[Report] First with LED Dredge @ Thanks For Playing (Maryland)!

After doing some tweaking on a new LED list that I've been working on, I decided to head on out to Thanks For Playing in Maryland for their advertised Legacy event to give it a go. As it turns out, it was an incredibly diverse meta there. I was expecting a ton of Reanimator and Dredge, but those only showed up in short numbers there.

http://www.thisishorror.co.uk/wp-con.../06/tarman.jpg

Here is the list I ran for reference:

LED Dredge by Michael Keller

// Lands
4 [AN] City of Brass
4 [TSB] Gemstone Mine
4 [OD] Cephalid Coliseum
1 [VI] Undiscovered Paradise

// Creatures
3 [TO] Ichorid
4 [RAV] Stinkweed Imp
4 [RAV] Golgari Grave-Troll
4 [FUT] Narcomoeba
3 [RAV] Golgari Thug
3 [TO] Putrid Imp

// Spells
1 [TSP] Dread Return
4 [FUT] Bridge from Below
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [OD] Careful Study
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [DKA] Faithless Looting
4 [TO] Breakthrough
1 [ISD] Memory's Journey

//Sideboard
3 [ON] Chain of Vapor
3 [WWK] Nature's Claim
2 [OD] Tireless Tribe
2 [IA] Ashen Ghoul
1 [ISD] Memory's Journey
1 [WWK] Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 [AVR] Griselbrand
1 [VI] Undiscovered Paradise
1 [LOR] Ingot Chewer

So as the tournament begins, we are informed it will be five rounds with a cut to Top Four. Pairings are posted, and it's off to the races.

Round One vs. B/u Pox

Game One: We start up shuffling and do some small talk. I take the play and start off with an LED, land, Breakthrough, dredger, Looting. I eventually tear his hand apart and make a ridiculous amount of Zombies. The game ends on turn two. After allowing me to see his hand off Therapy's, I see Pox and Bob in his hand - interesting.

Game Two: Apparently, a game where I open with two land, a few Nature's Claim, a draw spell and dredger isn't good against a Leyline with no mulligans. I proceed to blow up his Leyline, and he proceeds to Extirpate (really?) my Claims out of my deck - and the other out of my hand. He then has a second turn Bob into Bitterblossom and Jitte and eventually more hate and I lose shortly thereafter as I couldn't hit anything relevant.

Game Three: My opponent starts off with a Leyline on a mull to six. I have multiple draw spells, dredgers and a few lands, so I decide to keep. I brought in three Claim and three Chain, so I figure I can (eventually) hit one if he does hit a Leyline. Unfortunately, after going twenty cards deep, I can't find either of those two. Meanwhile, he has double Bob on the table and Bobs into Extirpate(s) and...Tormod's Crypt. Still, I manage through all this time to go beat-down with Tireless Tribe and Putrid Imps, and eventually get him to four life. He manages to kill both of my creatures and narrowly escapes after finally hitting a Jitte and Sensei's Divining Top.

This guy was a Legacy novice and just overloaded his sideboard with everything to hate out graveyard decks. It was too much to overcome in the end.

http://content6.flixster.com/questio...684924_std.jpg

[0-1] [1-2-0]

Round Two vs. U/w/g CounterTop

Game One: My opponent takes the play and plays a land. I Careful Study into an LED and bin a few dredgers. I have a Looting in hand and wind up going crazy next turn after he drops a Counterbalance and misses blindly. I proceed to attack him out with multiple Zombies and Ichorids. I also have a 19/19 Troll in play at one point.

Game Two: The same as game one. He sees little action and has no hate in his hand. He mulliganed to six, which apparently gave him nothing but some draw spells and a few lands. I wind up grinding out the win with some Ichorid and Ashen Ghoul beats off a relatively careful, yet ultimately explosive start. (He obviously had nothing to stop what was happening or he would have earlier.) This game was really a no-contest.

[1-1] [3-2-0]

Round Three vs. Merfolk (Paul Lynch)

Game One: It's a grind-out affair, but after a relatively slow start from Paul I am able to grind out the win with multiple Ichorids and Zombies. This all occurred after I used my turn one LED and three Coliseums to go crazy. At one point he Vialed in an Image to exile a few of my Bridges, but it didn't matter as I overwhelmed him with threats and eventually just hit more Bridges. Memory's Journey also allowed me to reshuffle my Narcomoebas back into my library and eventually facilitated more tokens. I won the game with a single card left in my deck.

Game Two: Paul mulls and leads off on Grafdigger's Cage, which I knew he was playing as I had saw a portion of his previous match. I draw into a ridiculous amount of cards and don't see any anti-hate to blow the game open with. Paul's start was slow though too, as he couldn't get a clock going until a few turns down the road. He wins the game on the back of a few Cursecatchers, Mutavault and Adept.

Game Three: As time winds down, Paul graciously elects to concede to me as he has no chance of making Top Four, as I was paired down against him.

[2-1] [5-3-0]

Round Four vs. Sneak and Show

Game One: This game was over with before anything could even happen. I win the roll and open with a draw spell, binning a few dredgers and giving me a Breakthrough and Coliseum. I wind up dredging into a few Narcoemoebas, Cabal Therapy, Bridge and a dredger. Upon trying to see his hand off a flashbacked Therapy to protect my Breakthrough, he concedes to protect information.

Game Two: He begins the game with Leyline of Sanctity and a Grafdigger's Cage. I start off with a Putrid Imp and a few lands. After filtering out my hand for a new turns, I Chain of Vapor his Cage at the end of his turn with Coliseum and a few draw spells in hand. While I wasn't able to rip the Cage out of his hand due to Leyline, I made a few dozen Zombies the following turn and Dread Returned Griselbrand back into play. He scoops them up.

Note: I also had the Griselbrand in my hand for a few turns, which was obviously done for Show and Tell purposes.

[3-1] [7-3-0]

Round Five vs. Metalworker

Game One: I'm on the play and start the game off with land, LED, Troll, Looting, Breakthrough. The game is over after I dredge thirty-six cards deep and make a ridiculous amount of of tokens. I also blind-rip a Grim Monolith out of his hand to cripple his turn one play - which is generally on the back of that card. It didn't matter as he was staring down almost three times' worth of lethal damage the following turn.

Game Two: After an incredibly broken start, he drops a Chalice at one with Monolith and Opal - in addition to Crypt. I go with the DDD plan and start hitting some good stuff, including Ichorid and Ashen Ghoul - which are reall important in this match-up as they bypass Trinisphere, stay in play and grind the game out with more pressure. He cracks the Crypt, and I DDD again. After about six or seven turns of his passing with a Metalworker with Greaves attached, I wind up grinding out the win with all four Narcomoebas pecking away at him. I actually Dread Return the Ingot Chewer, which wound up destroying the Chalice and allowing me to go bonkers with all the draw spells in my hand. I proceed to blow the game out in one turn and he draws and concedes.

[4-1] [9-3-0]

So at the end of the Swiss, I am in third (3rd) and make it to the elimination rounds. I'm on a roll and ready to keep it going. I refuse the split and want to play it out like men.

Top Four vs. Combo Elves

Game One: I open the game up on the draw, playing land, LED, cast Breakthrough, crack for RRR and proceed to dredge the Stinkweed Imp into Looting and a Troll. That wound up chaining into some serious action and he was just blown out on turn two with no hand.

Game Two: I wasn't sure what hate he was on, so I open with a relatively slow start with a Therapy for some info. I name Faerie Macabre, as I've seen some Elves lists run it, and he shows me a Surgical Extraction and a few other random Elves. I proceed to follow up with a Putrid Imp and try to flash it back. He hits the Imp, and sees only one more in my library. My hand is a land and Careful Study, so I figure if I can get something going, now is the time. I wind up drawing into draw spell after draw spell and just can't get anything. I do, however, know he is on Surgical - which is good that even in a game that was lost from the very beginning I picked up the information I needed.

Game Three: I keep a relatively good hand with multiple draw spells and dredgers, in addition to an LED. After seeing his hand off a Therapy, I proceed to blow the game open. I eventually have multiple Ichorids, Zombies and Ashen Ghouls in the graveyard and pummel him in one turn for lethal.

[5-1] [11-3-0]

Finals vs. EsperBlade

Game One: My opponent isn't familiar with how to play against Dredge, which gives me an advantage. I wind up starting the game off with the nuts off a mull to six (LED, land, Breakthrough, dredger), hoping he doesn't have a Force. I play out the LED and cast Breakthrough - holding priority and cracking for RRR - which winds up resolving. My dredge was disgusting, hitting two Trolls and other gas. I proceed to create a ridiculous amount of tokens and rip his hand apart. He plays a land on his turn and passes, and after I bring in my Ichorids and attack for an arbitrary amount, I Dread Return a Troll for good measure. He looks at his top card and scoops.

Game Two: Much like game one. My opponent doesn't have any hate, but a reasonable keep with Spell Pierce, Mystic, Brainstorm, Sword of Feast and Famine and Batterskull. I rip the Spell Pierce out of his hand first (which he kept after Brainstorming), and with an LED go crazy with Coliseum(s). I dredge through practically my entire deck and with a Memory's Journey available, I am able to protect any Brainstorm shenanigans into Surgical. I rip his hand apart and make ten Zombie tokens. I then bring back Ashen Ghoul and a few Ichorids and swarm him for the win.

[6-1] [13-3-0]

So after playing it all the way from start to finish, I receive $220 in credit. I pick up a set of Wastelands and hook a friend up with a Volcanic Island. All in all, a great tournament. Kicking ass with my Zombies is always a good feeling.

http://www.smashboxstudios.com/yello...ngdeadgirl.jpg

A few thoughts:

I absolutely loved the Memory's Journey in the main. It's application is incredibly multilateral and not only offers protection against some of the more challenging game one match-ups like opposing Dredge and Reanimator, but also allows you to recover your Narcomoebas when they're discarded in the open-hand, killed or sacrificed. Memory's Journey is a really versatile card and I will reserve one slot in my main to smooth out these aspects of the deck and improve some situations where it would be useful.

Ashen Ghoul wound up coming in a lot in this tournament, as the primary choice of hate was Surgical Extraction. I brought the Ghoul into play more than once in the entire event, which was nice because of the pressure and support it provides. Whenever he came in, the extra Paradise in the sideboard came in as well. I know how to fight Surgical Extraction, which to be honest doesn't concern me too much post-board. I've got that shored up pretty well.

I liked the Chewer, and thought it came in hand when it was needed. Apparently, with Cage everywhere, making Zombies and destroying artifacts is nice, so it was a flex slot and something to work with. It became highly relevant in a situation where Top Four was on the line, so I can't complain. It might not be optimal, but against MUD/Metalworker decks it's a nice catch-all.

The list is very tight and I am very pleased with it. I might tweak a few things here and there in the board, but my main is pretty much set and I like where it stands. Props to the guys in the Dredge forum for at least encouraging me to run four Breakthrough; I was wrong. Running four right now is the right call.

Thanks for reading!

I expected pictures :cry:

Fixed!

Congrats and nice report!

What is that first picture of? (Not where is it from, I check out the link.) Is that a movie?

Your confidence with this deck shows through in your play. If I recall, you've won the last two tournaments you've played?

What are your feelings about the meta? It appears some of your opponents were inexperienced against dredge and some of them were playing Tier 2/3 decks (I would consider B/u Pox and U/w/g Counterbalance Tier 3). You mentioned you were surprised by the lack of dredge and reanimator. Did the lack of UW/RUG/Maverick surprise you as well? I don't know much about the Maryland metagame. How many players were there? Around 20? Were most of your opponents experienced Legacy players?

How much of your performance do you think is attributable:
1) Your experience/confidence with the deck?
2) Dredge's position in the current meta?
3) Your opponent's inexperience against Dredge / in Legacy?
4) Your opponent's deck/sideboard choices (you mentioned 1st round you faced a sideboard 'overloaded' with graveyard hate (Leyline and Extirpate). With the recent rise in Reanimator, I expected GYH8 to rise. I expect decks to run at least 4 hate pieces. Is this your experience?)?
5) Variance?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hollywood

Apparently, a game where I open with two land, a few Nature's Claim, a draw spell and dredger isn't good against double Leyline with no mulligans. I proceed to blow one of his Leylines up, and he proceeds to Extirpate (really?) my Claims out of my deck - and the other out of my hand.

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This sequence has some illegal, sloppy things going on there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hopo

This sequence has some illegal, sloppy things going on there.

