Why is Breeding Pod So Good?
Modern forum
Posted on April 18, 2014, 2:03 p.m. by Avernar
I don't quite see it. I'll list a few reasons. Correct me if I'm wrong, but:
It's incredibly SLOW. Why is this played when it comes out on turn 3 or 4 when you want the game to be in your favour by then?
Takes a LONG time to get going. You can only activate it's ability once per turn, thus being a slow card.
Needs more then 1 card to get going. The best cards can operate by themselves.
Needs a pretty good starting hand. 'Nuff said
So I don't quite understand? WHY is Breeding Pod so good?
Birthing Pod is a great card.It basically allows you to tutor up any creature in your deck for 1 mana.Also, you should take a look at any Modern Melira Pod decklist if you still doubt it.
April 18, 2014 2:07 p.m.
More often than not, it comes out a turn earlier than you mentioned.
Recycling creatures that like dying to tutor for a bigger one is nothing but gain.
It's incredibly resilient, and can allow for a strong creature-based toolbox.
It can create any number of infinite combos easily from the mainboard.
April 18, 2014 2:10 p.m.
Pod is good because every time it is activated you can gain tons of value, or even just combo out. Not many decks can compete with that kind of card advantage. Also, it actually doesn't need much of a hand at all. I mean, which would you rather have:
Birds, Resto Angel, 5 lands
Birds, Pod, 5 lands
(2.) is the obvious choice as by turn four, assuming all land draws, you can have a voice token and a finks, whereas with (1.) you just have an attacking 3/4.
That, and it is currently the best card in modern's best deck >.>
April 18, 2014 2:12 p.m.
What udinator said. Birthing Pod is a tutor engine, and an instant-speed one at that. These abilities are few and far between in all of magic. Another big one is Chord of Calling , which also typically sees play in Modern pod decks.
Pod decks fall into a category known as "tookbox." What this essentially means is that they have a large number of niche spells (in this case, creatures) that they can tutor for to addess whatever situation they are up against at that time. Pod decks typically also run mana advancement cards like Noble Hierarch to potentially get that Pod out on turn 2 (remember it has phyrexian mana). A hierarch into a pod is an incredibly good way to start out a game as it essentially means you're ready to face whatever may come at you afterwards.
April 18, 2014 2:14 p.m.
Spootyone not instant speed actually. That would be OP as hell.
April 18, 2014 2:15 p.m.
It's incredibly SLOW. (lol) Why is this played when it comes out on turn 3 or 4 when you want the game to be in your favour by then?
Turn-2 with 2 life and a Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch .Doesn't seem so slow now, does it?
Takes a LONG time to get going. (lol) You can only activate it's ability once per turn, thus being a slow card.
Doesn't take long to get going when you have Deceiver Exarch to untap it and use again, essentially skipping from 2 cmc to 4. Grim Lavamancer activates once per turn, and it's not slow. Inkmoth Nexus activates once per turn, Primeval Titan , Goblin Guide , Restoration Angel , Snapcaster Mage , etc. They all "activate" once per turn. You should really consider revising your definition of what a "slow card" is.
Needs more then 1 card to get going. The best cards can operate by themselves.
Again with the assumptions and generalizations. First of all, you're just wrong here. It only needs a creature to get going. After that, you can tutor up (and instantly play) anything in your library.
By this logic, Stoneforge Mystic bad because you need to be using other cards with it. Squadron Hawk is bad because you need 3 other cards with it. Infect is bad because you need pump spells.
Needs a pretty good starting hand. 'Nuff said
Not really. If you get 2 lands, a mana dork, and a Birthing Pod , you're pretty much set. Pod aside, the deck can also just cast the creatures in the deck and play without it. That's what makes a Pod deck so good; it's almost like you're playing 2 creatures at the same time for an added 1 mana and 2 life each turn.
Perhaps before you spew an awful load of nonsense about a card you stated you don't understand, just ask the question and read the responses.
April 18, 2014 2:43 p.m.
Kudos to zandl for providing the response that everyone else was too lazy to make lol. Pretty much summarizes my thoughts on the subject, much more eloquently than I did.
April 18, 2014 2:46 p.m.
SkyRaider42 says... #13
I hate people like this that look a card in a vacuum, like Birthing Pod , and call it bad without looking at any decks it's in or playing any decks it's in. The birthing pod deck is tier 1 because of the synergy between the cards. Birthing Pod isn't like Jace, the Mind Sculptor in the way that you pay 4 mana then essentially win the game.
April 18, 2014 3:27 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #14
By the way, if you are playing Kiki-pod, you can win the game with a 1 drop, 2 drop, birthing pod, and enough mana. Sacrifice the 2 to go get Deceiver Exarch , and untap the pod. Then sacrifice a 1 to go get Phantasmal Image , copying Deceiver Exarch . Untap the pod, then sacrifice the copy to get Restoration Angel . Blink the original Deceiver Exarch , then pod away the Restoration Angel for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker . Then win. In fact, this is a turn four even with any 1 drop, any 2 drop, and Pod.
