Dream of 4 power on Turn 1 and an additional 6 power on Turn 2? ...Without playing Affinity? ...Without wishing Eye of Ugin were back to break Eldrazi? Then play this, where 4 power on Turn 1 isn't (quite) Magical Christmas Land!
After ages of trying Vengevine decks and trying to break Bridge from Below in Modern, I found that both routes were clunky compared to devoting the Dredge deck to cheating out Prized Amalgam. This is the fastest Modern Dredge deck I've played yet.
Insolent Neonate is probably the best enabler in the deck. Cheap, blocks, discards and then Dredges, can potentially mill 6 cards on Turn 1 when you dump GGT...
...and if you're wondering "Why the heck are you playing Tome Scour?", milling 5 cards on Turn 1 would be why. This deck is so blazing fast that Hedron Crab is currently a mere 2-of because it only starts milling on Turn 2, Main Phase 1. ...And it can be dead whenever I keep a 1-land hand. (Not needing to mull hands with lands, no Dredge cards, and a Hedron Crab is nice, though.)
Milling a Narcomoeba and a Prized Amalgam in the same 5-6-card shot on Turn 1 isn't that uncommon. And yes, the Narcomoeba cheats the Prized Amalgam into play.
Like Legacy Dredge, this deck is able to keep 1-land hands, which is why I strongly prefer Dakmor Salvage over Life from the Loam. ...That and green is supposed to be a sideboard splash only. With only 2 colours that I expect to need in Game 1, the mana base is consistent and somewhat pain-free.
I'm not sure about the Stitchwing Skaab-Fatestitcher ratio. I started off with 4 Skaabs. Discarding Dredgers/Prized Amalgam/Bloodghast/other Skaabs to them is very nice, and 3 flying power for 2 mana is also great, but sometimes, 2 mana costs too much. Fatestitcher swings much worse, but it's cheaper to reanimate it and it also revives Amalgams. And in testing against Medium Naya Zoo, tapping blockers in this deck's ultra-late game wins games.
...Yup, this deck hits the ultra-late game and has to stop Dredging by Turn 8.
While well-timed Relic of Progenitus and Turn 2 Scavenging Ooze with G up has wrecked me, this deck has outraced the opponent playing Scavenging Ooze on Turn 2 on the play before.
Given the deck's speed and resiliency to removal--it races Burn and generally does well against Affinity pre-board--I feel like I'm on the verge of a Tier 2 deck. What do you all think?
I think you are right, it could be T2 level. I've messed around with this kind of build before and it can be overwhelming but havent tried with the new toys, I'll try and fit some time in to test it
Dream Twist mainly because it has flashback, serves as mill that can also be milled. I use it in my Bridge From Below version with success. Its also two mana flashback, which you should guarantee after dredging Dakmor Salvage.
Thought Scour is nice to use instant speed. Can mill into a dredger like GGT and mill another six cards.
It would be really cool to finally have a stronger Modern Dredge deck. I look forward to experimenting with these new SOI cards.
I'll let you guys know if I come up with anything good. The most success I've had playing Dredge in Modern was with Life from the Loam, but I think it's too slow to use as a main plan, so I like this idea at least in theory.
Second, I still think we may want Bridge from Below because of the dynamic it brings to the game. It often discourages blocking and will frequently net you extra creatures because you'll have multiple Bridges in the graveyard.
Third, we could consider playing a Reanimator style late game with Unburial Rites and big creatures, but I don't know that it is necessary or worth the devotion of resources in the main deck.
Fourth, I don't know that Fatestitcher is worth the slots because you can only bring each one back once. Also Unearth can only be used at sorcery speed. Stitchwing Skaab seems superior to me in almost every way.
Finally, the proposed sideboard seems a little crazy, but I imagine it was made with a specific meta in mind and will change.
Dream Twist mainly because it has flashback, serves as mill that can also be milled. I use it in my Bridge From Below version with success. Its also two mana flashback, which you should guarantee after dredging Dakmor Salvage.
Thought Scour is nice to use instant speed. Can mill into a dredger like GGT and mill another six cards.
My deck aims to mull as little as possible. I can't keep a hand with Thought Scour as the only enabler. Likewise, I also cannot keep a hand with Dream Twist as the only enabler. Insolent Neonate + Golgari Thug is the minimum keepable hand I'd take (along with Hedron Crab + fetch). Those mill other Dredgers just often enough for me.
