I see you are not running any Thoughtseize.
How is that working out for you because I am also looking at taking them out because I am using 3 Maelstrom Pulse as an answer to everything.
I am also loving your land base and sideboard but I think your sideboard will improve a lot if you take out Abrupt Decay for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. I can`t recommend that card enough. It is my favorite card and it is the one I bring in the most by far. In the matches that you are not sure on what to board in or what kind of hate they have it is always a good call to board in Maelstrom Pulse. It answers all the problems you can think of and even the problems you never thought of.
Thank you for saying that.
I've played with Thousghtseize in the past, and did not like it at all, mainly for 2 reasons:
Firstly, we're already a deck that mulligans aggressively. A decent hand needs a land, an enabler and a dredger. For Thoughtseize to be good, it basically has to be in our opening hand, since we need to resolve it on turn 1 on the play to deal with Grafdigger's Cage, or turn 1 on the draw and turn 2 on the play against Rest in Peace. That means we need to mulligan aggressively for another card, of which we probably just have 3. Using a hypergeometric distribution to model this, an opening hand of 7 cards has a ~63% chance of having at least one dredger, land that can produce red mana and an enabler (assuming 18 red sources (no GQ), 13 dredgers (counting Dakmor salvage) and 12 enablers). If you in addition need at least 1 Thoughtseize (of 3), that chance drops to ~20%, which is not even factoring in that you need black mana to cast the spell. The acute timing the card requires to be good reduces its effectiveness substantially. It is a similar situation to what we see when our opponents mulligan too aggressively for graveyard hate and the rest of their hand does nothing.
Secondly, our deck is already good at digging for reactive answers, since we run looters like Neonate, Looting and Reunion. This way, we can keep a regular, good dredge hand, and if our opponent slams hate, we use the enablers to dig for answers instead, or mana to cast those answers. We can use our deck's strength to our advantage, rather than amplifying one of its weaknesses.
In my opinion, Thoughtseize is better against big mana decks like Tron and Scapeshift, but as an anti-hate card it is not good at all.
I've been running Decay since Leyline of the Void has not been present in my meta, and I feel like Decay is better than Pulse in such a scenario, being 2 mana, instant speed and uncounterable. However, since I ran into Leyline twice at my last tournament, I have to reconsider that. It is good to hear that other people have had success with the card, and you describe precisely what I want: A ubiquitous answer that always does work. I'll still try Sultai Charm for a bit. It seems elegant, answering all hate cards and doubling as an enabler, all at instant speed. It may turn out to be a total bust, in which case I'll take your advice and go for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. Although 3 mana is a lot for an answer, I do feel like we want 3, just so we can better avoid games where we die while digging for a singleton answer.
I am allways wondering why Beast within is not named... Instant speed is a premium the pulse does not have, and the 3/3 is rarely a serious problem for us in the battlefield, while general sideboard against any hate as well as a "surprise i kill your death's shadow" is i think quite relevant. Opinions?
Beast Within never even crossed my mind, but it is a decent option. I agree that the 3/3 is unlikely to be a big deal, assuming we can get our engine up and running pretty soon afterwards. If they have pressure of their own in addition it could be a pain though. I think the question is if being able to hit any permanent is worth giving them a 3/3 over the cleaner answer in Pulse. I don't think we're that interested in hitting their lands, so maybe it is slightly overkill. Would have to test it to say for sure.
I see you are not running any Thoughtseize.
How is that working out for you because I am also looking at taking them out because I am using 3 Maelstrom Pulse as an answer to everything.
I am also loving your land base and sideboard but I think your sideboard will improve a lot if you take out Abrupt Decay for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. I can`t recommend that card enough. It is my favorite card and it is the one I bring in the most by far. In the matches that you are not sure on what to board in or what kind of hate they have it is always a good call to board in Maelstrom Pulse. It answers all the problems you can think of and even the problems you never thought of.
Thank you for saying that.
I've played with Thousghtseize in the past, and did not like it at all, mainly for 2 reasons:
Firstly, we're already a deck that mulligans aggressively. A decent hand needs a land, an enabler and a dredger. For Thoughtseize to be good, it basically has to be in our opening hand, since we need to resolve it on turn 1 on the play to deal with Grafdigger's Cage, or turn 1 on the draw and turn 2 on the play against Rest in Peace. That means we need to mulligan aggressively for another card, of which we probably just have 3. Using a hypergeometric distribution to model this, an opening hand of 7 cards has a ~63% chance of having at least one dredger, land that can produce red mana and an enabler (assuming 18 red sources (no GQ), 13 dredgers (counting Dakmor salvage) and 12 enablers). If you in addition need at least 1 Thoughtseize (of 3), that chance drops to ~20%, which is not even factoring in that you need black mana to cast the spell. The acute timing the card requires to be good reduces its effectiveness substantially. It is a similar situation to what we see when our opponents mulligan too aggressively for graveyard hate and the rest of their hand does nothing.
Secondly, our deck is already good at digging for reactive answers, since we run looters like Neonate, Looting and Reunion. This way, we can keep a regular, good dredge hand, and if our opponent slams hate, we use the enablers to dig for answers instead, or mana to cast those answers. We can use our deck's strength to our advantage, rather than amplifying one of its weaknesses.
In my opinion, Thoughtseize is better against big mana decks like Tron and Scapeshift, but as an anti-hate card it is not good at all.
I've been running Decay since Leyline of the Void has not been present in my meta, and I feel like Decay is better than Pulse in such a scenario, being 2 mana, instant speed and uncounterable. However, since I ran into Leyline twice at my last tournament, I have to reconsider that. It is good to hear that other people have had success with the card, and you describe precisely what I want: A ubiquitous answer that always does work. I'll still try Sultai Charm for a bit. It seems elegant, answering all hate cards and doubling as an enabler, all at instant speed. It may turn out to be a total bust, in which case I'll take your advice and go for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. Although 3 mana is a lot for an answer, I do feel like we want 3, just so we can better avoid games where we die while digging for a singleton answer.
I am allways wondering why Beast within is not named... Instant speed is a premium the pulse does not have, and the 3/3 is rarely a serious problem for us in the battlefield, while general sideboard against any hate as well as a "surprise i kill your death's shadow" is i think quite relevant. Opinions?
Thanks for the breakdown and your thoughts mate. I am also not a fan of THoughtseize for the same reasons but I had a hard time getting rid of them until now. Next week I am going to a tournament on Saturday and I will be using your sideboard and landbase because it looks very consistent.
About Pulse. I know 3 mana is a lot but the fact that it will and can take out everything, also Planeswalkers, is a big deal for me.
As an example I was playing against a friend of my who plays Abzan loaded with Goyfs and all the good stuff. He knew that I was boarding in Pulse and he was afraid to play his second Goyf on turn 3 only because I could have had Pulse in my hand. That saves me a lot of life and won me the game.
I even tested them against Affinity and taking out 2 Cranial Platings and with them all his win conditions was also a very big deal.
People think differently about cards ofcourse but I love the card and it gets boarded in in most of my games and it is my most played sideboard card.
Try it out and let me know how it goes
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Legacy - Reanimator
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
Re: beast within. I played a game in a comp league the other day against ad nauseum where they got their turn 1 leyline on. I had pulse in hand, and snap kept. I bricked on finding a land that could produce black and lost when otherwise had all the tools I needed to get dredging and wasted them trying to find a fetch land just in time for them to combo.
