Quote from Figurative »Hey guys,
I've heard good things about this deck, like it being a very underplayed deck with a high win percentage. For when I make my next deck, this seems like a good choice for a Spike like me, but first I want to make sure it's meta appropriate. Could someone outline this deck's various matchups and some other essential things about the deck? Thanks.
Gladly. I appreciate your interest as I think the deck gets too quickly overlooked as "dies to Rest in Peace" or as being combo jank. It is a very fun deck to play, and once you get the hang of it, it is extremely competitive. I'll admit though, that my first few weeks with it were a nightmare.
Your sequence for the turn often depends on what comes out of a Satyr Wayfinder or Faithles Looting, so you are often starting on a guess and need to know how to get the most value out of each play. i.e. No Bloodghasts in your graveyard? Play a Wayfinder before making your land drop. T2 With 2 land in play and a Wayfinder and another 1-drop in hand? Pass the turn so next turn you can try to bin a Vengevine and have the second creature ready to activate it. Little things like that add up to many points of extra attack power during a game and make the difference between a 4-0 and 0-4. Johnnies (like myself) gravitate towards the deck for fun factor, but lose to poor sequencing.
You'll also notice in the matchups below that there is a very common sideboard-out plan (which I call the 'Standard Side-Out') of 4 Bloodghasts, a Varolz and a Death's Shadow. Often people see this and ask why bother running them if they come out so often? TyThe reason is that Bloodghasts help us steal game 1 in many matchups, but are very easily blanked by weak blockers and grave-hate. We usually side into a more interactive deck so that our opponents over-adjust slightly. Varolz and Death's Shadow are the same thing - they're a sweet combo together, but seldom work twice. Sometimes its right to cut just the Varolz or just the Shadow (often in multiples), which depends on how strong the Shadow is going to be on the field. Vs. Aggro decks, keep all shadows because they might be a 7/7 for 1 pretty early. Vs. more controlling decks, it's just a Scavenge waiting to get Path'd, and will never be viable on the field. Anyways, that's what the 'Standard Side-Out' is and why it exists.
You'll also often notice that I sometimes refer to Golgari Charms in multiples, even though my board only has one. It is a strong contender for a second copy depending on your meta, and will often be better than Kolaghan's Command or Gurmag Angler.
Last, you probably notice that this 75 has a whopping two Dredge cards. Stronger dredge lists can be good, but are less reliable. Satyr Wayfinder + Faithless Looting + Grisly Salvage is a more consistent package, although there is a good argument for including 1-2 Stinkweed Imp in the side for when it's a relevant blocker that helps pivot into beatdowns. The maindeck Darkblast is more for a reliable way to pick off x/1's than it is a mill enabler. I will very seldom Dredge it unless I want the spell effect - usually only when my alpha strike is 1-2 pts of damage shy of lethal and I need to search for a boost.
You'll also notice in the matchups below that there is a very common sideboard-out plan (which I call the 'Standard Side-Out') of 4 Bloodghasts, a Varolz and a Death's Shadow. Often people see this and ask why bother running them if they come out so often? TyThe reason is that Bloodghasts help us steal game 1 in many matchups, but are very easily blanked by weak blockers and grave-hate. We usually side into a more interactive deck so that our opponents over-adjust slightly. Varolz and Death's Shadow are the same thing - they're a sweet combo together, but seldom work twice. Sometimes its right to cut just the Varolz or just the Shadow (often in multiples), which depends on how strong the Shadow is going to be on the field. Vs. Aggro decks, keep all shadows because they might be a 7/7 for 1 pretty early. Vs. more controlling decks, it's just a Scavenge waiting to get Path'd, and will never be viable on the field. Anyways, that's what the 'Standard Side-Out' is and why it exists.
You'll also often notice that I sometimes refer to Golgari Charms in multiples, even though my board only has one. It is a strong contender for a second copy depending on your meta, and will often be better than Kolaghan's Command or Gurmag Angler.
