Smallpox

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Smallpox

Sorcery

Each player loses 1 life, discards a card, sacrifices a creature, then sacrifices a land.

Ersatz_Mageta on Modern 8 rack/ control

6 months ago

Love the idea of Flagstones of Trokair. That can certainly be an addition to the manabase, especially now that I've converted it to a creatureless deck with Smallpox.

I know Fatal Push is a great card, but I just don't know about it in this deck. Besides the fetchlands, I don't know what permanents I'll have leaving the field at instant speed. Honestly, I'd be more inclined for something like Cut Down, but I love the slower, more universal approach of Vindicate and Anguished Unmaking. Vindicate is never a dead draw because in the late game you can always just nuke a land and cut off more resources.

My big question once the cards come in will be how many "rack like effects" will be needed to truly achieve the sweet spot. Urza's Saga just feels like a tutor for a rack, which is nice, but also feels out of place for the lack of artifacts.

Icbrgr on MBC: Classic 8-Rack

9 months ago

Awesome suggestion! I think The Mycosynth Gardens could probably take the place of Ghost Quarter in the main and move ghost to the side; but there is ALWAYS a Titan/Hammertime player at my LGS I just didn't see them last night. But thank you I'm gonna get me some of them!

I was honestly on the verge of cutting Smallpox but the effect although horrible for everyone makes Tombstalker or any delve creature Tasigur, the Golden Fang/Gurmag Angler really easy to reliably cast; and the 5 toughness was what allowed me to win against Rhinos.

I have done zero playtesting against any decks running The One Ring... I think my main goal is to just not let them cast it at all via discard because I'm pretty sure I just lose if it resolves when they have 4+ life and/or have 1+ card in hand... Shrieking Affliction can still hurt them; but if they draw all the cards that's not gonna get it done...and I'm just not sure what I would do with a copy of the ring... dig for Pithing Needle/other sideboard cards?... Idk I'll playtest it and get a better understanding of it (I have a full playset of Phyrexian Metamorph just collecting dust so why not?)

Icbrgr on MBC: Classic 8-Rack

9 months ago

@capwner I actually just had a FNM tonight and played this deck (but my Shriekmaw/Slaughter Pact/Sudden Spoiling/Grim Discovery are still in the mail... so instead I was running a playset of Bloodghast and some ratio of Liliana's Triumph/Sheoldred's Edict/Augur of Skulls... I will update this deck with the matchup results next week when I get the missing cards in.

Tonight I played against yawg and Rhinos and had a bye.... In the yawgmoth matchup One of the games I just got absolutely blown out by Force of Vigor getting rid of my both The Rack/Shrieking Afflictions and both of us were in topdeck mode but I ended up losing. I went 1-2 for both the games I played tonight; granted I lost but they were close/winnable I swear!

I have been toying with the idea of Cabal Coffers but The real monkey wrench of the deck is Smallpox and Liliana of the Veil... some games I can get 5 lands in play but other times its a struggle to get/keep 3; I think thats why I like Ghost Quarter simply because there isn't any investment to use it.

nuperokaso on "Vampires are a POX on this Land!"

10 months ago

wallisface on

1 year ago

Some thoughts:

  • 20 lands feels really low for a deck running Smallpox, that also needs 3 mana reliably, and ideally 4 mana for Tourach, Dread Cantor. Personally, i'd go up to 24 lands, and then run a playset of Raven's Crime so that you can still make use of any excess lands you might draw later in the game. (i'd drop the Hypnotic Specter for those extra lands, as the card just validates your opponents killspells too much)

  • I'd suggest running the full playset of Smallpox as it can just prove soo valuable for messing with your opponent, particularly if you're on the draw (which 8rack decks often want to be).

  • I'd ditch Megrim in place of some kind of killspell. between Shrieking Affliction, The Rack, and Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage you already have enough ways to punish an empty hand - and the opponent might not even have any cards in hand to discard after turn 3 anyway. You also want to be able to killspell the opponents board to force them into having to play more cards and get lower on resources. I think Fatal Push would be a lot more useful than Megrim here.

  • Duress can be really problematic in that it might not find a card to discard. I'd suggest running 3x Blackmail instead, and then 1 copy of Bontu's Last Reckoning. Blackmail is a lot stronger in that it will at least be guaranteed to force a discard, and the single copy of Bontu's Last Reckoning can come in clutch for getting out of gross situations (though I don't think you want to be running more than 1 copy because drawing 2 in a game is probably not helpful)

Delphen7 on Venerated Rotpriest Combo Discussion

1 year ago

Having been competitively playing the list since its spoiling, I'll share some thoughts.

