congratulations on the finish, piloting dredge all day is no easy task.
I have had quite a lot of trouble against the fast combo decks, including kci, and figured the leylines may be able to help. How do you sideboard against kci and hollowed one with your configuration?
Thanks! The fast combo decks are tough, definitely have been seeing a sub 50% winrate against them.
For KCI I went +3 leylines, +2 ancient grudge, +1 driven/despair, -2 cathartic, -1 darkblast, -1 dakmor salvage, -1 conflagrate. In the 3rd swiss round I took game 1 with a fast t4 kill on the play, lost game 2 on t3 through an ancient grudge, and then won game 3 off the back of leyline and he didn't have the nature's claim for it. In the semis I lost game 1 on t3 when I had him at 8 with lethal on board. I would've won had I dredged over a driven/despair but no such luck. Game 2 I mulled to 5 against his 7 and kept 2 lands, leyline, neonate, and cathartic. He ended up having the nature's claim for the leyline and then had redundant KCIs and scrap trawlers to fight through ancient grudge and conflagrate.
Hollow One isn't too bad I've found. I think we're favoured in game 1, most of the time I take it unless they have a nutty hand like double hollow one on t2 or flameblade into t2 hollow one + gurmag angler. The plus side is once you have a dredger in the graveyard they can't cast burning inquiry, so you give them 4 dead draws. Post board I go with +3 leylines, +2 lightning axe, -2 neonate, -1 cathartic, -1 darkblast, -1 driven/despair. I'm not sold on ancient grudge either but I've heard arguments for it. I don't think it's super important to mull for leyline in this matchup since they can still play through it with adepts and hollow ones, so I tend to keep hands that don't have leyline but also play fast if they also don't have leyline. I've played the matchup where both players start with leyline and it's real bad.
Re: Leylines, I've been running 3 and they typically give you a chance in harder matchups like KCI, grishoalbrand, or hollow one if you face those quite a bit. They're also good since dredge can mull aggressively for them and not suffer as much as say jund or living end would.
I've tried nihil spellbomb since it's easy to cast and draws a card, but found it's too easy to play around and you can't really afford to hold up a mana to draw/dredge. Cards like rakdos charm and surgical also aren't great since it's hard to reliably draw them.
Matchups were:
round 1: Faeries 2-1
round 2: Hollow One 2-1 (This was the guy who came 2nd in the event)
round 3: KCI Combo 2-1
round 4: Blue Moon 2-0
round 5: Affinity 2-0
round 6: Mardu Pyromancer 2-0
round 7: Grixis Death's Shadow 2-0 (I could've drawn here but I didn't know how to convince my opponent to draw without making it seem like collusion so we just played it out)
round 8: ID with the guy who made top 8 on Humans.
Finished 1st after the swiss which was awesome, I think being on the play was super important based on the matchups in the top 8.
As for running bridge in a more traditional dredge deck, I think without cabal therapy or other easy ways to make zombies it's just too unreliable. When dredge got very popular with the pros back when shadows over innistrad came out most pros that picked up the deck found bridge from below + greater gargadon or viscera seer to be too unreliable and often win more. That was also when the deck had GGT (rip sweet prince).
Pretty happy with the performance of the deck, though I would take out the Memory's Journey for an abrupt decay or destructive rev.
Matchups:
Round 1 - Jund
Game 1
Mulled to 6 and kept a 2 lander with a faithless looting on the draw, scryed mom-hug to the top. He fetch-shocks thoughtsiezes and takes faithless, then plays a t2 bob. I turn 2 mom-hug and hit some jellys and amalgams and a conflagrate, and after he takes 2 off bob and terminates and bolts 2 amalgams, I make a land drop, return a ghast and the zombies, and conflagrate him below 10 and kill the bob.
Boarded in lightning axe for goyfs/scooze and collective brutality for angers
Game 2
Kept an alright 7 card hand, he leads with inquisition into bob into goyf, then just burns me out before I can get the engine going
Game 3
Mulled to 6 and kept a gooder with faithless and 2 reunions. Start off strong and get the dredge engine going, but hit only conflagrates and amalgams for a few turns. I just kept dredging until he played a scooze with 2 green open and ate some amalgams. After loaming and killing his scooze, he plays 2 goyfs and I continue to whiff on jellyfish. After bolting me to death, I look and see all 4 narcomoebas in the last 10 cards of the deck!
0-1
Round 2 - Abzan Coco
Game 1
Lost the die roll and we both mull to 6. He starts on breeding pool into heirarch, and I think infect. When i go copperline into looting he lets out an exasperated sigh. T2 he plays more dorks and a tapped godless shrine so, and I realize he's on Abzan. I conflagrate his dorks, make some ghasts, and he never hits his 2nd land before getting dredged out.
Boarded in lightning axe assuming infinite combo, darkblasts for dorks, and memory's journey because I wanted to justify having that card in my board...
Game 2
Kept a sketchy 1 lander on a mull to 6 and just never got there. He shows me the infinite life combo and I scoop and we go to G3
Game 3
Mull to 6 again, this time with plenty of land and gas. He stumbles on land and plays out a noble on t1 and 2 more on t2, and I hit a conflagrate on my turn 3 and blow him out of the water, then get there with ghasts and jellys. He says that he wasn't expected dredge at all, and we had a talk about how hopefully graveyard hate stays away for awhile.
