Digital Devil
08-29-2011, 07:12 PM
It took me a while to learn how to dodge decks playing Mental Misstep. Now that my goal has been accomplished, I have one last thing to do: learning how to dodge grave-hate. Yes, because I'm a Dredge player and I'm proud of it. Well, actually I'm out of money, but please ignore this sentence and convince yourself I'm in love with this deck. I mean, I truly love Dredge - no money issue behind that.
What? A 50-men tournament right next to my door? Sign me in!
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// Lands
4 [OD] Cephalid Coliseum
4 [8E] City of Brass
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
2 [OD] Tarnished Citadel
// Creatures
4 [TO] Putrid Imp
4 [OD] Tireless Tribe
4 [RAV] Golgari Grave-Troll
4 [RAV] Stinkweed Imp
4 [FUT] Narcomoeba
4 [TO] Ichorid
3 [RAV] Golgari Thug
1 [ZEN] Iona, Shield of Emeria
// Spells
4 [FUT] Bridge from Below
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [TO] Breakthrough
3 [TSP] Dread Return
3 [OD] Careful Study
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [WWK] Nature's Claim
SB: 4 [TSP] Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 [RAV] Darkblast
SB: 2 [JU] Ray of Revelation
SB: 1 [OD] Careful Study
SB: 1 [GP] Angel of Despair
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As strange as it may seem, this list is quite powerful, despite being horrible. I've been thinking about a way to sneak in 1x Elesh Norn, then I realized I couldn't. I couldn't think, I mean, so I went with my usual build.
Round 1 - GW Maverick
I win the die roll, choosing to draw first. Not knowing my opponent can be bad. He leads with Wooded Foothills into Savannah into Noble Hierarch, but I think I'm paranoid, so I think he's playing Bant and is sandbagging a Force of Will. I go for the DDD route, he responds with Stoneforge Mystic searching for Jitte. No blue lands, so I can play Careful Study. He plays a Knight of the Reliquary, but I follow with Breakthrough and ruin his plans.
-4 Breakthrough, -3 Golgari Thug, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +4 Ancient Grudge, +3 Darkblast, +1 Careful Study
Sideboarding 8 cards and not seeing any of 'em? You can count on me. Cephalid Coliseum dredging 13 cards? I can. Well, despite my lack of luck (ahaha I'm so nice) I manage to win with Cabal Therapy taking care of Knight of the Reliquary, and Ichorid + Bridge from Below to ignore his 2nd turn Gaddock Teeg.
Round 2 - UW Stoneblade/Stoneforge Control???
I hate blue decks so much I tend to consider 'em all the same, except for their wincon, so I don't know against what I've been playing =)
I win the die roll, letting my opponent go first once again. He kept a one-lander with double Brainstorm and lots of countermagic. Too bad my Ichorids sent a friendship request to his life points.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, -1 Ichorid, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study, +1 Angel of Despair
I have 3 discard outlets but a single dredger, so I don't DDD fearing Relic of Progenitus. After losing two turns to his blue instants I finally resolve a Careful Study which finds me a Cephalid Coliseum, while he has Stoneforge Mystic + Batterskull and a Ghostly Prison. I strip his hand with multiple Cabal Therapy, getting rid of Enlightened Tutor in the process, only to activate Coliseum thereafter. I nuke his Batterskull with Ancient Grudge, destroy Ghostly Prison with Angel of Despair and deal him lethal.
Round 3 - Italian Zoo
My pupil. I taught him how to play Dredge, but he has betrayed me. By forsaking the Creed he thought he would be fine. I set my curse against him as a sword: "To those who are playing Dredge I will give my blessing; to those who'll betray the Creed, I shall give eternal despair, and they'll regret all the pain they'll be going through". I make all of his nightmares come to life: Narcomoeba + Thug + Bridge from Below and a 9/9 Golgari Grave-Troll.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study
He mulls down to 6. I keep my opening grip, knowing I would be totally cold to Bojuka Bog, so I cast Cabal Therapy naming Knight of the Reliquary. He has it, but he also has Bojuka Bog in hand. He plays it, but I have Tireless Tribe and Careful Study in hand and I win with Ichorid + Bridge from Below.
