This thread focuses on Dryad Sligh. Any discussion on other forms of Sligh should be posted in the Sligh thread. I had to make a new thread for Dryad Sligh because the old one has basically died out.
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. Decklist
III. Tournament History
IV. Main Deck Card Explanations and Individual Play Strategies
V. Sideboard Card Explanations and Sideboard Strategies
VI. Notable Omissions
VII. General Play Strategies
VIII. Specific Deck Match-Ups and Play Strategies
IX. End Note
Introduction:
Sligh, since its birth way, way back in the Tempest Era, has always been viewed as a deck of fast, efficient beaters backed up by burn as path-clearers for the deck’s creatures and as finishers. It follows a strict mana curve, which allows it to use each point of mana available within untap and the end of the opponent’s turn.
As years passed, a whole slew of mono-red decks were introduced. Burn is simply that – a concoction of lands and burn spells that sacrifice reusable damage for speed, with the inherent problem of running out of steam after a couple of turns. Red Deck Wins combines burn with control elements in the form of land destruction/disruption (Stone Rain, Pillage, Wasteland, Rishadan Port, etc.) and Tangle Wire, then proceeds to win by sneaking in creatures to seal the deal. Goblins, the poster child for mono-red decks, has been a huge force in Legacy and one of the most hated/loved/feared ever in the Constructed scene – and for a good cause. The very successful Legacy version can go either aggro by beating you down with swarms of little green men, combo by chaining Goblins together into critical mass, or control by disrupting mana development while abusing Aether Vial.
This is not Burn. This is not Red Deck Wins. This is not Goblins. There’s no fear of running out of gas when my creatures embody flame themselves. There’s no time for destroying lands as I’m torching your face. There’s no need to swarm when a couple of beaters are all I need. And there’s no better feeling in the world than topdecking a Fireblast to convert a non-believer of the deck’s power, speed, and resiliency.
This is Dryad Sligh.
Decklist:
February 2007
Lands
4 Taiga
2 Stomping Ground
4 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
Creatures
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Kird Ape
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Quirion Dryad
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
2 Seal of Fire
4 Magma Jet
4 Incinerate
4 Fireblast
Sideboard
3 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Pyroblast
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Krosan Grip
Tournament History
The only blip that Dryad Sligh ever made on the tournament scene was when it took 2nd way back in Big Arse 2, July 16 2005. I can’t seem to access the coverage in the Historical Top 8 thread though.
After that tournament, it seemed to have fallen way out of the radar.
However, it took T2 at a recent Legacy Tournament in Germany. Here's the link to that, as provided by odabella: http://www.germagic.de/dc/deck.php?id=7667
Main Deck Card Explanations and Individual Play Strategies
Land/Creature/Burn Configuration:
Explanation: An 18 land/20 creature/22 burn has proven itself enough for me to keep this configuration sacred. This balance ensures what you need when you need it, and separates the deck from Burn decks and R/G Aggro variants.
Land Configuration:
Explanation: I think this is the best combination of lands for the deck. 6 Duals and 10 Fetchlands ensure a green source, though only 8 cards in the deck need it, and only 4 of which require it for casting. 18 land has been enough as the curve tops at out 2.
Strategy: Generally, you want to see 2-3 lands in your opening hand. Almost always lead off with a Fetchland rather than a Dual or Mountain, as you want to thin out your deck of land (no matter how small the percentage difference is) and for a potential Lavamancer activation on Turn 2 if you want to conserve burn cards. Word of caution: if you know or suspect your opponent to be playing with Stifles and you only have 2 lands in hand, it’s better to play safe and drop a Dual or Mountain first.
Grim Lavamancer:
Explanation: I spent a lot of time hunting for a playset of these, and I really have to say that it’s well worth it. Lavamancers ensure constant Shocks, and are conveniently fed by the Fetchlands – their synergy in the deck’s whole game plan is irreplaceable.
