2019-04-19/20 MagicFest Niagara Falls

Bought the constructed package, since I don't play Legacy.

Friday 11 AM Modern Double-Up with Dredge
Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1821610#paper

Round 1 vs Andy G on Affinity (1-2, 0-1)
Won game 1, then games 2 & 3 he had turn 1 Grafdigger's Cage :/

Round 2 vs David L on Boros Burn (1-2, 0-2)
Won game 1, then lost to RIP in games 2 & 3 though I had a Claim in game 3.
Then I dropped :s

On to the interesting stuff!

Friday 6 PM Modern with Sultai Reclamation
Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1774456#paper

Round 1 vs Andrew S on RGb Breach Titan (2-0, 1-0)
Very close games both times. Basically, I didn't counter the ramp spells but was able to go off before his natural land drops killed me. Countered his Through the Breaches and Primeval Titans - Remand is a big tempo play vs both. In game 2 I fired off an Assassin's Trophy on Valakut without a Surgical/Extirpate ready, and he surprised me with his own Pulse of Murasa.

Round 2 vs Tanner on Bant Spirits (2-0, 2-0)
He has a pretty slow start, leading with Noble into a Drogskol Captain. When he casts a Phantasmal Image, I fetch-Push the Captain, leaving him with double Hierarch. Over the next couple turns, he tries to resolve Collected Company. I Remand it twice and when he finally manages to resolve it the third time, it whiffs. Whew. Meanwhile, the Hierarch is swinging for a meager 2 per turn lol
Eventually I land Reclamation. If I remember correctly, he drops Deputy of Detention, I cast Teachings in response, which he then exiles with Spell Queller? and Deputy hits Reclamation. At this point I have 8 lands, Snapcaster in hand, Fatal Push and Pulse of Murasa in the graveyard. I pass the turn. He swings with Noble, and I consider chumping with Snapcaster Mage to trigger Revolt for a flashback Fatal Push. But wait, there's a better line!

1. Opponent attacks with a Noble Hierarch with 2 Exalted triggers
2. Flash in Snapcaster Mage, target Pulse of Murasa.
3. Chump block the Hierarch. Snapcaster dies.
4. End of turn: flash back Pulse, getting back Snapcaster Mage and 6 life.
5. Recast Snapcaster, targeting Fatal Push
6. Push Deputy, get back Wilderness Reclamation. Snapcaster is still alive on board.

Game 2 he has a RIP but I counter it. He applies more pressure than game 1, and also plays out Eidolon of Rhetoric and Damping Sphere. Both are roadblocks, but I push through and finish the game at 1 life.

Went for the 2-0-1 facilitated split. I should probably be writing down how big my USZs are for each game.

Saturday 2:30 PM Modern Double-Up with Sultai Reclamation

Round 1 vs Bethany on Jund (2-0, 1-0)
Bethany was a newbie to modern, apparently only having just borrowed the deck from a friend 30 mins prior. I countered or removed all her threats, and went off. Her inexperience with the deck showed when she tried to play Liliana of the Veil for 4 mana, not using Twilight Mire to filter mana & leave mana open, and not knowing that Raging Ravine could animate into a threat.
That said, I had the answers for most of those things - BBE is the scariest card in her deck.
I dug up my Summary Dismissal and may be adding it to my SB moving forward.

Round 2 vs Stephen on Boros burn (0-2, 1-1)
Beats. Game 2 I'm almost able to stabilize, but I misplay. I land Reclamation, then float some mana and Teachings for Pulse of Murasa. I have Dispel and Snapcaster in hand, but mistakenly think that I should Pulse immediately to play around Skullcrack. Next turn he slams a RIP, when I could have waited with Snapcaster Mage for Spell Snare and Dispel backup! I was at 7 life, which mostly caused my hasty misplay.

Round 3 vs Forrest on Hardened Scales (2-1, 2-1)
Game 1 he goes off with just a Steel Overseer and Animation Module, while I'm sitting around with counterspells.
Post-board is way better. Game 2 I tutor for a Fracturing Gust and sit on it as my back up plan since I'm under pretty low pressure. I tutor for another Teachings, then I decide to Consume the Meek. He has a Karn, Scion of Urza which I bounce with Cryptic then counter on the way back down (hello Ceremonius Rejection). I manage a swing with Snap + Tar Pit, and he concedes knowing the game is over. It felt a little premature, but at the same time I think it's a pretty high level skill to know when the control deck has enough resources that you can simply no longer win. Props to you, Forrest.
Game 3 he keeps a 1 lander while I get to Reclamation & a bunch of mana. His hand was pretty decent, and only needed 1 more land to get off the ground - I think it was something like Forest + Worker + Hardened Scales + 2 drops.