April 18, 2014 3:28 p.m.
Jesus what's with all the anger over a simple question?
How long has it really been since you looked at a card like Force of Will and thought "pay life AND lose a card? That sucks." or saw a fetchland and thought it was just a worse Evolving Wilds? We can help people see cards in a different way without jumping down their throats.
To answer your question, it's not a matter of raw power - it's about the utility it provides. The ability to search up almost any creature (and by extension nearly any ability) when you need it is extremely helpful.
April 18, 2014 3:41 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #16
I think the card is awesome. AEther Vial and Birthing Pod bring about new ways to play magic, which seems rather healthy to me.
April 18, 2014 3:58 p.m.
It's not that he doesn't know what makes Birthing Pod good. It's that he was so set in assuming that it's actually bad and listed reasons why it's "bad", despite it being in top decks ever since it was printed 3 years ago.
April 18, 2014 4:12 p.m.
Also, he made some fairly awful generalizations about Magic cards as a whole. "You can only activate it once a turn and is this SLOW."
You can only activate a Black Lotus once EVER, and it's the most broken card ever printed.
April 18, 2014 4:16 p.m.
I have to agree with EvenDryke -- why on earth is there so much anger about this post? It's a simple, straightforward question by someone who doesn't understand a deck and wants to learn about the game. Calling that person dumb is not a way to help OP understand the game -- it's a way to scare them off.
That said, there are 3 big reasons why birthing pod appears strong: (1) toolbox decks vs wide formats; (2) synergy = virtual card value; and (3) pod decks are hard to play.
Modern is a pretty wide-open format -- there are between 5-8 decks that might be considered tier 1. That's important, because birthing pod lets you cast creatures you don't need, and turn them into the creatures you do need to deal with the deck you're playing against. these decks only need to play 1 or 2 of each card that plays a very specific role against different decks -- and they can afford to do that because with 4 birthing pods, they can reliably tutor up exactly the answer they need.
Every creature in the deck also has either an ETB or death trigger, or is part of a combo. so with a pod out, each creature acts like 2 or 3 spells -- that's virtual card advantage that can be hard for either linear aggro decks or control decks.
Finally: birthing pod decks require the pilot to make lots of non-trivial choices. This means they're hard to play well, but they reward good strategic decision-making (play skill). Strong players tend to like the deck, because they want to be rewarded for their skill; and because it tilts the mirror match more in favor of skill, rather than luck. So the deck looks like it's great, and the card looks great, because really strong players use it and post good results with it.
April 18, 2014 4:23 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #21
To be fair, there were only two points that were made that appeared angry to me. The rest were just saying why it's sweet. Or in my case, why it's THE SWEETEST THING EVER.
April 18, 2014 4:29 p.m.
Oh wow, it isn't instant speed. I guess I've never read all of the text there lol. That's why I always though it WAS OP as hell xD
April 18, 2014 4:29 p.m.
He didn't just ask a question; he also insulted each person who has ever played a Pod deck by assuming he knew better than everyone else, like he really had a clue. He asked why it's good, but then pretended to be a pro player and give a laundry list of reasons that make it "bad".
If he would've just asked "I don't get it. Why is it good?", then it would have been fine.
You can't start a thread with negativity and expect to not see it in return.
April 18, 2014 4:31 p.m.
However, I'm not defending the name calling or personal insults. That's just childish.
April 18, 2014 4:32 p.m.
In defense of him, it IS slow and it DOES take a long time to get going. But by the time Pod drops Birthing Pod , they're just winning faster.
April 18, 2014 4:58 p.m.
Well, "slow" and "long time" are actually only the first three turns in Modern.
April 18, 2014 5:11 p.m.
True. And you only need to activate Pod once for it to be worth it.
April 18, 2014 5:13 p.m.
A lot of the time pod is like the icing on the a delicious creature based deck anyway - you can eat the cake and enjoy it without the icing.
Think about your cakes bro.
What magic needs is more baking related analogies.
April 18, 2014 7:47 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #29
Birthing Pod is my favorite artifact card ever printed. I had great success with it in Standard, as it's hard to deal with. I'm toying with a Modern build...
A good Pod deck doesn't need Pod to win, but it definitley helps. It's creatures and ramp alone are amazing. You can run singletons due to the tutoring from Pod. Every creature does something, in any given situation. If you have two Pods out, it can get really nuts.
I've toyed with Mimic Vat in a Pod list. Acidic Slime + Mimic Vat is one of the cruelest, most enjoyable things ever.
That aside, even without the combos with Kitchen Finks and what not, Pod is able to beat your face in with some awesome critters. They can tutor for them, obviously, or even hardcast threats like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite . I like to use Primeval Titan in my Pod builds. I like lands.
