Planeswalker (8)
- 2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- 1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
- 3x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
- 1x Samut, the Tested
- 1x Sarkhan Vol
Enchantment (11)
Land (21)
Sorcery (6)
Creature (12)
Artifact (2)
Sideboard
Creature (4)
Artifact (3)
Maybeboard
Creature (1)
Ponza, but with extra Planeswalkers, Token-producers, and +1/+1 Counters ... which makes Doubling Season insane in the deck.
The deck is extremely fun to play and seems to have potential. But be forewarned: It's still very inconsistent, even by Ponza standards.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions!
WIN-CON: Planeswalker ultimates
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
's -7, Garruk, Primal Hunter's -6 , and Sarkhan Vol's -6 are all game-winning. - Samut, the Tested's -7 is hard-broken with Doubling Season in play: Find Garruk, Primal Hunter and Sarkhan Vol, then -6 Garruk and +1 Sarkhan.
BACK-UP WINCONS:
- Creature beats: Smash face with Heart of Kiran, Tireless Tracker, or 3/3 Beast Tokens from Garruk, Primal Hunter's +1 ... especially with +1/+1 counters from Nissa, Voice of Zendikar's -2, Double-strike from Samut, the Tested's +1, or +1/+1 and Haste from Sarkhan Vol's +1
- Throw Artifacts: Use Pia and Kiran Nalaar's activated ability to shock opponents in the face with Thopters or Clues.
- Shock an opponent for their last two with Samut, the Tested's -2
MOVE TOWARDS THE WIN:
- Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, and Birds of Paradise can Ramp for 3- and 4-drops as early as Turn 2.
- Tireless Tracker brings superb card advantage, and can run away with games if unanswered.
- Use Chandra, Torch of Defiance's +1s for Impulse Draw, a few extra points of damage, or Ramp.
- Draw cards with Garruk, Primal Hunter's -3; gain life and draw cards with Nissa, Voice of Zendikar's -7.
- Abuse an opponent's Creature (or even kill their Death's Shadow) with Sarkhan Vol's -2.
PREVENT OPPONENT'S WIN-CON:
- Blood Moon, Stone Rain, and Mwonvuli Acid-Moss prevent opponents from executing their game plan.
- Chump-block all day with 0/1 Plant Tokens from Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and 1/1 Thopter Tokens from Pia and Kiran Nalaar.
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance's -3, Samut, the Tested's -2, and Pia and Kiran Nalaar's activated ability provide some spot removal.
GENERAL VALUE:
- Doubling Season may be a 5-drop that doesn't immediately affect the board. But it makes Planeswalkers, Token producers, and anything involving +1/+1 counters INSANELY good.
SIDEBOARD:
- Abrade: Sure, it's a worse Lightning Bolt and a worse Ancient Grudge, but it's a superb use of limited sideboard slots.
- Ancient Grudge: For Affinity and anything with Ensnaring Bridge or Aether Vial,
- Anger of the Gods: For any go-wide deck, Dredge, Hollow One, and Storm (when we suspect they're on the Empty the Warrens plan).
- Huntmaster of the Fells : For Burn and grindy match-ups.
- Lightning Bolt: Whenever we need efficient spot removal.
- Magus of the Moon: Blood Moon #5.
- Trinisphere: For Burn, Bogles, Grixis Death's Shadow, Living End, Restore Balance, and Storm.
MAYBEBOARD:
- Mistcutter Hydra: This deck's Thrun, the Last Troll.
- Verdurous Gearhulk: For when the deck needs a big beater.
This is what a nut draw looks like:
We can do this as early as Turn 4:
Turns 1 and 2: We need 5 mana by Turn 3. Any of these will get us there ...
- T1: Green land, any Dork (either Arbor Elf, Birds of Paradise, or Utopia Sprawl). T2: Any land, any Dork. T3: Any land.
- T1: Green land. T2: Green land, any 2x Dorks. T3: Any land.
- T1: Green land, Arbor Elf or Utopia Sprawl. T2: The other one (i.e., Sprawl if T1 was an Elf, or Elf if T1 was a Sprawl). T2 or T3: Any land.
