Counting Counters

[Homestar]

yeai agree, countering in MP is like Land Destruction in MP. i tried that once, my strategy was to switch off between one guy and the other (3 player game inculding me) but, it didnt work, the just got mad at me and gang banged me and i died

 

[Spiderman]

heh, for that to "work" in MP, you need like global destruction like Jokulhaups or Obliterate and some way to keep the edge (Ankh of Mishra maybe), all the way defending yourself from early threats while you try to set this all up

 

[Oversoul]

Having countermagic in MP tends to be a great deal less useful than in single-play. And when everyone at the table decides it would be a better idea not to use it, that's the time to bust out the Bargain deck or the Academy deck or...

 

[Spiderman]

Heh, that's not bad in my group because they rarely run anti-enchantment spells in their decks anyways....

 

[train]

I'm always pro-bargain...

Not academy though... unless it's academy rector...

 

[Oversoul]

Which leads to Bargain...

 

[train]

That's the way I see it...

Black can run global destruction in a Bargain deck and do well...

Pox isn't a card for nothing!...

 

[Oversoul]

Pox is such a cool deck. It attacks the opponent on four different levels. It has synergy with other cards that attack any of those four levels. It is considerably difficult to master. Oh, and it's so annoying to play against...

 

[train]

I can see Pox seeming a little difficult to master - but it just takes the right synergy, like you said...

I think it works best with 2 levels in hand disruption, and life loss... Focusing on those 2 has let my previous Pox decks maintain Mono-Black "Control"...

 

[Oversoul]

Well, those are the two most important, hand destruction because it's the most potent, and life-loss because you need to kill the opponent to win...

But a dash of land destruction (Wastelands are great in Type I and of course Strip Mine and Sinkhole) helps to maintain control. And Pox is an effective creature-kill card, but something else is needed typically. My favorites are Diabolic Edict and Spinning Darkness...

 

[train]

I started running Innocent Bloods instead of Edicts, because I wasn't running critters anyway... then started using Mindslicers...

Then started running both of them, and Expunges - so I could Cycle...

Here's the list:

Contagious:
4 Pox
2 Drain Life
4 Consume Spirit
2 Expunge
2 Diabolic Edicts
4 Innocent Bloods
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Mindslicers
2 Laquatus's Champion
1 Bargain
1 Necro
1 Zuran Orb
4 Dark Ritual

3 Lake of the Dead
18 Swamps

 

[Oversoul]

I was toying with Pox for Type I on Apprentice, to see if it would be any good. The problem is that it has no gameplan against artifacts. It would walk all over other decks, except when those decks were artifact heavy...

4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Pox
4 Dark Ritual
4 Sinkhole
2 Hypnotic Specter
4 Chimeric Idol (very good with Pox)
4 The Rack
3 Cursed Scroll
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Jet
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
16 Swamp

Sideboard:
4 Funeral Charm (you'd be surprised)
3 Phyrexian Negator
4 Dystopia
4 Planar Void

If I had more of the necessary cards, a casual Pox deck would be good. Most of it would look like what's already here. I'd run 4 Strip Mine, with it unrestricted in casual play, and up the Demonic Tutor count as well. I don't have Sinkholes, so some Icequakes and maybe other LD could find its way into the deck. Not being as familiar with new cards, I'm not sure what else. There's Innocent Blood though. That looks great. I'd add Spinning Darkness back into the deck (I had it in before, but it does sort of conflict with Yawgmoth's Will and I don't have any targets of my own to use for the lifegain if the opponent is playing black or creatureless). Also there's Guardian Idol and Night's Whisper from Fifth Dawn. Those might make nice additions...

I think Pox is a great deck to play and has potential. It's such a powerful card after all...

 

[train]

It hadn't faced artifact decks - but I'd probably run Damping MAtrix or Null Rods...

 

[Oversoul]

Hmm...

That kills Cursed Scroll and Chimeric Idol, both key cards...

The idea has potential. I would love to see Pox win a Type I tournament, but I don't see how it could at this point...

 

[train]

they'd kill your idol, and scroll, but not kill anything in my deck... (I'm not interested in Champion's regen.)

 

[Oversoul]

Yes, but in fairness, my deck wasn't built for those cards...

I'm not sure about yours though. It uses Bargain and Necro, both of which are life-intensive card-drawers. Pox is not friendly to decks with large hands or decks that pay life. Also, many of your spells cost more than three, which, with Pox, is a problem. Although Lake of the Dead could help with that. It's an interesting approach, certainly. How has it performed so far?

 

[train]

It hasn't been developed beyond play-testing...

It's 3-1 in matches...

Lost to mono-red burn...