DECK: Monoblack Pox

[enigmuh]

This is the decklist that i have been plyaing lately for T1, and i was wondering what to do with it to improve my win count. my worst ,mathup by far is Parfait, and sideboarding doesn't seem to help much.

Land:
17x Swamp
1x Strip Mine

Artifacts:
2x Chimeric Idol
4x Cursed Scroll
2x Charcoal Diamond
1x Mox Jet
1x Black Lotus

Enchantments:
1x The Abyss

Other Spells:
4x Pox
4x Dark Ritual
4x Duress
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Sinkhole
4x Innocent Blood
2x Diabolic Edict
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Demonic Consultation
1x Yawgmoth's Will
1x Mind Twist

My sideboard was mostly graveyard hate (tormod's crypts and withered wretch), so i dont have one now, any ideas would be greatly appreciated

thanx

[Necrologia]

Though the title of this deck list is Mono-B Pox, your best bet to beating Parfait is going to be the white splash. Balance is the typical reason for splashing, but it also lets you get some artifact and enchantment removal in the form of Vindicate and Seal of Cleansing, which is huge in the Parfait matchup.

If you're hardset against splashing though, maybe you could try adding some Nether Spirits. In your current build all of your win conditions are artifacts. It's not a huge problem against most decks, but in general Parfait packs tons of maindeck artifact hate. One Aura of Silence can all but lock you out of the game. The easiest way to fit them in will probably be pulling some of the creature hate you've got running. 4 Pox, 4 Bloods, 1 Abyss, and 2 Edicts seems a bit excessive, so maybe just pull 2 edicts and the Abyss or something.

[Nehptis]

Necro makes an excellent point.  I piloted Pox for a long time with a good win %.  White is the key.

Add Balance, 4 Scrubs, Mox Pearl.

Consider using Nether Spirits instead of or in addition to Idols.  They have great synergry with Pox.  ALso where are the Racks?  The Rack is what wins you the game most of the time.

Drop the Charc Diamonds, too slow.  And 4 C Scrolled is too many.  2 or 3 at most.

Also, I had great luck with Funeral Charm in Pox, as well.

For SB:

You need anti-combo cards, graveyard hate, I used Vindicate too, among other things.  I also liked to use Cursed Totems (although they work against your creatures, too) but they were great at neutralizing Mox Monkies that killed your Moxes and more importantly you Scrolls and Racks.

[Leakycow]

It's those pesky Land Taxes that make the parfait matchup so miserable.  You can throw disruption at his hand, mana, etc. all day and the lands (and non-empty hands) just keep coming back.  I'm sure the parfait deck can still churn out a turn of Chant +kicker followed by Replenish, and you're probably done for.

Graveyard hate is a decent strategy, but maybe Ebony Charms instead of Crypts or Planar Voids.

Personally, I like the idea of mono-black Pox, but I'd agree that 2 nether spirits are needed there.  Ditch the 2 edicts and find room for all 4 wastelands.  

Good luck!

[Incinera]

I agree with Necrologia that you probably don't need the Diabolic Edict(s) or The Abyss maindeck... The Abyss typically has too high of a cc for me to play most of the time unless you use a Dark Ritual for casting it...

I agree with Nehptis as well on the point that he made about the use of The Rack in the deck. I have been playing Pox for about a year now and I have played a few games where The Rack won the game by turn 5 along with a couple of well timed Pox(s).

Nether Spirits are great and are very tech in some tight situations... try them out sometime and see how you like them...

You could cut those Charcoal Diamond(s) since you already have power in the deck and could probably use the space for putting in some Wasteland(s).

I would also cut Mind Twist because most of the time you won't be able to cast X very high because of the way you lose lands to Pox. So *most* of the time it ends up being an overly expensive Hymn to Tourach.

I would also cut the Vampiric Tutor from your deck because you really don't need to suffer the card disadvantage that it causes. I just think that the deck is fairly redundant and doesn't require 3 tutors.

I disagree with Nehptis and Necrologia on the fact that they believe that the deck should splash white. Even when I started playing the deck, I was against the white splash and I am even more convinced now that it should not be included in the deck; and I feel this way because of the elevated use of strip effects. A large portion of the meta is running Strip Mine and Wasteland to great effect, if you don't think so you can go to Starcity Games and check out the article there about the percentage of certain cards that were run in large tournies. Wastelands were one of the most prevalent cards in the T8 at those tournies (Don't forget about how Blood Moon is also a very popular card in some Parfait and Sligh builds). By splashing white into Pox you are opening up the manabase for the non-basic hate that is all over the field. You are also shifting the manabase of a deck the relies heavily on cards which have very demanding amounts of black in their cc as well.