Round 4 - Turbo Zoo
I kept a hand with a dredger, Careful Study and Cephalid Coliseum as my main cards. He wins the die roll and goes with first turn Wild Nacatl. I hope to find the second land to activate Coliseum, so I cast Study instead of going DDD. Needless to say, I won't find the second land, and he will slaughter me with lots of burn spells.
-1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, -1 Dread Return, -1 Breakthrough, -1 Ichorid, -1 Cabal Therapy, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study
His deck was way faster than a regular Zoo, that's the main reason of my sideboarding. I mull down to 3, so no way I can win =(
Round 5 - Blue Zoo
I didn't know what he was playing - we were always distant between rounds, and I only saw Mental Misstep, Brainstorm and Jace. I win the die roll and go second, with him thanking me because he was playing Blue Zoo. Zoo. ZOO. Three-in-a-row. I've been playing against so many Zoo lists I think I'm actually playing Zoo by myself, taking the aggro route and winning with Zom-beatdown.
-4 Breakthrough, -3 Golgari Thug, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +4 Ancient Grudge, +3 Darkblast, +1 Careful Study
He starts with Green's Sun Zenith for Dryad Arbor, which I try to Darkblast. He counters it with Mental Misstep and plays a Noble Hierarch. I dredge back Darkblast and keep him with no mana, while I play Careful Study with Cephalid Coliseum, which finds me an additional land to set an unrecoverable position for my opponent.
Round 6 - Canadian Thresh
I was pretty happy because I thought an I.D. would be enough to pass. As usual, I was the 9th player forced to struggle for his spot...
Well, I win the die roll (don't know what happened, I've been rolling 1s for years) and decide do draw first, he makes a big grin and says "Well, Dredge". But he wasn't very lucky. I kept a DDD hand with Cephalid Coliseum as my only land, just in case I needed to play around Daze to resolve Cabal Therapy followed by Dread Return. Against reactive decks, the best way to win is to completely avoid interaction. Whoever designed Bridge from Below is my idol.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +3 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study, +1 Angel of Despai
He goes with turn 1 Nimble Mongoose and turn 2 Tarmogoyf. 'think it's Thresh! There's a point in this game (you just lost it) in which I have an untapped Narcomoeba, while he has double Mongoose and a 5/6 Tarmogoyf. I had 3x Bridge from Below, Angel of Despair and Cabal Therapy in my graveyard, but no Dread Return. My plan involved Narcomoeba blocking Tarmogoyf, generating an insane amount of zombies, recurring Ichorid and cast Dread Return targeting Angel of Despair. He has Fire/Ice, taps my Narcomoeba and wind.
The third game is quite similar, except I manage to win with the 5/5 Angel.
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1st with 15 points.
Top8 - BG Rock
I kept a hand with no dredger but with 2x Breakthrough/Tribe/Imp/Careful Study and two lands. He plays a first turn Thoughtseize taking my Breakthrough away, while I draw a Bridge from Below and cast Imp. He plays Sakura Tribe-Elder, and I finally draw a Stinkweed Imp, following with Tireless Tribe and Careful Study. He nukes a Bridge from Below with Elder, but I have another in hand and a second Breakthrough to finish the job.
-4 Breakthrough, -2 Golgari Thug, -1 Dread Return, +4 Ancient Grudge, +2 Darkblast, +1 Careful Study
He sees an early Scavenging Ooze and I scoop.
-4 Ancient Grudge, -1 Ichorid, +4 Breakthrough, +1 Dread Return
I remembered he said he only had Extirpate and Ooze as grave-hate. Knowing I would be going first was nice. I enter god-mode, with him casting Extirpate on my only dredger, but I find another one and play Careful Study + Breakthrough.
Top4 - Sneak/Show
I win the first game on the back of multiple Therapies.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, -1 Ichorid, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study, +1 Angel of Despair
He has double Tormod's Crypt, and I keep dredging lands. I saw more lands than Vasco da Gama could ever imagine.
G3 was pretty brutal - he played 3x Crypts in his first four turns, and countered double Ancient Grudge with Spell Pierce and Daze.
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No "most important things" section, this time. Ok, I was joking.
1- You don't need to be able to play against grave-hate. Just play against decks light on hate.
2- You don't need to be able to play against countermagic. Just go with Ichorid beatdown.
3- You don't have to take me seriously because it'd be kinda weird if you did it.
4- Firestorm is so strong it needs you to wait for over a century to own a playest. I've been waiting for mine since May and I still don't have it.
