[Deck] Dreadstill - Enter the Fist

[J.V.]

Rich Shay [The_Atog_Lord] went 4-1-1 finishing in 8th at the end of swiss then beating 4c Thresh 2-0 in top 8 and losing to Goyf Sligh 2-1 finishing in 4th overall. Here is the Ugr List we built him in the car on the ride there, it was a little different from the normal lists since we were basically testing new ideas.

Lands:21
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Island

Creatures:7
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought

Noncreature Spells:31
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Standstill
4 Stifle
4 Counterbalance
3 Krosan Grip
3 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Daze
1 Trickbind
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fire/Ice
1 Crucible of Worlds

Sideboard:15
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Firespout
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Vexing Shusher
2 Red Elemental Blast

A few post tournament notes, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Fire/Ice (Fire/Ice was awesome all day) and -1 Island, +1 Phyrexian Dreadnought (he wanted another most of the day.) Also in the side he said he would but a Relic and a Firespout for 2 Sower of Temptations.

I also played Ugr Dreadstill but I played a much more conventional list, I went 4-2.

Lands:22
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
4 Island

Creatures:9
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage

Noncreature Spells:29
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
4 Standstill
3 Counterbalance
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Trickbind
1 Crucible of Worlds

Sideboard:15
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Krosan Grip
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Firespout
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus

A Brief Report:
Round 1:Rw Goblin
1-2 ...Firespout doesn't kill that awful 3/4 goblin king guy from Shadowmoor.
Round 2: Legacy Elf Ball
2-0 Summoner's Pact pass... E.E. @1 Blow it killing 3 Llanowar elves, waste your bayou, pass. Upkeep oh well I guess I die to summoner's pact.
Round 3: MUC (Kadaj?)
1-2 Back to basics+3 sower's off the top seem really good.
Round 4: Uwb Dreaded Fish
2-0 Standstill provides to much card advantage for him to keep up with.
Round 5: Tezzeret Stax
2-0
Round 6:Faerie Stompy (VsTheWorld)
2-0

[godryk]

After testing Uwx versions of the deck in several big tournaments this month (48, 51 and 39 players) and getting not very good results I'll say that I've missed Spell Snares all day long: the cards I've lost against the most were Tarmogoyf and Counterbalance. I know this may be a flaw argument as these are two of the most powerful Legacy cards, but I have discovered through pain that in a developed meta Spell Snare is a must.

And after playing today against Meathooks, Dreadstill, Team America, Team America, Not-Quite-Survival (and soon after dropping) I think it was a fail not having red for 3-4 REBs...

So, that's it, I'm moving back to an Ur build... just like others did before.

Magus of the moons seems very powerful as well...

[Rood]

After testing Uwx versions of the deck in several big tournaments this month (48, 51 and 39 players) and getting not very good results I'll say that I've missed Spell Snares all day long: the cards I've lost against the most were Tarmogoyf and Counterbalance. I know this may be a flaw argument as these are two of the most powerful Legacy cards, but I have discovered through pain that in a developed meta Spell Snare is a must.

And after playing today against Meathooks, Dreadstill, Team America, Team America, Not-Quite-Survival (and soon after dropping) I think it was a fail not having red for 3-4 REBs...

So, that's it, I'm moving back to an Ur build... just like others did before.

Magus of the moons seems very powerful as well...

Yeah definetally the Ur build but -2 Clasm in the board +2 Magus of the Moon. Also manabase stability definetally seems pretty vial especially against Team America.

[Kadaj]

Round 3: MUC (Kadaj?)
1-2 Back to basics+3 sower's off the top seem really good.

Yeah, that was me, haha. Even though I won that match, I was very impressed with the way Dreadstill performed all day. I was so impressed with the way it was testing against me before the tournament that I actually changed my list to combat it better, so it's made an impression on me.

Does anyone have any thoughts on a UGw list? Swords seems stupidly good these days, so I'm curious if anyone's given the idea any thought.

[J.V.]

