🏆 RCQ Champion Report: Phoenix Dredge Wins on the Draw!

Leviticus shares an incredible journey through the RCQ season and their latest tournament with Phoenix Dredge

I'm a Canadian Magic player who has been playing for over 13 years, and competitively for almost as long. My biggest claim to fame was narrowly missing out on an invite to the Pro Tour on second tiebreakers during a Dragons of Tarkir Standard RPTQ, forever cementing my anxiety around tournament math and drawing into top 8 cuts. I've always taken breaks and hiatuses, but I've always come back, and even with the lackluster state of competitive Magic in recent times, I can't stay away, so when a friend of mine wanted to see if we could qualify for the Canadian Modern RC in Ottawa this past season, I couldn't say no!

I hadn't played Modern since pre-MH3, so I had a decent collection to draw from, but wasn't attached to any particular deck. I had played Temur Rhinos and Living End before Violent Outburst was banned, and fell out of Modern shortly after, so when Violent Outburst was recently unbanned, I was certain that Living End was going to be the deck for me. However, after a few leagues on MTGO, it was clear to me that I should avoid the deck; Living End has always been a deck that is unique in how many different kinds of sideboard hate can stop its combo plan, but MH3 added even more cards to that list with Vexing Bauble and Consign to Memory, and they were everywhere. While LE's fair Plan B can certainly work, it felt like Plan A failed far too often, and it was clear the meta would be way too hostile for this to be a good choice.

I started looking for a new deck, trawling YouTube content to try to learn more about the meta decks in the format, when I stumbled upon The Dredge Guy YouTube channel, playing the Phoenix Dredge deck. Dredge was an archetype that had always intrigued me, but it had all but disappeared from the meta. Watching the deck being played, it looked awesome, but I was hesitant to even try it because it seemed like too much of a brew, a deck you would play for fun that had no real competitive results. I ran it through some leagues anyways, and to my surprise, I found enough success that I decided to lock in on Dredge for the RCQ season and built the deck in paper.

I was having a really hard time finding a Modern deck that I felt good about, but Phoenix Dredge was an attractive option for a few reasons. The deck is very explosive, and can win consistently on turns 3-4. Modern is a fast format, and this deck can keep pace and even outpace most of the commonly played decks. The deck is also proactive and focused on its own gameplan. I didn't have a lot of experience in the format, and the meta is wide with lots of playable decks. Metas like this tend to favour being proactive instead of reactive, and the fact that Dredge didn't have to worry about interacting with the opponent very often appealed to me a lot.

However, the biggest draw to this deck by far, which I didn't really appreciate until I played it in tournaments, is that the deck is not only absent from the metagame, but virtually unknown to most currently active competitive players. A lot of them have never even heard of the dredge mechanic or understand how it works within the rules, so the average field at a tournament is going to be ill-prepared for the matchup; not only are people not playing the best possible graveyard hate against us, but they'll have a hard time figuring out on the spot how they're supposed to play the matchup at all. Dredge can be difficult to interact with even when you know when you can do so, not to mention when you have zero experience in the matchup. This surprise factor can only carry you so far, but as I've told my opponents who have asked if I think Dredge is good in Modern, I think the deck is best if I'm the only person in the room playing it, and that has proven to be true for me so far. I really believe that Dredge is a hidden gem of a Modern deck right now, and until people start to respect it, it's a great advantage to have on your side.

I played Dredge in two small town RCQs, making top 4 in one and winning the next, earning the invite for RC Ottawa in October, but the fields at these events felt soft to me. I wanted to give the deck a more solid test before the RC to see if it would hold up against tougher, more serious opponents. At the recent Commandfest in Toronto, there was a larger Modern RCQ for the next round of RCs, so I decided to get some more reps with the deck and see how Dredge would perform against a tougher field of 37 players in the big city.

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I don't know Leviticus’s exact list, but they told me it's very close to my latest build. Here’s a recent example: https://moxfield.com/decks/tuxTYO37nEC0IMAmI21QMA

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R1 - Bye!

This might be unique to the Canadian RCQ system run by FaceToFace Games, but when you win an RCQ, you also earn a R1 bye that can be used in their qualifiers at their larger events. I had one from my previous RCQ win, so I cashed it in here!

R2 - Devoted Combo (0-2)

Game 1, I lost the dice roll so I was on the draw, and mulled down to 5. I had never played this matchup before, but my initial instinct based on what I knew about this deck was that it was a race to the combo, so I kept the fastest hand I could on 5 cards. It wasn't quite fast enough, and on turn 3, my opponent was able to get Druid and Vizier in play for infinite green mana and comboed me out with Tyvar the Pummeled to pump his Druid infinitely and kill me.

