My reflexions on Dredge-a-Tog
Hello all i'm new to MTGTheSource and toLegacy at the same time.
I love the concept of Dredge-a-Tog and i wanna share my impressions about it with you.
I tested since 2-3 days for something like 20 matches against differents match-ups this deck and i think that i can be improve a lot.
My results seemes to be not very favorable VS gobs, bad VS threshold and correct against random.deck.
SO i thought about this deck and search cards that could make it a little better.
I found two or three cards immediatly :
- zombie infestation : this is a great card in it i think. It has good interaction with dredge cards that couls be discarded, with deep analysis too and other wonder ... It can be on the place turn 1 with mow diamond, can kill lackey and piledriver and mongoose ... it can save us in the first turns not to die too quickly. It is shutted down by pithing needle but a few decks only played it MD. So i think it could be a great card.
- mental note : in the only Dredge-a-Tog deck that made top 128 in Lille 4 Mental Note was played, so i tested it and i can say that i love it a lot. After a brainstorm put 2 cards in your graveyard + draw one could improve your draw heavily. I put it in 2 slots in my MD.
- stinkweed imp : i'm sorry guys but i don't love Grave-Troll. For me it's usually a 2/2 for 5 that it's not very good ..... Imp kill any others creature, dredge for appro as same as grave-troll and fly. 3 For me please !!!
- ghastly demise : for me it's the perfect anti-creature here cause it could kill 2/2 turn 1 easily ( fetch + cycling land or fetch + mox diamond ) for only 1 black. Black creatures are not really big and dangerous this time so we can play it.
I think of Drop of honey too in an aggro metagame what do u think of ??
Thanx for reading me and excuse me for my english but i'm french.
Re: [Deck] Dredge-a-Tog - Psychatog with the new Dredge cards
Alright, so I have been testing out this deck ALOT for a while now, and I would like to discuss the list I came up with, as well as match-ups and such.
Main Deck:
1 Genesis
1 Brawn
1 Wonder
3 Stinkweed Imp
4 Psychatog
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
4 Pernicious Deed
1 Darkblast
3 Intuition
4 Life from the Loam
4 Brainstorm
4 Lonely Sandbar
2 Barren Moor
2 Tranquil Thicket
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Wasteland
Sideboard:
4 Engineered Plague
3 Withered Wretch
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Darkblast
1 Nightmare Void
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Intuition
Card by Card Analysis:
Main Deck:
Genesis-- Gets back countered/killed/dredged/intuitioned togs. Also acts as a half way decent win condition himself in a pinch.
Brawn-- Makes Dr. Teeth punch through anything that chooses to block him. 2 evasion granting incarnations were needed to be able to reliably find one. This one also acts as a half way decent win condition on his own.
Wonder-- Makes Dr. Teeth fly over blockers for the win. 2 evasion granting incarnations were needed to be able to reliably find one. This one can still beat if it has to (hopefully not, but it has in the past).
Stinkweed Imp-- Creates the combo finish of Loam, cycle, dredge back Imp, discard imp to pump tog, cycle, dredge back, etc. He also makes Threshold (or any big) critters cry, can hold off hyppies, and can hold off even goblins for a turn or 2. I tried 2 and it proved to be lacking, so I'm sticking with 3.
Psychatog-- Your win condition, your wonder-blocker, and your best friend :D
Force of Will-- I stop things. Pitching can be painful, but 20 blue cards is a pretty good number; so use with caution.
Counterspell-- More protection. Leaving mana open seems like a draw back, but usually you will just use the mana to cycle stuff away/play brainstorm/intuition. Leave the mana open if you can afford to or if you can't afford not to, but in my experience, it hasn't been much, if any of a problem, and is actually one of my favorite draws.
Pernicious Deed-- Removes feilds of red men, threshold fat, lots of white critters, etc. and gets rid of problem permanents. It may seem bad since I have no real way to force overcommittment, but if they slowplay, they just give me more time to build up my combo win.
Darkblast-- A strong reusable answer to anything small.
Intuition-- Sets up the engine on its own, gets tog when needed, grabs 1 last counter when needed, gets stuff into the yard when needed. 4 seemed to be too much.
Life from the Loam-- The most powerful and resillient draw engine in all of Legacy. It even gaurantees land drops every turn. 4 because even with a simple fetch land it can get going in a couple of turns and because dredging into it is useful.
Brainstorm-- Brainstorm+fetchland/Intuition=good. Brainstorm, draw 3, put back 2, then dredge is also quite good. Last but not least, it can be up to 16 cards in the gy for 1 mana when you are comboing out.
Lonely Sandbar-- Asides from being part of your draw engine, its a blue mana source that can cycle when dead.
Barren Moor-- See Lonely Sandbar, cept it produces black.
Tranquil Thicket-- See above, cept Green
Polluted Delta-- Finds the duals/basics I need, works well with Brainstorm, works well with Loam.
Flooded Strand-- see above, only it can't get the swamp.
Tropical Island-- obvious
Underground Sea-- obvious
Island-- Basics are useful
Swamp-- see above
Wasteland-- Makes Intuition gg against Landstill, as well as many other decks in the right spot. Also answers random stuff like Maze of Ith.
Engineered Plague-- Makes Goblins suck :D
Withered Wretch-- Makes threshold critters suck, and makes any other Loam based strategy cry. Also owns jank like reanimator.
Chalice of the Void-- Protects you from StP's, REB's, etc. and makes Solidarity and burn cry.
Darkblast-- Amazing against quite a few decks, and a damn good lock for Goblins with Plague. Sometimes, you just want more.
