MTG Salvation

The Reduce/Rubble guy from top 32 of Copenhagen is in top 32 at Birmingham. I wonder if he's still playing my favorite aftermath card.

Here's where I landed with Claim//Fame Rakdos Goblins build, for those interested. I was able to hold a 60% win rate on Modo, going literally 60% every league for five 3-2s in a row. The height of the winrate is purely a function of how good the deck is against Grixis Death's Shadow, UW Control, and Burn, to each of which I lost one match out of ten or greater in the long run (not just the past 25 matches)



There is little that feels better than
T1 Goblin Guide, swing for 2
T2 War Marshal, swing for 2
T3 Don't pay echo, Claim War Marshal, Whack, swing for 13
Against so many decks, that's game. This is forgetting simple Devil, Claim Devil, Grenade and chip in shenanigans.

If you guys can figure out the Eldrazi Tron match (people that suggest Blood Moon need not apply), Storm, and the RG Valakut match, then you'll really be on to a contender. As it is, those are common, and those are tough.

Threw this list into a competitive league for a 4-1 today.


deck credit goes to Mashmalovsky on modo.

Basically I'm here to talk about my boarding choices and ask you guys what you think since I'm fresh to the deck.

RD 1 2-0 vs Stompy - 2 Cartouche of Solidarity, +1 Path to Exile, +1 Spirit Link
Not sure why I wanted Path here... the aura was probably better. My creatures are just better than his.

RD 2 2-0 vs UW Control - 1 Spirit Link, -2 Path to Exile, -1 Cartouche of Solidarity
+2 Gaddock Teeg, +2 Suppression Field
I saw both Gideons game 1, so I wanted Field, and Teeg shuts down Cryptic, Verdict, and Planeswalkers
I considered Mana Tithe for game 3 if I was on the play, and I would've boarded out another Cartouche.

RD 3 1-2 vs Counters Company
+1 Path, +2 Suppression Field, +2 Gaddock Teeg, -1 Spirit Link, -2 Gladecover Scout, -1 Spider Umbra, -1 Cartouche

RD 4 2-0 vs GW Tron
-2 Path, -1 Gladecover Scout,-1 Spirit Link, +2 Teeg, +2 Suppression Field
Here I thought where Stony Silence would work (Maps, Stone) Suppression Field would give me the time I needed for the two cards to be equal, but Field works against Karn and Ugin as well.

RD 5 2-1 Storm
+2 Teeg, +2 Rest in Peace, -1 Spirit Link, -1 Cartouche, -2 Gladecover Scout
This match I went in hard on alternative plans like Dryad Arbor fetch turn 1 and Spiritdancer, and it was good to practice these lines against the non-interactive decks.

I don't particularly want to argue whether Leyline is needed. I get that it probably is. But with the 75 as is, were my decisions correct in these matchups?

Well, prized amalgams sit in your graveyard until another creature enters. If you fear Ugin, Anger of the Gods, Hallowed Burial, or some other non-graveyard sweeper (terminus, I guess?), then you let them sit there, saying 'no' to narcomoeba triggers. Then on your opponent's second main phase, when you are ready to alpha strike, you activate haunted dead or activate a fetchland to trigger Bloodghast. You may lose the haunted dead, the token, and/or the Bloodghasts, but the prized amalgams enter at the end of turn phase, when sorceries and planeswalkers cannot be cast.

Edit: remember, though, that these matchups also have relics and Rest In Peace. You have to get some pressure down, about seven power I prefer, and then sandbag the rest.

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=16409&d=301341&f=MO
You guys got a post on mtgtop8!

Eh, I've gotten trophies with 0-4 Neonates. I can't do the probability math to examine whether it is better than Horn. You would have to examine the likelihood of having neonate coupled with thug or imp and the top 4-5 cards having a dredger versus having neonate and only blast, loam, or salvage. Gnaw to the bone, blocks, etc. further complicate the issue. I like horn, but it isn't a hill for me to die on.

Edit: it's shortcut math, but think of it this way: there are three dredgers that tie with neonate if you have them in the same opener: thugs. There are four that are better in the same open: imps. There are 6-7 dredgers that are worse: blasts, loans, and salvages. Further, here are hands without dredgers. Whenever someone does the math, it will be hard to say that neonate is consistently better purely in terms of getting the engine going. Like I said before, blocking and gnaw make things more complicated.