5- Guess Firestorm isn't needed, then.
6- THE GAME. Yes, again. Problem?
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Ok, less talk, more Dredge. See ya!
What? A 50-men tournament right next to my door? Sign me in!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Lands
4 [OD] Cephalid Coliseum
4 [8E] City of Brass
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
2 [OD] Tarnished Citadel
// Creatures
4 [TO] Putrid Imp
4 [OD] Tireless Tribe
4 [RAV] Golgari Grave-Troll
4 [RAV] Stinkweed Imp
4 [FUT] Narcomoeba
4 [TO] Ichorid
3 [RAV] Golgari Thug
1 [ZEN] Iona, Shield of Emeria
// Spells
4 [FUT] Bridge from Below
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [TO] Breakthrough
3 [TSP] Dread Return
3 [OD] Careful Study
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [WWK] Nature's Claim
SB: 4 [TSP] Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 [RAV] Darkblast
SB: 2 [JU] Ray of Revelation
SB: 1 [OD] Careful Study
SB: 1 [GP] Angel of Despair
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As strange as it may seem, this list is quite powerful, despite being horrible. I've been thinking about a way to sneak in 1x Elesh Norn, then I realized I couldn't. I couldn't think, I mean, so I went with my usual build.
Round 1 - GW Maverick
I win the die roll, choosing to draw first. Not knowing my opponent can be bad. He leads with Wooded Foothills into Savannah into Noble Hierarch, but I think I'm paranoid, so I think he's playing Bant and is sandbagging a Force of Will. I go for the DDD route, he responds with Stoneforge Mystic searching for Jitte. No blue lands, so I can play Careful Study. He plays a Knight of the Reliquary, but I follow with Breakthrough and ruin his plans.
-4 Breakthrough, -3 Golgari Thug, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +4 Ancient Grudge, +3 Darkblast, +1 Careful Study
Sideboarding 8 cards and not seeing any of 'em? You can count on me. Cephalid Coliseum dredging 13 cards? I can. Well, despite my lack of luck (ahaha I'm so nice) I manage to win with Cabal Therapy taking care of Knight of the Reliquary, and Ichorid + Bridge from Below to ignore his 2nd turn Gaddock Teeg.
Round 2 - UW Stoneblade/Stoneforge Control???
I hate blue decks so much I tend to consider 'em all the same, except for their wincon, so I don't know against what I've been playing =)
I win the die roll, letting my opponent go first once again. He kept a one-lander with double Brainstorm and lots of countermagic. Too bad my Ichorids sent a friendship request to his life points.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, -1 Ichorid, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study, +1 Angel of Despair
I have 3 discard outlets but a single dredger, so I don't DDD fearing Relic of Progenitus. After losing two turns to his blue instants I finally resolve a Careful Study which finds me a Cephalid Coliseum, while he has Stoneforge Mystic + Batterskull and a Ghostly Prison. I strip his hand with multiple Cabal Therapy, getting rid of Enlightened Tutor in the process, only to activate Coliseum thereafter. I nuke his Batterskull with Ancient Grudge, destroy Ghostly Prison with Angel of Despair and deal him lethal.
Round 3 - Italian Zoo
My pupil. I taught him how to play Dredge, but he has betrayed me. By forsaking the Creed he thought he would be fine. I set my curse against him as a sword: "To those who are playing Dredge I will give my blessing; to those who'll betray the Creed, I shall give eternal despair, and they'll regret all the pain they'll be going through". I make all of his nightmares come to life: Narcomoeba + Thug + Bridge from Below and a 9/9 Golgari Grave-Troll.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study
He mulls down to 6. I keep my opening grip, knowing I would be totally cold to Bojuka Bog, so I cast Cabal Therapy naming Knight of the Reliquary. He has it, but he also has Bojuka Bog in hand. He plays it, but I have Tireless Tribe and Careful Study in hand and I win with Ichorid + Bridge from Below.
Round 4 - Turbo Zoo
I kept a hand with a dredger, Careful Study and Cephalid Coliseum as my main cards. He wins the die roll and goes with first turn Wild Nacatl. I hope to find the second land to activate Coliseum, so I cast Study instead of going DDD. Needless to say, I won't find the second land, and he will slaughter me with lots of burn spells.