Yeah, that was me, haha. Even though I won that match, I was very impressed with the way Dreadstill performed all day. I was so impressed with the way it was testing against me before the tournament that I actually changed my list to combat it better, so it's made an impression on me.

Does anyone have any thoughts on a UGw list? Swords seems stupidly good these days, so I'm curious if anyone's given the idea any thought.

Actually Rich and I both had Ugw Lists built in the car and ultimately switched to Ugr, Swords is excellent, but we both decided that we would rather have the sweeper in Firespout.

[Enigma]

For how long have you been playing Crucible, JV? Also, how do you like 22 lands? I'm pretty ambivalent on this. In my 4c build, I used to have 22.

Questions for Shay: Is Grip better than Spell Snare? With only 6 counters (yeah, 7 with Cryptic...), did you miss somes? 3 Dreadnought without Trinkets isn't a low count for 5 stifle effects?

@godryk: on big tourny with specific meta, I would go with the REB's. As I know my meta, I prefer Spell Snare, because there's a lot of aggro-controlish (but not a lot of blue-based decks) like Terragueddon, Eva Green, Aggro Loam and more typic aggro like Goyf Sligh, Goblins...

@ JV & people at the event: Is only TA making 2-3 splashs difficult? Or it had Dragon Stompy also?

[kiwi]

Do you think that firespout is good againts Affinity ?

[e=mc^2]

This weekend I wend 9-1-1 and split the top two in an 11 man tourney.

My UWr list was the following:

4x Nought
3x Trinket Mage

4x FoW
4x Stifle
4x Brainstorm
4x Standstill
3x Daze
3x Spellsnare
3x Counterbalence
3x StP
2x Top
1x EE

4x Factory
4x Flooded Strand
3x Wasteland
3x Island
2x Polluted Delta
1x Volcanic Island
1x Steam Vents
1x Tundra
1x Academy Ruins

SB:
3x Crypt
3x BeB
3x ReB
2x Firespout
2x Meddling Mage
1x Relic
1x EE

Important Note: Have more colored lands than fetchlands.

Here were the MU's:

Round 1
2-0 against UG Thresh. I got counter top and he did not. Nought eventually finishes him off.

Round 2
2-0 against Burn. He resolvs some burn spells. I counter some burn spells. He can't kill Nought. The second game was more of the same.

Round 3
2-1 against Ichorid. Game 1 he runs me over. Game 2 I race him with a Nought. Game 3 he scoops after I play my 3rd Crypt and still have a relic on the board.

Round 4
1-0-1 against Uwg control. The first game took almost 45 minutes. I drew 12 cards off of Standstill, and got a counter-top out. Eventually Nought finishes him off. Game 2 was a draw.

Top 4
2-0 against the same deck as round 4. This guy never has a chance. He keeps playing Standstill but he always ends up breaking it. I Stifle 3 fetches. At least both games go quicker this time.

I like StP against Goyf and other random dudes, but I'm not sure if it is worth the mana base.

[_erbs_]

Hello,
Comments or suggestions on the stifle-nought deck im planning to run.

Thanks

Lands
3 scrying sheets
3 flooded strand
3 tundra
7 snow-covered island
5 snow-covered plains
21

Win Con
2 painter servant
2 grindstone
4 phyrexian dreadnought
8

Utility
4 stifle
3 brainstorm
2 ponder / -1 ponder +1 trickbind
3 sensei divinning top
2 counter balance
14

Disruption
4 force of will
3 daze
4 mana leak or 2 counter spell & 2 spell snare
11

Anti-Creature
4 swords to plowshares
2 wrath of god
6

I used the snow engine and sacrificed man-lands and wastelands. Im just gessing maybe the snow engine + brainstorm would give me the cards i want in different situations.