1-1
Round 3 - Bant Eldrazi
Game 1
Lose the die roll, he mulls to 6 and I mull to 5. He starts on fetch into temple garden and plays an ancient stirrings, finding eldrazi temple. I go copperline gorge into looting, and he laughs and says 'really? dredge?'. I draw some lands off the looting, discard some dredgers and get ready to go to eldrazi town. He plays a skyspawner off his temple and temple, which we realized later he couldn't had done, and I make a bunch of dudes on t2. He plays a wastes, sacs his scion and plays a smasher, putting me to 15 while a narcomoeba keeps the skyspawner at bay. Next turn he plays a land, paths an amalgam, swings for 5. Next turn he plays displacer, hits for 5 and passes. Meanwhile I've been growing my jelly/ghast/amalgam army and chipping away with ghasts. I untap, conflagrate him to 10 and blow up his blockers, then swing for lethal.
Boarded in lightning axe and pharaoh, and gnaw to the bone
Game 2
We both mull to 6, he plays a shock tapped and passes. I do dredge things for a couple turns while he plays his eldrazi temple and does nothing. Turns out he kept a 2 lander with explosives and thoughtknots, hoping to hit the 3rd land but never did. I crush him easily and we chat about how much eldrazi and tron are in the room.
2-1
Round 4 - GR Tron
Game 1
Won the die roll, kept a sick hand with neonate, 2 faithless, 2 land, thug and loam. Killed him on t4 with scourge devil before he could do a thing.
Boarded in grudges and thoughtseize.
Game 2
Kept a not terrible hand with a looting and a thoughtsieze in it. He mulls to 6 and starts on grove into grafdiggers cage. I cast looting on t1, find a neonate and a steam vents, and go to work on the bad beatdown plan. T2 he plays another grove, casts a stirrings and finds a chromatic sphere, then plays it and passes. I play the neonate, and thoughtsieze to see what he kept. He shows me karn, ugin, and another sphere. Well, I guess mulling to gravyard hate works. I take the sphere and hope that I can get there before he casts either walker. I slowly beatdown for a few turns as he chains spheres into stars and stirrings, and then finds a firespout and wipes my board. Eventually he gets tron, casts ugin, and I accept defeat.
Game 3
He mulls to 5, and I keep a solid 7 card hand. I do dredge things, he doesn't play a cage turn 1, and I kill him swiftly. We chatted after about his japanese antiquities urza lands and altered foil karns (they had sombreros and maracas!)
3-1
Round 5 - Rug delver with hooting mandrills
Game 1
Mull to 6, kept an okay hand and lost the die roll. He starts with misty and passes. I figure he has spell pierce up and so I opt to play a neonate instead of looting. He fetch-shocks and plays stubborn denial!. Next turn he plays a thoughtscour on himself, fetches for a forest and then plays a hooting mandrills, seems good. I proceed to do dredge things after drawing another looting, and then we race between 2 ghasts and a 4/4 trample. The game ended when he attacked and I brought out haunted dead to block an extra damage of the hooting mandrills so he couldn't snap tarfire me to death, and then kill him on the crackback while sitting at 3 life.
Boarded in lightning axe, memory's journey, pharaoh, and some brutalities since I figured that he had delver of secrets and angers.
Game 2
He mulls to 5 and starts with land delver of secrets. I go for the t1 looting into t2 brutality, discarding his anger of the gods, killing his unflipped delver, and draining some life. That was pretty well the game, and he was a little salty about having to face dredge.
4-1
Round 6 - Mono-white death and taxes
Game 1
This is not a deck I expected. He wins the die roll, we both keep 7, and he leads with ghost quarter into aether vial. I do dredge things, he vials a throbbing inspector and cracks his clue, I do more dredge things, he vials in a leonin arbiter, plays another GQ, and then double strip mines me and paths an amalgam. Holy value batman. I manage to stem the bleeding with dakmor salvage, and stall the board out while he tries to topdeck gas. I start drawing normally, and it takes 3 turns before I hit a land, then conflagrate his board and that was the game.
Boarded - Grudge, collective brutality, explosives, and thoughtsieze.
Game 2
Mulled to 6, he kept his 7. He didn't have the GQ/arbiter combo, but he had a fast beatdown start with thalia, which is surprisingly good against us. I was stuck on 2 lands and couldn't find a loam for a while, but I conflagrate his board and we both just topdeck for a bit. I finally hit a loam, but it's off of a faithless looting so I pass the turn. He topdecks grafdiggers cage, slams it and passes. I start drawing normally, but his beatdown plan is much better so he gets there while I stare at the 2 grudges already in my graveyard...
Game 3
Kept a good 7, knowing he could have Rip. I go neonate on t1, make sure there's no cage, then dredge a stinky. Hit 5 lands, untap draw a looting, then go double looting to try hit amalgams and jellys, but don't. He plays t2 rip, and that was game over. The guy was really nice, and shows me 2 cage, 3 rips, and 2 surgicals that he boarded in xD.