That said, it seems worth trying though it doesnt deal with multiples.
Alright, just gonna copy/paste my list and then what i wrote as my report in here. Fair warning, I'm Aussie so this started at 1am for me. This could get rambly or just dumb.
R1 - Affinity
G1 mull to 5, don't see second land.
+3 Grudge, +2 Claim -2 Cathartic, -1 Ghast, -1 Loam, -1 Neonate
G2 mull to 6, looting, grudge, reunion, etc. Last turn of the game, opp needs to topdeck 1cmc artifact to win, doesn't.
G3 sided in Pharoah as well, taking out a Dakmor.
G3 mull to 6, 2x grudge, reunion, neonate, land, narco. Scry 2nd land to top. Draw Imp on t2. The first time I put Amalgams into play, it's all 4 in one turn, which is fun. Dredge does the Dredge thing.
1-0.
R2 - Storm
G1 I'm on the draw. I have a reasonable start, turn 3 he passes with mana up. I'm 1 point off of lethal, he EOT Ritual into Gifts, untaps and storms off.
+3 Thoughtseize, +2 Brutality, -2 Cathartic, -1 Narcomoeba, -1 Loam, -1 Neonate
G2 he misses his 2nd land drop, so I Cathartic on t2 instead of Thoughtseizing. He passes again. I thoughtseize an Empty that could pose a threat if he drew a land. He draws a land, plays Baral. I cast Despair, put him to 3, make him discard his hand. He draws, plays a manamorphose and scoops.
G3 I don't see any interaction on the first two turns. Storm does the Storm thing on turn 3.
1-1.
R3 - Ad Nauseum
G1 I'm on the play. T1 Looting, T2 Cathartic, T4 Cast Despair, attack for lethal with a bloom about to come in. If he had Grace, he'd still end up with 0 cards in hand, so i'd win anyway.
+3 Thoughtseize, +2 Brutality, -2 Cathartic, -1 Haunted Dead, -1 Loam, -1 Conflag
G2 Opp plays t1 cage. That sucks. I seize his Ad Nauseum the turn before bloom comes down. He topdecks another one.
+2 Decay, -1 Narcomoeba, -1 Neonate
G3 Keep 7 of Cathartic, Neonate, Seize, Loam, 3 lands. I t1 thoughtseize his Cage. He Thoughtseizes my Cathartic. I topdeck Imp, dredge 5, put Ghast, Amalgam and Narco into play. T3 he plays Unlife. T5 is the same as the end of G1. I cast despair, he plays Grace. He goes down to 0 cards in hand. Would have to topdeck both Ad Naus and a mana source. I conflag him to 0, then swing for lethal.
2-1, and very happy about being Ad Nauseum.
R4 - UWR Tempo/Burn
Forgot to take notes for this one. Opp was super slow at decision making though. G1 Dredge did its thing without much of a hitch.
+3 Seize, -2 Reunion, -1 Loam.
G2 opp had relic to slow me down a lot, eventually just built up a board state and chained a couple of cryptics to kill me.
Realized opp's deck was much more creature heavy. +1 Pharoah, -1 Neonate?
G3 Opp missed white mana for a few turns, after I Seize their Cryptic. I spew creatures onto the board, they don't have enough answers and Geist has its' Angels chumped by 1/1 fliers.
3-1.
R5 - Junk.
G1, I don't even know what happened here. I think I whiffed on hitting somehting relevant for a turn or two, then opp got a scooze going. Lost to decking out.
+2 Lightning Axe, +2 Decay, -2 Cathartic, -1 Narco, -1 Loam.
G2 keep Amalgam, Decay, Cathartic, Loam, 3 lands. Opp inquisitions my cathartic on their t1. I topdeck looting, which draws a looting and a ghast. Opp scoops on t4.
G3 I get a couple of early amalgams, Opp doesnt get any GY hate. They path an amalgam, which brings back a Ghast, which brings back 2 more Amalgams. They draw, then scoop.
4-1.
R6 - RG Scapeshift? Titanshift? What's the difference?
G1 I put 8 power into play turn 2. He angers. I conflag for a bunch, he goes to 3, doesn't kill me, i loam and conflag for lethal.
+3 Thoughtseize, +1 Pharoah. -1 Narco, -2 Cathartic, -1 Neonate.
G2 Mull to 4, keep a pretty bad hand of Stomping Ground, Thug, Conflag, Narco. Opp pacts on turn 3 for a wood elves?? I didn't know that was played at all. I get turn 5 Scapeshifted for lethal.
-1 Pharoah, +1 Narco. Not sure Pharoah is worth it here. Probably not, since they don't generally have to attack twice with Titan to win.
G3 keep 2x looting, cathartic, narco, driven//despair, copperline gorge, dakmor. Opp has t1 relic, pops early. Ends up with 2 cages in play vs my 2 narcos. I thoughtseize a Scapeshift the exact turn before it would've killed me. Lots of Draw-go happens, opp eventually angers away 3 Narcos I hardcast. He draws a valakut. Eventually draws Pact. Primetime wins. That game was an absolute *****show.
4-2.
R7 - Storm. Again.
G1 On the play, keep Blackcleave Cliffs, Mountain, Fetch, Cathartic, Neonate, Conflag, Haunted Dead. Opp takes a long time to keep their 7. i kill a turn 2 baral with conflag. They play turn 3 Electromancer. They storm off the next turn. Sadface.
+3 seize +2 brutality, -2 cathartic, -1 dakmor, -1 narcomoeba, -1 loam
G2 I brutality on turn 2, take an Empty, probably should've taken Manamorphose or Remand instead. Turn 2 he played Baral which I conflag'd again. Turn 3 he had baral with remand. Turn 4 win again.
4-3 20th place. At least I get 250 play points?
Pretty standard deck and I was thinking about running the Failure/Comply version because it helps your matchup against storm, shift, and other combo decks that you really struggle with. I went with this deck because I have read up on it a lot and felt more comfortable playing this deck. This will be my first ever report I have posted so bear with me
R1. Abazan Company
G1: He mulls down to 4 with no ramp creatures and I just beat him down and kill him in 4 turns
+2 Darkblast +2 Collective Brutality +2 Lightning Axe -2 Insolent Neonates -2 Golgari Thugs -1 Hug -1 Bloodghast
G2: He mulls down to 4 again while I keep a hand that has no hate but ways to dig for it with hugs and lootings. He goes turn 3 coco whiffs and scoops them up
1-0
R2: Storm
G1: I keep an opener with 2 lands looting neonate imp life and ghast. He goes off turn 3 while at 4 life.