Other enablers I have considered are Burning Inquiry and Memory Sluice. Last time I tested Burning Inquiry, though, it was a bit too flaky for my tastes. Part of me suspects that Memory Sluice will also be too flaky, but part of me remembers being burned by Hedron Crab.
Eretoyi, did you find that Hedron Crab or Tome Scour was better overall? Insolent Neonate is so good that I want 8, and Faithless Looting seems like a necessary evil because I've flashed it back so often. (It's crummy at establishing a Turn 1 board presence, though.) I like Tome Scour in this deck because it costs 1 mana and hits Narcomoeba + Prized Amalgam + Dredger often enough.
I generally don't like maindeck Lightning Axe because it requires creature targets. It's great in the board, though.
The sideboard is mainly anti-hate, and I've been messing with the ratios since.
I'm surprised that this discussion has come so far with no mention of Drowned Rusalka. It was the original Insolent Neonate.
Although Neonate is better for explosive draws, Rusalka can actually run away with the game in a build like this, because it doesn't have to sacrifice itself.
In a vacuum, I think that Neonate is better, but Rusalka actually forces your opponent to have removal or a discard spell.
Playing millions of cards every turn... Slowly and systematically obliterating any chance my opponent has of winning... Clicking the multitude of locking mechanisms into place... Not even trying to win myself until turn 10+ once I have nigh absolute control... Watching my opponent desperately trying to navigate the labyrinthine prison that I've constructed... Seeing the light of hope fade and ultimately extinguished in an excruciatingly slow manner... THAT'S fun Magic.
We have 2-3 users that are dramatically making this thread incomprehensible and non-productive for anyone else to possibly join in the discussion. This needs to change.
Every time I see [ktkenshinx] post in here, I get the impression of a stern dad walking in on a bunch of kids trying to do something dumb and just shaking his head in disappointment.
Near Mint: The same as Slightly Played, but we threw some Altoids in the box we stored it in to cover up the scent of dead mice. Slightly Played: The base condition for all MTG cards. This card looks OK, but there’s one minor annoying ding in it that will always irritate and distract you whenever you draw it. Moderately Played: This card looks like it survived the Tet Offensive tucked inside the waistband of GI underwear. It may smell like it, too. Heavily Played: This card looks like the remains of Mohammed Atta’s passport after 9/11. It may be playable if you double-sleeve it to stop the chunks from falling out. The condition formerly known as "Washing Machine Grade" Damaged: This card is the unfortunate victim of a Mirrorweave/March of the Machines/Chaos Confetti/Mindslaver combo.
[M]aking counterfeit cards is the absolute height of dishonesty. Ask yourself this question: Since most people...are totally cool with the use of proxies...what purpose do [high] quality counterfeit cards serve?
I haven't had a chance to test the crab yet, but I will soon.
I had actually been thinking about Rusalka, and that might be a better choice than Axe main deck. The only thing is that it costs two mama to get your loot 1 effect whereas Neonate costs one. Maybe 4 Neonate and 2-4 Rusalka will be a good balance.
I had actually been thinking about Rusalka, and that might be a better choice than Axe main deck. The only thing is that it costs two mama to get your loot 1 effect whereas Neonate costs one. Maybe 4 Neonate and 2-4 Rusalka will be a good balance.
hey guys,
this has peaked my interest somewhat. I'm thinking that the T1 enablers need to be the best they can, and sort of agree that hedron crab / drowned rusalka are a bit on the slow side.
As a person that has played almost every version of Modern Dredge (Ordinary Dredge, DredgeVine, and Crypt Dredge), I can tell you that Rusalka was used to get yourself out from under single-usegraveyardhate. If your opponent exiles your graveyard, he or she will inevitably do it after you've used a Neonate, which will cost you a lot of tempo. By contrast, Rusalka is repeatable, provided that you have another creature on board.
The old Modern Dredge lists used to have a lot of trouble with Rest in Peace, which almost required both a Rusalka and an Abrupt Decay. Leyline of the Void is much worse, but luckily it's also less common.
@OP: Gnaw to the Bone should probably be moved to the maindeck, because you're going to want that line of play in most matchups. It buys you a lot of time, and single-handedly wins games against burn, Ad Nauseam, and Storm.
