Poor child, hungry child, twisted up in pain,
Follow me into the woods and we shall play a game!
One of laughter, one of joy and one of carefree bliss;
I guarantee this is a game you wouldn't want to miss!
I know a very special place where we can go to play,
Where none can see or hear us as we frolic through the day!
Off the path, into the gloom where sunlight glimmers not,
Through brambles, thorns and spider's webs, through marshes filled with rot;
You can't turn back, we're nearly there! Your journey's at it's end!
And now I have a gift for you, my special little friend.
For never more will you be poor or hungry or in pain;
I guarantee that you will never leave this wood again.
-Collin Dean (c) 2014
Being a dredgevine deck, our main goal is to rapidly fill our grave and cheat our Vengevine, among other things.
Hedron Crab is our best possible turn one play. While this guy usually works to grind out the opponent's deck, he can also be used to quickly mill ourselves. He works great with all the fetch lands we run, and has no problem chump-blocking once his job is done.
Gravecrawler is the main "combo-piece", if you can call it that. Being a 2/1 for one is nice already, but his main attraction is casting him from the grave while you control another dead guy. He ensures that turn three, you can flood the field with Vengevines and Prized Amalgams by playing any old zombie and dragging this guy outta the grave.
Magus of the Bazaar is a great looter for this deck. While she does net us card disadvantage, we really don't give a shit about that because our grave is our hand. She gives us multiple potential dredge triggers to speed up our self-mill, and lets us ditch stuff in our hand that would be of better use in the bin.
Satyr Wayfinder is a great turn two play; he provides a chump blocker, mills ourselves for three (four if we whiff) and grabs us a land for next turn. While not powerful or flashy, Satyr gets the job done and works great in the deck.
Lotleth Troll is our main discard outlet for dumping things we want in the bin, as well as being a powerful threat if played correctly. Trample makes him un-chumpable, the low regenerate cost keeps him from insta-dying to most removal that's not Path to Exile, and being a zombie allows him to drag Gravecrawler out of bed.
Skaab Ruinator is an absolute beast in combat. A 5/6 flyer for three mana is obscene, and being able to cast him from the grave is incredible. His major downside of exiling three dead creatures is not very detrimental in this deck, as by the time we have three mana our grave is swimming in dead guys. When casting him, try to eat only Hedron Crab, Magus of the Bazaar, Satyr Wayfinder, Lotleth Troll and Gurmag Angler, as they are the only creatures that can't come back from the dead.
Stinkweed Imp is our dredge card of choice; a 1/2 flying pseudo-deathtouch makes a great wall if we need to buy some time, dredge 5 is a nice big number and only costing three mana means we can actually cast it sometimes, unlike Golgari Grave-Troll which I find to be too mana-expensive most of the time. Also, Troll was just banned.
Prized Amalgam is a free creature to grab from the grave whenever anyone else comes back to life. Seeing as how this deck is all about getting guys from the grave for free, there's really no reason not to use these. Being a zombie also helps Gravecrawler be re-cast for further Vengevine triggers.
Stitchwing Skaab is a neat way to ditch stuff in my hand, trigger Prized Amalgam and get a 3/1 flyer. He's basically a combo-enabler that can actually hit for decent damage. Being a zombie also lets him grab Gravecrawler when I'm ready to unleash the vines.
Vengevine is the star of the show; a 4/3 hasty beater that resurrects himself whenever I play two creature spells in one turn. There's a reason he's $20.
Gurmag Angler is a BIG FAT ZOMBIE FISH. I run him over Tasigur, the Golden Fang because A) being a zombie allows him to grab Gravecrawler, B) the extra 1 in the mana cost is virtually irrelevent, C) he has one point of power more than Tasigur, and D) I never find myself using Tasigur's ability anyway, so may as well go with the fat fish.
Life from the Loam is just a good card. It has Dredge, grabs me extra lands to pitch to Magus of the Bazaar and gives me opportunity to mill myself AND get more lands, rather then relying on blind luck to top deck a land if I need one.
Gnaw to the Bone
is a one-of that acts as a massive life cushion. While straight-up life gain cards are usually frowned upon, instant speed and flashback coupled with the natural synergy this card shares with my graveyard-centric deck easily merits a single copy to give my life some wiggle room, or save myself in dire situations.
