Navigation

    The Mana Drain

    • Register
    • Login
    • Search
    • Strategy
    • Community
    • Tournaments
    • Recent
    1. Home
    2. Rat3dE
    3. Best
    R
    • Profile
    • Following 0
    • Followers 1
    • Topics 30
    • Posts 224
    • Best 63
    • Groups 0
    • Blog

    Best posts made by Rat3dE

    • RE: November 26 Banned & Restricted Announcement

      @Megustalabanana First of all you are being extremely rude, and if I knew how I would report you. Second of all I think you are overlooking something extremely important to this discussion, and that is that you cannot have both PO and MD unrestricted at the same time, period. They are both storm cards, one with less potential but less set-up and the other with more potential but more set-up. When you combine the two you have a PO with no set-up chaining into a MD with no set-up either, probably making it the most busted card ever. Even if you do not hit a MD you will likely hit another PO, and then you can probably hit a MD. At his point even with only three artifacts, and assuming you have drawn no more from PO (likely statistically impossible) then your storm is already at least 8 and you have drawn at least 6 cards. I am not saying you are right or wrong, and I do not know enough to have an opinion on whether or not PO and/or MD should be unrestricted or restricted but I will say this:

      1. Be respectful or no one will listen to you or take you seriously.
      2. Think carefully about the consequences of each unrestriction and restriction before calling for them.
      posted in Vintage Community
      R
      Rat3dE
    • Vintage 101: Lucy in the Sky with Moxen

      https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-lucy-in-the-sky-with-moxen

      posted in Vintage News
      R
      Rat3dE
    • 4/14/19 - Eudo Vintage EW Qualifier

      We had 9 awesome players show up today to duke it out. It was 5 rounds of swiss + top 4.
      Top 4:

      # 1st Azorius Landstill
      ## Mark Arce 3-1-1 in Swiss ($75+Playmat+Bye)
      Land (21):
      4 Flooded Strand
      2 Island
      4 Tundra
      1 Library of Alexandria
      3 Mishra's Factory
      1 Scalding Tarn
      1 Polluted Delta
      1 Plains
      3 Wasteland
      1 Strip Mine
      
      Creature (3):
      2 Snapcaster Mage
      1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
      
      Instant (21):
      1 Ancestral Recall
      1 Brainstorm
      1 Dig Through Time
      2 Flusterstorm
      4 Force of Will
      3 Mana Drain
      4 Mental Misstep
      2 Mindbreak Trap
      3 Swords to Plowshares
      
      Sorcery (3):
      1 Time Walk
      1 Treasure Cruise
      1 Supreme Verdict
      
      Artifact (3):
      1 Black Lotus
      1 Mox Sapphire
      1 Mox Pearl
      
      Enchantment (5):
      1 Stony Silence
      4 Standstill
      
      Planeswalker (4)
      1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
      3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
      
      Sideboard (15):
      1 Moat
      1 Arcane Laboratory
      2 Containment Priest
      2 Disenchant
      2 Energy Flux
      1 Flusterstorm
      1 Hurkyll's Recall
      1 Swords to Plowshares
      1 Peacekeeper
      2 Rest in Peace
      1 Stony Silence
      
      # 2nd Azorius Eldrazi and Taxes
      ## Alex Kibner 3-1-1 in Swiss ($75)
      
      Land (22):
      4 Ancient Tomb
      4 Cavern of Souls
      4 Eldrazi Temple
      1 Karakas
      1 Tundra
      1 Strip Mine
      3 Wasteland
      4 Adarkar Wastes
      
      Creature (24):
      2 Containment Priest
      2 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
      3 Eldrazi Displacer
      1 Glowrider
      1 Phyrexian Revoker
      4 Reality Smasher
      4 Thought-Knot Seer
      4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
      3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
      
      Artifact (12):
      1 Sol Ring
      1 Trinisphere
      1 Chalice of the Void
      1 Black Lotus
      1 Null Rod
      1  Mana Crypt
      1 Mox Jet
      1 Mox Pearl
      1 Mox Ruby
      1 Mox Emerald
      1 Mox Sapphire
      1 Thorn of Amethyst
      
