What is Dreadstill?
Dreadstill was created by Rodney Hannigan (Roodmistah on the source), myself, and the rest of Team Hammafist. It is a Tempo Based Aggro-Control Deck that utilizes Counterbalance/Top along with Counter-magic and stifles to control the game. It also uses Phyrexian Dreadnought as a win condition and Standstill as a card advantage engine to counteract the card disadvantage of Phyrexian Dreadnought.
There are two common versions of Dreadstill are Ur and Ug(x) both have their merits but play differently. Ur Dreadstill has a very stable manabase and more control aspects than other version do to having more counterspells. Ug(x) is a more aggressive version, green allows the inclusion of Tarmogoyf, this allows the pilot to play the aggro game in more matchups than the Ur Version which relies on establishing control and then using Dreadnought to end the game quickly.
Why Play Dreadstill?
Dreadstill is most comparable to Counterbalance Threshold, but unlike Threshold, Dreadstill has the means of gaining actual card advantage via Standstill. Also Phyrexian Dreadnought provides an extraordinary clock and can simply hand you quick victories, this allows Dreadstill to switch roles very easily; it can play the control role or the Aggro role. Also in the aggro control mirror Wasteland and Stifle allow you to attack their mana base and Dreadnought makes the normal Tarmogoyf stalemates of the matchup a nonissue.
Wasteland and Mishra’s Factory: Both allow you to abuse standstill and outplay your opponent under it. Wasteland also allows you to play the mana denial game. Mishra’s Factory is a wall for you stopping things like Nimble Mongeese, etc in their tracks. It also acts as a beater.
Phyrexian Dreadnought-Perhaps the most undercosted beater in the game next to Goyf. This is absolutely the heart and soul of this deck and he has the potential to just sometimes pull that "oops i win" game because he is so explosive. Also his often overlooked role is the “fear factor” opponents are forced to play cautiously around him which means they are playing your game not theirs. He also leads to opponents over sideboarding or incorrectly sideboarding.
Trinket Mage- Utility here is the key to this guy...He searches out Nought...EE, Pithing Needle, and Top. He also beats, reveals for 3 on Counterbalance and pitches to Force of Will.
Tarmogoyf- The most undercosted beater in magic, simply a most include in decks with green.
Brainstorm- Perhaps the most broken blue card in the format. It makes counterbalance significantly better, and when combined with Fetchlands gives you great card quality.
Daze- A free counterspell that when combined with mana denial can be absolutely crippling for your opponent. Force of Will- No explanation needed. The best counterspell ever printed.
Stifle- Versitility in cardboard form, works as mana denial, and an aspect of control on the million and one triggers of legacy. And possibly more importantly, it couples with Dreadnought.
Counterbalance- Most of the format ranges between 1-3 mana costing things so this card combined with Top can surely shut down the opponent.
Sensei's Divining Top- Gives you amazing card quality when combined with fetchlands. With top you can almost entirely lock your opponent out of the game.
Standstill- An excellent card advantage engine do to Mishra’s Factory and Wasteland almost every time you cast it your opponent will be ancestral recalling you. When Combined with things like Sensei’s Divining top you can get way ahead of your opponent with it.
Spell Snare- 2 is like the casting cost of the best cards in the format, snare is one mana counter Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Counterbalance, Life from the Loam, Chalice @ 1, etc etc
Trickbind- Works as an addition stifle, and the Split Second can be devastating against people trying to 2 for 1 you by countering a stifle on Phyrexian Dreadnought.
Engineered Explosives- Blows up chalice, Goyf, Aether Vial, Counterbalance, etc etc and it is fetchable with Trinket Mage.
Sideboard:
Depending on splashes and metas the board can vary, but some of the more common choice are as follows; Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast- An addition one mana hard counter and vindicate against blue decks, I always suggest a split in case of Meddling Mage.
Tormod’s Crypt/Relic of Progenitus- Amazing graveyard hate that is fetchable via Trinket Mage, I do recommend a split so you can play around pithing needle in the Ichorid matchup. If you run Tarmogoyf, obviously run more Crypts than Relics, but if not then Relic is better.