4-2
Round 7 - Eldrazi Tron
Game 1
This is where I realized I was exhausted. I accidentally drew 8 cards while we waited for the round to start, so we call the judge over and he says I can either let my opponent select a card and put it on the bottom of my deck or I can immediately mull to 6. I opt to mull, keep a good 6 and hoped he wasn't on jund. He starts with tower into map, so I'm hopeful. T2 he plays an eldrazi temple and cracks map to find another eldrazi temple, and I quickly realize what the scoop is. He plays a chalice on 1, then dismembers an amalgam and warping wails a bloodghast, but I killed him while at 4 with a scourge devil from 14.
Boarded in grudge, explosives, thoughtsieze, and pharaoh. I think I may have over boarded this game, probably didn't need to put in explosives or pharaoh but after 7 rounds of magic I was ready for a break.
Game 2
He has a good start with t2 thoughtknot, t3 smasher, t4 walking ballista, t5 nulamog. Yea, can't beat that.
Game 3
He mulls to 6 but once again has a good start, set up to have tron on t3. I do dredge things and make some ghasts and amalgams and start to try getting in there. T3 he dismembers an amalgam, plays a chalice on 1 and a smasher, seems good. I dredge into pharaoh and grudge, grudge the chalice and he calls a judge saying it should be countered. We move on, he hits for 5 and plays a pithing needle naming stinkweed imp. I proceed to dredge stinkweed imp and we have another chat with the judge, who is now watching the game. I cast stinkweed imp to try and stop his smasher, then realize that I missed the pharaoh trigger, and play the explosives on 0 and keep up 2 in case he plays a ballista. He topdecks another smasher, and I take 8, go to 4 and kill both of them, and he rereads smasher to understand that I don't need to discard for the pharaoh ability. I put him to 6 with ghasts and a conflagrate, then pass. He topdecks walking ballista, casts it for 4 and I extend the hand. Had I not missed the trigger, I would've won! Always remember your triggers folks.
4-3
Overall I was just happy to be playing modern, and not seeing as much graveyard hate anymore for the most part. I figured I had to win out to make prizing, so I dropped and played legacy side events instead (didn't do so hot there either, but I picked up some tix and helped my friend get a box for profit). Maindeck felt solid, haunted dead and scourge devil typically get sided out but are sick in the main for the surprise kill or blocker. Memory's journey was useless, and I didn't see much to use darkblast for now that infect is no longer at the top tables. All day all around me was delver, eldrazi, tron, and valakut decks. Looking around day 2 I saw lots of eldrazi, death shadow jund, and valakut. I only talked with one other guy playing dredge, not sure if he was the one who top 32d but I saw him playing day 2.
I find thoughtsieze to be the best anti-hate on the play, since it hits everything except leyline. As for disrupting shoal, all you can pitch to it is a narcomoeba or another shoal, or izzet charms if you're going the blue route. Seems like it just dilutes the gameplan and relies on a situation that you don't want to happen often (having a narc in hand). On the draw against rip, i just hope they don't have it on t2 or mulled hard to it and kept a poor hand. If you have a claim, you can just claim the rip and hope to get the engine going again. I've found it best just to forgo nature's claims and take the losses that come from leylines and t2 rips. Affinity doesn't board to beat shatterstorm and stony silence, so why should we?
From gatherer:
Prized Amalgam’s ability triggers only if it’s in your graveyard immediately after a creature enters the battlefield from your graveyard or you cast a creature from your graveyard. A Prized Amalgam that’s already on the battlefield won’t be returned at the beginning of the next end step if it’s put into your graveyard later.
Since the prized amalgams with delayed triggers have switched zones, they are considered "new" prized amalgams that won't have any delayed triggers attached to them. Similar to bouncing a karn that has exiled stuff, if they restart the game with that karn, they won't get the cards they exiled with him before he was bounced.
This is the most applicable rule I could find:
603.7c A delayed triggered ability that refers to a particular object still affects it even if the object changes characteristics. However, if that object is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at the time the delayed triggered ability resolves, the ability won’t affect it. (Note that if that object left that zone and then returned, it’s a new object and thus won’t be affected. See rule 400.7.)
Also went 4-0 at a local modern event last night!
R1-B/G Tron with Garruk Apex Predator 2-0
R2-Elves 2-1
R3-Infect 2-1
R4-Ad Nauseam with Glittering Wish 2-0
Rounds 1 & 4 were a couple neat brews but I just crushed them. Conflagrate and Darkblast were all-stars against elves and infect as usual. Shriekhorn was atrocious every time I saw it, but at least it gives me something to board out every round...Collective brutality also overperformed, really liking the card over tormenting voice.
Good call on trimming dredgers and narcos instead of enablers, I feel like I need to put as much pressure as possible to try and stop them from assembling the combo. I'm definitely going to trim the memory's journeys to 1, it was never really relevant even when I did see it since they could scooze it away. Still seems like a card that may come in handy for other matchups though.
From my testing, gargadon and bridge take up too many slots and it's hard to fit in enough enablers to get consistent explosive starts. Also without something like cabal therapy like in legacy dredge, you don't have much in terms of interaction and get hit hard by board wipes.
Dangerous Wager is probably my favourite enabler, though 2 seems like the right number since multiples are really awkward, and sometimes I want to keep lightning axes or neonates in hand. Burning inquiry is really good when it's good, but really awful when it's not, hence why I've got it as a one-of. Tormenting voice is probably the best 2 mana enabler, but I trimmed one to make room for a MD lightning axe since g1 interaction is pretty important.
Memory's Journey is a card that I want to be good, but it's always just mediocre. I've tried noxious revival, but memory's journey does the same thing from the graveyard, which is more important than being able to cast for free from hand. The forest is there to bring in against decks that would have blood moon or spreading seas since getting caught without a green source for life from the loam is really terrible. The gemstone mines and mana confluence are there instead of more fastlands or fetches just to give that small ability to cast rally or amalgams from hand.
Round 1: Abzan Co.
Took game one by winning the die roll, going wide and darkblasting every viscera seer i saw. Game 2 he had a t1 heirarch, t2 scooze that pretty well stopped me from dredging at all. I landed a Stinkweed Imp which stopped him from attacking but he eventually just found the combo pieces. Game 3 he had the same start, but I had lightning axe for his scooze, pitching a narco to get eaten by scooze instead of a dredger hoping that I'd find some sort of discard outlet for the gravetroll in my hand. I didn't, and he found another scooze and beat me down just as time in the round was called.
Round 2: Abzan Co.
Won the die roll again, and had a fast start with 2 bloodghast and 2 prized on t2. He pathed a prized, and then landed a scavenging ooze but it was too late and I went over with rally the peasants and some narcos. G2 he had birds into t2 scooze with a green open to eat my life from the loam. t3 he had anafenza and birds, then t4 coco for a couple finks and just went wide with bolstered creatures. G3 he kept his 7, and I mulled to 4 and kept stomping ground, neonate, faithless looting, and stinkweed imp. Dredged pretty well and had a bunch of narcos bloodghasts and amalgams by t3, and a rally in the yard. On t4 attack threatening lethal, but he chords for orzhov pontif and chump blocks to stay alive. t5 recur hasty bloodghasts, threaten lethal again, but he cocos and hits finks and melira with a seer on board. Thought the game was pretty close despite mulling to 4.
Round 3: Fish
Once again won the die roll, we both mulled to 6. I had a good start with faithless and neonates on the first few turns, meanwhile he just went t1 island, t2 spreading seas, t3 vial and silvergill adept. I killed him t4 with a rally. G2 I had a good start, but he did as well with t1 vial, t2 lord which I lightning axe, t3 meerow reejery. On my t3 I dredged with a flashblacked faithless looting and hit some narcos and amalgams, with a rally and conflagrate in the yard. His turn, he ticks vial up to 4, puts in a master of waves, then plays relic of progenitus and cracks it. He won the next turn with a bunch of elementals. G3 I went t1 looting, binning grave-troll and conflagrate. t2 I dredged 3 bloodghasts, played another looting, discarded conflagrate and amalgam, then played a land to put 9 power on board. t3 dredged a rally, played a third land for turn and killed him xD. Probably the most nutty draw of the day.
Round 4: Tron
Based on testing, this matchup is entirly dependant on them having t4 ugin. G1 I won the die roll again, and got him on t4 with a rally while he cracked rocks looking for tron lands. G2 I had a good start, and he didn't play a tron land until t3, where he played a firespout to wipe my board. I dredged loam, cast it, played a land and got them all back and passed turn. He played a sanctum of ugin and some more rocks, and then I killed him next turn with a loam and conflagrate after attacks. Too easy.
Round 5: Scapeshift
Looked like the prismatic omen version. Won the die roll (my lucky day) and had a fast start with looting and loam t1 & 2 getting some ghasts and narcos in play. He went t1 valakut, t2 misty pass. He fetch-shocked and remanded a flashbacked looting and I swung in for 6. He went flooded grove, explore, then prismatic omen. I dredged into a rally and swung for 12 for the win. G2 I stumbled a bit after mulling to 5, meanwhile he got up to 6 lands with explores and tribe-elders. I got a few amalgams into play, and could've got him t6 with rally and conflagrate, but he anger of the gods and then scapeshifted the next turn. G3 I had a good start and he didn't have anger, so it played out like G1.
Board: +3 nature's claim, -1 lightning axe, -1 darkblast, -1 tormenting voice
note: I don't like gnaw to the bone against the prismatic omen versions since they can do a boatload of damage with even 6 lands and fetches, so I feel it just delays the inevitable.
3-2
Round 6: Abzan Co. #3
Not much to say, lost the die roll and mulled to 5. He had infinite life by t4 g1, g2 I mulled to 5 and he had t2 scooze. Tough to beat.
Prizing went to top 32, and I figured with tiebreakers I wouldn't make that at x-3 so I dropped. Coming in I didn't think abzan company was a great matchup, but turn 2 scavenging ooze with an open green is tough to beat without a very solid hand. Definitely need to do more testing with that matchup, and maybe rethink how I sideboard for it.
I think the gemstone mine/mana confluences are okay. I feel that as long as all non-dakmor salvage lands get red mana then it's hard to get manascrewed. That said, I'd probably switch them out for a couple more fetches, and then a steam vents and another copperline gorge, and just forget about trying to cast rally the peasants if it's in my hand.
Lastly, haunted dead seems like the best creature with that effect to come out of eldritch moon/shadows. 2 mana to make a 1/1 flyer/blocker from the yard and trigger amalgams at instant speed seems good enough to maybe include it as a one-of at least.
Thanks! The fast combo decks are tough, definitely have been seeing a sub 50% winrate against them.
For KCI I went +3 leylines, +2 ancient grudge, +1 driven/despair, -2 cathartic, -1 darkblast, -1 dakmor salvage, -1 conflagrate. In the 3rd swiss round I took game 1 with a fast t4 kill on the play, lost game 2 on t3 through an ancient grudge, and then won game 3 off the back of leyline and he didn't have the nature's claim for it. In the semis I lost game 1 on t3 when I had him at 8 with lethal on board. I would've won had I dredged over a driven/despair but no such luck. Game 2 I mulled to 5 against his 7 and kept 2 lands, leyline, neonate, and cathartic. He ended up having the nature's claim for the leyline and then had redundant KCIs and scrap trawlers to fight through ancient grudge and conflagrate.
Hollow One isn't too bad I've found. I think we're favoured in game 1, most of the time I take it unless they have a nutty hand like double hollow one on t2 or flameblade into t2 hollow one + gurmag angler. The plus side is once you have a dredger in the graveyard they can't cast burning inquiry, so you give them 4 dead draws. Post board I go with +3 leylines, +2 lightning axe, -2 neonate, -1 cathartic, -1 darkblast, -1 driven/despair. I'm not sold on ancient grudge either but I've heard arguments for it. I don't think it's super important to mull for leyline in this matchup since they can still play through it with adepts and hollow ones, so I tend to keep hands that don't have leyline but also play fast if they also don't have leyline. I've played the matchup where both players start with leyline and it's real bad.
I've tried nihil spellbomb since it's easy to cast and draws a card, but found it's too easy to play around and you can't really afford to hold up a mana to draw/dredge. Cards like rakdos charm and surgical also aren't great since it's hard to reliably draw them.
Also, I recently played in the Face to Face Edmonton Open in Red Deer, AB and came 4th! Here's a link to the list: http://f2fseries.facetofacegames.com/red-deer-open-may-12th-2018/
Matchups were:
round 1: Faeries 2-1
round 2: Hollow One 2-1 (This was the guy who came 2nd in the event)
round 3: KCI Combo 2-1
round 4: Blue Moon 2-0
round 5: Affinity 2-0
round 6: Mardu Pyromancer 2-0
round 7: Grixis Death's Shadow 2-0 (I could've drawn here but I didn't know how to convince my opponent to draw without making it seem like collusion so we just played it out)
round 8: ID with the guy who made top 8 on Humans.
Finished 1st after the swiss which was awesome, I think being on the play was super important based on the matchups in the top 8.
Quarter-finals: Infect 2-1
Semi-finals: KCI 0-2
As for running bridge in a more traditional dredge deck, I think without cabal therapy or other easy ways to make zombies it's just too unreliable. When dredge got very popular with the pros back when shadows over innistrad came out most pros that picked up the deck found bridge from below + greater gargadon or viscera seer to be too unreliable and often win more. That was also when the deck had GGT (rip sweet prince).
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Faithless Looting
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoeba
3 Life from the Loam
3 Conflagrate
1 Scourge Devil
1 Haunted Dead
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Copperline Gorge
3 Stomping Ground
2 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
3 Mountain
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Collective Brutality
2 Darkblast
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Lightning Axe
1 Memory's Journey
2 Thoughtsieze
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
Pretty happy with the performance of the deck, though I would take out the Memory's Journey for an abrupt decay or destructive rev.
Matchups:
Round 1 - Jund
Game 1
Mulled to 6 and kept a 2 lander with a faithless looting on the draw, scryed mom-hug to the top. He fetch-shocks thoughtsiezes and takes faithless, then plays a t2 bob. I turn 2 mom-hug and hit some jellys and amalgams and a conflagrate, and after he takes 2 off bob and terminates and bolts 2 amalgams, I make a land drop, return a ghast and the zombies, and conflagrate him below 10 and kill the bob.
Boarded in lightning axe for goyfs/scooze and collective brutality for angers
Game 2
Kept an alright 7 card hand, he leads with inquisition into bob into goyf, then just burns me out before I can get the engine going
Game 3
Mulled to 6 and kept a gooder with faithless and 2 reunions. Start off strong and get the dredge engine going, but hit only conflagrates and amalgams for a few turns. I just kept dredging until he played a scooze with 2 green open and ate some amalgams. After loaming and killing his scooze, he plays 2 goyfs and I continue to whiff on jellyfish. After bolting me to death, I look and see all 4 narcomoebas in the last 10 cards of the deck!
0-1
Round 2 - Abzan Coco
Game 1
Lost the die roll and we both mull to 6. He starts on breeding pool into heirarch, and I think infect. When i go copperline into looting he lets out an exasperated sigh. T2 he plays more dorks and a tapped godless shrine so, and I realize he's on Abzan. I conflagrate his dorks, make some ghasts, and he never hits his 2nd land before getting dredged out.
Boarded in lightning axe assuming infinite combo, darkblasts for dorks, and memory's journey because I wanted to justify having that card in my board...
Game 2
Kept a sketchy 1 lander on a mull to 6 and just never got there. He shows me the infinite life combo and I scoop and we go to G3
Game 3
Mull to 6 again, this time with plenty of land and gas. He stumbles on land and plays out a noble on t1 and 2 more on t2, and I hit a conflagrate on my turn 3 and blow him out of the water, then get there with ghasts and jellys. He says that he wasn't expected dredge at all, and we had a talk about how hopefully graveyard hate stays away for awhile.
1-1
Round 3 - Bant Eldrazi
Game 1
Lose the die roll, he mulls to 6 and I mull to 5. He starts on fetch into temple garden and plays an ancient stirrings, finding eldrazi temple. I go copperline gorge into looting, and he laughs and says 'really? dredge?'. I draw some lands off the looting, discard some dredgers and get ready to go to eldrazi town. He plays a skyspawner off his temple and temple, which we realized later he couldn't had done, and I make a bunch of dudes on t2. He plays a wastes, sacs his scion and plays a smasher, putting me to 15 while a narcomoeba keeps the skyspawner at bay. Next turn he plays a land, paths an amalgam, swings for 5. Next turn he plays displacer, hits for 5 and passes. Meanwhile I've been growing my jelly/ghast/amalgam army and chipping away with ghasts. I untap, conflagrate him to 10 and blow up his blockers, then swing for lethal.
Boarded in lightning axe and pharaoh, and gnaw to the bone
Game 2
We both mull to 6, he plays a shock tapped and passes. I do dredge things for a couple turns while he plays his eldrazi temple and does nothing. Turns out he kept a 2 lander with explosives and thoughtknots, hoping to hit the 3rd land but never did. I crush him easily and we chat about how much eldrazi and tron are in the room.
2-1
Round 4 - GR Tron
Game 1
Won the die roll, kept a sick hand with neonate, 2 faithless, 2 land, thug and loam. Killed him on t4 with scourge devil before he could do a thing.
Boarded in grudges and thoughtseize.
Game 2
Kept a not terrible hand with a looting and a thoughtsieze in it. He mulls to 6 and starts on grove into grafdiggers cage. I cast looting on t1, find a neonate and a steam vents, and go to work on the bad beatdown plan. T2 he plays another grove, casts a stirrings and finds a chromatic sphere, then plays it and passes. I play the neonate, and thoughtsieze to see what he kept. He shows me karn, ugin, and another sphere. Well, I guess mulling to gravyard hate works. I take the sphere and hope that I can get there before he casts either walker. I slowly beatdown for a few turns as he chains spheres into stars and stirrings, and then finds a firespout and wipes my board. Eventually he gets tron, casts ugin, and I accept defeat.
Game 3
He mulls to 5, and I keep a solid 7 card hand. I do dredge things, he doesn't play a cage turn 1, and I kill him swiftly. We chatted after about his japanese antiquities urza lands and altered foil karns (they had sombreros and maracas!)
3-1
Round 5 - Rug delver with hooting mandrills
Game 1
Mull to 6, kept an okay hand and lost the die roll. He starts with misty and passes. I figure he has spell pierce up and so I opt to play a neonate instead of looting. He fetch-shocks and plays stubborn denial!. Next turn he plays a thoughtscour on himself, fetches for a forest and then plays a hooting mandrills, seems good. I proceed to do dredge things after drawing another looting, and then we race between 2 ghasts and a 4/4 trample. The game ended when he attacked and I brought out haunted dead to block an extra damage of the hooting mandrills so he couldn't snap tarfire me to death, and then kill him on the crackback while sitting at 3 life.
Boarded in lightning axe, memory's journey, pharaoh, and some brutalities since I figured that he had delver of secrets and angers.
Game 2
He mulls to 5 and starts with land delver of secrets. I go for the t1 looting into t2 brutality, discarding his anger of the gods, killing his unflipped delver, and draining some life. That was pretty well the game, and he was a little salty about having to face dredge.
4-1
Round 6 - Mono-white death and taxes
Game 1
This is not a deck I expected. He wins the die roll, we both keep 7, and he leads with ghost quarter into aether vial. I do dredge things, he vials a throbbing inspector and cracks his clue, I do more dredge things, he vials in a leonin arbiter, plays another GQ, and then double strip mines me and paths an amalgam. Holy value batman. I manage to stem the bleeding with dakmor salvage, and stall the board out while he tries to topdeck gas. I start drawing normally, and it takes 3 turns before I hit a land, then conflagrate his board and that was the game.
Boarded - Grudge, collective brutality, explosives, and thoughtsieze.
Game 2
Mulled to 6, he kept his 7. He didn't have the GQ/arbiter combo, but he had a fast beatdown start with thalia, which is surprisingly good against us. I was stuck on 2 lands and couldn't find a loam for a while, but I conflagrate his board and we both just topdeck for a bit. I finally hit a loam, but it's off of a faithless looting so I pass the turn. He topdecks grafdiggers cage, slams it and passes. I start drawing normally, but his beatdown plan is much better so he gets there while I stare at the 2 grudges already in my graveyard...
Game 3
Kept a good 7, knowing he could have Rip. I go neonate on t1, make sure there's no cage, then dredge a stinky. Hit 5 lands, untap draw a looting, then go double looting to try hit amalgams and jellys, but don't. He plays t2 rip, and that was game over. The guy was really nice, and shows me 2 cage, 3 rips, and 2 surgicals that he boarded in xD.
4-2
Round 7 - Eldrazi Tron
Game 1
This is where I realized I was exhausted. I accidentally drew 8 cards while we waited for the round to start, so we call the judge over and he says I can either let my opponent select a card and put it on the bottom of my deck or I can immediately mull to 6. I opt to mull, keep a good 6 and hoped he wasn't on jund. He starts with tower into map, so I'm hopeful. T2 he plays an eldrazi temple and cracks map to find another eldrazi temple, and I quickly realize what the scoop is. He plays a chalice on 1, then dismembers an amalgam and warping wails a bloodghast, but I killed him while at 4 with a scourge devil from 14.
Boarded in grudge, explosives, thoughtsieze, and pharaoh. I think I may have over boarded this game, probably didn't need to put in explosives or pharaoh but after 7 rounds of magic I was ready for a break.
Game 2
He has a good start with t2 thoughtknot, t3 smasher, t4 walking ballista, t5 nulamog. Yea, can't beat that.
Game 3
He mulls to 6 but once again has a good start, set up to have tron on t3. I do dredge things and make some ghasts and amalgams and start to try getting in there. T3 he dismembers an amalgam, plays a chalice on 1 and a smasher, seems good. I dredge into pharaoh and grudge, grudge the chalice and he calls a judge saying it should be countered. We move on, he hits for 5 and plays a pithing needle naming stinkweed imp. I proceed to dredge stinkweed imp and we have another chat with the judge, who is now watching the game. I cast stinkweed imp to try and stop his smasher, then realize that I missed the pharaoh trigger, and play the explosives on 0 and keep up 2 in case he plays a ballista. He topdecks another smasher, and I take 8, go to 4 and kill both of them, and he rereads smasher to understand that I don't need to discard for the pharaoh ability. I put him to 6 with ghasts and a conflagrate, then pass. He topdecks walking ballista, casts it for 4 and I extend the hand. Had I not missed the trigger, I would've won! Always remember your triggers folks.
4-3
Overall I was just happy to be playing modern, and not seeing as much graveyard hate anymore for the most part. I figured I had to win out to make prizing, so I dropped and played legacy side events instead (didn't do so hot there either, but I picked up some tix and helped my friend get a box for profit). Maindeck felt solid, haunted dead and scourge devil typically get sided out but are sick in the main for the surprise kill or blocker. Memory's journey was useless, and I didn't see much to use darkblast for now that infect is no longer at the top tables. All day all around me was delver, eldrazi, tron, and valakut decks. Looking around day 2 I saw lots of eldrazi, death shadow jund, and valakut. I only talked with one other guy playing dredge, not sure if he was the one who top 32d but I saw him playing day 2.
Prized Amalgam’s ability triggers only if it’s in your graveyard immediately after a creature enters the battlefield from your graveyard or you cast a creature from your graveyard. A Prized Amalgam that’s already on the battlefield won’t be returned at the beginning of the next end step if it’s put into your graveyard later.
Since the prized amalgams with delayed triggers have switched zones, they are considered "new" prized amalgams that won't have any delayed triggers attached to them. Similar to bouncing a karn that has exiled stuff, if they restart the game with that karn, they won't get the cards they exiled with him before he was bounced.
This is the most applicable rule I could find:
603.7c A delayed triggered ability that refers to a particular object still affects it even if the object changes characteristics. However, if that object is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at the time the delayed triggered ability resolves, the ability won’t affect it. (Note that if that object left that zone and then returned, it’s a new object and thus won’t be affected. See rule 400.7.)
Also went 4-0 at a local modern event last night!
R1-B/G Tron with Garruk Apex Predator 2-0
R2-Elves 2-1
R3-Infect 2-1
R4-Ad Nauseam with Glittering Wish 2-0
Rounds 1 & 4 were a couple neat brews but I just crushed them. Conflagrate and Darkblast were all-stars against elves and infect as usual. Shriekhorn was atrocious every time I saw it, but at least it gives me something to board out every round...Collective brutality also overperformed, really liking the card over tormenting voice.
Here's the list:
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Faithless Looting
3 Tormenting Voice
2 Dangerous Wager
2 Life from the Loam
2 Conflagrate
2 Rally the Peasants
1 Burning Inquiry
1 Lightning Axe
1 Darkblast
3 Mountain
2 Stomping Ground
2 Gemstone Mine
2 Mana Confluence
2 Dakmor Salvage
1 Blood Crypt
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Copperline Gorge
3 Nature's Claim
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Memory's Journey
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Lightning Axe
1 Darkblast
1 Forest
Dangerous Wager is probably my favourite enabler, though 2 seems like the right number since multiples are really awkward, and sometimes I want to keep lightning axes or neonates in hand. Burning inquiry is really good when it's good, but really awful when it's not, hence why I've got it as a one-of. Tormenting voice is probably the best 2 mana enabler, but I trimmed one to make room for a MD lightning axe since g1 interaction is pretty important.
Memory's Journey is a card that I want to be good, but it's always just mediocre. I've tried noxious revival, but memory's journey does the same thing from the graveyard, which is more important than being able to cast for free from hand. The forest is there to bring in against decks that would have blood moon or spreading seas since getting caught without a green source for life from the loam is really terrible. The gemstone mines and mana confluence are there instead of more fastlands or fetches just to give that small ability to cast rally or amalgams from hand.
Round 1: Abzan Co.
