Blue Pod [CEDH Primer]

Commander / EDH Competitive Multiplayer Primer RGWU Toolbox

DreamRender

Creature (30)

• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Allosaurus Shepherd
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Noble Hierarch
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Corridor Monitor
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
• 1x Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
• 1x Rattleclaw Mystic
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid
• 1x Vexing Shusher
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Faeburrow Elder
• 1x Pestermite
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1x Village Bell-Ringer
• 1x Breaching Hippocamp
• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Prime Speaker Vannifar
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Artifact (4)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Birthing Pod

Land (32)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 3x Mountain
• 3x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 3x Snow-Covered Forest
• 3x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Training Grounds
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Freed from the Real
• 1x Rhystic Study

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Finale of Devastation
• 1x Neoform

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Teferi, Time Raveler

Commanders (2)

Instant (24)

• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Silence
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Veil of Summer
• 1x Worldly Tutor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Negate
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Misdirection

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Maybeboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Archon of Emeria
• 1x Magus of the Moon

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Armageddon

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Deafening Silence
• 1x Blood Moon

Artifact (2)

• 1x Damping Sphere
• 1x Winter Orb

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Thanks to DreamRender for writing this primer. The list has been fine-tuned to compete within our personal playgroup's meta, and the current Ad Nauseam macro-meta.

Why play this deck?

In the current CEDH meta, Ad Nauseam decks are everywhere and usually have rather low creature counts. This meta shift means that all sorts of counterspells are being played that have no need to counter creature spells. For example, Force of Negation, Fierce Guardianship, and Swan Song are all auto-includes in most blue meta decks, and none of them counter creature spells. The same goes for quite a few removal pieces in CEDH that don't really get rid of the problem permanently, like Chain of Vapor. This "blind spot" in the current meta allows for creature decks to be more resilient than they normally would, and this deck seeks to exploit that loophole.

This deck is a proactive deck that seeks to leverage fast combos for the win, but it also features very strong adaptive strategies that make it more resilient, and can easily pivot into multiple strategies without much effort. This particular list has been stylized to work inside not only the current macro-meta of the format, but also within the usual meta it is played in (for you card-choice hecklers).

FAIR WARNING: This deck requires lots of practice, proper threat assessment, and general skill to play. You will need to be able to think outside the box quickly, and have a general memorization of your deck to pilot this deck efficiently. You must be able to piece together combos, advantage, and value quickly off of board and hand alone, and be prepared to execute a pivot in strategy at a moment's notice.

Gameplan 1: Pod and Vannifar

This section will explain the main two combo lines of the deck: Birthing Pod and Prime Speaker Vannifar. These combo lines are very similar, but the key differences are that Vannifar is slower initially due to summoning sickness, and that she can't be flickered to reset like Pod can.

Pod Line

To set up (absolute freshest start, usually it is much easier), you will need Birthing Pod in hand, and a creature of cmc 1 on your field, and 8 mana available to you. Cast Pod for 3 mana and 2 life. Then, pay 1 mana and 2 life to use Pod and sacrifice the cmc 1 creature on your field and go find a cmc 2 creature that can untap Pod; in this case, it will be Corridor Monitor. When the Monitor enters the battlefield, it untaps the Pod. Then use Pod to find a cmc 3 creature, like Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, which will also enter and untap Pod. Use Pod again, and find a cmc 4 creature that untaps Pod, likely Felidar Guardian. From here, the combo gets tricky. Use Pod to sacrifice the Felidar, and find Karmic Guide, which returns Felidar Guardian to the field from the graveyard, which in turn bounces the Pod. Now that you have a Felidar, Karmic, and Pod on the field, use pod again to sacrifice the Felidar to find the cmc 5 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. When Kiki-Jiki enters, tap him and make a copy of the Karmic Guide. The copy enters the battlefield, and use it to resurrect the Felidar Guardian. When Felidar enters, use it to untap Kiki-Jiki. Now you can use Kiki-Jiki to make an infinite number of Felidar tokens with haste, because each token enters and untaps Kiki-Jiki. Swing for the fences.

TL;DR Using Pod to sacrifice each time (until cmc 4): cmc 2 -> Pestermite/Derevi, Empyrial Tactician -> Felidar Guardian -> Karmic Guide, resurrect Felidar Guardian -> Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, copy Karmic Guide, resurrect Felidar Guardian, bounce Kiki-Jiki,Mirror Breaker, copy Felidar Guardian for infinite.

Vannifar Line: Birthing Pod, but its a Creature

This line is very similar to the Birthing Pod line, except you use Prime Speaker Vannifar instead. The line flows exactly the same way (sacrificing a creature to find another creature 1 cmc higher) until you need to find a cmc 4 creature. Here, you grab Breaching Hippocamp instead of Felidar Guardian. After you grab the Hippocamp, the line continues exactly the same as the Pod line except you replace Felidar with Hippocamp.