Playing millions of cards every turn... Slowly and systematically obliterating any chance my opponent has of winning... Clicking the multitude of locking mechanisms into place... Not even trying to win myself until turn 10+ once I have nigh absolute control... Watching my opponent desperately trying to navigate the labyrinthine prison that I've constructed... Seeing the light of hope fade and ultimately extinguished in an excruciatingly slow manner... THAT'S fun Magic.
We have 2-3 users that are dramatically making this thread incomprehensible and non-productive for anyone else to possibly join in the discussion. This needs to change.
Every time I see [ktkenshinx] post in here, I get the impression of a stern dad walking in on a bunch of kids trying to do something dumb and just shaking his head in disappointment.
Near Mint: The same as Slightly Played, but we threw some Altoids in the box we stored it in to cover up the scent of dead mice. Slightly Played: The base condition for all MTG cards. This card looks OK, but there’s one minor annoying ding in it that will always irritate and distract you whenever you draw it. Moderately Played: This card looks like it survived the Tet Offensive tucked inside the waistband of GI underwear. It may smell like it, too. Heavily Played: This card looks like the remains of Mohammed Atta’s passport after 9/11. It may be playable if you double-sleeve it to stop the chunks from falling out. The condition formerly known as "Washing Machine Grade" Damaged: This card is the unfortunate victim of a Mirrorweave/March of the Machines/Chaos Confetti/Mindslaver combo.
[M]aking counterfeit cards is the absolute height of dishonesty. Ask yourself this question: Since most people...are totally cool with the use of proxies...what purpose do [high] quality counterfeit cards serve?
Hi, I have been playing a similar list, but with these changes:
-2 hedron crab
-2 stichwing skaab
+4 breakthrough
-2 tome scour
+2 gnaw to the bone
-4 dakmor salvage
+1 thug
+3 other lands.
dakmor is ***** dude. Also, breakthrough is extremely explosive. thoughts?
Okay, and sorry to kinda spam this thread, but I have to agree that Drowned Rusalka definitely seems worth playing. Testing has shown it to be quite valuable as its ability is repeatable.
So far, maindeck Conflagrate has won me more games than swapping 1 Golgari Thug for Life from the Loam has lost. (Turns out that Insolent Neonate + Golgari Thug is a pretty shaky keep that's lost me games because it doesn't mill Dredgers often enough, so LftL instead of Thug gives me a good reason to mull.) I'm still trying to figure out how many games the new mana base has won vs. lost for me, but Conflagrate kicks aggro's butt (I hit 1 Goblin Guide and 2 Monastery Swiftspear with the same Conflagrate in testing once), so the increased fetching and shocking pays off against aggro. I actually mainly started testing Conflagrate because I wasn't getting Turn 3-4 kills often enough, and that really showed when Ad Nauseam kept kicking my butt pre-board.
The weirdest thing Conflagrate has done so far is kill Elesh Norn.
It's times like this when I miss 4 Stitchwing Skaab Day.
Part of me's ambivalent about Dangerous Wager and Rally the Peasants in here. Dangerous Wager is like Hedron Crab in that both cards need 2 lands in hand in order to make that hand keepable, but Dangerous Wager only gets going on Turn 2, Main Phase 1, Post-Land Drop, while Hedron Crab gets going on Turn 2, Main Phase 1, Pre-Land Drop (important when Bloodghast and Prized Amalgam is in the yard). Also, Dangerous Wager makes fewer hands keepable because it also needs a Dredger in hand. Rally the Peasants is like my maindeck Conflagrate, but I suspect it's less likely to fire off on Turn 3 in his deck (Magus_of_the_Moon is Sebastian Stückl) than Conflagrate will in mine, even though he runs more lands that ETB untapped than me, because he doesn't run Dakmor Salvage. Conflagrate also donks opponents to 10 or less life (thus giving Bloodghasts haste), discards cards, and kills opposing threats.
I disagree with Vengeful Pharaoh fairly strongly because I've found that I need more than 12 enablers for consistency reasons. I have a favourable pre-board match-up against Affinity because Narcomoeba is the king of blockers against them. Admittedly, I haven't tested against Infect yet.
