Hey'all, I've been playing dredge for a month now.
How do you guys sideboard against Eldratron and titanshift?
Against eldratron I'm desperately using lots of sideboard, as they also do, and today I managed my first win against the demon:
in: 2 lightning axe, 2 abrupt decay, 1 maelstrom pulse, 2 ancient grudge
out: 1 dakmor salvage, 1 darkblast, 2 insolent neonate, 1 conflagrate, 1 narcomoeba, 1 golgari thug
Against titanshift I don't even know how to begin. Do you guys use ghost quarter/tectonic edge? Sheltered Thicket?
What is the general strategy here that I'm probably missing?
Hey'all, I've been playing dredge for a month now.
How do you guys sideboard against Eldratron and titanshift?
Against eldratron I'm desperately using lots of sideboard, as they also do, and today I managed my first win against the demon:
out: 2 lightning axe, 2 abrupt decay, 1 maelstrom pulse, 2 ancient grudge
in: 1 dakmor salvage, 1 darkblast, 2 insolent neonate, 1 conflagrate, 1 narcomoeba, 1 golgari thug
Against titanshift I don't even know how to begin. Do you guys use ghost quarter/tectonic edge? Sheltered Thicket?
What is the general strategy here that I'm probably missing?
Seems you are baording in the right cards.
I also play one Ghost Quarter, card is really good against Eldrazi Tron
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Legacy - Reanimator
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
Guys, I am currently trying to get some expertise in dredge mechanics. Although my list is not the conventional dredge (check my signature), I guess we have something in common: GY hate. How do you guys face this? Play around, go full throttle before they wreck our GY, play conservatively and try to "grind"?
Also, how do you guys face the burn (or similar aggro strategies) matchup? Is golgari brownscale playable?
Guys, I am currently trying to get some expertise in dredge mechanics. Although my list is not the conventional dredge (check my signature), I guess we have something in common: GY hate. How do you guys face this? Play around, go full throttle before they wreck our GY, play conservatively and try to "grind"?
Also, how do you guys face the burn (or similar aggro strategies) matchup? Is golgari brownscale playable?
Thanks in advance!
Brown is a bit out dated tech, but mostly you race hard and cast Collective Brutality or gnaw to the bone.
As for the sideboarding. Its like I said in the primer. You have to memorize every sideboard card that will be used against you, and who is currently playing those cards, so that way you know how important the counter hate is, and which ones to bring. Thats how you win a game 2 or 3 in this deck and its very key to being successful.
Played another PPTQ this week going 4-2 losing my win-and-in in round 5 against abzan. That loss was frustrating as it is a good matchup. Lost in the second sb game to cage (he even kept colorlessland cage because of it). And the third to never really getting anythin going. Other loss was to coco humans, that deck is fast and can grind suprisingly well.
Still feel like the deck is reasonably positioned right now. There's not that much hate and given the low number of GY decks doing well it likely will go down further.
Doesn't look like Ixilan will bring any new toys though.
No, the graveyard set in Amonkhet was pretty swing and miss. You can argue we got some flex spots cards, but realistically, nothing that really helped us reclaim top spots
Hey all, ran through a modern comp league and went 3-2. Losses coming from storm both times. I played the Levy style Failure//Comply list with hallowed fountain in the board and just not sure it for my play style. Have others given much testing to this or is Driven // Dispair accepted as the better option? I can see how it certainly helps scapeshift and storm matchup which are notoriously poor for us as we know. How much does it boost those matchups?
I'll be trying Driven next time through. I noticed that the Modern Challenege results had no dredge and no affinity last weekend in the top 32. Paradoxically as we know, now may be the time to really jam one of those two decks. FYSA
I think the more aggresive get in your opponents face is the way to go with Dredge.
Maybe it is just me but I always like to play aggresive and I do best when I am putting the pressure on.
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Legacy - Reanimator
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What is the best way to board against an opponent that you know is bringing in Rest In Peace? Is it better to try to snatch it before the ETB trigger with thoughtseize or try to disenchant it and then get the engine back online? It seems like planning for both may be overboarding.
On the play I prefer discard. On the draw I prefer destruction.
