Are you interested in trying out modern or a new deck in modern without spending $500 or more? Are you tired of people telling you to try out tron—or did you try it and not like it? Melira Pod might be the deck for you.
Melira Pod centers on the interactions between sacrifice outlets like Viscera Seer, persist creatures like Kitchen Finks, and Melira, Sylvok Outcast. If you sacrifice a persist creature, the -1/-1 counter won't serve to mess up your creature because of Melira, meaning you can sacrifice the persist creature as many times as you like. With Finks, that means infinite life; with Murderous Redcap, that means infinite damage and a game won.
The other piece of the puzzle is Birthing Pod, which can be instrumental in assembling the pieces to this hilarious infinite combo.
Most Melira Pod decks are a three-plus color affair involving a very expensive fetch/shock manabase and only the best singles. And that makes sense for the most dedicated Pod players among us. But I wanted to make a passable Melira Pod deck without busting out the Benjamins. I think I succeeded; the recommended list below sits at around $55-60 at the time of writing, and it's not terrible.
Hope this gives you a good starting point for dipping your toes in modern or in Melira Pod. My purpose here hasn't been to be on the bleeding edge; it's to give you the best starting point possible. So from here you can start adding in more interesting tricks or diversifying your colors as you want.
Let me know your suggestions or ask away if you have any questions on card choices or interactions!
The Suggested Budget List
The most significant obstacle for developing a budget version of Melira Pod involved getting the manabase right. My theory for solving this problem is to make the deck almost completely a two-color affair rather than a three-plus color affair. Essentially, by focusing on black and green, I can seriously restrict white's presence in the manabase. And it just turns out that we have a way to get around basically all color costs: Birthing Pod. So the white things we do have can generally be fetched with Pod. Thus, after tirelessly surveying basically every candidate for every slot in a traditional Pod list (and updating over time), I came up with the following list. Tcgplayer with optimization puts the list in the $55-60 range right now. Originally I had posted a ~$45 list, but after Kitchen Finks had a price drop from Modern Masters I decided to bring him in—he's a great addition and will probably never be cheaper than right now.
Any good ideas in the 3ish range that does lifegain or otherwise stalls aggro without being $8 like Kitchen Finks? I've got a singleton Aven Riftwatcher when the lifegain is necessary, but that guy leaves something to be desired; I've got a few Rendclaw Trows for the persist side of Finks.
I tried Blade Splicer also per mordath's advice. I found that sometimes I need life gain straight up and that Aven Riftwatcher does that better; other times I need persist, e.g. for Birthing Pod, which Rendclaw Trow is better at; and, other times I need blocker, which Blade Splicer does better at. After some testing I decided that Trow can still block even if not quite as well as Splicer but that the persist at 3CMC is vital for birthing. So I kept the same 3-1 Trow/Aven split for the Kitchen Finks slot.
Finally, note that an important part of the manabase for the list is keeping white mana symbols low. There are basically three symbols in the whole list: Harmonic Sliver, Ranger of Eos, and Aven Riftwatcher. Those are all cards I'd prefer to Birthing Pod tutor rather than cast. With so few white symbols, the Avacyn's Pilgrims and Brushlands are "just in case."
So the mana symbols comes down to being mainly BG, which is why it can consistently work without a fetch/shock base.
Still, if anybody has any suggestions, open to hearing them.
The mana is key. Now that you mention it, I do tend to roll my eyes when I see Llanowar Elves come up, so I'll try dropping the last copy. I'll keep looking over the dual list on the Wiki.
Thanks for posting your list. I feel like sleeving this up now, and seeing how well it works
This isn't something that will win you a Modern PTQ, but it's something I'll be proud to take to casual games or maybe a Modern FNM in relatively affordable fashion.
Let me know if you end up playing with something similar and what does/doesn't work.
I'd drop the Rendclaw Traws for Strangleroot Geist. Lower on your curve, they haste, and get you your Riftwatchers through Pod. I'd drop Gravedigger for Entomber Exarch; same cmc, outright better. Drop Farhaven elf for Blade Splicer asap. Switch out safehold elite for qasali pridemage. More removal and it swings for 3.
When I get back from my stuff today, I'll post my list. It's not budget, but you can see what kinds of mechanics are useful to emulate with budget cards.
I'd drop the Rendclaw Traws for Strangleroot Geist. Lower on your curve, they haste, and get you your Riftwatchers through Pod. I'd drop Gravedigger for Entomber Exarch; same cmc, outright better. Drop Farhaven elf for Blade Splicer asap. Switch out safehold elite for qasali pridemage. More removal and it swings for 3.