Saturday 6:30 PM Modern with Sultai Reclamation
Round 1 vs Chris M on GDS (1-2, 0-1)
Game 1 he has low pressure, mainly Delve threats. I Devour Flesh his Gurmag Angler and he Dismembers it in response lol
Game 2 he has a quick Zombie Fish, Stubs my spells, and I die. I am able to Surgical him and see 3 Surgical Extraction, 2 Disdainful Strokes. Also a JVP, which wasn't relevant to the game.
Game 3 he lands another early Angler... I'm almost able to stabilize at 8... I Snapcaster to Devour Flesh... he Snaps, putting flashback on Disdainful Stroke, saccing Snap to Devour Flesh... then I go for an end of turn Nexus of Fate forgetting about the Stroke. Oops.

Round 2 vs Reshad on GB elves (2-1, 1-1)
Game 1 he plays out about a half-dozen dorks and beats me in with them. He heckles my deck, asking how my durdle fest can ever beat an Ezuri deck. I nod in agreement and silently sideboard in Consume the Meek + Crypt Incursion. He also reveals that he's sideboarding in 4x Reclamation Sage, but that's totally expected & not really giving away extra information - CtM is the only card that will matter in the matchup.
Game 2... by turn 4 I'm not yet dead, so I tutor up Consume on his end step. His next turn, he plays Ezuri and asks if Consume the Meek prevents regeneration. Yeeeup. Next turn I tutor for that Crypt Incursion and go to 20 from 2 life (iirc I had to shock for Consume mana). He drops some dudes again but I flashback Consume and finish him off.
Game 3 I keep an opener with Crypt Incursion and Teachings. It's a little rough going, since I need to Cryptic-tap to stay alive for a few turns, but then draw Consume naturally!! Crypt Incursion puts me to 28 from 4 and he concedes!! How do I beat Ezuri decks indeed.

Round 3 vs Ken on UR Phoenixs (2-1, 2-1)
Game 1 he has an atrocious start - something like 10 lands drawn by the time I cast a huge USZ.
Game 2 I Surgical his Phoenix on his turn 1, seeing a Blood Moon. He cantrips for several, then plays Blood Moon and I realize I was an idiot.
Game 3 he leads triple Spirebluff, so Blood Moon isn't as much of a threat. He isn't able to turn Phoenixes online until turn 4 or so, which I proceed to Extirpate. I see that he's boarded in Ral Izzet Viceroy (in hand) and a Chandra ToD in the deck, which I counter on the next turn, and later in the game respectively. I accumulate more mana and cards, eventually getting the win with double Creeping Tar Pits.

Sultai:

• Overall game record: 13-6
• Overall match record: 6-2
• Cards drawn: a lot

Cards I'm considering for the 75 / have ordered:

• Torrential Gearhulk
• Spring // Mind
• Far // Away (maaaybe okay?)
• Shadow of Doubt
• Ravenous Trap
• Nimble Obstructionist
• Silumgar's Command (lol)

Draft 1: Accidentally screwed up the seating which messed up the pairings. Sorry judge!
Rakdos with several rares. Don't really know how to draft Rakdos, and could tell that I was splitting the archetype with someone. Lost in round 2 vs a guy with better Rakdos - more removal and two Rix Maadi Revelers

Draft 2: P1P1 Gatebreaker Ram. Don't see any other payoffs, pick up a late Sneak in pack 2 and a Gates Ablaze in pack 3. Cruised off of Ram, mainly. Round 2 was against a guy who spammed irl [shrug emoji] which was a little annoying. Split in round 3.

Draft 3: P1P1 Precognitive Perception. Eventually drifted into Esper, picking up a decent number of guildgates for fixing. P2P1 Kaya, P3P2?  got passed Emergency Powers lol. During deckbuilding, I realized that Undercity's Embrace was terrible with all my aura removal.
Smashed all my opponents by countering or enchanting all of their threats. The ones that I couldn't were blocked by Azorius Knight-Arbiter. Round 1 I actually won my first game through decking with Kaya + EP LOL

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1832128#paper

2019-02-09/10 GP Toronto 2019 stuff

Introduction:

There aren't a ton of details about decision making during the games themselves. I didn't see a ton of GY hate but if I did I mention it. So in lieu of talking about individual games, I'm going to try writing up a primer about the deck with very brief descriptions of the matches.

