[Primer] Melira Pod

[MiniLuv]

Originally Posted by thergonomic

It seems that none in our game group has the pieces to sleeve up Tron at the moment, so I'd appreciate if somebody could give any hints of MeliraPod's match up against Tron.
Both U/W and U/R versions would help.

Ive only played a few games against it. It is pretty bad. Unless you have Fulminator Mage to slow their ramp, they have inevitability. Remand prevents anything 3cc+ from being hardcasted. Repeal + Path makes it hard for any combo piece that was not countered to stick around for long. Be careful of DoJ and WoG board wipes. Elesh Norn out is game over since 90% of your creatures can not stick and you have lost the ability to combo off.

Sideboard should have Aven Mindcensor for Gifts/Map/Eye, graveyard hate for Unburial Rites + Emrakul/Ulamog triggers, Fulminator mage on Tron + Legendary lands, and artifact destruction for their Cage, Torpor Orb, and graveyard hate.

[JeroenVH]

Hi all,

First off, excuse me if I'm posting this somewhere wrong. Kinda new to all this.

I'm a big fan of Pod, and I managed to win a GPT for the Modern GP in Turin this month. So I'm preparing for that now, but I'm wondering: how are the matchups of Pod against the rest of the metagame? Could a matchup analysis be something interesting to add to the primer?

Cheers

[Lectrys]

Originally Posted by JeroenVH

Hi all,

First off, excuse me if I'm posting this somewhere wrong. Kinda new to all this.

I'm a big fan of Pod, and I managed to win a GPT for the Modern GP in Turin this month. So I'm preparing for that now, but I'm wondering: how are the matchups of Pod against the rest of the metagame? Could a matchup analysis be something interesting to add to the primer?

Cheers

I'm a fan of Melira Pod, too, and I'm maintaining the primer!

Unfortunately, I'm in university, so I don't have a lot of time to playtest (and playtesting takes a long time and meticulous notes) for this archetype. Match-ups swing wildly depending on what's in your maindeck (for example, you will have an easier time killing Tron if you run Phyrexian Metamorph maindeck), and then there are Games 2 and 3 (Past Ascension Hybrid UR Storm auto-loses to Ethersworn Canonist Game 1 and boards in more removal or a transformational sideboard Games 2-3). If I also had to fully test the new Aggro Persist Township Melira Pod, it would be a nightmare.

As an example of how many playtesting games I would need for optimal results, I've tried 4 games of Aggro Persist Township Melira Pod against BW Tokens (against myself) so far and BW Tokens's 3 copies of Zealous Persecution haven't shown up once. (The evil Seer-Redcap-Township combo has, though, and Melira Pod won that game by wiping out BW Tokens's board.) I need a hunch I need 10+ games with various Melira Pod builds (well, single card swaps) in order to come up with thorough results.

I may be able to come up with preliminary match-ups, though. They'd be more along the lines of "Game 1 is even if you run Orzhov Pontiff maindeck" or "Game 1 is heavily in your favour even if you run a bare-bones build".

[Braxton the Dragon Lord]

Hi guys, I just came into possession of three more Birthing Pod's thanks to the New Phyrexia box I just bought and since they're some of the best cards I pulled (it was a disappointing box, first one that was bad) and I am looking to see how to use it. I haven't played many combo decks and I was wondering if someone could give a description as to how this deck works? Since I have a playset now I would like to use it but I am a bit unsure as to how this deck is supposed to be run. It seems like a cool deck but I just don't get the 'big picture' with it at the moment.

[thergonomic]

Originally Posted by Braxton the Dragon Lord

Hi guys, I just came into possession of three more Birthing Pod's thanks to the New Phyrexia box I just bought and since they're some of the best cards I pulled (it was a disappointing box, first one that was bad) and I am looking to see how to use it. I haven't played many combo decks and I was wondering if someone could give a description as to how this deck works? Since I have a playset now I would like to use it but I am a bit unsure as to how this deck is supposed to be run. It seems like a cool deck but I just don't get the 'big picture' with it at the moment.

Mate read the first post. It is the primer. Everything is explained in it and there's a list of cards that you can find very useful in the deck, but I'll give you a quick rundown.

