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Much Abrew About Nothing: Manaless Dredge (Legacy)


Hello, everyone! Welcome to the new and improved Much Abrew About Nothing. Last week in our Instant Deck Tech voting, we had a bit of a surprise, with our Legacy deck coming out on top. As a result, this week. we are heading to Legacy to play with one of the most degenerate and broken archetypes in the entire history of Magic: Dredge! So, what makes this build of Dredge unique? Well, mostly that it doesn't play a single mana source in the entire deck. While going completely mana-free is helpful in some ways and keeps the price of the deck down into the ultra-budget range (at least, as far as Legacy is concerned), it also means we don't really get to play any answers to graveyard hate. Because of this, we quite literally scoop to a Turn 0 Leyline of the Void. Can we dodge the hate and get some wins by abusing our graveyard? Let's see! One last thing: since it's really difficult to get Legacy matches in the two-player queues, all of our matches are from a Legacy league and are posted in chronological order. Anyway, let's get to the matches!

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MManaless Dredge: Instant Deck Tech

Manaless Dredge vs. Colorless Eldrazi (Round 1)

Manaless Dredge vs. Miracles (Round 2)

Manaless Dredge vs. Infect (Round 3)

Manaless Dredge vs. OmniTell (Round 4)

Manaless Dredge vs. Opposition (Round 5)

Manaless Dredge (Wrap Up)

Discussion

  • Normally, this is the point where I break down the deck and make suggestions about potential improvements and changes, but it feels weird to do this for Manaless Dredge for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, Manaless Dredge is a real deck, and apart from some slight sideboard changes, there really isn't much to improve or change—the deck is what it is: a consistent and powerful deck that has the unfortunate downside of scooping to some commonly played sideboard cards. 
  • All in all, we went 3-2 in our league, which is pretty reasonable. Our losses were pretty much what we would expect with Manaless Dredge. Against Colorless Eldrazi, we lost on Turn 0 to a Leyline of the Void, and against OmniTell, we got killed on Turn 3 in game one and on Turn 2 in game two. While Manaless Dredge can be fast, it isn't often "beat a Turn 2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn" fast. 
  • The biggest thing to know about Manaless Dredge is that it literally cannot beat graveyard hate, which is one of the downsides of having no mana at all. So, the way matches play out is that we pretty much have to win game one (which we usually can—Manaless Dredge is one of the best game-one decks in Legacy), and then we hope that our opponent doesn't draw their sideboard hate in one post-board game.
  • Of course, just how successful Manaless Dredge can be depends on how much graveyard hate people are playing in their sideboards. If you could somehow know going into a tournament that no one was going to play graveyard hate, Manaless Dredge would be one of the odds-on favorites to win the entire event. On the other hand, the deck really struggles when the format is prepared. 
  • As far as customizing the deck, the main deck is pretty much set in stone. While it's possible to make some slight changes, the core of the deck is fairly unchanging. On the other hand, there are some different sideboard options, ranging from Force of Will and Disrupting Shoal, to sideboarding into Dryad Arbor and Nature's Claim to fight Rest in Peace and Leyline of the Void, to specific answers like Ashen Rider for Show and Tell. If you want an in-depth discussion of the deck and the various plans, there's a good primer on The Source.
  • So, should you play Manaless Dredge? It's really hard to give this question just one answer. The upside is the deck is powerful (although risky, thanks to unbeatable hate cards) and it's super budget for Legacy, which means it can be a good entry into the format. On the other hand, you probably want to test out the deck first. Some people love Dredge and never want to play anything else, while other people hate Dredge and can't stand playing the deck. If you are in the first group, Dredge is the perfect Legacy starter deck, and you can even upgrade to versions with mana over time, if you so choose, but if you are in the second group, you're probably better off jumping into Legacy with a deck like Burn. 

Conclusion

Anyway, that's all for today. Don't forget to vote for next week's deck by liking, commenting, and subscribing to Instant Deck Tech videos. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com!



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