Nightmare Void-- Helps deal with decks that happen to run 8,000 answers to tog.
Intuition-- Some match-ups you will want the 4th in.
Cards Not Included:
Mox Diamond-- Sucks at least 75% of the time you see it in your opening, and just takes up space. The speed boost seems to be much larger than it is. Since I have cut it, my turn 4 rate has actually gone UP simply because I'm not mulling away hands that could be good, and because it gives me room for more cycling lands which make drawing into Loam good times...and easier to do.
Golgari Grave-Troll-- The speed difference between him and imp is insubstantial, and he can't do much of anything. He can be a late-game win condition, but Imp is actually useful early and makes NQG sad.
Gifts Ungiven-- Too slow, and I dont even md the 4th Intuition.
Cabal Pit-- Doesn't seem worth running another crappy mana source for a slightly better Darkblast that only works with Thresh.
Cephalid Coliseum-- Weak speed boost, cipt, nonbasic 1 color land, and card disadvantage.
Deep Analysis-- The speed it provides is not very much at all, and the loss of life can actually take the turn you would save away from you anyway (Bolting yourself twice in one game between deep and fetches can be painful.). Also, sucks in opening (more mulling) and is just a bad draw in general.
Match-ups:
NQG-- Both the red and white builds should be strong match-ups for you, but the white will be more difficult thanks to StP, Armageddons sb, and Meddling Mages. Game 1, you just have all the answers. You have 8 counters, an amazing draw engine, mr. wonderblocker (tog), Stinkweed Imp, and Pernicious Deed. You should have a good edge. Games 2 and 3 change a bit. The red build gets REBs and Winter Orb, and the White build gets Armageddons (eep). Make sure you play around the WOrb/Geddon, and you should still have the edge. Also keep an eye out for gy hate (keep a draw ability to respond to removal with or keep a loam in hand).
Goblins-- Game 1 should be slightly in their favor. Make sure you do what you can to stop their relevant cards and either race them or deed them out of the game. Game 2 things get much better. With 4 Plagues, 4 Intuitions, 4 Deeds, and 3 Darkblasts, you will have one sad Goblin player.
Deadguy-- This match-up is VERY easy to screw up in. There are 2 things you must remember: 1) Resolving Loam is your first and largest priority. I don't care if it is only for a fetch land, play it. 2) Don't cycle away lands you need thinking you will draw into ones that don't cipt...its not a good idea. With that said, this game comes down to whether or not they can stop your engine from getting up in time. I would say it is slightly favorable game 1, but game 2 can be rough. Game 2 you have a second goal. Keep Withered Wretch off the damn table! If he does come down, unless its late enough that he can't do anything in time, keep your engine protected (in hand) and wait for some way to remove him (Deed/Darkblast if he has little enough mana)...or just hope to beat with alt. wins for a while (don't laugh...it works >_<).
Rifter/Wombat-- There are 3 relevant spells in their entire deck: Humillity, StP, and possibly Wing Shards (Which you can often just throw out an imp/additional tog or two to deal with.). This should not be terribly difficult for you. Games 2 and 3 are pretty much more of the same.
Salvagers Game-- Do what you can to stop the combo (Gamekeeper) and race them. Even if they do resolve the little bastard, you don't have to kill it which is a plus. Games 2 and 3 Withered Wretch gets to laugh at them.
Landstill-- Your card advantage engine will overwhelm them plain and simple. Tog will be difficult to protect, but StP is their only relevant spell, so deal with it. You have the nice little ability to own them with Loam+Wasteland (Thus making Intuition almost gg on its own.) Pretty easy match-up. Games 2 and 3 you get Chalice to stop StP, REB's, and Crypts/furnaces if you think you need em. You also get the 4th Intuition and Nightmare Void for more fun.
Solidarity-- This will be a tad difficult, but still pretty close to even. You only have 8 counters; use them well. Try to end it before they can get off the ground since your dredging will help them. Games 2 and 3 you get Chalice, and you can side out your really useless stuff for some less useless stuff.
Burn-- Stop the heavy stuff and try to race. Chalice will help game 2 on. Its not pretty, but not to bad either.
Fast Combo-- Your counters, fast clock and chalices post board will keep these games pretty good.
Slow Combo-- So long as you can keep their central combo pieces (Enchantress and such) off line early, you should certainly be able to race.
Fast Aggro-- Depending on the deck, you can expect this to be somewhere between Goblins and Burn. Them having creatures is a good thing though.
Slow Aggro-- Watch the removal. Other than that, should be easy. Imp and Tog can handle big nonsense as can Deed.
Aggro-Control-- See The NQG match-ups for blue based, and Deadguy for Resource Denial based.
Pure Control-- See Landstill, but watch out for things like Back to Basics...
Combo-Control-- Aim for their early draw (They can't outdraw you late game, so keep em from doing it early) and their combo pieces. If it is another Loam deck, you should be able to abuse Loam much quicker than they can, and you should be able to win faster as well. You have the advantage thanks to inevitability and being essentially a 1 card combo, where-as most rely on 2 or more cards that can do nothing on their own.
Conclusion:
Though this deck may have a few issues, it is a very strong deck in concept. It has the most resilient, powerful, and synergystic draw engine I have ever seen, and has some of the strongest/most flexible control elements available in the format, and on top of all of this, it is capable of straight out racing just about any aggro deck in the format with the right draw. Please pick it up and give it some testing. I think it has much potential, and I think it is all too commonly overlooked, so please give my list a try and see if ya like it.