Turn 3: Cast Doubling Season.
Turn 4: Cast Samut, the Tested. Activate her -7 to find Garruk, Primal Hunter and Sarkhan Vol. Activate Garruk's -6 and, depending on how many lands we have in play, put 4-8x 6/6 Wurm Tokens on the battlefield. Activate Sarkhan's +1 to give them +1/+1 and Haste. Enter combat.
Sure, this is VERY rare (on the play, there's only a 1.2% chance of it working out like this), but actual Magical Christmasland only happens 1 day in 365 (0.27% chance), so it's better than that! :-)
TESTED:
- Chandra, Flamecaller: I like her in a normal Ponza shell, so I was surprised to find she's kind of meh here. If only she could defend herself, or was a 5-drop, or her -X didn't hit us too.
- Chandra Nalaar: Her -8 is great in certain circumstances, but she's otherwise worse than other 5-drops.
- Garruk Wildspeaker: His +1 is OK but not great, and his -4 isn't game-winning.
- Nissa, Vital Force: Her +1 is good, but Garruk, Primal Hunter's is better in a world with Fatal Push. Her -3 is superb, and almost good enough to play her. Unfortunately, her -6 is pretty meh.
- Xenagos, the Reveler: Another Planeswalker I really like in 'normal' Ponza, but not here. His 0 is great, but his -6 is underwhelming and we rarely need the big mana from his +1.
HAVE NOT TESTED:
These Planeswalkers can immediately ultimate with Doubling Season and survive, but don't really work with the deck:
- Chandra Ablaze
- Chandra, Pyromaster
- Koth of the Hammer
- Garruk, Caller of Beasts
- Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
These Pleaneswalkers can't immediately ultimate with Doubling Season and survive plus they don't really work with the deck:
In earlier testing, these cards were not great. There were a TON of variables at work though, so they may yet find a place in the deck ...
- Avenger of Zendikar and Hornet Queen: Seven-drops are just too much for the deck.
- Harmonize: I love the extra Draw, but having four-drops and five drops (Doubling Season) that don't immediately affect the board is just too much.
- Hornet Nest: Superb against go-tall decks, but really frustrating when we can't crack them. Tried them with 4x Lightning Bolt (so I could crack it myself if needed), but it was still just too inconsistent for my tastes.
- Jadelight Ranger is great and almost made the cut. At worst, she's a 2/1 that draws two Lands. At best, she's a 4/3 that sets up the next draw, or sends useless spells to the 'yard. Plus, she gets better late-game, with fewer Lands in the deck and a better chance of Doubling Season in play.
- Kitchen Finks: Unfortunately, Finks is a a non-bo with Doubling Season.
- Oath of Nissa: I love being able to dig for needed pieces, but Jadelight Ranger (which doesn't dig as deep, but does immediately impact the board) is better. And the color fixing isn't really needed as long as we fetch carefully for Garruk, Primal Hunter (well, except in a meta overrun with Spreading Seas).
- Ponza staples like Courser of Kruphix, Stormbreath Dragon, and Inferno Titan: Since they aren't Token-producers and don't involve +1/+1 Counters (well, except for Strombreath's Monstrous ability), they aren't a great fit for this deck.
Shout-outs to ...
- u/Andycoltrain from Reddit, who got me thinking about Superfriend Ponza in the first place.
- Everyone who's commented on the deck below, or over on Reddit and Facebook.
Please don't forget to +1 Upvote if you like the deck!
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 6 years |
| Last updated | 6 years |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 10 - 3 Mythic Rares 26 - 7 Rares 0 - 4 Uncommons 14 - 1 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.85 |
| Tokens | Beast 3/3 G, Clue, Dragon 4/4 R, Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Human 2/2 G, Plant 0/1 G, Thopter 1/1 C, Wolf 2/2 G, Wurm 6/6 G |
| Folders | Interesting Modern Decks, Competitive Ponza, >> Modern Archive <<, Aetherborn basker |
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