Krosan Grip- The best artifact/enchantment destruction that the format has to offer, it deals with Counterbalance and is near uncounterable.
Blue Elemental Blast- See Red Elemental Blast
Firespout/Pyroclasm- Do to Dreadstill’s lack of spot removal, it relies on Sweepers out of the board in the Aggro matchups.
Matchup Analysis and Sideboarding Strategy:
Goblins: About Even- Counter first turn Lackey or Vial no matter what. Try to dig for a fast Nought as quickly as you can via Top/Brainstorms.. If you resolved a Nought you have a fairly high chance to win game one due to their lack of MD answers. Also stifle on things like Goblin Ringleader is crippling for them.
Sideboarding:
Ur:
-4 Standstill
-2 Counterbalance
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Firespout
Threshold Tempo; Slightly Favorable CB; About Even- You have all the same counter shell they have, except you have a much more potent kill condition in Nought. Standstills are very good against them since have no real plays under them and almost always have to ancestral you.
Sideboarding:
Ur: Counterbalance or Tempo
-3 Daze
-2 Standstill
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-1 Trickbind
+2 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Relic of Progenitus
Ug(x) Counterbalance Thresh
-3 Daze
-2 Standstill
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+3 Krosan Grip
+1 Relic of Progenitus
+2 Red Elemental Blast
Against Tempo Thresh
-3 Daze
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
DragonStompy Favorable: Play out your Engineered Explosives at 0 as early as possible and fetch out basics, the only cards that almost always warrant counters are Rakdos Pit Dragon and Trinisphere, let them walk into Daze all day long.
Sideboarding:
Ur:
-3 Counterbalance
-1 Sensei’s Divining Top
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+1 Firespout
Ichorid Slightly Favorable- You can put them on a ridiculously fast clock and can also take away their Bridges via Wasteland/Mishra's and also just playing a Nought. They have the advantage of making most of your Counterspells irrelevant and going Combo frenzy with Ichorid and Bridge. Just be sure to counter their Discard outlets.
SideboardingUr:
-4 Standstill
-3 Spell Snare
-1 Sensei’s Divining Top
-1 Counterbalance
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Relic of Progenitus
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Tormod’s Crypt
TES/ANT highly favorable: Daze, FoW, Spell Snare, Stifle and Standstills to replenish hand. Definitely don't let a Chant Resolve. Counterbalance is probably your MVP here.
Vs. TES:
Ur
-3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-1 Standstill
-1 Stifle
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
Ug(x)
-2 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-3 Tarmogoyf
+ 3 Blue Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
Vs ANT
Ur:
-3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
Ug(x):
-2 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
The Rock Unfavorable: Their entire decks answers the purpose of what we're trying to do. Try to control them and keep card advantage via Standstill. Swords, Deed, Vindicate, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy are all a beating. I've found Counterbalance to help a bit here.
Ur:
-1 Trickbind
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+2 Relic of Progenitus
Goyf Sligh Slightly Favorable: They have no MD answers to Nought and you can normally counter their relevant spells and swing for Nought for win. Counterbalance/Top also often locks them out of the game as long as you float a 2cc Card.
Ur
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
UW(x) Landstill unfavorable-This matchup is a close one. With Wastelands+Mishra's it's normally hard for either player ton abuse Standstill efficiently. They have a lot of answers to Nought and it’s sometimes very hard to get one to stick.
Postboard 60/40- B2B resolved will usually spell the end for them. Try to resolve it as hard as you can. Also Needles for their Deeds, EE, Manlands helps a ton.
Ur:
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Blood Moon
-3 Daze
-3 Standstill
Aggro Loam Slightly Favorable- Establish Counterbalance Lock and Then Drop Dreadnought, they really can’t deal with him, you also can gain massive CA off of Standstill against them.
Ur:
-3 Daze
-1 Engineered Explosives
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Relic of Progenitus
Ug(x):
-3 Daze
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+1 Relic of Progenitus
Survival About Even- Try to disrupt their mana base, stifle fetches, waste lands, and counterbirds, then assemble counterbalance/top from there you shouldn’t really have many problems.
