course, the cantrip ability of the Bauble is negated if the Chains of Mephistopheles is in play.  It would be almost like a Hymn to Tourach to myself.



Thanks for the chart, but there are a couple of errors:


1/3 of 19 rounded up is 7, not 6: 18/3 = 6.34 rounded up is 7.

1/3 of 16 rounded up is 6, vice 5:  16/3 = 5.34, rounded up is 6.

1/3 of 13 rounded up is 5 instead of 4:  13/3 = 4.34, rounded up is 5.


...and so forth for every 3rd number.  Sorry about that, but I caught those right away.  I suppose I really have been playing Pox too much, huh?   This is probably why I normally keep a cheap calculator in my magic card bag -- just in case.

Thanks for the feedback!

I did some playtesting, and some brainstorming with the Pox deck tonight.  Here's what I came up with:

(Pardon the redundancy of relisting obvious cards, but this is how my deck is currently built)

Land (22):

13 Swamp
4 Scrubland
2 Tainted Field  (New addition, I'll give it a try to help out the white sideboard)
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

Artifacts (10):

4 The Rack
3 Cursed Scroll
3 Chimeric Idol

(removed the Ensnaring Bridge and placed them in sideboard instead)

Black (28):

4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 Pox
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Chains of Mephistophles  (Much stronger than expected.  Amazing synergy with discard effects and The Rack - No Timetwister, Wheel of Fortune, or Brainstorm for you!)
1 Nether Spirit
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will

White (1):

1 Balance

Sideboard:

4 Cabal Therapy
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 COP Red (or 3 Seal of Cleansing or 3 Dystopia - I haven't decided yet)
2 Vindicate

Null Brooch, as you mentioned, is a possibility here as well...but it's more reactive than proactive.

After testing, I felt that I could afford to move the Bridges to the sideboard, and maindeck the edicts instead.  Still need more practice to figure out the right balance of creature removal.

I am thinking that the Null Rod would totally hose 2 of my 4 victory conditions....by splashing white, I hope to avoid having to use the Rods, by using other white removal instead.  Maybe Seal of Cleansing instead in the COP Red/Dystopia slots.



Point well taken.  I think the opportunity to cast Balance in a critical point of the game outweighs the possiblility of having some of my lands wasted away.  Hopefully, with my own land destruction effects, they'll think twice about using a wasteland to remove one of my own nonbasic lands.  I think a one for one trade works to my benefit.    In a worst-case scenerio, where my non-basic lands are denied by wastelands or Blood Moon, I can still cast all but one card in my deck before sideboarding.   Everything in the deck and sideboard takes 3 or less mana to cast --  Pox decks should be built with this in mind.  It needs to run with only a couple of lands in play, due to the mutual land destruction that casting Pox creates.  Fortunately for me, I only need *one* source of white to make the white cards in my deck/sideboard work.  If absolutely necessary, I can tutor for the one source of white I need.  I agree that Blood Moon or even Price of Progress can still hurt me, but it wouldn't make my deck ineffective.  In that case, I hope to be proactive and use my discard effects to remove that potential threat.



The Ensnaring Bridge is triggered only by the hand size of it's owner, and not the opponent...hopefully, I can manage my hand size appropriately when facing Stax.  The only thing it would have trouble controlling is pumping up a Psychatog after the declaration of attackers.  This is another reason why I decided to main deck the Diabolic Edict instead of the Bridge.


Anywho, I'll give the current build a try this Saturday at a Type I tourney.  I'll post the matchups and results.

c9h13no3: Thanks for giving me valuable feedback....it had done nothing but make my deck even better than it would have been otherwise.  Much appreciated!

I'm already married.  Fortunately, marriage happened before I learned to play Magic.  

kirdape3:  Maybe so.  I realize that Pox is not a "Tier 1" deck, however I think Pox is only that one key card (or 2) away from being a contender.  And because it's my favorite deck to play, I'm not giving up so easily.  

c9h13no3:  (love the username, btw)   It appears you're trying to make your deck -- how can I say this -- 'one size fits all' and slanted your main deck so much towards beating two deck archtypes, you've only got 2 victory conditions remaining - the Dreams, and Pox itself - neither of which are as efficient at delivering the final blow.


I tend to focus on what Pox (and the color black) does best:  Disrupt, disrupt, and disrupt some more, then slap down a victory condition and watch them squirm.  There are Tier 1 decks out there that I feel would have major problems with Pox...especially those which are combo oriented.   Remember, Pox came to prominence back in '99 due to the influence of combo oriented decks -- High Tide anyone?   Remember, not one deck out there can beat everything it comes across.  

If I had the money and the resources, I'd be playing one of those Tier 1 decks.  For now, I'll be playing what I have.  I realize Pox may not be a good fit for the current metagame, but one of these days, it will change.  It always does.  

Still, you've helped me immensely, by mentioning a card in your sideboard.  It was a major oversight on my part, and I can't believe I've overlooked it. One of the sideboard cards you mentioned really helps with one of Pox's biggest problem:  Allowing the opponent to repopulate his/her hand via Ancestral Recall, Wheel of Fortune, Braingeyser and other mass card drawers, which allow the opponent rapid recovery, and your early efforts killing your opponent's hand with Hymns and such were all for naught.

Chains of Mephistopheles will definately shut that down.  Hard.  Per the oracle text errata:



This will definately stop that instant recovery in it's tracks, thereby making one of the kill cards in the deck  -- 'The Rack' --  even more effective. (Null Rod doesn't shut The Rack down, why not use them in your deck?)  I'll have to pick up a couple of Chains for the main deck, and also try to incorporate some Ensnaring Bridges for the main as well.  I also am considering throwing Maze of Ith as well (Hulk Smash, GrowaTog).