[klaus]

3 scrying sheets
3 flooded strand
3 tundra
7 snow-covered island
5 snow-covered plains

2 painter servant
2 grindstone
4 phyrexian dreadnought

4 stifle
3 brainstorm
2 ponder / -1 ponder +1 trickbind
3 sensei divinning top
2 counter balance

4 force of will
3 daze
4 mana leak or 2 counter spell & 2 spell snare

4 swords to plowshares
2 wrath of god

The first thing that I recognized is the severe lack of Tinket Magi in your deck. Tutoring for Grindstone aswell as Dreadnought and Top makes him the perfect fit. I would most likely cut those Ponders to make room for him.
The Mana Leaks and Dazes seem weak due to the absense of Wastelands. I'd strongly suggest testing:
- 3 Daze
-4 Mana Leak
+ 3 Spell Snare
+ 2 Negate
+ 1 Counterbalance
+ 1 Trickbind

With only 3 Fetchlands, Brainstorm's power got diminished, too. I guess I'd go all the way in that case and go:
-3 Fetchlands
-3 Brainstorm
+ 2 Snowlands
+1 Academy Ruins
+ 1 Enlightened Tutor
+ 1 Oblivion Ring
+ 1 Engineered Explosives
------------
Fast forward to my version:
3 scrying sheets
3 tundra
8 snow-covered island
6 snow-covered plains
1 Academy Ruins

2 painter servant
2 grindstone
3 phyrexian dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage
2 Enlightened Tutor

4 stifle
1 Trickbind
3 sensei divinning top
3 counter balance
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Engineered Explosives

4 force of will
3 Spell Snare
2 Negate

4 swords to plowshares
2 wrath of god

-
Hope you like it.
Klaus.

[BKclassic]

For the sake of doing so, I aggregated the last 28 Dreadstill decks on Deckcheck, aka, the whole first page of lists, minus the 2 decks that have less than 60 cards.

Here's what I found:
164- Blue Fetchland
112- Brainstorm
112- Force of Will
111- Stifle
110- Factory
106- Standstill
100- Phyrexian Dreadnought
99- Island
92- Daze
84- Wasteland
80- Counterbalance
71- Tropical Island
67- Trinket Mage
65- Tarmogoyf
56- Sensei's Divining Top
49- Engineered Explosives
47- Volcanic Island
46- Spell Snare
36- Trickbind
13- Swords to Plowshares
12- Tundra
10- Krosan Grip
7- Fire/Ice
6- Pithing Needle
6- Underground Sea
5- Crucible of Worlds
4- Dark Confidant
4- Oblivion Ring
3- Plains
3- Academy Ruins
3- Thoughtseize
2- Ponder
2- Echoing Truth
2- Enlightened Tutor
2- Repeal
1- Cryptic Command
1- Tormod's Command
1- Seat of Synod
1- Swamp
1- Misdirection
1- Firespout

The aggregate Dreadstill deck looks like this:

Creatures: 8
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Tarmogoyf
2 Trinket Mage

Spells: 29
4 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Counterbalance
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
2 Spell Snare
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
2 Engineered Explosives

Mana: 22
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
6 Blue Fetch
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
4 Island

1 Open Slot

On the whole, rather unsurprising. It should be noted that barely anyone ran 22 lands, but the averages just made it come out that way due to some decks running 6 or so Islands. I am much more interested in doing sideboards, which I will try to do at some later point, and I will probably distinguish between splashes for that.

[Wargoos]

Actually i teched out a list powering the Magus.
I would like to hear, what you think of it, escpecially Rood.
Here it goes:
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
5 Island
3 Volcanic Island

4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage
4 Magus of the Moon

4 Stifle
3 Counterbalance
4 Daze
2 Trickbind
2 SDT
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Standstill
2 Engineered Explosives

Side:
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Pithing Needle
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pyroclasm
2 Open Slots

Actually i'm thinking about going -1 Trickbind, +1 Trinket Mage.
What do you think?
Greetz,
EaD

[jazzykat]

@bocci: Thanks for that look at things. I always find data like this interesting.

[J.V.]

@Jazzykat & Bocci: Agreed, that is very useful information Brian, Thanks a Lot! I actually started doing something like that (but by splashes instead of total) and never got around to finishing it.
@Ead: I would cut one of your Volcs for another basic island since post Magus your going to want as many U sources as you can muster.

[b4r0n]

Like J.V., I played Dreadstill (Ugr) on day 1 of TMLO. I ended up dropping pretty early on, but I have a few notes from playing the deck this weekend:

• Tops. I was only running 2 (plus 3 Mage), but I always wanted to see one, especially in the mirror. In the future, I wouldn't play less than 3.
• Spell Snare. It's so good. I played 2, which seemed like the right number. If I had room, I'd consider going up to 3.
• Wastelands and Factories. Instead of the traditional 3/4 split, I played a 4/3 split. The rationale was that with 4 maindeck Goyfs, you don't really need 4 Factories. The 4th Waste seemed stronger in the mirror and just stronger in general.

This is what I'd probably play in the future:

Lands:22
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
4 Island
4 Wasteland
3 Mishra's Factory

Creatures:9
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Trinket Mage

Spells:29
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
2 Spell Snare
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
4 Brainstorm
3 Standstill
3 Counterbalance
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle

Sideboard:15
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Krosan Grip
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Firespout
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives

[Nihil Credo]

4 Magus of the Moon

What kind of metagame do you play in that you want a maindeck playset of them? There are plenty of decks that can operate under Moon, and who will thank you for casting a Grey Ogre that disables half of your threats and card advantage sources. I'd say that if conditional cards are to be played maindeck at all (and Moon is certainly powerful enough that this might be the case), their number should be limited.

[BKclassic]

@b4r0n- I think the 4th Factory is a must. I just find that sometimes bad things happen if you drop an early still but can't draw a threat to put them on a clock.

[b4r0n]

@b4r0n- I think the 4th Factory is a must. I just find that sometimes bad things happen if you drop an early still but can't draw a threat to put them on a clock.

I don't think it's necessary to put your opponent on a clock in order for Standstill to be effective. If they're not breaking your Standstill, then you get to drop lands and move into the midgame. You should benefit more from that than your opponent does. If not, then you probably shouldn't have played the Standstill in the first place.

[_erbs_]

Hello,
The snow engine was terribly slow, against aggro decks or burn decks i find it hard to play standstill because most of the time im the one whos at a disadvantage.

i didn't feel any big use for wasteland expect for the minimal mana disruption combined with stifle and trickbind. Mishara's Factory for me is just so so.

Based on my testing im still new to the dreadstill world.
1. I felt the deck lacks draw cards when you can't draw via standstill
2. Library manipulation is kinda short or not enough for me.
3. Extirpate will kill the deck if you have no other win con, i tested 4 dreads only as the win con.
4. Counter magic for me was not enough its hard to protect dreadnought from the tons of artifact hate flying around. And you have to counter other cards that will hurt the deck.
5. CounterTop is good once you get it online.
6. Meddling mage is nice to have but im having a hardtime which cards to pull out, its nice to make him main board. Helps in protecting dreads and other threats.
7. trinket mage is good if you have the mana, but with my old mana config:
6 fetch
3 mishra
3 wasteland
4 tundra
3 island
1 plains

I im having a hard time playing him with out tapping out. And my land count average is 3, sometimes i can't cast stp bec of the land hate my opponent is casting. Mana based for me felt very fragile

After my play testing i ended up with:

Lands
4 flooded strand
4 tundra
7 island
4 plains
19

Win Con
4 stifle
1 trickbind
4 phyrexian dreadnought
9

Spells
4 swords to plowshares
1 powder keg
1 engineered explosives
1 echoing truth
3 brainstorm
3 ponder
4 force of will
3 daze
3 mana leak
2 spell snare
1 annul
2 counter spell
4 accumulated knowledge
32

comments are greatly appriciated

i would like to add another win condition but i can't think anything expect for maybe tarmo, but before i invest in tarmo and tropical islands, is it the next best win con or painterstone is still better ?

i also tried removing the countertop combo for raw counter magic to see how it would run.

thanks

[Rood]

erbs you may want to check back as to why we include 4x Standstills in Dreadstill...it's irreplacable in terms of what kind of powers it brings to the table. You could honestly test it some more it's rediculous.

This isn't the thread really for random Stiflenought decks, only ones that include the hybrid of Landstill as well.