[Primer] Dredge

[RThomas-]

DREDGE OR DIE



TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. PURPOSE/DISCLAIMERS
II. INTRODUCTION
III. DREDGE’S EVOLUTION
IV. CORE CARDS
V. SUPPORTING CARDS
VI. MANA SOURCES
VII. GAMEPLAY
VIII. SIDEBOARDING
IX. RESOURCES
X. MENTAL PLAY
XI. CONCLUSION
XII. CREDITS

A short blurb/justification about me: I have played Magic since 1999 and have played Dredge since it was printed in Ravnica block. My underwhelming claim to fame is that I beat David Gearhart (deep6ixer) and Roland Chang in Legacy at one point, and am undefeated against Doug Linn (hi-val) in my lifetime. I have played in various Legacy scenes including Chicago, NoVa, Baltimore, and Dallas over the years. I currently play on MTGO under the handle Ryan_Leaf (tl;dr story). I have played Dredge, Food Chain Goblins, and Two-Land Belcher in Vintage; and Dredge, Goblins, Belcher, Spiral Tide, Spanish Inquisition, Burn, and Cephalid Breakfast in Legacy. I appreciate decks that are considered “outsiders” and thoroughly enjoy writing about my tournament experiences. I am 6’2” and do not own any Volcanic Islands (unnecessary tidbit sorry).


I. COURSE AIMS AND DISCLAIMERS

This is a primer and discussion thread for Dredge with and without Lion’s Eye Diamond in Legacy. Past primers on this forum were written in 2012 by Michael Keller (Hollywood) and in 2009 by Damon Whitby (Parcher). Far less comprehensive primers can also be found on other MTG forums.

The purposes of this primer thread are to:

• Provide an update to Michael’s 2012 Dredge primer.
• Acquaint the reader with the basic cards contained in Legacy Dredge.
• Discuss strategies and points of note regarding gameplay.
• Talk about sideboard tactics and potential hate cards.
• Link the reader to the vast collection of written and video resources concerning Dredge.
• Make the reader smile, giggle, or even laugh at stupid humor and puns.

Here is what this primer does not do:

• Provide the reader with a standard decklist. Readers should take note of this profound quote by Michael in his 2012 primer: I believe Dredge to be by far the most personal archetype in all of Magic currently in existence. I say that because while the deck has endured through years of hate and managed to stick to the basic core group of cards that make up the general foundation of the deck, people tend to like putting their own stamp on their own unique builds. Understand that Dredge is a completely subjective archetype, but it takes an incredibly knowledgeable player who understands the intricacies of the interactions with the cards in the deck as well as playing the best situational Magic they possibly can.
• Rehash discussion on single cards and approaches to play. The core of Dredge has not changed significantly over the years. Thus, a complete rewording of every piece written on a certain facet of the deck is both a disservice to the original author and a waste of your time as well as mine. You will discover below that most of the single card discussion is merely quoted from Michael and Damon’s primers; this is because they have written accurately and clearly on these points, leaving little to add. The credit goes to them and not me.
• Give a blow-by-blow history of Dredge. This is explained in the introduction.
• Explain what cards to side in and out in a particular matchup. Further clarification for this can be found in the sideboarding section.
• Discuss the Manaless version of Dredge. You can find a separate primer for that deck written by Michael in 2015 here.


II. INTRODUCTION (start here)

“Dredge is one of my mechanics. I'll be honest, I have a soft spot for it. I like things that attack the game from a very different vantage point. That said, it's one of the most broken mechanics we've ever made, so I have no expectation that we'll ever see it again.” – Mark Rosewater, 5/2/16

No doubt Richard Garfield would roll in his grave if he saw what the dredge mechanic is able to do. Printed in the Ravnica block, Dredge changed the way that a player could play conventional Magic. A player no longer had to rely on tapping land to play creatures and spells to win the “fair” way. Dredge cheats creatures into play through interactions with the graveyard and through discarding certain cards. Some of the most powerful cards in the format contain the dredge mechanic and indeed, even other decks have found use for certain others of the 13 dredge cards ever printed.

Dredge is defined in the Comprehensive Rules at Rule 702.51a-b. The experienced player will note that dredge is a static replacement ability that does not use the stack. It cannot be responded to, and can be done more than one time per turn (if you have multiple dredge cards and multiple draws). The number of cards dredged (or “milled”, as the old-fashioned terminology goes) depends on the card; e.g. Golgari Grave-Troll, with a “Dredge 6” ability, will “mill” you six cards when returning to your hand.