Ur:
-1 Daze
-1 Trickbind
+2 Relic of ProgenitusUg(x)
-3 Daze
-1 Standstill
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Relic of Progenitus
+1 Pithing Needle
Merfolk Slightly Unfavorable- Vial should always get countered. Counterbalance/Top or Fast Dreadnought are your two big game plans, just don’t let them overwhelm you with Island-walkers.
Ur:
-4 Standstill
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-1 Trickbind
-1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Firespout
MUC Favorable- The have almost no answers to Dreadnought so just get him into play and that’ll usually do it.Ur:
-3 Daze
-1 Spell Snare
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Red Elemental Blast
Ug(x)
-3 Daze
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Pithing Needle
Team America About Even- You generally can out card advantage them, playing mana denial is very strong in this matchup (try to keep them off of BB) as is Counterbalance/top. Just watch out for Tombstalker since after he is in play all you can do is try to race him.
Ur:
-3 Daze
-1 Standstill
-1 Spell Snare
-1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Relic of ProgenitusUg(x):
-3 Daze
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Relic of Progenitus
Awesome primer JV Thanks a bunch for putting it up finally. Also, thanks for the Sideboard strats. I've been having problems with my AnT match ups. Does anybody think the archetype got anything from Conflux? Outside of Sword 5-6 for the white splash version?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
SKRules on Dark Rit art
5th is just a guy snapping his fingers. Maybe Nicol Bolas can get mana that way, but I can't.
The Aggro-Loam matchup isn't as easy as you make it sound. As a Loam player and my friend being a Dreadstill player, we beat on each other rather often. I've become well versed in the Dreadstill matchup for Loam, and he's become well versed in the Loam matchup for Dreadstill.That being said, the CounterTop lock is no longer truly viable. A lot of Loam decks are running Vexing Shusher now, which can force spells through the CounterTop and with a Chalice at 1 - you're locked from Blasting it.Not to mention that the Loam fat guys get bigger than the Dreadstill fat guy very easily (and very quickly - I've had a 3/3 Crusher hit 13/13 before the Dreadnought, cast a turn after the Crusher, could swing).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I was driven from this once-great site by abusive mods and admins, who create rules out of thin air to punish people for breaking them (meaning the rule does not exist under forum rules) and selectively enforce the rules that are written on the forum rules. I am currently lurking while deleting 6 years and 2 months of posting history. I will return when ExpiredRascals, Teia Rabishu and Blinking Spirit are no longer in power.
Good read, I'm surprised at the goblin match though, I guess it's fallen off the radar enough that the deck can get away with it.
Also minor nitpicks, your formating in the matchups seems to change from deck to deck... Is that based on relevance, or just missed a couple [b]'s?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I edit after I post... just a heads up.
Currently Running Legacy: Burn; Various Stompy's; Food Chain Goblins; FC Elves Standard: Junk Super Friends, Elf-Wave Elder Dragon Highlander: Animar, Skithiryx, Bosh, Konda, Wort, Ezuri, Patron of the Moon
With Merfolk in testing, I cruised over DreadStill...i would recommend that you keep all 4 Daze spells MD because "counter-wars" really steal the show. Game 1 is heavily dependent upon whoever drops a standstill (vial can lure out your hard counters but standstill is fuel). I don't know if Dreadstill wants to lose the drawing engine during Games 2 and 3 -- but make sure you bring in heat against the aquamen. Post-SB get exponentially worse if Merfolk sides in Back to Basics.
I would also suggest that pyroclasm works better than firespout, since you'll want to nuke the board asap. That extra mana (although dealing an extra 1 dmg) could be offset by 2 lords if you're on the draw. Additionally, spot removal against is a main weakness of Merfolk -- so the red variant should be pyroblasting away (pop in as many of those as you pack).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
That which nourishes me, destroys me
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
To All:
-Yeah Goblins can be a real pain but its definitely not terrible.
-Nah White splash didn't really get anything from conflux, I'm not even sold that Path to Exile is a good fit, giving my opponents lands is never good.
-Hmm I've never played against Aggro Loam with Shusher, I'll have to test against that.
