How to Use Cabal Therapy to Win More Games of Magic: Part 2

Hello and welcome! This is the second part of the article, in which I will continue addressing the ways we should use Cabal Therapy to maxim

Hello and welcome! This is the second part of the article, in which I will continue addressing the ways we should use Cabal Therapy to maximize our advantage against opponents. There are still some common mistakes to highlight, so let's get started!

Mistake #4: Trying to maximize your dredging before casting your first Cabal Therapy

Sometimes, it's better to gain some information before resolving your next spell.

When you're playing Blue Dredge, you'll become accustomed to holding onto cards in your hand until later in the game. Typically, we still have castable cards on turns 2, 3, and maybe 4. If you have access to Cabal Therapy, you can choose to cast it before attempting to resolve your next spells to see if the coast is clear. This is especially true against control players who have just resolved a cantrip like Ponder or Brainstorm.

As we learn to play Dredge, we often stick to a strong play pattern sequence like this:

a) Bring back Ichorids in our upkeep.

b) Dredge everything we can with the help of our Blue Spells.

c) Attack our opponent.

d) Sacrifice Ichorids to Cabal Therapy during our second main phase, disrupting our opponent’s hand.

e) Profit.

In reality, the sequence above only works against a few decks that don't play anything at instant speed. It's usually correct to change the order of the steps above. Here, I'll provide a good example:

You're playing against Jeskai Control after sideboarding.

It's turn 3, and you have Brainstorm in your hand, Ichorid coming back, a Cabal Therapy, and Dredgers in your graveyard. Unfortunately, you have zero Bridge From Below. They are tapped out, except for one Flooded Strand. What's the play?

.

.

.

.

My answer:

1) Attack with Ichorid.

2) Cast Cabal Therapy during our second main phase. If Therapy resolves and the opponent doesn't crack Flooded Strand, name Pyroblast.

3) If they don’t have counterspells, cast Brainstorm.

4) If they only have Force of Negation, cast Brainstorm on their upkeep.

5) If they have Force of Will and only one other important blue spell (like Uro), cast Brainstorm anyway.

6) If they have a mix of counterspells and you have at least 2 lands, you can wait a little longer and cast Gazes with flashback instead, and so on.

Mistake #5: Sacrificing creatures to Therapy in the wrong main phase (before combat/after combat)

Adjust the timing of your Therapy casts according to the specific deck you are facing.

When you're playing Dredge, you'll encounter numerous situations where you have Cabal Therapy, Bridges, Narcomoebas, or possibly creatures in play. Prior to casting your Therapies, take these distinct scenarios into consideration:

a) When facing a white deck that could have Swords to Plowshares/Solitude, it's the right move to promptly sacrifice Narcos and Ichorids without attacking. Many opponents are accustomed to waiting until your combat phase to exile your creatures. If your opponent doesn't take the chance to exile your Ichorids before your first main phase, it's correct to immediately sacrifice them without attacking your opponent first. This generates zombies safely and even allows you to name Swords to Plowshares/Solitude when Therapy resolves.

This is also true against decks with flash creatures like Orcish Bowmasters!

b) If you're up against opponents who typically don't cast spells during your turn (such as Storm, Prison, Combo decks in general, or a blue deck without available mana), and you can safely attack without losing your Bridges, you should always attack first and then cast your therapies during the second main phase.

c) Spotting Hogaak somewhere? Once you resolve Hogaak, you can promptly sacrifice it to Therapy (and create zombies) without passing priority to your opponent. This is an effective way to build your zombie army, even in the presence of Karakas, Swords to Plowshares, or other removal spells.

Mistake #6: Naming Force of Will when you're not planning to resolve other spells on the same turn

We should opt for naming a removal spell or a combo piece instead.

As Dredge players, we sometimes find ourselves trapped in our own established patterns of play, leading us to make suboptimal choices (one of these involves bringing back Ichorids against white players with untapped mana, but that's a topic for a future article).

When you're up against a blue deck and you're about to cast your first Therapy, naming Force of Will is consistently a solid decision. However, if you don't intend to resolve any spells in the near future, it's likely more appropriate to name other spells. Here are a few examples, though there are more:

- Lightning Bolt against UR Delver, bolstering your ability to safeguard your Bridges.

- Orcish Bowmasters against Grixis and UB Shadow, for the same reason.

- Sai, Master Thopterist against 8-cast (same reason).

- Swords to Plowshares against control decks like Bant or Jeskai.

- Cephalid Illusionist against Cephalid Breakfast, provided they already have the other combo piece in play.

- Step Through against Cephalid Breakfast, when they have two untapped mana and no Cephalid Illusionist on the battlefield yet.

- Show and Tell against Sneak and Show.

- Entomb against Blue Reanimator decks.

- Dark Ritual/Infernal Tutor/Burning Wish/Lion’s Eye Diamond against Storm decks (note the land they played on their first turn before deciding which spell to name). Well, it's worth noting that they usually don't rely on Force of Will anyway.

If you're interested in reading a comprehensive list of Blind Cabal Therapy names for dozens of decks in different situations, feel free to ask me this in the comments section below.

I'm glad you're enjoying these articles! I'm looking forward to the sequel. Today, I'll be releasing a video providing sideboarding advice. 😊 Stay tuned!