Magic the Gathering Tech Talk - Dredge by JEFFCUNNINGHAM

With Mythic Championship London going on on the same weekend as the prerelease of War of the Spark, let's look at another Modern deck.

Dredge by JEFFCUNNINGHAM

Creature (20)
4 Bloodghast
4 Golgari Thug
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp

Sorcery (18)
4 Cathartic Reunion
2 Conflagrate
4 Creeping Chill
4 Faithless Looting
3 Life from the Loam
1 Tormenting Voice

Artifact (4)
4 Shriekhorn

Land (18)
2 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
60 Cards

Sideboard (15)
4 Ancient Grudge
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Gemstone Caverns
4 Lightning Axe
4 Nature's Claim
1 Tectonic Edge

For the most when you are playing this deck, you are only casting a handful of cards in your deck & relying upon your graveyard to do its work.

In this deck you are NOT casting your creatures cards in this deck but instead putting them onto the battlefield from your graveyard so this deck can fight through counter magics.

Another thing to note when playing a deck like this is that rather than drawing cards, you are actually milling yourself in order for your engine to go off as it is a graveyard based deck.

How are you milling yourself is next question? Let's look at a couple cards to help the engine.

Card Name: Shriekhorn
Mana Cost: 1
Converted Mana Cost: 1
Types: Artifact
Card Text:
Shriekhorn enters the battlefield with three charge counters on it.
Tap, Remove a charge counter from Shriekhorn: Target player puts the top two cards of their library into their graveyard.

Card Name:
Cathartic Reunion
Mana Cost: 1R
Converted Mana Cost: 2
Types: Sorcery
Card Text:
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard two cards.
Draw three cards.

Card Name: Faithless Looting
Mana Cost: R
Converted Mana Cost: 1
Types: Sorcery
Card Text:
Draw two cards, then discard two cards.
Flashback 2R (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

Card Name:
Life from the Loam
Mana Cost: 1G
Converted Mana Cost: 2
Types: Sorcery
Card Text:
Return up to three target land cards from your graveyard to your hand.
Dredge 3 (If you would draw a card, instead you may put exactly three cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Otherwise, draw a card.)

Looking at each of these cards some of these are self-explanatory. Others will ask you to do a little differently as an enabler.

While at it, let's look at a very powerful mechanic.

Dredge

If you would draw a card, you may put exactly X cards from your library into your graveyard where X is that number. If you do, put this card into your hand. Otherwise, draw a card.

Essentially, you are milling yourself in order to get a card from your graveyard into your hand in which can help you in a given situation. So let's say you needed to to draw lands, but you milled a bunch of lands but have a Life from the Loam, you can mill exactly 3 cards to put life from the loam into your hand & now you have a way to essentially drawing lands.

What you are doing for the first couple turns is putting cards from your library into your graveyard by either milling yourself with Shriekhorn or you are discarding cards with the dredge mechanic filling your graveyard as if it is a part of your hand. Or discarding cards with the dredge mechanic with the use of Faithless Looting & Cathartic Reunion.

Once you have your engine going, you have a number a creature that can enter the battlefield either by being milled, playing a land or having another creature entering the battlefield from your graveyard. You are a deck that goes wide & fast so that if your opponents can't set up their defenses, they will outright loses with in a turn or two.

So make sure that if you are going to a Modern event, you pack graveyard hate within your 75 or you will get overrunned by these decks or a way to putting them somewhere that isn't the graveyard.

For now I will stop here.