-As for Merfolk it tends to not be that bad, Red Blast goes a really long way in the matchup, as for leaving daze in, it depends if your on the play or the draw on the draw the tempo loss just isn't worth it.
-Yeah it was just formatting errors I fixed them all, I think...
Swords is better than PtE because with Swords you can kill your own Dreadnought and gain 12 life in case of an emergency. My playtest buddy has done this against my Burn deck and I was like o_0
To All:
...
-As for Merfolk it tends to not be that bad, Red Blast goes a really long way in the matchup, as for leaving daze in, it depends if your on the play or the draw on the draw the tempo loss just isn't worth it.
...
In my experience, the merfolk match up has been pretty un-fun. Not that it's not winnable, but I think best-case scenario it's 50/50, most likely unfavorable. It's given me enough headaches in my meta that I stopped wanting to playing Dreadstill, which I have.
Has there been the possibility of going up to 4 Spell Snares? With the explosion in Counterbalance, the ubiquity of Goyf, and stopping other amazing cards like Dark Confidant for the low low cost of one mana. It is just toooooo good in basically every matchup except maybe for something like Ichorid. At it's worst, you dump it to FoW.
Yes we have tested 4 spell snares many times its an excellent card but we're not convinced that the 4th snare is better than the other cards in the slots if I was going to play 4 Snares my list would probably look like this:
This may sound retarded at first, but any thoughts about Mosswort Bridge? With a Naught in play, you can cast whatever's hidden as an instant--such as another Naught, or a Stifle. Or, if you have some slots to spare, a Protean Hulk...
This may sound retarded at first, but any thoughts about Mosswort Bridge? With a Naught in play, you can cast whatever's hidden as an instant--such as another Naught, or a Stifle. Or, if you have some slots to spare, a Protean Hulk...
Mosswort Bridge is sort of interested and there actually is a Dreadnought based deck that runs it (called Mossnaught), but the problem with Bridge is that it does "cool" things, not really helpful things, The other big issue is that is another mana source that doesn't add U to your mana pool, if the land isn't doing something as game changing as Mishra's Factory or Wasteland, then it really shouldn't be in the deck.
Yes we have tested 4 spell snares many times its an excellent card but we're not convinced that the 4th snare is better than the other cards in the slots if I was going to play 4 Snares my list would probably look like this:
That's my biggest problem with the 4th spell snare. Is that one of the easiest cuts is Daze. But running 2 is almost pointless. It's only really useful as a counter the first 1-3 turns. And with 2 in the deck our likelihood of getting that crucial early Daze is severely diminished. That's why I agree with JV that it should be cut to 3 at most.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
SKRules on Dark Rit art
5th is just a guy snapping his fingers. Maybe Nicol Bolas can get mana that way, but I can't.
Actually on that note, I am currently running 3 Spell Snare and 2 Daze, the reason for this is that as long as my opponent are playing around Daze, then Daze is doing its job. I feel 2 is the right number because then it comes up enough for your opponent to know it is there and therefore they play around it.
Actually on that note, I am currently running 3 Spell Snare and 2 Daze, the reason for this is that as long as my opponent are playing around Daze, then Daze is doing its job. I feel 2 is the right number because then it comes up enough for your opponent to know it is there and therefore they play around it.
I suppose that's true. I'll have to test it out. I'll throw my list up in a bit.
what about playing academy ruins? it brings back nought along with engineered explosives...and why not uses propoganda in the sb it destroys merfolk..
Propaganda is good. But it's only good in Swarm aggro matchups. A lot of builds have started using Firespout for it. It's a more permanent solution. As for Ruins, it depends on the build. I've found it's best suited for 2 color builds. As once you hit 3 your mana base is already weak due to Factories and Wastes and Fetches. That adding another colorless land stretches us more thinly than we already are.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
SKRules on Dark Rit art
5th is just a guy snapping his fingers. Maybe Nicol Bolas can get mana that way, but I can't.
yeah that is true about the colorless mana of the ruins but i honestly like the recurring engineered explosives over the wastelands even in the three color build
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing
Standard
Blightning Blossum
Legacy
Progenitals Threshold
My Teammate Rodney Hannigan (Roodmistah on the Source) and I both played Dreadstill yesterday at Dave Feinstein's Mox Sapphire Tournament. Rodney played Ur and I played Ugr. There were 32 players and 5 rounds of swiss. We both went 3-0-2 and top 8'd, I lost in 3 to Eva Green (Centurion on the Source) in top 8 and Rodney lost in 3 to RGW Zoo (B4R0N on the Source) in the top 4 after beating RGW Zoo in the top 8.
