Zach Hess's GB Poison
 
Type: Deck Idea
Format (legal 👍) modModern
Approx. Value:
$127.64
Buy

0 Likes 8 Comments
Avg. CMC 3.0
Card Color Breakdown
Card Type Breakdown

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Main Deck - 60 cards, 16 distinct
Columns
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (23)
3 Blackcleave Goblin
$0.12 Creature - Phyrexian Goblin Zombie
2 Blight Mamba
$0.23 Creature - Phyrexian Snake
2 Corpse Cur
$0.22 Artifact Creature - Phyrexian Dog
2 Cystbearer
$0.15 Creature - Phyrexian Beast
2 Hand of the Praetors
$4.46 Creature - Phyrexian Zombie
4 Ichor Rats
$1.38 Creature - Phyrexian Rat
4 Ichorclaw Myr
$0.81 Artifact Creature - Phyrexian Myr
4 Putrefax
$0.55 Creature - Phyrexian Horror
Instant (6)
4 Giant Growth
$0.12 Instant
2 Grasp of Darkness
$0.08 Instant
Sorcery (6)
2 Cultivate
$0.55 Sorcery
4 Explore
$0.39 Sorcery
Planeswalker (2)
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
$2.90 Legendary Planeswalker - Garruk
Land (23)
9 Forest
$0.08 Basic Land - Forest
10 Swamp
$1.79 Basic Land - Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
$19.62 Land
Sideboard - 0 cards, 0 distinct
No cards here. :(

Notes
 
My attempt at dragging poison into the standard metagame. Currently doesn't have an appropriate sideboard, but it'll most likely consist of 50% removal and 50% poison creatures due to the incredibly linear strategy of the deck.

Noted advantages:

Very fast. This deck is able to start swinging for poison damage as early as turn 3, and can 6-8 poison counters of damage in one turn (depending on the situation).

Difficult for sweeper spells and burn spells to deal with creatures, due to the vast amount of poisoners in the deck.

Giant Growth + attacking Ichorclaw = 4 poison on turn 3, close to half of what you need to do to kill your opponent.

Due to infect and the amount of creatures in the deck, it's relatively easy to cut through creature based decks since you can suicide a poison creature to kill one of your opponent's,and then summon 2 more on the next turn.

Noted Disadvantages:

Lack of removal. As previously noted, you can suicide creatures to make an opening for more infect creatures to attack. But there's little in the way of removal to just deal with creatures so that the ones already on the field can attack.

Very easy to be forced into a color screw by UW control decks via Spreading Seas and Jace's bounce ability. Granted, the Cultivates have yet to be tested to see if they can potentially fix the problem.

Like any other raw aggro deck, it can potentially burn out if the game keeps dragging on.
Comments
  • Zach Hess | 21-Oct-2010 18:07
    The only flaw to Mimic Vat + Putrefax is that Putrefax is game-ending card by himself. If you're in a situation where you have a successful attack with Putrefax and your opponent isn't at 8 poison counters bare minimal, you're doing something very wrong.


    And I'm not really trying to say blue is bad for this deck -- it's not. It's just that UGB is too much of a spread on mana to be successful imo, dual land, fetches and all.
  • Kevin McKee | 21-Oct-2010 16:53
    I will once again state that Mimic Vat is hilarious with Putrefax, and probably a game-ending conclusion.


    Also, Distortion Strike exists. IMO, "the poison deck" will involve U somehow...either UB or UG. UG has fetches...UB has duals...each has strengths (G = pump, B = more infect dudes & removal). But I think that U is vastly too good for a poison tempo/aggro deck to eschew and still work.
  • Lance Kibe | 20-Oct-2010 03:23
    Zachs (heh, I never thought I'd address two Zachs at the same time) this is the infect deck that I would like to tune:
    http://deckbox.org/sets/19285
    I don't think the manabase is right, but it's more of a mid game, gather pieces, make a big, unblocked dude.
  • Lance Kibe | Edited 19-Oct-2010 16:55
    Pumps are required to run Poison, Zach. Try cutting down to the most efficiant ones (Plague Stinger, Ichorclaw Myr, Blight Mamba, Ichor Rats) and adding alot of removal and pumps (Vines of Vastwood, Prey's Vengeance, Distortion Strike) to max out whenever an opponent doesn't block. Also, Livewire Lash + pump spells = good times.
    • Zach Hess | Edited 19-Oct-2010 17:33
      Personally I have no interest in running Plague Stinger. It's a 1/1 for 2 in my eyes, of which there are others I'd throw in that could do more (Necropede would be a good example of a better drop: it's a 1/1 that kills another 1/1 that can be out on turn 2 and swinging on turn 3).


