Card/Deck Someone sell me on Birthing Pod (but first, long backstory)
- Thread starter Hathaway
- Start date
Toolbox feel is exactly how I would describe most successful pod decks I've seen. I don't think you need a ton of ETB creatures to get your money's worth though. If you pod into skinrender to remove a threat and then turn it into Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, I think you'd gotten good value out of your pod. Maybe Drana eats a removal spell and you have to start over. That happens, but I tend to think of pod as a fetch card that can net me reduced cost on guys I want. I never pod into a 2 drop personally, it's always something that costs more than the activation unless it's for a super solid ETB effect (bone shredder for example).
You also have great combo moments like 2 drop into Skaab Ruinator (the other 2 drop chain I would fully sanction), or chain a bunch of guys Living Death. Also pretty sweet.
Carrion Feeder is definitely narrow, but a lot of my black decks want to sacrifice things. So it gets played and is generally good in the decks that want it. That said, it's rarely MVP in any deck so I don't think it's something you have to run. There are much better sac outlets now (Flesh Carver for example).
Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
The main appeal for me of carrion feeder is that it costs 1 mana and is an unconditional sac outlet for aggro. Its problem is, like pod, a drafter problem: people just play it in the wrong decks with the wrong cards. For some reason people want to run it in an overly complicated midrange deck as a sac outlet. The problem is, when they build those decks they are always durdly, and since carrion feeder can't block, it dosen't actually do anything.
Carrion Feeder has been good in R/B decks with things like Zealous Conscripts and Act of Treason. He's not amazing, but he's solid.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
It's been fine in my environment but that's because a blank card that let you sac creatures at will would be borderline playable given the strategies I push. It's a niche card unless your Cube is dense with cards that leave bodies around.
In my experience with my cube, a deck that is truly built around Birthing Pod can be very difficult to beat. Once you've got the chain moving and you can access your toolbox, your deck is suddenly able to execute a sequence of value that even in small doses will ultimately be back-breaking. You know what's happening next and you're in control of the game. Highly aggressive aggro and heavy control decks can sometimes be tough matchups, but otherwise you probably have the most consistent deck at the table.
This is obviously terrible. This player kicked themselves in the balls SO HARD on turn 3 here.
Look at how many of these we run, even if you stop at CMC 5. It's not just about ETB creatures. It's also any persist creatures, token generating creatures, creatures that generate value on death, etc.
It is definitely highly dependent on the contents of your cube.
Pod can be a really fun and fairly powered card on its own if your cube is built for it. It's definitely worth including, but I wouldn't overdo it.
This is obviously terrible. This player kicked themselves in the balls SO HARD on turn 3 here.
Look at how many of these we run, even if you stop at CMC 5. It's not just about ETB creatures. It's also any persist creatures, token generating creatures, creatures that generate value on death, etc.
It is definitely highly dependent on the contents of your cube.
Pod can be a really fun and fairly powered card on its own if your cube is built for it. It's definitely worth including, but I wouldn't overdo it.
This is why you need stuff like Voice of Resurgence, Blade Splicer and Kitchen Finks to pod into. Birthing Pod, upon casting, is a tempo and card loss, so you need stuff that can make up for the lost value.
It's also not a great line to play Pod on T2 with 3 mana, usually better to develop your board with something from your hand. The line you describe sounds super mana inefficient. Who is podding into all these creatures without ETB effects?
Chris Taylor
Contributor
That was an extreme example of my players misplaying it
Like I said, I won that game off the back of a single removal spell.There's probably steps I could take to jam more ETB guys, but I usually have trouble at 2CC, which might even be a lost cause.
There's only so many voice of resurgence type guys I can add before aggro decks have trouble against all the blocking, and stuff like elvish visionary never really seems playable to me.