I had actually been thinking about Rusalka, and that might be a better choice than Axe main deck. The only thing is that it costs two mama to get your loot 1 effect whereas Neonate costs one. Maybe 4 Neonate and 2-4 Rusalka will be a good balance.
hey guys,
this has peaked my interest somewhat. I'm thinking that the T1 enablers need to be the best they can, and sort of agree that hedron crab / drowned rusalka are a bit on the slow side.
As a person that has played almost every version of Modern Dredge (Ordinary Dredge, DredgeVine, and Crypt Dredge), I can tell you that Rusalka was used to get yourself out from under single-usegraveyardhate. If your opponent exiles your graveyard, he or she will inevitably do it after you've used a Neonate, which will cost you a lot of tempo. By contrast, Rusalka is repeatable, provided that you have another creature on board.
The old Modern Dredge lists used to have a lot of trouble with Rest in Peace, which almost required both a Rusalka and an Abrupt Decay. Leyline of the Void is much worse, but luckily it's also less common.
@OP: Gnaw to the Bone should probably be moved to the maindeck, because you're going to want that line of play in most matchups. It buys you a lot of time, and single-handedly wins games against burn, Ad Nauseam, and Storm.
I tried Drowned Rusalka. When it worked, it was really powerful, but killing my own summoning sick guys felt slightly awkward, and too many times, I tapped out of blue mana to play Drowned Rusalka on Turn 2 or later (i.e. it died for no value pretty promptly). Pre-board, I suspect Drowned Rusalka is a bit to the win-more side. It's probably more powerful post-board, though, but Hedron Crab makes more hands keepable (see my Dangerous Wager logic)...
I'd rather maindeck Conflagrate because it wins damage races, kills guys, and discards cards.
Those builds had better be able to hit 1UU consistently. For triggering Prized Amalgam (and Gravecrawler in other builds), I think Stitchwing Skaab is cheaper.
On Dakmor Salvage in my build:
I've found that Dakmor Salvage is pretty good. It's a Turn 2 land drop for Bloodghast, it bumps me to 2 mana for Stitchwing Skaab or 3 mana for Faithless Looting's Flashback...I've also had bad enough luck with enablers that I've Dredged it on Turn 2's draw phase several times because I had no other options. My favourite Dakmor Salvage trick is flashing back Looting on Turn 4, Dredging a fatter Dredger and then a Salvage, then playing Salvage as my land drop for the turn and reanimating Bloodghasts.
Been playing a similar list on MTGO, I don't think I'm going back to vengevines. They just take too much work to enable unlike Narcs and Amalgams. This deck can win turn 3, and consistently wins turn 4.
I will say, I'm a huge advocate for Rally the Peasants. When you mill out 4-5 bodies as early as turn 3, it basically becomes the same thing as dread return on Flame-Kin Zealot. I've won a few matches as early as turn 3 with this.
One of the small differences is i'm not playing tome scour, I'm playing 4x Hedron Crab, and 2 more lands (I'm at 21). This enables me to use crab to its full extent, while also allowing the easy alpha strike with Rally.
So last night I took this list to a local WNM event and went 2-2. Easily could've gone 4-0 if it wasn't my first week with a dredge deck and remembered my triggers on some of the cards -_-.
4x Faithless Looting
3x Life from the Loam
2x Zombie Infestation
2x Unburial Rites
2x Mana Confluence
4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Copperline Gorge
4x Dakmor Salvage
Sideboard
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Unburial Rites
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
2x Ray of Revelation
1x Leyline of the Void
1x Ancient Grudge
2x Conflagurate
2x Dark Blast
3x Gnaw to the Bone
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Overall I think this deck is powerful, I plan on making some changes to the main deck and the board because I wasn't happy with some of the cards.
My first fix is to move Elesh Norn to the main and to move Iona to the board, every match I played last night I wanted Elesh Norn in instead of Iona.
Second change I plan on making is cutting Zombie Infestation completely, I don't know if I want to replace it with a 3rd Unburial Rites and just leave all 3 heavy hitters in the deck or if I want to move some Gnaw to the Bones into the main deck. I'm gonna try it both ways and see which is better.
I'd like to fit in more Ancient Grudge as well, the list I found had 2 in it but I could on locate one copy of mine so I replaced the second copy with a leyline(which was helpful) so I think if we move Gnaw/Rites to the main then we replace them with Grudges.