Here are the lists that we played:
Am I the only one that things it's odd the Ur list seems to always do better than Ugr? I've always preferred Ugr because I like having a back up wincon that can't get extirpated as easily. Maybe I'm missing something though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
SKRules on Dark Rit art
5th is just a guy snapping his fingers. Maybe Nicol Bolas can get mana that way, but I can't.
Well it doesn't hurt that Rodney Hannigan and Marius Hausmann both play Ur Dreadstill (they also get most of the Ur top 8's) and they are two of the better legacy players in the world.
Well it doesn't hurt that Rodney Hannigan and Marius Hausmann both play Ur Dreadstill (they also get most of the Ur top 8's) and they are two of the better legacy players in the world.
Well that is true. I just wonder how they'd do with Ugr. I've never seen Rood say he's tried it over at The Source. Though I'll admit I came late to the Dreadstill thread party over there and haven't read through it all.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
SKRules on Dark Rit art
5th is just a guy snapping his fingers. Maybe Nicol Bolas can get mana that way, but I can't.
What is Dreadstill?
Dreadstill was created by Rodney Hannigan (Roodmistah on the source), myself, and the rest of Team Hammafist. It is a Tempo Based Aggro-Control Deck that utilizes Counterbalance/Top along with Counter-magic and stifles to control the game. It also uses Phyrexian Dreadnought as a win condition and Standstill as a card advantage engine to counteract the card disadvantage of Phyrexian Dreadnought.
There are two common versions of Dreadstill are Ur and Ug(x) both have their merits but play differently. Ur Dreadstill has a very stable manabase and more control aspects than other version do to having more counterspells. Ug(x) is a more aggressive version, green allows the inclusion of Tarmogoyf, this allows the pilot to play the aggro game in more matchups than the Ur Version which relies on establishing control and then using Dreadnought to end the game quickly.
Why Play Dreadstill?
Dreadstill is most comparable to Counterbalance Threshold, but unlike Threshold, Dreadstill has the means of gaining actual card advantage via Standstill. Also Phyrexian Dreadnought provides an extraordinary clock and can simply hand you quick victories, this allows Dreadstill to switch roles very easily; it can play the control role or the Aggro role. Also in the aggro control mirror Wasteland and Stifle allow you to attack their mana base and Dreadnought makes the normal Tarmogoyf stalemates of the matchup a nonissue.
Decklist:
4 Mishra’s Factory
3 Wasteland
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Volcanic Island
5 Island
Creatures:6
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage
Noncreature Spells:33
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
4 Standstill
4 Counterbalance
3 Daze
3 Spell Snare
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Trickbind
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Pyroclasm
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Blood Moon
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Firespout
4 Mishra’s Factory
3 Wasteland
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Island
Creatures:9
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
4 Standstill
3 Spell Snare
3 Daze
3 Counterbalance
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Trickbind
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Krosan Grip
3 Firespout
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pithing Needle
Card explanations:
Wasteland and Mishra’s Factory: Both allow you to abuse standstill and outplay your opponent under it. Wasteland also allows you to play the mana denial game. Mishra’s Factory is a wall for you stopping things like Nimble Mongeese, etc in their tracks. It also acts as a beater.
Phyrexian Dreadnought-Perhaps the most undercosted beater in the game next to Goyf. This is absolutely the heart and soul of this deck and he has the potential to just sometimes pull that "oops i win" game because he is so explosive. Also his often overlooked role is the “fear factor” opponents are forced to play cautiously around him which means they are playing your game not theirs. He also leads to opponents over sideboarding or incorrectly sideboarding.