      Sideboard (15):
      2 Containment Priest
      2 Grafdigger's Cage
      3 Energy Flux
      2 Null Rod
      2 Swords to Plowshares
      1 Stony Silence
      2 Rest in Peace
      1 Serenity
      
      # 3rd/4th Pitch Dredge
      ## George (@Chronatog ) 3-0-2 in Swiss ($50 or $65)
      Land (4):
      4 Bazaar of Bagdad
      
      Creature (28):
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      4 Ichorid
      4 Hollow One
      4 Golgari Thug
      4 Narcomoeba
      2 Prized Amalgam
      1 Flame-Kin Zealot
      1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
      
      Instant (10):
      4 Mental Misstep
      4 Force of Will
      2 Mindbreak Trap
      
      Sorcery (10):
      2 Dread Return
      4 Cabal Therapy
      4 Unmask
      
      Artifact (4):
      4 Serum Powder
      
      Enchantment (4):
      4 Bridge From Below
      
      Sideboard (15):
      4 Chain of Vapor
      4 Mana Confluence
      2 City of Brass
      4 Nature's Claim
      1 Chalice of the Void
      
      # 3rd/4th Esper PO Storm
      ## Andrew Calderon 3-0-2 in Swiss ($50 or $65)
      Land (13):
      2 Flooded Strand
      1 Tundra
      2 Underground Sea
      1 Tolarian Academy
      2 Scalding Tarn
      1 Karakas
      1 Polluted Delta
      1 Library of Alexandria
      2 Island
      
      Creature (2):
      1 Monastery Mentor
      1 Snapcaster Mage
      
      Instant (16):
      1 Ancestral Recall
      1 Brainstorm
      1 Dig Through Time
      1 Flusterstorm
      4 Force of Will
      2 Hurkyl's Recall
      4 Paradoxical Outcome
      2 Repeal
      
      Sorcery (13):
      1 Demonic Tutor
      1 Gitaxian Probe
      1 Merchant Scroll
      1 Mind's Desire
      2 Night's Whisper
      1 Ponder
      3 Preordain
      1 Tendrils of Agony
      1 Time Walk
      1 Yawgmoth's Will
      
      Artifact (16):
      1 Black Lotus
      1 Lotus Petal
      1 Mox Sapphire
      1 Mox Pearl
      1 Mox Emerald
      1 Mox Ruby
      1 Mox Jet
      2 Sensei's Divining Top
      1 Mana Crypt
      1 Mana Vault
      4 Mox Opal
      1 Sol Ring
      
      Sideboard (15):
      1 Defense Grid
      2 Flusterstorm
      2 Hurkyl's Recall
      1 Island
      2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
      2 Karn, Scion of Urza
      1 Mystic Remora
      4 Tormod's Crypt
      
      # 5th Pitch Dredge
      ## Me (@Rat3dE) 3-2 in Swiss (A Broken Heart)
      Land (4):
      4 Bazaar of Bagdad
      
      Creature (27):
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      3 Ichorid
      4 Hollow One
      2 Golgari Thug
      4 Narcomoeba
      4 Prized Amalgam
      1 Dragonlord Kolaghan
      1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
      
      Instant (11):
      4 Mental Misstep
      4 Force of Will
      3 Mindbreak Trap
      
      Sorcery (10):
      2 Dread Return
      4 Cabal Therapy
      4 Unmask
      
      Artifact (4):
      4 Serum Powder
      
      Enchantment (4):
      4 Bridge From Below
      
      Sideboard (15):
      4 Mana Confluence
      2 City of Brass
      2 Chain of Vapor
      2 Noxious Revival
      4 Nature's Claim
      1 Spinning Darkness
      

      I had a lot of fun today, and I am sure others did to. We had some very powerful wizards come out to play today including the indomitable Cyrus Corman - Gill (@CyrusCG ), and the handsome Matt Sperling. As some of you may have noticed Alex Kibner's decklist does not have 60 cards in it and that is due to him making some decklist errors and I do not know the correct decklist. I can post pictures of all decklist if wanted but I already stayed up late enough doing this, so I will consider it tomorrow.

