Updating Bant Pod for Innistrad Standard

Thoughts on Updating Bant Pod for Innistrad Standard


Old Pod lists  
Cards rotating marked in strikethrough

24 Lands
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Plains
2 Island
7 Forest
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Razorverge Thicket

26 Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
2 Viridian Emissary
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Blade Splicer
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Stonehorn Dignitary
1 Acidic Slime
1 Razor Hippogriff
1 Archon of Justice
1 Sun Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine (I used Sunblast Angel in this slot as my meta is pretty strong Aggro)
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

8 Spells
4 Preordain
4 Birthing Pod

2 Planeswalkers
2 Venser, the Sojourner

Now these numbers are variable, which is one of the strengths of Pod as an archetype; it is infinitely adaptable.
Some of the plays this deck can pull off are game breaking against a wide variety of opponents, from combo to control to aggro.
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What do we lose?

Card draw is the biggest loss.  We no longer have Sea Gate Oracle and Preordain to dig us into pods, threats or lands as needed.  This is a huge problem.  If a player is able to either remove our pods or stunt our mana then the deck has HUGE problems.  The cantrip cards really helped us push through this problem.  
In the Preordain slot I am going to try a 2 pack of Think Twice, and a 2 pack of Ponder.  No, ponder is nowhere near as good as Preordain in this slot, especially with the loss of the fetch lands, but it's a 1 mana cantrip.  Think Twice is a little more pricy but has the potential to draw just as many cards as the 4 pack of Preordain used to, just without the card selection stapled onto it.  I considered running Forbidden Alchemy, but the 3 mana cost is pretty bad for us.  It's possible for this to end up in the deck anyway, but for now it's on the sidelines. 


If Ponder is not working for us, I will be seriously considering running Visions of Beyond.  It's not impossible that we'll get to the "threshold" on this.  If we do, then it's bonus, but the fact that it is an instant speed cantrip is still really strong.




The real loss is Sea Gate Oracle as a ETB cantrip creature searchable by the pod.  Azure Mage might fill the slot, but it's fragile and the card draw costs mana.  I'm not sure yet, but it's definitely a contender. Neurok Commando might also have to fit in here, but Shroud is a huge problem, making it useless in the Pod chain.

Another option in the slot of the Sea Gate Oracle, that won't have the immediate effect that the Oracle did, but which might have a much stronger effect over the long game is Mentor of the Meek.

This guy is a very strong player in the new standard and has the potential for major card advantage over the long game if he's not dealt with.  For the low cost of 1 mana you draw a card for every creature with power of 2 or less.  That's a lot of cards in a Bant Pod list.  It is also relevant that it doesn't give an opponent a window to react to it before you get a chance to Pod something, if you play it while Pod is on the board.  I've come across many situations where an opponent will dismember a creature of mine with the ETB trigger on the stack, before I have the option of podding it away into something else.  This might actually prove to be a stronger card in the long run.  Time will tell.

Llanowar Elves can be directly replaced with Avacyn's Pilgrim.


We lose also 6 Lands, 4 Misty Rainforest and 2 Tectonic Edge.  These are fairly easily replaced with 4 Hinterland Harbor and 1 Gavony Township and 1 Moorland Haunt. 

We also have Ghost Quarter if we really need it against Inkmoths or other annoying lands, like opposing Moorland Haunts or Stensia Bloodhalls.
I really like Gavony Township here, as it makes every single creature into a threat pretty fast.


We'll have to replace some forests with plains, but the land base stays remarkably similar.






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Now what cards do we gain?


Boneyard Wurm is a possible finisher in the 2 drop slot. 
Gets big fast and hits pretty hard. He is a nombo with some of the cards below, so I'm not sure he makes it yet, as the other cards are stronger. I really like having a strong finisher at each mana cost though, so we'll have to test him.
Skinshifter is also another possibility for this slot.
I REALLY want to run Snapcaster Mage and Mana Leak, but the deck just can't fit it well.  There aren't enough non-creature slots to go around to fit this package into the deck too.



Skaab Ruinator seems tailor made for this deck as a 3 drop finisher that can be rebought without the help of a Sun Titan, or even better, WITH the help of a Sun Titan.  
It does work against the Boneyard Wurm though...  If it comes down to a fight, we need 3 drops more than 2 drops and Skaab is just better all around.  He is pretty much an auto inclusion

Roc Egg is just worse. Yes, I thought about it, for a minute. Just a minute, I swear.