Trinket Mage- Utility here is the key to this guy...He searches out Nought...EE, Pithing Needle, and Top. He also beats, reveals for 3 on Counterbalance and pitches to Force of Will.
Tarmogoyf- The most undercosted beater in magic, simply a most include in decks with green.
Brainstorm- Perhaps the most broken blue card in the format. It makes counterbalance significantly better, and when combined with Fetchlands gives you great card quality.
Daze- A free counterspell that when combined with mana denial can be absolutely crippling for your opponent.
Force of Will- No explanation needed. The best counterspell ever printed.
Stifle- Versitility in cardboard form, works as mana denial, and an aspect of control on the million and one triggers of legacy. And possibly more importantly, it couples with Dreadnought.
Counterbalance- Most of the format ranges between 1-3 mana costing things so this card combined with Top can surely shut down the opponent.
Sensei's Divining Top- Gives you amazing card quality when combined with fetchlands. With top you can almost entirely lock your opponent out of the game.
Standstill- An excellent card advantage engine do to Mishra’s Factory and Wasteland almost every time you cast it your opponent will be ancestral recalling you. When Combined with things like Sensei’s Divining top you can get way ahead of your opponent with it.
Spell Snare- 2 is like the casting cost of the best cards in the format, snare is one mana counter Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Counterbalance, Life from the Loam, Chalice @ 1, etc etc
Trickbind- Works as an addition stifle, and the Split Second can be devastating against people trying to 2 for 1 you by countering a stifle on Phyrexian Dreadnought.
Engineered Explosives- Blows up chalice, Goyf, Aether Vial, Counterbalance, etc etc and it is fetchable with Trinket Mage.
Sideboard:
Depending on splashes and metas the board can vary, but some of the more common choice are as follows;
Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast- An addition one mana hard counter and vindicate against blue decks, I always suggest a split in case of Meddling Mage.
Tormod’s Crypt/Relic of Progenitus- Amazing graveyard hate that is fetchable via Trinket Mage, I do recommend a split so you can play around pithing needle in the Ichorid matchup. If you run Tarmogoyf, obviously run more Crypts than Relics, but if not then Relic is better.
Krosan Grip- The best artifact/enchantment destruction that the format has to offer, it deals with Counterbalance and is near uncounterable.
Blue Elemental Blast- See Red Elemental Blast
Firespout/Pyroclasm- Do to Dreadstill’s lack of spot removal, it relies on Sweepers out of the board in the Aggro matchups.
Matchup Analysis and Sideboarding Strategy:
Goblins: About Even- Counter first turn Lackey or Vial no matter what. Try to dig for a fast Nought as quickly as you can via Top/Brainstorms.. If you resolved a Nought you have a fairly high chance to win game one due to their lack of MD answers. Also stifle on things like Goblin Ringleader is crippling for them.
Sideboarding:
Ur:
-4 Standstill
-2 Counterbalance
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Firespout
Ugr:
-4 Standstill
-1 Daze
-1 Spell Snare
-1 Engineered Explosives
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+3 Firespout
+1 Pithing Needle
Threshold Tempo; Slightly Favorable CB; About Even- You have all the same counter shell they have, except you have a much more potent kill condition in Nought. Standstills are very good against them since have no real plays under them and almost always have to ancestral you.
Sideboarding:
Ur: Counterbalance or Tempo
-3 Daze
-2 Standstill
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-1 Trickbind
+2 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Relic of Progenitus
Ug(x) Counterbalance Thresh
-3 Daze
-2 Standstill
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+3 Krosan Grip
+1 Relic of Progenitus
+2 Red Elemental Blast
Against Tempo Thresh
-3 Daze
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
DragonStompy Favorable: Play out your Engineered Explosives at 0 as early as possible and fetch out basics, the only cards that almost always warrant counters are Rakdos Pit Dragon and Trinisphere, let them walk into Daze all day long.