Last, you probably notice that this 75 has a whopping two Dredge cards. Stronger dredge lists can be good, but are less reliable. Satyr Wayfinder + Faithless Looting + Grisly Salvage is a more consistent package, although there is a good argument for including 1-2 Stinkweed Imp in the side for when it's a relevant blocker that helps pivot into beatdowns. The maindeck Darkblast is more for a reliable way to pick off x/1's than it is a mill enabler. I will very seldom Dredge it unless I want the spell effect - usually only when my alpha strike is 1-2 pts of damage shy of lethal and I need to search for a boost.
As for the meta comparison, I will be talking about my Jundvine list as posted below. I've ran a BUG version too that was more explosive but less consistent. I believe the Jund variant is the most tournament-worthy.
50/50 Pre-board. You are just as fast as them. The die roll can be huge, mulligan for an aggressive hand, Bolts are great. Post-board favours us with an extra Darkblast, Abrupt Decays, Kolaghan's Command, and Ancient Grudges. Standard side-out of some combination of Bloodghast, Varolz, and Death's Shadow. (Usually in that priority. My most common board-out is 4 Bloodghast 1 Varolz 1 Death's Shadow, which is the standard plan vs. many decks.) I will win ~60-65% matches vs. good Affinity pilots.
40/60 Pre-board. Again, it's a race. Our pre-board removal is terrible, so you need to kill them first. Deceiver Exarch is very good defensively, so they can often survive your T4 attack and then twin you out. If they've got it in their opener, you have basically no chance. Post board gets better with all your Abrupt Decays, Golgari Charm(s), and disruption coming in (Standard board-out + Darkblast). If they keep the combo in, we are well-prepared for it. If they don't, they're not very good at tempoing us out. Post-board games favour us. Don't mulligan too aggressively unless it's G3 and they swapped cards back in after the combo disappeared G2. Matches are 50/50.
75/25 pre-board. Our main blanks their Lillies and powers down their disruption. Overwhelm them, don't use Bolts on anything but Scavenging Ooze or lethal. Post-board, expect grave-hate. In comes decays, disruption, and larger creature removal (Dismember or Big Game Hunter). Post-board can be hard, matches are still 50%+ in my experience.
30/70 pre-board. Like any deck with a greedy mana base, burn punishes us pretty badly. If we help them for as much as 3 damage, we are usually toast. Beyond that, we need to win by T5 at the latest, which is doable but not every game. Board out a Darkblast, your bolts, and 1 Varolz for 2x Inquisition, 1x Gnaw to the Bone, and a Gurmag Angler, and maybe make room for Kolaghan's Command as despite its cost, it often reads "Gain 5 life". Mill as aggressively as possible, consider chumping with Birds and Wayfinders and treating your Lotleth Troll as a wall, and otherwise be as aggressive as possible.
60/40 pre-board. Unless they hit infinite life early (which we cannot beat), this is usually an easy G1 win. Our stuff is just bigger and badder, and they will be forced to block more than they would normally like to. Post-board our situation gets even better as we can answer their combo and they rarely have decent answers to us except for Anafenza, the Foremost and an Ooze or two.
80/20 pre-board. Paths slow us down, and Lingering Souls can be annoying, but otherwise Control decks fold to us like a house of cards. Post-board depends on how equipped they are for grave-hate. Change very little - usually Darkblast and maybe a Shadow+Varolz out for your disruption package. Among competitive decks, Control is as close to a sure win as we get.
40/60 pre-board. This is actually a bad matchup for us. They can chump for days, and our recursion helps their lifegain plan. An actite Serra Ascendant is usually game. Siding in Golgari Charms, disruption, and Kolaghan's Command helps, with the standard package coming out. Decays are good too as they hit Honor of the Pure, but I usually won't take all 3 as they trade down vs. most of their other targets. If Soul Sisters is heavy in your meta, quit playing magic because that's so not fun. (But actually just add more bolts to your sideboard.)