So there are a lot of new options in the 3 drop slot now. Skaab Ruinator being one of the strongest, but Geist of Saint Traft is amazing enough to play that I know players trying to stuff four of them in a deck despite the legendary status of our little spirit here.  He pairs exceptionally well with swords or other equipment. Too bad for us there isn't really any space to fit those into this deck.  Hexproof is relevant for us as he can't be killed by our opponents before we pod him away.  They have to target the pod instead of the creature. He also hits pretty hard for 3 mana into an open board.  This guy is an amazing late game play.




Fiend Hunter is amazing here as well. This little gem is a functional (minus color and cost) reprinting of an amazing Torment card called Faceless Butcher, which made waves in standard back in the day.  This card has the potential to do equally as well.  It's relevant that it's a human (not in this deck, per se, but in others)  It is really good at slowing a fast aggro deck, removing the best flyer or beater and blocking the second best with that wonderfully big 3 toughness.  Have I mentioned that Lightning Bolt is not in the format anymore?  Another really strong play is getting multiple ETB triggers of your guys, playing Fiend Hunter removing Geist-Honored Monk, podding away Fiend Hunter, returning Geist-Honored Monk, making two more tokens, and getting Phyrexian Metamorph from the Pod to copy Geist-Honored Monk and make even more tokens.  It can do the same thing with Sun Titan, Acidic Slime, or Stonehorn Dignitary.


Another card I absolutely love, and am trying to make work in a bunch of different deck shells, is Geist-Honored Monk. This card is playable on turn three in this deck, and in that case would make 7 additional power on the table.  That is a significant clock.  Having vigilance is also really good for us as we want to be able to block frequently.  Not sure she takes over a slot of Razor Hippogriff or Acidic Slime or Archon of Justice, but it's definitely in the running for a slot.  It's good against aggro and against control as a fairly fast fairly hard hitting threat that also happens to be amazing wrath recovery all on it's own.
Magical Christmasland? Phantasmal Image the Monk, Pod away the Image, getting Sun Titan and bringing back the Image again.  How much power did that dump onto the board?  How big did the original monk get?  Yeah.  Not bad.



Woodland Sleuth is another possible inclusion.  The random part of the gravedigger clause is annoying, but fairly easy to work around with cards like Skaab Ruinator in the deck. I really like being able to pod into the sleuth and bring back a Sun Titan or Elesh Norn on the off chance they got hit by a Despise, or Mind Rot.  This is another card that is on the fringe of playability and requires some testing.  It has the potential to be really strong, but we'll have to test it and see. The Morbid part of the card barely seems a problem with how easily this deck puts creatures into the grave.  100% morbidity rate with Pod, 70-80% morbidity rate without Pod seems like ok odds to me. (Note - I made up the 70-80% but it seems like a good guess) It is also possible to manipulate which cards we return by exiling the other cards from our grave by playing Skaab Ruinator, and smartly managing our graveyard.




Hollowhenge Scavenger seems like a perfect addition in the Obstinate Baloth Sideboard slot, gaining us life when it's really needed.  Again the morbid clause barely seems to ever be an issue. The only problem is that it's a 5 drop instead of a 4 drop, which is relevant in those fast aggro matches.


Other notable inclusions are Mirran Crusader, Gideon Jura (which pods into Sun Titan if you need it to), Traveler's Amulet, Nim Deathmantle, Divine Reckoning, or Creeping Renaissance.


So to wrap up, here's the list I would bring to FNM this Friday if I wanted to play Bant Pod:


23 Lands
4 Hinterland Harbor
1 Gavony Township
1 Moorland Haunt
2 Plains
2 Island
5 Forest
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Razorverge Thicket

28 Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Viridian Emissary
2 Phantasmal Image
1 Spellskite
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Skaab Ruinator
3 Mentor of the Meek
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Stonehorn Dignitary
1 Acidic Slime
1 Geist-Honored Monk
1 Razor Hippogriff
1 Sun Titan
1 Consecrated Sphinx or Sunblast Angel, depending on your meta.
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

8 Spells
2 Ponder
2 Think Twice
4 Birthing Pod

1 Planeswalkers
1 Venser, the Sojourner


Sideboard Options
Divine Reckoning
Hollowhenge Scavenger
Mirran Crusader
Creeping Corrosion
Nevermore
Beast Within
Oblivion Ring
Woodland Sleuth
Primeval Titan


So that's the thought process.  What do you think?
I'd love to hear your comments.
Mike