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1644081#paper

Building the deck:

Agents of Dread-ge

• Dredge # is the most important line of text on most of the dredge cards.
• There's only one card each for Dredge 6, Dredge 5, and Dredge 4. Golgari Grave-Troll (Mr. 6) is banned, so we don't play him/it/that card.
• Mr. 5 (Stinkweed Imp) is legal so we play 4 of this guy. Also sometimes he attacks and blocks.
• Mr. 4. He's okay, but never the first guy we call in for a job. He's got two abilities that interact with the graveyard, so the opponent is basically never incentivized to kill him. If the death trigger ever does go off, it can get a Narcomoeba trigger but that like never comes up. Lists run 1 or 2 of this guy and I went with 1.
• At Dredge 3 is where card options technically open up. Ms. 3, or Life from the Loam, is the all-star of the bunch. She's the Dredger that pulls a ton of weight despite not being as buff and intimidating as the higher Dredge agents. She hooks us up with additional lands past 2, Bloodghast triggers, and huge Conflagrates for when you want to send a message.
• As for Mr. 3, Darkblast is decent but situational so it's played as a 1-of in the main, with most lists sideboarding a second copy. The other Dredge 3 cards are bad - they don't do anything, cost 3+ mana, and if we wanted a do-nothing card that still has Dredge text we could be playing strictly better Mr. 4.
• Dredge 2 has 5 options and is where we see hypothetically playable utility cards. Golgari Brown-Scale used to be in sideboards but then Creeping Chill is way better. Necroplasm requires BB, is cute, but would need a very specific meta to be good. Dakmor Salvage is a card that people sometimes play but you won't catch me playing this card ever. It supposedly guarantees you land #2 (eventually) if you are forced to keep a 1 lander, but in that scenario the odds are very much against you. Firstly, Dakmor Salvage comes in tapped, so it won't actually do anything until turn 3+. Secondly, it only taps for black so it doesn't help cast any of the important spells (casting any black spell in Dredge is already one of your bad/unfavored games). Thirdly, as a result of point 2, the one land you keep needs to be RG-producing, further restricting keepable hands. Lastly, it has Dredge 2, which only does half the work of that no-good womanizing Mr. 4 so Dakmor Salvage is pretty garbage at that too.

Enablers
Payoffs
Eh maybe I'll write these sections up later.

Gameplay:
Opening hand / mulligans:

• VERY IMPORTANT: two lands, at least one of which produces green (not 2x Mountain, 2 Blood Crypt)
• VERY IMPORTANT: dredge enabler: Shriekhorn or Faithless Looting
• Good but not necessary: dredge card IF hand also has Faithless Looting or Cathartic Reunion
• Good but not necessary: dredge payoffs that can be discarded (Prized Amalgam, Bloodghast)
• AS FEW AS POSSIBLE: payoffs that you don't want to be paying mana for (Narcomoeba, Creeping Chill)
• For instance, in one game I drew an opening 7 with 3 Creeping Chill which was effectively a mull to 4 already
• In post-board games you need to see hate cards in your opener or else you're counting on the top ~5 cards from looting effects, since the game plan aims to never draw another card naturally

Early turns:

• "One in the bin is worth two in the hand"
• Trying to pretty much dredge Stinkweed Imp as much as possible. Dredge other cards if Stinkweed is not available.
• Turn 1: Shriekhorn or Faithless Looting. Shriekhorn puts more cards into the graveyard, but doesn't get rid of any dredge cards sitting in the hand
• Best t1 Faithless Looting would be discarding Stinkweed Imp and another useful card (dredger or Prized Amalgam). Okay Lootings involve discarding Life from the Loam and/or Bloodghast. Discarding Bloodghast+Prized Amalgam is a little weak but sets up 5 power on turn 2.
• Turn 2: Looting is still a fine play, but Cathartic Reunion here is explosive. Ideally Cathartic Reunion wants 2 dredge cards to be in the bin when it starts resolving, since the odds of hitting a second dredger off 1 dredge aren't fantastic.
• Turn 2: Life from the Loam is the worst good play? Sometimes it's the best line because you have no other way to put a dredger in the yard, and sometimes there's not even a land to target.
• Before fetching, check the graveyard for fetchable lands - there's only 6 total, and it's totally possible to flip 2 of the same even on the first dredge.