70/30 pre-board. Their plan of stick Delver/Tasigur and protect it doesn't do well against a wide aggro approach. Counters don't interrupt turning on Vengevine, and we laugh at non-exile removal. Young Pyro can get annoying very fast, and should be your only target for Bolts/Darkblast. Post-board can be nastier, as Pyroclasm can force us to play narrow, where Vines don't line up well against Tasigurs, and our SB options aren't awesome. Dismember, Angler, and disruption come in, standard side-out. Expect this to go to 3, know what to play around.
20/80 Pre-board. Main-deck Relic of Progenitus AND Blood Moon are tough to handle. Post-board just gets worse. This is our worst match-up by far. Thank the gods it's not that common. Your best option is to side in disruption and try to race them, but it's an uphill battle.
40/60 Pre-board. The pros are thawwt they hurt themselves a lot and can make a T3 or T4 win for us much more likely than most decks. The fact that 8 of our creatures can't block and that our removal sucks is painful, though. Side in decays, IoKs, and Gnaw to the Bone, get rid of all Varolz, Darkblast, cut a Bloodghast or two (but keep some as their Haste is active very early in this matchup), and also consider ditching a Grisly Salvage or two as they are good but not as good as answers. Kolaghan's Command is decent. Match wins are below 50%.
25/75 Pre-board for similar reasons to Zoo. Post-board is a little better since our Darkblasts are active. Still a bad matchup as is any time we are forced to take the more controlling role.
25/75 Pre-board. I used to run a single Dead Drop just for this matchup, but it's been very rare in my meta so I cut it for a Big Game Hunter to better answer Tasigur/Goyf/Rhino/etc. Boggles is a tough matchup with bad blockers, and a single big lifegain usually puts them out of range. Post-board things get dramatically better as they are very weak to Disruption, Decays, and Golgari charms.
Well that took longer than I thought, but it was fun to write! Hope it helps. Maybe we should work on a revised primer as the Page 1 primer has no matchups and is a little dated
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Grisly Salvage, Life from the Loam are good additions for your deck. Why no Prized Amalgam? It's the best card outside of Vengevine for the deck (I never hard cast him).
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I too am running a simple Dredgevine list. Replaced 4 GGT with 3 Golgari Thug and 1 Greenbelt Rampager. It's amazing.
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Anyway, I run 3 Colonnade and 3 Spirebluff Canal and haven't looked back.
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DredgeVine as a deck has evolved constantly over the years to cope with new metas, new printings and new ideas. However the core focus of the deck remains the same. DredgeVine fills its graveyard to swarm the field with cheap recursive creatures, the most powerful of which being the deck's namesake, Vengevine. DredgeVine excels at aggressively swarming the field with powerful threats, playing a grindy game, and quickly destroying opposition with a powerful alpha strike of strong, hastey creatures. While most decks rely on their hand to cast spells, the fact that DredgeVine can use the power of the graveyard as a resource at all stages of the game gives it a strong and unique play-style with great resilience to common answers.
DredgeVine has many builds that can be considered viable. All five of the colors can be used depending on how you wish your deck to play, but the two that every deck will want in its repertoire are access to BBlackB and GGreenG. Black gives access to recursive threats that help further the game plan like Gravecrawler and Bloodghast and contains the majority of creatures with the ability Dredge. Green allows you to run mana fixers like Birds of Paradise and Satyr Wayfinder, as well as allowing you to hardcast Vengevine.
When considering cards, a few ideas to keep in mind. We try to be a blistering fast explosive aggro deck.
1. A creature should either:
- Be castable from the graveyard
- Fill the graveyard, i.e. Hedron Crab, Satyr Wayfinder
- Act as a discard outlet, i.e. Lotleth Troll, Rotting Rats
2. If it's over 2 CMC, it should say "Delve" or "Dredge X". Exceptions are Varolz, the Scar-Striped. Otherwise, forget it.3. Removal should be at a minimum for game 1. Mainboard removal spells should have a perk in the form of being uncounterable, discard, etc.