I think the main reason Pox isn't getting the attention it deserves is that no major player has put forth the effort to tune the deck, or do the research to discover that one card that will make it stand out in the crowd.

The answer's gotta be out there somewhere - elusive.



I think I'm going to try this:

Land (22):

15 Swamp
4 Scrubland
2 Wasteland

(Substituted for Mishra's Factory -   Extra disruption versus more damage dealers.  I'll try this to see if it works out better.)

1 Strip Mine

Artifacts (12):

4 The Rack
3 Ensnaring Bridge  (Instead of Contagion--The bridge is more effective against fatties, the scroll should be able to take care of the weenies)

3 Chimeric Idol
2 Cursed Scroll



Black (26):

4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 Pox

(Obligatory 20 cards necessary for Pox - I've seen versions running only 3 Pox, but they were running more Idols and Scrolls, and fewer or no Racks at all)

2 Chains of Mephistopheles   (gotta pick up a couple off ebay)
1 Nether Spirit   (Yup, just 1.  I've even tutored for it to help with the mid game, and makes an effective blocker)

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor   (I'm running Vampiric Tutor over the Demonic Consultation.  The -2 life to cast  hurts, but it's better if I really need the Balance,  Nether Spirit, or the Chains)

1 Yawgmoth's Will




White (1):

1 Balance

(If I could play four, I would.  In a heartbeat.  It's that good)

Total: 61

Sideboard:

4 Cabal Therapy

(These are huge versus combo, and serves to get that tog out of their hand, or even better, draw out their counterspell or Force of Will before Poxing)

2 Dystopia  (I hate elves, Karma sucks too)
2 Diabolic Edict  (good versus Morphling, maybe even Tog)
3 Tormod's Crypt  (Better than Planar Void in most cases...can be sacked in response to Naturalize)

2 Vindicate  (All around useful, always has a target)
2 COP Red  (tech against Dragon, Goblins)


I'll proxy what I don't have, and do some playtesting.

*kick*  No one?

I will be play testing the deck tomorrow, and perhaps get more feedback, before I attempt another tourney on Saturday.  I'll let you all know of my findings.

I'm Bill, living in Converse, TX.  I'm a MSgt in the Air Force, getting ready to retire in the next year or so.  I've been playing magic (as well as my 15 year old son) since Revised/Fallen Empires/The Dark were readily available in stores.  I took a two year haitus from the game during which I sold my somewhat decent collection...only to have my son regain interest again, thereby dragging me back in.  Of course, this means that magic has put a sizable dent in my income over the years.

Glad to be here.  Now where's the munchies?

I've been lurking at this forum for quite some time now, but I stumbled across this thread....I had to register just so I could contribute.


Here is my recent versions of Pox.   I won a small local tourney with this unpowered build:

Land (22):

15   Swamp              
  4   Scrubland          
  2   Mishra's Factory  
  1   Strip Mine          

Artifacts (10):

 4   The Rack          
 3   Cursed Scroll    
 3   Chimeric Idol      

Black (26):

 4   Dark Ritual
 4   Duress              
 4   Hymn to Tourach
 4   Sinkhole
 4   Pox
 2   Contagion
 1   Nether Spirit
 1   Demonic Tutor
 1   Vampiric Tutor
 1   Yawgmoth's Will

White (1):
 
 1   Balance

Multicolored (2):

 2  Vindicate

Total:  61



I have also run a mono black version of this deck as well:

- 4 Scrubland + 4 Swamp
- 1 Balance    +1  Mind Twist
- 2 Vindicate  +2  Diabolic Edict



I have had more success with the splash of white - Balance is so unbelieveably broken....it doubles as a Pox and in the right conditions, a Mind Twist as well.  I realize that the splash of white makes you more vulnerable to Blood Moon, and other non-basic land hate, and if your opponent sees them in the second or third game, they are the prime target for any land destruction he may have.

I have beaten a Tier I powered psychatog (TnT?) deck with effective hand disruption, casting Pox/Balance early (and often!) , then and using my Cabal Therapy/Nether Spirit combo after sideboarding.   Probably a lot of luck was involved as well, but it's all about the player's skill when playing Pox, right?


Thoughts?


EDIT:  Technically, I'm a newbie here, but I've been playing since The Dark/Fallen Empires.  I'm just an guy talking about his favorite deck of all time.  (I once piloted a Pox deck to a top 8 of a PTQ in Houston back in March, 1999 back when High Tide decks ruled the extended playfield - only losing to the eventual champion and 1st runner-up).

Back on subject, I'm thinking of adding a Mox Diamond or two to help out the mana ratios and make the deck less vulnerable to nonbasic land hate.  Should I pull the Mishra's Factories for Wastelands?  If so, I'll need to add another threat -- add another Idol or Nether Spirit and maybe drop down to 2 maindeck Cursed Scroll.  

As for my sideboard, it's a work in progress.  Here's what I definately want in:

4 Cabal Therapy
3 Dystopia
3 Tormod's Crypt

Now for the remaining 5 slots:   Edicts?  COP Red/Black?  Seal of Cleansing?  Vindicate?



I plan on entering a Type I tourney for a Unl Black Lotus in San Antonio in mid March.  I know I probably won't win, but I want to have fun, and be competitive at the same time.  This deck, with my experience playing it, will permit me to do just that.

Help?
  Comments?  Anyone?