      I've been floating the idea of throwing in Vines for awhile now. I think I might ditch the Goblins for them, since their primary purpose seems to be little more than a extra 2 damage when I'm attacking.


      I dunno about the Livewire Hash though. The +2/+0 is neat, but the 2 damage doesn't do that much considering that everything that this deck does is poison counters. That 2 damage would just sit there and be of no worth. I'd rather throw in Darksteel Axe if I was doing something on those lines.
      • Zachary Evans | 19-Oct-2010 18:10
        Plague Stinger is a 1/1 for 2 with evasion.  That's not an insignificant ability.  Against a meta-game full of goblins and elves, and in a deck that uses pump effects as the crux to its strategy, a single unblocked creature is critical.  This is also the advantage of Livewire Lash, since infect creatures deal their damage as poison counters.  The equipped creature would do X+2 damage directly to the player without having to barrel through defenses, and that damage translates to poison counters via the infect mechanic.


        Lance is right.  You're going to want more pump effects, at least four Vines of Vastwood, and I'd think about splashing red for Assault Strobe or blue for Steady Progress and/or Distortion Strike.  You'll win more games by attacking with one creature and double pumping it for the win than you will just overrunning somebody as the board starts to clog up.


        I'd also focus more on Hand of the Praetors, Ichor Rats, and Contagion Clasp, since they allow for poison counters directly without having to deal damage.  You're right in that you can start attacking for poison counters on turn three, but by that point elves and white weenie will probably have four creatures to push through.


        Best of luck.
        • Zach Hess | 19-Oct-2010 18:26
          I'm still not on board for Plague Stinger though. I would rather have something affects board presence rather than something that has evasion. Going back to original example, Necropede is a better example of good 2 drop: It could kill/weaken another creature on the spot and then start swinging next turn. Or Ichorclaw Myr (granted there's already a playset in there): a 1/1 with in infect that becomes bigger than most small drops when blocked for 2 mana. It makes the opponent debate about blocking it to protect their creatures and will let it go, and then you can GG it to make it huge. I'd have these out of my 2 drops than 1/1 + flying.


          I agree on the Vines, but I'm probably not going to put in a 3rd color. The reason being that this can be forcefully color screwed by UW control, and naturally by just not drawing enough spells. Adding another color, even if it is just a splash, increases the chances of that happening.


          Hand of the Praetors is good, but I don't think there should be any more than 2 in. The reason being is that he swallows up a whole turn's worth mana just to put him out there, and then his effects are REALLY good until you start spamming small infectors next turn. And if he gets destroyed, then you have to start that over again, slowing the deck down. 2 is an ideal number: enough that he can be drawn, but not enough for him to become a consistent dead draw if he doesn't.


          I hadn't really thought about contagion clasp, honestly. I thought it was too slow. But now that I think about it, that could be honestly a useful card for the deck. :)
          • Zachary Evans | 19-Oct-2010 18:38
            I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the Plague Stinger, but I really think in practice you'll see how hard it will be to get a Necropede through defense after the third turn.  This standard environment is going to be creature heavy, and fast to boot, and a double pumped flyer is huge when you're racing.  You're right, Necropede does help deal with opponent's small creatures, but the goal of this deck is to win quickly.  If the game goes long, you're probably going to lose, and focusing deck slots on responding to your opponents early game threats seems like it strays from the infect strategy.  Again, entirely your option and I claim no expertise, but we've been playtesting this archetype since the release and almost every time the deck wins it involves a turn three Plague Stinger flying over blockers and getting at least one pump spell.


            I also think you're over-compensating for Spreading Seas, too.  You're right in that splashing can allow for getting color hosed, but with eight dual lands and at least four fetchlands available for just four off-color cards, it's very doable.  Vines of Vastwood and Assault Strobe is a very legitimate turn three win.  Honestly though, I don't think it matters, as long as you play enough direct counter cards to offset.


            And yeah, Contagion Clasp is a real thorn in your opponents side.  I'd much rather play that on turn four or later than a Necropede, it often serves as a one for one removal, and the proliferate functionality is crucial once your creatures start running into blockers.  If you're not willing to play with the flyer, you almost have to run proliferates.


            I put a green/black build on my Deckbox under Homebrew if you wanna take a look at my approach.
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