When I get back from my stuff today, I'll post my list. It's not budget, but you can see what kinds of mechanics are useful to emulate with budget cards.
Thanks for your input! I hope I don't come across as unappreciative given my responses to most of your advice, but I think my responses are well-reasoned and justified by the time I've sunk playing with the list.
On Strangleroot Geist vs Rendclaw Trow, the troll is better in this list because I need persist fodder at 3CMC to get out Ranger of Eos and Murderous Redcap. Like I said in OP, Rendclaw Trow is my Kitchen Finks, and that's key to Melira Pod. So probably not on Geist. I do have a singleton Safehold Elite at 2CMC, but I like it more than Geist because of the potential for an infinite topdeck cycle combo with Seer/Melira and less mana-intensity.
On Gravedigger vs Entomber Exarch, good spot. My only hesitation is the double-black since I find myself hardcasting Gravedigger relatively often, so the casting cost might be more problematic than what it's worth to get the duress option. I'll try it out to see.
On Farhaven Elf vs Blade Splicer, probably not. I already tried Blade Splicer and didn't get that much extra good out of it over Trow (given that we're talking about podding into these), and on the Elf slot I really need the mana fixing sometimes. Further, it helps to avoid white mana symbols when you're not on a fetch/shock base. I know this weakens my list's ability to play beatdown or block, but it's the price paid for stabilizing the manabase.
On Safehold Elite vs Qasali Pridemage, I like having a persist option at 2CMC, and I've already had enough naturalize while testing Harmonic Sliver and Acidic Slime. It hurts my attacking, but it's better for blocking and podding.
Thanks for offering to post your list, but I'm pretty good at reading and found primers and other lists around for what effects I need, so I think if you read again the list I posted I've got most of the "mechanics [ ] useful to emulate" (for a budget list) in there.
Generally, I find to make something budget it is better to brew than to emulate something poorly. I would experiment with cutting the white completely. It helps stabilize your mana and gives you more flexibility. I agree with putting in more strangle root geist and possibly going much more aggro focused. I think in this case I would go up to the full four of the early combo pieces and run the entimber's and maybe some duress'. I see why you would want to run a three drop persist, but the throw is just not good enough. Maybe Gerald's messenger's post rotation in this slot. I would have to look in gatherer more, but a gray ogre is not what you want in your deck in modern.
Thanks for your input! I hope I don't come across as unappreciative given my responses to most of your advice, but I think my responses are well-reasoned and justified by the time I've sunk playing with the list.
On Strangleroot Geist vs Rendclaw Trow, the troll is better in this list because I need persist fodder at 3CMC to get out Ranger of Eos and Murderous Redcap. Like I said in OP, Rendclaw Trow is my Kitchen Finks, and that's key to Melira Pod. So probably not on Geist. I do have a singleton Safehold Elite at 2CMC, but I like it more than Geist because of the potential for an infinite topdeck cycle combo with Seer/Melira and less mana-intensity.
On Gravedigger vs Entomber Exarch, good spot. My only hesitation is the double-black since I find myself hardcasting Gravedigger relatively often, so the casting cost might be more problematic than what it's worth to get the duress option. I'll try it out to see.
On Farhaven Elf vs Blade Splicer, probably not. I already tried Blade Splicer and didn't get that much extra good out of it over Trow (given that we're talking about podding into these), and on the Elf slot I really need the mana fixing sometimes. Further, it helps to avoid white mana symbols when you're not on a fetch/shock base. I know this weakens my list's ability to play beatdown or block, but it's the price paid for stabilizing the manabase.
On Safehold Elite vs Qasali Pridemage, I like having a persist option at 2CMC, and I've already had enough naturalize while testing Harmonic Sliver and Acidic Slime. It hurts my attacking, but it's better for blocking and podding.
Thanks for offering to post your list, but I'm pretty good at reading and found primers and other lists around for what effects I need, so I think if you read again the list I posted I've got most of the "mechanics [ ] useful to emulate" (for a budget list) in there.
I see your choices are all well thought out, and that's excellent. I just wanna touch on the Trow thing. You mentioned that it's supposed to be a persisting 3cmc guy; in other words, finks, and that it helps you get your 4 cmc guys. After playing Melira Pod for awhile, I can definitely say that finks' primary role isn't to abuse the Pod chain from 3 to 4. It's really the 2 life that makes things relevant. When things get hairy in games and I slam down that finks, I'm not looking for a board presence swing where I eventually Pod 1 guy into 2, it's more that he's a recurring blocker and helps get me out of death range. I'd say Aven Riftwatcher is going to fill finks spot better than the Trow. It still gets your the 4 life, which is crucial in grinding out games.