+2 Thoughtseize +2 Collective Brutality -2 Insolent Neonate -1 Conflag -1 hug
G2: Keep another stellar hand but with no sideboard cards in it thought I could kill him before turn 3 with the hand but he has the remand and the combo kill on turn 3
1-1
R3: 4-Color Company
G1: I kept a hand with looting 2 lands imp thug prized and loam. He gets a board of finks knight seer devoted. I conflag dowwn the knight seer and devoted and he plays the second devoted and I do not have lethal the next turn and he finds the combo kill with Rhonas
+2 Darkblast +2 Collective Brutality +2 Lightning Axe -2 Insolent Neonates -2 Golgari Thugs -1 Hug -1 Bloodghast
G2: Keep a hand of Darkblast looting 3 lands Axe. He goes turn one Noble I darkblast it and dredge into Narco and Amaglams and start the beat down route killed him turn 4 with a Despair
G3: The hand is very much similar to the second land but more explosive with one of the lands being a stinkweed in this hand. He goes turn one noble I kill it with darkblast and turn 2 he goes devoted kill it with lightning axe and then he is stuck on 2 mana and whenever he played a dork I killed it while beating him down with my creatures for the win
2-1
R4: U/W Control
G1: Hand was Neonate Imp 2 lands 1 hug 1 Thug and 1 Ghast. Just went off before he could have counter magic up for me being super explosive and kill him turn 4
+2 Pulse +2 Thoughtseize +2 Collective Brutality +1 Driven // Despair -3 Neonate -2 Hug -1 Conflag -1 Nacro
G2: Keep a hand with no anti-hate in it but the hand has a looting hug 2 lands stinkweed haunted and conflag. He goes turn 2 RIP and I just dig for one of my pulses and kill the RIP and waited a turn before I went off dredging to see if he had another one he did not but I gotten super low because of his colonades. I start to ghost quarter them down till he plays another RIP and I just lose to the colonade.
G3: Hand is thoughtseize Looting 2 lands Thug pulse life. I turn 1 thoughtseize him his hand is 2 snaps 1 negate lands. I take a snap because no point in taking the negate since I can do the looting play and make him counter a spell that I really don't care about. He never draws a RIP and loses the game to a Despair to make him discard his hand because he tapped out to play Gideon of Trails.
3-1
R5: Burn
G1: Keep a hand of Neonate Imp 2 lands Life Prized Narco. He plays Swiftspear turn 1 hits me and turn 2 Swiftspear hits me. I have dredge 3 prized and had a haunted dead on turn 2 waiting to be activated chump a spear and start to swing with 2 Prized and leave 1 back to block with haunted he drew lands got me to 2 and I play despair to win the game
+2 Collective Brutality +1 Gnaw to the Bone -1 Ghast -2 Neo
G2: He mulls to 5 to find a hate card but didn't find it so kept 4 lands with guide. He kept drawing lands killed him turn 4.
4-1
R6: Affinity
We agreed to ID to make top 8
First round of top 8 I'm the eighth seed playing against affinity
G1: He has a ridic opener with 2 arcbound with an inkmonth. I chump the 8/8 inkmonth with Narco because he didn't know it had flying so I thought to myself he has 1 card in hand and a land to animate his inkmonth I wonder if he knows stinkweed has sudo deaththouch. I play stinkweed pass turn he animates his inkmonth and swings and I have never blocked something in my life so fast he says"imp dies" I said"they trade" he was like how and I just said read the card and he instantly scooped.
+2 Darkblast +2 Ancient Grudge +2 Lightning Axe
G2. I had all the hate in hand 1 darkblast 1 grudge 1 axe 2 lands looting and life. I killed everything on his field while leaving ancient grudge in my hand to deal with his cage.
R2: Affinity
G1: My hand is 1 Neonate 1 looting 1 blood 2 lands 1 stinkweed 1 life. He starts out slow I go turn 1 Neonate sac it dredge stinkweed hit 2 4 Prized stinkweed. Upkeep dredge imp hit Nacro 3 bloodghast 1 Driven/Despair land. Cast a looting dig a little deeper and play a land to trigger my ghasts. At the end of my turn 2 i had 3 ghasts 4 Prized and a nacro. He plays master swings with signal and orni i say no blocks. I go untap draw cast Despair swing for lethal.
+2 Darkblast +2 Ancient Grudge +2 Lightning Axe -2 Neonate -1 Ghast -1 Driven/Despair -2 Thugs
G2: I kept a great sideboard hand with Darkblast Ancient Grudge Axe with Looting 2 lands 1 Nacro. Keep his field cleared he played aether grid and tormonds and tap the tormonds to shoot a blood so i grudged the crypt and just beat him down with my creatues while constanly dredging darkblast back to my hand
Final: Storm player that beat me in Swiss
G1: Doesn't matter what hand I have he storms off turn 3 he gets game 1.
+2 Thoughtseize +2 Collective Brutality -2 Insolent Neonate -1 Conflag -1 hug
G2: I keep a super aggressive hand and get him to 8 before he storms and casts empty for 6 so 12 1/1 goblins to play through. I couldn't swing out because of taking damage off my lands and being nervous about dying to grapeshot so I just swing with the ghasts and Nacro while leaving back prized to block. I finally dredge and conflag and he has 2 mana up and I was like if he has remand he has it I can win this turn if he doens't but I don't lose if he doesn't. I cast conflag to kill his blockers and he says it resolves and I swing in for lethal
G3. He keeps a land light hand and I keep a hand with Gemstone Dakmor Collective Looting Stink Prized Ghast. I draw Thoughtseize for turn so I go gemstone into thoughtseize see his hand has 1 land baral 2 shots 2 rituals. Take the baral. Have to play dakmor turn 2 because I didn't draw a land he goes turn 2 pass. I go draw Collective pitch imp for reveal drain he remands. I dredge next turn hitting a dead and 2 prized with 2 lands. I got brut and take his gifts while he is stuck on 3 lands. I start to apply pressure with my creatures. He finds gifts and gets 2 rituals 1 mana and past he only has 3 mana and no cards in hand I give him the past and mana and put the rituals in the graveyard he draws no land casts mana no land and scoops them up and says good games.
It helped a lot in the meta I played because of killing colonades and helping the affinity matchup by killing their lands. It really never hampered my hands because I would have it and a red source in my opener and that's all I need to function. Being able to loam it back against the u/w control made his win con pretty much gideon jura. It helped some in the affinity matchup as a killer to the nexus. I'm going to keep 1 ghost quarter in the main in the deck because of those reasons and if I ever play against eldrazi tron I believe that's the match up it will shine.
It helped a lot in the meta I played because of killing colonades and helping the affinity matchup by killing their lands. It really never hampered my hands because I would have it and a red source in my opener and that's all I need to function. Being able to loam it back against the u/w control made his win con pretty much gideon jura. It helped some in the affinity matchup as a killer to the nexus. I'm going to keep 1 ghost quarter in the main in the deck because of those reasons and if I ever play against eldrazi tron I believe that's the match up it will shine.
Sounds pretty much like my experience with it. I think I've only been really hampered by it in one or two games for as long as I've played it, and it has single-handedly won me more games than that. And I can confirm it shines against Eldrazi Tron (and normal Tron). You can lean hard into it and completely crush them just by dredging Loam each turn.
I top8 a pptq with Dredge. 27 players, so 5 rounds. I play Scourge devil instead of Haunted Dead but the rest is the same stack list, and instead of Ghost Quarter I ran 2 Dakmore. In the side I run 2 Abrupt Decay, because well, I have no malestrom pulse. Round 1 was against Merfolk, beath them soundly 2-0. Their side plan was Relic and well, I've learned how to play against it. Round 2 and 3 against burn, I won 2-0 the first game that lacked any graveyard hate and 2-1 the second match on the back of gnaw to the bone. Round 4 against storm...and I lost. Welp, the normal. Round 5 was against scapeshift but with a tie we both entered top8. I entered as 7th seed, and was paired against the storm player that had bested me...welp, the story was the same again. I've always had a great strugle against storm, remand and baral against conflagrate is letal. Any ideas on how to win against it?
