14th at SCG Open: Los Angeles - Dredge

[semioldguy]

I've been playing Dredge on and off in all formats for several years now and after salivating at the recent metagame this is the deck I brought to the table:

DREDGE w/ Bloodghast

4 Bloodghast
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Golgari Thug
2 Ichorid
4 Narcomoeba
4 Putrid Imp
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Tireless Tribe

4 Bridge from Below
1 Brainstorm
1 Darkblast
3 Breakthrough
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Careful Study
1 Deep Analysis
2 Dread Return

4 Cephalid Coliseum
2 City of Brass
2 Dakmor Salvage
3 Gemstone Mine
4 Undiscovered Paradise

Sideboard:
1 Angel of Despair
1 Woodfall Primus
4 Chain of Vapor
1 Darkblast
4 Force of Will
4 Nature's Claim

Deck Construction and Changes

Regarding the pros/cons of Ichorid and Bloodghast: Bloodghast gains the deck speed and some resiliency in the second and third games, while it sacrifices the extra power Ichorid has as well as having conditional haste and the inability to self sacrifice. I feel the Bloodghast helps in the weaker matchups, gaining a few percentage points against the fast combo decks, while the points you lose against other decks from not having Ichorid are less important because I feel favored in those matchups already. Plus I have a pair of Ichorid anyway; it's easier to accommodate a pair of Ichorid than it is to accommodate only a pair of Bloodghast.

As for changes to the deck, I would cut Deep Analysis for a fourth Cabal Therapy. Having two mana isn't the issue behind choosing to omit Deep Analysis. It's more along the lines of rarely being needed to close out a game, even when it's there. I only used it one game and I had that game mostly wrapped up anyway. Cabal Therapy is much more important and I should have had four of them.


Rather than do a report recounting each game, I'm mostly going to recap my mistakes (the ones I caught either by reflection or upon discussing the games afterward with my opponent). Learning from my mistakes helps improve my play and hopefully by seeing the mistakes I make, you will be less likely to make the same errors that I did.

Round One - Goblins

I made a mistake in the first round that cost me the second game against a Goblins player. He got a turn two Goblin Sharpshooter off of a Lackey trigger which was pinging his own guys to remove my bridges and would then easily dispatch any Narcomoabas, Bloodghasts or Ichorids that came into play. I was tunnel-visioned on getting creatures into play that could survive the Sharpshooter and my plan was to dredge back my two Dakmor Salvages, then to start playing Stinkweed Imps to sacrifice and dread return a huge Grave-Troll. What I should have done was dredge to a Darkblast, remove the threat and then proceed as normal. By the time I realized this it was too late, I had lost all my bridges and had to rely on drawing a land for my Bloodghasts since I'd already dredged back the two salavges to get to three mana.

For this matchup I only board in the second Darkblast. If they have Crypts or something similar, I prefer to just play around them rather than weaken my deck. Unless two Crypt effects happen, you still have a very good chance to win as the Dredge player.

I was also counting on sideboards being light on graveyard hate for this event due to recent results. Expect this to change for a while and to have to sideboard more aggressively in certain matchups.

1-0, 2-1

Round Two - Zoo

The mistake from the previous round really kicked me into gear here and I think I played much better. In game one he got a Gaddok Teeg out, but masses of graveyard guys and sacing them to therapy away his hand was more than enough.

When I see or expect Teeg, I board out the Dread Return Package. You can't cast it with Teeg in play anyway, so it essentially limits his effectiveness to just being a 2/2 dork. Since it stops Breakthough I board one of those out as well and bring in the Chains of Vapor.

Chain of Vapor usually comes in for the second game when I'm not sure what to expect, as it covers the most bases. Against Zoo it's also good because if they try to bolt one of their guys to remove your bridges you can bounce their guy in response which is good tempo for you.

2-0, 4-1

Round Three - 1-Land Belcher

In game one when he mulled to five on the play and did nothing I put him on combo. I played/disrupted accordingly and won.

I boarded in Force of Wills. Take out the slow stuff, for me that's Ichorid, Deep Analysis and the like. Second game I kept a decent hand, but without Force, and got hit for 80+ before I had a turn. For the third game I kept a solid hand with a first turn Therapy and able to flash it back the following turn. This is where I make another mistake, and this time it costs me the game. I Therapy, and name Charbelcher. I knew it was the wrong choice almost immediately. At the beginning of the game my opponent took a bit longer to decide upon keeping and made a comment on the fact (while he could have been bluffing, I still should have at least though to consider his actions). I didn't take this into consideration and miss, seeing an Empty the Warrens hand about to go off. He empties for 16 Goblins on his turn and I don't recover.

In hindsight it's easy to tell myself that I miscalled on my Therapy, but I still think I could have taken my opponent into consideration prior to naming a card.