Strategy: Rarely play a Lavamancer over a Fanatic or a Kird Ape on Turn 1, unless you need to Shock something on Turn 2 but you have no burn in hand (a Ritual’d Hypnotic Specter, for example), because any removal aimed at a Fanatic or Ape is one less away from Lavamancer. Always choose to activate a Lavamancer over playing a burn spell if you have a choice, unless it’s game-winning burn, because you never know when your Lavamancer would get killed (it bears such a huge crosshair for removal).
Mogg Fanatic:
Explanation: It has and will always look subpar, but there has simply been no replacement for it at 1CC for all the things it does (efficient attacker and blocker, and flings itself for 1). It also sometimes throws people off guard if you play it first turn, and they assume that you’re playing Goblins.
Strategy: If you have no burn to clear the way, don’t be afraid to attack with it into an X/1 creature. If they let it through, that’s 1 point for you. If they don’t, don’t worry – they take only 1 from Fanatic, but there’s lots more hurt coming their way.
Kird Ape:
Explanation: Ensured of a Forest on Turn 1, it’s almost always a 2/3. This little guy potentially has what it takes to take out a huge chunk of your opponent’s life total on its own. The card it replaced as a 2-power creature for 1CC, Jackal Pup, would be explained later.
Strategy: Not much to say, just attack with it. And in crucial times, can also be used as a fabulous blocker, which Jackal Pup doesn’t do too well.
Slith Firewalker:
Explanation: It’s ability to get huge is underestimated. Sure, it needs to connect first before growing, but when you have 22 burn spells in the deck, the chances of that are high. Four swings = 1 + 2 + 3 +4 = 10, and that’s half their life total already. You’d probably have enough other creatures/burn/Lavamancer activations to take it all the way after that.
Strategy: You have burn. Clear the way for this guy before dropping him. Getting him to connect is priority when playing him, and it’s an easy one. Using all your burn to take out blockers is a fine trade-off because it gets huge real fast, but not as fast as the next card, the namesake of the deck.
Quirion Dryad
Explanation: The whole reason to splash green in Sligh, Dryad gets really huge, really fast. One of the main problems with Sligh is that even with burn clearing the way, sometimes small creatures just get outclassed. Dryad, and to a certain extent complemented by Slith, circumvents this problem by growing. Any burn which you have spent on your opponent’s creatures can be recovered easily by the repeatable damage coming from Dryad. If there are no creatures to burn however, then all the better – Dryad basically adds one more damage to every burn spell you have. And contrary to belief, she is not dead late-game because unlike other decks which surround her with reactive spells, Dryad Sligh plays exclusively proactive spells to keep her growing.
Strategy: Normally, the better play is to play Dryad as early as possible, even over a Slith on Turn 2. In match-ups where big creatures are golden, you might want to bait out removal first with other creatures before dropping her. Otherwise, to maximize the Dryad’s damage potential, play her out as early as you can.
Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning/Incinerate
Explanation: I’ll lump these cards together because they all perform the same role – burn away creatures or burn to the dome. These 3 are arguably the best cards for their damage to casting cost ratio, with Incinerate’s anti-regen clause proving useful every once in a while.
Strategy: Always clear the way for your creatures with burn. This isn’t wasting burn because you have creatures to do the pounding. It’s fine to Bolt a Llanowar Elf to make sure your Slith connects/Dryad grows/Ape beats. Remember the “drawback” of Chain Lightning though.
Magma Jet:
Explanation: This deserves its own because its severely underrated. 2 damage for 2 mana isn’t hot, but the scry is so golden in a red deck which definitely needs library manipulation to avoid excess lands, dig for burn, or search for sideboard cards.
Strategy: Given a choice between Jet and other burn, always play Jet first. The scry really helps you plan out your moves for the next couple of turns or saves you from a crucial bad draw early.
Seal of Fire:
Explanation: This is supposed to be a placeholder for something else until I find it, but the Seal has kind of grown on me a bit. It’s a shock that you can reserve for later, and will psych out an opponent from playing an important X/<3 creature. Additional Lackey killers aren’t bad either.
Strategy: Not much, really. Play it like the other burn spells.
