TNT Legacy 4/3/11 *2-1*

Hello everyone! I mentioned that I just built a Dredge deck that a ton of fun to play, and after a run down to Harrison's I have exactly 15 proxies in the deck, so I could play it in the Legacy event on Sunday at Toys. To say the deck is a blast to play is a bit of an understatement! Playing a deck you actually enjoy makes events a lot more fun, and you instantly do better due to your greater attentiveness. That being said, you need to SLOW DOWN when you play dredge, as there are triggers in every single step, and the line of play to victory isn't always in your face.

Untap - return all Undiscovered Paradise to your hand that you used for mana last turn
Upkeep - check entire graveyeard for Ichorids, Putrid Imps, and Golgari Thugs
Draw - check graveyard for good dredge target, or decide if you just want to topdeck
Main Phase - Oh yeah, we still have to cast spells...

Most of the rounds play out the same way - flip your deck over, make a Zombie horde, attack for the win. So I'm going to just highlight specific plays. I didn't have a sideboard for this event, so I was just playing some game 1s.

Round 1: Joe, Junk
I won game 1, and I should have won game 2, but in my excitement, I decided to keep dredgeing when I only had 11 cards left in my library. I wound up decking myself, and then not killing him in my swing for the turn (he had Pernicious Deed, which he blew up for 0), so he just drew and passed to me as I decked myself. Lesson learned: if you can kill them, just do it, don't worry about forcing a complete blowout. I wound up losing game 3.

1-2
0-1

Round 2: Chris, Burn
There weren't very many interesting plays, except that I almost lost because I forgot about the existence of Fireblast. I was at 9 life, and he had 2 Seal of Fire in play. I calculated that I could make a series of plays which would cost me 3 life but would double the size of my Zombie horde. After calculating my board position though, I realized I could just kill him instead of going for the blowout, and that saved me the game.

2-1
1-1

Round 3: Ed, Knights
Here is how Ed made his deck for the event: He bought Duel Decks: Knights vs Dragons and sleeved up the Knights deck. As much as it can be percieved as a crappy pre-con, it's a decent White Weenie deck that can put on serious pressure very fast. I happened to completely nut draw game 1 and attacked for 45 on turn 3 while on the play, and in about as it long as it took to shuffle we were onto game 2. Game 2 he got the 2/2 first strike lifelinker, which got him up to 37 life and me down to 0. Game 3 he beat down hard, but I got a massive Zombie horde out and swung for lethal just before I died sitting at 2 life. He had Harm's Way though and so we tied. Benzo just told us to play a game 4 as it decided prize. I wound up attacking for 30 on turn 3.

2-1-1
2-1

This short event already showcases how epic dredge is, and I can't wait to play it again. However next time I should have a sideboard built. Here's what I have so far:

4x Stifle (great vs Tormod's Crypt!)
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Angel of Despair (Moat, Ensnaring Bridge)
1x Llawan, Cephalid Empress (Merfolk)
1x Ancestor's Chosen (Burn)
1x Ichorid
2x Pithing Needle
4x Unknown

It's really just different Dread Return targets and anti-hate cards right now, and that may be all I need. The deck has so much raw power it's simply scary! The Bloodghast package helps to grind out tight games, as there's nothing better then dredging 2 to play a Dakmore Salvage and drop 8 potentially hasty power to the board in a pinch.

If you're looking for a very inexpensive powerful deck, look no further than Dredge. I think this is what I'm going to play at SCG Boston in 3 weeks, so it's all testing from here on out! Until next time, stay classy!