Game 2, on the play, mulled to 6. I brought in 2 Lightning Axe from the side but did not see them. I opened with a Tidecaller and got to dredging on turn 2. He was able to go Dryad Arbor into Devoted Druid, and on turn 3 I went all in to kill his Druid with two flashback Lava Darts and flipped a Phoenix and some Chills. Killing Druid delayed him by at least one turn, but I was out of gas and low on lands to flash anything back. I was able to attack with Phoenix and put him to 1 on my turn 4, but my dredge for turn did not find another chill or Lava dart to finish the job, and he comboed off to kill me the next turn. It's hard to say from memory, but it's possible I should have killed the Dryad Arbor instead of the Druid, or just spent my Lava Darts differently. It was clear that my interaction is important in the matchup, and I probably made a mistake with using it. I also considered siding in Thoughtseize in this matchup but was not confident enough to bring it in, maybe worth considering next time.

After a Round 1 bye, not a great round 2, and I was hoping this wasn't a bad omen for my future rounds.

R3 - Blue Belcher (2-0)

Game 1, lost the dice roll again, on the draw, both of us mulled to 5. I get a Tidecaller start as he simply plays out his lands, but he misses his land drop on turn 3, so I go for it and get two Phoenixes and two Chills, putting him to 4 life. He can't answer my Phoenixes and scoops.

Game 2, on the draw, mulled to 6. I get the nuts start, turn 1 Tidecaller into turn 2 Artist's Talent with Looting and Stinkweed Imp in hand. I go for the turn 3 win, and flip my deck upside-down. He counters my third spell, flashback Lava Dart, with Disrupting Shoal, but it doesn't matter, and he asks me afterwards if he should have countered Faithless Looting instead. I told him he was correct, but it might not have mattered, and he probably should have countered turn 1 Tidecaller if he had Shoal at the time. Perfect example of how little matchup experience people currently have against Dredge. I'm trending upwards again after this win and feeling much better now!

R4 - Esper Blink (2-0)

Game 1, lost the dice roll once again, and mulled to 5. My opponent keeps 7 and plays a turn 2 Phelia into turn 3 Riddler, but my less than exciting hand just produces turn 1 Thundering Falls, turn 2 Loam, and I start slowly dredging from there as he attacks with Phelia and blinks Riddler to draw for several turns. By turn 5, he eventually plays an Overlord of the Balemurk and gets in with Phelia and Riddler, blinking the Overlord for more card advantage and picking up a Solitude from the bin. I will be dead in 1 or 2 turns, so despite the Solitude I know of and the possibility of more, I have no choice now but to go for it and hope to gain some life with Creeping Chills to survive and put pressure on my opponent with the two Phoenixes in my yard. I manage to hit some Chills and the other two Phoenixes to get the full playset on the battlefield. He is under enough pressure that he actually ends up Solituding his Overlord and Riddler just to survive the attack. The following turn, he uses a third Solitude and Ephemerate to remove two Phoenixes, and attacks with Phelia and blinks Solitude again to remove a third, but it's not enough. I dredge a Lava Dart on my draw step and attack with Phoenix to kill him.

Game 2, on the draw, mulled to 6. His turn 2 play this game is Damping Sphere, but I have a slower hand with Loam and Boseiju, so I Loam for lands and a dredger in the yard on turn 2, I dredge a Phoenix on my draw step and Boseiju the sphere at the end of his turn 4. This has been a slow hand but my opponent is not pressuring me, it seems like he may have kept based on the Damping Sphere alone. On turn 5, I get another Phoenix in the yard and based on my read, I decide to go for a modest Phoenix turn before he starts drawing into gas or more hate, putting two Phoenixes into play and putting him to 7. He draws for his turn and shows me the High Noon he just topdecked before scooping it up.

R5 - Broodscale Combo (2-0)

Game 1, lost the dice roll yet again, on the draw, mulled to 6. My opponent mulled to 5, and opens with Cavern of Souls and Vexing Bauble. I have a Tidecaller start and get some cards in the bin, he does manage to take my first Phoenix with a Soul-Guide Lantern, and the next by exiling my yard, but he never draws a second land and I have plenty of time to refill my yard and close out the game.

Game 2, on the draw, mulled to 6. It was a rough keep but I had lands and two Lootings, plus an Imp to discard. I had to turn 1 looting and natural draw to try and fix the hand, I get a Tidecaller and a Boseiju and put Imp in the yard, and start dredging the following turn. Meanwhile, my opponent's start is pretty modest, Malevolent Rumble on turn 2 and gets a Blade of the Bloodchief into play. Turn 3, I fill the yard some more and hold up Boseiju to destroy the Blade if he plays a Broodscale, but he instead taps out on turn 4 for a kicked Sowing Mycospawn, and exiles my Steam Vents, leaving me with two Stomping Grounds. I can hear Mahfuz in my head saying "Do I go for it?", as I'm not sure if I should get Phoenixes in play to win on the following turn, or hold up Boseiju, denying my opponent a window to steal the game. I decide to make him have it, rather than give him time to draw a K-Command, Soul-Guide Lantern, or whatever other graveyard hate he may have sided in. I commit and get all my Phoenixes in play to put him to 3 life. My opponent promptly taps out to play an Emrakul, the Promised End. Fortunately, after seeing my hand on my controlled extra turn, the most productive sabotage he can manage is to send a Phoenix into his Emrakul, but he won't be able to stop me from killing him on my turn, and he scoops it up!

R6 - Devoted Combo (2-0)

This event had a unique prize structure, awarding RC invites and equal prize tickets to the entire top 8, so since there would be a clean cut and no one was concerned about their final seeding, my opponent was more than happy to draw in with me. However, after submitting the result, we decided to play out the match for fun, and I was happy to get more reps, especially with my top 8 result safely locked in. After losing to this matchup in my first match of the day, I also want some redemption!

Game 1, lost the dice roll to complete the streak, on the draw, and we both mull to 5. I go turn 1 Tidecaller into turn 2 Tidecaller + Looting and hit some dredgers to get the yard filled quickly, hitting some Creeping Chills along the way, and he plays turn 1 Dryad Arbor, turn 2 Badgermole Cub, turn 3 Druid. On my turn 3, I double Lava Dart the Druid to reanimate two Phoenixes, and he can't win on his next turn, so he scoops. I was okay with killing the Druid this time given that I had much stronger graveyard hits than in my previous round.

Game 2, on the draw, he mulls to 5 again but my 6 card hand is pretty slow. He plays Leyline of Abundance as a pregame action, turn 1 Dryad Arbor, turn 2 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler. He -2's Tyvar and thankfully whiffs, but does mill a Nature's Rhythm. Meanwhile, I had started in turn 1 Tidecaller and turn 2 upkeep Gaze into a second Gaze and get two Phoenixes, a Conflagrate and a Lava Dart in the bin. Turn 3, he plays Devoted Druid, taps it for 2 mana immediately thanks to Tyvar, plays a second Druid, and untaps them both with -1 counters to get enough mana with his Leyline to Harmonize Nature's Rhythm for 2, clearly looking to fetch the Vizier and end the game. I think for a moment to see if I can interact with this, but he has two druids and I only have 1 Lava Dart in the bin. I can't kill both of them before Vizier hits, and once it is in play, it will be too late to interact. However, I notice his 1 loyalty Tyvar he hasn't activated yet! I respond to Nature's Rhythm by flashback Darting the Tyvar to remove it, leaving me with a Stomping Ground, and he fetches his Vizier but can't tap his Druids for mana anymore. On my turn, I dredge, and then play a Mountain and Conflagrate for 3 to remove both druids and the Vizier to stay in the game. He is hellbent now and doesn't topdecks anything on his turn, and on my turn, I Loam to get my lands back and get ready to go for it! He cannot recover and I reanimate Phoenixes the following turn and eventually win the game. Definitely the craziest game of the event for me, and really happy I was able to find the line to destroy Tyvar!

Final Thoughts

This was a really crazy event, looking back at it. Outside of one game in round 2, I played every game on the draw and never kept a hand of 7 cards a single time. Phoenix Dredge is great at mulling, thanks to being able to keep 5-6 card hands and put back Chills and Phoenixes when needed, but I don't think I've ever played an event where I mulled so many hands and still finished with such a good record! I was also really impressed that I was able to win so many games on the draw! There was definitely some luck involved, but for a deck that wants to be on the play as much as possible, I was really happy with the results despite losing EVERY dice roll. I walked away with an invite to RC Vancouver (Standard format, so I probably won't go) and roughly $200-250 CAD worth of prize tickets, which I used mostly to pick up fancy Steam Vents, Stomping Grounds, and a Blood Crypt to play in my deck in Ottawa, the rest going to store credit so I could pick up the missing pieces of the Pioneer graveyard deck that Mahfuz built so I can play it in the upcoming Pioneer RCQ season! I think I'm officially a graveyard deck convert!

This event definitely locked in my confidence in the deck for RC Ottawa in October. It's fast and powerful, and seems well positioned in the meta. Some of its bad matchups, like Living End and Affinity, also seem to be trending down in paper, at least in my local area. Best of all, no one sees Dredge coming until it's too late!

Part of me hopes that Dredge remains the best kept secret in Modern, but another part of me really hopes it gets the respect it deserves. Until then, I'm happy to strike fear into the hearts of Modern players facing down a Turn 1 Exhibition Tidecaller!

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Huge congrats, Leviticus! Keep dredging!