Reasons To Use This List
This take on Ponza is what I perceive to be a version that makes more sense. This version is meant to strengthen match ups that are above a 30-75 percent favour for a stock ponza list. These changes resulted in matches less than 30 percent being reduced but the intended increase in “even” matches up in this lists favour. Ponza is named after the Ponazrotti, featuring your "meat" being the ramp, the "cheese" as the Land Disruption (LD), the "Dough" being the Beefy creatures, and the Coors Light Silver bullet being the Side Board Silver Bullets. This deck adjusts to the meta and emphasizes the "rock,paper,scissors" aspect of matchups in modern. All of the additions can be cascaded into via Bloodbraid Elf and removes the prevalent problem of putting upcoming 4+ mana costing bombs on the bottom of the library (when cascading).
Key Cards That Separate Gorgonzola Ponza From A Stock List
Tarmogoyf : Whenever I am asked why I run Tarmogoyf I always reply with "How do you counter a stove? by playing a stove yourself!" Tarmogoyf runs over decks with no black or white based removal, competes with some of the biggest creatures you will see in modern, while also being an early wall to prevalent aggro decks that ponza often folds too.
Goy(f) is the real all-star of this list. Tarmogoyf is never unwanted as a draw or cascade (compared to cascading a 3/2 Tireless Tracker looking down the throat of a Gurmag Angular or heavy damage based removal decks like burn) and fills the turn 2 plays when the Birds of Paradise/Arbor Elf are bolted. This means you don't loose your turn 2 from a Lightining bolt and get a beefy 3/4 Tarmogoyf (assuming a fetchland is used). This also helps for the rare chance that a mana accelerator is not in the opening hand and a turn 2 Tarmogoyf is alot better than playing a land and passing. Mono Green cards often gets the short end of the stick in terms of modern play ability. Tarmogoyf Lets green truly be Mean and Green with this fucking hulk.
Domri Raid : Raid may not create as many opportunities as Lilliana of the Veil but she can, as a Planeswalker, be cascaded into via Bloodbraid Elf compared to the 4 mana Chandra, Torch of Defiance. Domri Raid is not only chosen over Chandra, Torch of Defiance due to the mana cost, but the 4 damage leaves Chandra at 1 loyalty and extremely vulnerable the next turn. Chandra, Torch of Defiance has the ability to create 2 red mana but this often meant getting to an Inferno Titan, which is not in the list.
Domri Raid Comes with the heavily lacking card draw and early removal for Ponza. Both ultimate’s are game winning but are rare to achieve. This is a personal preference and Chandra, Torch of Defiance can still operate in the list.
Stomrbreath Dragon: Given 2 spots that were originally Inferno Titans but due to the prevalence of white flyers and Dismember and other black based removal reserved to Mardu Pyromancer lists being on the down low, Stormbreath Dragon can survive and be casted as soon as turn 3 making it a 2 off.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar: A solid cascade that helps slow down the bleeding from aggro decks, operates as a flex spot and should be adjusted to preference and local meta.
Side Board
Torpor Orb: Shuts off Humans, punishes Spirits /
Snapcaster Mage and any etb heavy decks.
Amulet of Safekeeping: Mainly a Silver Bullet for Mardu Pyromancer but works against Burn and any deck that uses lots of spells against you.
Thrashing Brontodon: A spicy SB tech that has been working great. A solid ¾ for 3 but more importantly can be cascaded into and unlike Ancient Grudge does not require a legal target to be cast. It is the only enchantment removal but is extremely versatile.
Pithing Needle: Extremely versatile but requires high knowledge of the meta and deck archtypes.
Damping Sphere: Works against storm, Pyromancer, and tron making for a great silver bullet.
Match Up's
Percentages in Gorgonzola Ponzas favour (Preboard/Postboard)
Affinity:
Almost unwinnable Pre-sideboard due to “Robot’s” resilience to Blood Moon and LD. This means a lot of dead draws. Post Board requires that at least 2 Blood Moon are kept to fight the Manlands, but otherwise boarding is quite straight forward (remember to Pithing Needle the Arcbound Ravager and Steel Overseer).
(10%/20%)
8Rack:
This is completely skill and knowledge dependent on your part. This match up requires you to know when to advance your board state and when to not play anything at all (Including Lands). This requires practice, but one thing to note is Domri Raid And Tarmogoyf are both very effective in this matchup giving the edge over stock ponza's lists. The post board increases your odds of winning significantly, given all the artifact removal and prison cards such as Trinisphere / Amulet of Safekeeping both making it a little easier to deal with. Thrun, the Last Troll is very effective given his hex-proof making a lot of dead cards for the opponent.