Mid/late-game (turn 3 onwards):

• Try to avoid playing lands until second main phase to maximize Bloodghasts
• Turn 3 onwards: Dredging & resolving the first Life from the Loam should set up your mana for the rest of the game. Then it's back to aggressively dredging.
• After going through ~1/2 of the deck, it's time to start dredging up Life from the Loams and setting up huge Conflagrates, either to clear the board or for lethal.
• The maximum reasonable Conflagrate is 10 ... starting the turn with a 7 card hand, Life from the Loam among them. Dredge Loam for the turn. Cast both Loams, going to 10 cards. Spend RR and discard the entire hand for 10 damage. More than 6 mana isn't a reasonable situation, but they do exist. Flashback Looting + Life from the Loam + flashback Conflagrate costs 7 mana so that also comes up.

GP Toronto Main Event (5-3 with a no-show)

Round 1 vs Rusty on Living End (1-2, 0-1)
Game 1 feels unfavored. He's able to reanimate an Archfiend of Ifnir and wipe my board away.
Game 2 I keep the 7 with a Leyline of the Void and win.
Game 3 mull to 5 - unkeepable 7 and 6. 1 lander, no Leyline, but he had Fulminator and Beast Within. Maybe should have bet on the four-card god-hand?

Round 2 vs Nick on bad/budget Delver (2-0, 1-1)
Game 1 I see a bunch of cantrips, Pteramander, and a Runechanter's Pike??? Then he ded
Game 2 I board in some Ancient Grudges figuring Pike might spike me with an end-step Snapcaster, and any graveyard hate would be artifact-based. He plays Dissolve, Search for Azcanta, and not a ton of action.
I somewhat played around Cryptic Command, but his budget list didn't have

Round 3 vs Paul on Bant Spirits (2-1, 2-1)
Game 1 he mulls to 5 but it's a good 5. Keep a couple Narcomoebae back for blockers and I get through with recursive threats. Thanks to 3 Creeping Chills, I finish him while sitting at 8 life.
Game 2 has RIP. Claim it and he rips another RIP.
Game 3... he mulls to 4 and doesn't even touch my life total.

Round 4 vs Nick Cummings on Bogles (0-2, 2-2)
Local name, recognize him
The matchup is basically two ships racing in the night, but Bogles has the edge with their access to first strike, vigilance, reach, lifelink, and protection from creatures.
He knows the matchup well, and identifies Daybreak Coronet as the key card in the matchup. Honestly most impactful part of the match is the Bogles player's mulligan decision.

Round 5 vs Alex on Bant Spirits (0-2, 2-3)
I'm playing against a woman and I tilt myself. I keep weak 7s in both games and am punished by a lack of action.
Game 1 she casts flash/instant spells on her turn, fails to activate Mausoleum Wanderer and Selfless Spirit.... tilt city.
Game 2 I keep another mediocre 7 with Claim, Lightning Axe, and I think Faithless Looting. I fumble a Conflagrate -could have hardcast for 2R to kill an Hierarch and delay CoCo for a turn.

Round 6 vs Michael on Forbidden Orchard jank (2-1, 3-3)
Game 1 I see Forbidden Orchard into Illness in the Ranks. Another Orchard and an Expedition Map finds third Orchard. Plays Trespasser's Curse but I get him.
Game 2 he manages to pull some nonsense off. No Illness, but gives me tokens with Orchard and Hunted Phantasm. I swing with a board into BATWING BRUMA WTF, eat 7 then next turn he Rakdos Charms me for lethal.
Game 3 I do my thing and he dies.

Round 7 vs Drazon on no-show (infinity-0, 4-3)

Round 7 vs another guy with a no-show (Dennis) on RB burn (2-0)
Game 1 He's pretty fast out of the gate, putting me to 2 life. Conflagrate to clear the board, then I flip two Creeping Chills which buys me more than enough time to win.
Game 2 Conflagrate the board again at some point. I flip two Chills even earlier than last time, going from 10 to 16 and ending at 9.
So the upside of RB burn is I think being faster than RW, but I'm way less scared of Rakdos Charm than RIP.

Round 8 vs Shawn on Phoenix (2-0, 5-3)

Game 1 At one point he reanimated two Phoenixes with Gut Shot as the third spell and swung for 6. The next turn? I double blocked one with Narcomoebae, and he had another in the yard but I flipped Creeping Chills to stabilize and take the game.
Game 2 he's doesn't have as good of a start as previously and I take it.

