Much Abrew: Vannifar Pod (Modern, Magic Online)
Hello, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Much Abrew About Nothing. Ravnica Allegiance is here, and the set has some really sweet options for Modern! Today, we're going to try out one of the most exciting Ravnica Allegiance Modern decks: Vannifar Pod! The basic idea of the deck is to build in such a way where if we ever get the opportunity to untap with a Prime Speaker Vannifar and any other creature, we can win the game with a convoluted Birthing Pod–style loop, tutoring up creatures to untap Prime Speaker Vannifar until we end up with some sort of infinite combo involving Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Does the printing of Prime Speaker Vannifar mean that Birthing Pod is back in Modern? Let's get to the video and find out; then, we can talk more about the deck!
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Much Abrew: Vannifar Pod (Modern)
Discussion
- As for our record, Vannifar Pod pretty much killed it. We played a league on Magic Online and came super close to getting the perfect 5-0, winning our first four matches (without even dropping a game) before losing to Bant Spirits in a really, really close match. While Prime Speaker Vannifar might not be Birthing Pod, it's certainly very playable in Modern.
- While your probably picked this up from the videos, it's worth talking about the combo loop because it's the reason to play the deck. The power of Vannifar Pod is that if we can untap with a Prime Speaker Vannifar and pretty much any cheap creature on the battlefield, we should be able to win the game immediately. The primary Vannifar loop is Scryb Ranger for Renegade Rallier (to get back Scryb Ranger), then use Scryb Ranger to untap Vannifar. Scryb Ranger for Deceiver Exarch to untap Vannifar. Renegade Rallier for Restoration Angel or Breaching Hippocamp to untap Vannifar, then Angel / Hippocamp for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to make an infinite number of Deceiver Exarchs to kill the opponent.
- There are secondary loops in the deck as well. Any of Breaching Hippocamp, Deceiver Exarch, Zealous Conscripts, or Restoration Angel makes infinite haste creatures with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, so sometimes we can use Chord of Calling or Prime Speaker Vannifar to assemble the combo directly (just sacrificing a single creature) without going through the entire loop. Sun Titan looks weird, but it gives us a way to restart the loop with Scryb Ranger or even a Birds of Paradise.
- The other infinite combo we have is Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder, which gives us infinite life and infinitely big creatures, since we can keep removing a +1/+1 counter from Spike Feeder to trigger Archangel of Thune to repeat the process.
- Despite all of the combos, the first one is by far the most common, to the point where I'm not sure we need quite as many combo pieces in the deck. We never really wanted to draw or tutor for cards like Zealous Conscripts or Sun Titan, so it might be worth cutting them from the deck altogether and replacing them with more silver-bullet tutor targets.
- Speaking of silver bullets, one of the biggest upsides of Vannifar Pod is that we have access to a lot of good one-ofs but can find them consistently thanks to Prime Speaker Vannifar and Chord of Calling. Cards like Knight of Autumn, Kitchen Finks, and Scavenging Ooze are all really good in certain situations, and we can typically find them when they are good thanks to all of our tutors.
- Selfless Spirit and Spellskite are our best ways of protecting Prime Speaker Vannifar. The one downside of Prime Speaker Vannifar is that, as a creature, she comes into play summoning sick, so we need to wait until our next turn to combo and win the game. Selfless Spirit and Spellskite help to increase our chances of Prime Speaker Vannifar surviving. Another option is giving Prime Speaker Vannifar haste, which might be worth exploring in the future.
- One of the toughest slots in the deck is the three copies of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. Old Birthing Pod decks typically played Voice of Resurgence in the two-drop slot, and while Voice of Resurgence is great with Prime Speaker Vannifar, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is really helpful in fighting faster combo decks like Storm. With Krark-Clan Ironworks being banned, we might be able to trim back on Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and play some more good sacrifice fodder.
- While the deck looks complicated, the actual combo is pretty easy once you get used to it. The harder parts are figuring out the silver-bullet one-ofs and making the ambitious mana work.
- So, should you play Vannifar Pod in Modern? I think the answer is yes. While I'm not sure that Vannifar Pod will end up at the very top of the format, it seems at least good enough to join the huge group of playable decks that can spike a tournament with tight play and a bit of luck. On the other hand, this build of Vannifar Pod is unfinished. With the potential to be five colors and the ability to play a lot of one-ofs, there are endless ways to build around Prime Speaker Vannifar. While the combo will probably remain the same, there are plenty of possibilities outside of the combo that can be explored. While the build we played today was good, it could be even better with some more brewing and work!
Conclusion
Anyway, that's all for today. Don't forget to vote for next week's deck by liking, commenting on, and subscribing to Instant Deck Tech videos. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.