III. DREDGE AND ITS EVOLUTION (or intelligent design?)

Historically speaking, the Dredge mechanic has provided an incredible amount of controversy to competitive players around the world because of how degenerate it can truly be. Dredge is a deck that bases its core strengths on having the advantage of not interacting with its opponents and overwhelming them with an incredibly large horde of the undead. The archetype deploys a variety of angles of attack and primarily uses its graveyard as a virtual "toolbox" - an incredibly potent strategy when you consider most cards that are being placed into your graveyard at an accelerated rate systematically provide you card advantage in so many ways anyhow.

Dredge has certainly made its presence felt over the years since its debut in the Ravnica block years back in just about every competitive format - and has changed that much more. In Vintage, the archetype gains an incredible amount of degeneracy and consistency with the powerful Bazaar of Baghdad. In Legacy, however, there are other ways to make the deck degenerate with the current card pool using cards such as Lion's Eye Diamond and Breakthrough to dredge basically through a massive chunk of your deck. – Michael Keller, 3/25/12

This primer is not meant to chronicle Dredge’s rise from Ravnica block to its success in Ravnica standard, Extended, Vintage, Legacy, and finally Modern. There are many articles that account for this development far more effectively and in more words than I can here. Besides, you are not here to determine how Vintage dredge worked in 2010; you are here to determine how it works in 2017. If you follow the path of the righteous and become a Dredge devotee, you will undoubtedly search out these articles yourself.

In the meantime, here are a couple of history’s interesting Dredge articles that do some of this work for us:

Richard Feldman, The Dark Art of Dredge Fu, 5/2/11
Scott Enderfall, Unlocking the Vault: Dredge in Vintage, 9/30/11
Gerry Thompson, Demonstrating My Range, 6/5/12


IV. THE BASIC CORE OF DREDGE (necessaries)

For as long as Dredge has existed as an archetype, so too have a core set of staples that have made up the foundation for which the deck exists. While Dredge can be an incredibly subjective archetype, there are some inclusions that will always give it the fuel it needs to do what it does best. – Michael Keller, 3/25/12

The cards below are generally accepted to be part of Dredge’s "backbone". Notwithstanding sideboard strategy, these cards should by default always be in the deck when you present for the game. Since there is no need to rehash the work Michael and Damon have already done in past primers, their explanations are in italics below. Special interactions that budding pilots should take note of (and experienced pilots as well) follow these descriptions.

Golgari Grave-Troll

Both iconic and powerful, the Grave-Troll is the flagship card for any competitive Dredge deck. It is currently the card which dredges for the most amount at a total of six (6) cards. Generally speaking, Golgari Grave-Troll optimizes most starts in that it allows you to dig farther into your library than any of its counterparts and additionally gives you the luxury of being able to accelerate your engine at a faster rate.

Notes:
• In many lists, GGT is the best (and only) target of Dread Return. GGT often enters the battlefield with double-digit +1/+1 counters. Don’t forget that it regenerates too.
• GGT counts itself when it enters the battlefield as a creature in your graveyard. Accordingly, in situations where GGT comes into play when it’s the only creature card in your graveyard, it enters as a 1/1. (Oracle ruling: If an effect puts Golgari Grave-Troll onto the battlefield from your graveyard, Golgari Grave-Troll counts itself as one of the cards in your graveyard and gets a counter accordingly.) Important to remember in corner cases, e.g. your opponent plays an Exhume and you must return GGT.
• GGT cannot be hit by Abrupt Decay, Lightning Bolt, or Fatal Push, three of today’s most prevalent removal spells. Keep this in mind as you determine what Dread Return target is appropriate.

Stinkweed Imp

The Imp as we've already seen maxes out at a Dredge count of five (5). It is currently the second largest dredger and is also optimal at maxing out with a full set of four. While not the most orthodox line of play, the Imp does fly, can be reasonably hard-cast, and has a built-in ability mirroring deathtouch.

Notes:
• Consider situations in longer games where you may be able to hardcast SI. It will reliably kill opposing creatures and come back to be cast again.
• Michael points out SI’s pre-deathtouch wording. Note that SI’s ability is triggered, and kills only with combat damage. This is very rarely relevant, but worth considering against creatures with activated abilities (e.g. Griselbrand).

Golgari Thug

Golgari Thug is third on the list as arguably the most controversial dredger currently in existence, with a dredge count of four (4). One of the reasons the card remains controversial isn't necessarily because of its basic inclusion in Dredge, but rather due in large part to its ineffectiveness in being able to facilitate dredges at a max dredge of four. Most lists that run Golgari Thug parallel its count with Ichorid, another card that takes advantage of the Dredge mechanic and lack of interactivity.