Fireblast:
Explanation: Possibly the most hated card in the deck. Sacrificing two mountains is such a ridiculous (good for us, bad for them) cost for 4 damage. The deck is designed to accommodate them very well as burn spells, not just as finishers.
Strategy: Don’t be afraid to use them midgame to clear the way or in response to LD. The deck curves out at 2, so at 4 lands, you can use Fireblast without really hampering your game much. Against blue-based control, you might want to slow play them and bait their counters with other non-lethal spells before casting Fireblast FTW.
Sideboard Card Explanations and Sideboard Strategies
General Sideboarding Strategy:
The sideboard is meant to make hard to unwinnable match-ups easier, not to make the deck anti-whatever_your_opponent’s_playing.dec. Dryad Sligh is fine-tuned to deliver its gameplan of utter beatdown and burnage every single match, so diluting the deck with so many cards from your sideboard just to make cute tricks will probably hurt you more than them.
Tormod’s Crypt:
Explanation: Splashable graveyard hate which everyone plays for a reason. Stops so many strategies dead in their tracks that it warrants a spot, especially since the decks you board it in against are very hard match-ups.
Strategy: If the reason you lost/had a hard time Game 1 was because of graveyard stunts, board these in. If you didn’t, don’t, even if Crypts would kill their gameplan. A lot of decks are using the graveyard, but most are slow, recursion kind of decks or fragile ones – decks which you’re supposed to roll right over through.
Pyroblast:
Explanation: Anti-blue, a sworn enemy of red. It’s interchangeable with Red Elemental Blast save for a minor difference in Misdirection shenanigans (which hardly sees play in Legacy), I just choose it because I like the art more. (I’ll probably get Alpha REB’s though when I start pimping out the deck.)
Strategy: They are not meant to be boarded in against every deck with Islands. Against slow blue-based control, you have too many threats for them to handle anyway that you won’t need to counter their counterspells. Pyroblasts are mainly boarded in against aggro-control and combo (High Tide based ones), where every spell you play counts since you’re getting beaten down as well or because of being threatened to be milled the next turn.
Pyrostatic Pillar:
Explanation: A vastly underrated anti-storm sideboard card, probably because of lack of decks which can support it. Dryad Sligh’s speed combined with Pillar is a lethal dose for storm. Also useful against other decks which cast a lot of spells that aren’t burn.
Strategy: This card is your ace against storm, play it right away. Mull aggressively if you have to.
Krosan Grip:
Explanation: Enchantments have long been the bane of Sligh decks, but with the shift of Disenchant to Naturalize, Dryad Sligh was given a tool to fight these enchantments. With an uncounterable, unrespondable Naturalize in Krosan Grip, going in for the kill has become easier.
Strategy: Once again, don’t board in Krosan Grips just because you see enchantments or artifacts across you. The main targets of this card are Worship, Chill, Solitary Confinement, and Umezawa’s Jitte if coupled with pro-reds or X/4’s. Did I miss anything?
Notable Omissions
Jackal Pup
Not the powerhouse that it used to be. His drawback has become a liability because Dryad Sligh isn’t the only aggro deck in existence, not like before. Jackal Pup doesn’t prevent your opponent from attacking and allows your opponent to block with a significant swing in life points against you. Allowing Gempalm Incinerator to become burn to the head is bad too. I’d rather have a 1/1 Ape that could become 2/3 if my Taiga doesn’t get destroyed than have a liability.
Ball Lightning
Not the powerhouse that it used to be too. Yes, it wins games, but those are the exact same games when a Dryad can do the same for you. Ball Lightning’s one-hit clause also means you have to set up for it. It’s 3cc is prohibitive too, because it means that most of the time that you cast Ball Lightning it’s the only thing that you’ll be able to do.
Scab-Clan Mauler
I tried it out and was pretty impressed for a little bit. However, the tempo you lose when you have to wait for a creature to connect or when you have to wait to cast burn plus Mauler is too significant for a deck like this.