It's arguable that most choices for Pod lists tend to be ones with enter the battlefield triggers. Trow, without any ETB effects, just seems incredibly subpar. If you put in Strangleroot Geists in the two spot, you get the undying trigger which can increase your number of 3 drops on the field, which pseudo-abuses the 3cmc-4cmc spot.
Going to be testing your exact list OP tonight. I'll let you know how well it does.
Edit: this is how i did with your list (took notes and tried to remember when I could)
jund
game 1 - just ran out of cards. was doing fine with a few beaters but couldn't get through tarmogoyfs protecting a liliana, lost when she went ultimate.
game 2 - both went into top deck mode again. Actually got a birthing pod this time, so it was good. Loved getting shriekmaw to deal with goyf, otherwise I would lose. Didn't get combo off, but just beat with 2 shriekmaws and a ranger of eos
game 3 - again both in top deck mode with about 6 life each. Holding ranger of eos with no white mana sources and draw land for 4 turns while opponent draws DRSx2 and thoughtseize. Then he draws huntmaster after making me discard everything.
0-1
Affinity
game 1 - he wins turn 4 with cranial on blinkmoth. no white mana for aven riftwatcher blocks. Had redcap and melira out with next card going to draw be viscera seer. Oh well, I guess lucky I drew mana dorks early and had the chance.
game 2 - racing his 2x etched champions. blow up 1 cranial plating. He draws his second and attacks me, I go down to 1. Am able to pull of melira+seer+redcap combo with 2x birthing pods on the field
game 3 - he gets cranial plating turn 1, etched turn 2, can't do much. kills me on his 5th turn.
0-2
RG tron
game 1- he gets turn 3 karn and blows up my land but i have been putting out mana dorks so doesn't hurt me much. He pops oblivion stone after I've extended on turn 5. Gets out a wurmcoil on turn 6 and can't do much (draw 3 melira's in a row) while he casts emrakul
Game 2- he has to mulligan to 4 before he even gets a land in his hand (or at least that's what he told me). He's stuck on 2 lands (both urza's mine) for a while, I'm able to set up melira combo to win.
game 3- he gets out karn on turn 4 and exiles my birthing pod. I have another in my hand so I use it and pod a pilgrim for melira. Baits him into exiling melira (which I have another in my hand) and then I play my second melira and redcap. Deal enough damage to get his karn to 2 counters and top deck a seer.
1-2
Doran junk
game 1 - wall of roots is awesome against multiple finks. Have 2 against his 3 finks. Gives me time to set up combo. Especially with his doran out
game 2 - have to mulligan to 4 (have mana flood first two hands, then no mana on third hand). Pretty much screws me over, he liliana's turn 3 and makes me sacrifice my fauna shaman and abrupt decay my wall of roots. Then starts the beatdown with doran.
game 3 - he gets out an early doran which i match with 2 wall of roots on my turn 4. Which he then malestrom pulses... Then I'm facing two tarmogoyfs. Double evoke shriekmaw to deal with them. He's stuck on 4 mana and I draw acidic slime to get rid of his only black source. He's beating me down with kitchen finks and I pull birthing pod to get murderous redcap. At that point we go into top deck mode. He draws KOTR and I have to keep chump blocking it. Luckily I draw some persist guys so I can pod and block. Work my way up to ranger of eos for double seer and then win with combo while he keeps drawing stuff like DRS, finks and lands.
2-2
Wow, that's great for a $45 list! Have any thoughts after the experience - anything you hated seeing, anything that should get upped, holes where a new card needs added, etc.?
Given the down opinions on Rendclaw Trow, I also wonder about your thoughts on him in particular.
Well I never wanted to pod for rendclaw. Always podded for aven riftwatcher if possible. When I had him, he was a decent blocker. I would switch the numbers on aven riftwatcher and rendclaw. That way you can run more pain lands or check lands. There were games, especially against jund game 3, where if I had the right mana sources I would have won. But, at least in my games, most of the time the extra 2 or 4 life didn't matter much. Although some games it matters extremely. I can see the argument on both sides though. The biggest contender that I did not face was UWR, probably would have lost. I think that rendclaw trow (in the testing I did prior) was an allstar vs aven in that matchup just because they have to use two spells to get rid of it if they want to keep you off podding to Ranger.