The Thug's built-in triggered ability has some corner-case merit, but it's usually moot in most circumstances. However, it's a rather nifty ability to utilize in instances where returning Narcomoeba's or other anti-hate measures becomes the only line of play that can bail you out of troublesome circumstances. Remember, if the Thug is placed into the graveyard from the battlefield and is the only creature card in the graveyard when that happens, he will trigger targeting himself and will be placed on top of your library. Just something to consider in the event he is cast and subsequently killed.

Bridge from Below

Ever since its printing in Future Sight, Bridge from Below has become the very backbone of Dredge. Being as how Dredge uses its graveyard advantageously, the ability to create a massive horde of Zombie tokens in a hurry can be just overwhelming to an unprepared opponent. This is one of the more confusing cards in the deck to understand, so let's look at it like this.

Here's the Oracle wording:

Whenever a non-token creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, if Bridge from Below is in your graveyard, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield.
When a creature is put into an opponent's graveyard from the battlefield, if Bridge from Below is in your graveyard, exile Bridge from Below.

We need to understand a few things here about the card, because as some of us have seen, it is a card that requires undivided attention to detail and the ability to use the triggers to your advantage. Let me repeat that one more time, because it is imperative to remember: attention to detail...and use the triggers to your advantage. You must not forget that not only should you make tokens when your non-token creatures die, but also remember to strategically dump Bridges from your hand whenever possible - depending on the match-up.

The most important thing to consider when an opponent's creature dies simultaneously with your non-token creature(s) is to stack the triggers. Again: Whenever a non-token creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, if Bridge from Below is in your graveyard, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield. When a creature is put into an opponent's graveyard from the battlefield, if Bridge from Below is in your graveyard, exile Bridge from Below.

This means understand that you may stack the triggers in your favor so you may get Zombie token(s) when the Bridge(s) trigger from the graveyard. It's happened before on the big stage and I still don't understand why people consider the deck easy to play. This is an intricate part of understanding the way the deck works, and this is the most important card to pay explicit attention to. This is an archetype that thrives on remembering triggers, so you must know how and when to stack them appropriately and advantageously. Always run four - always.

I will insert my own analysis here: take note of your game one wins, and determine for yourself the percentage of wins you gain based on making a boatload of Zombie tokens. You will undoubtedly be surprised how important this card is to today’s Dredge lists. Are you afraid of Echoing Truth or Maelstrom Pulse? Fear no more; this is how you will win the lion’s share of games against the midrange decks that rule today’s format.

Notes:
• Your Reanimator opponent rarely recognizes that when they Reanimate/Animate Dead your creatures, you not only keep your Bridges when their creatures die, but you also create a Zombie token(s) for them. Don’t be afraid to discard your dredgers early against those folks.
• It will be unappreciated that this is printed, but your most valuable Surgical Extraction target is your Bridges. You will be able to recover from your dredgers being Extracted, or even your Ichorids. Losing your Bridges creates a situation where each creature you return is exactly what it represents, which weakens your strategy.

Cabal Therapy

Dredge has the ability to overwhelm an opponent with a horde of Zombie tokens extremely fast. One of the primary ways the deck is able to achieve this is by being able to sacrifice its creatures to Cabal Therapy - an incredibly powerful discard spell that requires distinct skill and a solid working knowledge of the format to master.

Being able to discard cards from your own hand in order to get cards into your graveyard is fine, but the card's primary use should ultimately be to shred an opponent's hand and create Zombies in the process. This is a card that has been most efficient at running a full set of. Whether or not you opt to run three main or one in the sideboard is fine - at least IMO - but just understand like the opening quotation indicates that swapping out a single card for something that acts functionally different can change the entire course of game-play. This has never been truer than of a deck like Dredge where getting maximum value out of your graveyard means the difference between winning and losing games.

There is plenty of literature out there describing Therapy’s power and the toughness of playing it (pun). Here are several links you can peruse:

MTS thread on Therapy, circa 2008
Mike Flores, Pondering Cabal Therapy, 4/13/12
Caleb Durward, Legacy Weapon: Therapy Session, 9/5/12
Michael Keller, The Cutting Room Floor: Group Therapy, 12/17/12
Drew Levin, Single Card Primer: Cabal Therapy, 5/12/15
User ajfirecracker, Dredge 101 – Cabal Therapy,12/20/15
Rodrigo Togores, Legacy’s Allure: Cabal Therapy, 11/9/16

You will find hours of reading on Cabal Therapy in the prior Dredge threads going all the way back to its creation. There is very little we can repeat here that has not already been hashed out sometime in the past. Refer to the previous primer threads and use the friendly Search function at the top of your screen to find your answers.