Section 2.1: Creatures
Fetches:
Basics:
Shocklands:
Jund:
- Overgrown Tomb: Run 2-3.
- Stomping Ground: Run 1.
- Blood Crypt: Run 2.
BUG:Others:
Depending on your colors, some people run 3-5 fast lands in some combination of:
Rites Package:
- Unburial Rites: Dredge it into your yard and flashback that big fattie that is typically uncastable otherwise. Most run 1 MB and 1 SB with this package. Combine it with one or more of the following creatures:
- Elesh-Norn, Grand Cenobite: Big fattie that buffs our board and kills nearly every creature on your opponents side.
- Iona, Shield of Emeria: Great vs mono-colored decks. Stops them in their tracks.
- Griselbrand: Lifelink. Big flier. Who doesn't love dredging your entire library into the graveyard.
Disruption:- Life from the Loam: Needed to combo with the following cards:
- Raven's Crime: Who doesn't love picking apart your opponent's hand every turn?!
- Ghost Quarter: Kill the opposing Tron land every turn or manland every time.
Scavenge:Cast the Shadow onto a Birds of Paradise or Lotleth Troll and watch your opponent concede on the spot.
4 Gravecrawler
4 Gurmag Angler
4 Lotleth Troll
3 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Stinkweed Imp
1 Tymaret, The Murder King
4 Vengevine
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Darkblast
4 Faithless Looting
4 Grisly Salvage
2 Lightning Axe
2 Blood Crypt
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
3 Ancient Grudge
1 Darkblast
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Golgari Charm
1 Molten Rain
2 Spellskite
1 Terminate
3 Thoughtseize
4 Bloodghast
3 Death's Shadow
4 Gravecrawler
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Lotleth Troll
2 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Spellskite
3 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
4 Vengevine
4 Faithless Looting
4 Grisly Salvage
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Ancient Grudge
3 Essence Warden
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Seal of Primordium
4 Gurmag Angler
4 Hedron Crab
4 Lotleth Troll
1 Rotting Rats
4 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Skaab Ruinator
2 Stinkweed Imp
4 Vengevine
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Darkblast
4 Grisly Salvage
1 Murderous Cut
1 Sultai Charm
1 Darkslick Shore
1 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
2 Woodland Cemetery
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Duress
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Life from the Loam
1 Memory's Journal
1 Spellskite
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Thoughtseize
Burn:
- Things to watch out for: Skullcrack, Monestary Swiftspear
- Sideboard plan: Gnaw to the Bone, Essence Warden in. Darkblast, Stinkweed Imp out.
- Tips: Fetch conservatively. Cast lifegain when your opponent taps out.
Burn of all variants (Mono-Red, Naya, Gruul, Boros, etc...) is considered a very tough matchup game one. We take a lot of damage from our manabase since we're a three color deck. They usually start attacking us with a turn one haste creature aka Goblin Guide, so we need to be extremely fast and/or lucky to beat them. Post sideboard, our chances improve significantly. Cast lifegain after they tap out and kill their creatures early.
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Affinity:
- Things to watch out for: Cranial Plating, Etched Champion, Arcbound Ravager, Steel Overseer
- Sideboard plan: Ancient Grudge, Darkblast in. Tymaret, the Murder King, Lightning Axe out.
- Tips: Darkblast is an allstar. Grudge is at its finest here!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Affinity can win at any point. A skilled pilot can sacrifice everything and win on the spot, and it might not be recognizable to every player. Darkblast everything you can and don't hesitate to be aggressive. Overwhelm them with recursion and it shouldn't be too difficult to pull out a win. Post sideboard, it's rare to lose a match with the extra Darkblast and Ancient Grudge.