I liked farhaven elf as more mana ramp. There were times I had shriekmaw on the field or acidic slime and wishing I had a CMC 6 to pod into, although that's probably just wishful thinking on my part and not the most optimal.
Close games throughout. I thought I did especially well without a real Sideboard... haha. I liked evolving wilds turn 1 when I had no turn 1 play.
Don't really know without tweaking mana base. Always felt like I wanted more from it, but I think it did pretty well considering an extreme budget manabase.
Don't know if this helps. I want to try out a few changes but definatly will try running this again. Caught people off guard. Especially evolving wilds lol
I received a question a while back about how I would change the deck if I had an additional $50 for the budget. I would automatically put in a playset of Kitchen Finks in place of Aven Riftwatcher and Rendclaw Trow.
Also, in the current list, I dropped the ~$1.50ish duals for basics as I found the mana dorks and Evolving Wilds alone kept me from having mana problems 95% of the time:
It's pretty easy to change that up for budget duals, though—drop a Plains and a Forest for two GW duals; drop a swamp and a forest for two GB duals; turn one or two Swamps into Caves of Koilos; try to keep at least one basic Plains and two basic Swamps; etc.
Hope that helps anybody thinking about budget Melira Pod.
So I am thinking of getting into modern.... well I have a play set of Birthing pod from when it was in standard and I really love the way the card plays.
With the up coming MM I am thinking there might be an opening to get into the format.. while I don't think it will affect the rares and mythic prices a ton the uncommons like the ones that make this deck run looks like they might drop to affordable prices.
I was thinking about my old G/B pod deck (which I took apart for EDH).... how much can we lean on artifacts to get the job done? It would certainly help the mana base.
Glissa the traitor first strike/deathtouch seems like it would be tough for a lot of decks to breakthough. Removal removes it of course and it has no ETB effect so upsides and downsides.
Modern Masters has shifted some prices, especially prices for Kitchen Finks. Also note that this budget deck's strategy has been to absolutely minimize white cards. I theorize that you can make up for not having a strong fetch/shock manabase by practically dropping to a two-color deck, and white's contributions to Melira Pod in particular mainly come from things that can usually be grabbed by podding. With that, I've dropped some of the duals because they're unnecessary for consistency in this list. I've replaced the awkward Aven Riftwatcher/Rendclaw Trow split with the now cheaper Finks. I briefly considered Cartel Aristocrat in a two-mana slot, but the deck's insistence on minimizing white means it's not really a good option unless the player wants to shell out for a more expensive manabase. Altogether, the current list sits at around $55-60 on tcgplayer with optimizer. That's about $15 higher than the list in the OP, but the Finks in the list make all the difference and will probably never be lower than the $4-5 they're at now.
I like the revised list, especially with the Finks added in now. They are so powerful in this format, and I feel that they'll really contribute to making this build much more potent. With that in mind, I have a few considerations for you.
First, I'd drop the Fauna Shaman, for a few reasons. It's a 1-of, so you wont see it often unless you Pod for it, and in my experience, tutoring for a tutor isn't the best line of play. I get that it can bypass the Pod curve, but it doesn't produce card advantage like Pod does, and she's quite vulnerable with all the removal in the format. In her place, I would play Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; she's $2 cheaper than the Shaman, she wins in combat against any X/2 or X/1, and she punishes the decks Merlia Pod has trouble with. Plus you're only playing 4 Pod as non-creature, how can you go wrong?
Second, I'd drop the Safehold Elite for a Qasali Pridemage. I know you want to reduce the dependency on white, but it's an answer to stuff like Torpor Orb that Acidic Slime and Harmonic Sliver can't hit. Plus the exalted trigger helps with the beatdown plan. And it's only $0.50 more.
Third, I realize this is budget, but I would seriously, seriously recommend shelling out the $5 for a Sigarda, Host of Herons. She only dies to sweepers and only a handful of decks run them main. I was playing Geist Midrange in a tournament recently and that card single-handedly beat me in games 1 and 3 of round 2. No answers for it in game 1, and never saw my 2-of Supreme Verdict that I boarded in. Most lists don't play her so few people ever expect to see her.
Wall of Roots is really good with chord, less exciting without it. I'd personally swap out 2 of them for wall of omens. Now you can still pod for roots when you want it but omens is frequently a better card to draw (imo).