Narcomoeba

Because a very large percentage of your library is going to be finding its way into your graveyard, Dredge needs to continue finding avenues of being able to "cheat" creatures into play from the graveyard. Narcomoeba is a card that, while incredibly good when dredged off the top of your library, can be somewhat of a liability when opened in your starting hand. You never want to ideally hard-cast anything but draw spells or discard outlets, and if you find yourself in a position where you're hard-casting Narcomoeba, you're usually in trouble.

Being able to fuel Cabal Therapy and Bridge from Below is incredibly important in Dredge, arguably most important, so consider when choosing how many Narcomoeba's you want to run you take into consideration what you're doing. Narcomoeba is purely fuel and a semi-evasive attacker, really nothing more here. However, its utility is paramount and running anything less than four can in some instances be an incorrect number.

Notes:
• Remember that Narcomoeba must enter the graveyard before entering play. This does not allow it to get around Grafdigger’s Cage, Containment Priest, Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace, or Planar Void. It also makes it vulnerable to Surgical Extraction, Extirpate, Deathrite Shaman, etc.
• Because it does enter the graveyard, however, it triggers Prized Amalgam, discussed below. Since Narcomoeba’s trigger stacks, thus, you’ll have an opportunity to discard Amalgam (if able) before it enters play.

Ichorid

Two different descriptions are here. First, Michael’s from 2012:

…the single most powerful recurring threat in Dredge that refuses to die. Ichorid on its own is a relatively innocuous Black creature that really does nothing more than bait removal or suck up blockers, but when you truly look at why Ichorid is included in Dredge, you'll see why it's as powerful as it should be.

First off, Ichorid is an efficient, recurring beater that does not interact with your opponent as far as being a spell goes (assuming you don't hard-cast it, which would be relatively rare), so counter-magic is generally out the window. The card wreaks havoc on Control decks because of their inability to stop it from returning turn in and turn out, which makes it incredibly resilient and an intricate part of the deck's strategy of avoiding interactivity.

Additionally, in conjunction with Cabal Therapy & Bridge from Below, the card can be a menace. Sometimes it is not always correct to straight-up attack with Ichorid on the basis you do not want your Bridges exiled, so simply recurring one by exiling a Black creature and naturally letting it die at the end of your turn is ideal in amassing an army of tokens. Cabal Therapy optimizes this approach as you're able to make tokens and rip an opponent's hand apart in the process. The card speeds games up in a hurry when it has fuel, which is why sometimes only running two or three is the correct number.

From Damon’s 2009 primer:

Last things first; always run four. Unlike other formats, not only is Legacy full of creature removal, it is plagued by Swords to Plowshares which is more far more relevant. Legacy is also a format of creature-based damage, so the higher number you have to attack with, the more often your attack will be lethal. Also, the greater number of Bridge tokens you will get, and the greater chance you will be able to continue a threat if your Dredge engine is disrupted. Also may be needed to feed themselves, or pitch to an Unmask. That said, they're still the keystone, and the best card in the deck.

The “correct” amount of Ichorids to play has varied over time and ties in with a particular decklist. Over time, some have shown preferences to play four alongside four Putrid Imp, like this list here. Others prefer greater diversity in their threats, like this list here, and play 0-3. Like every other listed card, there are pros and cons to every amount and discussion is scattered over the years.

Notes:
• Ichorid’s trigger only resolves upon resolution. This matters chiefly in two situations. First, if your opponent chooses to exile it from your graveyard in the upkeep, you will not lose another black creature card to exile as well. The other card is only exiled if Ichorid comes into play. Second, in decks that play Nether Shadow or Ashen Ghoul, you can stack your Ichorid trigger below the other trigger, allow the other creature to return to play, then exile for your Ichorid. This would matter if your graveyard was, e.g.:
Nether Shadow
Black creature
Black creature
Ichorid
Stack Nether Shadow’s trigger on top of Ichorid’s trigger, return the Shadow to play, and then exile for Ichorid to ensure both creatures get into play. Nether Shadow checks upon resolution, so you must have three creatures in the graveyard when that trigger resolves.
• An addendum to the above: Ichorid’s trigger may be Stifled; if it is, you need not exile another card for it.