In general terms, get a creature that untaps creatures on the battlefield, then get Kiki-Jiki. Most importantly, don't be afraid to sacrifice your commanders to Pod or Vannifar. They can and will be very helpful in these combo lines.

Gameplan2: Neoform is fair, right?

In some games, you will start drawing the creatures in the Pod lines but not either Pod engine. If you have a Neoform in hand, that suddenly becomes less relevant. Just slap whatever untap creature you have in play, except for Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, cast your commander Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder, then Neoform Bruse away for Kiki-Jiki.

This play can turn a seemingly low-value turn into a winning turn on the spot. If you stay alert and don't auto-pilot the deck, you will be surprised where it will take you.

Gameplan 3: Oops, I drew Kiki-Jiki

One of the worst feelings when playing this deck is when you draw Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker because now you can't find a Pod line to him unless you have a way to put him back in the deck. This means that now you have to hard-cast Kiki-Jiki, which can sometimes be difficult due to the triple-red cost.

The land base of this deck is set up so that you can easily fetch for the colors you need, so finding a way to get to 3 red might be the easiest answer. For this, your commander Thrasios, Triton Hero gives you a fantastic way to dig for that elusive land or mana dork.

Sometimes you will be just one red shy, but will have either Pod or Vannifar on the field. You can kill two birds with one stone by using the Pod effect to sacrifice a creature to find an "untap target permanent" effect like Pestermite or even Felidar Guardian if your lands are your only red source. Just be sure to float the mana in response to the creature's ETB ability.

Gameplan 4: Advantage Thrasios sub-deck?!

In rare cases, none of the aforementioned combo lines will work, either due to some stax pieces or previous combo attempts have been thwarted. Or sometimes these pieces will just fall into your lap instead of the Pod pieces. Either way, here is the base combo:

Freed Combo

Bloom Tender or Faeburrow Elder + Freed from the Real = infinite mana.

Extended Freed Combo

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy + mana dork that makes blue (like Birds of Paradise) + Freed from the Real = infinite mana.

Once you have infinite mana, cast your Thrasios, Triton Hero and use his ability to find either Walking Ballista or Finale of Devastation and abuse the power of infinite.

Note About Pivoting Strategies: If you have a way to make infinite tokens with haste due to Pod combo lines but an opponent has an effect that prevents you from attacking like Propaganda in play, make a final token with Kiki-Jiki, then have the token untap Pod instead. if you have another cmc 2 creature, you can sac it to Pod to find Village Bell-Ringer. If you have at least one mana dork in play when Bell-Ringer enters, you can either make enough mana to pay for the Propaganda effect, or you can cast Thrasios and execute the Walking Ballista line instead.

Gameplan 5: Emergency Beats

On the downside, sometimes games can go long or you can get locked out of your combos. On the upside, Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder makes a wonderful commander for giving persistent opponents the business. As it turns out, a 3/3 body with doublestrike and lifelink is actually a serious threat in CEDH. If you can't kill 'em quickly with a combo, you can at least make them wish you had. Pick the opponent giving you the most trouble and start feeding them 6 commander damage each turn until they either stop their shenanigans or die; whichever comes first.

Stax Subtheme/Interaction and a Discussion on Card Selection

Stax is a very small subtheme for this deck, but running stax can be helpful if you need to slow your opponents down so you can catch up, or if you need to make sure they can't catch up to you.

This part of the deck is what often requires the most thought when building. You must build the stax package to your meta. This list runs the hatebears and stax cards that put in work for its meta, not every meta. Some common stax cards that you might consider for your personal meta will be included in the Maybe Board of the list.

The same statement can be made for the interaction/removal package in this list: You must build the interaction/removal package to your meta. Again, this particular list runs what works for it, but your version may need to run other options. Note that none of the commander-freecast instants like Fierce Guardianship are in this deck. You will probably not control your commander long enough for those to be viable if you are trying to freecast them. Take some time to actually construct a decent interaction/removal package that works within your meta, and it will serve you much better than just auto-including cards.

Outside Links and Final Statements

If you are looking for a more stax-based list, check out the Casually Competitive version of Blue Pod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMqALx2KePU

Also check out this deck tech made by cEDH TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkKMWHYSB8o

If you want more primers like this one, check out DreamRender's page and look for decks with [CEDH Primer] in the name.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading this Primer and checking out the deck! If you have any comments or questions, let me know in the comments below.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Exclude colors	B
Splash colors	WURG
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.09
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Morph 2/2 C, Treasure