DECK: Monoblack Pox

[Lord of Water]

I've played Pox for quite some time now and I've found that one of the most disruptive bombs you can drop is Contamination.

Most of us have been forced to play around a contamination lock before, and it mostly boils down to finding the right color moxen. I've been forced to Demonic Tutor for a Mox Sapphire before just to fight my way out of a contamination lock (I couldn't even wish for my Disenchant!). Spirit makes it sustainable indefinitely by first stacking its sacrifice ability and then spirit's reanimation ability. It will shut down everything but other monoblack decks and at worst it will buy you time to look for cards that you need or end the game.

Contamination is also easily sideboarded out against Workshop.dec, which is much better hosed by Gate to Phyrexia (also fueled by Spirit).

-LoW

[Generic]

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.

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.

You need to add more artifact mana and try testing zuran orb or claws of gix.

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.

[Generic]

I've played Pox for quite some time now and I've found that one of the most disruptive bombs you can drop is Contamination.

Most of us have been forced to play around a contamination lock before, and it mostly boils down to finding the right color moxen. I've been forced to Demonic Tutor for a Mox Sapphire before just to fight my way out of a contamination lock (I couldn't even wish for my Disenchant!). Spirit makes it sustainable indefinitely by first stacking its sacrifice ability and then spirit's reanimation ability. It will shut down everything but other monoblack decks and at worst it will buy you time to look for cards that you need or end the game.

Contamination is also easily sideboarded out against Workshop.dec, which is much better hosed by Gate to Phyrexia (also fueled by Spirit).

-LoW

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.

[c9h13no3]

Contamination only works (as previously mentioned) if you get your 1 spirit.  That, to me, is too big an if.  Maybe with Zombie Infest, or more spirits in combination with skeletal scrying, or something like that.  Otherwise, I don't see it being viable.  Besides, the deck already runs 13 mana denial effects (strips, pox, sinkhole) that focus on destroying your opponent's land.  More destructive mana denial would synergize better with the deck.

And to the suggestion of more artifact mana, normally when you alter a decklist, you alter it to improve your bad matchups.  Taking out null rods, and adding in scrolls, artifact acelleration, and chimeric idols (I feel) would only weaken you to your worst matchup more than you already are.  Scroll is best against weenie aggro and control.  Artifact acelleration wouldn't help that much vs. stax either.

And zuran orb..... Somehow, I feel that pitching that 1 extra land to the orb to gain 2 life (which will then be cut by a third) won't really help that much.  I'd rather have edicts, powder kegs (if you don't want to run null rod), or (if you're running white) seal of cleansing/disenchant/swords to plowshares.

[Lord of Water]

Well, naturally Contamination dosn't exist in a vacuum. My Pox deck, which often sets up the Contamination lock successfully, runs 2x tutors (demonic consult/tutor), 2x Contamination, 2x Spirit, and the single Entomb to look for a spirit early on. It may seem redundant just for a lock that dosn't guarentee a win, but I think it's just redundant enough.

Any more than 2x Contamination and you're drawing multiples of a card that is plenty strong by itself. Same goes for Spirit, you don't want to draw multiples. If you can manage to draw or tutor for one, you're set.

Pox really is a great "Sneak" deck and I've "snuck" my way into the Top 8 of many online and real tournaments with a pox build that I change drastically depending on metagames. Two cards that almost always have a place in my pox deck are Spirit and Contamination, because they're good in almost any situation barring a metagame completely dominated by powered control decks.

-LoW

[Generic]

And to the suggestion of more artifact mana, normally when you alter a decklist, you alter it to improve your bad matchups.  Taking out null rods, and adding in scrolls, artifact acelleration, and chimeric idols (I feel) would only weaken you to your worst matchup more than you already are.  Scroll is best against weenie aggro and control.  Artifact acelleration wouldn't help that much vs. stax either.

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.

[Generic]

Well, naturally Contamination dosn't exist in a vacuum. My Pox deck, which often sets up the Contamination lock successfully, runs 2x tutors (demonic consult/tutor), 2x Contamination, 2x Spirit, and the single Entomb to look for a spirit early on. It may seem redundant just for a lock that dosn't guarentee a win, but I think it's just redundant enough.