Lava Spike
Cards which hit players or creatures only don’t make the cut because the burn in Dryad Sligh is supposed to be versatile. They’re great in straight Burn, but getting your huge Sliths and Dryads through would deal more damage than 3 to the dome.
Umezawa’s Jitte
Contrary to what most people say, Jitte isn’t supposed to be run in any deck with creatures – especially when your creatures are good enough on their own. The 4 mana investment plus a swinging creature was too huge for a deck defined by speed, since there are often much better things you could do than casting and equipping a Jitte.
Cursed Scroll
I’m aware that I’m going to get a lot of prodding about this, and for good reason too. It’s a resiliency weapon for any deck which empties the hand quickly, and deals with the dreaded pro-red creatures that red decks have to face.
In my testing, the Scroll proved itself worthy too few times to be included. When I emptied my hand, the game has already been decided or is already close to being decided that a Scroll activation could just have been any burn spell. It’s great to take out Silver Knights with Jittes, but by the time I empty my hand to use it, the Jitte already would have enough counters for the Knight to survive. As for Knights without Jittes, I’m not too worried about them – if they attack for 2, I’ll swing in for more, and if they hold back to block, I’ll still attack and burn out the opponent.
Blood Knight
It's amazing, really. A 2/2 first-striker with protection from StP and can get through AS's wall of defense is nothing to scoff at - but it's omitted from the deck. The reason? It really hasn't proven itself any better than the creatures already in the deck. First strike should really be irrelevant with the deck too, since you're supposed to be burning away blockers.
Rancor
Giving your threats extra muscle and trample with a reusable enchantment is great, but not needed. Keeping every non-land card in the deck a threat is vital to the deck's strategy, and well, Rancor isn't much of a threat on its own. A Rancor'd up Dryad is amazing to power though blockers or a big creature, but in most situations I'd rather have burn to clear the way and pump Dryad or another creature to block a retaliation rather than a Rancor.
General Play Strategies
-It’s better to start off with a creature rather than burn, except when your opponent’s on the play and casts a Lackey. More on this later.
-Maximize your mana. Take advantage of the fact that the deck’s curve is pretty low.
-Don’t be afraid to block! Yes, this is an aggro deck, but when you’re forced to block (which is usually in the late game), don’t panic. You have burn for reach anyway.
-Aiming your 3 damage spells at X/1’s if you have to clear the way is not wastage. Especially not when you absolutely have to kill the creature (Confidant, Mother of Runes, etc.)
-Sacrificing lands for Fireblast in response to LD is sometimes the btter play, even when it leaves you with one land. Better than nothing, plus it feeds your Lavamancer.
Specific Deck Match-Ups and Play Strategies
Goblins: Favorable
-If you’re on the draw and your opponent casts a Lackey, take it out immediately. Don’t bother playing a creature to block it because they have removal for that (even for Kird Apes – they can Wasteland your Taiga and throw a Fanatic at your Ape.)
-The Dryads and Sliths are vital to this match-up. Making them grow out of Gempalm range is priority, which should be fairly easy with all your removal.
-Remember that Chain Lightning has a drawback.
-Sideboard: Nothing
Threshold: Right Around Even
-Play around Daze, especially when trying to resolve Lavamancer, Dryad, and Slith. Going against the rule of maximizing your mana is accepted here.
-Bait out their counters. They only have 10-12, and every card in your deck is a threat.
-An early Nimble Mongoose is trouble, but not GG. Attack into it if they hold back to block – it’s their biggest weapon against Dryad Sligh.
-Sideboard: -2 Seal of Fire, -4 Mogg Fanatic, +2 Tormod’s Crypt, +4 Pyroblast (Worship might get boarded in, but if you’ve won Game 1, save the Krosan Grips if you get to Game 3.)
-Pyrostatic Pillar is actually a great card against them though, and I’m thinking of trying out -4 Incinerate for -4 Pyrostatic Pillar. Forcing them to take 2 for every spell they play will greatly increase your clock.
Solidarity: Right Around Even
-It’s simply a race. Get the most damage possible out of your spells and hope for the best.