2-1, 5-3

Round Four - Ad Nauseam/TES

In this round I make another mistake. He made Top 4 so you can find his list there. Game one I lose a not very close game, and two I win fairly easily after mulling to six for a decent hand with Force of Will and some disruption, which I use to counter his early attempt to go off. I'm pretty sure this is how the two first games went, my notes are a little chaotic.

My sideboarding here was both the forces, as well as a couple Chains of Vapor, keeping the Dread Return package in. I boarded in the Chains because after seeing both Silence and Orim's chant I figured there was a possibility he could bring some cards in against me since there are cards he could side out.

Game Three is where I make my mistake. I keep a good hand. 2x Cephalid Coliseum, Grave-Troll, Stinkweed Imp, Narcomoeba, Force of Will and some other non-land card. If he doesn't go off first turn I have a discard step to bin my Troll, and ifhe does go off first turn, which is unlikely, I'll need the Force anyway. First turn he plays Underground Sea, casts Dark Ritual, two Lion's Eye Diamonds and Infernal Tutor, sacrificing his LED's. I Force of will the Tutor. I should have waited to counter the impending Ad Nauseam. I was far ahead anyway, but I knew I wasn't completely out of it.

Four turns later he casts Dark Ritual, two LED's and another Tutor to get Ad Nauseam and win. Yes, I got unlucky that he got the four exact cards he needed (he also cast a Brainstorm), but I shouldn't have given myself the chance to get unlucky by holding back on my Force of Will just a little bit longer, effectively removing his Ad Nauseam from the deck.

Even things that seem like bad luck can often be linked back to mistakes.

2-2, 6-5

Round Five - BRW Discard

Seems like a pretty good matchup for me.

I boarded in Chains of Vapor as I was pretty cure such a deck would need to be prepared against matches where the opponent wants to discard. I took out the Dread Return package as it appeared to be a slower matchup and I could grind it out easily enough without it.

Game Two he gets an early Nether Void out. I have to bounce it with a Chain of Vapor and Therapy it away, only to see a Jotun Grunt in his hand that I don't have a means to get rid of right away. He plays it, but there are only five total cards in the graveyards, the rest of his action in hand all required red mana and he doesn't have any, as I noticed when I therapied him. I wait for the Jotun Grunt to go away and then win.

3-2, 8-5

Round Six Through Eight - Team America

This was the matchup I was planning/hoping to hit a lot due to recent success/popularity. It's a very good matchup for Dredge, their only real threat for you is Terravore and they have little means of positively interacting with you beyond Force of Will (and Pernicious Deed). For boarding I take out the Flame-Kin Zealot, and brought in the Angel of Despair. The fast win is often unnecessary in this matchup and Angel answers Terravore, which is the greatest threat they can throw at you and their best chance of winning in my opinion.

I dropped one game in the last three rounds, though I made a few errors, none of which I believe lost me any games, but could have as they prolonged each game the errors were made in.

In one game my Bridges were all gone and my opponent low on life due to some Zombie bashing. I don't remember his position exactly but I had four Bloodghasts in the yard, two Ichorids and a Golgari Thug. I remove the Thug to one Ichorid, and dredge a Dakmor Salvage to get my Bloodghasts back. It took me awhile to decide upon this play as I had considered removing the fourth Bloodghast to get a second Ichorid (potentially one more damage) weighde again there being less creatures in the graveyard when I planned to Dread Return a Grave-Troll that turn after attacking.

My reasoning for keeping the extra Ichorid in my graveyard was to ensure that my Troll was large enough to not be outdone by a Terravore. I had the regeneration mana for it should I need it as well. What actually happened is my Bloodghasts got Extirpated when the Landfall triggers went on the stack and I was unable to Dread Return my Troll at all due to only having an Ichorid and a Narcomoeba. The Ichorids and the lone Narcomoeba got there as my opponent didn't draw any answers, but I still gave my opponent more chance that I should have.

In another match I missed a Bloodghast trigger. It was the same turn that I received a warning and was a little flustered from making a dumb mistake. I "looked at extra cards" by accidentally dredging from the bottom of my deck. I don't know why I did this, it was the last round and, mentally, I was exhausted. I realized what I had done as soon as I pulled the first card into my graveyard and called a judge on myself immediately. Later that turn I missed the Bloodghast coming into play. Tormod's Crypt hit me before my following turn, and the Bloodghast that should have been in play was removed forever. His presence on the battlefield would have likely reduced the length of game by at least a turn and possibly even two or three turns. I won regardless, but it could have gone the other way had my opponent gotten different draws or especially if it was a less favorable matchup.

I also forgot to therapy once when I had the extra creature to do so. He was empty and drew and kept a card, but it could have been relevant and I should have either forced him to play it then or seen what it was before alpha striking. I was in complete control and it turned out to be irrelevant, but it could have made a difference.

4-2, 10-6
5-2, 12-6
6-2, 14-6


So those are my mistakes. I finished 6-2, with my two losses coming from Belcher and Ad Nauseam, both made the top 8. I feel that both matches were winnable. I'm a bit disappointed by my performance, though I believe I made the correct deck choice for the event.

[PanderAlexander]

Congrats on the result, don't beat yourself up on the last mistake you got a warning for, that had already been 10+ hours of Magic. The tournament still feels like a dream to me, where you try to remember pieces of it. I played against a very good dredge player that flashbacked deep analysis from his GY and instead of removing it from the game he put it on top of his library and we both didn't know until the next turn he dredged it back to his graveyard. I told him I don't care but he called a judge on himself. So weird stuff happens, but dredging from the bottom of your library, I can't really picture that :D

[LegacyInferno]

Congrats on the result, don't beat yourself up on the last mistake you got a warning for, that had already been 10+ hours of Magic. The tournament still feels like a dream to me, where you try to remember pieces of it. I played against a very good dredge player that flashbacked deep analysis from his GY and instead of removing it from the game he put it on top of his library and we both didn't know until the next turn he dredged it back to his graveyard. I told him I don't care but he called a judge on himself. So weird stuff happens, but dredging from the bottom of your library, I can't really picture that :D

He called the judge on himself? wow that is a very honourable play imo.

[everythingitouchdies]

Congrats man. You were my only opponent that I really thought was going to beat me after I mulled out of game one without going to four cards instead of keeping an awful five... and when you cast the therapy in game 3 I knew there was a real chance. My notes say I fired for 90 points in game two.

[Admiral_Arzar]

Good job man. I'm not sure I necessarily agree with your assessment of your misplay against TES (if it was actually TES, not ANT). If he had red, forcing the tutor was the right play as he would simply search out ETW and spooge goblins everywhere. If it was in fact traditional ANT (with no red) then your assessment is correct. Judging by him searching for AN when he drew the second tutor, you were probably correct.

[semioldguy]

He broke one LED for red and one for black, but my hand may have been able to manage 10 goblins. By the time the second tutor came around the goblins definitely wouldn't have been fast enough to put the game away so an Ad Nauseam was the best call for him at that point on turn five, where it is debatable what he could have gotten on the first turn. Though if he was going for a quick Empty the Warrens, he wouldn't have needed to break both LED's to get to four mana, so I think it was fairly safe to assume an Ad Nauseam would be incoming.

Of course in playing the game it's hard to have the presence of mind to think of and consider all of these things. At the very least, the play is debatable and it wasn't a line of play I had even thought of until after the play was over.

[Admiral_Arzar]

Yeah, it's hard to consider all that stuff in the heat of the moment. I just wanted you to know that it may not have been as big a mistake as you thought at the time.

[OurSerratedDust]

Nice work, man. Were you satisfied with Force of Will in your board?

[semioldguy]

Yes, I like force in the board. It's very versatile for Dredge. It's helpful against fast combo, as they can generally win more quickly than Dredge and most don't expect a Force from you, but it's also useful against hate cards that come in as well. I've had it in my 75 for a couple years now and have always been glad it's there.

[Tree]

Ok, Ive played Dredge multiple times since it came out and I have recently decided to make it my standard deck to play in Legacy.

The question is what is the best version to run or if there is something techy to be doing with the deck.

Today I split the finals of a local Legacy event running semioldguy's list, changed the +1 deep analysis to the 4th Cabal Therapy

Quick Event Recap:

Round 1 vs John K (Ad Nauseam Tendrils)

Game 1 I kept a fragile hand, he duressed and got me turn 4
Game 2. He went off turn 3 after I therapied twice.

Round 2: Dave Ando playing Mono Black Homebrew

Game 1: He resolves Llianna, I kill him
Game 2: I aggro him to death turn 5

Round 3: Nick Jury playing Elves!
Game 1: Agrro him to death
Game 2: I dredge slow, get around all his hate, put enough pressure on the board and win out

Top 4:
Semifinals: John K again
Game 1: I aggro out on turn 3
Game 2: I play the long game and therapy his hand to death.

Finals (Prize split, played for points) Joe Brown (Bant)
Game 1: Long game of attrition, I see Knight of Reliquary, assume that he runs Boghka Bog main.....(wrong)
he beats me to death with Terravore
Game 2: Mull to 4, shaky hand, Wastelanded, Daze, Sword to Plowshares. I lose


Things Ive Noticed: I love the deck, its quite resilient.

A couple observations:

Brainstorm-meh, I ran it as a 1 of, and boarded it out alot
Bloodghast- Love him in the deck, I love the constant threat with the Undiscovered Paradise. Everyone seems to hate him

Thoughts on a list that involves Lion's Eye Diamond, Sun Titan and Woodfall Primus main?

[Forbiddian]

Grats on the finish, kyle!

[Koby]

Thoughts on a list that involves Lion's Eye Diamond, Sun Titan and Woodfall Primus main?

Sun Titan doesn't belong in Legacy lists. You don't get much utility out of him without Bazaar of Baghdad. Woodfall Primus is a great card to include in place of 'Vindicate' Angel, as it gives you 2 uses.