(45%/60%)
Green Tron:
Many mistake Tron as an easy match but in fact it is often an even matchup both pre and post bored. Tron has more than half of its deck committed to finding and acquiring lands, meaning 3 mana Rains are negated by the use of all the lesser costing cards that can acquire lands such as Ancient Stirrings , Expedition Map And Sylvan Scrying. This means that a Blood Moon or Rain requires a follow up threat very soon or you risk losing to a hard cast Wurmcoil Engine. Blood Moon can only shut off Tron from being acquired as Chromatic Sphere and Chromatic Star mean that cutting off green is out of the question. The biggest problem beside getting a threat , manadork, 2 lands, and some sort of land disruption in the opening hand, is Oblivion Stone. Given how they can always follow up with some sort of way to grab a land, hardcasting Oblivion Stone is a common occurrence and often means an easy game loss for you. Tarmogoyf helps in this matchup up A LOT as the Tronny Brainlet is filling the Graveyard with sorcerys and artifacts making Tarmogoyf a cheap and early game threat to follow up with the land disruption. Post side Board Makes the match up a little bit more in your favour as an early Ancient Grudge or Abrade on an early Expedition Map or Chromatic rock can often seal the win.It is also important to always Pithing Needle RESPONSIBLY but it was intended to be used against Oblivion Stone.
(50%/55%)
KCI:
KCI is actually not very difficult using Tarmogoyf and the various Prison type effects in the SB! A turn 2 Tarmogoyf can often be a 4/5 by the end of the next turn, putting the opponent on an ever shortening clock depending on what you or you're opponent put in the pit. This by no means makes KCI a sure game one win, but a turn 2 Bloodbraid Elf into Tarmogoyf sure as hell is better than what a stock list could do for a turn two clock! Post Board increases the odds of winning (would be much greater if Wurmcoil Engine wasn't a thing) as you aim to switch form a versatile prison deck that can lock the combo out as early as turn 2 with a Damping Sphere or well placed Pithing Needle on Pyrite Spellbomb / Engineered Explosives followed by a Trinisphere / Grafdigger's Cage gives quite a challenge for a KCI player. Just be wary of Wurmcoil Engine.
(37.5%/52%)
Humans:
From what I have gathered Stock Lists have as much a rough time as this list does against this abortion toolbox. The only saving grace is that you play a turn 2 Blood Moon and the opponent cannot find an Aether Vial as in invalidates your Blood Moon. Other wise just scoop and go to Game 2 to at least prevent the opponent knowing you're on ponza or at the very least that you are not using the stock list. Game two revolves around acting as a sub par prison deck. A turn 2 Torpor Orb can turn the match on its head and make you incredibly likely to win as it hoses the deck beyond repair with the only repercussion on yourself is Hunt Master of the Fells. As mentioned one of the reasons Stormbreath Dragon is given 2 spots is for dealing with flyers and it being hard to remove. This is perfect for Mantis Rider as it has protection from it as well as being able to block it (in addition to all the whities in Humans). If you have no Torpor Orb from the get go a Pithing Needle / Abrade / Thrashing Brontodon / Ancient Grudge into a Blood Moon may also get the job done.
(7.5%/25%)
Jeskai Control:
Jeskai is a very simple matchup that is often a a sure win. Jeskai Brainlets take pride in the greed of their landbase and get a well deserved rude awakening when they see the turn 2 Blood Moon Or rain crush their dreams.Turn 2 Blood Moon often is enough to win the match. The ease of this matchup may come from blue players being the most retarded people I have ever met in my experience.Make sure to ask if Bloodbraid Elf resolves as soon as it is cast, as they often fall for countering it ant thus lose the opportunity to counter the cascaded spell (unless they have another counter and enough mana in hand). Expect a counter spell as soon as turn 2-3. With these aspects, Tarmogoyf is already juiced from all the spells your opponent will be casting in hope to find some basic lands. Tarmogoyf bypasses the removal like Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix and quickly seals the deal. If you open with a hand that does not have any hand disruption and believe that the match has a chance to become grindy, top decking cards like Domri Raid or Nissa, Voice of Zendikar can create alot of momentum. Stormbreath Dragon is very resilient in this match up and can steal games or swoop in a fresh Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria,Cutting them to ribbons.If all of this does not seem enough a Thrun, the Last Troll,Relic of Progentius,Grafdigger's Cage/Torpor Orb (for Snap Caster Mage ) and Scavenging Ooze are solid sideboard options that make the mongoloids saltier than the ocean.
(87.5%/93%)
Azorius Control
Azorius is a much more difficult matchup compared to jeskai. Azorius often requires skill and careful planning. Azorius's packs around 6-8 basics and can prove to be problamtic to shut off from a certain colour on Blood Moons resolving mid game. As seen with Jeskai, Azorius casts lots of spells making Tarmogoyf a great beat stick. Side boarding is almost identical (but with more importance on Torpor Orb,Amulet of Safekeeping.
(40%/45%)
Elves and Merfolk
These decks are both resilient to LD and Blood Moon making it a tough fight with multiple dead draws. Using the limited Lightning Bolts selective on lords is the key to winning. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar can slow the bleed, but requires additional back up in the form of creatures such as Courser of Kruphix and Stormbreath Dragon. Side boarding requires a complete removal of the cheese in the ponzarotti and replaced with Salt. Sideboarding should be straight forward and leaves you with a prison deck with a couple of silver bullets.