I use Nevinyrral's Disk to answer the enchantment problem, I would say that if you see a lot of enchantment based decks, don't play Pox. Artifacts are tough to deal with at times as well, so I run Gate to Phyrexia because it works well in tandem with Nether Spirit.

With all of that said, here is the (unpowered) decklist I run currently:
(the SB is for a mixed meta)

“1/3 of the Devil” by Incinera

Kill: (10)
2x Nether Spirit
4x Chimeric Idol
4x The Rack

Disruption: (20)
4x Pox
4x Duress
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Sinkhole
4x Innocent Blood

Tech: (4)
1x Entomb
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Demonic Consultation
1x Yawgmoth’s Will

Mana: (26)
4x Dark Ritual
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
1x Mox Diamond
16x Swamp

SB: (15)
4x Chalice of the Void
3x Powder Keg
2x Coffin Purge
2x Nevinyrral's Disk
2x Gate to Phyrexia
2x Phyrexian Negator

[Cavocavi]

Entomb is not very good. I would cut it for something else. A Mox Jet maybe or perhaps a Necropotence.

[Incinera]

Necropotence in many cases, if drawn and played, would have killed me. It is basically that reason that I don't use them in my deck.

Entomb has put out Nether Spirit on many occassions for me and speeds the deck up nicely for me. If I dropped entomb I am not quite sure what I would put in place of it, because I won't want any 1 card randomness that isn't tutor or Yawgmoth's Will. I already made my case against Vampiric Tutor.

Putting in a Mox Jet isn't possible because I am on budget.

[Rando]

I played Pox for years and have a few tips for you.

The Rack is better then Cursed Scroll, at least in this deck.  The reasoning is that Pox will be both emptying your hand and destroying your own lands.  As such, you will eventually get in the position of having only one card in your hand per turn and only 3 or 4 mana available.  It's better to have The Rack deal damage for free and still be able to cast the spell you drew for the turn rather then having to decide whether to cast the spell or activate Scroll.  The amount of discard in Pox is so high that The Rack becomes more damaging.  Your damage tempo will stay higher if you are attacking with Idols and Spirits and having your opponant racked.

The White splash is the superior build.  Balance is the super pox and in many opinions the most powerful card in the game; nothing swings a game around like it, except maybe Yawgmoth's Will.  But, hey, you're playing with it too.  White also opens you up to better sideboard options like Disenchant effects, and a couple maindeck Vindicates can be very helpful.  I'd still run Innocent Blood maindeck instead of Swords to Plowshares.   Perhaps a couple of Swords in the side.

But, if you do run the White splash, don't use Mox Pearl.  It's practicly an off-color mox in Pox decks.  You will want all the black mana you can get when it comes time to cast Sink Hole, Hymn and especially the triple-black Pox it's self.

Also, stay away from Mishra's Factory.  It's looks custom made for Pox at first, but it dilutes your mana base too much with colorless mana.  And you'll have to sac. it to Pox anyway if you want to be able to cast double or triple balck costed spells in the near future.  

Entomb is not worrth the slot.  It could be removal, or another damage source.  Use Pox to get the Spirit in the Graveyard.

As for Necropotence, I've always played it and have managed not to kill myself.

[Petey4335]

Would Chrome Mox be a decent addition to this deck?  This could give the extra mana you are looking for sinkholes and such and cannot be Poxxed away.  Also, there are the times where rounding up casting pox will make you discard more cards than you wish to.  Using the card disadvantage of the chrome mox may even be an advantage.

-pete

[Flurp™]

I agree with petey, I like chrome mox in pox.   Since most of the time you still have to discard a card or two from pox why not just turn those cards into mana?  When it was unrestricted I tested a pox build with 3 Chrime Moxen in it and it worked out well.

[Rando]

Yeah, that is a good idea.  Chrome Mox is certainly better then Mox Diamond or Charcoal Diamonds.

I think the following is about as good as a Pox deck can be, which all-in-all is not saying much.  Really, I think that Pox is fun as hell, but of the mono/damn-near-mono black decks, it's the weakest.  If only they would make a 4 or 5 power, unpoxable creature.  *sigh*

4 Pox
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole

2 Nether Spirit
4 Chemeric Idol
4 The Rack

4 Innocent Blood
1 Balance

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Will

4 Dark Ritual
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Chrome Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Stripmine
4 Waste Land
4 Bloodstained Mier
4 Scrubland
5 Swamp

[Incinera]

Rando, don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Balance... But by splashing for that one card maindeck, you open yourself to all of the non-basic hate (Price of Progress, Blood Moon, Wasteland) just for that one card... I personally don't think that it is worth it... Vindicate and Disenchant have the same thing going for them, messing up the manabase... I think that a stable, hard to disrupt, manabase is a very good thing for a Pox deck...

