What are your thoughts on running Eternal Witness mainboard or side?

leviathan_cross,
I've never been inclined to try it in a Traditional or Monster list, because we don't have any intentional ways to feed our graveyard. But I really like it as a one-of somewhere in the 75 of an Eldritch list, to mess with removal- and discard-heavy decks. And of course the random Mill deck >:-)

Hey, a lot of work here. I admire your dedication to the archetype.

Consider more Tireless Tracker? She's just consistently good. Tracker is a great way to get ahead with draw as well as growing a big creature after destroying your opponent's lands. 8x Fetch lands is also very good with Tracker. I think Tracker can have much more impact than Huntmaster, Thrun and Command. These cards seem like they're thrown in here only for the purposes of being different. Consider cutting these for more Tracker?

For the sideboard I suggest adding 2x Boil or Choke replacing 2x Abrade to diversify sideboard answers. I don't think you need both Abrade and Ancient Grudge as both are doing the same thing, but Grudge is better at what you need it for, slowing down Affinity.

multimedia,
Thanks much! We just really love Ponza, and hope this will help others get going in the archetype.

Like we say in Step 2, this is the "average" competitive Ponza deck according to MTGdecks.net, so we don't plan to change the numbers until they change irl, based on tournament results. For sideboard, we went with most popular sideboard cards from MTGgoldfish tournament results (though I just noticed we never mention that in the description), so there too, it'll change as more tournaments are added. It's good feedback though ... I'll tweak the description to make that more obvious. It also reminds me that now would probably be a really good time to update the main and sideboard, since the tournaments from last weekend should be included by now.

All that said, I'm with you on more Trackers in the main, especially in a Traditional or Monster list. I'm usually on a Traditional list, where I love 3-4x (here's my personal list in case you're interested). Moonbar has been on an Eldritch list lately, where we can generally get by with fewer.

On sideboard, while I might not recommend Boil or Choke for a "generic" meta, they're great cards for sure and I often run 1-2x Choke in my personal deck. I disagree though that Abrade and Ancient Grudge do the same thing. Sure, Abrade is a worse Lightning Bolt and a worse Ancient Grudge, but it's pretty good at being both, and it's a superb use of limited sideboard slots. I recommend it for any meta with small Creatures or troublesome artifacts (e.g., Aether Vial, Ensnaring Bridge, Shrine of Burning Rage), and highly recommend it for a meta with both (e.g., vs. 5c Humans and Merfolk). By the way, have you looked at Guttural Response? It's another great answer for Blue decks, with the added bonus that it doesn't turn off our Spreading Seas'd lands. :-)

Thanks again and draw well!

multimedia,
Interestingly, with the updates from the weekend, we're up to 3x Tireless Tracker in the main. Good call!

Why Pia and Kiran Nalaar? I see it in almost every ponza list but I don't understand the card choice, it seems a bit slow to me. I'd rather drop a bigger threat or blow up a land.

Squirrel_of_War,
At their worst, Pia and Kiran Nalaar are a 4/4 for 4 spread across 3 bodies, which makes them essentially a Red Lingering Souls ... a painfully slow clock, but great for blocking. They get better if they stick long enough to use their activated ability, because the threat of an extra 2 damage really complicates Combat math for our opp. And they get even better still with Tireless Tracker or Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip, since they can throw Clues (and Tracker gets the +1/+1 anyways), plus Huntmaster is happy to flip when we use our Mana to throw Artifacts. Also: Affinity pilots seriously hate the card, since it's one of the few things we have that can slow down Etched Champion.

I'm not sure what you mean by "rather drop a bigger threat" ... 4/4 for 4 is pretty much our going rate in RG, and P&K is right there with Chameleon Colossus, Obstinate Baloth, Thrun, the Last Troll, and Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip.

But I can certainly understand wanting different threats, as others may work better for your playstyle and meta. Same with more Land Destruction (or more Removal, or whatever) ... my intent is not to convince you that you should run P&K, just to explain why lots of folks do! :-)

Draw well!

Hi guys, excelent work! greetings from Costa Rica, ive been on ponza even before i knew magic players call L-destructions ponza,working on my own with my brew before it started to get popular. I have been witness of the evolution of the deck from fringe to almost Tier2 right now! Ive been doing great with the deck in my country;(although some players on my LGS hate my deck haha) Overall I think we have few bad matchups, and right I think de deck is well positioned in modern. I got a few questions, i need feedback hehe:

What do you guys think about Mefolk Branchwalker? I have been running the full set and they always give me gas, and work very well with Courser and Chandra, we struggle when they kill our mana dork, and we have no T2 play, Branchwalker helps us deal with that problem.

Glorybringer has overthrown Stormbreath for me, is really good against company decks, storm, eldrazi, and many other creature decks.

Wich would you say is out beest plan against death shadow apart from blood moon? i hate to not be able to get rid of those things if they resolve, Acidic slime has proven good for me, but lacks power on offensive.

Thanks again ! btw my record mith my Merfolbranch -Ponza deck is 9-3 by the moment :D

What about Molten Rain instead of Stone Rain? Sure, it costs 2 R instead of 1, but the damage could be helpful against tron decks.

