Since the card was first re-viewed by Noel deCordova on the dailymtg.com website, I’ve been itching to see the things it can do. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really been able to fight the tide of Hawks with Swords in Standard and it’s a touch too slow for Legacy. But this weekend? I think the time is right to really see what this baby can do.
Birthing Pod is incredibly powerful, allowing you to climb up the chain of casting costs, regardless of color, and generate some insane effects along the way. As long as you are putting creatures into play that have abilities that trigger upon entering play, you can really start to do some fun things! After scouring Gatherer, I came up with some incredibly fun chains across multiple formats. Here are some of my favorites:
Considering that this is a Scars of Mirrodin Block Constructed event, and that Birthing Pod is green, I decided to start with a mono-green chain playable here at Magic Weekend Nagoya.
Viridian Emissary -> Viridian Corrupter -> Corpse Cur -> Clone Shell -> Wurmcoil Engine -> Myr Battlesphere -> Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
But, things get a little more fun if you add in black.
Viridian Emissary -> Viridian Corrupter -> Entomber Exarch -> Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon -> Wurmcoil Engine -> Sheoldred, Whispiring One
I wonder what this would look like in Standard?
Viridian Emissary -> Liliana’s Specter -> Vengevine -> Acidic Slime -> Primeval Titan -> Sheoldred, Whispering One
Wait…Acidic Slime? I want to try something…
War Priest of Thune -> Uktabi Orangutan -> Avalanche Riders -> Acidic Slime -> Dakmor Lancer -> Angel of Despair -> Terastodon
There, I think that’s enough permanents destroyed.
In addition to using your deck as a sort of toolbox to deal with any situation as necessary, Birthing Pod also works out well in a nice casual theme deck. Take a look at this one:
Shrieking Drake -> Dream Stalker -> Man-o’-War -> Venser, Shaper Savant -> Riftwing Cloudskate -> Aethersnipe -> Phyrexian Ingester -> Hoverguard Sweepers
Since it costs Phyrexian mana to cast and activate, you can technically put it in any color of deck. Birthing Pod is only limited by the pathways you build into your decks. So, what kinds of cool pathways can you think up?