Orzhov Pontiff singlehandedly saves MANY games. I realize you are trying to minimize white mana use, but as the typical 1 of you'll pod towards him more than you'll draw/cast him. Need to kill something like a clique or a confidant or some lingering souls tokens? Grab Pontiff. Racing and want to significantly increase your strike? Sac a wall or something into pontiff and give all your guys +1 +1. When first playing melira pod (not budget) I didn't really understand the card but now it would be very hard for me to play without it.
For a bit more mana fixing without crushing the budget, razorverge are like 10/playset now.
Thanks Vilgan and Phoenios. I understand those suggestions. For most of them, though, I would point out that they involve adding more white. I believe that adding more white would require putting duals in the manabase, and that's not what I'm after with this list. If somebody wanted to start with a $100-150 version, they should seriously consider all of those things. What I would really recommend is that people start with my list and then if they like it add more white over time. Step one would be the suggestions you all point out.
One that I really do like is taking out Fauna Shaman for something. I agree that it often feels slow and unhelpful, dies to removal without adding any advantage, and rarely makes for a good Pod target. I'll be on the lookout for 2-drops mainly in green but maybe in black that would be more helpful. Qasali might end up being that, but I really don't want something at white at 2 for CMC.
EDIT: Sajrajt, thanks for pointing out Reveillark. The bird appears to have dropped in price a bit since MoMa, so I'll start looking at that in the 5 CMC slot. At higher CMCs, a single white mana is okay because the list plans to either pod into that or to have a single Plains out from draw/Wilds/Farhaven/Pilgrim.
Introduction
Are you interested in trying out modern or a new deck in modern without spending $500 or more? Are you tired of people telling you to try out tron—or did you try it and not like it? Melira Pod might be the deck for you.
Melira Pod centers on the interactions between sacrifice outlets like Viscera Seer, persist creatures like Kitchen Finks, and Melira, Sylvok Outcast. If you sacrifice a persist creature, the -1/-1 counter won't serve to mess up your creature because of Melira, meaning you can sacrifice the persist creature as many times as you like. With Finks, that means infinite life; with Murderous Redcap, that means infinite damage and a game won.
The other piece of the puzzle is Birthing Pod, which can be instrumental in assembling the pieces to this hilarious infinite combo.
Most Melira Pod decks are a three-plus color affair involving a very expensive fetch/shock manabase and only the best singles. And that makes sense for the most dedicated Pod players among us. But I wanted to make a passable Melira Pod deck without busting out the Benjamins. I think I succeeded; the recommended list below sits at around $55-60 at the time of writing, and it's not terrible.
Hope this gives you a good starting point for dipping your toes in modern or in Melira Pod. My purpose here hasn't been to be on the bleeding edge; it's to give you the best starting point possible. So from here you can start adding in more interesting tricks or diversifying your colors as you want.
Let me know your suggestions or ask away if you have any questions on card choices or interactions!
The Suggested Budget List
The most significant obstacle for developing a budget version of Melira Pod involved getting the manabase right. My theory for solving this problem is to make the deck almost completely a two-color affair rather than a three-plus color affair. Essentially, by focusing on black and green, I can seriously restrict white's presence in the manabase. And it just turns out that we have a way to get around basically all color costs: Birthing Pod. So the white things we do have can generally be fetched with Pod. Thus, after tirelessly surveying basically every candidate for every slot in a traditional Pod list (and updating over time), I came up with the following list. Tcgplayer with optimization puts the list in the $55-60 range right now. Originally I had posted a ~$45 list, but after Kitchen Finks had a price drop from Modern Masters I decided to bring him in—he's a great addition and will probably never be cheaper than right now.
1 Acidic Slime
2 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
3 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Eternal Witness
2 Farhaven Elf
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Gravedigger
1 Harmonic Sliver
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Murderous Redcap
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Safehold Elite
2 Shriekmaw
3 Viscera Seer
3 Wall of Roots
4 Birthing Pod
Lands 24
2 Evolving Wilds
13 Forest
2 Plains
7 Swamp
Old Versions
Original Post
1x Acidic Slime
2x Avacyn's Pilgrim
1x Aven Riftwatcher
3x Elves of Deep Shadow
1x Eternal Witness
2x Farhaven Elf
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Gravedigger
1x Harmonic Sliver
4x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2x Murderous Redcap
1x Ranger of Eos
3x Rendclaw Trow
1x Safehold Elite
2x Shriekmaw
3x Viscera Seer
3x Wall of Roots
2x Brushland
2x Evolving Wilds
11x Forest
3x Llanowar Wastes
1x Plains
5x Swamp
Artifact (4)
4x Birthing Pod
Here's what I'm wondering:
Any $1-2 duals other than the painlands that people recommend?