Modern side event 1 - Double-Up (2-0)

Round 1 vs Lee on standard Bant control (2-0, 1-0)
Game 1
7 card hand with 3 Creeping Chill nope
6 card hand composed of only lands and those creatures I don't want to be casting (Amalgam, Bloodghast, Narcomoeba) nope
5 spells no lands nope
4 cards: Gemstone Mine, Faithless Looting, Conflagrate, Stinkweed Imp wow. Find a second land off the Looting and go off from there.
Game 2 He has Deputy of Detention which is decent but modern Dredge is just way more powerful

Played around his Settle the Wreckages a couple times, only swinging with 3 or 4 of the ~6 creatures I had on board. I think Narcomoeba is my least valued creature on the board, but Amalgam and Bloodghast threaten different angles of recursion. Also because he was on a standard deck, he didn't have that game-deciding pieces of graveyard hate in the sideboard.
This was also Lee's first modern event, trying to get a taste for the field and find a deck he might enjoy playing. Welcome to modern, Lee!

Round 2 vs Steve on Jund Living End (2-0, 2-0)
Game 1 His Living Ends aren't great for him, since I have some Stinkweed Imps. Late in the game I've whittled him down and he Faerie Macabre's the two Conflagrates in my yard. I win without it with four cards left in my deck. Check my sideboard check my deck double check count my deck AHHHHH OH NO ILLEGAL DECK thank goodness it was being judged at regular REL. Grab a third from the vendor and we go to to game 2. Very understanding opponent, if you read this thanks being so patient!
Game 2 He has an Anger of the Gods (which I didn't know of) but I've already bashed in a couple times and am able to find some more hasty Bloodghasts to finish him off.

At one point in game 2 I tried to clearly separate my creatures on the battlefield and the ones in the graveyard while resolving a Living End and got confused about an Amalgam that I wasn't sure where it started, so I left it in the graveyard.
Different thing - Steve questioned me about missing a trigger on Prized Amalgam from a creature entering the battlefield and to my understanding I don't have to announce it immediately when the creature comes in though it's proper and helps both players (and I did do so throughout the weekend). I's similar but not quite the same as other delayed zone changes, like those caused by tokens made from Kari Zev/Geist of Saint Traft or Gods from Hour of Devastation returning to their owners' hand after dying. Yes, the triggers do specify certain timings but it doesn't make a huge difference if you fail to acknowledge these things with zero impact on the game state.

Then I did the 2-0-1 drop thing for 400 tickets instead of gambling 200 vs 600.

Modern side event 2: regular prizing (2-0)

Round 1 vs Nick on Jeskai (2-0, 1-0)
Didn't see a ton from him. He got full value Timely Reinforcements in both games but they were not nearly enough to save him from the dredge scourge.

Round 2 vs Steve on Mill (2-1, 2-0)
Super interesting matchup, though definitely way in my favor. He tells me that the match is pretty unfavorable for him, and then figuratively shows his hand with a turn 1 Shelldock Isle.
Game 1 goes smoothly for me.
Game 2 comes down to the wire, and I misplay a bit. I Conflagrate for something like 6 instead of 7, leaving him at 7 life with two Creeping Chills left in my deck. He is then able to mill me out on his turn - if I had gone for the extra point he would be forced into a different line. I think he has an early Ravenous Trap but it just slows me down.
Game 3 again another early Ravenous Trap to slow me down, but the rest of his mill effects give me some free Narcomoebae and a variety of creatures to beat down with. He holds an Echoing Truth for too long while I swing with Narcomoebae, getting him low enough to Conflagrate for lethal.