Sideboarding: -4 Mogg Fanatic, -2 Seal of Fire, -2 Incinerate, +4 Pyroblast, +4 Pyrostatic Pillar
Fast Combo (TES, Iggy Pop, Belcher): Unfavorable
-Same with Solidarity, only you have to pray extra hard.
-Sideboarding: -4 Mogg Fanatic, +4 Pyrostatic Pillar and -2 Seal of Fire, -1 Grim Lavamancer, +3 Tormod’s Crypt for Iggy Pop
-Mull aggressively into your SB cards.
Angel Stompy: Slightly Favorable
-The only problem you have to face is a Jitte’d Silver Knight or Soltari Priest. Everything else is manageable.
-Sideboarding: -2 Seal of Fire, -2 Incinerate, +4 Krosan Grip
Landstill: Favorable
-Just keep on applying pressure. Even if they recover, their clock is still really so slow that you have time to recover to deal the last points of damage.
-Baiting the opponent to activate their manlands then taking them down is a huge play, hampering mana development. Risky, but a strong play.
Sideboarding: Nothing
Survival Variants: Favorable
-Survival starts out slow. Take the opportunity to apply lots of pressure that a Ravenous Baloth (if they get to cast it) would only delay the inevitable.
-Take out their mana producers (BoP’s, Elves, Rofellos). That would buy you lots of time.
Sideboarding: (If they can recur Ravenous Baloths and other problematic creatures) -2 Seal of Fire, -1 Slith Firewalker, +3 Tormod’s Crypt
Stax Prison Variants: Favorable
-Unless they get a Chalice for 1 and 2 their first two turns, it’s basically just fighting through hate – though the above mentioned scenario is still winnable with Fireblasts in conjunction with their Tombs.
-Fetch mountains unless you have a Dryad in hand to cast, to combat their Wasteland recursion in conjunction with Smokestack.
Sideboarding: -2 Seal of Fire, -2 Incinerate, +4 Krosan Grip
Faerie Stompy: Slightly Favorable
-They only have 4 counterspells, so play it like you’re going against aggro.
-Once again, the only real problem here is Serendib Efreet/Weatherseed Faeries with equipment.
Sideboarding: -2 Seal of Fire, -2 Incinerate, +4 Krosan Grip
Affinity: Favorable
-Their Cranial Platings are only scary when they have something to attach it to.
-An early Ravager can be taken care of, and a late Ravager doesn’t matter as you should have inflicted enough damage by then to burn them out.
Sideboarding: Nothing
Deadguy/Red Death/Black Suicide Variants: Favorable
-Their only chance of winning is cutting you off of lands. Every threat they have can be taken out by burn, and Grim Lavamancer is a huge threat once resolved.
-Sideboarding: Nothing
MeatHooks: Right Around Even
-Same as Threshold, instead replace Nimble Mongoose with Crystalline Sliver.
-Sideboarding: -2 Seal of Fire, -1 Slith Firewalker, -1 Incinerate, +4 Pyroblast
Reanimator: Unfavorable
-The first-turn Akroma, Angel of Wrath is such a huge pain. It’s almost always GG right then and there unless they used Reanimate, which gives a slim chance of racing with burn.
-Take out Putrid Imps on sight.
-If they get a slow hand, pounce.
-Sideboarding: -2 Seal of Fire, -1 Incinerate, +3 Tormod’s Crypt
End Note
There you go. It’s not by any means a golden primer, but it says a lot about the deck, and most of what I know about it. I’ve been playing Sligh variants for more than 10 years now, and my experiences with the deck has been nothing but fun.
I have limited (read: almost none) tournament experience with the deck though, because of the limited amount of Legacy tournaments here, and the person that I borrow the manabase and Chain Lightnings from (the cards I’m missing for the deck) is almost never around. I get to play with competitive Legacy decks outside of the tournament scene though, using proxies – and I’ve been doing pretty well with it.
Try it out. You’ll win so many games, and have fun while doing it too. And it would be great if someone would take this to the GP.
Embody the power.
Experience the speed.
Embrace the flame.
