Welcome. This is Project
Smallpox
, the attempt to use a certain underrated symmetrical effect at a game-winning capacity. We're running a full set unconditionally, and no Death Clouds. Anything else would be apoxalyptic.
Our mission is to get ahead early, and from there, we can trade. As every chess player knows, trade only when you're ahead. There are several cards intended to mitigate Smallpox that allow us to get ahead.
Smallpox has 3 significant symmetrical effects: the creature sacrifice, the land sacrifice, and the discard. We're trying to play cards that will either allow us to benefit from a Smallpox or in the least have no anti-synergy with it.
Compensating for the creature sacrifice is pretty straightforward: we either don't to have anything down yet or sacrifice a Kitchen Finks.
Compensating the land sacrifice is trickier. The ideal land sacrifice is
Flagstones of Trokair
, which replaces itself with a shockland. A higher land count than normally advisable has also been attained to offset Smallpox. Garruk Wildspeaker T4 followed by an untap casting Smallpox is also a strong play.
Compensating the discard is also straightforward. Dropping a Phyrexian Arena (now a singleton in the sideboard) just before a Smallpox and/or discarding Lingering Souls provides easy card advantage. The optimal Smallpox scenario in this deck is Lingering Souls + Kitchen Finks +
Flagstones of Trokair
+
Smallpox
. Something very similar to that happens astonishingly often and has forced several concessions outright :)
This deck has its moments of brilliance, especially against Infect and Boggles. It curves Garruk Wildspeaker
+
Lingering Souls
for 16 damage in one swing. It can Sinkhole fetches instantly and cantrip with
Shadow of Doubt
.
GLITTERING WISH SIDEBOARDING TECH: Glittering Wish pulls multicolored cards from outside the game, and the sideboard is "outside the game" for all intents and purposes. Most of our sideboard is multicolored, meaning we have access to it through Wish game 1. However, there are certain cards (Abrupt Decay,
Shadow of Doubt
, even Kitchen Finks) that we can side out after game 1 to pull with Wish in the coming games! Pulling a silver bullet with Wish works out great, but the opponent can play around it, which is both good and bad. A Shadow in response to Amulet Bloom's Summoner's Pact can win the game outright, but telegraphing that we have an answer will often delay the game in itself, which is exactly what we want to do.
Currently and for the next several eons Liliana of the Veil and Tarmogoyf will not be an option budget-wise. Fetchlands were obtained through selling limbs, and that's no longer possible for Lili or Goyf.
This deck has been tested a fair amount, but never can be tested enough, as it goes in Modern. Please share anything constructive that comes to mind.