Apiedracr,
Thanks so much, and it's great to hear that Ponza is tearing it up in Costa Rica as well as in the US!

I haven't tried Merfolk Branchwalker personally, so I don't have a strong opinion. But I'm frankly not in a huge rush to test it ... dorks die all the time ('Bolt the Bird' has been good advice since Alpha) and I think I'd rather use the slot for a solid three-drop (even if I don't get to it until Turn 3). We'll see though; it'd be great if it (or some other two-drop) starts to see more competitive play! And if it's working for your playstyle and meta, that's AWEWSOME!.

It's a similar story with Stormbreath Dragon ... in my meta, its Protection from White is priceless, but it's a great card, and definitely on the list of Possible Ponza Tech we mention in Step 4. Glad to hear it's working for you!

I've seen two different strategies work vs. Death's Shadow decks. The first aims to use Chameleon Colossus to stop it or Beast Within/Primal Command (targeting opp with Mode 1) to kill it. The second aims to gum the board with chump blockers (from cards like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, or Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip), long enough to shave off the last of their life total. I'm not sure which approach is best in a "generic" meta, but most of the Shadow players in mine pack Temur Battle Rage now, so I prefer the first.

Draw well, and thanks again!

SirFowler,
It's kind of buried in the list of Possible Ponza Tech we mention in Step 4, but Stone Rain is generally better than Molten Rain. We'd rather use Land Destruction for Basics and Blood Moon for Non-Basics, and setting up on Turn 2 can really constrain our mana for the next few turns. If some Tron variant is a challenge in your meta, I recommend Magus of the Moon or Crumble to Dust instead.

Has Ramunap Excavator ever been tested? It could recur our fetches to thin the deck for late game, or ramp us even further early game. I'm still new to the deck, so this might be a crappy idea, but I had to ask.

bmw91,
First, I'm sorry about my delay in getting back to you. And welcome to Ponza!

Nobody has used Ramunap Excavator (nor Crucible of Worlds) in a competitive Ponza deck yet; but I'm not sure if anyone has even tested with it. My initial thoughts:

• It could be good in a meta with a lot of Land Disruption (Ponza, Death and Taxes, Merfolk/Control decks with Spreading Seas, etc).
• It synergizes very nicely with Tireless Tracker, but it doesn't work well with Blood Moon at all.
• I've no idea what it would replace.

Bottom line: I'd encourage you to add it to our running list of untested but potentially spicy tech, and maybe post a note about it in PonzaMTG over on Reddit!

Draw well!

Thank you for posting and maintaining!

BX223Hunter,
You bet! And please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions ... Moonbar, I, and the crowd at r/PonzaMTG are always happy to assist!

With the recent unban of Bloodbraid Elf how would this effect your list? Would it be a card you're considering adding? If so, how many? I would love to hear your thoughts!

21,
It's hard to say. Like we mention in the description, the maindeck represents the "average" competitive Ponza deck, according to MTGdecks, so it will change over time as the average changes. I suspect we'll see some competitive Ponza decks in the next few weeks running Bloodbraid Elf, but even if all of them ran full playsets, it'll take a while to bring the average up.

In the meantime though, there are a bunch of folks brewing with BBE and sharing playtest results over at r/PonzaMTG. Please drop by!

I recently heard of a build using Goblin Dark-Dwellers and Bloodbraid Elf to great success.

It is highly possible I am just merely not as experienced as other Ponza players, but no Simian Spirit Guide? I get that Birds of Paradise is often functionally better as it sticks around to tap for mana mutiple times, but I have found Spirit Guide to be a worthy include as a 1-of when I have played Ponza. Still able to use it to cast turn 2 Blood Moon or Stone Rain while dodging the removal spells that Birds are sometimes susceptible to. I have also found it useful to sometimes fetch with Primal Command to ensure the 6th mana for an Inferno Titan if I have one in my hand.

I also realize it is super meta dependent, but what would your thoughts be on a very light white splash for side board tech? Last time I played Ponza, I played 1 main board Plains, Temple Garden, and Sacred Foundry in addition to 4x Windswept Heath, so that I could play Rest in Peace, Eidolon of Rhetoric, and Blessed Alliance in the side. But I was mostly concerned with dredge and storm that night. What would be your thoughts?

TheDuggernaught,
That's great that Simian Spirit Guide has been working for you, but it has yet to be played in a deck listed on on of the sites in Step 2 Option 3, so we haven't included it here. We're still reworking the resources listed in Step 4 though, which will a perfect place for new tech like that.

And yeah, a White splash is definitely doable ... the Noble Moon example in Step 2 Option 2 is the first competitive deck to make it work, but it probably won't be the last.

Thanks much for your comments and draw well!

clayperce: This looks like a great deck and I'm eager to test it. :) I were focusing on cEDH the past years, but now i wan't to start playing at FNMs too. I'm still looking for a proper deck. Maybe this is the one. :D

Hipparchos,
Yeah, Ponza's always been really fun to play, and now with Bloodbraid Elf it's actually competitive too :-)

We've gathered a ton of resources in the sidebar of r/PonzaMTG ... please stop by if you'd like to learn more!

Draw well!

I'll definitely do that. :)

Cu soon on reddit.