Then I drop for 200 more tickets woohoo

Turbo Town (7-1)
Turbo Town is a bunch of on-demand Magic matches, where people show up to have a nice quick bit of Magic and then somebody shows up with the most inherently unfair deck in the format. Sorry everyone.
Brady on UB Processors: seemed to have some mana woes, but afterwards he showed me Haunting Echoes which would have absolutely ruined me. Hopefully I didn't turn the kid off modern forever. Although I do feel like Ingest/Processors were pretty bad mechanics even in its own format. Flavorfully there, but mechanically... awful.
Richard on Hardened Scales: I keep my 7 with a Darkblast. He plays an Arcbound Worker and I am giddy. He pulls out game 2 but I overtake him in the 3rd.
Muffin on UB Faeries: I switched to 8 rack. Lost game 1, stabilized game 2 running my Kalitas into a Bitterblossom token turn after turn while Vendilion Clique + token clocked me every turn. Get to 4 life and I have two outs, then top Night of Soul's Betrayal to clear out his board WHOOAAAA. Game 3 Kalitas pulls me out of it again and a Rack seals the deal.
Brittany on Esper Zur Solemnity combo: Her heart wasn't in it, and she conceded after game 1. I'm glad that she knew what she wanted out of the GP and a grudge match against dredge was not it.
Adam on BW Eldrazi: Just too slow vs dredge. I think he sideboarded incorrectly as well and offered some thoughts afterwards.
Sal on Jund: My only loss outside of the main event. Lost to Scavenging Ooze and Tarmogoyf beats.
Matt on Jeskai: Dude was playing too fair. Turn 1 and 2 played Celestial Colonnade while I'm just churning my deck into the graveyard. Game 3 he mulls to 6 with 1 land, and I flip triple Creeping Chill for hasty Bloodghast beats.
Marcus on Ad Nauseam: Supposedly quite a favorable matchup for them, but game 1 I'm able to push through lethal Conflagrates/attacks over a couple turns, and game 2 he goes 1 land into cantrips into all of the lands and none of the Ad Nauseam.

Thoughts:

• Dredge was definitely a solid pick for the tournament. Saw a lot of folks on it, and not a ton of hate.
• Should have gotten luckier in round 1, and played way more intelligently in round 3.
• For Turbo Town I feel pretty bad about running Dredge into all those fair and newb decks. In the future I'll try to bring more of my "technically interactive" decks to the format ex. mono W Emeria, Fevered Visions, Waste Not, etc. Pull off some utter nonsense.
• Should pick up a second Darkblast for the side.
• I think I got a lot better at mulliganing over the weekend. Staying away from 1 landers with Faithless Looting, mainly.
• Writing up a sideboard guide seems pretty handy - let your mind relax a bit during the sideboard process by preparing ahead of time. Faced three opponents and they all had roughly a dozen matchups listed which for modern may include all your opponents for a weekend or only a couple of them. If I were to write up a SB guide for myself, I would include the following: Burn, UW/UWR, Jund/GBx, Dredge, UR Phoenix, Spirits, Humans, Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift (Titanshift), GDS, 8 rack, Bogles, Storm, Tron, Hardened Scales, and Eldrazi Tron for an even 16.

2019-01-31 Iron Buffalo 2-1 with Dredge

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1606619#paper with a SB Thoughtseize

R1 vs Jon on Jund (1-2, 0-1)
Lost to GY hate creatures. I really need to check out Jund lists - determine efficacy of Ancient Grudges/Abrades/Nature's Claims vs Lightning Axes (hit Scooze, Kalitas)

R2 vs Adam on Jund (2-0, 1-1)
He only had one piece of hate - Scooze. Both games I was able to answer it -> win

R3 vs Ken on Eldrazi Tron (2-1, 2-1)
In between games we discuss the weirdness of Conflagrate: When flashing it back for X=4 (targeting a TKS), the CMC of the spell on the stack is actually 9. This is non-intuitive, since 9 mana was definitely not spent. Basically, when casting a card using an alternate casting cost, you choose a value for X and pay costs accordingly. Then X is applied across all instances in the spell, including the XXR mana cost.
Game 2 neither my 7 or 6 card hands have lands. I wait to see what hate he's brought in - see a Relic & known Chalice, then I concede to TKS to hide Damping Sphere.
Game 3 I have 2 lands, Damping Sphere, some looting action. I find an Ancient Grudge which does quite the work. Pretty grindy as heck, but he doesn't have Tron or Eldrazi acceleration so I win eventually.
He even told me that he was asking about Conflagrate for the purpose of Warping Wail, not Chalice of the Void, but then I walked into it anyways lol oops.

Thoughts:

Deck feels strong, hard to beat Scavenging Ooze and other hate. There are several axes of graveyard hate and I need to be able to navigate around each of them.