Any more than 2x Contamination and you're drawing multiples of a card that is plenty strong by itself. Same goes for Spirit, you don't want to draw multiples. If you can manage to draw or tutor for one, you're set.

Pox really is a great "Sneak" deck and I've "snuck" my way into the Top 8 of many online and real tournaments with a pox build that I change drastically depending on metagames. Two cards that almost always have a place in my pox deck are Spirit and Contamination, because they're good in almost any situation barring a metagame completely dominated by powered control decks.

-LoW

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

[Generic]

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

[swawagon]

Necropotence would be truly beneficial to hit, especially VS control. Chains of M. is great, as is Bottomless Pit, especially with The Rack as the main kill card.

Also with the redundany you are running Demonic Consultation is a house. Tutoring for one black mana, into your hand, at instant speed is the creme de le creme.

Also I would prefer Wasteland in most cases to Sinkhole. Wasteland is uncounterable (sans Stifle) and un-Misdirectable and free (land drop). If your meta has few non-basics and few counterspells (it is an odd meta) I guess go with Sinkhole.

I am playing a few Urza's Bauble, as mentioned earlier, and in testing I realized how awesome Bauble was when you cast Yawgmoth's Will.

On the cusp of testing my is Skeletal Scrying. I think refueling a hand with a few Scrying could be that boost POX needs mid-to late game.

I have played with the idea of Phrexian Furnace as well. They can simply be cantrips for 2 and take an important graveyard recursion targeted card out of an opponents graveyard as you draw. Or keep them in play and keep spoiling an opponents Y. Will plans. Playing a few Furnace allows you to play a few extra Nether Spirits too as extra ones that end up in the graveyard can be spit out of the game by a furnace.

Also I don't know if you are sharing experiences but I often (VS fully powered {proxied} keeper) loathe drawing extra late game land and thinning the land with several fetchlands early would make playing white possible and provide more meaningful draws later in the game.

[Generic]

Necropotence would be truly beneficial to hit, especially VS control. Chains of M. is great, as is Bottomless Pit, especially with The Rack as the main kill card.

Also with the redundany you are running Demonic Consultation is a house. Tutoring for one black mana, into your hand, at instant speed is the creme de le creme.

Also I would prefer Wasteland in most cases to Sinkhole. Wasteland is uncounterable (sans Stifle) and un-Misdirectable and free (land drop). If your meta has few non-basics and few counterspells (it is an odd meta) I guess go with Sinkhole.

I am playing a few Urza's Bauble, as mentioned earlier, and in testing I realized how awesome Bauble was when you cast Yawgmoth's Will.

On the cusp of testing my is Skeletal Scrying. I think refueling a hand with a few Scrying could be that boost POX needs mid-to late game.

I have played with the idea of Phrexian Furnace as well. They can simply be cantrips for 2 and take an important graveyard recursion targeted card out of an opponents graveyard as you draw. Or keep them in play and keep spoiling an opponents Y. Will plans. Playing a few Furnace allows you to play a few extra Nether Spirits too as extra ones that end up in the graveyard can be spit out of the game by a furnace.

Also I don't know if you are sharing experiences but I often (VS fully powered {proxied} keeper) loathe drawing extra late game land and thinning the land with several fetchlands early would make playing white possible and provide more meaningful draws later in the game.

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.

[swawagon]

The few points of damage that the fetchlands do do are often null compared to what POX does. Say for instance if you POX at 19 or 18 (16-15, 13-12…) you lose life down to 12 it makes no difference.

Several of the differences we have deliberated on are just the different was we are taking the decks. Chains is a big spell in many cases however I am opting for Bottomless Pit because of it's synergy with The Rack. I am still mono-black.

POX must be amazing in 1.5 without all the moxen mana you cannot effectively stop (minus running Nullrod) and type one's incredible card drawing.

And Demonic Consultation must be added or at least tested. I usually only Consult for cards I have 3-4 of in the deck, Hymns, Wastelands, Dark Ritual, POX, The Rack.

good luck with the testing. How are the Tainted lands working for you?

[Nameless]

Welp, I'll throw my $0.02 in here...