RG Tron:
- Things to watch out for: Karn Liberated, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Eye of Ugin
- Sideboard plan: Ancient Grudge, Thoughtseize Molten Rain (*insert other land destruction here*) in. Lightning Axe, Abrupt Decay, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Destroy their Expedition Maps, keep them off Tron with your land destruction, and play aggressive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Perhaps one of the most uninteractable decks in the entire format. Turn three Tron is a scary nightmare for any deck. What's coming down...Karn Liberated, Wurmcoil Engine?! Play aggressive game one and hope you can outlast them. Try not to rely on your graveyard in this matchup as they typically run three-four Relic of Progenitus. Side in your artifact hate and disruption and play aggressive!
Scapeshift:
- Things to watch out for: Scapeshift, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
- Sideboard plan: Gnaw to the Bone Molten Rain (*insert other land destruction here*) in. Lightning Axe, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Gain lots of life and play aggressive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Scapeshift is another very uninteractable deck. They can kill anyone with 6 lands at 18 life. Their first few turns will include countering relevant spells and cheating extra lands into play. Stay above 20 life and fetch conservatively. They have a quite low creature count, so play aggressive. Side in your lifegain and land destruction.
Infect:
- Things to watch out for: Vines of Vastwood, Inkmoth Nexus
- Sideboard plan: Darkblast Golgari Charm in. Lightning Axe, relevant number of Bloodghast out.
- Tips: Darkblast them to death!!!.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Life total is not a concern in the Infect matchup. However, they can win on the spot if left unchecked. Between flying manlands, exalted triggers, and pump spells, this deck is extremely aggressive. Darkblast is an allstar in this matchup. They're threat light, so clearing the way of two or three threats makes for a relatively easy win. Golgari Charm kills a lot of their creatures and is more efficient than some of the heavier removal. Watch out for the pump spells as they run a decent number. Don't leave a creature unblocked as it could be game with double pump spells for two mana.
UWx Control:
- Things to watch out for: Path to Exile, Supreme Verdict/Wrath of God
- Sideboard plan: Golgari Charm Thoughtseize, Spellskite in. Lightning Axe, Darkblast, other spot removal out.
- Tips: Keep attacking. Turn everything sideways. Leave up Golgari Charm mana after turn four to regen your team and prevent a sweeper.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The odds are ever in our favor. Path is the only real answer to our creatures. Wrath is a sideboard card that can shutdown our Lotleth Troll. Aside from this, attacking for a few turns and recurring everything typically runs control out of answers real fast. Esper Control loves Lingering Souls, so Darkblast is the perfect answer. Jeskai Control loves Anger of the Gods, so sacrificing a creature isn't a bad deal, i.e, with Tymaret, the Murder King. UW Control runs more creatures, so siding in a Murderous Cut/Terminate can help deal with their primary win condition. Stealing their Sphinx's Revelation or sweeper with hand disruption and being able to redirect a burn spell can usually steal the match with all the recursion we run.
Grixis Delve/Control:
- Things to watch out for: Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Snapcaster Mage
- Sideboard plan: Spellskite Terminate/Murderous Cut in. Abrupt Decay, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Beware of hate enchantments after sideboarding.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------There are many different variants of Grixis decks overpopulating the format. They too abuse the delve mechanic to attempt to land a turn two Tasigur, the Golden Fang or Gurmag Angler. Darkblast overperforms in the Grixis Delver matchup. Lightning Axe became a staple in our deck because of the number of these creatures running around, so always side these in. Also side in your other creature removal. Pretty uninteractive for a few turns as they typically cantrip draw spells to fill their yard. Beware of cheap counters and removal. These variants are winnable after we run them out of initial resources. Abrupt Decay is typically pretty weak vs the Grixis Delve. Stinkweed Imp is amazing value in this matchup as they typically cast one threat at a time. Post sideboard, be on the lookout for opposing Leylines or Blood Moons.