Sideboarding:
Ur:
-3 Counterbalance
-1 Sensei’s Divining Top
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+1 Firespout
Ug(x)
-3 Spell Snare
-2 Counterbalance
-1 Sensei’s Divining Top
-1 Tarmogoyf
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Krosan Grip
+2 Firespout
Ichorid Slightly Favorable- You can put them on a ridiculously fast clock and can also take away their Bridges via Wasteland/Mishra's and also just playing a Nought. They have the advantage of making most of your Counterspells irrelevant and going Combo frenzy with Ichorid and Bridge. Just be sure to counter their Discard outlets.
Sideboarding Ur:
-4 Standstill
-3 Spell Snare
-1 Sensei’s Divining Top
-1 Counterbalance
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Relic of Progenitus
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Tormod’s Crypt
Ugr:
-4 Standstill
-3 Spell Snare
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+2 Tormod’s Crypt
+1 Relic of Progenitus
+1 Firespout
TES/ANT highly favorable: Daze, FoW, Spell Snare, Stifle and Standstills to replenish hand. Definitely don't let a Chant Resolve. Counterbalance is probably your MVP here.
Vs. TES:
Ur
-3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-1 Standstill
-1 Stifle
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
Ug(x)
-2 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-3 Tarmogoyf
+ 3 Blue Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
Vs ANT
Ur:
-3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
Ug(x):
-2 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
The Rock Unfavorable: Their entire decks answers the purpose of what we're trying to do. Try to control them and keep card advantage via Standstill. Swords, Deed, Vindicate, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy are all a beating. I've found Counterbalance to help a bit here.
Ur:
-1 Trickbind
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
+2 Relic of Progenitus
Ug(x):
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-3 Daze
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Firespout
+2 Krosan Grip
Goyf Sligh Slightly Favorable: They have no MD answers to Nought and you can normally counter their relevant spells and swing for Nought for win. Counterbalance/Top also often locks them out of the game as long as you float a 2cc Card.
Ur
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
-1 Standstill
-1 Engineered Explosives
-1 Daze
Ug(x)
-3 Daze
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
UW(x) Landstill unfavorable-This matchup is a close one. With Wastelands+Mishra's it's normally hard for either player ton abuse Standstill efficiently. They have a lot of answers to Nought and it’s sometimes very hard to get one to stick.
Postboard 60/40- B2B resolved will usually spell the end for them. Try to resolve it as hard as you can. Also Needles for their Deeds, EE, Manlands helps a ton.
Ur:
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Blood Moon
-3 Daze
-3 Standstill
Ug(x):
-3 Standstill
-3 Daze
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+3 Krosan Grip
+1 Pithing Needle
Aggro Loam Slightly Favorable- Establish Counterbalance Lock and Then Drop Dreadnought, they really can’t deal with him, you also can gain massive CA off of Standstill against them.
Ur:
-3 Daze
-1 Engineered Explosives
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+2 Relic of Progenitus
Ug(x):
-3 Daze
-1 Spell Snare
+3 Blue Elemental Blast
+1 Relic of Progenitus
Survival About Even- Try to disrupt their mana base, stifle fetches, waste lands, and counterbirds, then assemble counterbalance/top from there you shouldn’t really have many problems.
Ur:
-1 Daze
-1 Trickbind
+2 Relic of Progenitus Ug(x)
-3 Daze
-1 Standstill
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Relic of Progenitus
+1 Pithing Needle
Merfolk Slightly Unfavorable- Vial should always get countered. Counterbalance/Top or Fast Dreadnought are your two big game plans, just don’t let them overwhelm you with Island-walkers.
Ur:
-4 Standstill
-1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
-1 Trickbind
-1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Pyroclasm
+1 Firespout
Ug(x)
-4 Standstill
-1 Daze
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+3 Firespout
MUC Favorable- The have almost no answers to Dreadnought so just get him into play and that’ll usually do it.Ur:
-3 Daze
-1 Spell Snare
+2 Pyroblast
+2 Red Elemental Blast
Ug(x)
-3 Daze
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Pithing Needle
Team America About Even- You generally can out card advantage them, playing mana denial is very strong in this matchup (try to keep them off of BB) as is Counterbalance/top. Just watch out for Tombstalker since after he is in play all you can do is try to race him.