So after several months of inactivity (both on forum and in Modern) I brought Dredge to a PPTQ today. I don't remember my exact sideboarding but I'll attempt to include those as accurately as I can. I don't typically write down how I sideboard, I usually just bring a pre-written sideboard guide with me. I do need to update for my current 75 and current metagame.
Round 1 vs Titanshift 1-2
Game 1: They curved out into a early Scapeshift. Despair was nice, but I didn't have enough creatures to empty their hand so they just discard excess junk and 18'ed me.
Game 2: I beat them down fairly easily aided by the fact they couldn't find any ramp spells. They were a mana off of Hour of Promise which have brought them back into the game. They nuked my yard once with Relic, but I was able to rebuild fast enough that it wasn't too relevant.
Game 3: I valiantly fought through 2 Anger of the Gods, but was unable to rebuild after Anger number 3 followed by a Relic Nuke & Prime Time the following turn.
SB +3 Thoughtseize +2 Brutality +1 Driven/Despair -2 Neonate -1 Dakmor -1 Loam -1 Conflag -1 Narco
Round 2 vs Grixis Shadow 2-1
Game 1: They keep 6, I go to 4 keeping 2x lands, Looting, Amalgam. They Cycle 4 Street Wraiths turn 1, fetch -> shock -> Inquisition. I scoop in response to conceal information. (They told me part way through game 2 that their hand was a ton of discard spells but no threats, I still feel scooping to conceal was the right decision)
Game 2: I have an ok start with Turn 1 Neonate. They Thoughtseize me seeing a hand of Dredger, Amalgam, Haunted Dead, and Lands. They take the Dredger as I already have a larger one in yard from Neonate (I activated in response to Seize, should have let it resolve first). I build up a decent board and kill them as they try to dig for an answer.
Game 3: I Lightning Axe their turn 2 Tasigur, force them to blow up their Nihl Spell Bomb early, Amalgam survives Flaying Tendrils and I just beat their face.
SB +2 Lightning Axe -1 Dakmor -1 Neonate-> G3 +2 Claim -1 Ghast -1 Conflag (unsure if bringing in Claim was right, was worried about Leyline)
Round 3 vs Affinity 2-1
Game 1: My start is fast, theirs is not. I Conflag away their creatures forcing them to dump everything onto Ravager who is easily ignored. Despair pushes past their blockers.
Game 2: I have a decent opening hand. They have a turn 2 Rest in Peace. I did not side in my Nature's Claim. Anemic beats do not get there and I die with 3 Prized Amalgams in hand.
Game 3: A lot of back and forth board stall. I let them hit me a handful of times with Inkmoth hoping they're go all in on it and get blown out by my Claim. Eventually I just Ghost Quarter it away. Of note, this game I had some mana issues. I spent most of the game holding up Nature's Claim with my only source of Green & Black being a Gemstone Mine. Eventually I am able to establish a superior board, force them into unfavorable trades, and while they do land a RIP it is way too late to have any impact. I Claim away their Ravager which gives me a 2 turn clock on an open board and a hellbent opponent.
SB +1 Darkblast +2 Grudge + 2 Axe -2 Neonate -1 Ghast -1 Thug -1 Dakmor G3 -2 Axe +2 Claim
Round 4 vs Merfolk 1-2
Game 1: I have a decent hand which relies heavily on following up a Cathartic with Loam. My opponent has turns 2 and 3 Spreading Seas essentially double sinkholing me. This cuts my off my turn 3 Loam meaning I can't return my Ghasts. I just play Draw Go trying to find lands for Conflag and gather info on their list.
Game 2: I have a super fast start ending turn 2 with Bloodghast, Haunted Dead + Spirit, and Prized Amalgam in play. My opponent takes damage in chunks and dies.
Game 3: I don't find a Dredger until turn 3 off of Driven. I pop my 2 Neonates, but the Dredges are pretty mediocre. We trade attacks for a bit. Eventually the entire game hinges on a Conflagrate which would wipe their board but they have a Delay for it and I lose after getting my creatures bounced with Harbinger. While I did have Despair in the graveyard, I did not have the mana to Loam, Conflag, and Despair in the same turn.
SB +2 Ancient Grudge +1 Driven/Despair -1 Ghast -1 Neo -1 Dakmor
Round 5 vs Jeskai Control
Game 1: I have a moderate start, they aren't able to find enough removal for my creatures. They tap out to deal with my attackers and I Conflag them for exact lethal in my second mainphase
Game 2: I have a decent start with T2 Narcomoeba, Haunted Dead + Spirit. I attempt to go for Despair which meets Spell Queller which makes my attacks unfavorable. I do get off Despair a few turns they clear my board a bit with Paths and Snaps and are then in topdeck mode. I have set up lethal when they draw a Cryptic they scryed top the turn before. They tap down by blockers, letting them swing for exact lethal. In hindsight, I probably should have been a bit more liberal blocking with Narco.
Game 3: Start with Conflag for 0 on turn 2, turn 3 dump my hand and burn them for 4 setting up Dredgers. I build a board, they clear my board with spot removal. I build again. They snapcaster + removal. I build a third time! They Supreme Verdict. A fourth attempt is made! Which finally succeeds. I get to have fun casting Thugs and using them to reset Narcomoebas which trigger my Amalgams for a few turns before they get Pathed and Snap+Celestial Purge.
Round 6 vs ???
I see that at 3-2 I am 18th place and there's a clean cut to top 8 so I scoop to my opponent who is going for Planeswalker Points and I go do my grocery shopping.
My 2 biggest take aways were that I forgot just how much Dredge mulligans and that Driven/Despair is an amazing card.
Giving your creatures Menace is huge and much more powerful than I originally thought. The discard aspect is nice, but only really important in certain matchups like Combo and Control. The Menace makes a world of difference against board stalls and I feel its the more valuable text in most games. I never sideboarded the card out, and brought the second copy in for everything but Affinity and Shadow.
All of my fun'ofs were useful at varying points of the tournament except for Darkblast. The only match up I played where it was good, was against Affinity and even there they had Ravagers and Overseers so it was pretty meh. I did have to mulligan at least 1 otherwise keepable hand due to Ghost Quarter being the only land, but it felt worth it being able to kill Inkmoth and there was a decent amount of Tron decks in the room, both Eldrazi and Ramp. It was also relevant after getting my yard nuked by Relic, killing Salvage and getting me a Dredger immediately in the yard.
I feel I won the match ups I was supposed to and lost the ones I was supposed to. It was a decent metagame spread, I think Jeskai Control was the most represented. There was one other person on Dredge that I noticed, otherwise I didn't see too many duplicate decks.
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"If we don't know what we are doing, the enemy certainly can't anticipate our future actions!"
-Anonymous
I just use a Ghost Quarter, not great but it is something, Lightning Axe and I try Maelstrom Pulse against them. It works but it is not the fastest card as we all know.
So, do we have a good answear against Eldrazi Tron?