My matches last night were :
Griselbrand Shoal (2-0) - W
Infect (1-2) - L
G/W Hatebears (2-0) - W
Pili-Pala Combo - (1-2) - L
In the infect match I missed two triggers they cost me game 1, after figuring that out I didn't let the trigger slide again for the night.
Against the combo deck he just drew the nuts in game 3 and put me on 3 relics right away so we went to play the midrange game and just just drew combo way too quickly. This matchup made me want more Grudges.
Played Dredge again tonight at the local FNM. I played the list I posted previously with some changes.
The changes I made to the list before the FNM were :
1. move Elesh Norn to the main deck, move Iona to the board
2. move Zombie Infestation to the board, move 2x Gnaw to the Bone to the main.
My matchups tonight were
Jeskai Control (2-1) - W
Boggles (2-1) - W
Kiki Chord (2-1) - W
BW Hatebears (0-2) - L
After playing another event with the previous list I posted, I found out some changes that I need to make to the list. This is the next list I'm going to try tomorrow at another weekly event if I get the chance to go to it otherwise I'll be playing this next Wednesday.
4x Faithless Looting
3x Life from the Loam
2x Gnaw to the Bone
2x Unburial Rites
2x Lightning Axe
2x Mana Confluence
4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Copperline Gorge
4x Dakmor Salvage
Sideboard
1x Unburial Rites
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
3x Ray of Revelation
2x Leyline of the Void
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Dark Blast
1x Gnaw to the Bone
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Lightning Axe
The mana base has been fine for me, I have decided that I need 1 Forest, 1 Mountain in the deck though because of path, GQ style effects though. Failing to find has made my opponents laugh though.
I played another event on Saturday and ended up taking 1st place in the event with my updated list in the previous post.
My rounds were :
Infect (2-0) - W
Suicide Zoo (2-1) - W
G/R Tron (2-0) - W
In the Tron matchup I didn't really see the need for GQ style effects because I just went faster than him, but I also can see the argument for it, as GQ can also help us in the matchup as well.
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Dream of 4 power on Turn 1 and an additional 6 power on Turn 2? ...Without playing Affinity? ...Without wishing Eye of Ugin were back to break Eldrazi? Then play this, where 4 power on Turn 1 isn't (quite) Magical Christmas Land!
After ages of trying Vengevine decks and trying to break Bridge from Below in Modern, I found that both routes were clunky compared to devoting the Dredge deck to cheating out Prized Amalgam. This is the fastest Modern Dredge deck I've played yet.
3 Dakmor Salvage
1 Gemstone Mine
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Island
1 Mountain
Creatures
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Golgari Thug
4 Insolent Neonate
2 Hedron Crab
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Prized Amalgam
2 Fatestitcher
2 Stitchwing Skaab
4 Faithless Looting
4 Tome Scour
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Nature's Claim
2 Natural State
2 Lightning Axe
2 Dismember
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Pithing Needle
2 Swan Song
1 Conflagrate
Insolent Neonate is probably the best enabler in the deck. Cheap, blocks, discards and then Dredges, can potentially mill 6 cards on Turn 1 when you dump GGT...
...and if you're wondering "Why the heck are you playing Tome Scour?", milling 5 cards on Turn 1 would be why. This deck is so blazing fast that Hedron Crab is currently a mere 2-of because it only starts milling on Turn 2, Main Phase 1. ...And it can be dead whenever I keep a 1-land hand. (Not needing to mull hands with lands, no Dredge cards, and a Hedron Crab is nice, though.)
Milling a Narcomoeba and a Prized Amalgam in the same 5-6-card shot on Turn 1 isn't that uncommon. And yes, the Narcomoeba cheats the Prized Amalgam into play.
Like Legacy Dredge, this deck is able to keep 1-land hands, which is why I strongly prefer Dakmor Salvage over Life from the Loam. ...That and green is supposed to be a sideboard splash only. With only 2 colours that I expect to need in Game 1, the mana base is consistent and somewhat pain-free.
I'm not sure about the Stitchwing Skaab-Fatestitcher ratio. I started off with 4 Skaabs. Discarding Dredgers/Prized Amalgam/Bloodghast/other Skaabs to them is very nice, and 3 flying power for 2 mana is also great, but sometimes, 2 mana costs too much. Fatestitcher swings much worse, but it's cheaper to reanimate it and it also revives Amalgams. And in testing against Medium Naya Zoo, tapping blockers in this deck's ultra-late game wins games.
