MTG Salvation

Don't know if this is the right place for this but:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/spoilers/186-iconic-masters says 252 cards out of 249, but the last five cards (Glimpse the Unthinkable, Hypersonic Dragon, Malfegor, Savageborn Hydra, and Spiritmonger) are listed both in their regular section *and* at the end of the list. The ones at the end have a card number of #?/249 whereas the ones in the regular part of the list are given the proper numbers.
EDIT: Also, Golgari Rot Farm is missing from the list of lands (we have the other 9 Ravnica Karoos, so we should get the 10th as well), meaning we're only missing one land from the full list.

Sorry if this is the wrong place but: On the Kaladesh spoiler page, Engineered Might is listed twice, once in its normal slot in the multicoloured section, one at the end of the multicoloured section. This is throwing the totals off.

Thanks
Mindstab Thrull
Nomming ur sanities since 1864 BSE (Before Sarpadian Empires)

So I've been having discussions with some on Facebook who have suggested that for the list I had, -4 Spy -1 BSC +3 Griselbrand +2 Faerie Macabre would be a better option. Thoughts on Griselbrand over Balustrade Spy?

Almost tempted to suggest Evermind vs Tormod's Crypt for Disrupting Shoal.
In all seriousness though, I think the biggest hate cards I need to figure out how to handle are Rest in Peace and Leyline of the Void. Everything else should be manageable.

OK, I need help here. I'm starting off with Juha Tolvanen's third-place decklist from the SCG Invitational at Edison NJ at the end of September.



I'm heading down to GP: New Jersey (same town, same site as the SCG Invitational it seems!) and playing this. I'm not highly conversant with Dredge so I have a bunch of questions going through my head.
First, should I be looking at a different sideboard? I have Forces so maybe a blue SB is an option? Also, I still feel like I want a Flame-Kin Zealot somewhere in the 75. I don't have a second Flayer right now so I've been using that instead. FKZ seems good if you have Bridges but only one DR, though it requires you to actually attack. I'm still also trying to figure out what BSC does here - maindeck vs S&T/milling strategies?

HALP!

Mindstab Thrull
Nomming ur sanity since 1863 BSE (Before the Sarpadiam Empires)

Quote from carysh »

um. you didn't have any DR targets in that list. I also don't know why you run gigapede, i think he kinda sucks.

I'm aware there's no DR targets in my list as it stands. I'm sorry I forgot to mention the fact that I was looking for help figuring out what *did* need to be plugged in. The Chancellors are filler at the moment, and the Gigapedes, as I mentioned, have been phased out in most lists. They were there partly as an additional card to discard dredgers to, as I understand things, but in that case why not just discard a dredger instead?

Personally, I would take out 2 shambling shells because if you study card odds you'll see that those last 2 shambling shells are adding almost nothing tot your probability of getting an opening hand dredger.

I did a quick check with deckstats.net and found that with an opening hand of 7 cards, you have 90.0% chance of having a dredger, whereas when you draw your first card, 14 cards gives you 89.8% instead. The relevant stats are:

In deck  Open7  Draw
  13      83.7  87.7
  14      86.1  89.8
  15      88.2  91.5
  16      90.0  93.0 
  17      91.6  94.3
  18      93.0  95.3
  19      94.1  96.2

The first category is how many Dredgers are in the deck, the second is how many are in your opening hand assuming 7 cards, the third is after your first draw step. And some players have made comments about not just wanting 16 but even a 17th Dredger in their deck - which is almost 95% after the the first draw.

And about the balustrade spy combo. Once you DR the spy it's game over. You have everything in your graveyard, how can you lose? And you can actually win on the next turn with a total of only 2 Drs because of all those guys you bring back deal damage from flayer. That would probably only happen if they counter 2 of your DRs. But remember you could always reanimate a golgari thug and then sac him to a cabal therapy for an extra turn. Or if it's a consistent problem for you, side in a worldspine wurm--he's also good vs. show and tell. But you can do just about anything once you've got your whole deck in your graveyard.
Do you have a sideboard yet?

Yeah, I get that. I'm used to the old idea of only needing to reanimate Flame-Kin Zealot and swing with another deck worth's of hasty 3/3 Zombieses! Also, no sideboard yet, but Contagion, Sickening Shoal and Unmask are all options.

EDIT:

Quote from slave »

Quote from gibbousm »

... The point of a sideboard is a tool box against other decks, not to completely change your deck between games.

I feel the hate I fear most is Void, RiP & Cage, in that order. I don't fear anything else than these three, so my anti-hate is focussed here.

I actually think RIP is worse than LOTV if you're running an anti-hate package.
Also, I still don't understand why you wouldn't side in your whole anti-hate package. Getting a dredger, mana source, and destroy spell is already so inconsistent that i would never side in anything less than the whole package (unless i'm up against an enchantment, then i wouldn't side in ancient grudge)

Yeah, I had the weird idea of running like, three green-based fetches, a Dryad Arbor and something like Ray of Revelation and/or Ancient Grudge. Maybe a Life from the Loam?

OK so I'd appreciate it if someone can help me out here since I'm new to playing Dredge - though I understand how the deck operates. And feel free to move the post if I'm in the wrong spot..

So in November there's a Legacy GP in New Jersey I plan on attending. I'm not up on Legacy in terms of what decks are good and what decks are good against them. This is what I've put together so far:

Free creatures (16): 4 each Bridge, Ichorid, Nether Shadow, Narcomoeba
Dredgers (16): 4 each GGT, Stinky, Thug, Shambling Shell
Disruption (8): 4 each Chancellor of the Annex and Cabal Therapy
Cycling (8): 4 each Street Wraith and Gitaxian Probe
Discard (8): 4 each Phantasmagorian and Gigapede
Reanimators (4): 4 Dread Return

As I understand, the Gigapedes are pretty much phased out. That leaves me with four slots to play with. I haven't played a lot of Dredge but I've realized at least one thing: the Balustrade/Flayer kill requires at least three Dread Returns to go off. I'm a bit concerned with that and much prefer the "old-school" kills that relied on only having one or two DR's such as Flame-Kin Zealot.