-1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, -1 Dread Return, -1 Breakthrough, -1 Ichorid, -1 Cabal Therapy, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study
His deck was way faster than a regular Zoo, that's the main reason of my sideboarding. I mull down to 3, so no way I can win =(
Round 5 - Blue Zoo
I didn't know what he was playing - we were always distant between rounds, and I only saw Mental Misstep, Brainstorm and Jace. I win the die roll and go second, with him thanking me because he was playing Blue Zoo. Zoo. ZOO. Three-in-a-row. I've been playing against so many Zoo lists I think I'm actually playing Zoo by myself, taking the aggro route and winning with Zom-beatdown.
-4 Breakthrough, -3 Golgari Thug, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +4 Ancient Grudge, +3 Darkblast, +1 Careful Study
He starts with Green's Sun Zenith for Dryad Arbor, which I try to Darkblast. He counters it with Mental Misstep and plays a Noble Hierarch. I dredge back Darkblast and keep him with no mana, while I play Careful Study with Cephalid Coliseum, which finds me an additional land to set an unrecoverable position for my opponent.
Round 6 - Canadian Thresh
I was pretty happy because I thought an I.D. would be enough to pass. As usual, I was the 9th player forced to struggle for his spot...
Well, I win the die roll (don't know what happened, I've been rolling 1s for years) and decide do draw first, he makes a big grin and says "Well, Dredge". But he wasn't very lucky. I kept a DDD hand with Cephalid Coliseum as my only land, just in case I needed to play around Daze to resolve Cabal Therapy followed by Dread Return. Against reactive decks, the best way to win is to completely avoid interaction. Whoever designed Bridge from Below is my idol.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, +3 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study, +1 Angel of Despai
He goes with turn 1 Nimble Mongoose and turn 2 Tarmogoyf. 'think it's Thresh! There's a point in this game (you just lost it) in which I have an untapped Narcomoeba, while he has double Mongoose and a 5/6 Tarmogoyf. I had 3x Bridge from Below, Angel of Despair and Cabal Therapy in my graveyard, but no Dread Return. My plan involved Narcomoeba blocking Tarmogoyf, generating an insane amount of zombies, recurring Ichorid and cast Dread Return targeting Angel of Despair. He has Fire/Ice, taps my Narcomoeba and wind.
The third game is quite similar, except I manage to win with the 5/5 Angel.
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1st with 15 points.
Top8 - BG Rock
I kept a hand with no dredger but with 2x Breakthrough/Tribe/Imp/Careful Study and two lands. He plays a first turn Thoughtseize taking my Breakthrough away, while I draw a Bridge from Below and cast Imp. He plays Sakura Tribe-Elder, and I finally draw a Stinkweed Imp, following with Tireless Tribe and Careful Study. He nukes a Bridge from Below with Elder, but I have another in hand and a second Breakthrough to finish the job.
-4 Breakthrough, -2 Golgari Thug, -1 Dread Return, +4 Ancient Grudge, +2 Darkblast, +1 Careful Study
He sees an early Scavenging Ooze and I scoop.
-4 Ancient Grudge, -1 Ichorid, +4 Breakthrough, +1 Dread Return
I remembered he said he only had Extirpate and Ooze as grave-hate. Knowing I would be going first was nice. I enter god-mode, with him casting Extirpate on my only dredger, but I find another one and play Careful Study + Breakthrough.
Top4 - Sneak/Show
I win the first game on the back of multiple Therapies.
-4 Breakthrough, -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, -1 Ichorid, +4 Ancient Grudge, +1 Careful Study, +1 Angel of Despair
He has double Tormod's Crypt, and I keep dredging lands. I saw more lands than Vasco da Gama could ever imagine.
G3 was pretty brutal - he played 3x Crypts in his first four turns, and countered double Ancient Grudge with Spell Pierce and Daze.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No "most important things" section, this time. Ok, I was joking.
1- You don't need to be able to play against grave-hate. Just play against decks light on hate.
2- You don't need to be able to play against countermagic. Just go with Ichorid beatdown.
3- You don't have to take me seriously because it'd be kinda weird if you did it.
4- Firestorm is so strong it needs you to wait for over a century to own a playest. I've been waiting for mine since May and I still don't have it.
5- Guess Firestorm isn't needed, then.
6- THE GAME. Yes, again. Problem?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, less talk, more Dredge. See ya!