I have a heavy Etron meta at my store, and I’ve adjusted by putting two Gurmag Anglers in the sideboard. Since doing that I’ve felt the matchup is pretty great. I have a main board GQ, and I side in two Anglers and Lightning Axes.
Interesting approach LeDrazi, never thought of including Angler. And what's nice is Golgari Thug can let you draw him if he gets milled. Recently, I had a horrible night for Dredge (0-3-1), lost to Fish, ETron and Abzan. The deck either fizzled to dredge anything relevant or failed to dredge a key 4 of card when I needed it to win.
Commander GUR Maelstrom Wanderer BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith RRR Feldon of the Third Path WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
Interesting approach LeDrazi, never thought of including Angler. And what's nice is Golgari Thug can let you draw him if he gets milled. Recently, I had a horrible night for Dredge (0-3-1), lost to Fish, ETron and Abzan. The deck either fizzled to dredge anything relevant or failed to dredge a key 4 of card when I needed it to win.
I’ve seen a few lists here and there in Vintage and Legacy play it in the sideboard, figured it’d be somewhat decent in modern. It’s great at walling their TKS and Smashers as I’m beating them with flyers. And yes, Thug makes Angler even better.
Played four rounds in a local tournament today. Went 2-2 so I did not do that great.
First round against Affinity 2-1
Lost the first round because she cast two Galvacic Blast to kill me.
Second and third game I went more into the controlling route with Darkblast and Abrupt Decay while in the meantime I was building up my board with creatures.
Second round against Burn 1-2
Lost the first round because of bad dredges, so nothing special.
Second round I won because of very good and fast dredges and just beat him down.
Third round was very very close. A RIP was cast and detroyed by my Malstrom Pulse a couple turns later. After that a Gnaw to the Bone showed up wich got cast and I gained 12 life BUT in the end I did not have enough to close them game
It was a very fun game so I was not devastated or anything.
Third round against some homebrew stuff with Tron lands 2-0
Won the first round because he mulled to 5 and did not find a third land.
Second round I won because he did not fin dhos creatures and I jsut beat him down again.
Fourth round against Death and Taxes 0-2
Held a greedy hand. Took the gamble but it did not work out. Was getting greedy because I mulled to 5.
He just beat me down with me not finding my second land.
Second round turn two RIP, did not find an answer and that was game.
I have to say the deck performed really good and I am happy with my main and sideboard.
I just love dredging and I will keep doing it. I am happy that graveyard hate went down at my local store because Death Shadow is not played that much anymore and I am the only regular Dredge player. Sometimes another guy with Dredge shows up but that is about it. THe meta is very wide and open so boarding to much grave hate is not optimal and that makes me pretty happy.
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Legacy - Reanimator
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
Interesting approach LeDrazi, never thought of including Angler. And what's nice is Golgari Thug can let you draw him if he gets milled. Recently, I had a horrible night for Dredge (0-3-1), lost to Fish, ETron and Abzan. The deck either fizzled to dredge anything relevant or failed to dredge a key 4 of card when I needed it to win.
I’ve seen a few lists here and there in Vintage and Legacy play it in the sideboard, figured it’d be somewhat decent in modern. It’s great at walling their TKS and Smashers as I’m beating them with flyers. And yes, Thug makes Angler even better.
Vintage sides make me want to play 4 hollow one, 2 gurmag angler in my side.
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Thank you for saying that.
I've played with Thousghtseize in the past, and did not like it at all, mainly for 2 reasons:
I've been running Decay since Leyline of the Void has not been present in my meta, and I feel like Decay is better than Pulse in such a scenario, being 2 mana, instant speed and uncounterable. However, since I ran into Leyline twice at my last tournament, I have to reconsider that. It is good to hear that other people have had success with the card, and you describe precisely what I want: A ubiquitous answer that always does work. I'll still try Sultai Charm for a bit. It seems elegant, answering all hate cards and doubling as an enabler, all at instant speed. It may turn out to be a total bust, in which case I'll take your advice and go for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. Although 3 mana is a lot for an answer, I do feel like we want 3, just so we can better avoid games where we die while digging for a singleton answer.
Beast Within never even crossed my mind, but it is a decent option. I agree that the 3/3 is unlikely to be a big deal, assuming we can get our engine up and running pretty soon afterwards. If they have pressure of their own in addition it could be a pain though. I think the question is if being able to hit any permanent is worth giving them a 3/3 over the cleaner answer in Pulse. I don't think we're that interested in hitting their lands, so maybe it is slightly overkill. Would have to test it to say for sure.
Thank you for saying that.
I've played with Thousghtseize in the past, and did not like it at all, mainly for 2 reasons:
I've been running Decay since Leyline of the Void has not been present in my meta, and I feel like Decay is better than Pulse in such a scenario, being 2 mana, instant speed and uncounterable. However, since I ran into Leyline twice at my last tournament, I have to reconsider that. It is good to hear that other people have had success with the card, and you describe precisely what I want: A ubiquitous answer that always does work. I'll still try Sultai Charm for a bit. It seems elegant, answering all hate cards and doubling as an enabler, all at instant speed. It may turn out to be a total bust, in which case I'll take your advice and go for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. Although 3 mana is a lot for an answer, I do feel like we want 3, just so we can better avoid games where we die while digging for a singleton answer.
Thanks for the breakdown and your thoughts mate. I am also not a fan of THoughtseize for the same reasons but I had a hard time getting rid of them until now. Next week I am going to a tournament on Saturday and I will be using your sideboard and landbase because it looks very consistent.
About Pulse. I know 3 mana is a lot but the fact that it will and can take out everything, also Planeswalkers, is a big deal for me.
As an example I was playing against a friend of my who plays Abzan loaded with Goyfs and all the good stuff. He knew that I was boarding in Pulse and he was afraid to play his second Goyf on turn 3 only because I could have had Pulse in my hand. That saves me a lot of life and won me the game.
I even tested them against Affinity and taking out 2 Cranial Platings and with them all his win conditions was also a very big deal.
People think differently about cards ofcourse but I love the card and it gets boarded in in most of my games and it is my most played sideboard card.
Try it out and let me know how it goes
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
That said, it seems worth trying though it doesnt deal with multiples.
Modern: Bogles // 8-Whack/Goblins // UW Titan // Hollow One // Affinity // Dredge
EDH: Nissa, Vastwood Seer // Atraxa, Praetor's Voice // Meren of Clan Nel Toth
On a higher note, who's playing the Modern Challenge? I just won r1 vs Affinity. An actually decent tournament report to come, unlike my usual crap.
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Cathartic Reunion
1 Haunted Dead
3 Golgari Thug
2 Blood Crypt
2 Gemstone Mine
2 Mountain
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Dakmor Salvage
4 Copperline Gorge
3 Conflagrate
4 Faithless Looting
4 Life from the Loam
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Driven/Despair
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Lightning Axe
3 Thoughtseize
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
2 Nature's Claim
R1 - Affinity
G1 mull to 5, don't see second land.
+3 Grudge, +2 Claim -2 Cathartic, -1 Ghast, -1 Loam, -1 Neonate
G2 mull to 6, looting, grudge, reunion, etc. Last turn of the game, opp needs to topdeck 1cmc artifact to win, doesn't.