...Yup, this deck hits the ultra-late game and has to stop Dredging by Turn 8.
While well-timed Relic of Progenitus and Turn 2 Scavenging Ooze with G up has wrecked me, this deck has outraced the opponent playing Scavenging Ooze on Turn 2 on the play before.
Given the deck's speed and resiliency to removal--it races Burn and generally does well against Affinity pre-board--I feel like I'm on the verge of a Tier 2 deck. What do you all think?
Spirits
Dream Twist mainly because it has flashback, serves as mill that can also be milled. I use it in my Bridge From Below version with success. Its also two mana flashback, which you should guarantee after dredging Dakmor Salvage.
Thought Scour is nice to use instant speed. Can mill into a dredger like GGT and mill another six cards.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
I'll let you guys know if I come up with anything good. The most success I've had playing Dredge in Modern was with Life from the Loam, but I think it's too slow to use as a main plan, so I like this idea at least in theory.
First, Tome Scour just does not feel strong enough compared to Insolent Neonate or Faithless Looting. Even Lightning Axe is better. This is not a surprise to me though because Tome hasn't ever been good in Dredge.
Second, I still think we may want Bridge from Below because of the dynamic it brings to the game. It often discourages blocking and will frequently net you extra creatures because you'll have multiple Bridges in the graveyard.
Third, we could consider playing a Reanimator style late game with Unburial Rites and big creatures, but I don't know that it is necessary or worth the devotion of resources in the main deck.
Fourth, I don't know that Fatestitcher is worth the slots because you can only bring each one back once. Also Unearth can only be used at sorcery speed. Stitchwing Skaab seems superior to me in almost every way.
Finally, the proposed sideboard seems a little crazy, but I imagine it was made with a specific meta in mind and will change.
My deck aims to mull as little as possible. I can't keep a hand with Thought Scour as the only enabler. Likewise, I also cannot keep a hand with Dream Twist as the only enabler. Insolent Neonate + Golgari Thug is the minimum keepable hand I'd take (along with Hedron Crab + fetch). Those mill other Dredgers just often enough for me.
Other enablers I have considered are Burning Inquiry and Memory Sluice. Last time I tested Burning Inquiry, though, it was a bit too flaky for my tastes. Part of me suspects that Memory Sluice will also be too flaky, but part of me remembers being burned by Hedron Crab.
Eretoyi, did you find that Hedron Crab or Tome Scour was better overall? Insolent Neonate is so good that I want 8, and Faithless Looting seems like a necessary evil because I've flashed it back so often. (It's crummy at establishing a Turn 1 board presence, though.) I like Tome Scour in this deck because it costs 1 mana and hits Narcomoeba + Prized Amalgam + Dredger often enough.
I generally don't like maindeck Lightning Axe because it requires creature targets. It's great in the board, though.
The sideboard is mainly anti-hate, and I've been messing with the ratios since.
Although Neonate is better for explosive draws, Rusalka can actually run away with the game in a build like this, because it doesn't have to sacrifice itself.
In a vacuum, I think that Neonate is better, but Rusalka actually forces your opponent to have removal or a discard spell.
WUDeath&TaxesWG
Legacy
UBRGDredgeUBRG
UHigh TideU
URGLandsURG
WR Card Choice List
WUR American D&T
WUB Esper D&T
The Reserved List
Heat Maps
I had actually been thinking about Rusalka, and that might be a better choice than Axe main deck. The only thing is that it costs two mama to get your loot 1 effect whereas Neonate costs one. Maybe 4 Neonate and 2-4 Rusalka will be a good balance.
The old Modern Dredge lists used to have a lot of trouble with Rest in Peace, which almost required both a Rusalka and an Abrupt Decay. Leyline of the Void is much worse, but luckily it's also less common.
EDIT: Leyline of the Void is why Nature's Claim is preferable to Natural State out of the sideboard.
@OP: Gnaw to the Bone should probably be moved to the maindeck, because you're going to want that line of play in most matchups. It buys you a lot of time, and single-handedly wins games against burn, Ad Nauseam, and Storm.
