When I heard that Reid Duke did pretty well at the StarCityGames.com Invitational in Charlotte, I was intrigued but didn’t really think anything of it. It was only after talking to Adam Prosak, who is the bestest, that we started brewing a Loam Pox deck. The deck went through a lot of stages, but it was all theory crafting. I didn’t test the deck until the StarCityGames.com Open in DC. After playing a handful of matches, I instantly regretted some cards and wish I had others in their place. Let’s just start with the list shall we?
Creatures (2)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (28)
Spells (26)
- 4 Hymn to Tourach
- 3 Cursed Scroll
- 4 Entomb
- 2 Innocent Blood
- 1 Darkblast
- 3 Life from the Loam
- 4 Smallpox
- 4 Thoughtseize
- 1 Raven's Crime
Sideboard
The deck was a blast to play, and I enjoyed it the whole day. Cards that need to be cut are the three Cursed Scrolls. That card was an auto-mulligan or a dead draw 90% of the time. It just doesn’t have any synergy with your engine, Life from the Loam. Another cute combo that was added last minute was Volrath’s Stronghold, Vampire Hexmage, and Dark Depths. Originally I just wanted a way to deal with planeswalkers so I added Hexmage and Stronghold. I decided why not add Dark Depths since I already have the other two? So I did and…that was a mistake.
Hexmage just got in the way of Nether Spirit, and the times I did make a Marit Lage it would be instantly Pathed or Swords-ed. Not to mention Hexmage never once killed a planeswalker. The only real upside was my opponent keeping their removal games two and three, as I almost always sided the combo out. Liliana of the Veil saved me from many awkward situations; she let me discard my Cursed Scrolls, Dark Depths, and Hexmage. She was amazing all day, especially with the Loam Engine.
Okay we know what to cut, but what should we add?
Well let’s go over some options shall we?
Dark Ritual: This card can be pretty sweet if it lets you resolve a turn one Liliana, but otherwise I don’t really want it, especially when I’m already running Life from the Loam.
Sinkhole: This card is nice, but it can be a horrible draw in the late game. You already should be Wastelanding most of their lands and recurring Wasteland with Loam. It’s good to lock out an opponent that is running only 2-3 basics, but otherwise Wasteland is just better. You also want to kill yourself if they are playing an Aether Vial deck.
Inquisition of Kozilek: This card is very good in Legacy, hitting everything you want except Jace, Elspeth, and to a lesser extent Force of Will. I’ll probably end up playing this card over Thoughtseize, instead of in addition to, since the life matters.
Pernicious Deed: This card is a sweet catchall, except it doesn’t kill what you really want dead, and that is planeswalkers. I still want this card in my 75, but I’ll leave it in the sideboard for now.
Maelstrom Pulse: Now this card will answer everything we need it to. I really want a couple of these in the maindeck.
Pithing Needle: Pithing Needle can serve the same purpose as Maelstrom Pulse, stopping any planeswalker dead in their tracks, even if they have multiple in their hands. Pithing Needle can’t kill random permanents like Tarmogoyf, Knight of the Reliquary, and Batterskull. Maelstrom Pulse still gets my vote over Needle in the maindeck, but I could see sporting a few in the board.
Perish: This card is a nice way to get rid of Goyfs and Knights, and I really want a couple in the sideboard to get rid of those annoying creatures.
Garruk Relentless: This is the only Garruk I would consider for the deck since he doesn’t require a heavy commitment to green. He also beats Jace, the Mind Sculptor one on one but doesn’t really do much against Elspeth unless he is in play first. If you ever manage to flip him though, he is a killing machine!
Tombstalker: This guy could be another solid finisher, and he also shrinks Tarmogoyf, which is nice. Again he can also get in the way of Nether Spirit when we are dredging Life from the Loam, which makes me not want to include him in the list.
Worm Harvest: Adam Prosak was all over this card and even had one main deck when we were theory crafting, but I ended up cutting it and moving it to the board, and then I cut it from the board. After my second match, I realized I really wanted this card as an Entomb target, since it can deal with any pesky planeswalker and can make an army of chump blockers against any creature deck. I will add one to the board, since it’s another engine against control decks.
Barren Moor: Another card that I should’ve had in the main deck at least as a one- or two-of. It makes your Life from the Loams that much better. I had brought it up in our discussion, but it was quickly dismissed as unnecessary, since Life from the Loam already gave you enough card advantage. Don’t get me wrong; Loam can be insane, especially if you have Raven’s Crime in the yard, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a couple of these when you have crippled yourself and your opponent. Not to mention it can protect your Loams from Surgical Extractions.
Karakas: I want to add this card to the board to help with the Reanimator matchup. You don’t care about things with shroud, since you have Innocent Blood, Smallpox, and Liliana of the Veil. But Jin Gitaxias can be a real pain without Karakas to keep him in check.
Alright so we’ve gone over a lot of cards so let’s make the new decklist!
Creatures (1)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (28)
Spells (26)
- 4 Hymn to Tourach
- 4 Entomb
- 3 Innocent Blood
- 1 Darkblast
- 3 Life from the Loam
- 4 Smallpox
- 1 Raven's Crime
- 2 Maelstrom Pulse
- 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
Sideboard
Tada! Now this looks much better than the first list. I want more Garruks in here, but I’m not sure if he’s good enough. I’d have to test the list more before I jam more in the deck. Let’s talk about the deck a little. This deck, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, has an Entomb package. It originally started with one Life from the Loam, but we didn’t always want to Entomb for Life from the Loam. We wanted to draw it, and that’s how we ended up with three Loams in the main deck.