Jund:
- Things to watch out for: Fulminator Mage, Olivia Voldaren, Scavenging Ooze
- Sideboard plan: Spellskite Terminate/Murderous Cut in. Bloodghast, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Beware of silver bullets. Some versious run Olivia Voldaren and Huntmaster of the Fells.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jund is a deck that relies on value. They are heavily focused on discard game one, namely Liliana of the Veil, Thoughtseize, etc. Don't be surprised to see mainboard Scavenging Ooze. It can get big pretty quick against us, so be sure to utilize any spot removal for this guy and Tarmogoyf, as they typically cause us problems if left unchecked. Most run sideboard graveyard hate, so sideboarding out dredgers for some extra spot removal and enchantment hate is the way to go. They take a lot of damage from their manabase, so a solid attack or two and it might result in a scoop, especially with an opposing active Bob.
Merfolk:
- Things to watch out for: Spreading Seas
- Sideboard plan: Golgari Charm, Terminate/Murderous Cut, 1-2 Ancient Grudge in. Bloodghast, Lightning Axe out.
- Tips: Bring in some hate for both artifacts and enchantments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Not the toughest matchup. Pretty standard linear aggro deck. Abrupt Decay and Darkblast are all-stars. Their counter spells are irrelevant. Darkblast their first one or two creatures and save the better spot removal for the lords. The only real threat is Spreading Seas to our manabase.
Amulet Bloom:
- Things to watch out for: Hive Mind, Pact of Negation, Primevil Titan
- Sideboard plan: Ancient Grudge, Thoughtseize, Terminate/Murderous Cut in. Bloodghast, Lightning Axe, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Pray...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What more to say but pray they don't have the turn two kill. Sideboard well and pray some more. Not a fair matchup by any means. Their turn two titan is our turn two double Vengevine swinging for eight. Swap out spot removal for disruption and artifact hate.
Bogles:
- Things to watch out for: Daybreak Coronet, Rest in Peace
- Sideboard plan: Golgari Charm, Thoughtseize, Spellskite in. Bloodghast, Lightning Axe, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Use Golgari Charm to sweep two of their threats before they're equipped or kill an aura before Coronet resolves and it is usually backbreaking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------With only twelve creatures in their deck, we can usually count on two threats per game on average. Game one is typically a race to the finish, but if they resolve a Daybreak Coronet, it's usually too late. They usually try for a Hexproof, Lifelink, Vigilance, Trample, Totem Armor, 10/10 creature, and that's near impossible to stop. Sideboard out kill spells since most of their creatures have hexproof and bring in enchantment hate and disruption. This deck runs the typical white enchantment graveyard hate, Rest in Piece, so play around it before you go all in on the graveyard plan post sideboard.
Abzan Midrange(Junk):
- Things to watch out for: Scavenging Ooze, Gavony Township
- Sideboard plan: Golgari Charm, Terminate/Murderous Cut in. Darkblast, some number of Bloodghast out.
- Tips: Don't be too quick to waste removal on a threat. They will try and bait removal to play a better creature. Use Stinkweed Imp to kill their stuff or cause board stalls.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Extremely grindy matchup. Tons of fatties with Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino, etc. They have mainboard and sideboard answers for us in the form of Scavenging Ooze and Rest in Peace, alongside disruption and discard. They will most likely go to turn ten each game, so pack answers ourselves and outvalue them! Depending on the version, some run four copies of Lingering Souls, so Darkbast is good at clearing the chump blockers. Be careful with the Liege version as everything becomes a massive threat when he is dropped. Save the creature removal for the larger threats and Abrupt Decay the smaller cmc creatures.
Elves:
- Things to watch out for: Mirror Entity, Scavenging Ooze
- Sideboard plan: Golgari Charm, Darkblast in. Lightning Axe, 1 Bloodghast out.
