> How I Win

> Avenger of Zendikar

Repeatedly sacrificing and reanimating Avenger of Zendikar to get a lot of Plant tokens, then draining your opponents out with Zulaport Cutthroat and friends is my most common win condition in this deck. If you know you will be pursuing this line (ex. you outright drew Avenger of Zendikar) Sakura-Tribe Elder and Wood Elves are fantastic to get the land count up and, therefore, the Plant count up.

> Grey Merchant of Asphodel

This is an alternate win if you are low on life or if you don't have a whole lot of lands. Grey Merchant is usually slower than Avenger of Zendikar, but its padding of your life total can be relevant. Consider this win condition especially if you have a lot of devotion (read: Massacre Wurm), as all it needs is a substantial boardstate and some reanimation, while Avenger of Zendikar needs a few more moving parts.

> Birthing Pod Targets

Here are my priority targets with Birthing Pod.

> CMC 1

Viscera Seer/Carrion Feeder: Fantastic sac outlets. They can self-sacrifice to get Meren rolling, which is very important for a smooth early game.

Spore Frog: If you fear getting hit for a lot of damage, Spore Frog can be a solid deterrent.

Caustic Caterpillar: Perfect against dedicated artifact/enchantment decks or even just to remove a piece of grave hate or annoying Rhystic Study.

> CMC 2

Sakura-Tribe Elder: A good early game creature that can set you up for later turns in the form of additional lands and experience counters.

Zulaport Cutthroat/Blood Artist: Excellent ways to end the game. Cutthroat especially is the perfect target if you have a big board (likely as a result of Avenger of Zendikar shenanigans).

> CMC 3

Plaguecrafter/Demon's Disciple: The best of the forced sacrifice effects, as they hose Superfriends decks that otherwise would brush off all the edict effects.

Grim Haruspex/Midnight Reaper: Both are solid card draw engines. Reaper in particular is good as a part of a Birthing Pod chain because it triggers off of itself.

Reclamation Sage: See Caustic Caterpillar, but 3 CMC.

> CMC 4

Poison-Tip Archer: Useful as a finisher like Zulaport Cutthroat, but if you see a dragon tribal deck/any deck that has lots of fliers, the Reach + Deathtouch can come in clutch.

> CMC 5

Gray Merchant of Asphodel: Excellent at winning the game.

Phyrexian Delver: Good at recurring key creatures.

Shriekmaw: Good at sniping nonblack, nonartifact creatures on boards full of creatures where Plaguecrafter effects don't get the job done.

Syr Konrad, the Grim: Hands-down, the best finisher when going the Avenger of Zendikar route.

> CMC 6

Massacre Wurm: Does an excellent job of shutting down token decks and clearing the board for your Plaguecrafter effects to start doing work.

> CMC 7

Avenger of Zendikar: A fantastic finisher.

> Miscellaneous