Any creature tutors to help Birthing Pod and Fauna Shaman that aren't $10 (as in Chord of Calling)?
Any good ideas in the 3ish range that does lifegain or otherwise stalls aggro without being $8 like Kitchen Finks? I've got a singleton Aven Riftwatcher when the lifegain is necessary, but that guy leaves something to be desired; I've got a few Rendclaw Trows for the persist side of Finks.
I tried Blade Splicer also per mordath's advice. I found that sometimes I need life gain straight up and that Aven Riftwatcher does that better; other times I need persist, e.g. for Birthing Pod, which Rendclaw Trow is better at; and, other times I need blocker, which Blade Splicer does better at. After some testing I decided that Trow can still block even if not quite as well as Splicer but that the persist at 3CMC is vital for birthing. So I kept the same 3-1 Trow/Aven split for the Kitchen Finks slot.
Finally, note that an important part of the manabase for the list is keeping white mana symbols low. There are basically three symbols in the whole list: Harmonic Sliver, Ranger of Eos, and Aven Riftwatcher. Those are all cards I'd prefer to Birthing Pod tutor rather than cast. With so few white symbols, the Avacyn's Pilgrims and Brushlands are "just in case."
So the mana symbols comes down to being mainly BG, which is why it can consistently work without a fetch/shock base.
Still, if anybody has any suggestions, open to hearing them.
The mana is key. Now that you mention it, I do tend to roll my eyes when I see Llanowar Elves come up, so I'll try dropping the last copy. I'll keep looking over the dual list on the Wiki.
This isn't something that will win you a Modern PTQ, but it's something I'll be proud to take to casual games or maybe a Modern FNM in relatively affordable fashion.
Let me know if you end up playing with something similar and what does/doesn't work.
When I get back from my stuff today, I'll post my list. It's not budget, but you can see what kinds of mechanics are useful to emulate with budget cards.
UWRUWR Midrange/GeistRWU
Retired
GWBMelira PodBWG
Thanks for your input! I hope I don't come across as unappreciative given my responses to most of your advice, but I think my responses are well-reasoned and justified by the time I've sunk playing with the list.
On Strangleroot Geist vs Rendclaw Trow, the troll is better in this list because I need persist fodder at 3CMC to get out Ranger of Eos and Murderous Redcap. Like I said in OP, Rendclaw Trow is my Kitchen Finks, and that's key to Melira Pod. So probably not on Geist. I do have a singleton Safehold Elite at 2CMC, but I like it more than Geist because of the potential for an infinite topdeck cycle combo with Seer/Melira and less mana-intensity.
On Gravedigger vs Entomber Exarch, good spot. My only hesitation is the double-black since I find myself hardcasting Gravedigger relatively often, so the casting cost might be more problematic than what it's worth to get the duress option. I'll try it out to see.
On Farhaven Elf vs Blade Splicer, probably not. I already tried Blade Splicer and didn't get that much extra good out of it over Trow (given that we're talking about podding into these), and on the Elf slot I really need the mana fixing sometimes. Further, it helps to avoid white mana symbols when you're not on a fetch/shock base. I know this weakens my list's ability to play beatdown or block, but it's the price paid for stabilizing the manabase.
On Safehold Elite vs Qasali Pridemage, I like having a persist option at 2CMC, and I've already had enough naturalize while testing Harmonic Sliver and Acidic Slime. It hurts my attacking, but it's better for blocking and podding.
Thanks for offering to post your list, but I'm pretty good at reading and found primers and other lists around for what effects I need, so I think if you read again the list I posted I've got most of the "mechanics [ ] useful to emulate" (for a budget list) in there.
I see your choices are all well thought out, and that's excellent. I just wanna touch on the Trow thing. You mentioned that it's supposed to be a persisting 3cmc guy; in other words, finks, and that it helps you get your 4 cmc guys. After playing Melira Pod for awhile, I can definitely say that finks' primary role isn't to abuse the Pod chain from 3 to 4. It's really the 2 life that makes things relevant. When things get hairy in games and I slam down that finks, I'm not looking for a board presence swing where I eventually Pod 1 guy into 2, it's more that he's a recurring blocker and helps get me out of death range. I'd say Aven Riftwatcher is going to fill finks spot better than the Trow. It still gets your the 4 life, which is crucial in grinding out games.