To get The Combo off you need to have a Viscera Seer (he can sac dudes without any additional costs) and Melira, the Sylvok Outcast (because of her Persist abilities do NOT put -1/-1 counters on your creatures. Then you need either Kitchen Finks to gain infinite life or Murderous Recap to deal infinite damage. Remember that if you got Finks on the board with Melira and Seer you can just Scry for the Redcap and kill you opponent on the next turn.

That's the basic idea of the deck. Have fun with it.

[Braxton the Dragon Lord]

Originally Posted by thergonomic

Mate read the first post. It is the primer. Everything is explained in it and there's a list of cards that you can find very useful in the deck, but I'll give you a quick rundown.

To get The Combo off you need to have a Viscera Seer (he can sac dudes without any additional costs) and Melira, the Sylvok Outcast (because of her Persist abilities do NOT put -1/-1 counters on your creatures. Then you need either Kitchen Finks to gain infinite life or Murderous Recap to deal infinite damage. Remember that if you got Finks on the board with Melira and Seer you can just Scry for the Redcap and kill you opponent on the next turn.

That's the basic idea of the deck. Have fun with it.

I did read it but was over thinking when I read it, thank you.

[Odedk]

Hey guys!
I really have an headache of thinking what version is better to run with in a PTQ tournament I will compete, the Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in the 6cc slot or Sun Titan? mikaeus does great job cuz he roles like melira and finks/seer/metamorph with undying it's not bad + his intimidate vs some decks also good, but titan is a mass recursion for the combo. what do u prefer?
What do you think of runing Sheoldred with mikaeus to get both effects? someone tested that?

tnx for help!

[alexk]

Originally Posted by Odedk

Hey guys!
I really have an headache of thinking what version is better to run with in a PTQ tournament I will compete, the Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in the 6cc slot or Sun Titan? mikaeus does great job cuz he roles like melira and finks/seer/metamorph with undying it's not bad + his intimidate vs some decks also good, but titan is a mass recursion for the combo. what do u prefer?
What do you think of runing Sheoldred with mikaeus to get both effects? someone tested that?

tnx for help!

I haven't tested Sun Titan, but I would assume Mikaeus is better. He helps with your combo in a similar fashion to Titan, and he provides additional bonuses to your other creatures. Plus, he has semi evasion with Intimidate. Lol, he even kills Delver after it damages you . While Titan may be slightly better at assembling your combo, Mikaeus is better facilitating the beat down plan.

It would be interesting to hear from people who have tested both though...

[DeftJackal]

Sun titan is better on an empty board than Mikaeus, and in the matchups where I end up playing him, that is the situation that it normally ends up as. most of the stuff has already died, so you get immediate value of of your sun titan. Mikaeus gets hit harder by grafdigger's cage, and is better in a more all in combo version of the deck. He is also better against one of pod's worst matchups, tron. Right now I am starting sun titan main, and having Mikaeus in the sideboard if I need him.

[RPrajzner]

Chord for Eternal Witness returning Chord then Chord for Sun Titan is something I've pulled off quite a few times to win games.

[giggioz]

Originally Posted by RPrajzner

Hi,

can you explain me why you play Saffi and Spellskite togheter?
It seems they cover the same role in the deck.

How did you find the confidant?

I love your manabase without those silly conditional lands... and the dryad arbor too seems to me a nice add on.

Thanks for the answers.
Thanks for the answers

[unkyunk]

Hello all. I recently sleeved up this deck after dabbling in it after a while online. Bought my shocks, bought my fetches. Its great. My list was actually really crappy. My list and had at least 10 cards it shouldn't have had (who would have thought there was a white deck that didn't want/need 4x Path to Exile) and was too light on 2drops, but I still got top 8 at a tourny of around 30 people. I went against Tron (won), Through the Breach Ramp (won), Affinity (lost), Jund (won), Jund (lost).

[TobyornotToby]

I play Path to Exile main and loving it. Against most of the decks I face I rather have it than Thoughtseize, which is in the side.

[MakoEyesX]

I've found dismember to work better than path. The fact that you can use all your mana on your turn and still use a wall of roots to kill a guy by surprise has proven useful. It's also better against dark confidant, and letting a bob live is the best way to lose to Jund.

[TobyornotToby]

I face a lot of decks with Lightning Bolts though. I really don't want to pay life.