On the play If you miss the discard you can often go under it with a well placed looting or mom hug. On the draw you don't have that option, and you have less turns to get there. You can destroy easier on the draw too.
Well, the tourney today went well, we were about 30 persons so nothing mayor but the deck fared well, bested 2 death shadow decks, 2 CoCo decks and tied with a Scapeshift deck to top 4. Semifinals I bested barely the Scapeshift deck (glad to have so much discard in the side) 2 to 1, winning both sideboarded games. The final was against a Death Shadow deck that had beste a affinity. I must say the final went smooth, 2 to 0. The deck worked well, not many empty dredges so it was actually even in the lucky side this time.
The record was 2-0 bested shadow.
2-1 bested CoCo
2-0 bested another CoCo
2-1 against other grixis shadow deck
Tied with scapeshift
2-1 bested scapeshift
2-0 bested the same grixis player I won against the fourth round.
I mainboards a Scourge Devil and a Drive// Despair. Sideboard is 1 Bojuka Bog, 1 Gnaw to the bone, 2 darkblast, 2 lightning axe, 2 ancient grudge, 2 abrupt decay, 2 collective brutality and 3 thoughtseize as the side.
Has anyone considered Mindbreak Trap as a storm answer? Would it be helpful in any other matchup? The only one I can think of is Devoted Druid combo. That's still not enough of the meta to be relevant.
Match 1, vs BG Elves
Game 1: I lack 2 red mana to flashback Conflag, and he builds a pretty substantial board. I manage to get a pretty good board myself, and make him discard his hand with Despair, leaving a few Narcomoebas back to block. He draws Collected Company off the top, which finds him Dwynen's Elite and Shaman of the Pack, draining me for 8, putting me to 2 life, giving him lethal despite my blockers. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 2 Thug, 2 Neonate, 1 Driven \\ Despair. In 3 Decay, 2 Darkblast.
Game 2: I mulligan to 4 trying to find a hand that is even close to functional, and get land + Darkblast. I tear apart his board with it turn after turn, eventually also finding Conflagrate to clear away an Elvish Archdruid + Ezuri, Renegade Leader and I'm getting really close to stabilising entirely, when he plays Shaman of the Pack into Chord of Calling for Shaman of the Pack, draining me out. 0-2
Match 2, vs Restore Balance
Game 1: I have to mulligan, and have a really slow start. He goes Blood Moon into Nahiri, the Harbinger + Ajani Vengeant, and has Violent Outburst into Restore Balance. I start to rebuild, and he hard casts a Simian Spirit Guide. The next turn I die to Nahiri ultimate for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Spirit guide + Ajani minus. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 1 Loam, 1 Ccnflag, 1 Neonate, 1 Ghost Quarter. In 3 Abrupt Decay, 1 Vengeful Pharaoh.
Game 2: I have turn 1 Neonate, but only Dakmor Salvage to dredge. I still dredge at the end of his main phase, and flip exactly Narcomoeba + Amalgam. Feels amazing after 3 games of bad variance! I use conflagrate to get him to 10 life, so I can get back hasty Ghasts after a restore balance. That is pretty much what happens. He casts Restore Balance, I dredge back Dakmor Salvage, getting back 4 Bloodghasts and putting him to 2, after which he concedes. 1-1
Game 3: He mulligans to 4, but has Leyline of the Void. I figure I'm pretty much dead, since I have no answer to it. However, he has no land and makes no plays. I start casting my dudes from hand, and it eventually gets there. He finds no lands, so it is basically a game of solitaire. Had he had anything at all I would've lost. Sometimes it is good to be lucky. 2-1
Match 3, vs Affinity
Game 1: I Conflag away his Steel Overseer + Ornithopter, and start bringing back creatures. He just shrugs and scoops them up. 1-0
Sideboard: Out 2 Thug, 1 Bloodghast, 1 Driven \\ Despair. In 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Darkblast.
Game 2: Darkblast is good against Affinity, none of his creatures survive a turn. 2-0
Match 4, vs Affinity
Game 1: I mulligan to 4, and need one land to get going. I never find it and die to infect damage. Never made a play. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 2 Thug, 1 Bloodghast, 1 Driven \\ Despair. In 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Darkblast.