I'd really appreciate any constructive suggestions. Thanks!

Mindstab Thrull
Nommin ur sanities since 1864 BSE (Before the Sarpadian Empires)

OK I'm pretty sure this is a "known issue" but is it possible to get Mythics to show up with their own Rarity? Or is the best bet just to "downgrade" them to Rare?

OK, here's the list of rarity errors I found (including what has no image):

Hardened Scales:	No image, says Rare.
Heir of the Wilds:	No image, says Uncommon.
Mardu Blazebringer:	No image, says uncommon.
Mardu Heart-Piercer:	No image, says Common, actually Uncommon.
Salt Road Patrol:	No image, says common.
Seeker of the Way:	No image, says common, actually Uncommon.
	
Altar of the Brood:		Says common, actually Rare.
Anafenza, the Foremost:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Ashcloud Phoenix:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Become Immense:			Says common, actually Uncommon.
Briber's Purse:			Says common, actually Uncommon.
Burn Away:			Says common, actually Uncommon.
Clever Impersonator:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Cranial Archive:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Empty the Pits:			Says common, actually Mythic.
Grim Haruspex:			Says common, actually Rare.
Gurmag Swiftwing:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Heart-Piercer Bow:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Hooded Hydra:			Says common, actually Mythic.
Incremental Growth:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Ivorytusk Fortress:		Says common, actually Rare.
Kheru Bloodsucker:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Kin-Tree Invocation:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Master of Pearls:		Says common, actually Rare.
Mer-Ek Nightblade:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Narset, Enlightened Master:	Says common, actually Mythic.
Pearl Lake Ancient:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Pine Walker:			Says common, actually Uncommon.
Retribution of the Ancients:	Says common, actually Rare.
Ride Down:			Says common, actually Uncommon.
Roar of Challenge:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Ruthless Ripper:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker:	Says common, actually Mythic.
See the Unwritten:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Sultai Soothsayer:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Surrak Dragonclaw:		Says common, actually Mythic.
Trap Essence:			Says common, actually Rare.
Ugin's Nexus:			Says common, actually Mythic.
Warden of the Eye:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
War-Name Aspirant:		Says common, actually Uncommon.
Wingmate Roc:			Says common, actually Mythic.
Zurgo Helmsmasher:		Says common, actually Mythic.

All the Mythics show up as Common. Most of the rest are Uncommons showing up as Commons.

Doing a sealed deck for some practice for the prerelease and found..
Hooded Hydra shows up as Common - it's Mythic Rare!
.. So is Wingmate Roc, apparently. I'm guessing if MWS doesn't know how to handle a rarity symbol it plugs it in as Common. Setting them as Rare would be closer to correct.

Looks like there's a few cards that need rarity updates. I'll go through the list later and let you know what I find!

The mass number of new cards that came in.. I want to know the rarities! I've been typing up the spoiler into Notepad and rarities are kinda important.. <_<

Any luck with a printable spoiler page yet? I don't see one for M15 and Khans is starting soon. It's much much much more difficult to make a spreadsheet off something that isn't plain text. :/

Previously, as far as I can tell, it was just a post in a forum whose output got converted into a page on its own. Did that make it easier to make a printable version of it?

I don't know if this is the right section or not but..

Whatever happened to the printable spoilers? They are infinitely handy for things like spoiler spreadsheets (I didn't do any for all of Theros block, sorry folks!), patches for Magic Workstation/Cockatrice, and so forth. How do we pull them up?

First of all, I would like to welcome you to EDH. It's a big format with a lot of variety and flexibility, and it has room for just about every playstyle, deck idea, and so forth. If you give yourself a chance, it can be a lot of fun.
Second, I'd like to remind you of something regarding Spikes that you mentioned yourself: They are competitive. However, this does not mean it has to be against other players. Competition, by its definition, requires a goal. All it requires is to change what that goal is, from "defeating all my enemies" to something else. Perhaps you want to win with the highest life total. Perhaps you want to roll a die when you sit down at the table and you want to do what you can so *that* person wins. Maybe it's something completely different - you enjoy Lord of the Rings enough that you want to build the best deck you can that fits the story. Regardless, a change in focus will make a huge difference.
Third, remember that EDH is primarily seen as "beer and pretzels" or "chips and soda" Magic - the kind of Magic you play to relax and unwind with friends. The kind of Magic you probably were more accustomed to when you first heard about it. The kind where people play with whatever they have laying around and people tell stories about the games afterward, like getting beaten soundly by a double-Spirit Linked Abbey Gargoyles with Divine Transformation on it.
Lastly, read articles on the format. At SCG there are no less than three different columns for EDH, including one by the Godfather of EDH, Sheldon Menery. There are also websites that are aimed toward the format. The 'official' rules for the format are here and the forums there are useful for coming up with ideas of your own. And don't be afraid to try something different! I have a tendency of designing all sorts of odd lists, mostly around "doing X in the 'wrong' colours". I currently have Dosan monogreen control and am busy writing up Thada Adel monoblue ramp. I've already sketched out (4of, 60card) monoblack Group Hug. I've also taken Sharuum and turned her into a tribal leader in EDH rather than using her for major artifact recursion. The format's big enough to entertain any ideas you might have.
Again, welcome and good luck!

Mindstab Thrull
Sanity eater extraordinaire
Operator, #mtgcommander on EFnet chat network

Clicking on the "Compilation of known info" link on the BNG Spoiler's page doesn't bring to this page.