      Below is the metagame breakdown:
      2 Pitch Dredge (22%)

      • My list

      • Top 4 list

      1 Ravager Shops (11%)
      1 Azorius Eldrazi and Taxes (11%)
      1 Jeskai Xerox (11%)
      1 Esper PO Storm (11%)
      1 Bant Sylvan PO (11%)
      1 Sultai Midrange (11%)
      1 Azorius Landstill (11%)

      Hope we can have some more people come out next time! If you have any questions or I made a mistake let me know.

      posted in Official Tournament Results
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: What content do you not get enough of?

      I would love to see more streams that are not just Paradoxical Outcome. I think that it is great that it is getting so much attention but as a viewer when all the streamers I watch are playing PO it can get boring.

      posted in Vintage Community
      R
      Rat3dE
    • Vintage 101: Guilds! Guilds!

      https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-guilds-guilds

      I just wanted to share this here. I think it is great that we are getting more vintage content, and I am glad to have Vintage 101 back. Thank you @volrathxp.

      posted in Vintage News
      R
      Rat3dE
    • Eudo Vintage EW Trial!

      On Sunday, April 14th, Eudo will be hosting an EW Trial where you can win a bye to EW!
      On-site registration opens at 11 AM.
      Registration at the door will be $30, save time and money by preregistering online.
      Sanctioned -- No proxies allowed.
      Competitive REL -- A decklist is required.
      Swiss rounds with cut to Top 8.
      100% prize payout in store credit.

      http://www.eudogames.com/ewtapril/

      posted in Vintage Tournaments
      R
      Rat3dE
    • Looking to Play Paper in the Bay

      Hi, I am a kid in HS from the Bay Area who has been lurking here for awhile, and who loves vintage. I watch streams of people like the Atog Lord play on MTGO, the NA Vintage Championship and the Asian Vintage Championship (I just wanted to watch Survival).One thing that saddens me about vintage is that I may never be able to play paper vintage because of the enormous price that vintage decks carry. I was wondering if anybody on this forum plays at my LGS, Eudemonia in Berkeley. I know that they hold monthly vintage tournaments with 15 proxies allowed, and I was wondering if they could tell me if it is worth it to try to be a part of the paper scene in Berkeley. I have never really owned many mtg cards, as I am still quite young, but I am looking into maybe buying into some form of Miracles at the moment in Legacy, which I hope could help me kickstart my playing skill, and card collection so that one day I might be able to participate in a sanctioned vintage tournament. Please let me know what you guys think.

      posted in Vintage Community
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: So Many Insane Plays – Measuring Metagame Diversity and Balance

      @Smmenen This is really cool. Thank you. This is a beautiful way of showing how restrictions and bannings tend to fix a format for awhile, before it is "solved" again and they have to ban something else. I think in the next few months, once RNA is released we will see if Vintage is really in a sweet spot or if it is just waiting to be solved. Another thing I am interested in is how the new player in the format, Survival will impact people's ability to "solve" the format, and if the MOCS and potential for Pro Tour will bring new grinders and players who will either help accelerate format diversification by bringing other cool new decks in, or may "solve" it once again, potentially leading to yet more restriction.

      posted in Vintage News
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: 5/19/19 - Sunday Vintage - Eudomonia (Berkeley, CA) - 15 Proxies

      One week from yesterday, I hope to see a good amount of people!

      posted in Vintage Tournaments
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: Is Vintage a digital format now?

      @moorebrother1 I think that Vintage is not primarily a digital format. Yesterday in Berkeley we had multiple big names come out for Vintage for a grand total of 19 people! For us it was a lot, and I think there was and will continue to be a lot of enthusiasm and interest in the Vintage format in paper for as long as possible. While I agree that MTGO and paper Vintage have different meta's I think that people play what they want on both platforms. I think that the divergence in meta is a product of the target audience and primary users rather than a lack of innovation or whatnot.

      posted in Vintage Community
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: [Free Article] Happy Birthday, Vintage! An Alternative History of the B&R List

      @Smmenen Holy crap 10k words! I will have to block off an afternoon in my schedule to just sit down, read and enjoy this thing. You are a true inspiration and godsend to the vintage community. Thank you for everything you do!

      posted in Vintage News
      R
      Rat3dE
    • 03/01/2020 Eudemonia Full Proxy Vintage in Berkeley, CA

      Link to the event here!