A good friend of mine has been playing Pox decks forever, and he's recently been thrilled with the release of MIR because of the Talismans.  He's been playing with both the B/U and B/R Talisman and doing pretty good overall now...

When we are expecting a lot of Stax, TnT, and such he runs the Red version which uses a good amount of burn with 4x Bolts in the deck in addition to MUCH sideboard artifact hate.  This also has the benefit of allowing you to run Blood Moon, so that between Chains of Meph and Blood Moon in the SB the Control matchup looks a whole hell of a lot sweeter.  The Talisman's really shine here because there is no loss of tempo with this deck.  Turn 1 Bolt/Duress usually followed by Turn 2 Talisman and Bolt/Duress (naturally either could be a Ritual/Pox)...  Very nasty!

In his Blue, which he runs randomly, he uses Recoil over Vindicate.  This has some nice little perks in and of itself, because generally speaking Recoil is incredible, and much better then Vindicate, if combined with various forms of discard.  The only problem is having the discard.     But, in a deck with 4x Duress and 4x Hymn this hasn't been a problem.  He also uses the Blue for several other tricky little things, and includes the Walk and Ancestral.  Oddly enough, Ancestral is never dead, even with Chains on the board, because he's used it on me more then once to force me to loose my top 3 cards.  Point being, that even though that's not a phenominal use of Ancestral it proves that it's hardly a dead draw.

Right now I believe he is experimenting with the Scepter, as somebody mentioned earlier.  I'll have to let you know on that one...

[Generic]

The few points of damage that the fetchlands do do are often null compared to what POX does. Say for instance if you POX at 19 or 18 (16-15, 13-12…) you lose life down to 12 it makes no difference.

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.  

Several of the differences we have deliberated on are just the different was we are taking the decks. Chains is a big spell in many cases however I am opting for Bottomless Pit because of it's synergy with The Rack. I am still mono-black.

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....

POX must be amazing in 1.5 without all the moxen mana you cannot effectively stop (minus running Nullrod) and type one's incredible card drawing.

I agree!

And Demonic Consultation must be added or at least tested. I usually only Consult for cards I have 3-4 of in the deck, Hymns, Wastelands, Dark Ritual, POX, The Rack.

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.

good luck with the testing. How are the Tainted lands working for you?

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

Welp, I'll throw my $0.02 in here...

A good friend of mine has been playing Pox decks forever, and he's recently been thrilled with the release of MIR because of the Talismans.  He's been playing with both the B/U and B/R Talisman and doing pretty good overall now...

When we are expecting a lot of Stax, TnT, and such he runs the Red version which uses a good amount of burn with 4x Bolts in the deck in addition to MUCH sideboard artifact hate.  This also has the benefit of allowing you to run Blood Moon, so that between Chains of Meph and Blood Moon in the SB the Control matchup looks a whole hell of a lot sweeter.  The Talisman's really shine here because there is no loss of tempo with this deck.  Turn 1 Bolt/Duress usually followed by Turn 2 Talisman and Bolt/Duress (naturally either could be a Ritual/Pox)...  Very nasty!

In his Blue, which he runs randomly, he uses Recoil over Vindicate.  This has some nice little perks in and of itself, because generally speaking Recoil is incredible, and much better then Vindicate, if combined with various forms of discard.  The only problem is having the discard.     But, in a deck with 4x Duress and 4x Hymn this hasn't been a problem.  He also uses the Blue for several other tricky little things, and includes the Walk and Ancestral.  Oddly enough, Ancestral is never dead, even with Chains on the board, because he's used it on me more then once to force me to loose my top 3 cards.  Point being, that even though that's not a phenominal use of Ancestral it proves that it's hardly a dead draw.

Right now I believe he is experimenting with the Scepter, as somebody mentioned earlier.  I'll have to let you know on that one...

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.

