clayperce: Is this your deck; if not, how does it look like? Or is it just a list to start with?

i really like it. but i am curious. with utopia sprawl and arbor elf already in the deck, would it be so bad to splash for freed from the real? i want to know whats bad about it other than the elf eating a lightning bolt

Hipparchos,
This is just a list to start with. My personal list is over at Serious Ponza.

Neth,
Um, because it's Blue? :-)

Seriously though, according to MTGtop8, Freed from the Real has never seen play in a competitive Modern deck, let alone in Ponza. I suppose any potential combos are just too fragile, compared to other options.

For future reference, you can link cards like this: [[card name]].

Just got done building my ponza deck. Went with madcap and platnium emperion combo cant wait to use it :)

What do you think of Dumping Sphere, can it replace Trinishpere?

Quinnagin27,
Awesome! Please don't forget about Steps 3 and 4 above ... we've love to pass on some Tips and Tricks, read your tournament reports, and generally talk about Ponza with you! Good luck (and good skill) with the deck!

ALBO,
Short story: IMO, Trinisphere is better in most metas, but Damping Sphere seems like a pretty good budget replacement, which will hopefully bring the price of Trin' back down to manageable levels. Thorn of Amethyst is a semi-budget option as well.

Long story: Some thoughts on all three options ...

• They all nerf Bloodbraid Elf (making the Cascade spell cost more to cast) ... Trin' is the worst for us there, then Damping Sphere, then Thorn. I personally don't mind this (e.g., when I want Trin' in a match-up, I REALLY want it, so don't care about the nerf), but some just hate it.
• We need a dork or Sprawl to play Trin' on Turn 2, so we would mulligan a little less often with Damping Sphere or Thorn.
• Mid-game, it's trickier for us to cast multiple spells per turn too. This most often happens vs. Control, where we're trying to cast 2x 3-drops so Trin' is better in this case, then Thorn, then Damping Sphere.
• Trin' makes us pay (3) for a Bolt, which feels pretty bad.
• Storm: Damping Sphere is better. Trin' makes Baral/Electromancer useless and makes it VERY tough for them to go off without a Repeal or Wipe Away (e.g., 8x Cantrips, 8x Rituals, 1x Gifts, 1x Past In Flames, and 1x Grapeshot for 18 costs (60)). But Damping Sphere makes it impossible for them to go off (e.g., the same sequence costs ~(200)). Thorn is the worst of the three (e.g., the same sequence costs (54) without Baral/Electromancer and (35) with one of the cost reducers. We can also shore up the match-up with more removal and graveyard hate.
• Bogles: Trin' is amazing in this match-up (since they run so few Lands, it's easy to keep them from being able to cast spells at all). Damping Sphere and Thorn are OK but not great. We can also shore up the match-up with Enchantment hate.
• Burn: Trin' is great in this match-up (forcing an opp to pay (3) to cast a Rift Bolt after it comes off Suspend is such a good feeling). Damping Sphere and Thorn are OK but not great. We can also shore up the match-up with more removal and lifegain.
• Gx Tron, Eldrazi Tron, and RG Eldrazi: Damping Sphere is great in these match-ups, while Trin' and Thorn are pretty much useless. Gx Tron doesn't need much help; we can shore up the Eldrazi tron and RG Eldrazi match-ups with big Creatures and more removal.
• Death's Shadow: Trin' is better (it's almost like Bogles ... since they run so few Lands, it's easy to keep them from being able to cast anything but Tasigur or Angler)
• Ad Nauseum and As Foretold: Trin' is great here.
• Ux Control: Trin' is better, since it complicates their counterspells + cantrips in the mid-game, and makes Bolt-Snap-Bolt cost (9) in the late game.
• Grishoalbrand and UR Breach: Trin' is better, since it complicates their early cantrips.
• Holllow One, Mardu Pyromancer and 8-Whack: Not sure, but I think Trin' is probably better.
• Infect: They're all great.

Sorry for the wall of text. Hope that helps!

It helped a lot, thank you for the well explanation.

I have the Corbin Hoslers build, I am picking up Trini tonight and playing it for the first time in my LGS.

Ill post the results here.

ALBO,
Cool, though I'd encourage you to post the Tournament Report over on r/PonzaMTG instead ... frankly, many more folks will see it there :-)

Draw well!

This is 1 of only 2 decks ever I've seen on this site, that I would play without any changes.

Except for your fetch-land split... If you want to play around Pithing Needle, you should really make a more diverse split than you already have, and why would you only run 3 Wooded Foothills when you have 4 Windswept Heath?

Kjartan,
Oops, that was totally an error! 4x Wooded Foothills, for sure!

Is Chandra, Torch of Defiance mainly used for the ramp aspect of her?

Pabs4444,
Chandra does everything we want a card to do. She can +1 for Impulse Draw, a few extra points of damage, or Ramp. She can -3 for spot removal. And her -7 and a couple low-CMC spells will win the game.

And the synergy between her, Courser of Kruphix, and Tireless Tracker is especially insane.

How is there synergy between those? I'm assuming you're referring to Chandra's first Plus ability to put lands into play? That doesn't work because her ability specifically says 'cast' while lands do not use the stack. I can see the synergy of using an ability like hers with anything that allows you to know and/or manipulate the top of the library.

Pabs4444,
Chandra's first +1 doesn't put Lands into play; it just Exiles them and Shocks our opponent.

But yes, I am talking about her first +1 ... like you say, she's great with "anything that allows you to know and/or manipulate the top of the library." Courser lets us see the top card, so we know if we want to Exile and then Cast it, or just wait and draw it on our next turn. And Tracker allows us to crack a Clue and draw the card now, if it's not one we want to Exile for Chandra.

I was looking for decks to playtest against my new list against, and I was like, "Oh, let's test against this Ponza list. Oh, it's just a primer. Wait, it's Clay!" Hope things are well. The primer is thorough and well-thought as always!

Fulminator mage?

What do you think of Nullhide Ferox subbing Baloth on the SB?

Sorry it's taken so long to get to these comments!

yeldnil0,
Thanks for dropping by and also for the nice words!

//

Joker1430,
Uh, what about Fulminator Mage?

//

ALBO,
Well, Nullhide Ferox hasn't performed yet in a Ponza deck at Competitive REL ... if it does though we'll add it for sure. FWIW, I'm not personally excited about the card at all, but there's been some chatter about it over on r/PonzaMTG, so some folks are definitely going to be testing it out ...

Wanted to ask this community:

• Is Blackmail worth running? for either Stone Rain or the ability to take one of the more important cards they have seems plausible at least.

• Any budget-friendly effective land disruption? I can't afford Blood Moons, I spent all my money on EDH mana rocks and Breeding Pools. I know Stone Rain and other 3-mana disruption, but are there other ones?