AuthorBennie Smith

Last week I Dredged through Planar Chaos; this week, I unleash the dog decks of Dredge that have been pinging around my brain these last few weeks. A quick caveat – these decks are untested and presented here merely as starting points, a way to get the deckbuilding juices flowing. In the coming weeks I will be attempting to get enough Planar Chaos stuff to start testing these ideas, and with any luck make it out to an FNM or two for trial by fire.

I spent last week in a bit of a funk over the impact of Damnation and having two virtually identical copies of the incredible Wrath of God in Standard and Extended. While I reached some conclusions on how creature decks can fight the expected increase in control decks, I wasn’t completely satisfied with going the smash-mouth haste route, and the flash creatures by and large aren’t exactly powerhouse cards. However, there is a silver lining for me in this new format – one of my “pet” strategies happens to thrive in Wrath of God dominated formats. Yep, I’m talking about Dredge, baby!

With Planar Chaos promising a great deal for the control-loving mages among us, Bennie asks a simple question: what now for the creature strategy? In the face of mass removal by the bucketload, is it possible to succeed with monsters in the face of so much horror? Benne looks back through history, and presents us with a few theories and decklists that may just work…

I have some news for you: I’m in love. It started as a flirtation and has since grown into a full-blown affair. She can do no wrong, my girl. She walks on water, she heals the sick, and brings peace on Earth. And she’s hot as hell.

I’m talking about Saffi Eriksdotter.

Poor Bennie. Not only did I make him wait and wait for his turn on Battle Royale; not only did he turn up with his pet strategy to find himself facing the Anti-Bennie Deck; not only did he lose rather quickly, going down in three games straight… but I’m also making him write all about it! Sorry Bennie! Better luck next time.

As Rich Hoaen abdicated the Battle Royale crown, we have two new contenders today! The first? Bennie Smith. Can you guess what he’s bringing to the table? Let’s face it, everyone knew it would be a dredge deck… but is it enough to go all the way?

While my record at Champs this year would indicate otherwise (2-3-3… yes, three draws!), I actually took away some positive vibes from the tournament. At first I was pissed – pissed at myself for not just buckling down and going with my first deck choice, and pissed at Wizards for making an environment that seemed overly stuffed with counter/Wrath decks.

Back in the day, we used White Out to fuel Stormbind. Then we used Squee, Goblin Nabob. But what oh what can we use to fuel Stormbind for fun decks everywhere? Bennie has an answer!

Being a Magic antediluvian has some advantages beyond gray hairs and worrying about Alzheimer’s. I’ve actually enthusiastically shuffled up some of these cards the first time around and can give you some ideas that you may find helpful. I won’t bother with the newer cards, since I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that Akroma and Call of the Herd are awesome. So, on with the Purple traipse through time…

Being a Magic antediluvian has some advantages beyond gray hairs and worrying about Alzheimer’s. I’ve actually enthusiastically shuffled up some of these cards the first time around and can give you some ideas that you may find helpful. I won’t bother with the newer cards, since I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that Akroma and Call of the Herd are awesome. So, on with the Purple traipse through time…