[Nubi]

Hi all of you, I've been following this thread for a while, and thought it was about time I threw in my opinion

First of all, here is what I play:

Disruption/Removal (20):
4 Pox
4 Duress
4 Hymn to tourach
4 Diabolic Edict (Meta choice over Sinkhole)
3 Spinning Darkness
1 Balance (It really rocks in my Meta, which is mostly weenie decks)

Damage (11):
4 The Rack
4 Steel Golem
3 Cursed Scroll

Utility (3):
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Mana (27):
4 Dark Ritual
1 Sol Ring
2 Darksteel Ingot
3 Tainted Field (Don't have Scrublands)
4 Mishra's Factory (Meta choice over Wasteland)
13 Swamp

So this doesn't quite look like what most of you people are playing, but I figure it's a meta call, since I mostly face aggro decks, and quite often weenies like red stompy, stompy, ww etc.
I'm actually thinking about cutting the edicts for infest, again a meta choice.

Anyway how come nobody runs Darksteel Ingot ? I know it's new and all, but here are my arguments for it:
1. Unaffected by Pox
2. Gives white mana for the splash build (compared to Charcoal Diamond)
3. Indestructible

Also I was running Mox Diamond, but I traded it away and haven't got a new one yet (I'm kinda on a budget-budget )

I'm going to cut the 4 golems in favor of 2 nether spirit and 2 contamination, and I'm probably gonna cut either a swamp or a tainted for entomb, since nobody but me runs artifact mana sources around here, I think it'll be a house.

Oh and btw. Darksteel Ingot also allows one to run Balance alongside Contamination, which I kinda like, since Balance usually gets me out of a sure loss.

Also as for Demonic Consultation, you should really try it out if you haven't, I've never had trouble with it. In fact I've even used it for balance twice

Oh and about the Chimeric Idols, I suppose you run them over Mishra's Factory because you need Wastelands, right ? (Because otherwise I'd strongly advocate Mishra's, since it's a great early blocker, but again it's probably just a meta call)

[Nameless]

Well, while it might seem like the Ingot is a good idea, it costs 3 mana.  I think 3 mana is a bit much.  See the Talismans work not because they are a replacement for Moxxen, but because they are a replacement for dual lands that aren't sacced to Pox.  That 1 extra mana in the casting cost is so huge...  It's one thing to get a Talisman on turn 2, but you don't want to be casting Ingot on turn 3, you want to be casting Pox.

I'll ask my friend for a decklist and post it when I get a chance.

[swawagon]

Darksteel Ingot is way too slow. 3 mana for one sourse regardless of the color it offers is just not possible. On color Moxen (maybe not even the Pearl) are good. Chrome Mox and less so Mox Diamond are playable but not crucial. Black Lotus and Lotus Petal (especially if splashing white) are better than the Chrome or Diamond.

3 Spinning Darkness and 4 Diabolic Edict and 4 Pox is a ton of unnecessary removal. I have just cut Innocent Blood (lower casting cost same effect = better than Edict) Main.

Infest is good but probably not main, I guess you could pound on scrubs but not beat any real tier one decks with it.

I had steel golem in my head for a while but just go (entomb) Nether Spirit, The Rack, Cursed Scroll for the win and the rest disruption and removal. Phrexian Negator could be sided VS redless control.

The white splash is optimal. I tried to stay monoblack but proxy testing with balance and vindicate was just too powerful to ignore. Here is my decklist as goes today. Many PROXIES as I do not won much power.

BLACK
4 Pox
4 Hymn To Torach
4 Duress
3 Bottomless Pit

4 Dark ritual

1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Entomb

1 Nether Spirit

WHITE
1 Balance
3 Vindicate

ARTIFACT
1 Mox Jet
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
3 Cursed Scroll
4 The Rack

LAND
4 Wasteland
1 Stripmine
4 Scrubland
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Tainted Field
6 Swamps

SB
4 Innocent Blood
1 Vindicate
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Infest
2 Gate of Phrexia?
4 Phrexian Negator


One lone Nether Spirit with Entomb is the best way to play the Spirit. As mentioned the Entomb works well with Yawgmoth's Will however I am still considering other worthwhile Entomb targeted cards. The thing about dead cards in pox is if you know they are dead in a given situatian they can be pitched to a Pox or Bottomless Pit if it is just sitting in the hand. Not a great strategy as you would like your hand to be always near empty and pounding with a Cursed Scroll but makes me worry less about potentially dead cards.

The Tainted Fields are good but not over 2 as you are constantly dropping and sacrificing lands in Pox.

I understand about the Bottomless Pit not giving ultimate damage with the Rack but it is still a house against Control.

