This is my take on Smallpox control. The gameplan is to control my way through to beating face with my creatures. Removal and discard serve to deal with any threats while my creatures bust through. Here's is the breakdown of the cards. Feedback with criticism and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
CREATURES:
Blood Scrivener- This is a little bit slower of a deck, so the card draw is extremely helpful.
Bloodghast- A beater that can be killed or discarded with smallpox and keep coming back.
Geralf's Messenger- Hits for two when it enters, and can be sacrificed to Smallpox to come back even bigger
Gravecrawler- Basically a lesser Bloodghast. It can be discarded or sacrificed and brought back easily, as there are 12 zombies in this deck.
Nether Shadow
- This isn't the best card in the world here, but it's not bad at all. A virtually unblockable 1/1 that can keep being resurrected.
REMOVAL:
Abrupt Decay- A 2 cost uncounterable destruction spell of most early plays.
Dismember- Kills almost any creature I'll face and can be cast for 1 in a tight spot.
Geth's Verdict
- This is in here to get around removal. Plus it helps against Emrakul
Maelstrom Pulse- Kills anything as well as its multiples, most definitely a four of.
Tragic Slip- I'm on the fence about this card. Sure it's helpful but there is better out there.
DISCARD:
Inquisition of Kozilek- Not as functional as Thoughtseize but it saves me two life.
Thoughtseize- At the cost of two life I can get rid of anything (nonland) in their hand. Pretty simple
THE ALL STAR:Smallpox- This is what makes this deck go. They discard something they need, sacrifice a creature they need, and lose a land. I, ideally, sacrifice and discard a creature that can both be easily retrieved. This is the card that puts me ahead in the race and can even let me get out creatures faster than casting them (Bloodghast). While I still sacrifice a land, the advantages this card gains me far outway the setback.
THE SIDEBOARD
Abrupt Decay- Against fast aggro decks where I need that little bit of removal, also helpful against control.
Geth's Verdict
- Used against Tron and GW Auras. Emrakul can be tricky to get rid of. Also because of their low creature count A playset of Smallpox and
Geth's Verdict
paired with some other spot removal wrecks them. As for GW Auras, in general, 8 out of their 12 creatures have hexproof. That means I want 8 spells that make them sacrifice a creature.
Golgari Charm- Asceticism and cards like it kind of screw me over. The charm and Maelstrom Pulse help me deal with cards like that. The charm is sided in so that i can still use my pulse against their creatures. I can also side this in to give myself a little boost against decks with Pyroclasm type effects.
Wrench Mind- Storm decks and burn are a pretty bad matchup for me. Since they don't have many creatures, I need more ways to mess them up. Hand disruption can do the trick.
Infest
- Very helpful against token decks, or any other deck that quickly generates large amounts of small creatures.