Ur:
-3 Daze
-1 Standstill
-1 Spell Snare
-1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Relic of Progenitus Ug(x):
-3 Daze
+1 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast
+1 Relic of Progenitus
C.I.#:5
Also minor nitpicks, your formating in the matchups seems to change from deck to deck... Is that based on relevance, or just missed a couple [b]'s?
Currently Running
Legacy: Burn; Various Stompy's; Food Chain Goblins; FC Elves
Standard: Junk Super Friends, Elf-Wave
Elder Dragon Highlander: Animar, Skithiryx, Bosh, Konda, Wort, Ezuri, Patron of the Moon
I would also suggest that pyroclasm works better than firespout, since you'll want to nuke the board asap. That extra mana (although dealing an extra 1 dmg) could be offset by 2 lords if you're on the draw. Additionally, spot removal against is a main weakness of Merfolk -- so the red variant should be pyroblasting away (pop in as many of those as you pack).
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
-Yeah Goblins can be a real pain but its definitely not terrible.
-Nah White splash didn't really get anything from conflux, I'm not even sold that Path to Exile is a good fit, giving my opponents lands is never good.
-Hmm I've never played against Aggro Loam with Shusher, I'll have to test against that.
-As for Merfolk it tends to not be that bad, Red Blast goes a really long way in the matchup, as for leaving daze in, it depends if your on the play or the draw on the draw the tempo loss just isn't worth it.
-Yeah it was just formatting errors I fixed them all, I think...
C.I.#:5
C.I.#:5
In my experience, the merfolk match up has been pretty un-fun. Not that it's not winnable, but I think best-case scenario it's 50/50, most likely unfavorable. It's given me enough headaches in my meta that I stopped wanting to playing Dreadstill, which I have.
Rules Advisor
As you can see in my Primer "Slightly Unfavorable"
C.I.#:5
Join the Crusade against Mythic Rares!
We aren't anyone's milking cow!
(\ /)
(o.O)
(> <)
Bunny says so!
Yup here is my good friend Rich Shay's list.
C.I.#:5
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Tropical Island
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
Creatures:9
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Trinket Mage
4 Standstill
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Snare
2 Daze
3 Counterbalance
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
3 Firespout
3 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
2 Krosan Grip
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
C.I.#:5
Trades
Articles
Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
Mosswort Bridge is sort of interested and there actually is a Dreadnought based deck that runs it (called Mossnaught), but the problem with Bridge is that it does "cool" things, not really helpful things, The other big issue is that is another mana source that doesn't add U to your mana pool, if the land isn't doing something as game changing as Mishra's Factory or Wasteland, then it really shouldn't be in the deck.
C.I.#:5
That's my biggest problem with the 4th spell snare. Is that one of the easiest cuts is Daze. But running 2 is almost pointless. It's only really useful as a counter the first 1-3 turns. And with 2 in the deck our likelihood of getting that crucial early Daze is severely diminished. That's why I agree with JV that it should be cut to 3 at most.
C.I.#:5
Standard
Blightning Blossum
Legacy
Progenitals Threshold
I suppose that's true. I'll have to test it out. I'll throw my list up in a bit.
Propaganda is good. But it's only good in Swarm aggro matchups. A lot of builds have started using Firespout for it. It's a more permanent solution. As for Ruins, it depends on the build. I've found it's best suited for 2 color builds. As once you hit 3 your mana base is already weak due to Factories and Wastes and Fetches. That adding another colorless land stretches us more thinly than we already are.
Standard
Blightning Blossum
Legacy
Progenitals Threshold
Here are the lists that we played:
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Island
Creatures:9
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Standstill
3 Spell Snare
2 Daze
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Trickbind
3 Pyroblast
3 Firespout
3 Krosan Grip
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Volcanic Island
6 Island
Creatures:7
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
3 Trinket Mage
Noncreature Spells:32
4 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
4 Stifle
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Spell Snare
3 Counterbalance
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Trickbind
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Echoing Truth
3 Pyroclasm
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Crucible of Worlds
C.I.#:5
C.I.#:5
Well that is true. I just wonder how they'd do with Ugr. I've never seen Rood say he's tried it over at The Source. Though I'll admit I came late to the Dreadstill thread party over there and haven't read through it all.