Game 2: He has Rest in Peace. I did not board in Abrupt Decay. The rest of his hand does not do nothing. 0-2
Match 5, vs Scapeshift
Game 1: I pressure him early, but Sakura-Tribe Elders help him soak up damage and ramp him to a Scapeshift for lethal. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 1 Neonate, 1 Narcomoeba, 1 Conflag. In 3 Collective Brutality.
Game 2: I apply a lot of early pressure, and manage to outrace him. Getting him to 10 means I can swing immediately with Ghasts, so I'm careful with when I return my creatures, and close the game quickly. 1-1
Game 3: He keeps a hand with 1 Mountain and Relic of Progenitus. I have Collective Brutality, revealing 2 Elders, 2 Summoner's Pact, 1 Lightning Bolt, 1 Hour of Promise and 1 Sweltering Suns. I take Suns, figuring it buys him the most time, and that I can race the rest of his hand. He stumbles on lands for a few turns, even cracking Relic early digging. I start wittling away at his life, and he finds a Forest and starts the ramp. He exiles my graveyard with another Relic, and resolves an Hour of Promise, but lacks the mountains to get Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle online. I get a Loam into my yard, and flips 3 cards to it, one being Haunted dead as insurance against board wipes and the last being Driven \\ Despair. I aftermath Despair, hit him with my guys, and although he has a bolt, he still has to discard his hand and go to 2 life. Turns out he had a lethal Scapeshift in hand, and his topdeck is not another one. 2-1
Quarterfinals vs Jund
Game 1: He has turn 2 Scavenging Ooze on the play, and he sculpts his entire game plan around it. He does not give me an opening to cast Conflag, and I never get it of the board. I put him to 1 multiple times, but fall just short of killing him. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 2 Neonate, 1 Reunion, 1 Conflag, 1 Loam, 1 Bloodghast. In 1 Pharaoh, 2 Axe, 3 Decay.
Game 2: He has Leyline of the void and a functioning hand. We play it out, but I'm never really in the game. 0-2
Some bad beats and lots of mulliganing, but still got pretty far, so can't be too upset. Ran into some unexpected sideboard hate, such as RIP out of Affinity, and Leyline. I know affinity sometimes run RIP, but it is not something I've seen in my meta before. Leyline is something I've been scared of, but not prepared for since I've never seen it around. I'll have to revisit my sideboard to account for it. I'm considering swapping my Gemstone Mine for a Steam Vents, and replacing the sideboard Abrupt Decays with Sultai Charms. I've not seen anyone run this card, but it seems really solid to me. Pros: It kills every hate card out there, ooze and Kalitas included. It is instant speed. It can function as an enabler if we do not need an answer in a given game.
Cons: It is 3 mana. It is 3 different, specific types of mana, none of which are red.
I'll probably try it and see how it does. The opportunity cost for running it seems pretty low, but it might be a wrong move. Maelstrom Pulse is another option.
I see you are not running any Thoughtseize.
How is that working out for you because I am also looking at taking them out because I am using 3 Maelstrom Pulse as an answer to everything.
I am also loving your land base and sideboard but I think your sideboard will improve a lot if you take out Abrupt Decay for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. I can`t recommend that card enough. It is my favorite card and it is the one I bring in the most by far. In the matches that you are not sure on what to board in or what kind of hate they have it is always a good call to board in Maelstrom Pulse. It answers all the problems you can think of and even the problems you never thought of.
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
How do you guys sideboard against Eldratron and titanshift?
Against eldratron I'm desperately using lots of sideboard, as they also do, and today I managed my first win against the demon:
in: 2 lightning axe, 2 abrupt decay, 1 maelstrom pulse, 2 ancient grudge
out: 1 dakmor salvage, 1 darkblast, 2 insolent neonate, 1 conflagrate, 1 narcomoeba, 1 golgari thug
Against titanshift I don't even know how to begin. Do you guys use ghost quarter/tectonic edge? Sheltered Thicket?
What is the general strategy here that I'm probably missing?
Seems you are baording in the right cards.
I also play one Ghost Quarter, card is really good against Eldrazi Tron
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
Also, how do you guys face the burn (or similar aggro strategies) matchup? Is golgari brownscale playable?
Thanks in advance!
