From: rel1@cec.wustl.edu (Robert Liszka)
Subject: Re: pox players
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:58:21 GMT

Perhaps the biggest thing to improve a pox deck is to improve the
playing skill of the pox.  Pox is one of those cards that I feel
requires more patience and self control than counters in general.
People have called the "Black Balance", but by doing so really limits
the playing style of the pox.  Given my deck was a mono black pox deck
that won me a few tournies here and there, I'll try to externd into
the difference in strategies between the 2.  I used my pox deck as a
counter to the Necrodeck that was so dominant a year or so before.
The way I saw it, Pox not only crippled Necro's life for card drawing
ability, but forced the discarding of already paid for draws, while
also hindering the mana curve.  It was definitely a control deck,
similar to the fish Big Blue decks, where it used cheap and efficient
creatures to establish a quick threat while poxing when it hindered my
oppononent more than me.  Obviously your deck should be better
prepared for it: in my case, I used Urza's Baubles and 2 Lodestone
Bauble to help replenish poxed land while allowing me to optimize my
hand to a factor divisible by 3.  Ideally, you'd also want you're
opponent to be at a non divisble factor of 3, forcing the extraneous
loss of cards.  Of course, you should have acquired this nack for
patiently waiting for the ideal situation.  Of course, a second turn
dervish has also forced early poxes, but to have done  otherwise would
have been stupidity.  I also used contagions to manipulate my
opponent's creature total and my own hand, again to manipulate things
better.  Pox, however, is not a come from behind, clear the board of
creatures card, nor should it be thought of as such.  

In the black/red case, Pox is used to whittle your opponent away
cheaply in the begining to shorten the kill range of further burn
spells.  (So I have a knack for the obvious)  Where 20/3 nets about
6.67 bolts, after one pox, the required death by bolts drops to 4.33
The best way to follow up is, again, the cheap and efficient creatures
such as Fallen Askari, Black Knight, etc.  Even Suq Lancers.   Of
course the Incinerates to whittle away at you're opponent's meager
life or for creature control.  However, keep in mind that you are
discarding and use that to your advantage.  Death Spark is an easy
card to retrieve, and can easily be placed under a creature when you
pox since you choose the order of the cards discarded.  Also, the
order of pox is discard first, loss of creatures second: thus, you can
gain the benefit if you also have a creature in play.  Don't overlook
Krovikan horrors either... their recursion potential could also come
in handy.  With Weatherlight, the Necratog can be a definite follow up
threat after discarding a few cards.  The use of Gemstone Mines are a
must since you can use them as a buffer with pox when they get low on
counters.  

Without seeing you're actual deck, that's about as good as the help
gets.


Rob Liszka