- Tips: Darkblast, Darkblast, Darkblast...oh, did I mention Darkblast?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It's funny what a bunch of 1/1 mana dorks can do, but don't overlook them. Elves is an extremely explosive deck, but definitely winnable in our favor. Darkblast the first few dorks they play to keep them off Collected Company for another turn. Save the removal spells for one of the eight or so lords they run. Sideboard in relevant spells like extra Darkblasts and Golgari Charm and it's fairly difficult to lose. Mirror Entity is a thing that devastates any board and Scavenging Ooze is their only real hate against us.
Living End:
- Things to watch out for: Leyline of the Void, Fulminator Mage
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize in. Abrupt Decay, Darkblast out.
- Tips: Go after their hand with discard and remove the cascade spells.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Living End is the other relevant graveyard strategy in the Modern format. They cycle their entire hand until they hit either a Violent Outburst or Demonic Dread. Play aggressive game one. Sideboard out dead removal spells as they don't play any targets for Abrupt Decay and Darkblast and bring in whatever disruption you stack.
URx Delver:
- Things to watch out for: Young Pyromancer, Snapcaster Mage
- Sideboard plan: Darkblast, Terminate/Murderous Cut in. Bloodghast out.
- Tips: Kill Pyromancer. Fetch for Blood Moon post sideboard.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Delver is a fast deck full of tiny X/1 creatures. Darkblast is an allstar in this matchup as it can kill nearly everything they play. Value is the namesake of the deck. With our recursion, we can usually go over the top and force bad blocks after a few cycles of Darkblast. Note that RUG Delver runs Tarmogoyf and Grixis Delver runs [card]Tasigur, the Golden-Fang[card]/[card]Gurmag Angler[card], so use the spot removal for their big threat. Don't over sideboard too hard for this matchup, just swap in relevant removal spells and it should be a well-favored match.
Zoo:
- Things to watch out for: Knight of the Reliquary, whatever hate their colors allow them to sideboard
- Sideboard plan: Gnaw to the Bone, Terminate/Murderous Cut in. Darkblast, Bloodghast out.
- Tips: Depending on the colors, side appropriately for graveyard hate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Apparently this deck is still a thing. They're a blistering fast aggro deck that focuses on tons of one drops. They're manabase is quite painful, so quick damage is beneficial. If you can survive the initial onslaught, games are winnable. Side in lifegain and force bad blocks. Against the Suicide Zoo version, save a removal spell for Death's Shadow. Some decks also mainboard Scavenging Ooze.
Tokens:
- Things to watch out for: Honor of the Pure, Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace
- Sideboard plan: Golgari Charm, Darkblast in. Lightning Axe, Bloodghast out.
- Tips: Keep their anthem effects clear. Keep turning everything sideways.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tokens loves to create an army of 1/1 creatures and pump them with planeswalkers and anthem effects. Don't be surprised to have a lot of attacks just get continuously chump-blocked. After a few turns, it should be fairly easy to overwhelm your opponent. Post sideboard, watch out for Rest in Peace and be wary of Grafdigger's Cage. Some versions run this so don't devote to the graveyard full fledged post sideboard until you know what you're dealing with. Save your Abrupt Decay for their non creature spells.
Mono Green Devotion:
- Things to watch out for: Genesis Wave, Craterhoof Behemoth
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize, Terminate any sweepers, land destruction in. Bloodghast, Abrupt Decay out
- Tips: Darkblast their early threats and take the Genesis Wave with the hand disruption.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nyxwave runs a lot of mana acceleration and devotion creatures to utilize Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to its fullest extent. Their fatties include Primeval Titan and Craterhoof Behemoth. They generate tons of card advantage through chains of Eternal Witness and Genesis Wave. If the game goes long enough, they can cheat out half their library with Genesis Wave. Darkblast is an allstar for this matchup as it kills their mana dorks and Eternal Witnesses.