What do I Entomb for?
This may seem like an easy choice, but it’s not. You need to think about what you want to get with Entomb instead of just casting it, then trying to decide while searching your deck. You’re better than that—know your deck and know what you want. Against combo decks, I almost always go for Raven’s Crime to shut them down. If you want to be a little more aggressive and you feel like the game is in your hands, you can get Nether Spirit to put some pressure on them. I usually don’t do that though; I like to make a game state where I can’t possibly lose. So if my storm / Hive Mind opponent has even two cards in his/her hand, I want to strip those cards. I play to not lose instead of to win, and it’s not always right.
If you happen to have Life from the Loam in your graveyard or hand, you get more bullets in the form of lands. Playing against a deck that swarms you? Get The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. If it’s just one creature, grab Maze of Ith. If it’s a white weenie style deck, grab Cabal Pit and start killing some dudes. A thing to note about Cabal Pit is it can kill a Knight of the Reliquary if they are tapped or sick with the help of Bojuka Bog. Another thing to keep in mind about Bojuka Bog is if you need to reuse the Bog, you can Wasteland it and return it with Loam. A neat trick against a Dredge player is to animate Mishra’s Factory and then Wasteland it to get rid of all your opponent’s Bridge from Belows.
I Entomb for Darkblast against Mangara of Corondor, Affinity players, and Bant decks if I am on the play and want to kill a Noble Hierarch or a Dryad Arbor. Darkblast isn’t the best thing ever, but it has carried some weight. It’s the card I am most unsure about at the moment.
Now let’s talk about some matchups. I’ll try and cover the most played decks right now.
Storm Combo
Out In
3 Innocent Blood 3 Duress
1 Darkblast 2 Pernicious Deed
2 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Extirpate
1 Maze of Ith
Deed is better than Maelstrom Pulse in this matchup since the Storm player will be forced into casting their Lotus Petals and Lion’s Eye Diamonds in order to save them from discard. You can then cast a Deed and blow it up for 0. Deed can also help stop Infernal Tutor if you cast it early. All you have to do is keep track of the number of cards they have in their hand and blow it up when they have two left. If they try and cast Infernal Tutor first and try to maintain priority and cast all their rituals, you’ll eventually get priority since they have to resolve a ritual in order to cast more rituals, and that’s when you use Deed for 0. This matchup is heavily dependent on who is on the play. Try to mulligan into a hand with a Duress effect.
Bant Aggro
Out In
2 Liliana of the Veil 3 Pernicious Deed
1 Darkblast 1 Innocent Blood
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 2 Perish
1 Raven’s Crime 1 Worm Harvest
2 Entomb
We cut an Urborg since we are also cutting Raven’s Crime. Against this matchup, I try and buy as much time as I can until I can set up a Liliana Loam lock or recurring Worm Harvest. If you have Liliana in play, they’ll be forced to try and push past her, since she can deal with one creature pretty well. You’ll have Maze of Ith, Nether Spirit, Garruk, and even Factories to protect her until you can resolve a Deed, Perish, or a Worm Harvest.
U/W Stoneforge
Out In
1 Darkblast 2 Duress
4 Smallpox 1 Worm Harvest
1 Tabernacle 2 Pernicious Deed
1 Krosan Grip
Smallpox is very unimpressive in this matchup, especially on the draw. I cut them for a couple of Deeds and Duresses. This matchup isn’t too bad unless they can resolve and stick a planeswalker. Then things can get really ugly. If you can start chaining Worm Harvests or land a Garruk before they land a planeswalker, you should be okay. Deed helps keep the board clear of creatures so you can attack the walkers with Factories or Nether Spirit.
Reanimator
Out In
1 Darkblast 3 Extirpate
1 Tabernacle 1 Karakas
2 Maelstrom Pulse 3 Duress
1 Cabal Pit 1 Innocent Blood
1 Nether Spirit
1 Smallpox
1 Garruk Relentless
This matchup isn’t the greatest. Your goal is to get Karakas or Liliana online as soon as possible, since an Iona can shut you out. If you can live through the early turns, you can slowly lock them away with Raven’s Crime, Karakas, and/or Bojuka Bog. Jin Gitaxias can also be rough, since you can’t kill him at instant speed. That’s why I’ve added the Karakas to the board. Hopefully you can stall long enough with your discard to get the wonderful land online.
RUG Delver
Out In
2 Maelstrom Pulse 3 Pernicious Deed
2 Liliana of the Veil 1 Innocent Blood
1 Garruk Relentless 1 Perish
Getting Darkblast online will kill Delvers before they flip and will always kill a Snapcaster Mage. The best thing to do against this deck is to attack their mana base. They play very few, if any, basics, so if you can lock up their mana and Smallpox away their basics, it will be an easy game. If you are on the play and manage to resolve a Smallpox to kill their Delver or Mongoose, you will put them very far behind. I always felt like this matchup was very dependent on who got to play first, so win that die roll!
Mono Red
…Pray
Well that’s all I got for now. Time to start brewing with Dark Ascension; hopefully next week I’ll have a sweet brew.
Till then thanks for reading and have fun poxing,
Ali, Heir to Blackblade