It's arguable that most choices for Pod lists tend to be ones with enter the battlefield triggers. Trow, without any ETB effects, just seems incredibly subpar. If you put in Strangleroot Geists in the two spot, you get the undying trigger which can increase your number of 3 drops on the field, which pseudo-abuses the 3cmc-4cmc spot.
UWRUWR Midrange/GeistRWU
Retired
GWBMelira PodBWG
Edit: this is how i did with your list (took notes and tried to remember when I could)
jund
game 1 - just ran out of cards. was doing fine with a few beaters but couldn't get through tarmogoyfs protecting a liliana, lost when she went ultimate.
game 2 - both went into top deck mode again. Actually got a birthing pod this time, so it was good. Loved getting shriekmaw to deal with goyf, otherwise I would lose. Didn't get combo off, but just beat with 2 shriekmaws and a ranger of eos
game 3 - again both in top deck mode with about 6 life each. Holding ranger of eos with no white mana sources and draw land for 4 turns while opponent draws DRSx2 and thoughtseize. Then he draws huntmaster after making me discard everything.
0-1
Affinity
game 1 - he wins turn 4 with cranial on blinkmoth. no white mana for aven riftwatcher blocks. Had redcap and melira out with next card going to draw be viscera seer. Oh well, I guess lucky I drew mana dorks early and had the chance.
game 2 - racing his 2x etched champions. blow up 1 cranial plating. He draws his second and attacks me, I go down to 1. Am able to pull of melira+seer+redcap combo with 2x birthing pods on the field
game 3 - he gets cranial plating turn 1, etched turn 2, can't do much. kills me on his 5th turn.
0-2
RG tron
game 1- he gets turn 3 karn and blows up my land but i have been putting out mana dorks so doesn't hurt me much. He pops oblivion stone after I've extended on turn 5. Gets out a wurmcoil on turn 6 and can't do much (draw 3 melira's in a row) while he casts emrakul
Game 2- he has to mulligan to 4 before he even gets a land in his hand (or at least that's what he told me). He's stuck on 2 lands (both urza's mine) for a while, I'm able to set up melira combo to win.
game 3- he gets out karn on turn 4 and exiles my birthing pod. I have another in my hand so I use it and pod a pilgrim for melira. Baits him into exiling melira (which I have another in my hand) and then I play my second melira and redcap. Deal enough damage to get his karn to 2 counters and top deck a seer.
1-2
Doran junk
game 1 - wall of roots is awesome against multiple finks. Have 2 against his 3 finks. Gives me time to set up combo. Especially with his doran out
game 2 - have to mulligan to 4 (have mana flood first two hands, then no mana on third hand). Pretty much screws me over, he liliana's turn 3 and makes me sacrifice my fauna shaman and abrupt decay my wall of roots. Then starts the beatdown with doran.
game 3 - he gets out an early doran which i match with 2 wall of roots on my turn 4. Which he then malestrom pulses... Then I'm facing two tarmogoyfs. Double evoke shriekmaw to deal with them. He's stuck on 4 mana and I draw acidic slime to get rid of his only black source. He's beating me down with kitchen finks and I pull birthing pod to get murderous redcap. At that point we go into top deck mode. He draws KOTR and I have to keep chump blocking it. Luckily I draw some persist guys so I can pod and block. Work my way up to ranger of eos for double seer and then win with combo while he keeps drawing stuff like DRS, finks and lands.
2-2
Given the down opinions on Rendclaw Trow, I also wonder about your thoughts on him in particular.
Anyway, sounds like you had fun, gj on piloting.
I liked farhaven elf as more mana ramp. There were times I had shriekmaw on the field or acidic slime and wishing I had a CMC 6 to pod into, although that's probably just wishful thinking on my part and not the most optimal.
Close games throughout. I thought I did especially well without a real Sideboard... haha. I liked evolving wilds turn 1 when I had no turn 1 play.
Don't really know without tweaking mana base. Always felt like I wanted more from it, but I think it did pretty well considering an extreme budget manabase.
Don't know if this helps. I want to try out a few changes but definatly will try running this again. Caught people off guard. Especially evolving wilds lol
Also, in the current list, I dropped the ~$1.50ish duals for basics as I found the mana dorks and Evolving Wilds alone kept me from having mana problems 95% of the time:
13x Forest
7x Swamp
2x Plains
2x Evolving Wilds
It's pretty easy to change that up for budget duals, though—drop a Plains and a Forest for two GW duals; drop a swamp and a forest for two GB duals; turn one or two Swamps into Caves of Koilos; try to keep at least one basic Plains and two basic Swamps; etc.