V. DREDGE’S SUPPORTING CAST

Being as how there are a multitude of varying sub-archetypes of Dredge such as Manaless, Hybrid, Lion's Eye Diamond, etc., we can look at some of the cards that help facilitate the aforementioned archetypes and what makes them successful. We'll also look at some cons, as sometimes cards that are deemed "suboptimal" in one build could have tremendous value in another. Again, to reiterate: Dredge is an incredibly subjective archetype, so we need to keep an open mind as to what is deemed optimal to one player and suboptimal to others. – Michael Keller, 3/25/12

Various Dredge lists are built with various packages. Your target configuration when building the deck should maximize how cards in this section interact with others in this section and in the core. Of those listed below, no card is “required” to be included or if included, played as a four-of. While your final tournament list might end up quite tight (rhyme), your paths to getting to 60-ish are very diverse. Here are some of the most popular cards to include.

Lion’s Eye Diamond

While Lion's Eye Diamond requires very careful consideration when including it in your list, it also necessitates some thought as to what spells you'll opt to run with it. The Diamond is a card that is purely combo and enables some incredibly broken starts with just about any draw spell. However, the card can force you to go "all in" at times as you're discarding your entire hand in the hopes your draw spell resolves. Even if it doesn't, you still should have a dredger in your graveyard - but that doesn't mean that will be ultimately effective in how the game turns out should your draw spell be negated.

Lion's Eye Diamond is a card that, while not very price-friendly, can be essential depending on which variation of Dredge you're opting to run. Obviously, a deck that incorporates LED to its overall strategy is going to want the best draw/discard spells the format has to offer in order to complete broken opening hands. Also keep in mind that when using Lion's Eye Diamond, you know when to maintain priority so you can fuel your graveyard before maxing out with a draw spell.

The Diamond is a card that also gets shifted sometimes to the sideboard, which can be a mistake against some match-ups. Keep in mind that LED is a very powerful spell that requires a proper setup and opening hand to go along with it. Being able to discard your hand at will is nice, but know that sometimes that is not always the best line of play - especially in a format filled with varying kinds of hate.

The clear majority of high tournament Dredge finishes have included LED. Those that eschew it do so both by choice and for budget reasons. There are very few well-performing lists that can be found without it following the printing of Faithless Looting, discussed below.

Notes:
• LED’s Oracle text states: The ability is a mana ability, so it is activated and resolves as a mana ability, but it can only be activated at times when you can cast an instant. Yes, this is a bit weird. Remember that even though the ability says, “as an instant,” you can do it in response to another spell or ability as long as you have priority.
• Remember to hold priority when sacrificing LED in response to a draw spell. Ensure you either audibly say so in live play or hold CTRL in MTGO play, as failing to do so allows your opponent to respond.
• An interesting opening hand parlay occurs when you are on the draw and open with Cephalid Coliseum, LED, and other stuff. You can draw, play Coliseum, LED, and sacrifice it so you can activate Coliseum’s ability. Remember to count LED when you’re trying to get to seven.

Putrid Imp, Tireless Tribe

From Michael’s 2012 primer:

[Putrid Imp] is right at the top of the list due in large part that it is included in a vast majority of builds currently in existence. It is an intricate part in Dredge today because of the powerful amount of draw spells and the choice to eschew what is known as the "DDD" plan, or "Draw, Discard, Dredge" plan. Understand that not everyone feels as though Putrid Imp is optimal as far as giving your opponent an opportunity to interact with you goes. However, at one mana and being a Black creature, it provides an incredible amount of resiliency in being able to repeatedly fuel your graveyard with the most effective dredger available, feeds to a hungry Ichorid, and gives you access to dredged Therapies in your graveyard.

Putrid Imp empties your hand at your leisure and works well with many core cards like Cabal Therapy, Bridge from Below, and Ichorid (and Unmask, if you play it). Tireless Tribe does the same thing without the Ichorid interaction. For this reason, and because it flies, Putrid Imp is usually the first choice for a one-mana discarder. A special interaction note: you may block an attacker with Imp, then discard past Threshold to get around the “can’t block” text on Imp, if you need to ditch your dredgers or Bridge from Below. Further, Imp gets in a second point of power, further in line with the deck’s quick strategy.

Tireless Tribe is usually the 5th-8th creature to run in the discard spot. Tribe is often played in a budget list that plays without Lion’s Eye Diamond, as seen in the 2012 primer.

Prized Amalgam

This card did not exist when the previous primer was last updated. Amalgam does several things:

• Upgrades our lists with another threat to make it more diverse (i.e. less vulnerable to hate like Surgical Extraction).
• Returns to play at EOT whenever Narcomoeba or Ichorid do in the same turn. Consider effects that allow you to draw and dredge Narcomoeba on the opponent’s second main to get it in at their end step (e.g. Coliseum).
• Gives a freebie zombie with Cabal Therapy when you’re recurring Ichorid several times.
• Sacrifices and returns when you flashback Dread Return.
• Exiles to Ichorid in a pinch.
• In some lists, functions as an extra blue card for a sideboard Force of Will.