      Registration opens at 11:00 AM that day.

      This is a FULL PROXY event, Eudo does not run many of these please turn up so that they will continue.

      3-4 Rounds of Swiss-based on turnout.

      Help support your local Vintage scene, there are a lot of awesome and very talented people that come to these events so I would definitely recommend it.

      posted in Vintage Tournaments
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: [MH1] Force of Vigor

      @Daniel-Worobec @ajfirecracker I have a lot to say about this because I have thought a lot about Dredge sideboards.

      I have found that most Pitch Dredge decks use a creature to give your other creatures haste such as Flame-kin Zealot and Dragonlord Kolaghan. While both are effective they are neither blue nor green that can be exiled to Force of Will or Force of Vigor. I believe Maelstrom Wanderer is a good alternative to be added to Pitch Dredge that is both blue, green and can be exiled to cast Force of Will and Force of Vigor and should be added as the “Haste” creature.

      I think this is a really good idea with some good reasoning behind. I think that the inclusion of "pro-active" cards like [[Force of Vigor]], and creatures (duh). I think with the inclusion of [[Maelstrom Wanderer]] increases the value of [[Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis]] as it is a bigger payoff to Cascade into than most of our cards (being either small creatures or counter spells).

      Sideboard option one:

      4x Force of Vigor

      4x Noxious Revival

      3x Shambling Shell

      I have done quite a bit of testing with [[Noxious Revival]] and I am pretty confident that in a "normal" Pitch Dredge shell you often want 2-3 but that 4 is to many. Also as @ajfirecracker said there is little to no value of playing Dredge cards in the SB.

      I find that adding four Noxious Revival would be good candidates for being cards that you can exile to Force of Vigor. Noxious Revival is a good utility cards in Pitch Dredge decks allowing you to recover a Bazaar of Baghdad and getting a second Bazaar from your graveyard. Noxious Revival is also good at getting utility cards from your graveyard such as Force of Will, Force of Vigor or getting a Hollow One into your hand. Other applications include putting a card onto of your opponent’s deck that they may not want, saving a Bridge from Below from being exiled and putting a Narcomoeba on top of your library.

      Yes! Noxious Revival is a very good card in my opinion for the Dredge SB and I think is a necessity in the current version as they are a lot weaker to waste effects than they have been in the past. As you can tell there are many, many uses to Noxious Revival and I have been very nicely impressed with it. My biggest complaint with it is that it is yet another source of card disadvantage in a deck with 8-12 pieces of card disadvantage which can lead to you being unable to fully capitalize on its power at times.

      Sideboard option two:

      4x Force of Vigor

      4x Basking Rootwalla

      3x Vengevine

      Again, like @ajfirecracker said I do not think [[Vengevine]] has a spot in the SB of Dredge as it is weak to all of the same things that our other creatures are. [[Basking Rootwalla]] is a card that I really like and have thought about a lot in the past and I think can spawn a new type of SB for Dredge because of [[Force of Negation]] (I will expand on this later).

      In my play testing I do find that getting the appropriate combinations of cards into your hand is inconsistent.

      Ah, yes. The biggest advantage of [[Bazaar of Baghdad]] can also be its biggest weakness at times. This comes back to my point of not being able to fully capitalize on your powerful cards because you are so low on resources (ie you cannot resolve the cards you are digging for or you cannot dig as efficiently or quickly as you would like because you have so few cards in hand)> I have a few ideas on this later.

      Sideboard option three:

      4x Force of Vigor

      4x Elvish Spirit Guide

      2x Nature’s Claim

      I like this and recognize that it is not a complete SB but you most likely need some answers to [[Containment Priest]].

      With the London Mulligan taking into effect soon, Pitch Dredge may not rely on Serum Powder as much and there may be decks that do not include Serum Powder.

