With the format of Gladiator being healthy and open to all different kinds of strategies, it is great when your deck has effective answers to as many strategies as possible and that they are tutorable to the battlefield. This could be getting a Reclamation Sage to blow up the Chromatic Lantern of a 5-color deck or it could be to get a Thragtusk to gain life against aggro. A lot of the time it is not about how hard you can hit your opponent but using the right tool. A lot of players recognize that kind of strategy in the card Birthing Pod.
Rightly banned in the Modern format, which is known for powerful combos and archetypes, it leads to not just effectively answering opponents but making combo lines that can be fairly hard to interact with. Birthing Pod works by sacrificing a creature you have in play and searching a creature from your library with one higher CMC (going up the ladder) and putting it onto the battlefield, which is very powerful in a deck that has access to many different kinds of creatures. The best creatures to get are the ones that have an effect either when they enter the battlefield (ETB) or leave the battlefield (LTB) so you get value from them and you can sacrifice them to keep going. Although this card hasn’t been printed on Arena yet, there are a couple of cards that have similar effects that Pod and have had success as substitutes in Gladiator specifically when built as Bant Value.
Pod Alternates
Prime Speaker Vannifar is the “fixed” version of Birthing Pod with the activation on a creature being slowed down by summoning sickness. However, the ability does not cost life or mana so with the right tutor targets the ability can be activated several times a turn.
Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate works like Pod but in the opposite direction, going down the ladder. Vivien’s -2 ability allows you to search for a creature card with lesser mana cost than the creature spell you cast after activating the ability. This is good because you aren’t limited by an exact CMC so you can get a 3-drop off of a 5-drop or a 4-drop off of a 5-drop. However, you can’t go up the ladder and you have to be able to cast a creature so it can only be activated once a turn, unless if you copy the ability.
Fiend Artisan also has a pod-like effect, but instead of going up or down a ladder it allows you to sink mana in order to get exactly what you want. In some situations, it is not good as a 1/1 that can be easily destroyed but in other situations where your graveyard is filled with creatures it is a big threat that can be converted into a must chump. Even if these pod alternates can be nearly as effective as Birthing Pod, the strategy would still be incomplete with effective pod targets as answers to certain strategies or combo potential.
Ones
Llanowar Elves and Gilded Goose are the best pieces of acceleration in the format and will help you get out your pod alternate quickly. Benthic Biomancer helps you loot and at worst can be a 2/2 to trade.
Twos
Fauna Shaman is one of the most powerful cards in the deck, allowing you to tutor for any creature to put in your hand since your deck will be full of powerful creatures. Corridor Monitor is part of some combo lines with Prime Speaker Vannifar, untapping her with Corridor Monitor’s ETB trigger to be able to activate her again. Charming Prince is great value to either scry, gain life, or flicker another creature you have with a great ETB trigger.
Wall of Blossoms isn’t that flashy, but being able to draw a card and block until it needs to be sacrificed is nothing to scoff at. Scavenging Ooze does double duty here being able to gain life and become a real threat by exiling creatures out of the opponent’s graveyard and our own. Fblthp is great in this kind of deck by getting us two cards when it is podded into play.
Threes
Deputy of Detention is great to take care of something immediately but if it dies it gives the permanent back if it is not a token. Champion of Wits is good to double loot and has extra value in the graveyard with Eternalize. Barrin is an upgrade to Man-o’-War, being able to bounce planeswalkers and giving you a card if you bounce your own permanent.
Knight of Autumn is versatile with a great modal ability to apply pressure, life, or answer an artifact or enchantment. Hyrax Tower Scout goes with Corridor Monitor to combo with Prime Speaker Vannifar to continue going up the ladder. Glasspool Mimic is one of the best clones being able to come down as a tapped land when needed.
Not much has to be said about the power of Uro but it immediately dies after it enters so it is not good to get if you want to keep going up the ladder. Skyclave Apparition deals with a cheap permanent and leaves a fairly irrelevant token on its departure. Reclamation Sage is the pinnacle example of a pod target, dealing with an artifact or enchantment and only requiring one color to cast.