Epochrasite is so good with pod! I didn't even realise until I podded into it and my opponent pointed out that it was a 4/4.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Epochrasite is wonderful, it works with so many things
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Okay you might have just sold me on epochrasite
I run the walls, a custom butcher ghoul, Geist and Myr, but Lone Missionary I cut because he never really did anything and temple acolyte seems much worse.
Also mogg war marshal is in a weird spot for me too. One of those cards that might be fine in my cube without echo o.O
At 2 you have
I run the walls, a custom butcher ghoul, Geist and Myr, but Lone Missionary I cut because he never really did anything and temple acolyte seems much worse.
Also mogg war marshal is in a weird spot for me too. One of those cards that might be fine in my cube without echo o.O
Epochrasite is secretly the most Riptide-an cube card around. It works well with the sacrifice theme, counts toward artifacts, is a warm body for Pod, goes in straight control decks looking for a roadblock, plays well with blink, and on top of all that is nigh-unkillable. Over here, it's gone over time from being an unloved little brother into a strong, safe early pick that's always saving the day one way or another.
If anyone's already running Perilous Myr, but not Epochrasite, I daresay you're doing it wrong.
If anyone's already running Perilous Myr, but not Epochrasite, I daresay you're doing it wrong.
Also has synergy with the +1/+1 counters theme. Also at two you have
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Love that card. You can apply that comment to either of the above two posts.
I actually love Lone Missionary against aggro decks. The two power is crucial towards trading with another body, 4 life is basically a turn's worth of combat, and I can wombo-combo with Ojutai's Command and watch aggro players cry.
Time for me to go out and look for an epochrisite
Chris Taylor
Contributor
the wife actually has a foil playset IIRC from Vialing it in in modern
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Auger of Bolas is the least podabble 2 drop with an ETB I've ever seen
Aoret
Developer
I dunno man, I think most riptide cubes already run tons of good twos, we don't have to go this deep. I agree on hellspark, keldon mauraders. How about bloodghast instead of the shitty skeleton or the pack rat? Some of the other stuff mentioned is pretty common in riptide cubes too: wall of omens, perilous myr, strangleroot geist.
It's also worth pointing out that you don't necessarily have to be mono-ETB/LTB in a pod deck. Sometimes it's fine to run a card like torch fiend alongside your acidic slime or whatever because even though it breaks your chains, sometimes you really need to blow up an artifact and you can't afford to wait to pod your bird four times. Not saying you can get away with a lot of slots devoted to stuff like that, but I wouldn't be mad at having a couple bullets like that in a pod deck. The one card that might be a real card that I haven't heard anyone mention yet is viridian emissary but it's probably jank and I haven't tried it at this power level.
(source: my giant boner for birthing pod and that one time I scrubbed out of states because I ran a pod deck when I should've been running wolf run ramp like everyone else)
It's also worth pointing out that you don't necessarily have to be mono-ETB/LTB in a pod deck. Sometimes it's fine to run a card like torch fiend alongside your acidic slime or whatever because even though it breaks your chains, sometimes you really need to blow up an artifact and you can't afford to wait to pod your bird four times. Not saying you can get away with a lot of slots devoted to stuff like that, but I wouldn't be mad at having a couple bullets like that in a pod deck. The one card that might be a real card that I haven't heard anyone mention yet is viridian emissary but it's probably jank and I haven't tried it at this power level.
(source: my giant boner for birthing pod and that one time I scrubbed out of states because I ran a pod deck when I should've been running wolf run ramp like everyone else)
Legacy says hi and nods suggestively in the direction of its cute single friend, Veteran Explorer
the other cool thing about Pod is that it's a nonpoisonous new archetype you can add to a cube, with a wealth of options, for the low cost of three slots. If your players enjoy creative deckbuilding adding Pod will keep them entertained for months.
I think this is the real sell on Birthing Pod. "Support" it as much extra as you want, but having good creatures (which most cubes do) means that there is an extremely low opportunity cost to adding enourmous amounts of draft, deckbuilding, and play creativity by adding Pod.