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Apologies, wrote it up late after being on hardly any sleep. It wasn't a double-Leyline opener - it was a single one and he still maintained priority by Extirpating the Claim at the end of his turn, which milked the other out of my hand. He then proceeded to Bob the next few turns into more hate and just kept me from stabilizing with any board presence.

Fixed - and thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Water_Wizard

Congrats and nice report!

What is that first picture of? (Not where is it from, I check out the link.) Is that a movie?

Your confidence with this deck shows through in your play. If I recall, you've won the last two tournaments you've played?

What are your feelings about the meta? It appears some of your opponents were inexperienced against dredge and some of them were playing Tier 2/3 decks (I would consider B/u Pox and U/w/g Counterbalance Tier 3). You mentioned you were surprised by the lack of dredge and reanimator. Did the lack of UW/RUG/Maverick surprise you as well? I don't know much about the Maryland metagame. How many players were there? Around 20? Were most of your opponents experienced Legacy players?

How much of your performance do you think is attributable:
1) Your experience/confidence with the deck?
2) Dredge's position in the current meta?
3) Your opponent's inexperience against Dredge / in Legacy?
4) Your opponent's deck/sideboard choices (you mentioned 1st round you faced a sideboard 'overloaded' with graveyard hate (Leyline and Extirpate). With the recent rise in Reanimator, I expected GYH8 to rise. I expect decks to run at least 4 hate pieces. Is this your experience?)?
5) Variance?

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The first image is from "Return of the Living Dead" (1985), of the 'Tar Man' zombie.

I have been playing Dredge now for a couple years of continuous play and yes, I have won the last several events I played in with it. The meta was fairly stable as it did have a large variety of decks, including:

Maverick
Nic Fit
TES
Reanimator
Dredge
MUC
Death and Taxes
3/c Counterbalance
Pox
Sneak and Show
Elves
Burn
Goblins
EsperBlade

That's about as diverse as you're going to get for a twenty-three (23) person event. I suppose some of the wins can be attributed to my opponents' inability to correctly fight Dredge, but that is also one of the deck's greatest strengths of you're a skilled Dredge player.

I made sure all of my opponents knew what was going on and happily answered any questions they might have had. However, the majority of my opponents knew what they were doing and were highly competent players, so that was rarely an issue. My first round opponent also had Tormod's Crypt, at a grand total of twelve(!) hate pieces in his board, so I wasn't winning that by dredging - especially after he Bobbed into everything he needed.

I think running anywhere between six to eight hate pieces is fine if your deck is prone to Reanimator and Dredge, but anything over that and you're opening yourself to continued poor percentages against some other weak match-ups that you can't sideboard for because all of your space is taken up. With Reanimator and Dredge popping up, I made sure to tweak my main-deck and adjusted for increased speed (four Breakthrough) and protection (Memory's Journey). There were multiple instances I used Journey to recycle my Narcomoebas, which was really helpful and ultimately facilitated more Zombies.

So that is a multilateral slot that helped tremendously. One of the reason why I opted to main-deck the Memory's Journey was to shore up game one percentages against Reanimator, which is also everywhere right now. I think variance has a lot to do with this in a smaller meta, which is why I came prepared. My execution was on point and didn't lose a game in nine straight matches.

Tight play in Dredge really makes a difference, and it shows in how I performed.

Nice one!

Just curious about you playing 1x Dread Return in the list. Did you find that you missed more of them at all?

The one Dread Return was nice to have, but it wasn't a "make or break." I did, however, Dread Return Iona against Elves in the Top Four of game three, which ultimately sealed the win.

Dread Return is good to have as a one or two of just as an alternative means of trying to win games so that your approach isn't completely linear. However, being as how the primary way of winning games is attacking with a lot of creatures, Dread Return is a neat enabler that makes Zombies and brings back creatures, so it's good to have in some capacity.

What changes would you make to your deck the next time around?

Congrats Michael!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Avatar of Shadow

What changes would you make to your deck the next time around?

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To the main? None. I am very satisfied with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by n0mad

Congrats Michael!!

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Thank you!

Thanks for the response.

I think this pretty much sums it up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hollywood

Tight play in Dredge really makes a difference, and it shows in how I performed.

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Congratulations again!

If you have time can you post your sideboard guide for the popular match ups?

How did you sided in the whole tournament??