BW BW Tokens
RG Dredgeplendid Reclamation
RW Boros Burn
GB Elves
RB Dark Goblins
WU Azorius' Relic
Brown is a bit out dated tech, but mostly you race hard and cast Collective Brutality or gnaw to the bone.
As for the sideboarding. Its like I said in the primer. You have to memorize every sideboard card that will be used against you, and who is currently playing those cards, so that way you know how important the counter hate is, and which ones to bring. Thats how you win a game 2 or 3 in this deck and its very key to being successful.
No, the graveyard set in Amonkhet was pretty swing and miss. You can argue we got some flex spots cards, but realistically, nothing that really helped us reclaim top spots
I'll be trying Driven next time through. I noticed that the Modern Challenege results had no dredge and no affinity last weekend in the top 32. Paradoxically as we know, now may be the time to really jam one of those two decks. FYSA
Modern: Bogles // 8-Whack/Goblins // UW Titan // Hollow One // Affinity // Dredge
EDH: Nissa, Vastwood Seer // Atraxa, Praetor's Voice // Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Not me but I am having a lot of succes with Scourge Devil and Driven//Despair mainboard.
I think the more aggresive get in your opponents face is the way to go with Dredge.
Maybe it is just me but I always like to play aggresive and I do best when I am putting the pressure on.
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
On the play If you miss the discard you can often go under it with a well placed looting or mom hug. On the draw you don't have that option, and you have less turns to get there. You can destroy easier on the draw too.
The record was 2-0 bested shadow.
2-1 bested CoCo
2-0 bested another CoCo
2-1 against other grixis shadow deck
Tied with scapeshift
2-1 bested scapeshift
2-0 bested the same grixis player I won against the fourth round.
Has anyone considered Mindbreak Trap as a storm answer? Would it be helpful in any other matchup? The only one I can think of is Devoted Druid combo. That's still not enough of the meta to be relevant.
Modern: Bogles // 8-Whack/Goblins // UW Titan // Hollow One // Affinity // Dredge
EDH: Nissa, Vastwood Seer // Atraxa, Praetor's Voice // Meren of Clan Nel Toth
List:
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 BG Elves
Game 1: I lack 2 red mana to flashback Conflag, and he builds a pretty substantial board. I manage to get a pretty good board myself, and make him discard his hand with Despair, leaving a few Narcomoebas back to block. He draws Collected Company off the top, which finds him Dwynen's Elite and Shaman of the Pack, draining me for 8, putting me to 2 life, giving him lethal despite my blockers. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 2 Thug, 2 Neonate, 1 Driven \\ Despair. In 3 Decay, 2 Darkblast.
Game 2: I mulligan to 4 trying to find a hand that is even close to functional, and get land + Darkblast. I tear apart his board with it turn after turn, eventually also finding Conflagrate to clear away an Elvish Archdruid + Ezuri, Renegade Leader and I'm getting really close to stabilising entirely, when he plays Shaman of the Pack into Chord of Calling for Shaman of the Pack, draining me out. 0-2
Match 2, vs Restore Balance
Game 1: I have to mulligan, and have a really slow start. He goes Blood Moon into Nahiri, the Harbinger + Ajani Vengeant, and has Violent Outburst into Restore Balance. I start to rebuild, and he hard casts a Simian Spirit Guide. The next turn I die to Nahiri ultimate for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Spirit guide + Ajani minus. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 1 Loam, 1 Ccnflag, 1 Neonate, 1 Ghost Quarter. In 3 Abrupt Decay, 1 Vengeful Pharaoh.
Game 2: I have turn 1 Neonate, but only Dakmor Salvage to dredge. I still dredge at the end of his main phase, and flip exactly Narcomoeba + Amalgam. Feels amazing after 3 games of bad variance! I use conflagrate to get him to 10 life, so I can get back hasty Ghasts after a restore balance. That is pretty much what happens. He casts Restore Balance, I dredge back Dakmor Salvage, getting back 4 Bloodghasts and putting him to 2, after which he concedes. 1-1
Game 3: He mulligans to 4, but has Leyline of the Void. I figure I'm pretty much dead, since I have no answer to it. However, he has no land and makes no plays. I start casting my dudes from hand, and it eventually gets there. He finds no lands, so it is basically a game of solitaire. Had he had anything at all I would've lost. Sometimes it is good to be lucky. 2-1
Match 3, vs Affinity
Game 1: I Conflag away his Steel Overseer + Ornithopter, and start bringing back creatures. He just shrugs and scoops them up. 1-0
Sideboard: Out 2 Thug, 1 Bloodghast, 1 Driven \\ Despair. In 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Darkblast.