Amalgam’s large body intimidates most opposing creatures, and its nasty ability to keep coming back to play makes it a super inclusion in any list. Most that include it play 1-3; four are usually only found in the Manaless dredge decks. Note that the Oracle rulings state it must be in your graveyard at the time you return another creature from the graveyard; you may not, e.g., dredge a Narcomoeba and then discard Amalgam later in the turn to have it return EOT.

Breakthrough

If you're looking to run LED in your deck, look no further than Breakthrough - an incredibly potent accelerate that in conjunction with LED can blast through a massive portion of your deck in a hurry. However, it is not always necessary to run LED and Breakthrough together. You can always opt to eschew running LED in favor of more conventional discard outlets such as Putrid Imp and or Tireless Tribe (which has since fallen in favor of just Imp), and that can work still just as fine. Also take note that you can choose to keep a card or more in your hand depending on the amount of "X" you want to pay, although you really want the card to resolve and to dump as many cards into your graveyard as soon as possible (in most circumstances) so you don't want to open yourself to more conditional counter-magic or hold off until something like Gaddock Teeg hits the table.

You don't necessarily have to run a full set of Breakthrough, as some winning lists run only two or three main and keep a third or fourth in the board for Combo. This is, however, usually not the right line of play, as Breakthrough is just incredibly powerful when it resolves. However, let it be known though that LED does in fact produce mana when your hand is discarded.

Most of the dredge lists over the past couple of years have played Breakthrough as in the paragraph above. It’s often correct to board in the final copy you have in matches where you must win quickly. Sometimes, you may consider boarding it out if you’re on the draw in a match where you prefer to dig for immediate answers against graveyard hate (e.g. Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger’s Cage, Tormod’s Crypt), a task which Breakthrough performs poorly at. These are the exception though, rather than the rule.

Notes:
• LED’s instant-speed ability does not let you pay for Breakthrough with it. Thus, you cannot announce Breakthrough and then pay the X cost by sacrificing it.
• However, you are free to respond to Breakthrough by using LED. This gets your dredgers into the graveyard and gives you extra mana (e.g. red for a dredged Faithless Looting).
• Don’t forget that you can pay 2 to cast it to get around a Chalice at one counter. You don’t always have to make X be zero. In many cases, you don’t want X to be zero anyway. (Would not say this unless I had repeatedly witnessed it to be a thing.)

Faithless Looting

The newest and brightest star in the Dredge galaxy. This card not only draws you and allows you to discard two cards, it lets you be able to do it...again! That's right, for 2R (wink wink, LED) you can flash this card back and repeat said process. That is incredibly powerful when you consider that for all intents and purposes your primary objective is to plow through your deck as fast as you can and turn your graveyard into a smorgasbord of answers and win-conditions. Looting gets the job done very well and is seeing a very high percentage of play in Dredge currently.

While not necessarily a staple, Looting does in fact cost a single Red mana to cast. While this might be moot to some players, it really isn't when you consider the way you set your land configuration up. A deck for instance with twelve (12) land - eight (8) Gold including four (4) Cephalid Coliseum - can have awkward starts with a Coliseum and Looting attached to it. Be aware that if you're going to run Looting, you need to be able to hard-cast it and not necessarily believe that it only works discarded and flash-backed with LED.

In openers where you can play Looting twice (e.g. Land-LED-Looting), you’re nearly always going to resolve at least one. In openers where the Looting is another draw card (Breakthrough, Careful Study), the ability to dredge into a Looting still makes that draw lightning quick. Remember to sacrifice your LED in response to playing Looting (in all but exceptional cases) so that you both get your dredgers in the graveyard and have the mana to replay it.

Most lists will employ Looting as a draw spell and usually do so in fours. Others may leave it out in favor of Careful Study and other spells. Still others will include both Looting and Study. Where you find LED, you will usually find Looting.

Careful Study

From Michael’s 2012 primer:

Careful Study might as well be a staple in Dredge at this point because of just how good it is and always has been. It costs one Blue mana, which is very good because of the aforementioned reasons in regard to Looting. It's important to consider that Study does what Looting does, except without the bonus of Flashback. Study is a very potent accelerate and hand-filterer that can help facilitate the dredging process in addition to being a mana-friendly spell.

Incredibly good for what it does, I wouldn't run anything less than four - which I already do.

From Damon’s 2009 primer:

Weak. Seriously. I have run this card in every iteration of the deck, and in numbers from one to four. I've never been anything but disappointed. Yes, it does function as both draw, and discard. Yes, it can dig for answers, especially post-board. Unfortunately, it does none of this well; in most cases not even adequately. In almost every situation, I would prefer a more powerful and/or cheaper spell that might be limited in its variety of uses.

