Subject: Schnieder Pox Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 10:43:38 -0800 From: Taylors I was playing this deck today at the card shop, and I was having a grand old time. I copied the deck out of the Dojo, and made a few minor alterations, so it's still close to the Schnieder Pox. I play it sort of like a control deck, mostly just responding to waht my opponent does, and then killing them with the *very* durable roads to victory. It's very heavily metagamed against creature decks, but it can win against counter decks. It obviously has little chance against any style of mono-red. I am not an advocate of the 'pox hard and early' strategy (if you can call it that). When Poxing is to your benefit, do it, but don't just throw it out. On the other hand, you should be setting up a situation where the Pox IS to your benefit. I'll go through the deck listing, but I want you to know there are other things I should be doing now, and I hope you appreciate this. :) 4 Pox Pretty simple. It's what the deck is based on. 4 is the right number IMHO. 4 Stupor Great after the Pox. Stupor is just good by itself, but mixed with Pox it really hurts control players. 4 Diabolic Edict Also interacts great with Pox. It's just a GOOD card anyway. 4 Drain Life Drain Life is a great card, but it's not so great with Pox. Sure, you get some life back, but how often do you get to use it. It's just too expensive. I'm thinking about droppping 2. 2 Spinning Darkness How can people not like this card? An instant, zero-casting cost spell that kills a creature and gives you life. If it could target players it might almost be broken. I've never been sorry to draw this card. 4 Evincar's Justice Another good card. Kills weenies. It's a plausible route to victory. I'm thinking about dropping one solely to the cost. The damage it does to me has never been an issue yet. 4 Cursed Scroll Key to this deck. This card is sooo good. Someone said compare it to Stormbind, and I second that suggestion. In every way it beats Stormbind. Plus, it's just good in this deck after you only have 1 card due to Poxing. 4 Funeral Charms This card is huge. Most people see this card in the booster, see 'Charm" and pass it on by. BIG mistake. It kills anything x/1, even regenerators, and can make a creatureless opponent discard. 3 Steel Golems Cheap, big. Great creature. I'm a huge fan of this guy, but in this deck everyone has to admit he just plain rules. 2 Chimeric Sphere Surprisingly good in this deck. He's darn tough to kill, and obviously his being immune to Pox is great. After Poxing even once, this guy can kill an opponent in a remarkably short time. I'm thinking about adding 1. Oh, he's not affected by the Golem either, which is good. 2 Charcoal Diamonds After-Pox mana. I'm thinking about using Rituals instead. 1 Stalking Stones With so few colorless lands in the deck, this guy never hurts you, and since he can't be countered he's pretty good. I've only gotten him into play a couple of times, but I'd have to say it was worth it. 2 Quicksands Good for protection creatures or celerity bastards. 2 Wasteland Over-rated in my opinion. I'm thinking about putting in 2 Rituals for these. There's a lot of non-basic land out there, but then there's a lot of non-basic land out there. In other words, how useful is it to strip your opponent's UParadise when he follows it up with a Gemstone Mine, a City of Brass, and a Reflecting Pool? A wasted turn's worth of useful. 18 Swamps Is it just me, or is it hard to run mono-black without these? :) All in all, it's a fun deck to play, both with and against. It really keeps you on your toes. It's extremely difficult to beat with a creature deck, but don't take it to a tournament where you expect a lot of burn. It might be made less vulnerable to burn by adding a couple of Gemstone Mines and UParadises and boarding some Honorable Passages or Disrupts.