Hello there!

 

Before the release of the Time Spiral block, I was scouring the many Magic: the Gathering card lists looking for something interesting to build a deck around. Something that hadn't been done before. That's when I discovered the poison counters. Unfortunately there wasn't that many cards that unloaded these "poison counters" onto the opponent, and the few that did were not in stock in any store. I did however, hear rumors that a set in the Time Spiral block would release some cards with the poisonous mechanic. And low and behold, there was! I also started playing online, which meant some cards from the earlier sets were available, including Sabertooth Cobra. So I got to it and built the following deck:

 

 

4 x Virulent Sliver  (for counters)

4 x Swamp Mosquito  (for counters)

4 x Gemhide Sliver  (mana)

3 x Quick Sliver  (so they can attack straight away)

4 x Sabertooth Cobra  (for counters)

4 x Homing Sliver  (finding the right sliver)

4 x Fury Sliver  (ensuring damage will be done)

 

3 x Harmonize

3 x Snake Cult Initiation

2 x Doubling Season

2 x Predatory Focus

 

4 x Gemstone Mine

4 x Terramorphic Expanse

3 x Gruul Turf

2 x Golgari Rot Farm

1 x Rakdos Carnarium

3 x Swamp

3 x Mountain

4 x Forest

 

 

Pretty simple in the way it works. Get the slivers out that would best handle the situation and make sure poison counters end up on your opponent rather than yourself. The only problem is, the deck can't get rid of big creatures that are already on the board. It can handle weenie and some aggro decks, but not all, and absolutley hates mass removal.

   Is there any way you can help me improve this deck, almighty Mattedesa? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

All the best,

 

Jamie

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Well, Jamie, I first want to make one thing clear, while I appreciate the compliment, there is only one Almighty, and I ain't He! That said, I would love to look at this poison counter deck and give my thoughts on it.

 

You've already got a pretty well-built deck, but upon looking at it, I notice that you only have two sets of red cards - Homing Sliver and Fury Sliver. Neither of these cards, in my opinion, are essential to the deck. Let's drop them in favor of another couple creatures that give poison counters: Suq'Ata Assassin and Marsh Viper. With built-in evasion, the Assassin will usually be able to put in his counter pretty regularly. The Marsh Viper is the only creature that can naturally give 2 counters with his damage, and that sounds good to me.

Since this deck is becoming less a sliver deck, Quick Sliver is less impressive now. Let's try a couple equipment to fill the void that these removed slivers left: Fireshrieker and Whispersilk Cloak. The Cloak is great to make sure counters get through (instead of using the 6 mana Silver) with the bonus of protecting from pinpoint removal, and the Fireshrieker makes your most productive creature twice as deadly. This is also your best answer to mass removal. If someone destroys your creatures, you've still got these enablers on the board for as soon as you get another creature to start rebuilding. And just a strategy note: If you suspect your opponent is playing mass removal, hold a creature in your hand instead of playing them all out. This way, especially if you have these equipment in play, you can recover more quickly from a Wrath or Damnation effect. Another equipment to consider, if haste is really important, is Lightning Greaves.

 

Now, with only 2 colors and without the high casting cost Fury Sliver on board, we have less need for as much land. 22 should take care of us since we have the Gemhide. First, let's take out all the lands with red mana in them (3 Gruul Turfs, 1 Rakdos Carnarium, and 3 Mountains) and put in a couple more Rot Farms, 2 more Swamps (to help with the double black of the Assassin), and one more Forest.

 

Of course, there are other directions you could go with this deck. I chose to go with more poison creatures because of one little thing I've learned. The less you can rely on one essential card to make the game run, the better. The Virulent Sliver is great, but if you can't draw one, or they are good at destroying it once it gets to the board, you're up a creek because the bulk of your strategy is currently based upon getting one. If you go the direction I suggested, you are less dependent on one card and have more choices so you can go with the flow and take what your opponent gives you, and it might leave you with a deck something like this:

 

4 x Virulent Sliver

4 x Swamp Mosquito

4 x Gemhide Sliver

4 x Sabertooth Cobra

4 x Suq'Ata Assassin

4 x Marsh Viper

 

3 x Harmonize

3 x Snake Cult Initiation

2 x Doubling Season

2 x Predatory Focus

 

4 x Gemstone Mine

4 x Terramorphic Expanse

4 x Golgari Rot Farm

5 x Swamp

5 x Forest

 

Aggro decks are still going to be a problem, if they can get at you quick enough. If this proves to still be a problem too often, you might try a nasty little trick like taking out the equipment and/or Doubling Season/Predatory Focus to put in some quick black removal (Last Gasp, Sudden Spoiling) or running some mass removal (Damnation) of your own. If you see this coming, you can hold your creatures back until after you clear the board.

I hope this at least gives you some things to think about as you fine tune your deck. Thanks again for your e-mail! May your poisonous fangs always be sharp!

 

-mattedesa