G3 sided in Pharoah as well, taking out a Dakmor.
G3 mull to 6, 2x grudge, reunion, neonate, land, narco. Scry 2nd land to top. Draw Imp on t2. The first time I put Amalgams into play, it's all 4 in one turn, which is fun. Dredge does the Dredge thing.
1-0.
R2 - Storm
G1 I'm on the draw. I have a reasonable start, turn 3 he passes with mana up. I'm 1 point off of lethal, he EOT Ritual into Gifts, untaps and storms off.
+3 Thoughtseize, +2 Brutality, -2 Cathartic, -1 Narcomoeba, -1 Loam, -1 Neonate
G2 he misses his 2nd land drop, so I Cathartic on t2 instead of Thoughtseizing. He passes again. I thoughtseize an Empty that could pose a threat if he drew a land. He draws a land, plays Baral. I cast Despair, put him to 3, make him discard his hand. He draws, plays a manamorphose and scoops.
G3 I don't see any interaction on the first two turns. Storm does the Storm thing on turn 3.
1-1.
R3 - Ad Nauseum
G1 I'm on the play. T1 Looting, T2 Cathartic, T4 Cast Despair, attack for lethal with a bloom about to come in. If he had Grace, he'd still end up with 0 cards in hand, so i'd win anyway.
+3 Thoughtseize, +2 Brutality, -2 Cathartic, -1 Haunted Dead, -1 Loam, -1 Conflag
G2 Opp plays t1 cage. That sucks. I seize his Ad Nauseum the turn before bloom comes down. He topdecks another one.
+2 Decay, -1 Narcomoeba, -1 Neonate
G3 Keep 7 of Cathartic, Neonate, Seize, Loam, 3 lands. I t1 thoughtseize his Cage. He Thoughtseizes my Cathartic. I topdeck Imp, dredge 5, put Ghast, Amalgam and Narco into play. T3 he plays Unlife. T5 is the same as the end of G1. I cast despair, he plays Grace. He goes down to 0 cards in hand. Would have to topdeck both Ad Naus and a mana source. I conflag him to 0, then swing for lethal.
2-1, and very happy about being Ad Nauseum.
R4 - UWR Tempo/Burn
Forgot to take notes for this one. Opp was super slow at decision making though. G1 Dredge did its thing without much of a hitch.
+3 Seize, -2 Reunion, -1 Loam.
G2 opp had relic to slow me down a lot, eventually just built up a board state and chained a couple of cryptics to kill me.
Realized opp's deck was much more creature heavy. +1 Pharoah, -1 Neonate?
G3 Opp missed white mana for a few turns, after I Seize their Cryptic. I spew creatures onto the board, they don't have enough answers and Geist has its' Angels chumped by 1/1 fliers.
3-1.
R5 - Junk.
G1, I don't even know what happened here. I think I whiffed on hitting somehting relevant for a turn or two, then opp got a scooze going. Lost to decking out.
+2 Lightning Axe, +2 Decay, -2 Cathartic, -1 Narco, -1 Loam.
G2 keep Amalgam, Decay, Cathartic, Loam, 3 lands. Opp inquisitions my cathartic on their t1. I topdeck looting, which draws a looting and a ghast. Opp scoops on t4.
G3 I get a couple of early amalgams, Opp doesnt get any GY hate. They path an amalgam, which brings back a Ghast, which brings back 2 more Amalgams. They draw, then scoop.
4-1.
R6 - RG Scapeshift? Titanshift? What's the difference?
G1 I put 8 power into play turn 2. He angers. I conflag for a bunch, he goes to 3, doesn't kill me, i loam and conflag for lethal.
+3 Thoughtseize, +1 Pharoah. -1 Narco, -2 Cathartic, -1 Neonate.
G2 Mull to 4, keep a pretty bad hand of Stomping Ground, Thug, Conflag, Narco. Opp pacts on turn 3 for a wood elves?? I didn't know that was played at all. I get turn 5 Scapeshifted for lethal.
-1 Pharoah, +1 Narco. Not sure Pharoah is worth it here. Probably not, since they don't generally have to attack twice with Titan to win.
G3 keep 2x looting, cathartic, narco, driven//despair, copperline gorge, dakmor. Opp has t1 relic, pops early. Ends up with 2 cages in play vs my 2 narcos. I thoughtseize a Scapeshift the exact turn before it would've killed me. Lots of Draw-go happens, opp eventually angers away 3 Narcos I hardcast. He draws a valakut. Eventually draws Pact. Primetime wins. That game was an absolute *****show.
4-2.
R7 - Storm. Again.
G1 On the play, keep Blackcleave Cliffs, Mountain, Fetch, Cathartic, Neonate, Conflag, Haunted Dead. Opp takes a long time to keep their 7. i kill a turn 2 baral with conflag. They play turn 3 Electromancer. They storm off the next turn. Sadface.
+3 seize +2 brutality, -2 cathartic, -1 dakmor, -1 narcomoeba, -1 loam
G2 I brutality on turn 2, take an Empty, probably should've taken Manamorphose or Remand instead. Turn 2 he played Baral which I conflag'd again. Turn 3 he had baral with remand. Turn 4 win again.
4-3 20th place. At least I get 250 play points?
One-Eyed Black | Orzhov Combo | Ooze Reanimator | Mindwheeling Pain
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Thug
4 Narcomoeba
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Prized Amalgam
1 Haunted Dead
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Faithless Looting
3 Life from the Loam
3 Conflagrate
1 Driven // Despair
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Gemstone Mine
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Mountain
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Collective Brutality
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Darkblast
2 Lightning Axe
2 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Driven // Despair
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Gnaw to the Bone
Pretty standard deck and I was thinking about running the Failure/Comply version because it helps your matchup against storm, shift, and other combo decks that you really struggle with. I went with this deck because I have read up on it a lot and felt more comfortable playing this deck. This will be my first ever report I have posted so bear with me
R1. Abazan Company
G1: He mulls down to 4 with no ramp creatures and I just beat him down and kill him in 4 turns
+2 Darkblast +2 Collective Brutality +2 Lightning Axe -2 Insolent Neonates -2 Golgari Thugs -1 Hug -1 Bloodghast
G2: He mulls down to 4 again while I keep a hand that has no hate but ways to dig for it with hugs and lootings. He goes turn 3 coco whiffs and scoops them up
1-0
R2: Storm
G1: I keep an opener with 2 lands looting neonate imp life and ghast. He goes off turn 3 while at 4 life.