Fours
Luminous Broodmoth is a great combo piece by allowing your creatures that are podded to come back with flying counters if they don’t have flying including Hyrax Tower Scout and Corridor Monitor. Emiel the Blessed with its activated ability allows the deck to pivot into a flicker synergy by flickering creatures with ETBs. Elite Guardmage replaces itself while also gaining you life and providing a decent body.
Spark Double is great to copy any creature or planeswalker, including your pod alternates, and you don’t have to worry about the legend rule. Solemn Simulacrum is great by ramping you when it enters and getting you a card when it dies. Shalai doesn’t have an ETB, but having protection from targeted removal for your pod alternates is great and you have a late game mana sink to pump your team.
When you get to four mana, it may be worth podding into creatures to apply pressure to your opponents and planeswalkers and Questing Beast is one of the best. Vizier of Many Faces is a clone that can copy any creature and if it is podded away can come back with Embalm. Thassa adds to the flicker synergy by allowing you to get an extra ETBs on each of your end steps and is a nice mana sink to hold off pressure or apply your own.
Fives
Elder Gargaroth is one of the best creatures on offense or defense in the format and can provide card advantage or just more board presence. Cavalier of Thorns helps you continue to ramp and also fill the graveyard to synergize with other cards in your deck. For example, Body Double can enter as something milled with Cavalier of Thorns or something you’ve sacrificed to your pod, so it has combo potential.
Yorion is a great addition to the flicker synergy when you don’t have a pod alternate in play. Tolsimir is good for early removal and lifegain if needed. Thragtusk is a pod and flicker all-star, giving you a ton of life with the ETB and a token on the LTB.
Sixes
Kogla is great as creature removal and on attacks takes care of artifacts and enchantments. Dream Trawler is unanswerable without a wipe and get a lot of card advantage if not dealt with. Carnage Tyrant is also incredibly hard to deal with and comes down uncounterable if cast from hand.
Sevens
Agent of Treachery, being able to steal any permanent, has an incredibly strong ability especially in tandem with flicker synergies. Thorn Mammoth represents repeatable removal and is a 6/6 trample body. Hornet Queen, while not adding a ton of power to the board, makes five deathtouch bodies and with one flicker totals to nine bodies.
Craterhoof as the Final Rung
Craterhoof Behemoth is well-known as the boss of the format and with the right podding you can avoid having to pay 8 for it. With a small amount of creatures that may not present lethal after searching, it is great to have access to clones so that you get a second trigger if it comes down after hoof.
Opening Up to Five Color For Infinite Combos
While its viability is more meta-dependent than pure Bant Value Pod, 5-color pod decks give you access to more achievable combos. The combos can still be conditional on having something in play to start but with access to more cards it becomes much easier to win from a certain spot whether that is from mill, drain, or a huge swing. Possible infinite combos can be its own article with discussion on the value of each color weighing the cost of updating the mana base.
Redefining Bant Value
I brought up just a small amount of possible includes into the pod-like list, but where it goes from there is up to you. If the meta is more aggro, you can include more life gain effects and if the format is more control and midrange it will be better to have bigger threats or more tempo plays. Traditionally, the pod decks where so called because the deck would “go off” when Birthing Pod was in play. However, with the Singleton format it is hard to impossible to guarantee that you’ll find a pod alternate in every game. That is why I also highlighted possible flicker synergies as well as aggressive creature strategies and the ability to interact with the graveyard. In a deck like this where the plan is to get value wherever you can find it, it is important to not rely too much on your namesake card and have synergizes wherever you can find them. Like a recipe, you should be seeing what you end up tutoring for the most and which pod pieces are the most effective when they land, taking out pieces that have disappointed you. If you can play this deck as a value deck that gets even more value when it sees one of the pod alternates, you should be in a good place.
MTG Gladiator 