As a side note Tarmogoyf is very subpar in these matchups but makes little difference in terms of how unfavorable the match up is when using the stock list.
(20%/25%)
Spirits
Similar to elves and Merfolk Spirits is a difficult match up depending on the build. Bant Spirits is a much easier match as Blood Moon hoses the decks land base and often is absent of an Aether Vial to continue to operate. Azorius Spirits is often a very hard match up as Aether Vial and Selfless Spirit, along with the fair land base, make it a difficult wall to break. Even with the sideboard Selfless Spirit negates Anger of the Gods And Lightning Bolt.
Bant Spirits (60%/50%)
Azorius Spirits (20%/17.5%)
Valakut and TitanShift
: Just plat a Blood Moon and collect your free win. One of the few decks that prepares a side board AGAINST you.
(90%/85%)
Storm
Storm is very difficult Pre sideboard requires some lucky Lightning Bolts! to pull off. Post side board requires a switch to a prison deck that can really hose storm but veteran storm players can prepare for your lock by bringing in Shattering Spree so don't be caught off guard. Tarmogoyf boosts the win rate of this match due to how quickly it can become massive from all the spell slinging that is required for storm to operate.
(20%/50%)
Jeskai ascendancy:
Tough and almost unwinnable without extreme luck.
(7.5%/5%)
Eldrazi Tron
Harder matchup then gTron due to its speed from Reality Smasher and ability to rip your hand apart with Thought-Knot Seer. This also means that without Sylvan Scrying and Ancient Stirrings Land disruption is much more trouble some, but not enough to make it easier than gTron.
(35%/40%)
Death and Taxes:
Death and taxes does one thing very well and that is ripping your hand apart. This is a tough match that requires top notch decision making with each match requiring ponza to be the proactive deck (a rare approach for ponza match ups) and fight through them ripping cards out of your hand.
(35%/35%)
Burn:
Burn is often a quick match for either side but more or not you finish the race first. Due to Burns minimal amount of lands, Molten Rain and Stone Rain can straight up win the match. Tarmogoyf can act as an Ensnaring Bridge in how effective it stops the assault. Very “line” dependent match up so follow your instinct and get lots of practice.
(45%/45%)
Jund/Abzan:
Blood Moon is the core of the matchup and resolves around it. Tarmogoyf solves the issue of you being unable to remove the opponents own goyf , but still relies on LD to win.
(60%/60%)
Boggles
Boggles folds to a blood moon and land destruction. Enjoy the win.
(80%/85%)
Blue Moon:
You lose the advantage of Blood Moon but inversely get to use Tarmogoyf freely (assuming it resolves) as Lightning Bolt is often not enough to get rid of him. The Rains can ironically cut off your opponents from red or blue so watching the land drops is important. Blue Moon has lots of variants so take win ratio percentage with a grain of salt.
(60%/???)
Junk/Coco Decks: These decks often nullify any Land disruption you have as they come with mana dorks and value creatures. Cards like Voice of Resurgence and Knight of the Reliquary are problematic due to the limited removal of Ponza. Blood Moon can be effective but it depends on what variety of G/X good stuff you are opposing.
(30%/25%)
GDS:
Land Disruption is what determines this match up. A blood moon that does not get ripped out of your hand can win you the match. Pure luck of the draw for both sides. The side board can heavily punish the greed of GDS using things like Trinisphere and Amulet of Safekeeping to slow down the game.
(50%/55%)
Infect:
Lots of general knowledge and experience is required for this matchup. Knowing when you are facing lethal and when you have to fall for the chump blocking bait is crucial. Many matches are decided in the first 3 turns. Blood Moon cuts off blue, while the rains punish the required low land count in opening hands. Side board allows for Spell Pierce to be brought in to the match making for some frustrating counters.
(50%/45%)
Hollow One:
Pre sideboard is difficult and requires a great deal of luck (as comes with the deck) but is still possible. Post sideboard means a switch to lots of silver bullets like Grafdigger's Cage and Anger of the Gods.
(35%/45%)
Lantern:
Putting in your silver bullets should get the job done but don’t expect to win game 1
(25%/50%)
Soul Sisters:
A well timed Stormbreath Dragon wins the match but still a difficult and patience required strategy.
(40%/40%)
Hate Bears:
Less prevalent now but a difficult encounter. The constant flickering and Thalia Heretic Chathar is trouble some with limited bolts.
(35%/40%)
Tezzerator:
A fun match up that has your first match fairly even and second in your favour due to the prison like sideboard.
(50%/70%)
Mardu Pyromancer Kolagens Command is extremely problematic and is supported by the multitude of interaction that will make your creatures shake.
(25%/30%)
Decks Still Being Researched
Dredge, Blue Steel, Seismic Swans/Treasure Hunt, Skred Red, 8 Whack, Modular Affinity, Mono Green Devotion, Mono Green Stompy, Prisons, Iron Curtain, Mill, Living End, Ad Nauseum, Mind Crank, Eldrazi Ninjas, Kithkin, Taking Turns, Owling Mine, Tooth and Nail,Cheeri0S,