+2 Thoughtseize +2 Collective Brutality -2 Insolent Neonate -1 Conflag -1 hug
G2: Keep another stellar hand but with no sideboard cards in it thought I could kill him before turn 3 with the hand but he has the remand and the combo kill on turn 3
1-1
R3: 4-Color Company
G1: I kept a hand with looting 2 lands imp thug prized and loam. He gets a board of finks knight seer devoted. I conflag dowwn the knight seer and devoted and he plays the second devoted and I do not have lethal the next turn and he finds the combo kill with Rhonas
+2 Darkblast +2 Collective Brutality +2 Lightning Axe -2 Insolent Neonates -2 Golgari Thugs -1 Hug -1 Bloodghast
G2: Keep a hand of Darkblast looting 3 lands Axe. He goes turn one Noble I darkblast it and dredge into Narco and Amaglams and start the beat down route killed him turn 4 with a Despair
G3: The hand is very much similar to the second land but more explosive with one of the lands being a stinkweed in this hand. He goes turn one noble I kill it with darkblast and turn 2 he goes devoted kill it with lightning axe and then he is stuck on 2 mana and whenever he played a dork I killed it while beating him down with my creatures for the win
2-1
R4: U/W Control
G1: Hand was Neonate Imp 2 lands 1 hug 1 Thug and 1 Ghast. Just went off before he could have counter magic up for me being super explosive and kill him turn 4
+2 Pulse +2 Thoughtseize +2 Collective Brutality +1 Driven // Despair -3 Neonate -2 Hug -1 Conflag -1 Nacro
G2: Keep a hand with no anti-hate in it but the hand has a looting hug 2 lands stinkweed haunted and conflag. He goes turn 2 RIP and I just dig for one of my pulses and kill the RIP and waited a turn before I went off dredging to see if he had another one he did not but I gotten super low because of his colonades. I start to ghost quarter them down till he plays another RIP and I just lose to the colonade.
G3: Hand is thoughtseize Looting 2 lands Thug pulse life. I turn 1 thoughtseize him his hand is 2 snaps 1 negate lands. I take a snap because no point in taking the negate since I can do the looting play and make him counter a spell that I really don't care about. He never draws a RIP and loses the game to a Despair to make him discard his hand because he tapped out to play Gideon of Trails.
3-1
R5: Burn
G1: Keep a hand of Neonate Imp 2 lands Life Prized Narco. He plays Swiftspear turn 1 hits me and turn 2 Swiftspear hits me. I have dredge 3 prized and had a haunted dead on turn 2 waiting to be activated chump a spear and start to swing with 2 Prized and leave 1 back to block with haunted he drew lands got me to 2 and I play despair to win the game
+2 Collective Brutality +1 Gnaw to the Bone -1 Ghast -2 Neo
G2: He mulls to 5 to find a hate card but didn't find it so kept 4 lands with guide. He kept drawing lands killed him turn 4.
4-1
R6: Affinity
We agreed to ID to make top 8
First round of top 8 I'm the eighth seed playing against affinity
G1: He has a ridic opener with 2 arcbound with an inkmonth. I chump the 8/8 inkmonth with Narco because he didn't know it had flying so I thought to myself he has 1 card in hand and a land to animate his inkmonth I wonder if he knows stinkweed has sudo deaththouch. I play stinkweed pass turn he animates his inkmonth and swings and I have never blocked something in my life so fast he says"imp dies" I said"they trade" he was like how and I just said read the card and he instantly scooped.
+2 Darkblast +2 Ancient Grudge +2 Lightning Axe
G2. I had all the hate in hand 1 darkblast 1 grudge 1 axe 2 lands looting and life. I killed everything on his field while leaving ancient grudge in my hand to deal with his cage.
R2: Affinity
G1: My hand is 1 Neonate 1 looting 1 blood 2 lands 1 stinkweed 1 life. He starts out slow I go turn 1 Neonate sac it dredge stinkweed hit 2 4 Prized stinkweed. Upkeep dredge imp hit Nacro 3 bloodghast 1 Driven/Despair land. Cast a looting dig a little deeper and play a land to trigger my ghasts. At the end of my turn 2 i had 3 ghasts 4 Prized and a nacro. He plays master swings with signal and orni i say no blocks. I go untap draw cast Despair swing for lethal.
+2 Darkblast +2 Ancient Grudge +2 Lightning Axe -2 Neonate -1 Ghast -1 Driven/Despair -2 Thugs
G2: I kept a great sideboard hand with Darkblast Ancient Grudge Axe with Looting 2 lands 1 Nacro. Keep his field cleared he played aether grid and tormonds and tap the tormonds to shoot a blood so i grudged the crypt and just beat him down with my creatues while constanly dredging darkblast back to my hand
Final: Storm player that beat me in Swiss
G1: Doesn't matter what hand I have he storms off turn 3 he gets game 1.
+2 Thoughtseize +2 Collective Brutality -2 Insolent Neonate -1 Conflag -1 hug
G2: I keep a super aggressive hand and get him to 8 before he storms and casts empty for 6 so 12 1/1 goblins to play through. I couldn't swing out because of taking damage off my lands and being nervous about dying to grapeshot so I just swing with the ghasts and Nacro while leaving back prized to block. I finally dredge and conflag and he has 2 mana up and I was like if he has remand he has it I can win this turn if he doens't but I don't lose if he doesn't. I cast conflag to kill his blockers and he says it resolves and I swing in for lethal
G3. He keeps a land light hand and I keep a hand with Gemstone Dakmor Collective Looting Stink Prized Ghast. I draw Thoughtseize for turn so I go gemstone into thoughtseize see his hand has 1 land baral 2 shots 2 rituals. Take the baral. Have to play dakmor turn 2 because I didn't draw a land he goes turn 2 pass. I go draw Collective pitch imp for reveal drain he remands. I dredge next turn hitting a dead and 2 prized with 2 lands. I got brut and take his gifts while he is stuck on 3 lands. I start to apply pressure with my creatures. He finds gifts and gets 2 rituals 1 mana and past he only has 3 mana and no cards in hand I give him the past and mana and put the rituals in the graveyard he draws no land casts mana no land and scoops them up and says good games.
Sounds pretty much like my experience with it. I think I've only been really hampered by it in one or two games for as long as I've played it, and it has single-handedly won me more games than that. And I can confirm it shines against Eldrazi Tron (and normal Tron). You can lean hard into it and completely crush them just by dredging Loam each turn.
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 Gemstone Mine
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Mountain
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodghast
3 Golgari Thug
1 Haunted Dead
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Conflagrate
1 Darkblast
1 Driven / Despair
4 Faithless Looting
3 Life from the Loam
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Collective Brutality
1 Darkblast
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Driven/Despair
2 Lightning Axe
2 Nature's Claim
3 Thoughtseize
Round 1 vs Titanshift 1-2
Game 1: They curved out into a early Scapeshift. Despair was nice, but I didn't have enough creatures to empty their hand so they just discard excess junk and 18'ed me.
Game 2: I beat them down fairly easily aided by the fact they couldn't find any ramp spells. They were a mana off of Hour of Promise which have brought them back into the game. They nuked my yard once with Relic, but I was able to rebuild fast enough that it wasn't too relevant.
Game 3: I valiantly fought through 2 Anger of the Gods, but was unable to rebuild after Anger number 3 followed by a Relic Nuke & Prime Time the following turn.
SB +3 Thoughtseize +2 Brutality +1 Driven/Despair -2 Neonate -1 Dakmor -1 Loam -1 Conflag -1 Narco
Round 2 vs Grixis Shadow 2-1
Game 1: They keep 6, I go to 4 keeping 2x lands, Looting, Amalgam. They Cycle 4 Street Wraiths turn 1, fetch -> shock -> Inquisition. I scoop in response to conceal information. (They told me part way through game 2 that their hand was a ton of discard spells but no threats, I still feel scooping to conceal was the right decision)
Game 2: I have an ok start with Turn 1 Neonate. They Thoughtseize me seeing a hand of Dredger, Amalgam, Haunted Dead, and Lands. They take the Dredger as I already have a larger one in yard from Neonate (I activated in response to Seize, should have let it resolve first). I build up a decent board and kill them as they try to dig for an answer.