I like Mox Diamond because the land I discard is typically one that would get sacrificed to Pox or discarded to Pox, so I don't see how running it is all that bad... Chrome Mox would also fit well into the deck, I am still contemplating running that in the place of Mox Diamond or running both together... Some playtesting will decide...

I think that the meta you play in has a big impact on your decision to use Necropotence... If you are in a heavy control meta, running it would be no problem at all... but if you play in a heavy aggro meta, running it could be a big problem... So I run it because of my meta, If 40% of the meta was control I would either have it maindeck or in my sideboard...

I suppose I could drop the Entomb, but I like it for a turn 2 Nether Spirit when I don't have a Nether Spirit in hand... I guess it is another playstyle choice... I am kicking around the idea of replacing it with Black Vise which could also be a very nice turn 1 play...

What do you think of Nevinyrral's Disk being used to sweep away the problems?

[jeremyc_1999]

Incinera,  Have you actually tested pox with balance?   If you had you would realize that splashing for balance is definately worth it.  Also,  all of you guys are telling him to run nether spirit.  He maindecks the abyss.  I think that with maindeck abyss,  you can't afford to run nether spirits.  You are always sacrificing them.  As far as the parfait matchup.  It's tough.  What I have found is that white is almost neccesary to win this matchup.  sometimes you can get lucky with nevinrally's disk, but usually parifait can get an aura of silence, or a seal of clensing.  I would suggest as much disruption as you can get.  If you run nether spirit, cabal therapy can be very effective.  Although very expensive,  unmask can also be good.  I agree with rack.  It is a great kill condition, because your opponent's hands will be empty.  Good luck

[ReverendMetal]

Incinera,  Have you actually tested pox with balance?   If you had you would realize that splashing for balance is definately worth it.  Also,  all of you guys are telling him to run nether spirit.  He maindecks the abyss.  I think that with maindeck abyss,  you can't afford to run nether spirits.  You are always sacrificing them.  As far as the parfait matchup.  It's tough.  What I have found is that white is almost neccesary to win this matchup.  sometimes you can get lucky with nevinrally's disk, but usually parifait can get an aura of silence, or a seal of clensing.  I would suggest as much disruption as you can get.  If you run nether spirit, cabal therapy can be very effective.  Although very expensive,  unmask can also be good.  I agree with rack.  It is a great kill condition, because your opponent's hands will be empty.  Good luck

Incinera and I have extensively playtested both mono-black and the white splash in Pox.   He and I have both come to the conclusion that the advantages in mono black are better than the advantages to splashing white.  The non-disruptable mana base is definitely better than splashing for one card that you will not see every game and a 3cc removal spell that messes up your mana-curve to the extreme.

And yes, he should run Nether Spirit because the Abyss doesn't belong in Pox.

Therapy + Spirit is awesome.  Unmask is not what Pox needs.   With so much card disadvantage, the last thing you need is something like Unmask.

Parfait is a tough matchup, but you don't need white to win it.

[EDIT]:  I like Entomb, a lot.  It's another Nether Spirit that won't mess with your number of creatures in the graveyard.

[Incinera]

ReverendMetal and I have definately tested the possibilities quite a bit... I agree with all the points that he made as well...

You don't need The Abyss for creature removal... Pox does the majority of the removal followed up by creature spot removal like Innocent Blood or Diabolic Edict in some cases... Plus it messes up your mana curve a lot... Pox really should run anything more than 3cc...

I would run Cabal Therapy over Unmask in this deak, the discard is cheap, and you can turn it into card advantage by using the flashback instead of disadvantage like Unmask... I would probably only do this if running Nether Spirit...

I refuse to cower in fear of Parfait because of Aura of Silence and Seal of Cleansing... Most Parfait decks rely heavily on Scroll Rack, and now are also relying on Isochron Scepter a lot as well...

[enigmuh]

hey everyone, i appreciate all of the help, im going to try all of the ideqas and see what works best. but i have one thing i wanna say. i have used the abyss so much, i have even tutored for it. i have been against decks that the abyss was a win for me, just because they could not drop enough creatures to get around it and my edicts/innocent bloods.

anyways, i am in an area that plays many decks. i see academy, parfait, nether void, pox, hulk smash, etc. i havent ever actually dumped good money in cards, and im looking to build a good type one deck. they allow us to use 5 proxies, so power is fine, i just dont know what to play. someone said i should play landstill, and i just dont know what i wanna do. all i know is i wanna put no more than $300 into a deck, and i dont wanna play combo or sligh. let me know any and all deck you are using, and i will test them all out. thanks!!!!

btw: i love to play control

skaterinmontana@hotmail.com

[Generic]

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?