Hope that helps anybody thinking about budget Melira Pod.
With the up coming MM I am thinking there might be an opening to get into the format.. while I don't think it will affect the rares and mythic prices a ton the uncommons like the ones that make this deck run looks like they might drop to affordable prices.
I was thinking about my old G/B pod deck (which I took apart for EDH).... how much can we lean on artifacts to get the job done? It would certainly help the mana base.
Glissa the traitor first strike/deathtouch seems like it would be tough for a lot of decks to breakthough. Removal removes it of course and it has no ETB effect so upsides and downsides.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
RGGruul Aggro
WSoul Sisters
WBTokens
BUGRRestore Balance
BMono-Black Infect
EDH:
RGWMayael, the Anima
GWURoon of the Hidden Realm
BDrana, Kalastria Bloodchief
4x Elves of Deep Shadow
4x Wall of Roots
4x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
4x Murderous Redcap
1x llanowar elves
1x blood artist
1x Viridian zealot
1x varolz, the scar striped
1x kitchen finks
1x wakedancer
1x Eternal Witness
1x farhaven elf
1x obstimate baloth
1x entomber exarch
1x skinrender
1x Shriekmaw
1x Acidic Slime
11x Forest
4x Llanowar Wastes
8x Swamp
Kicking asses in style
thanks to me for this wonderfull sig.
1 Acidic Slime
2 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
3 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Eternal Witness
2 Farhaven Elf
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Gravedigger
1 Harmonic Sliver
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Murderous Redcap
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Safehold Elite
2 Shriekmaw
3 Viscera Seer
3 Wall of Roots
4 Birthing Pod
Lands 24
2 Evolving Wilds
13 Forest
2 Plains
7 Swamp
First, I'd drop the Fauna Shaman, for a few reasons. It's a 1-of, so you wont see it often unless you Pod for it, and in my experience, tutoring for a tutor isn't the best line of play. I get that it can bypass the Pod curve, but it doesn't produce card advantage like Pod does, and she's quite vulnerable with all the removal in the format. In her place, I would play Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; she's $2 cheaper than the Shaman, she wins in combat against any X/2 or X/1, and she punishes the decks Merlia Pod has trouble with. Plus you're only playing 4 Pod as non-creature, how can you go wrong?
Second, I'd drop the Safehold Elite for a Qasali Pridemage. I know you want to reduce the dependency on white, but it's an answer to stuff like Torpor Orb that Acidic Slime and Harmonic Sliver can't hit. Plus the exalted trigger helps with the beatdown plan. And it's only $0.50 more.
Third, I realize this is budget, but I would seriously, seriously recommend shelling out the $5 for a Sigarda, Host of Herons. She only dies to sweepers and only a handful of decks run them main. I was playing Geist Midrange in a tournament recently and that card single-handedly beat me in games 1 and 3 of round 2. No answers for it in game 1, and never saw my 2-of Supreme Verdict that I boarded in. Most lists don't play her so few people ever expect to see her.
UWRUWR Midrange/GeistRWU
Retired
GWBMelira PodBWG
A few thoughts:
Wall of Roots is really good with chord, less exciting without it. I'd personally swap out 2 of them for wall of omens. Now you can still pod for roots when you want it but omens is frequently a better card to draw (imo).
Orzhov Pontiff singlehandedly saves MANY games. I realize you are trying to minimize white mana use, but as the typical 1 of you'll pod towards him more than you'll draw/cast him. Need to kill something like a clique or a confidant or some lingering souls tokens? Grab Pontiff. Racing and want to significantly increase your strike? Sac a wall or something into pontiff and give all your guys +1 +1. When first playing melira pod (not budget) I didn't really understand the card but now it would be very hard for me to play without it.
For a bit more mana fixing without crushing the budget, razorverge are like 10/playset now.
One that I really do like is taking out Fauna Shaman for something. I agree that it often feels slow and unhelpful, dies to removal without adding any advantage, and rarely makes for a good Pod target. I'll be on the lookout for 2-drops mainly in green but maybe in black that would be more helpful. Qasali might end up being that, but I really don't want something at white at 2 for CMC.
EDIT: Sajrajt, thanks for pointing out Reveillark. The bird appears to have dropped in price a bit since MoMa, so I'll start looking at that in the 5 CMC slot. At higher CMCs, a single white mana is okay because the list plans to either pod into that or to have a single Plains out from draw/Wilds/Farhaven/Pilgrim.