Quote from lvg »

Drinkard, what is your current list?

i haven't nailed one down since driven was released. I like sodek's and lantern's (I a man partial to 2 blood crypt and 2 gemstone mine, and I can't imagine <4 reunion) even though, like you, I want haunted dead in there, perhaps even more so because of driven. I would start with sodek's and move pharaoh out altogether, playing 3 driven in side and haunted dead main, then go from there.

Quote from daviusminimus »

Hey Guys,
Anyone jamming games at the minute? I'm just not getting results AT ALL at present. I'm really having to fight for 3-2s, and even when I managed a 4-1, I followed it with a 1-4. Is the meta just hostile, or is the deck just not well placed - or is there something else at play (e.g me). Has anyone developed their lists, and has anyone had any mild success at all?

a lot of my friends and I are saying exactly each of these sentiments, but with different lists. I think the issue is that modern has so much going on right now that it is hard to tune and get better, or even reliable results.

My biggest surprise here, besides dodging storm and ad nauseam, is the 3-0, 6-0 record against counters company. Post-board, axes and brutalities make things easier, but I have found it to be 50/50 or slightly unfavored personally. Great event for you, congrats.

Re: sodek, concerning whether things can be good now for dredge players on modo. I don't think so yet.

Someone on Reddit posted all the modern challenge decks with 5-2 records are better. Here is the list:

10,6% UBx Shadow
10,6% Uxx Control
7,2% RG-Valakut
6,8% Burn
5,6% Affinity
5,6% E-Tron
5,5% BGx
4,4% Storm
4,3% Bant Eldrazi
3,5% Lantern
3,4% Tron
3,2% BW Drazi
2,5% BGx Shadow
2,5% Dredge
2,5% Living End
1,8% DnT
1,5% Amulet Titan
1,5% BW Pox
1,3% Rx Moon
1,3% Merfolk
1,2% Humans
1,2% Knightfall
1,2% Goblins (8 Whack)
1,2% WB Tokens
1,2% Ad Naus

8,4% Other

While the top 20% are favorable matchups, I would say that there are problems, too.
The first is that 35% of those matchups are hard to strongly unfavored.
The second is that maindeck hate is growing in ways not represented on the charts: Titan, Amulet, all forms of Tron, the BW decks, etc.
finally, because the challenges have been going on a while, the progressing uptick of decks like BW eldrazi, Smallpox, and a few others is probably hidden and shows a smaller percentage than the amount you can expect to face them in leagues. Couple these things with the deck occasionally collapsing on itself, and on mtgo, times for dredge are bad.

I have been playing, of all things, 8-whack goblins to a better record the past four weeks than with dredge.

I like all of that except for the bone pickers and dragon skull summit. Can you explain those choices?

Anyone still on Borderposts? I want to make a deck for my nephew, and I am trying to give him one without fetchlands. I thought in the current meta, a Borderposts + basics list with As Foretold and some other spicy cards like Bontu's Last Reckoning and Oketra's Last Mercy could jump in.

Got a 5-0 today! Beat U Tron and FOUR archetypes of Death's Shadow, the very reason (besides UW Control) that I registered Goblins in a league. I just used mashmalovsky's list from mtggoldfish because he is high on the trophy leaderboard on MTGO. I'm really liking where Goblins sit in the metagame right now!!

EDIT: Followed it up with a 4-1, losing only to Wafo-Tapa (mrcafouillette) on Jeskai Control. Well, if I'm gonna lose, let it be to that player on that deck.

Thanks guys. If I were only concerned with beating uw control, then I would play dredge for sure. I think I will stick with ad nauseam, though, because I have to beat valakut decks as well.

So what are BAD match-ups for this deck? I am trying to attack my meta, and I think I will try Ad nauseam. There is minimal discard, a lot of jeskai, this, tron, and r/g valakut decks. I wanted to ask how the ad nauseam matchup is here before committing, and if you guys are crushing that combo, what is something you are 40% or under against?

Thanks.