Game 2: Darkblast is good against Affinity, none of his creatures survive a turn. 2-0
Match 4, vs Affinity
Game 1: I mulligan to 4, and need one land to get going. I never find it and die to infect damage. Never made a play. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 2 Thug, 1 Bloodghast, 1 Driven \\ Despair. In 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Darkblast.
Game 2: He has Rest in Peace. I did not board in Abrupt Decay. The rest of his hand does not do nothing. 0-2
Match 5, vs Scapeshift
Game 1: I pressure him early, but Sakura-Tribe Elders help him soak up damage and ramp him to a Scapeshift for lethal. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 1 Neonate, 1 Narcomoeba, 1 Conflag. In 3 Collective Brutality.
Game 2: I apply a lot of early pressure, and manage to outrace him. Getting him to 10 means I can swing immediately with Ghasts, so I'm careful with when I return my creatures, and close the game quickly. 1-1
Game 3: He keeps a hand with 1 Mountain and Relic of Progenitus. I have Collective Brutality, revealing 2 Elders, 2 Summoner's Pact, 1 Lightning Bolt, 1 Hour of Promise and 1 Sweltering Suns. I take Suns, figuring it buys him the most time, and that I can race the rest of his hand. He stumbles on lands for a few turns, even cracking Relic early digging. I start wittling away at his life, and he finds a Forest and starts the ramp. He exiles my graveyard with another Relic, and resolves an Hour of Promise, but lacks the mountains to get Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle online. I get a Loam into my yard, and flips 3 cards to it, one being Haunted dead as insurance against board wipes and the last being Driven \\ Despair. I aftermath Despair, hit him with my guys, and although he has a bolt, he still has to discard his hand and go to 2 life. Turns out he had a lethal Scapeshift in hand, and his topdeck is not another one. 2-1
Quarterfinals vs Jund
Game 1: He has turn 2 Scavenging Ooze on the play, and he sculpts his entire game plan around it. He does not give me an opening to cast Conflag, and I never get it of the board. I put him to 1 multiple times, but fall just short of killing him. 0-1
Sideboard: Out 2 Neonate, 1 Reunion, 1 Conflag, 1 Loam, 1 Bloodghast. In 1 Pharaoh, 2 Axe, 3 Decay.
Game 2: He has Leyline of the void and a functioning hand. We play it out, but I'm never really in the game. 0-2
Some bad beats and lots of mulliganing, but still got pretty far, so can't be too upset. Ran into some unexpected sideboard hate, such as RIP out of Affinity, and Leyline. I know affinity sometimes run RIP, but it is not something I've seen in my meta before. Leyline is something I've been scared of, but not prepared for since I've never seen it around. I'll have to revisit my sideboard to account for it. I'm considering swapping my Gemstone Mine for a Steam Vents, and replacing the sideboard Abrupt Decays with Sultai Charms. I've not seen anyone run this card, but it seems really solid to me. Pros: It kills every hate card out there, ooze and Kalitas included. It is instant speed. It can function as an enabler if we do not need an answer in a given game.
Cons: It is 3 mana. It is 3 different, specific types of mana, none of which are red.
I'll probably try it and see how it does. The opportunity cost for running it seems pretty low, but it might be a wrong move. Maelstrom Pulse is another option.
I see you are not running any Thoughtseize.
How is that working out for you because I am also looking at taking them out because I am using 3 Maelstrom Pulse as an answer to everything.
I am also loving your land base and sideboard but I think your sideboard will improve a lot if you take out Abrupt Decay for 3 Maelstrom Pulse. I can`t recommend that card enough. It is my favorite card and it is the one I bring in the most by far. In the matches that you are not sure on what to board in or what kind of hate they have it is always a good call to board in Maelstrom Pulse. It answers all the problems you can think of and even the problems you never thought of.
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal