Articles

Pardic Miner- This card it possibly the greatest thing Ponza gained in the new type 2. If you choose to play (which with this deck you always choose) this guy stops your opponent from getting their second land drop and effectively counts as a discard spell to.

Pillage- Still the best 3 cast cost land destruction spell available, and it 's never a dead card.

Stone Rain- The golden oldie that is always there to annoy on turn 3.

Lava Blister- After scanning a lot of deck lists on the net, I am yet to find a deck that doesn't run at least 4 non- basics. Land destruction for 2? Yes please. Still a situational card none-the-less so I'm running 2 copies.

Tremble- The replacement for Raze. Sure early it is card disadvantage, but letting your opponent get to 3 lands is a big no-no for this deck.

Skizzik- The beat stick that ends the game. Wins 90% of your matches. Only play if you have run out of land destruction.

Minotaur Explorer- The only creature with a question mark over his head. This guy is a savage beating once he hits, but the discard at random bit can really cripple you as well.

Raging Goblin- Beats on the first turn always turns the heat up! With this guy on the table your opponent will think twice as hard about taking six from a lava blister.

Grafted Skullcap- For when you run out of steam. Don't be afraid to have to pitch a Skizzik to play this on turn 4, because if they start getting more than 3 lands its bad times ahead.

Disenchant- Many people are probably reading this and thinking it must be a typo or something from another deck list (Ed- As if!!). It isn't. There are too many powerful enchantments out there that can absolutely stop this deck dead in its tracks. CoP: Red, Teferi's Moat, Worship etc.

Volcanic Hammer- Stopping Shadowmage Infiltrator is what this card is all about. Card advantage is a big problem as we don't want them drawing land.

Barbarian Ring- A colourless source of damage in a mono red deck is always appreciated. The average damage one of these things will deal you is around 2-3 a game, a fair price I'd say to take out something holding of your Skizziks.

Battlefield Forge- For disenchant and sideboard options only.

Keldon Necropolis- Turns those late draw Pardic Miners into colourless chocks.

I have play tested this deck extensively with very positive results. It doesn't need a bomb starting hand to win and always chooses to play. A 2nd turn Pardic Miner can often stop your opponent from getting past 1 land until it is to late as they face down a skizzik!

I have not included a sideboard as I think that should be built depending on differing metagames in your own area.

I have complete confidence that this will be the deck I will be taking to States, so to anyone playing white I suggest 4 Sacred Ground in the sideboards, but then again even that may not save you (Ed - I'll take you up on that).

Any comments, flames, ideas can be sent to man_of_steel69@hotmail.com

Thanks and good luck at States!
Ed Steele
man_of_steel69@hotmail.com

(Editor - From StarCityGames.com - Carl Jarrell article: Ponza is not a good deck, people. It hasn't been good since Urza's Block, and even then you can make the case it was marginal then despite Benafel's success with it (but hey, he's Benafel and you're not). Pain/Suffering is not a suitable replacement for Avalanche Riders. Ponza is not a 5-0-2 top eight deck; it is a "I'm going 3-4 or 4-3, but by God I'm taking someone down with me" deck. Considering it can be shut down so easily by cards everyone should be playing, like Divert, or cards that some decks can play, such as Sacred Ground, which people might sideboard anyways as a reaction to Price of Glory...

Ponza player: "Yeah, it gets shut down easily by a lot of cards, but nobody plays those cards."

CJ: "Yes, no one sideboards against Ponza because Ponza is a terrible, terrible deck and people want cards that are good against actual good decks."

There's your warning, people. You play Ponza on me and you're getting punked.