Putting ‘Eight’s Enough’ Into Action

I wanted to see how well my Eight’s Enough theory from the other day worked in practice, so I took an already-reliable build and tweeked it follow the Eight’s Enough theory. Here’s the decklist:

Eight’s Enough Dredge
A Legacy Deck by Neale Talbot

4 Putrid Imp
3 Tireless Tribe
1 Golgari Thug
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoeba
3 Stinkweed Imp
3 Ichorid
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

3 Cabal Therapy
4 Careful Study
4 Breakthrough
3 Dread Return

4 Bridge from Below

4 City of Brass
4 Cephalid Coliseum
2 Gemstone Mine
4 Undiscovered Paradise

Sideboard

1 Terastodon
3 Firestorm
4 Chain of Vapor
3 Ancient Grudge
4 Leyline of the Void

Based on the Eight’s Enough theory, this deck provides:

* 4 Breakthrough + 4 Careful Study = 8 blue dredge enablers

* 4 Ichorid + 4 Bloodghasts = 7 recurrable creatures

* 4 Bloodghast + 4 Narcomoeba = 8 “free” creatures (Ichorid does have a cost)

* 3 Tireless Tribe + 4 Putrid Imp = 7 discard outlets

* 3 Stinkweed Imp + 4 Golgari Grave-Troll + 1 Golgari Thug + 1 Dakmor Salvage = 9 dredgers

* 4 Careful Study + = 8 draw then discard enablers

* 4 Bridge From Below + 3 Dread Return = 7 graveyard abusers

* 2 Gemstone Mine + 3 Undiscovered Paradise + 4 City of Brass = 9 multicolour enablers

Based on this, you have around an 80% chance of hitting every single path to winning in the first four turns. However, due to the nature of dredge, where the grave is really an extension of your hand, the figure is probably much higher. As a result I have found this build to be extremely consistent.

Builds that use either Bloodghast OR Ichorid are very reliable for a turn 3 or 4 win. This build is consistent for turns 2 or 3. Considering how finely tuned the deck already was, reliably speeding it up a turn is simply staggering. I would consider a turn 4 win with this deck slow and pretty bad luck.

At the same time, the deck has a bunch tonne more interactions than your usual Bloodghast/Ichorid only build, with the order of playing lands, when and what to dredge, sacrifice, and return to the battlefield becoming even more sophisticated. However, with great options comes great opportunity for a good pilot.

If you’re planning of playing Dredge at your next Legacy event, I recomment you give this a try.