WUDeath&TaxesWG
Legacy
UBRGDredgeUBRG
UHigh TideU
URGLandsURG
WR Card Choice List
WUR American D&T
WUB Esper D&T
The Reserved List
Heat Maps
-2 hedron crab
-2 stichwing skaab
+4 breakthrough
-2 tome scour
+2 gnaw to the bone
-4 dakmor salvage
+1 thug
+3 other lands.
dakmor is ***** dude. Also, breakthrough is extremely explosive. thoughts?
Dakmor is pretty decent when you need
to hit a land drop, especially with Bloodghast.
3 Dakmor Salvage
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Mana Confluence
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Island
1 Mountain
Creatures
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Golgari Thug
4 Insolent Neonate
2 Hedron Crab
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Prized Amalgam
1 Fatestitcher
2 Stitchwing Skaab
4 Faithless Looting
4 Tome Scour
1 Conflagrate
1 Life from the Loam
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Golgari Brownscale
2 Nature's Claim
2 Natural State
2 Lightning Axe
1 Dismember
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Pithing Needle
3 Swan Song
So far, maindeck Conflagrate has won me more games than swapping 1 Golgari Thug for Life from the Loam has lost. (Turns out that Insolent Neonate + Golgari Thug is a pretty shaky keep that's lost me games because it doesn't mill Dredgers often enough, so LftL instead of Thug gives me a good reason to mull.) I'm still trying to figure out how many games the new mana base has won vs. lost for me, but Conflagrate kicks aggro's butt (I hit 1 Goblin Guide and 2 Monastery Swiftspear with the same Conflagrate in testing once), so the increased fetching and shocking pays off against aggro. I actually mainly started testing Conflagrate because I wasn't getting Turn 3-4 kills often enough, and that really showed when Ad Nauseam kept kicking my butt pre-board.
The weirdest thing Conflagrate has done so far is kill Elesh Norn.
Lucky you, I extracted Magus_of_the_Moon's latest list:
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Steam Vents
2 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Mountain
Creatures
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Insolate Neonate
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stitchwing Skaab
2 Vengeful Pharaoh
4 Faithless Looting
4 Dangerous Wager
2 Life from the Loam
1 Rally the Peasants
3 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Natural State
3 Lightning Axe
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Conflagrate
2 Gnaw to the Bone
It's times like this when I miss 4 Stitchwing Skaab Day.
Part of me's ambivalent about Dangerous Wager and Rally the Peasants in here. Dangerous Wager is like Hedron Crab in that both cards need 2 lands in hand in order to make that hand keepable, but Dangerous Wager only gets going on Turn 2, Main Phase 1, Post-Land Drop, while Hedron Crab gets going on Turn 2, Main Phase 1, Pre-Land Drop (important when Bloodghast and Prized Amalgam is in the yard). Also, Dangerous Wager makes fewer hands keepable because it also needs a Dredger in hand. Rally the Peasants is like my maindeck Conflagrate, but I suspect it's less likely to fire off on Turn 3 in his deck (Magus_of_the_Moon is Sebastian Stückl) than Conflagrate will in mine, even though he runs more lands that ETB untapped than me, because he doesn't run Dakmor Salvage. Conflagrate also donks opponents to 10 or less life (thus giving Bloodghasts haste), discards cards, and kills opposing threats.
I disagree with Vengeful Pharaoh fairly strongly because I've found that I need more than 12 enablers for consistency reasons. I have a favourable pre-board match-up against Affinity because Narcomoeba is the king of blockers against them. Admittedly, I haven't tested against Infect yet.
I tried Drowned Rusalka. When it worked, it was really powerful, but killing my own summoning sick guys felt slightly awkward, and too many times, I tapped out of blue mana to play Drowned Rusalka on Turn 2 or later (i.e. it died for no value pretty promptly). Pre-board, I suspect Drowned Rusalka is a bit to the win-more side. It's probably more powerful post-board, though, but Hedron Crab makes more hands keepable (see my Dangerous Wager logic)...
I'd rather maindeck Conflagrate because it wins damage races, kills guys, and discards cards.
Those builds had better be able to hit 1UU consistently. For triggering Prized Amalgam (and Gravecrawler in other builds), I think Stitchwing Skaab is cheaper.