[Generic]

*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.

[kirdape3]

Pox... is terrible.  Here's why.

You blow your entire hand erasing their entire hand and much of their board position.  However, since this is Type 1 and all good decks are capable of absurd changes in game state in a short amount of time, they'll recover since you have no means of killing them in a couple of turns while they rebuild then end you.

[c9h13no3]

Yeah, I will say that pox has many inherent problems with it.  I personally am in a delima with mine.  Big aggro decks have been beating up on me, so Ensnaring Bridge became a must.  And to have any chance at beating workshop based decks, Null Rod is a must as well.  However, these two cards end up Eliminating the majority of kill methods you could run (scroll, idol, nether spirit being the main ones).

Anyways, here's my version of the deck:

The 16 Cards Every Monoblack deck must run:
4 Duress
4 Hymn
4 Sinkhole
4 Dark Ritual

1 Planar Void
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Underworld Dreams
2 Bottomless Pit
3 Null Rod
3 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Pox

5 Strips
19 Swamps

I'm not sure why I'm not running a Yawg's Will.  I think I talked myself out of it at some point.  Probably not terribly smart.

The SB varies quite a bit, but generally consists of an aggro hose (dark banishing, another bridge, dystopias, smother, or edict), Coffin Purges or more Planar Voids, Chains of Mestopheles, and another null rod.

This deck just doesn't cut it IMO.  Stax and TNT are really ugly matchups, and the only thing I can think of that would improve those are kill switch, but it doesn't fit in with null rod.  And this deck also kills painfully slow.  I just don't see it being that potent.  A white splash for balance and vindicate looks intriguing, but, I still doubt the deck would be that strong.

Anyways, there's my two cents.

[Generic]

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:

Text (LG+errata): If a player would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in a draw step, that player discards a card from his or her hand instead. If the player discards a card, he or she draws a card. If the player doesn't discard a card, he or she puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard. [Oracle 2001/08/24]

If you cast a spell to draw extra cards (such as Ancestral Recall or Wheel of Fortune) at some time outside the draw step, this affects all the cards drawn. During the draw step, the first card drawn is not affected. [bethmo 1994/06/15]

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.

[c9h13no3]

[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?)

If you'll count, my deck is 56 cards, guess what I forgot to add?  *hint, rhymes with "The Ack"*

And as to the Null Rods:

3 Null Rod

However, you are correct that pox has a really good game vs. combo, so if the meta ever shifts in that direction, it would be a good deck to pick.

As far as maze of ith for tog, I'm not seeing it being that much of an issue.  Hulk & Gat have relatively low creature counts.  Stax and TNT are scary decks.  They get 3 mana from 1 land, so your mana denial isn't as effective.

I personally feel that Null Rod is a must.  Without it, the workshop decks just steamroll you.  Hence, why I feel Null Rod is a must.  And weenie aggro usually gets eaten by bridge as well.  As you well know, stax is quite good at emptying it hand quickly.

As far as your SB, Cabal Therapy is trixie.  Long decks aren't very redundant.  Calling the correct card would be difficult.  And sideboarding for a match that really isn't that hard doesn't make much sense to me.  You have many worse things to be worrying about.

The dystopia I agree with, since madness and O-stompy can be rather annoying.

As for the COPs, Sligh isn't extremely scary.  I'd prefer a SB card like spinning darkness against sligh.

Right now, if I was to splash a color into pox, it would be red.  Red helps immensly with TNT and Stax by giving you rack & ruin.

And some other cards you might want to consider are Null Brooch and Bottomless Pit.  I find the Pit to be extremely good with the mana denial that you run.  Usually you can eat an opponent's solutions before he//she gets the mana for them.  Null Brooch is excellent if you're not running null rod.

And lastly, I generally don't run that many non-basics in Pox.  It's mana base is tricky enough as is, I personally hate having wasteland targets for my opponent.  However, balance is a complete and utter bomb, and seal of cleansing could defin8ly help out the stax & TNT matchups, so I could understand why you would want to splash white.

Hope that helps.

[Generic]

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.

