Welcome the joy that is B/W Pox! Generally, this is a very aggro deck, with many control elements. The description is WIP.
The Strats
Essentially, there are 3 parts to this deck: The Tokens, The Pox Package, and The Interaction. The deck can function well without one of the parts, and can slowly chug along with only one part. When mulliganing, keep in mind that you always, always keep a hand with Smallpox, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Flagstones of Trokair. The advantage generated by the combo is so strong that it almost always win you the game.
Token Strats
The deck's main win condition is tokens. Tokens are what will eventually get all punchy with your opponent. As a result, we play Planeswalker with anthems to make our tokens really, really scary. So to break it down;
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is our first "Lord". He poops out Lifelinkers, which is good on it's own, but he can -2 for a permanent buff to our board. Super powerful effects, and dodges our board wipes.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor is our other "Lord". He is the inverse of the other Sorin. He pumps as a +1, and minuses for a Vampire, albeit a very large vampire. Essentially, he can take over the game if left unchecked, which is what often happens after a Smallpox.
Lingering Souls should be self-explanatory. It is fine for discarding to Pox, is provides 4 tokens and is very, very cheap.
Spectral Procession is kind of a pet card, but it is actually really good. it is either , , , or for 3 spirits. Casting this card is sometimes a game winner. No joke.
Interaction and Interjection
A lot of my choices are due to budget, as I need to get the core of the deck first.
Blackmail
has worked really well for me so far. It let's me hit lands, so that means I can hurt my opponent even more with my Pox.
Castigate
is a great answer to the uptick in Obstinate Baloths and Loxodon Smiters. It doesn't hit land unfortunately, but it does get rid of anything else.
Dismember is a strong removal spell. No much to say here, it just kills most things. Good card.
Hero's Downfall is a very powerful spell. It is worst than Terminate or Abrupt Decay, but it is what I have access to.
Raven's Crime works real well with Dakmor Salvage, but it isn't the end of the world if I can't get the engine going. This is a bit worse than normal with said Baloths and Smiters, so it may get cut soon.
Utter End is our catch-all answer. It hits near everything, as only 2 cards in Modern can get out of exile, both of which aren't played.
Smallpox and Adjacent Strats
-The basis of the deck, Smallpox. We run 8 lands that work with Pox, so the symmetrical effect on it isn't really that. We run Pox as our combo, our disruption, our aggro, and our value. If we can get the god combo, we win. Often, people keep 1-2 land 1-2 ramper hands, so Pox punishes them for it.
Flagstones of Trokair is one third of the combo. We play this out, then sack it to Smallpox, an effectively our opponent is behind 1-2 turns.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is the final piece. It allow Flagstones to cast Smallpox, while letting us cast hand attack like
Blackmail
. Overall it's a real decent land.
Bloodghast is a great creature. It enters the field after a Pox combo if I discarded him, and it has a fine body.
Gravecrawler is pretty much a worse Ghast, but it does it's job. Decent card.
Dakmor Salvage is an interesting card. It regrows itself after a Smallpox, it refills our grave for Bloodghasts and it creates a soft-lock with Raven's Crime.
Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai is odd. It isn't a great land, but it can tap for black with Urborg, and leaves me with a pinger after a Pox.
Death Cloud is the great-granddaddy of Smallpox. I'm currently just testing it out, it may not stay in the build.
The Odd Man Out
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is one of my favourite cards from Oath. He fits really well into most of the themes in the deck. He produces tokens, he is great with the kill spells and Poxes, and he helps stabilize the board. He has synergy with Gravecrawler, Bloodghast, both Sorins, and all the removal. Great card all around.
Thanks
Thanks to TurnOneThoughtseize for alerting me to this deck via their awesome podcast. Please check it out, I think most of y'all will enjoy it.