Anyway, Pod can be an awesome toolbox that's extremely flexible and resilient, capable of winning via an infinite combo, or can go the midrange route, put out huge beasties, and stomp your face.
There's a reason MeliraPod and it's counterparts make Modern Top8 lists, my friend... It's also okay to wonder and ask questions. When Force of Will was first printed, it was sort of a janky card. Balduvian Horde being the chase rare of Alliances.
What makes a card good in Modern and Legacy is what it does, it's CMC, and card/board advantage. Ancestral Recall is far better than Jace's Ingenuity due to the CMC. It's also banned in Legacy. Deathrite Shaman does amazing things for such little cost. And is banned in Modern. Dark Confidant provides card advantage on a stick for some life. Vendilion Clique can remove key combo pieces or a bomb, and is a 3/1 flier with Flash. I could go on, but I hope that you can see my point.
April 18, 2014 8:01 p.m.
Birthing pod is like the flowers. The cake would still be great without them.
April 19, 2014 7:20 a.m.
PrimeEpoch says... #34
I think that everyone has to agree with ChiefBell, since he's so right, and he mentioned cakes (yumm!!!!!!)
Basically why birthing pod is so good is that it allows you to combo out a lot more consistently, and can be used to fetch Murderous Redcap after comboing out with Kitchen Finks . That's my favourite thing to do in pod haha :D
April 19, 2014 9:51 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #35
People have said a bunch of things about why Birthing Pod is a good card. You can push it out on turn 2 with a mana guy on turn 1, and if you're playing a game against, say, a poison deck, you can simply Pod that mana guy into Melira, Sylvok Outcast and they just lose. Birthing Pod decks allow you to fill up with 1-of tutor targets that are silver bullets (cards that specifically hate on certain match ups) or are excellent for certain situations. The sideboards of Pod decks generally have some more targeted 1-ofs such as Ethersworn Canonist for Storm decks, Kataki, War's Wage for Affinity, Harmonic Sliver for Splinter Twin decks, etc. However, these 1-ofs are in reality 7 or 8-ofs, as often times Pod decks will play 4 Birthing Pod in addition to Chord of Calling , which is a slightly more conditional but nevertheless extremely powerful tutor. Therefore, Birthing Pod decks are very powerful because all of the side boarded cards they might bring in are going to be in play much more often than any other decks sideboard cards, allowing them to have strong advantages in post board games.
Couple this with the fact that many Pod creatures can be used twice, most notably the extremely powerful Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap , which also happen to synergize with the Gavony Township Melira Pod decks play. Voice of Resurgence even gives you extra when you Pod it away. The deck is so full of synergy, resiliency and power that its very hard to beat.
Another important thing to note is Birthing Pod chains, which are much more common in another variant of the deck known as Kiki-Pod, named after the potent combo creature Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker . This deck makes use of creatures such as Deceiver Exarch and Zealous Conscripts to untap the Birthing Pod multiple times to tutor up the winning combo of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker plus either Deceiver Exarch , Restoration Angel or Zealous Conscripts . Here's an example of the potency of such a Pod chain:
In play: Spellskite , Eternal Witness , Birthing Pod , plenty of mana
One can win by podding Spellskite into Deceiver Exarch , untapping Pod, then podding Eternal Witness into Restoration Angel , blinking Deceiver Exarch and untapping Pod, then finally podding Restoration Angel into Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker for the win.
April 19, 2014 1:40 p.m.
Mental Misstep is the most broken card ever printed, not Black Lotus .
April 22, 2014 1:16 p.m.
KrosanTusker says... #37
Okay, so there are more than a few broken cards. I still think Black Lotus takes the cake though (see what I did there!).
April 22, 2014 1:30 p.m.
@Tiktacy: The problem with that sentence is that Mental Misstep counters neither Black Lotus or the Lodestone Golem that just resolved...
April 22, 2014 6:20 p.m.
Firstly, Birthing Pod decks get 20 more sideboard slots. Most decks with singletons or 2-ofs face consistency issues, as you probably won't draw the right card at the right time. Birthing pod decided that it'd come along and break all the rules. Your Wall of Roots isn't doing much against faeries, so you can just sacrifice is for Harmonic Sliver and kill of Bitterblossom . You'll then sacrifice it off for a Restoration Angel to block their Vendilion Clique . Against control, you've got Gaddock Teeg , Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Sin Collector . You've got every hate card, and a way to fetch the right one for the right time. Oh, and you've also got a sideboard. It also essentially costs 3 mana, and with 8 dorks in the main board for most pod decks, it's pretty reliably coming out turn 2, and coming online turn 3.
April 23, 2014 7:21 a.m.
Glissa, the Traitor + Black Lotus + ??? = Profit. :P Is that Broken enough? Im honestly thinkin about building Pod, toolbox decks are my style!
Matsi883 says... #2
Breeding Pool or Birthing Pod ?
April 18, 2014 2:03 p.m.