Discard

As nbarry223 noted discard is absurdly good against the deck. My LGS has a couple of 8Rack floating around, and I've discovered its a horrendous matchup. Smallpox is also awful.

Chalice

I run Cavern of Souls so I can cast Rotpriest through Chalice and Rotpriest doesn't care if the spells are countered. Most decks don't have Caverns though, so Chalice would be good, unless more people pick up on the tech.

Leyline of Sanctity

Leyline is good against it as plakjekaas mentioned, but no one really plays it. I'm personally running Glistener Elf which doesn't care about it, but most versions, especially the Breach variants, will probably just fold to it.

Speaking of Breach, it's the most popular iteration right now, and it's fairly weak to graveyard hate, as Breach is how it tries to build up storm. Some lists aren't on it though, so antigraveyard is not a catchall.

Removal

Bolt and Heat often can't kill Rotpriest (Gather Courage and Mutagenic Growth), but Fury usually does enough damage and Solitude just eats it. Prismatic Ending/Leyline Binding work as well, but it seems to not be as heavily played right now.

Countermagic

Eh. The only things I actually care if they resolve are Rotpriests, and most decks aren't countering that t1 (Unless Minor Misstep picks up play).

Combo

Combo has been one the better matchups thus far. Fire / Ice is usually not enough to kill the Rotpriest, and the deck tends to move faster than Rhinos, Creativity, Prime Time, and Hammertime. TBH I don't know if there's any deck that can win as fast as it can on a good hand, especially since stock Hammertime no longer plays Ornithopter.

Melira

I don't think the deck could function through either Melira, but I doubt it's worth the sideboard slots right now. I'd say if your local meta has a fair share of Rotpriest, the slots could be worth it, but just entering a tournament blind I wouldn't run them.


TL;DR The MH2 elementals are the best ways to remove Rotpriest once its on the field. Preventive measures work best though. Chalice, Leyline, Discard etc.

Dead_Blue_ on 12-Rack Ribeye

1 year ago

If you’re running Smallpox then 21 lands probably isn’t enough.

I also think Go Blank is worth MBing in today’s meta

DreadKhan on Indestructible Visions

1 year ago

Master of Etherium is a nice good generic Affinity card, as are Thoughtcast and Thought Monitor. Over Buried Ruin you might look at Treasure Vault, it's an artifact land that can make a bunch of artifacts for something like Nettlecyst or Cranial Plating.

I assume the Sol Rings are for THG, because I'm very sure it's banned in Legacy for being completely busted. There really isn't anything else as good you can substitute other than Ancient Tomb, which can kill you, but people definitely run for it's power. There are also Springleaf Drum and Moonsnare Prototype, which can ramp turn 1.

Not sure if it's truly relevant other than as bad 3 mana ramp, but Mirrormade exists. It's harder to cast than Copy Enchantment, but it can copy an Artifact if you want, which is pretty good value sometimes, copying a Land is funny.

In the event of a mirror match, you might like having access to Ravenform to remove opposing bodies that are indestructible or regenerate, it can also hit pesky artifacts, probably worth a look at for a sideboard.

This is going to sound a bit crazy, but you should consider Vault Skirge in here, making a 5/5 flying lifelink is very good vs some decks, and it also plays nice with Cranial Plating. I usually just cast it for the 2 life on turn 1 and try to get a Cranial Plating on it ASAP in my Affinity deck, it has won me plenty of tough games.

I wonder if the Blinkmoth Urns are too slow? I guess THG they make more sense, but if you want to play 1v1 Legacy, you should keep in mind how fast decks tend to be, as this deck packs essentially nothing to spoke an opponent's wheel. I'm not sure you could really fit in counters, but they are great in Legacy if your not going all-in on speed. Of particular interest, cheap/low mana counters can let you protect your indestructible creatures from Exile effects like Swords to Plowshares or edicts like Innocent Blood or Smallpox, these kinds of effects definitely see play in Legacy. I guess in THG you might have a partner packing the protection? I think you either want more creatures or some protection for your bodies. Some counters that are popular include Spell Pierce, Dispel, Swan Song and Flusterstorm, as well as free ones like Force of Will obviously. Good old Counterspell sounds good in theory, but it can be impossible to hold up UU to protect stuff, because getting out a 5/5 is time sensitive, too late and it won't be big enough, too early and the control player can just remove/counter your stuff and win later on.

Cool deck idea!

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