Obviously, opinions have differed on this card. In comparison to Looting, Study holds the advantage of being available with Coliseum, but the disadvantage of only being available once. Some lists prefer it because they need more blue cards (read: Force of Will). Others use it in addition to Looting. The discussion of Study is deep and available in past threads.

Dread Return

Dread Return is one of those cards that gives the deck a straight-up combo finish in being able to create a massive number of Zombies and the ability to recur a creature that either facilitates an instant win, provides incredible defensive resistance, or is absolutely huge (or any combination of these). Some people have begun shifting Dread Return to the sideboard as it has become somewhat of a "win more" card that can be situational at times and unnecessary given that the deck already has a very solid game one win percentage among most of the format.

The sideboard where you would ideally place a specialty creature like Iona, Shield of Emeria, which can oftentimes shut an opponent off entirely. Iona is usually the most common sideboard choice for Dredge as a Dread Return target, but there are other popular choices as well.

While its value in (non-Manaless) Dredge is not really disputed, the number of copies and its targets are hotly debated. A separate primer could (and perhaps should) be written on the value of different DR targets. Without broaching the subject of a dedicated target, DR is valuable on its own when it sacrifices your own creatures to create a load of zombies with Bridge from Below. You might DR a huge Grave-Troll, a flier to block a Marit Lage token, a Thug to recycle Narcomoeba, or something random just to make more zombies. Speaking for myself, I have DR’d every creature in the deck at one time or another depending on the circumstance.

Some people swear on a special maindeck DR target, while others prefer to keep them in the sideboard. To try and tabulate every single discussion of DR targets would be far too onerous and not worth our time. Again, the search button is your friend. Below is a non-exhaustive list of various targets mentioned in our threads at one time or another.

Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Ancestor’s Chosen
Angel of Despair
Ashen Rider
Blazing Archon
Cephalid Sage
Chancellor of the Annex
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Empyrial Archangel
Eternal Witness
Flame-Kin Zealot
Flayer of the Hatebound
Grave Titan
Greater Gargadon
Griselbrand
Inferno Titan
Inkwell Leviathan
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Petradon
Realm Razer
River Kelpie
Sadistic Hypnotist
Sphinx of Lost Truths
Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Stalking Vengeance
Sun Titan
Sundering Titan
Terastodon
Whirlpool Rider/Whirlpool Drake
Woodfall Primus



Street Wraith

I add this card to today’s discussion because of its versatility and utility against various hate cards we see often. Some lists play this in the sideboard to respond to cards like Surgical Extraction and Deathrite Shaman. Others play it because it draws without casting and exiles to Ichorid. Its big body and swampwalk ability are not negligible either.

Speaking from personal experience, I often seesaw between sideboard strategies that either want to get rid of threats slowing me down (e.g. the aforementioned hate cards) or power past it. Since Street Wraith fills both of these roles to an extent, I find myself playing with some number of copies in most lists I choose. Some find that their best way to utilize it is in decks that either try to play as few spells as possible or use more than four discard creatures (Imp and Tribe). Again, the way you choose to construct your deck will affect how useful Street Wraith might be.

Other considerations and diversions to the support cards

Various lists have, over time, employed different strategies for presenting a threat, with most of them coming as different creatures. Some of the cards listed below are included in various versions and usually require more attention to the rest of the list to make them functional. Defer to past primers and discussions to go over these thoroughly.

Ashen Ghoul
Bloodghast
Fatestitcher
Nether Shadow
Phantasmagorian


VI. A SHORT DISCOURSE ON MANA

A standard-ish LED Dredge list plays 11-14 mana sources (not including LED). The majority of these are five-color sources because of the need to play certain sideboard cards, as well as facilitate three colors for the maindeck.

Gemstone Mine

Mine is the first land usually included because of its pain-free mana. While use is limited to three mana, utility beyond the third use is usually limited since the game is often decided by that point. Don’t forget that an opponent’s Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Blood Moon, etc. (as for any of these lands) allows you to use it for mana without losing a counter. In a pinch, you might also deplete Mine intentionally so you can use it towards your threshold count (read: Coliseum).

Mana Confluence, City of Brass

These are the second/third gold sources. Confluence fills the deck before City does because of the few corner cases where City might be tapped by an opponent (e.g. Rishadan Port) for a free Lava Dart. The downside of these lands is that they don’t play well after you have run out of gas and must hardcast cards, but it’s difficult to be avoided.

Tarnished Citadel, Undiscovered Paradise, etc.