2019-01-17 Iron Buffalo Modern 3-0-1 with Dredge

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1606619#paper
Same as last week's, but I added a SB Thoughtseize

R1 vs Brad on 4C Vengevine (2-1, 1-0)
G1 lose to double Vengevine, early Bridge from Below tokens. Tried to turn 2 kill my reanimated Bloodghast, but had milled both Blood Crypts!!!
G2 we both had Leyline
His weenies came out, but I found my Assassin's Trophy and was able to go nuts
G3 I had Leyline, he didn't, I did my thing

R2 vs Tim on Infect (2-1, 2-0)
Not particularly fast G1
G2 we're both slow, then he pumps a Glistener Elf with D Strike, Groundswell, M of OK, has Vines to prevent my Darkblast. I drew all 4 Nature's Claims that I boarded in.
G3 Cut 2 Claims, he sees a Spellskite which doesn't really matter. Though he declined to block an Amalgam for some reason?

R3 vs Bill on mono G Tron (2-1, 3-0)
G1 got him before anything could happen -
G2 he mulls to 5 cards incl. Grafdigger's Cage + no lands. Turn 2 topdecks a Forest and I lose. Manages to draw into enough mana for a Wurmcoil and an Ulamog
G3 he mulls to 5, but loses without no Cage, and I have a Ancient Grudge waiting in the wings for any relevant artifact

R4 vs Tim R on BW Pox (ID, 3-0-1)
We played a game, got him good
Then I swapped over to Fevered Visions and manage to cheese him out twice! Fun deck. List here: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1568068#paper

Thoughts:

• Deck is still powerful and unfair.
• I pretty much only lose when opponents have their GY hate. But then, if I believe that opponents will mulligan aggressively for GY hate, then my next level should be to mulligan semi-aggressively for GY-hate-hate. It's possible that a skilled opponent (or an unwitting one) may then further next-level me by not keeping a hand with GY hate, and just try to do their thing.
•  I looked up a sideboard guide after this event. Apparently they take out a couple Shriekhorns in every matchup, which makes sense - Shriekhorn does nothing vs hate and doesn't help find hate unlike the cantrips.

2019-01-10 Iron Buffalo Modern 2-1 with Dredge

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1606619#paper

R1 vs Matt on Bant Spirits (2-0, 1-0)
He seems to be playing all of the Bant Spirit enablers - Aether Vial, Noble Hierarch AND Collected Company. I've played against another local Spirits player who runs that, and I don't agree with it since they're not particularly synergistic with each other - they don't play well together. Some thoughts as to why:

• Aether Vial: ignores color costs, enables explosive midgame by cheating on mana, deckbuilding constraints of maxing on 2s and 3s
• Noble Hierarch: accelerates on mana, allows for better attack scenarios
• Collected Company: explosive midgame, requires deck to 30+ creatures at 3 mana or less for consistent hits
• Vial + Hierarch: maximizes turn 1 openings, but have no synergy
• Vial + Company: maximizes operating at instant speed, but has turn 1/2 plays. Also splits mana curve - Company wants to max on 3s, whereas Vial would rather have more 2s (worst of combinations imo)
• Hierarch + Company: accelerates Company but Noble is a bad hit
• Vial + Hierarch + Company: maximizes turn 1 plays, but minimizes the amount of business cards for Vial and Company

R2 vs Joe on Jund (1-2, 1-1)
G1 answered his single Scavenging Ooze
G2 could not handle recurring Scooze (K Command, LtLH), didn't find dredger
G3 he had the beats

R3 vs Boris on burn (2-1, 2-1)
G1 turn 2 created 13 power on the field (2 Bloodghasts + 3 Prized Amalgams)
G2 he had turn 2 RIP
G3 cast Faithless Looting, Cathartic Reunion, Cathartic Reunion, dredged a bunch of Stinkweed Imp, hit all 4 Creeping Chill and turn 3 kill. Left with 14 cards in library and 1 mana to potentially do something else.

Decklist thoughts:

• I should definitely be playing the 4th Copperline Gorge. The fetches don't matter - as long as they can get a mountain they function the same
• Also should have a 3rd Lightning Axe in the SB.
• Accidentally packed a fourteen card sideboard. Oops.

Overall thoughts:

• When I first brought Dredge to an FNM, someone remarked that I was "actually playing a real deck." Which is true. Dredge is the only tiered deck I play/own, and it's both unfair and powerful.
• Most decks pretty much can't win vs dredge without a GY hate card. They see a 7 card hand which would be fine in most matchups but without that RIP or Leyline or Anger it doesn't do anything
• I might get some more reps in with Dredge and take it to Toronto next month
• I should read a primer esp. sideboarding guide