And lastly, I generally don't run that many non-basics in Pox. It's mana base is tricky enough as is, I personally hate having wasteland targets for my opponent. However, balance is a complete and utter bomb, and seal of cleansing could defin8ly help out the stax & TNT matchups, so I could understand why you would want to splash white.

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.

I personally feel that Null Rod is a must. Without it, the workshop decks just steamroll you. Hence, why I feel Null Rod is a must. And weenie aggro usually gets eaten by bridge as well. As you well know, stax is quite good at emptying it hand quickly.

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!

[swawagon]

I agree with the earlier post suggesting POX is just a few cards away from playable.

Urza's Bauble is a contender as is can be dropped and saced, not count as a card, search the opponents one card in hand is a bonus to see early what they may be playing (I have even seen the Bauble countered ((only once)) ), POX and then become a card in hand. While thinning the deck.

I have tried running an animater style deck tossing fatties intothe graveyard ala POX, entomb and ripping them out but with mixed success. An Animater engine needs more sources to get creatures into the graveyard, but then you are swinging away from disruption, POX's core. This becomes another one of those trying to do to much, and likely not doing much of either. Although there is some potential for going that direction, I just haven't mastered it? Nether spirit is great though.

Really a solid finisher needs to be established, The RACK is good but too often we beat opponents up with it but they find an answer in time.

I have worked out a chart (BELOW) for life, creatures, hand, and land loss at 1/3 rounded up. I would suggest having such a chart at a tourney to speed play by being able to show it to your opponent (and for yourself). Study these numbers and  work out the best plays for the POX.

   40   -14   =27
   39   -13   =26
   38   -13   =25
   37   -13   =25
   36   -12   =24
   35   -12   =23
   34   -12   =23
   33   -11   =22
   32   -11   =21
   31   -11   =21
   30   -10   =20
   29   -10   =19
   28   -10   =19
   27   -9   =18
   26   -9   =17
   25   -9   =17
   24   -8   =16
   23   -8   =15
   22   -8   =15
   21   -7   =14
   20   -7   =13
   19   -7   =13
   18   -6   =12
   17   -6   =11
   16   -6   =11
   15   -5   =10
   14   -5   =9
   13   -5   =9
   12   -4   =8
   11   -4   =7
   10   -4   =7
   9   -3   =6
   8   -3   =5
   7   -3   =5
   6   -2   =4
   5   -2   =3
   4   -2   =3
   3   -1   =2
   2   -1   =1
   1   -1   =1

EDITED CORRECTLY thanks to GENERIC. I have been playing it wrong for some time, and it was never chalenged, but indeed I believe you are right. (plus this is even more disruptive)

[Generic]

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.

[swawagon]

Urza's Bauble doesn't play nice with Null Rod either, but it is just an option.

(Generic: Thanks for the catch btw; it is correct now.)

Bottomless Pit and The Rack?

Even Isochron Scepter imprinting Funeral Charm (instant discard), or Innocent Blood, or Disenchant… hell even imprint a Cabal Ritual???

These are all probably too clunky but again I do believe POX has potential. Who is going to crack it?

[c9h13no3]

Even Isochron Scepter imprinting Funeral Charm (instant discard), or Innocent Blood, or Disenchant… hell even imprint a Cabal Ritual???

Isochron scepter would be nice, except for the fact that pox's instant count is rather low (3).  So unless you can up the number of instants to 20, I'd suggest nixing the idea.

I can manage my hand size appropriately when facing Stax.

Ensnaring Bridge isn't an issue vs. stax.  The main problem with them, is that they drop disruption much faster than your discard can handle it.  The only time I've seen a mono-black deck beat stax is by siding in 4 nev's disk.  However, that would be more than counter to what a pox deck is trying to accomplish.

[Generic]

Ensnaring Bridge isn't an issue vs. stax.

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

The main problem with them, is that they drop disruption much faster than your discard can handle it. The only time I've seen a mono-black deck beat stax is by siding in 4 nev's disk. However, that would be more than counter to what a pox deck is trying to accomplish.

 

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)

[c9h13no3]

Well one thing to think about is your metagame.  It seems to be unpowered, and it also seems to have a lot of weenie aggro in it.  In the online//large tournament metagame there isn't a whole lot of weenie aggro running around.  The decks that are aggro are TNT, madness, O-Stompy, ect.  Not exaclty running weenies, so cards like cursed scroll have to be replaced with cards like ensnaring bridge.  So Pox may be a good choice in your meta, however in the current meta seen at large tournaments, I think pox isn't as good of a choice.

[kuwv]

There is a primer on the older forums that was made before chrome mox was restricted. You need to add more artifact mana and try testing zuran orb or claws of gix.