Defence Grid wants to work it's way in. In a powered Meta I would consider cutting the whole artifact package and running Null Rod main, then probably adding Mishra's Factories.

Sinkhole didn't make it way into the deck as is Pox, Balance and lots of hand disruption somewhat contradict killing land on top of it. You concentrate on one form of denial and use Wastlands as clean up not too much of either. I would like to up the finishing count main (although the Negators Side are great surprise, cut the Nether Spirit, Entomb, and probably a Vindicate and the Vampiric for them against control)

Skeletal Scrying can be amazing but too often just didn't have the mana to do it right and it sucked burning soo much mana and life into it when Bottomless Pit had me lose one a card before I had the mana to use it. It became better to just cast the card I had than try to get a bunch of cards I could not get to playing. A Vampiric Tutor made the cut barely. Adding Necropotence just hasn't made it yet mostly for the same reasoning as the Scrying.

Dark Ritual is soo cool when you Y. Will in fact many cards rule but that is the most countered spell in the deck so relying on it each game is a no-no which is why Urza's Bauble although great sometimes, was ultimately cut.

White is a bomb as Vindicate and Balance are alone worth the splash.

[Generic]

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.

[Nubi]

Well the ingots I run is basicly for testing them, since I'm going to try with contamination (2x of those), and the lands can't give me white then. However something I had totally forgotten about is Lotus Petal, I can imagine it will rock in my deck, since I only run white for Balance, and then I can leave the ingots at home. Oh and the reason I run so many tainted lands is that I can't afford scrublands (yup you heard me, I'm very very poor ), and actually I've only taken one mulligan because of them ever, so it kinda works okay.
Anyway with spirit/contamination my deck is going to look somewhat like this:

Pox

Disruption/Removal (20)
4 Pox
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Innocent Blood
3 Spinning Darkness
1 Balance

Damage (8)
4 The Rack
1 Nether Spirit
3 Cursed Scroll

Utility (6)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Entomb
2 Contamination
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Mana (27)
4 Dark Ritual
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
4 Tainted Field
4 Mishra's Factory
13 Swamp

Oh and btw. I run so much creature removal because it really is needed around here, there is just so many aggro decks.
Uhm and I dunno about Innocent Blood for sure yet, the speed of the edict has saved me a couple of times.

[Nubi]

After a bit of thinking I've come to the conclusion, that spinning darkness is rather crappy with the spirit, since I can't really cast darkness unless I want to ruin the spirit. So I'm thinking about either cutting them for Funeral Charm (Good 3 purpose card) or the edicts. Or maybe 2 pits and then just cut the 3rd one to get down to 60 cards (running 61 currently)

[Generic]

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.

[Generic]

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.

[Malenko]

Hi,

well, this is mi first post in the forum (i registered only for this topic, I love Pox a lot).

First of all, sorry by my english (I'm from spain). I try to explain my version of pox...

Pox is a card that destroys hand, life and lands, and leave as a job to the oponent restore his hand and lands. My version of pox deck try to make harder to do it.  First the deck list (this was the first version, i can't find a more updated version :_( ):

// Mana and acceleration
18 x Swamp
 3  x Wasteland
 1  x StripMine
 4  x Dark Ritual
 1  x Sol ring

// Disruption: discard, mana denial...
 4  x Duress
 4  x Hymn to tourach
 4  x Sinkhole

// Restricted cards
 1  x Demonic Tutor
 1  x Yawgmoth's Will
 1  x Entomb

// THE card
 4  x Pox

// Win conditions
 2  x Nether spirit
 3  x Cursed Scroll
 4  x The Rack
 4  x Ankh of Mishra

// Utility: versus zuran, etc.
 1  x Powder Keg


And now some explanation of the cards choice.

Ankh of Mishra: some people say that is a contradiction with the use of the rack, but makes a lock to the oponent. And with the use/abuse of the fetchlands it's very powerfull, and oponent's life will decrease very quickly. I recomend to test.

Entomb: it's a virtual third nether. Most people don't counter entomb waiting for counter the reanimation spell

Powder Keg: lossing to a parfait by zuran makes me think about.

This is all for now (I'm at work, jejeje).