Game 3: I Lightning Axe their turn 2 Tasigur, force them to blow up their Nihl Spell Bomb early, Amalgam survives Flaying Tendrils and I just beat their face.
SB +2 Lightning Axe -1 Dakmor -1 Neonate-> G3 +2 Claim -1 Ghast -1 Conflag (unsure if bringing in Claim was right, was worried about Leyline)
Round 3 vs Affinity 2-1
Game 1: My start is fast, theirs is not. I Conflag away their creatures forcing them to dump everything onto Ravager who is easily ignored. Despair pushes past their blockers.
Game 2: I have a decent opening hand. They have a turn 2 Rest in Peace. I did not side in my Nature's Claim. Anemic beats do not get there and I die with 3 Prized Amalgams in hand.
Game 3: A lot of back and forth board stall. I let them hit me a handful of times with Inkmoth hoping they're go all in on it and get blown out by my Claim. Eventually I just Ghost Quarter it away. Of note, this game I had some mana issues. I spent most of the game holding up Nature's Claim with my only source of Green & Black being a Gemstone Mine. Eventually I am able to establish a superior board, force them into unfavorable trades, and while they do land a RIP it is way too late to have any impact. I Claim away their Ravager which gives me a 2 turn clock on an open board and a hellbent opponent.
SB +1 Darkblast +2 Grudge + 2 Axe -2 Neonate -1 Ghast -1 Thug -1 Dakmor G3 -2 Axe +2 Claim
Round 4 vs Merfolk 1-2
Game 1: I have a decent hand which relies heavily on following up a Cathartic with Loam. My opponent has turns 2 and 3 Spreading Seas essentially double sinkholing me. This cuts my off my turn 3 Loam meaning I can't return my Ghasts. I just play Draw Go trying to find lands for Conflag and gather info on their list.
Game 2: I have a super fast start ending turn 2 with Bloodghast, Haunted Dead + Spirit, and Prized Amalgam in play. My opponent takes damage in chunks and dies.
Game 3: I don't find a Dredger until turn 3 off of Driven. I pop my 2 Neonates, but the Dredges are pretty mediocre. We trade attacks for a bit. Eventually the entire game hinges on a Conflagrate which would wipe their board but they have a Delay for it and I lose after getting my creatures bounced with Harbinger. While I did have Despair in the graveyard, I did not have the mana to Loam, Conflag, and Despair in the same turn.
SB +2 Ancient Grudge +1 Driven/Despair -1 Ghast -1 Neo -1 Dakmor
Round 5 vs Jeskai Control
Game 1: I have a moderate start, they aren't able to find enough removal for my creatures. They tap out to deal with my attackers and I Conflag them for exact lethal in my second mainphase
Game 2: I have a decent start with T2 Narcomoeba, Haunted Dead + Spirit. I attempt to go for Despair which meets Spell Queller which makes my attacks unfavorable. I do get off Despair a few turns they clear my board a bit with Paths and Snaps and are then in topdeck mode. I have set up lethal when they draw a Cryptic they scryed top the turn before. They tap down by blockers, letting them swing for exact lethal. In hindsight, I probably should have been a bit more liberal blocking with Narco.
Game 3: Start with Conflag for 0 on turn 2, turn 3 dump my hand and burn them for 4 setting up Dredgers. I build a board, they clear my board with spot removal. I build again. They snapcaster + removal. I build a third time! They Supreme Verdict. A fourth attempt is made! Which finally succeeds. I get to have fun casting Thugs and using them to reset Narcomoebas which trigger my Amalgams for a few turns before they get Pathed and Snap+Celestial Purge.
SB +3 Thoughtseize + 1 Driven/Despair -2 Conflag -1 Darkblast -1 Dakmor
Round 6 vs ???
I see that at 3-2 I am 18th place and there's a clean cut to top 8 so I scoop to my opponent who is going for Planeswalker Points and I go do my grocery shopping.
My 2 biggest take aways were that I forgot just how much Dredge mulligans and that Driven/Despair is an amazing card.
Giving your creatures Menace is huge and much more powerful than I originally thought. The discard aspect is nice, but only really important in certain matchups like Combo and Control. The Menace makes a world of difference against board stalls and I feel its the more valuable text in most games. I never sideboarded the card out, and brought the second copy in for everything but Affinity and Shadow.
All of my fun'ofs were useful at varying points of the tournament except for Darkblast. The only match up I played where it was good, was against Affinity and even there they had Ravagers and Overseers so it was pretty meh. I did have to mulligan at least 1 otherwise keepable hand due to Ghost Quarter being the only land, but it felt worth it being able to kill Inkmoth and there was a decent amount of Tron decks in the room, both Eldrazi and Ramp. It was also relevant after getting my yard nuked by Relic, killing Salvage and getting me a Dredger immediately in the yard.
I feel I won the match ups I was supposed to and lost the ones I was supposed to. It was a decent metagame spread, I think Jeskai Control was the most represented. There was one other person on Dredge that I noticed, otherwise I didn't see too many duplicate decks.
-Anonymous
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
I have a heavy Etron meta at my store, and I’ve adjusted by putting two Gurmag Anglers in the sideboard. Since doing that I’ve felt the matchup is pretty great. I have a main board GQ, and I side in two Anglers and Lightning Axes.
GURB Grixis/Jund Shadow
RBG Dredge
xUx U Ballista Tron
Commander
GUR Maelstrom Wanderer
BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius
BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth
WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
RRR Feldon of the Third Path
WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
I’ve seen a few lists here and there in Vintage and Legacy play it in the sideboard, figured it’d be somewhat decent in modern. It’s great at walling their TKS and Smashers as I’m beating them with flyers. And yes, Thug makes Angler even better.
First round against Affinity 2-1
Lost the first round because she cast two Galvacic Blast to kill me.
Second and third game I went more into the controlling route with Darkblast and Abrupt Decay while in the meantime I was building up my board with creatures.
Second round against Burn 1-2
Lost the first round because of bad dredges, so nothing special.
Second round I won because of very good and fast dredges and just beat him down.
Third round was very very close. A RIP was cast and detroyed by my Malstrom Pulse a couple turns later. After that a Gnaw to the Bone showed up wich got cast and I gained 12 life BUT in the end I did not have enough to close them game
It was a very fun game so I was not devastated or anything.
Third round against some homebrew stuff with Tron lands 2-0
Won the first round because he mulled to 5 and did not find a third land.
Second round I won because he did not fin dhos creatures and I jsut beat him down again.
Fourth round against Death and Taxes 0-2
Held a greedy hand. Took the gamble but it did not work out. Was getting greedy because I mulled to 5.
He just beat me down with me not finding my second land.
Second round turn two RIP, did not find an answer and that was game.
I have to say the deck performed really good and I am happy with my main and sideboard.
I just love dredging and I will keep doing it. I am happy that graveyard hate went down at my local store because Death Shadow is not played that much anymore and I am the only regular Dredge player. Sometimes another guy with Dredge shows up but that is about it. THe meta is very wide and open so boarding to much grave hate is not optimal and that makes me pretty happy.
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal