So far in testing I seem to lose to burn the most. My opponent will always have the perfect topdeck when I am one turn away from winning and kill me for exact damage.
I side in +4 Collective Brutality, +2 Nature's Claim, and +1 Gnaw to the Bone in this matchup
I take out -4 Cathartic Reunion, -2 Darkblast, and -1 Conflagrate
Is this incorrect?
I wouldn't cut conflag in the matchup. It's pretty strong and valuable to turn 2 or 3 kill a couple creatures, and you don't take damage off Eidolon for it because its CMC is generally huge. Also I feel like cutting Cathartic Reunion slows you down a lot. I'm mainboarding the Collective Brutalities instead of Neonates so I could see siding out neonates. Even though Cathartic is a turn "slower", it does 3x as much work giving you more speed for the card and mana.
I keep in Neonates because they can chump block and count towards more creatures for Gnaw
Also isn't Conflagrate's CMC always 1 when flashbacked, since you are not putting any mana into the X?
Also isn't Conflagrate's CMC always 1 when flashbacked, since you are not putting any mana into the X?
Conflagrates CMC is different depending on where it's at. As a card it's 1cmc however as a spell on the stack it's XXR if cast from your hand. If cast from hand X is defined by the amount of mana you pump into X... X=2 means the spell is 5cmc on the stack. If cast from graveyard with flashback, the flashback COST is XRR where X is defined by the number of cards you discard. The interesting thing is this doesn't make the spells CMC as XRR... It is still XXR where X is defined by the number of cards you discard. So if you discard 2 cards and pay RR the CMC of a flashback conflagrate is 5, if discarding 6 cards the CMC would be 13. This is especially significant if an opponent has a chalice on 1 counter - you can still cast conflagrate. I hope that answers your question.
Ok thanks. Guess I've been playing it wrong this whole time, and have been losing some games I probably could have won if I had known this.
I'll test some minor changes in the mana base, out 1 blackleave 1 cooperline, in 2 gemstone and the side will be 1 driven//despair, 1 granw, 2 Lightning Axe, 2 Darkblast, 2 Goglary Charm, 2 Abrupt Decay, 2 Ancient Grudge and 3 Thoughseize and see how it fares.
Match 1, vs Solemnity Prison
Game 1: The guy opens on Bant mana into Ghostly Prison, and I figure I'm up against some kind of brew. He eventually plays a Solemnity, and the pieces start coming together, and I figure I only have a limited amount of time before he finds a Phyrexian Unlife to lock me out of the game. I build my hand for Conflagrate, and chip in for some damage while I can, and manage to dome him for lethal before he finds his second lock piece. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 1 Haunted Dead, 1 Narcomoeba, 1 Dakmor Salvage
In: 3 Abrupt Decay
I figure he has Rest in Peace, and I also need a way to break up his lock if he finds it.
Game 2: I get off to a reasonably fast start, but he slams a Phyrexian Unlife turn 3, which could buy him a lot of time. On my turn, however, I find Driven // Despair, and slam him with enough creatures to empty his hand completely, and putting him to 2 life. He topdecks a Ghostly Prison, so I hit him to negative life with one Amalgam and start Loaming for Conflag. He does not find Solemnity in time, and eats a giant fireball. 2-0
Match 2, vs Grixis Death's Shadow
Game 1: Oh boy, the big boogey man. I had not played this match previously, so I was a little nervous. He fills his graveyard quickly and deploys a Gurmag Angler which looks like it could let him stabilize the board. However, I find a Driven // Despair and hit in with Menace, forcing him to discard his hand and hitting him low enough to threaten lethal on my next turn with both creatures and Conflag. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Ghost Quarter, 1 Loam, 1 Conflag, 1 Reunion, 1 Haunted Dead
In: 1 Bog, 1 Pharaoh, 2 Axe, 3 Abrupt Decay
Game 2: He uses Stubborn Denial to counter my turn 1 Looting, and follows it up with a Nihil Spellbomb. I use Abrupt Decay to clear the Spellbomb, figuring I don't have time in this match to bait him to use it. He is also tapped out, so I can deny him the card draw. He continues to use Thought Scour etc to fill his graveyard, and Tasigur, the Golden Fang and his zombie fish friend both come out to play. I start filling my graveyard again, making some blockers and figure maybe I can stabilize long enough to start loaming and conflaging, but he has a Temur Battle Rage which makes my Narcomboba blocker sad. 1-1
Game 3: He mulligans to 5, and keeps a hand with Surgical Extraction and Spellbomb, as well as Street Wraith. All he needs is to find one land, and he really could've destroyed me. He gets ample time to, since all my Narcomoebas like to sit in the bottom 20 cards of the deck, but by some miracle he does not. He Surgicals my Bloodghasts, but finally I get 2 Narcomoebas joined by 4 Amalgams. He never found a land and was going to lose his hand to Despair next turn. 2-1
Match 3, vs Abzan Counters Company
Game 1: He curves out beautifully with turn 2 Vizier of Remedies into Kitchen Finks into Chord of Calling for Viscera Seer. I have no conflags, and he gains a million billion life. 0-1
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 2 Thug
In: 2 Darkblast, 2 Axe. I figure his hate is Scavenging Ooze, so Conflag and Axe are my best options.
Game 2: We both mull to 6, and I keep a pretty risky hand with some lands a Bloodghast and Conflag. Probably should've gone to 5 here, but figured that Confalg was so good in the match, and with a scry I might be ok. I was not ok. I put the conflag in my graveyard on turn 1. He plays a Vizier and a Birds of Paradise. I figure he probably wants me to blow the conflag now, and decide to wait and see if I can draw into some more gas, or make him commit more to the board. Big mistake as he plays an Ooze and eats my Conflagrate, leaving me with nothing going on. He plays a Finks and Chords for Viscera Seer, and there is nothing I can do. 0-2
Match 4, vs Eldrazi Tron
Game 1: This turns into a looong attrition game as I Ghost quarter him of Tron-pieces and Eldrazi Temple. This does make my clock slow since I'm only dredging Loam each turn. He does land a Thought-Knot Seer and a Basilisk Collar, so he is gaining a lot of life. However, as I empty his deck for basics, he starts slowing down a lot. He manages to go Warping Wail for a scion into Eldrazi Temple, Reality Smasher, equip Collar, but I have played a Stinkweed Imp to block for just such an occation. He smashes in, putting me to 5, but loses his Smasher. Eventually I find the pieces I need to close out the game. Despair takes out his hand and lets me punch past his creature, and he is so mana starved he has no outs anymore. Morale of the story, Ghost Quarter is a heck of a card. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Dakmor Salvage, 1 Haunted Dead.
In: 2 Lightning Axe, 2 Ancient Grudge
Game 2: He opens on Relic of Progenitus, and I figure I can bait him to use it. I dredge a bit, and hit a Bloodghast and an Amalgam. I play my land to make him crack it, keeping a Loam and a Looting in hand. He pops the relic, but not before Surgicalling my Loams. Ouch. I still manage to restart my graveyard, and soon the board is my Bloodghast against his Matter Reshaper. I swing in, thinking either it is free damage, or I trade for his creature and get to return my Bloodghast with an Amalgam. He blocks and flips another Relic of the Reshaper. Ouch again. My graveyard disappears again, and he goes Reality Smasher into Endbringer. 1-1
Game 3: We have 2.5 minutes left on the round, and he says we probably don't have time to finish. I figure I'm more likely to get a really fast opener and steal the game if we go to turns, so I say we should go for it. I get off to a blisteringly fast start, just like I hoped for. On the second extra turn of the game, I use Despair to take all but one card out of his hand, menacing past his defensive Reality Smasher. He goes in the tank for a long time before discarding. On my last turn I have him dead on board, but find no extra Bloodghasts or a Conflag. I attack, figuring if all goes well he is dead. However, he plays a cheeky Warping Wail to make a scion, blocking one of my Amalgams and falling to 1, but not dead. The tilt is real. 1-1, match draw.
So far I'm 3-1-1, going into the last round of the swiss. I know I have to win this game to go to top 8.
Match 5, vs Naya Company
Game 1: He curves out with Loxodon Smiter, Kitchen Finks and Collected Company into Voice of Resurgence and Scavenging Ooze. My start is not great, and he is able to manage my graveyard with Ooze. 0-1
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Dakmor, 1 Reunion, 1 Driven // Despair
In: 3 Abrupt Decay, 2 Lightning Axe
Game 2: He gets stuck on 2 lands for a while, and although my draw is not super fast, I get to punish him for it. When he gets to 3 mana he tries to stabilize with a Loxodon Smiter, which promptly catches a Lightning Axe with its teeth. 1-1
Game 3: I assemble a board much faster than he can answer it. His Ooze eats a Conflag, along with the rest of his board, and all is right in the world. 2-1
I'm 5th seed going into the top 8
Quarterfinals, vs Affinity
Game 1: Conflagrate is life. I find all 3 early on, and manage his board by using the first one for just a little. After that he plays Vault Skirge, Steel Overseer and Arcbound Ravager. I'm trying to figure out how to Conflagrate his board with the Ravager being able to sac and move counters around. He solves my problem by going all in on the Vault Skirge, saccing his lands and mana rocks to make the Skirge a 5/5. He hits me, gaining some life, and next turn I Loam and then Conflag away his entire board He is left with a single land and no cards in hand. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 1 Driven // Despair, 1 Bloodghast, 2 Thug
In: 2 Darkblast, 2 Ancient Grudge
Game 2: This game is all about Darkblast, which kills everything he plays. He goes wide and I Conflagrate. He plays out something, I Darkblast it. I take a slow, controlling route, and he never gets off the ground. 2-0
Semifinals, vs Grixis Death's Shadow
Game 1: He cycles 2 Street Wraiths on the first turn, and starts playing big delve creatures and Death's Shadow. However, I amass a board which would be lethal of he swung back at me, and all he can do is block my creatures, which come back anyway. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Ghost Quarter, 1 Loam, 1 Conflag, 1 Reunion, 1 Haunted Dead
In: 1 Bog, 1 Pharaoh, 2 Axe, 3 Abrupt Decay
Game 2: Pretty much a repeat of game 1. By the time he finds a Nihil Spellbomb my board is too strong for him to deal with. The only damage I take in either game is from my own lands. 2-0
Finals, vs Affinity
Game 1: He has a pretty mediocre start, and I build a decent board state. I manage to get a Galvanic Blast and a Cranial Plating with Despair, and use Conflag to mow down his board. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Thug, 1 Driven // Despair, 1 Bloodghast
In: 2 Grudge, 2 Darkblast
Game 2: I mulligan to 6 and keep a one-lander with Grudge. He opens on Grafdigger's Cage, and I have to start digging for a land. The only thing I find is a Dakmor Salvage on turn 3, and he is already building a menacing board, with a Master of Etherium, manlands and a Steel Overseer. His attack puts me to 3, but I figure I can grudge his cage on end step, flash it back on the Master on my turn, and if I draw a land I can bring back a Haunted Dead to chump his manland. However, he topdecks a Galvanic Blast for lethal. 1-1
Game 3: I have a solid opener, and pitch a Thug, which turns over 3 Amalgams for turn 2. We trade damage for a bit, and he tries for an infect kill, but I find both Darkblasts and both Ancient Grudges, and in one turn kill his Vault Skirge and 2 Blinkmoth Nexuses. After that it is just a matter of cleaning up his creatures and swinging in for lethal. 2-0
The deck feels super solid. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to push for a longer game of attrition is often key to success. There is nothing wrong with taking your time with this deck, although it can of course be very explosive. We can lean on recursive creatures and recursive answers like Darkblast and Ghost Quarter (Which I highly recommend) and grind our opponents into dust. We'll hit our pressure sooner or later, and with Faithless Looting in the graveyard, we can switch gears instantly.
From my previous build I decided to replace Steam Vents with Gemstone Mine, which I think was wise, since not being able to make green mana is more likely to hurt us than not being able to fetch for blue mana, which is usually a desperate move anyway. It is also pretty good with Loam. I also moved my maindeck Darkblast to the sideboard in favour of Haunted Dead, which was quite good over the course of the tournament, even though it sometimes gets sided out. Conflagrate is already great in the matches where Darkblast shines, so it is probably overkill in the main. I do like 2 in the sideboard though, and would consider moving one back to the main depending on the meta, probably replacing a Golgari Thug. Haunted Dead also makes 2 bodies, which is great with Driven // Despair, which I brought in instead of Scourge Devil. Despair was amazing. It won me multiple games, both through Menace and discard. It has a more unique function than Devil or Rally the Peasants, which both push damage; something Conflagrate already does quite well. The deck gets a lot more play with Despair. It feels more interactive, and menace is surprisingly good. Try it out, I highly recommend it.
I played a PPTQ yesterday, ended 10th out of 50 persorns (quite big, in Mexico City). I was out due to tiebreakers. Went 4-2. The 2 matches I lost was against uninteractive decks, 2-0 to Storm. I was short one turn for the kill in both games, missing either a bloodgast or a conflagrate for the turn 4 kill and in his 4th turn he went off. Was sad, but there was nothing to do there. Then I lost to a Krak Clan combo, he started and went off in turn 4 on game 1, that he started. I missed Collective Brutality and was unable to stop him (I run 2 maindeck brutalities). Crushed him on game 2 and game 3 went long, survived 2 spellbombs and almost killed him, he stayed in 3 lifes and was able to went off with 2 krak clan ironworks, because I had just enough mana to destroy one with ancient grudge. It was a close and interesting game. The matches I won was against Jund easly, Burn also quite easly thanks to maindeck brutality, against a Grixis Shadow deck and finally in round 6 against a Skred Red wich was quite an amaizing win even against relic and anger of the gods in the Maindeck I won 2-0. So, in record went 0-2 against storm, 2-0 against jund, 2-0 against Burn, 2-0 against shadow, 1-2 against krak Clan combo and 2-0 against Skerd. So close yet so far, but the deck performs well, I was pleased.
This was my list, any thoughs and recomedations on it are quite welcome, since I have some PPTQ in the area this month that I plan to go, so any help is welcome:
Sideboard:
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Lightning Axe
2 Darkblast
1 Gnaw to the Bone
3 Thoughseize
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
2 Golgari Charm
On a side note, Golgari Charm was quite irrelevant so I might take it out. In the main deck, is it really relevant to have the hauted dead and the 4th reunion over collective in the main Mompelomp?
I see the tricks you can do with fetch and bloodghast during main phase 2 of your opponent. Instant speed blooghast is just awesome.
Sometimes fetch do not have targets because of our dredge (the only reason I could see a fetchless dredge), but the instant speed bloodghast is just worth the risk, no ? I could say that a fetchless manabase keeps you away from arbiter shenanigans, but I'm really doubtful about it.
you often use fetches your opening turns, then sometimes if you need to play around wipes, anger, relics stuff like that. Most often your late game lands you find from loam, so basics, fast lands, or gemstone mines, so the lack of target is fine.
Only big stand out things here are both run haunted dead, but rally and devil arent there. 1 runs driven (as a two of) other has it side. Sides both include a complete lack of enchant+artifact hate like natures claim, going for decays and pulses as well as a pharaoh for the shadow matches.
So, the one thing to note, is all winning lists ARE using haunted dead in all touris lately. Its a damned good blocker. Plus, these two lists run despair, a very good card vs grixis deathshadow/junk, W/U control, AND combo decks like titan shift and AD NAUSEAM, plays really nice with haunted.
The lack of the discard answers in the second list is notable, no brutality. Maybe RDW has gone down a lot, thus less good reason to run it. Sides are more catch all answers, not narrow and powerful.
In the main deck, is it really relevant to have the hauted dead and the 4th reunion over collective in the main Mompelomp?
I think you need a good reason to drop the 4th Reunion simply because of the speed and consistency it provides. Reunion is also often vital post board since it is your best way to restart the graveyard after a Relic of Progenitus or Nihil Spellbomb. Against decks with those cards, I prefer to slow roll Reunion, and if they have hate, bait them to use it early, then restart with the most powerful enabler we have available. Don't get me wrong, I would love Brutality in the mainboard myself, and it might be right depending on your meta, but Reunion is so ubiquitously good that I find it difficult to justify running only 3.
I've been on and off Haunted Dead for a while, and although I don't know if I would call it essential, it does do a lot of work. It makes it less likely for you to fizzle by running out of dredgers, it is a great way to bring back Amalgams at the end of your opponent's turn, and it provides blockers against aggressive decks. Against Affinity it is especially terrific, since they have so many 1 toughness creatures, and Cranial Plating only buffs power, so you can even trade for their creatures with the spirit. If you have a lot of aggro in your meta and many people run Anger of the Gods in the board against you, it really shines.
I think you need a good reason to drop the 4th Reunion simply because of the speed and consistency it provides. Reunion is also often vital post board since it is your best way to restart the graveyard after a Relic of Progenitus or Nihil Spellbomb. Against decks with those cards, I prefer to slow roll Reunion, and if they have hate, bait them to use it early, then restart with the most powerful enabler we have available. Don't get me wrong, I would love Brutality in the mainboard myself, and it might be right depending on your meta, but Reunion is so ubiquitously good that I find it difficult to justify running only 3.
I've been on and off Haunted Dead for a while, and although I don't know if I would call it essential, it does do a lot of work. It makes it less likely for you to fizzle by running out of dredgers, it is a great way to bring back Amalgams at the end of your opponent's turn, and it provides blockers against aggressive decks. Against Affinity it is especially terrific, since they have so many 1 toughness creatures, and Cranial Plating only buffs power, so you can even trade for their creatures with the spirit. If you have a lot of aggro in your meta and many people run Anger of the Gods in the board against you, it really shines.
I will try your list, it has sound reasoning and haunted dead sounds nice against some matches. Brutality might come back if burn returns in number. I hope to have a good result in this weekend pptq.
By the way, congrats and thank you to everyone who played recently. I havent had a lot of time to spend on this thread due to work, but wanted to appreciate you all.
Raphael Levy piloted dredge through GP Birmingham this past weekend with a bit of a spicy list, running 3 Failure // Comply in the sideboard to fight the heavily prevalent Scapeshift decks as well as other combo decks that are generally not good matchups for us.
I'm surprised that you didn't see any UWx control, Noble Hierarch, or Eldrazi decks, but other than that, I would agree that it is hard to grind Dredge on MTGO. Actually it has been for a while.
So about Raphael Levy And Failure // Comply. Thought Id shed some light on his past so it makes a little more sense for people who werent playing dredge 3 years ago when it was bad.
Levy invented a deck back in the day called Zombie Loam. It used Zombie Infestation to discard lands, create token blockers, and stall for a lethal loam powered conflag. It wasnt a great deck by any stretch, but it was surprising, innovative and off the radar. For what its worth HE should be credited for loam conflag. It always existed, but most people called it too slow or cute, and went for reanimation packages instead, and the tech was lost to time until Levy dug it back up.
That being said, his tech should probably be taken seriously. And tested. Now, often he techs correctly... but for an event. So it could be fluff, and be worse when the opponent knows it, thus undoing the whole reason to do it... so yeah, long term will tell.
But its a good find. Also I do like how he is still using driven, so its not replacing that card. Overall, driven I think is proving more and more to be real.
I'm coming back after a 3 year break from Modern. Can someone give me some guidance as to what matchups you would side in Collective Brutality, or what meta conditions have you place some copies in your maindeck? Having not played with or against it it looks a little bit slow to me, although the discard can obviously be key in a deck like this.
You want to use it in matches where you can use 2 modes at least. Ad nuseam you can get discard and 2 life to work (lifeloss kills them with a unlife out), collected company decks where you can kill a mana dork and take company, burn or zoo decks where you can kill an attacker and take a burn spell. G/W decks like taxs where you can kill a hatebear and take stuff like path.
You want to use it in matches where you can use 2 modes at least. Ad nuseam you can get discard and 2 life to work (lifeloss kills them with a unlife out), collected company decks where you can kill a mana dork and take company, burn or zoo decks where you can kill an attacker and take a burn spell. G/W decks like taxs where you can kill a hatebear and take stuff like path.
I'm pretty sure that with Phyrexian Unlife in play Collective Brutality's mode of drain 2 won't affect them in the least.
I keep in Neonates because they can chump block and count towards more creatures for Gnaw
Also isn't Conflagrate's CMC always 1 when flashbacked, since you are not putting any mana into the X?
Ok thanks. Guess I've been playing it wrong this whole time, and have been losing some games I probably could have won if I had known this.
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Prized Amalgam
1 Haunted Dead
Spells:
4 Faithless Looting
4 Cathartic Reunion
3 Life From the Loam
3 Conflagrate
1 Driven // Despair
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Stomping Ground
2 Blood Crypt
2 Mountain
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Dakmor Salvage
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Lightning Axe
2 Darkblast
1 Gnaw to the Bone
3 Collective Brutality
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Bojuka Bog
Match 1, vs Solemnity Prison
Game 1: The guy opens on Bant mana into Ghostly Prison, and I figure I'm up against some kind of brew. He eventually plays a Solemnity, and the pieces start coming together, and I figure I only have a limited amount of time before he finds a Phyrexian Unlife to lock me out of the game. I build my hand for Conflagrate, and chip in for some damage while I can, and manage to dome him for lethal before he finds his second lock piece. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 1 Haunted Dead, 1 Narcomoeba, 1 Dakmor Salvage
In: 3 Abrupt Decay
I figure he has Rest in Peace, and I also need a way to break up his lock if he finds it.
Game 2: I get off to a reasonably fast start, but he slams a Phyrexian Unlife turn 3, which could buy him a lot of time. On my turn, however, I find Driven // Despair, and slam him with enough creatures to empty his hand completely, and putting him to 2 life. He topdecks a Ghostly Prison, so I hit him to negative life with one Amalgam and start Loaming for Conflag. He does not find Solemnity in time, and eats a giant fireball. 2-0
Match 2, vs Grixis Death's Shadow
Game 1: Oh boy, the big boogey man. I had not played this match previously, so I was a little nervous. He fills his graveyard quickly and deploys a Gurmag Angler which looks like it could let him stabilize the board. However, I find a Driven // Despair and hit in with Menace, forcing him to discard his hand and hitting him low enough to threaten lethal on my next turn with both creatures and Conflag. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Ghost Quarter, 1 Loam, 1 Conflag, 1 Reunion, 1 Haunted Dead
In: 1 Bog, 1 Pharaoh, 2 Axe, 3 Abrupt Decay
Game 2: He uses Stubborn Denial to counter my turn 1 Looting, and follows it up with a Nihil Spellbomb. I use Abrupt Decay to clear the Spellbomb, figuring I don't have time in this match to bait him to use it. He is also tapped out, so I can deny him the card draw. He continues to use Thought Scour etc to fill his graveyard, and Tasigur, the Golden Fang and his zombie fish friend both come out to play. I start filling my graveyard again, making some blockers and figure maybe I can stabilize long enough to start loaming and conflaging, but he has a Temur Battle Rage which makes my Narcomboba blocker sad. 1-1
Game 3: He mulligans to 5, and keeps a hand with Surgical Extraction and Spellbomb, as well as Street Wraith. All he needs is to find one land, and he really could've destroyed me. He gets ample time to, since all my Narcomoebas like to sit in the bottom 20 cards of the deck, but by some miracle he does not. He Surgicals my Bloodghasts, but finally I get 2 Narcomoebas joined by 4 Amalgams. He never found a land and was going to lose his hand to Despair next turn. 2-1
Match 3, vs Abzan Counters Company
Game 1: He curves out beautifully with turn 2 Vizier of Remedies into Kitchen Finks into Chord of Calling for Viscera Seer. I have no conflags, and he gains a million billion life. 0-1
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 2 Thug
In: 2 Darkblast, 2 Axe. I figure his hate is Scavenging Ooze, so Conflag and Axe are my best options.
Game 2: We both mull to 6, and I keep a pretty risky hand with some lands a Bloodghast and Conflag. Probably should've gone to 5 here, but figured that Confalg was so good in the match, and with a scry I might be ok. I was not ok. I put the conflag in my graveyard on turn 1. He plays a Vizier and a Birds of Paradise. I figure he probably wants me to blow the conflag now, and decide to wait and see if I can draw into some more gas, or make him commit more to the board. Big mistake as he plays an Ooze and eats my Conflagrate, leaving me with nothing going on. He plays a Finks and Chords for Viscera Seer, and there is nothing I can do. 0-2
Match 4, vs Eldrazi Tron
Game 1: This turns into a looong attrition game as I Ghost quarter him of Tron-pieces and Eldrazi Temple. This does make my clock slow since I'm only dredging Loam each turn. He does land a Thought-Knot Seer and a Basilisk Collar, so he is gaining a lot of life. However, as I empty his deck for basics, he starts slowing down a lot. He manages to go Warping Wail for a scion into Eldrazi Temple, Reality Smasher, equip Collar, but I have played a Stinkweed Imp to block for just such an occation. He smashes in, putting me to 5, but loses his Smasher. Eventually I find the pieces I need to close out the game. Despair takes out his hand and lets me punch past his creature, and he is so mana starved he has no outs anymore. Morale of the story, Ghost Quarter is a heck of a card. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Dakmor Salvage, 1 Haunted Dead.
In: 2 Lightning Axe, 2 Ancient Grudge
Game 2: He opens on Relic of Progenitus, and I figure I can bait him to use it. I dredge a bit, and hit a Bloodghast and an Amalgam. I play my land to make him crack it, keeping a Loam and a Looting in hand. He pops the relic, but not before Surgicalling my Loams. Ouch. I still manage to restart my graveyard, and soon the board is my Bloodghast against his Matter Reshaper. I swing in, thinking either it is free damage, or I trade for his creature and get to return my Bloodghast with an Amalgam. He blocks and flips another Relic of the Reshaper. Ouch again. My graveyard disappears again, and he goes Reality Smasher into Endbringer. 1-1
Game 3: We have 2.5 minutes left on the round, and he says we probably don't have time to finish. I figure I'm more likely to get a really fast opener and steal the game if we go to turns, so I say we should go for it. I get off to a blisteringly fast start, just like I hoped for. On the second extra turn of the game, I use Despair to take all but one card out of his hand, menacing past his defensive Reality Smasher. He goes in the tank for a long time before discarding. On my last turn I have him dead on board, but find no extra Bloodghasts or a Conflag. I attack, figuring if all goes well he is dead. However, he plays a cheeky Warping Wail to make a scion, blocking one of my Amalgams and falling to 1, but not dead. The tilt is real. 1-1, match draw.
So far I'm 3-1-1, going into the last round of the swiss. I know I have to win this game to go to top 8.
Match 5, vs Naya Company
Game 1: He curves out with Loxodon Smiter, Kitchen Finks and Collected Company into Voice of Resurgence and Scavenging Ooze. My start is not great, and he is able to manage my graveyard with Ooze. 0-1
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Dakmor, 1 Reunion, 1 Driven // Despair
In: 3 Abrupt Decay, 2 Lightning Axe
Game 2: He gets stuck on 2 lands for a while, and although my draw is not super fast, I get to punish him for it. When he gets to 3 mana he tries to stabilize with a Loxodon Smiter, which promptly catches a Lightning Axe with its teeth. 1-1
Game 3: I assemble a board much faster than he can answer it. His Ooze eats a Conflag, along with the rest of his board, and all is right in the world. 2-1
I'm 5th seed going into the top 8
Quarterfinals, vs Affinity
Game 1: Conflagrate is life. I find all 3 early on, and manage his board by using the first one for just a little. After that he plays Vault Skirge, Steel Overseer and Arcbound Ravager. I'm trying to figure out how to Conflagrate his board with the Ravager being able to sac and move counters around. He solves my problem by going all in on the Vault Skirge, saccing his lands and mana rocks to make the Skirge a 5/5. He hits me, gaining some life, and next turn I Loam and then Conflag away his entire board He is left with a single land and no cards in hand. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 1 Driven // Despair, 1 Bloodghast, 2 Thug
In: 2 Darkblast, 2 Ancient Grudge
Game 2: This game is all about Darkblast, which kills everything he plays. He goes wide and I Conflagrate. He plays out something, I Darkblast it. I take a slow, controlling route, and he never gets off the ground. 2-0
Semifinals, vs Grixis Death's Shadow
Game 1: He cycles 2 Street Wraiths on the first turn, and starts playing big delve creatures and Death's Shadow. However, I amass a board which would be lethal of he swung back at me, and all he can do is block my creatures, which come back anyway. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Neonate, 1 Ghost Quarter, 1 Loam, 1 Conflag, 1 Reunion, 1 Haunted Dead
In: 1 Bog, 1 Pharaoh, 2 Axe, 3 Abrupt Decay
Game 2: Pretty much a repeat of game 1. By the time he finds a Nihil Spellbomb my board is too strong for him to deal with. The only damage I take in either game is from my own lands. 2-0
Finals, vs Affinity
Game 1: He has a pretty mediocre start, and I build a decent board state. I manage to get a Galvanic Blast and a Cranial Plating with Despair, and use Conflag to mow down his board. 1-0
Sideboard:
Out: 2 Thug, 1 Driven // Despair, 1 Bloodghast
In: 2 Grudge, 2 Darkblast
Game 2: I mulligan to 6 and keep a one-lander with Grudge. He opens on Grafdigger's Cage, and I have to start digging for a land. The only thing I find is a Dakmor Salvage on turn 3, and he is already building a menacing board, with a Master of Etherium, manlands and a Steel Overseer. His attack puts me to 3, but I figure I can grudge his cage on end step, flash it back on the Master on my turn, and if I draw a land I can bring back a Haunted Dead to chump his manland. However, he topdecks a Galvanic Blast for lethal. 1-1
Game 3: I have a solid opener, and pitch a Thug, which turns over 3 Amalgams for turn 2. We trade damage for a bit, and he tries for an infect kill, but I find both Darkblasts and both Ancient Grudges, and in one turn kill his Vault Skirge and 2 Blinkmoth Nexuses. After that it is just a matter of cleaning up his creatures and swinging in for lethal. 2-0
The deck feels super solid. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to push for a longer game of attrition is often key to success. There is nothing wrong with taking your time with this deck, although it can of course be very explosive. We can lean on recursive creatures and recursive answers like Darkblast and Ghost Quarter (Which I highly recommend) and grind our opponents into dust. We'll hit our pressure sooner or later, and with Faithless Looting in the graveyard, we can switch gears instantly.
From my previous build I decided to replace Steam Vents with Gemstone Mine, which I think was wise, since not being able to make green mana is more likely to hurt us than not being able to fetch for blue mana, which is usually a desperate move anyway. It is also pretty good with Loam. I also moved my maindeck Darkblast to the sideboard in favour of Haunted Dead, which was quite good over the course of the tournament, even though it sometimes gets sided out. Conflagrate is already great in the matches where Darkblast shines, so it is probably overkill in the main. I do like 2 in the sideboard though, and would consider moving one back to the main depending on the meta, probably replacing a Golgari Thug. Haunted Dead also makes 2 bodies, which is great with Driven // Despair, which I brought in instead of Scourge Devil. Despair was amazing. It won me multiple games, both through Menace and discard. It has a more unique function than Devil or Rally the Peasants, which both push damage; something Conflagrate already does quite well. The deck gets a lot more play with Despair. It feels more interactive, and menace is surprisingly good. Try it out, I highly recommend it.
This was my list, any thoughs and recomedations on it are quite welcome, since I have some PPTQ in the area this month that I plan to go, so any help is welcome:
Creatures:
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Prized Amalgam
Spells:
4 Faithless Looting
3 Cathartic Reunion
3 Life From the Loam
3 Conflagrate
2 Collective Brutality
1 Driven // Despair
Lands:
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Stomping Ground
2 Blood Crypt
2 Mountain
3 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 Gemstone Mine
Sideboard:
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Lightning Axe
2 Darkblast
1 Gnaw to the Bone
3 Thoughseize
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
2 Golgari Charm
On a side note, Golgari Charm was quite irrelevant so I might take it out. In the main deck, is it really relevant to have the hauted dead and the 4th reunion over collective in the main Mompelomp?
4 Golgari Thug
1 Haunted Dead
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Cathartic Reunion
2 Conflagrate
2 Driven // Despair
4 Faithless Looting
2 Life from the Loam
1 Darkblast
4 Copperline Gorge
3 Dakmor Salvage
4 Gemstone Mine
2 Karplusan Forest
4 Mana Confluence
1 Mountain
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Collective Brutality
3 Leyline of the Void
1 Lightning Axe
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Thoughtseize
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Bloodghast
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Prized Amalgam
1 Haunted Dead
2 Golgari Thug
4 Faithless Looting
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Life from the Loam
3 Conflagrate
1 Lightning Axe
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Gemstone Mine
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 Stomping Ground
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Blood Crypt
1 Lightning Axe
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Gnaw to the Bone
3 Ancient Grudge
1 Driven // Despair
Only big stand out things here are both run haunted dead, but rally and devil arent there. 1 runs driven (as a two of) other has it side. Sides both include a complete lack of enchant+artifact hate like natures claim, going for decays and pulses as well as a pharaoh for the shadow matches.
So, the one thing to note, is all winning lists ARE using haunted dead in all touris lately. Its a damned good blocker. Plus, these two lists run despair, a very good card vs grixis deathshadow/junk, W/U control, AND combo decks like titan shift and AD NAUSEAM, plays really nice with haunted.
The lack of the discard answers in the second list is notable, no brutality. Maybe RDW has gone down a lot, thus less good reason to run it. Sides are more catch all answers, not narrow and powerful.
I think you need a good reason to drop the 4th Reunion simply because of the speed and consistency it provides. Reunion is also often vital post board since it is your best way to restart the graveyard after a Relic of Progenitus or Nihil Spellbomb. Against decks with those cards, I prefer to slow roll Reunion, and if they have hate, bait them to use it early, then restart with the most powerful enabler we have available. Don't get me wrong, I would love Brutality in the mainboard myself, and it might be right depending on your meta, but Reunion is so ubiquitously good that I find it difficult to justify running only 3.
I've been on and off Haunted Dead for a while, and although I don't know if I would call it essential, it does do a lot of work. It makes it less likely for you to fizzle by running out of dredgers, it is a great way to bring back Amalgams at the end of your opponent's turn, and it provides blockers against aggressive decks. Against Affinity it is especially terrific, since they have so many 1 toughness creatures, and Cranial Plating only buffs power, so you can even trade for their creatures with the spirit. If you have a lot of aggro in your meta and many people run Anger of the Gods in the board against you, it really shines.
I will try your list, it has sound reasoning and haunted dead sounds nice against some matches. Brutality might come back if burn returns in number. I hope to have a good result in this weekend pptq.
Link to Levy's article.
4 Bloodghast
4 Golgari Thug
1 Haunted Dead
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp
Spell (15)
4 Cathartic Reunion
3 Conflagrate
1 Driven // Despair
4 Faithless Looting
3 Life from the Loam
3 Arid Mesa
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Dakmor Salvage
3 Gemstone Mine
2 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Collective Brutality
2 Darkblast
1 Destructive Revelry
3 Failure // Comply
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Ray of Revelation
Modern:
Dredge | Restore Balance | Titanshift
My [360][Unpowered][Modern-Frame] Cube
Levy invented a deck back in the day called Zombie Loam. It used Zombie Infestation to discard lands, create token blockers, and stall for a lethal loam powered conflag. It wasnt a great deck by any stretch, but it was surprising, innovative and off the radar. For what its worth HE should be credited for loam conflag. It always existed, but most people called it too slow or cute, and went for reanimation packages instead, and the tech was lost to time until Levy dug it back up.
That being said, his tech should probably be taken seriously. And tested. Now, often he techs correctly... but for an event. So it could be fluff, and be worse when the opponent knows it, thus undoing the whole reason to do it... so yeah, long term will tell.
But its a good find. Also I do like how he is still using driven, so its not replacing that card. Overall, driven I think is proving more and more to be real.
I'm pretty sure that with Phyrexian Unlife in play Collective Brutality's mode of drain 2 won't affect them in the least.