On Dakmor Salvage in my build:
I've found that Dakmor Salvage is pretty good. It's a Turn 2 land drop for Bloodghast, it bumps me to 2 mana for Stitchwing Skaab or 3 mana for Faithless Looting's Flashback...I've also had bad enough luck with enablers that I've Dredged it on Turn 2's draw phase several times because I had no other options. My favourite Dakmor Salvage trick is flashing back Looting on Turn 4, Dredging a fatter Dredger and then a Salvage, then playing Salvage as my land drop for the turn and reanimating Bloodghasts.
I will say, I'm a huge advocate for Rally the Peasants. When you mill out 4-5 bodies as early as turn 3, it basically becomes the same thing as dread return on Flame-Kin Zealot. I've won a few matches as early as turn 3 with this.
One of the small differences is i'm not playing tome scour, I'm playing 4x Hedron Crab, and 2 more lands (I'm at 21). This enables me to use crab to its full extent, while also allowing the easy alpha strike with Rally.
4x Bloodghast
4x Insolent Neonate
4x Llanowar Mentor
4x Narcomoeba
4x Stinkweed Imp
4x Golgari Grave-Troll
4x Prized Amalgam
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
4x Faithless Looting
3x Life from the Loam
2x Zombie Infestation
2x Unburial Rites
2x Mana Confluence
4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Copperline Gorge
4x Dakmor Salvage
Sideboard
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Unburial Rites
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
2x Ray of Revelation
1x Leyline of the Void
1x Ancient Grudge
2x Conflagurate
2x Dark Blast
3x Gnaw to the Bone
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Overall I think this deck is powerful, I plan on making some changes to the main deck and the board because I wasn't happy with some of the cards.
My first fix is to move Elesh Norn to the main and to move Iona to the board, every match I played last night I wanted Elesh Norn in instead of Iona.
Second change I plan on making is cutting Zombie Infestation completely, I don't know if I want to replace it with a 3rd Unburial Rites and just leave all 3 heavy hitters in the deck or if I want to move some Gnaw to the Bones into the main deck. I'm gonna try it both ways and see which is better.
I'd like to fit in more Ancient Grudge as well, the list I found had 2 in it but I could on locate one copy of mine so I replaced the second copy with a leyline(which was helpful) so I think if we move Gnaw/Rites to the main then we replace them with Grudges.
My matches last night were :
Griselbrand Shoal (2-0) - W
Infect (1-2) - L
G/W Hatebears (2-0) - W
Pili-Pala Combo - (1-2) - L
In the infect match I missed two triggers they cost me game 1, after figuring that out I didn't let the trigger slide again for the night.
Against the combo deck he just drew the nuts in game 3 and put me on 3 relics right away so we went to play the midrange game and just just drew combo way too quickly. This matchup made me want more Grudges.
The changes I made to the list before the FNM were :
1. move Elesh Norn to the main deck, move Iona to the board
2. move Zombie Infestation to the board, move 2x Gnaw to the Bone to the main.
My matchups tonight were
Jeskai Control (2-1) - W
Boggles (2-1) - W
Kiki Chord (2-1) - W
BW Hatebears (0-2) - L
After playing another event with the previous list I posted, I found out some changes that I need to make to the list. This is the next list I'm going to try tomorrow at another weekly event if I get the chance to go to it otherwise I'll be playing this next Wednesday.
4x Bloodghast
4x Insolent Neonate
2x Stitchwing Skaab
4x Narcomoeba
4x Stinkweed Imp
4x Golgari Grave-Troll
4x Prized Amalgam
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4x Faithless Looting
3x Life from the Loam
2x Gnaw to the Bone
2x Unburial Rites
2x Lightning Axe
2x Mana Confluence
4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Copperline Gorge
4x Dakmor Salvage
Sideboard
1x Unburial Rites
1x Vengeful Pharaoh
3x Ray of Revelation
2x Leyline of the Void
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Dark Blast
1x Gnaw to the Bone
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Lightning Axe
I played another event on Saturday and ended up taking 1st place in the event with my updated list in the previous post.
My rounds were :
Infect (2-0) - W
Suicide Zoo (2-1) - W
G/R Tron (2-0) - W
In the Tron matchup I didn't really see the need for GQ style effects because I just went faster than him, but I also can see the argument for it, as GQ can also help us in the matchup as well.