      I think this statement is very risky. If you look at the math you are roughly 97% to hit Bazaar without [[Serum Powder]] with the London Mulligan, yet with [[Serum Powder]] you are roughly 99%. Now assuming you lose every game where you do not have [[Bazaar of Baghdad]] in your opener and that you have a 50% win rate (when you have Bazaar in your opener) then the inclusion of Serum Powder boosts your overall expected win rate by roughly 1% (it is actually a bit more I think), and this number goes up the better player you are! So to cut [[Serum Powder]] you would have to find a set of 4 cards that boosts your win rate by more than roughly 1% for it to be worth it. Is that possible? Most likely. Have we found what cards yet? I am not convinced. Additionally Serum Powder increases the average number of cards in our opening hand which is also heavily correlated with winning the game for Dredge.

      Notable creatures to put in Pitch Dredge to help support Force cards are Domia, Sage of Stone, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Prophet of Kruphix and Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis.

      I think [[Damia, Sage of Stone]] is a possibility as it allows us to have more cards in hand (more countermagic, resources), digging power, and speed but I think it may be win-more. If you could [[Dread Return]] a Damia is it better than Dread Returning an FKZ or DLK (most likely winning you the game on the spot)? As for [[Muldrotha, the Gravetide]] I think that you need to heavily tune your list for this to be playable as there is nothing we can play from the GY for value that we can not already, if you made a more land heavy list with Loams and such then it could be alright. [[Prophet of Kruphix]] seems really bad to me, not enough lands in the deck to use it, might as well DR a huge green creature. Hogaak seems worthwhile, not because he pitches (we want it to be blue and green for that) but rather because he seems viable post SB as he can be cast from GY through Priest and can be cast through Cage from hand for free.

      4x Bazaar of Baghdad

      4x Bridge from Below

      4x Stinkweed Imp

      4x Cabal Therapy

      4x Hollow One

      2x Ichorid

      2x Dread Return

      1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

      4x Narcomoeba

      4x Prized Amalgam

      4x Force of Will

      4x Mental Misstep

      3x Force of Negation

      1x Maelstrom Wanderer

      4x Force of Vigor

      4x Noxious Revival

      4x Golgari Grave-Troll

      3x Shambling Shell

      This seems like a good starting 60, but I think you want to shave some [[Shambling Shell]]s for an [[Ichorid]] and a [[Force of Negation]]

      I am now going to provide a few 60s and 75s that I think have some theoretical merit and will explain why.

      # 1st List: May 4th Dredge
      ## "Normal" Pitch Dredge with Force of Vigor
      Engine (8):
      4 Bazaar of Baghdad
      4 Serum Powder
      Dredgers (9):
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      1 Shambling Shell
      Payoff(27):
      4 Bridge from Below
      4 Cabal Therapy
      4 Narcomoeba
      4 Prized Amalgam
      3 Ichorid
      2 Dread Return
      1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
      1 Maelstrom Wanderer
      4 Hollow One
      
      Interaction (16):
      4 Force of Will
      4 Mental Misstep
      4 Force of Negation
      4 Force of Vigor
      

      This is a pretty normal looking MD with some of the changes I suggested you make. I did not include the SB because I think it is one of the most complex and important decisions for Dredge.
      For this version the SB needs to include between 2 or 3 of the following:

      1. Answers to GY hate (an the means to execute it).
      2. Another axis of attack.
      3. Redundancy.

      The Antihate SB
      Now when you break into option #1 you have a few targets. You must be able to deal with the following effects/cards as efficiently as possible:
      Spheres
      [[Wasteland]]
      [[Containment Priest]]
      [[Grafdigger's Cage]]
      [[Leyline of the Void]]
      Countermagic
      [[Tormod's Crypt]]
      [[Pithing Needle]]
      [[Yixlid Jailer]]*
      [[Rest in Peace]]*
      Now the ones with a * are rarer or lower quality concerns because they are either not very good (RiP) or not very popular (Yixlid Jailer).
      Now most SB include very broad and efficient answer such as [[Nature's Claim]] or [[Chain of Vapor]]. Because Force of Vigor fits this role we may be able to more carefully curate our SB with more powerful or narrow cards to be able to beat certain specific cards or matchups. With this in mind I propose Survival all-star, pet card of mine, and a card I have been thinking about a lot and testing a bit, [[Squee, Goblin Nabob]]. Yes, you read that right. Squee. In a Dredge SB. Here is the thing though, in matchups or situations where you GY is not permanently exiled (which is a decent amount since only 2 of the above cards achieve this) he is insane. While you GY may be "locked down" or you are unable to get your normal value out of it, Squee operates on a different axis than our other value as nothing is put onto the battlefield or cast, getting around Priest, Cage and Countermagice. Additionally he solves one of the biggest issues I have mentioned with Pitch lists; low resources (not many cards in hand). With Squee operation you are not only able to dig much more efficiently but your hand size will increase by 1 every turn provided you are not doing anything else. This is very important if you are looking for something like a Hollow One and want to keep your Countermagic live or the where you want to find your land for your anti-hate spell. As promised here is a suggested rough draft antihate SB along with a note on what role each card serves:

      1 Squee, Goblin Nabob (Utility)
      2 Noxious Revival (Utility/Answer)
      4 Gemstone Mine (Mana)
      1 Mana Confluence (Mana)
      1 Vengeful Pharaoh (Disruption/Answer)
      3 Chain of Vapor (Answer)
      3 Nature's Claim (Answer)

      The Delver SB
      This is my take on option #2 (for @ajfirecracker it used to be Marit Lage).

      4 Squee (Utility)
      3 Noxious Revival (Utility/Answer)
      4 Basking Rootwalla (Transformation)
      1 Strip Mine (Disruption)?
      1 Wasteland (Disruption)?
      2 Hogaak (with some MD)

      So this SB is extremely theoretical so far but the new Forces + Hogaak allow you to have what I think is a sufficient critical mass of not only free creatures that do not rely directly rely on the GY but also Counters to "ride" these highly efficient creatures to victory. This strategy is somewhat similar to Delver decks in Legacy but taken to the extreme. @brianpk80 has been very vocal recently about how Hollow One allows Dredge to "transform" into a Delver deck and I think this SB is mean to capitalize on that idea to the max. The Strip Mine and Wastelands are there because I would imagine you need a few lands in the Shops matchup, because it furthers your disruption while again being on a different axis and because it could really help you in the mirror.

      I wanted to also just throw a few decklists out there to get more ideas brewing and to think of how the 60 impacts and complements the final 15.

      # 2nd List: Vintage BridgeVine
      ## My take on @ajfirecracker 's idea of Vengevine Dredge
      Engine (8):
      4 Bazaar of Baghdad
      4 Serum Powder
      Dredgers (8):
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      Payoff(28):
      4 Bridge from Below
      4 Cabal Therapy
      2 Narcomoeba
      3 Prized Amalgam
      1 Ichorid
      4 Hollow One
      4 Vengevine
      4 Basking Rootwalla
      2 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
      Interaction (16):
      4 Force of Will
      4 Mental Misstep
      4 Force of Negation
      4 Force of Vigor
      
      Sideboard (15):
      4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
      3 Noxious Revival
      1 Strip Mine
      2 Wasteland
      3 Walking Ballista
      2 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
      
      # 3rd List: Manaless Dredge
      ## True Manaless Pitch Dredge
      Engine (8):
      4 Bazaar of Baghdad
      4 Serum Powder
      Dredgers (9):
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      1 Shambling Shell
      Payoff(27):
      4 Bridge from Below
      4 Cabal Therapy
      4 Narcomoeba
      4 Prized Amalgam
      3 Ichorid
      2 Dread Return
      1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
      1 Maelstrom Wanderer
      4 Hollow One
      
      Interaction (16):
      4 Force of Will
      4 Mental Misstep
      4 Force of Negation
      4 Force of Vigor
      
      Sideboard:
      1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
      2 Noxious Revival
      4 Basking Rootwalla
      4 Elvish Spirit Guide
      4 Nature's Claim
      
      # 3rd List: Blue.dec
      ## How much interaction is to much? (How to piss off BPK)
      Engine (8):
      4 Bazaar of Baghdad
      4 Serum Powder
      Dredgers (9):
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      1 Shambling Shell
      Payoff(19):
      4 Bridge from Below
      4 Cabal Therapy
      4 Narcomoeba
      4 Prized Amalgam
      3 Ichorid
      
      Interaction (24):
      4 Force of Will
      4 Mental Misstep
      4 Force of Negation
      4 Force of Vigor
      4 Mindbreak Trap
      4 Unmask
      
      Sideboard (15):
      4 Hollow One
      1 Strip Mine
      3 Wasteland
      4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
      3 Noxious Revival
      
      

      Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions. If I made any mistakes or did something dumb please let me know as I stayed up way to late trying to do this since I got excited. I have many more ideas on the subject and have discussed it a lot and cannot wait to begin testing on MODO soon (PS if anybody is looking to sell Dredge on MTGO for a nice price PM me).

      Edit: Fixed some counting stuff cause I am tired and bad at math. Also realized none of these lists have any GY hate so that could be an issue in an open meta.

      posted in Single-Card Discussion
      R
      Rat3dE
    • The State of Vintage Before and After the Restrictions: Nico Bohny

      Just wanted to make sure that this article got some attention, it is written by Nico Bohny, a great Vintage player and streamer who goes by shir kahn on MODO and streams on twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/busterbohny.

      https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/the-state-of-vintage-before-and-after-the-restrictions/

      posted in Vintage News
      R
      Rat3dE
    • 03/29/2020 Eudemonia Partial Proxy Vintage in Berkeley, CA

      Come join us for our second Vintage event of the month!

      Location: Eudemonia at 2154 University Ave Berkeley, CA 94704

      Entry Fee: $25

      Date: Sunday, March 29th, 2020

      Format: Vintage

      Registration: Register online now at the link below or register on site starting at 11:00 AM the day of. Event starts at 12:00 PM

      Payout: 100% prize payout in store credit

      Event: 3-4 Swiss rounds, with cut to Top 4 or 8, based on attendance

      Info: No decklist required, rules regarding proxies are very relaxed. If you need to borrow cards then message me and I will try to get someone to bring them.

      Link to event here!

      posted in Vintage Tournaments
      R
      Rat3dE
    • The Restrictions Are Just a First Step Toward Fixing Vintage: Brian DeMars

      Great article written by Brian DeMars, long time Vintage player and lover, features other big names in the Vintage community along with some thoughts from people on Twitter.

      https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/the-restrictions-are-just-a-first-step-toward-fixing-vintage/

      posted in Vintage News
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: HollowVine / Survivalless Survival

      @Chronatog It is because the deck has such a terrible Dredge matchup that you need Tabernacle to try to even come close to winning from my understanding.

      posted in Survival
      R
      Rat3dE
    • Bugs Thread

      This is where we can post any details regarding bugs.

      So far we have:

      • Formatting can be broken for some users if they have not signed out of their accounts and they used certain themes.

      • Full screen button when writing a post may be broken.

      • Some threads may not be in the right place. (This is not really because of bugs, but @Brass-Man let me know that he still wants to know about out of place threads).

      • On mobile links to news articles are out of place.

      posted in TheManaDrain Metadiscussion
      R
      Rat3dE
    • RE: Transmute Artifact

      @MaximumCDawg I could be wrong, but I think you may have missed my point about Welder. The whole point of running Welder in a Transmute Artifact deck is that you would be able to tutor up things bigger 1 cmc and if necessary not have to pay the cost. Not only does Trinket Mage miss Vault in a build like this, but it also misses every other fatty you could ever want, such as Blightsteel Colossus, Inkwell Leviathan and Sphinx of the Steel Winds (which I think may be underplayed). Now if you are not running those, then you most likely do not need to be playing a Transmute Artifact deck, which is what this whole thread is about.

      posted in Single-Card Discussion
      R
      Rat3dE
    • An Introduction to Dredge

      An Introduction to Dredge

      What is Dredge?
      Dredge is a Vintage deck that relies on abusing its graveyard in a very unique way. This deck functions off of the powerful engine that is Bazaar of Baghdad. This card is so instrumental to the power and speed of the deck that you always want to mulligan until you find it in your beginning hand.

      How Does Dredge Work?
      Dredge functions off of the immense power of Bazaar of Baghdad with cards that have the keyword Dredge. Bazaar of Baghdad serves the purpose of both digging for a Dredge card and as a discard outlet for the Dredge cards. Once you get a Dredge card in the graveyard you will want to dredge as many cards as possible. Eventually you will hit a free creature such as Ichorid, Bloodghast, Narcomoeba or Prized Amalgam. Once you get a few creatures onto the battlefield then you can begin beating down with your creatures or zombies, disrupting your opponent with Cabal Therapy or go for a quick kill with Dread Return. One of the powers of dredge is that you can often do all three of these things in conjunction because of how synergistic the deck is and how powerful it is.

      Why Play Dredge?
      Dredge is an extremely powerful deck that has the highest game 1-win rate. This immense power is also its biggest weakness, as it is extremely reliant on having its graveyard intact, and being able to return creatures from the graveyard for free. This means that Dredge is an extremely meta-dependent deck, as you will destroy any tournament where your metagame is not prepared for you. Otherwise you have many options to fight through games 2 and/or 3, such as a transformational sideboard, an anti-hate sideboard, or a mix of the two. If you enjoy playing decks that operate on a completely different axis than other regular magic decks, then this deck is likely very appealing to you. Navigating a post-sideboard game can be very difficult, and is often the most skill testing and interesting games of magic available as you must often bait and play around all kinds of very effective hate. It is also by far the cheapest vintage deck available, and can be built for roughly $200 online depending on your build which is about half of the typical vintage deck price online. In paper it is even cheaper in relation to other vintage decks, as it is only around $6000 to $7000 with Bazaars of Bagdad. If your playgroup or local game store allows proxies, then it is possible to build it for less than $300!

      The Core of Dredge:
      One of the most beautiful aspects of dredge is how customizable and small the core package is. The typical dredge core takes up only 20 to 40 cards, allowing you to have up to 35 flexible or customizable slots.
      4 Bazaar of Baghdad
      4 Serum Powder
      4 Golgari Grave-Troll
      4 Stinkweed Imp
      4 Narcomoeba
      4 Bridge from Below
      4 Cabal Therapy
      4+ Free creatures
      4+ Support cards
      2+ Dread Return
      2+ Dread Return target

      Types of Dredge:
      Pitch Dredge or FOWchorid: right now this is the most popular variant of dredge. It is very versatile because of its inclusion of free counter spells. It typically runs an anti-hate sideboard right now, but in the past many people have had success running transformational sideboards with it. It is a
      relatively new development, having started only a few years ago.
      Loam Dredge: a hybrid of sorts, this version of dredge takes many of the free, disruptive, blue counterspells, and adds that package to a grindy Life from the Loam plan. This allows the deck to attack from a different angle than most other lists, enabling it to function much better when the deck is not being exiled, but merely hated on. It can also add pressure and consistency as you will have an easier time building up your mana, and will be able to Strip Mine your opponents mana.
      [Sunny Dredge or Fatestitcher Dredge]
      (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dQ6p89Dot0OMjIw0ed_FtDRLRausMMx15_IcvyNWv2Y/edit#gid=455540353😞 this version of dredge is a lot older than Pitch Dredge. It relies on the explosive power of an unearthed Fatestitcher to continue Bazaaring and to eventually Dread Return a Sun Titan or Molderhulk. This variant is by far the quickest, but it uses many more slots than other versions.
      Regular Dredge: truthfully there is no such thing as “Regular Dredge”, but it typically runs as many 4 ofs as possible to maximize consistency.

      More Info:
      Rich Shay is a well known vintage player who often streams. He is currently on the VSL, and has the record for most Eternal Weekend Top 8 ever, but has never won. He is a great resources when it comes to vintage in general, but he recently has been playing and experimenting with a bit of Pitch Dredge. I recommend you take a look at some of his videos to see a master at work.
      @volrathxp Is also a content creator when it comes to vintage dredge, and an article writer over on https://www.mtggoldfish.com/. He is also a moderator on the Dredge discord channel. If you would like an invite or any more information, I am sure that he would be more than happy to help.

      Notable dredge players that I know of on TMD include @Oestrus, @BlindTherapy, @vaughnbros, @womba and @The-Atog-Lord

      posted in Dredge
      R
      Rat3dE