Took game one by winning the die roll, going wide and darkblasting every viscera seer i saw. Game 2 he had a t1 heirarch, t2 scooze that pretty well stopped me from dredging at all. I landed a Stinkweed Imp which stopped him from attacking but he eventually just found the combo pieces. Game 3 he had the same start, but I had lightning axe for his scooze, pitching a narco to get eaten by scooze instead of a dredger hoping that I'd find some sort of discard outlet for the gravetroll in my hand. I didn't, and he found another scooze and beat me down just as time in the round was called.
Board: +2 lightning axe, +1 darkblast, +2 memory's journey, -1 burning inquiry, -2 tormenting voice, -1 dangerous wager, -1 insolent neonate.
0-1
Round 2: Abzan Co.
Won the die roll again, and had a fast start with 2 bloodghast and 2 prized on t2. He pathed a prized, and then landed a scavenging ooze but it was too late and I went over with rally the peasants and some narcos. G2 he had birds into t2 scooze with a green open to eat my life from the loam. t3 he had anafenza and birds, then t4 coco for a couple finks and just went wide with bolstered creatures. G3 he kept his 7, and I mulled to 4 and kept stomping ground, neonate, faithless looting, and stinkweed imp. Dredged pretty well and had a bunch of narcos bloodghasts and amalgams by t3, and a rally in the yard. On t4 attack threatening lethal, but he chords for orzhov pontif and chump blocks to stay alive. t5 recur hasty bloodghasts, threaten lethal again, but he cocos and hits finks and melira with a seer on board. Thought the game was pretty close despite mulling to 4.
Board: +2 lightning axe, +1 darkblast, +2 memory's journey, -1 burning inquiry, -2 tormenting voice, -1 dangerous wager, -1 insolent neonate.
0-2
Round 3: Fish
Once again won the die roll, we both mulled to 6. I had a good start with faithless and neonates on the first few turns, meanwhile he just went t1 island, t2 spreading seas, t3 vial and silvergill adept. I killed him t4 with a rally. G2 I had a good start, but he did as well with t1 vial, t2 lord which I lightning axe, t3 meerow reejery. On my t3 I dredged with a flashblacked faithless looting and hit some narcos and amalgams, with a rally and conflagrate in the yard. His turn, he ticks vial up to 4, puts in a master of waves, then plays relic of progenitus and cracks it. He won the next turn with a bunch of elementals. G3 I went t1 looting, binning grave-troll and conflagrate. t2 I dredged 3 bloodghasts, played another looting, discarded conflagrate and amalgam, then played a land to put 9 power on board. t3 dredged a rally, played a third land for turn and killed him xD. Probably the most nutty draw of the day.
Board: +2 lightning axe, +1 forest, -1 darkblast, -1 burning inquiry, -1 mountain
1-2
Round 4: Tron
Based on testing, this matchup is entirly dependant on them having t4 ugin. G1 I won the die roll again, and got him on t4 with a rally while he cracked rocks looking for tron lands. G2 I had a good start, and he didn't play a tron land until t3, where he played a firespout to wipe my board. I dredged loam, cast it, played a land and got them all back and passed turn. He played a sanctum of ugin and some more rocks, and then I killed him next turn with a loam and conflagrate after attacks. Too easy.
Board: +3 ancient grudge, -1 lightning axe, -1 darkblast, -1 burning inquiry
2-2
Round 5: Scapeshift
Looked like the prismatic omen version. Won the die roll (my lucky day) and had a fast start with looting and loam t1 & 2 getting some ghasts and narcos in play. He went t1 valakut, t2 misty pass. He fetch-shocked and remanded a flashbacked looting and I swung in for 6. He went flooded grove, explore, then prismatic omen. I dredged into a rally and swung for 12 for the win. G2 I stumbled a bit after mulling to 5, meanwhile he got up to 6 lands with explores and tribe-elders. I got a few amalgams into play, and could've got him t6 with rally and conflagrate, but he anger of the gods and then scapeshifted the next turn. G3 I had a good start and he didn't have anger, so it played out like G1.
Board: +3 nature's claim, -1 lightning axe, -1 darkblast, -1 tormenting voice
note: I don't like gnaw to the bone against the prismatic omen versions since they can do a boatload of damage with even 6 lands and fetches, so I feel it just delays the inevitable.
3-2
Round 6: Abzan Co. #3
Not much to say, lost the die roll and mulled to 5. He had infinite life by t4 g1, g2 I mulled to 5 and he had t2 scooze. Tough to beat.
Board: +2 lightning axe, +1 darkblast, +2 memory's journey, -1 burning inquiry, -2 tormenting voice, -1 dangerous wager, -1 insolent neonate.
Final record 3-3
Prizing went to top 32, and I figured with tiebreakers I wouldn't make that at x-3 so I dropped. Coming in I didn't think abzan company was a great matchup, but turn 2 scavenging ooze with an open green is tough to beat without a very solid hand. Definitely need to do more testing with that matchup, and maybe rethink how I sideboard for it.
I think the gemstone mine/mana confluences are okay. I feel that as long as all non-dakmor salvage lands get red mana then it's hard to get manascrewed. That said, I'd probably switch them out for a couple more fetches, and then a steam vents and another copperline gorge, and just forget about trying to cast rally the peasants if it's in my hand.
Lastly, haunted dead seems like the best creature with that effect to come out of eldritch moon/shadows. 2 mana to make a 1/1 flyer/blocker from the yard and trigger amalgams at instant speed seems good enough to maybe include it as a one-of at least.