Abzan Collected Company:
- Things to watch out for: Collected Company, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize, Terminate, sweepers in. 1-2 Grisly Salvage, Darkblast, Bloodghast out
- Tips: Save spot removal for the combo pieces. Use hand disruption to take the company/chord.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you're familiar with birthing pod decks, you'll recognize the infinite combos this deck utilizes. It's a value deck with sac outlets, infinite damage and lifegain, and some mainboard graveyard hate. Some lists pack Wilt-Leaf Liege in the sideboard. Most run a playset of Fulminator Mage, which is insane off a Collected Company, so watchout. Kill one of their combo pieces, i.e. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Viscera Seer. It will turn it into a "who can out-value who?" matchup. Games can get pretty grindy, so prepare for a long matchup.
UWx Midrange:
- Things to watch out for: Geist of Saint Traft, Restoration Angel
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize, Spellskite, Terminate in. Bloodghast, Darkblast, Abrupt Decay out
- Tips: Take the Geist with Thoughtseize.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whether it's Azorius, Jeskai, or Esper, the baseline creature package includes Restoration Angel, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, and last, but not least, Geist of Saint Traft. They flash in a lot of creatures and clear the way with cheap removal in the form of path, bolt, etc. Expect a creature or two to get the Path to Exile, but this isn't a tough matchup. Run them out of resources and continuously recur our threats and push through. Our creatures are typically bigger than theirs and we can usually go wider. Stinkweed Imp stonewalls this deck!
Ad Nauseum Unlife:
- Things to watch out for: Angel's Grace, Phyrexian Unlife
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize, Ancient Grudge in. Darkblast, Abrupt Decay out
- Tips: Take a combo piece with the discard spell.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This deck utilizes the Ad Nauseum plus Angel's Grace / Phyrexian Unlife to draw nearly its entirely library. Then it discards land cards to Lightning Storm to deal a ton of damage. Spot removal is near useless here as the only creature is Simian Spirit Guide. Switch out your spot removal for hand disruption and artifact hate. Use the artifact hate to force the use of their mana acceleration: Pentad Prism and Lotus Bloom.
B/W Eldrazi:
- Things to watch out for: Relic of Progenitus, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize, Terminate, Fulminator Mage in. Darkblast, Abrupt Decay, Stinkweed Imp out
- Tips: Slow them down as with disruption and play as aggressive as possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Similar to Tron, this deck runs a lot of lands and spells that make Eldrazi spells cost less. Once they land Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, it's game over. They have maindeck five or more discard spells and a playset of Relic of Progrentius, making this matchup a nightmare. When casting a Gurmag Angler, try to do so by delving away nonland cards, so that opposing Oblivion Sower don't have as great effect. Side out your reliance on your graveyard in exchange for disruption and spot removal. Note that their colorless creatures are not artifacts!
B/x Eldrazi:
- Things to watch out for: Relic of Progenitus, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
- Sideboard plan: Thoughtseize, Terminate, Fulminator Mage in. Darkblast, Bloodghast, Stinkweed Imp out
- Tips: Turn into an aggro deck that doesn't utilize your graveyard nearly as much.
Similar to Tron, this deck runs a lot of lands and spells that make Eldrazi spells cost less. Once they land Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, it's game over. They have maindeck six or more discard spells and some combination of eight or more graveyard hate in the form of Nihil Spellbomb, Relic of Progrentius, making this matchup a malicious nightmare. The red version focuses more on spot removal, with Anger of the Gods in the sideboard. The black version has 1-2 Scrabbling Claws mainboard, making it even tougher. When casting a Gurmag Angler, try to do so by delving away nonland cards, so that opposing Oblivion Sower don't have as great effect. Side out your reliance on your graveyard in exchange for disruption and spot removal. Note that their colorless creatures are not artifacts!
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I have a few more videos to upload, which I'll do so at some point over the next few days. I'll make a deck tech video at some point too. As far as hard to see, I record in 720p, 30 FPS. I have no trouble viewing the new videos. In the old videos, I was still getting software worked out, but everything should be good now