[free article] Dredge-u-cation

[forests failed you]

New article up on Vintagemagic.com by Paul Mastriano about how to combat Dredge in Vintage.

http://www.vintagemagic.com/blog/dredge-u-cation/

Be sure to check it out.

Dredge is sure to be out in force at Eternal Weekend (no proxies) so be sure to be prepared to play against Bazzar of Baghdad!

Cheers, Brian.

[WhiteLotus]

Nice Article. But I am pretty sure Sudden Shock/Rending volley in the sideboard is for Containment priest rather than for Mentor.

Ravenous Trap/Extirpate probably deserve mention seeing as they are the hardest answers to interact with for most Dredge builds (only Unmask and Cabal Therapy).

Also it's probably best to be prepared for the Dredge decks that have Transformative Sideboards as well, since it's a radically different matchup.

[inkmothnexus]

Whitelotus, while those spells are primarily for priest, the existence of mentor contributes to how popular priest is to some degree. The fact that shock/volley do something relevant even when they haven't drawn hate a lot of the time is real, in the same way that ingot chewer is more live against shops than RUx delver even though both may be relying on 4 cages. Trap is definitely real, although it loses some value when you can trip into it when we already have a stocked yard and can afford to play around it.

As for the article itself, I have to disagree on some bits. Grafdigger's cage is one of the worst dredge hate cards, as once dealt with we still have all of the stuff we discarded when digging for removal spells/colored sources/therapies to clear the way, while this is not true with rest in peace or leyline, and dredge can't profitably interact with crypt/spellbomb/relic, only put up enough pressure to force them to pop and then reload. As decks become less able to apply pressure to dredge, ie landstill, cage becomes better for them than crypt effecta because they can't do as much with the ~2 turns a well-used crypt buys them. Priest is a worse cage (doesn't prevent flashback) that attacks for 2. Obviously, people primarily play cage/priest because of the overlap in other matchups like oath or forgemaster. Rest in peace is awkward to play when it shuts off your own snapcaster, delve spells, salvagers, or yawgmoth's will, so people are less inclined to play it. Someone who jams in six copies of priest/cage as their dredge hate may be better against the field in general due to oath overlap, but 2 cage/2priest/2/RiP is probably going to perform better against dredge.

[Smmenen]

Nice Article. But I am pretty sure Sudden Shock/Rending volley in the sideboard is for Containment priest rather than for Mentor.

Ravenous Trap/Extirpate probably deserve mention seeing as they are the hardest answers to interact with for most Dredge builds (only Unmask and Cabal Therapy).

Also it's probably best to be prepared for the Dredge decks that have Transformative Sideboards as well, since it's a radically different matchup.

This last point is key, and the article doesn't really address it.  The Dredge deck that most recently 4-0ed a Vintage Daily had transformative sideboard. 

Dredge has a very strong wind in it's sails right now.  After MUD, it may be a favorite to win Vintage Champs. 

[Chubby Rain]

This last point is key, and the article doesn't really address it.  The Dredge deck that most recently 4-0ed a Vintage Daily had transformative sideboard. 

Dredge has a very strong wind in it's sails right now.  After MUD, it may be a favorite to win Vintage Champs. 

Not to mention Lance Ballister's list that won a 34 person event at TDGs a month ago. Lance joked that he had a higher winning percentage with the transformational sideboard compared to the main deck. People just didn't have good answers to it along with their Dredge hate.

List: http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=17638&iddeck=132838

[Smmenen]

yeah.  The transform sb plans are a nightmare because you are compelled to bring in graveyard hate even if you think that they will transform.  If you don't, and they don't transform, you will get crushed.  If you do bring it in, and they do transform, your deck is diluted.  This fact is compounded by the fact that most vintage decks lose game 1, so the risk of them not transforming goes up in a possible game 3.  

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Dredge wins Vintage Champs.  After all, it won the NYSE, and it has more tools and weapons now.