These cards were used before Confluence was printed. Paradise might still be used if your deck plays something like Bloodghast or if your personal preference is to use it.

Cephalid Coliseum
It's an un-counterable three draw. Play four unless you find consistent problems casting non-blue cards.

Lotus Petal

Throughout the deck’s lifespan, various players have come forward and either exulted or decried Petal. Its single use makes for difficult opening hand decisions, especially in situations where replacement by another land card would have made that decision clearer. When seen in the last couple of years, Petal has come out of the sideboard as a concession to the need for more mana sources against Wasteland or as an accelerator versus combo. More debate about its utility can be found in the previous threads.


VII. HOW DO I PLAY DREDGE (IT ISN’T MAGIC)

That is precisely the point. Dredge is not Magic: the Gathering in the traditional sense, since we are not strictly using lands and mana to play spells that win. The dredge mechanic creates a completely new, unforeseen way of approaching killing the opponent. It employs what some call a linear approach to the game, or winning the game in one redundant way. Therefore, most players consider Dredge to fall under the “combo” category of decks. You will win the game the same way nearly every time.

Like any combo deck, determining what to keep in your opener is a critical juncture in the game. Dredge mulligans reasonably well since it takes a mere three or four cards to explode. Consider the power that an opener of Land-LED-Breakthrough-Grave Troll has in a mulligan to four (the new Scry 1 rule helps immensely).

You should look for four different types of cards in your opening hand. These include:

• A dredger.
• A mana source (e.g. land).
• A discard outlet.
• A draw spell.

A useful mnemonic (altered from an example found in another MTG forum) you could use might be, “Dredge Goes Off the Deep End”. You need a dredger, a gold source (mana), a discard outlet, and a draw spell. (The deep end is your graveyard. This is a swimming reference.)

In most cases, you should consider a mulligan if your hand does not contain at least three of these. From Damon’s 2009 primer:

The most difficult obstacle to overcome when learning to play this deck is the situations and frequency with which you must mulligan. Not only are there specific needs for your opening hand, but they may change depending on your opponent, what game it is, and who is on the play. As a very general rule, there are four things you are looking for in your opening hand; Mana, Discard, Dredger, and Draw. Some cards count as both, but only in conjunction with others. I've found that in most cases if you don't have at least three of these four requirements that you must mulligan. If you have multiple draw spells, or are playing what you know is a good match/slow deck, this can vary a little. Some combinations such as LED-Coliseum, or LED-[Deep Analysis] allow you to break this since Lion's Eye Diamond acts as Mana and Discard, but this is an exception. I can't stress enough how important it is to force yourself to mulligan hands without these needs, and to then learn when you can risk breaking that rule.

Draw, Discard, Dredge (DDD) strategy

In some situations, you will find that it is unnecessary and even counterproductive to cast spells. Thus, you may find it useful to employ the DDD strategy. Here you draw a card for the turn, pass through the end step, and discard a dredger to reduce hand size to seven. Then, you dredge next turn, discard it again, and keep repeating. This is the engine of the Manaless deck and various builds of non-Manaless have been built around this strategy, like this one here.

This strategy should not be discounted against slower, grind-ish control decks. An advantage of this strategy is that you can employ it at the outset, then play your spells later when it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Navigating various matchups

Hot take: An oft-overlooked point by those demanding analysis of certain matchups is that your linear strategy does not change from game to game. You are still going to win by dredging a bunch of cards and returning those cards to play. Understanding how your opponent’s cards either prevent you from doing that or outrace you is more important than reading about what to do in a specific match. For example, blue-based decks employing Deathrite Shaman (e.g. BUG Delver, Grixis Delver, etc.) use Deathrite and counterspells to slow you down. Figure out how to maximize your strategy against them: use Putrid Imp and Coliseum to get around Spell Pierce and Flusterstorm, quicker draw spells to outrace Deathrite, etc. Ritual-based combo demands you use Therapy to strip acceleration and tutors, while at the same time gunning to outrace. The list goes on and has already been well-documented by others.

The predominant outlook you should consider is that if you are playing a deck with Cabal Therapy, you will both know how an opponent’s deck works and at some point, obtain perfect information about how your opponent is going to play their hand. From there, your task is execution.

Sources of strategery

Various articles through the years have aided us in our playing philosophy. Here are several for your review.

Patrick Chapin, Dredge in Extended: A Serious Problem and How to Deal with It, 9/17/07
Anwar Ahmad (AnwarA101), Practical Legacy: Interviewing an Ichorid Innovator (Damon Whitby), 7/30/09
Max McCall, Ideas Unbound: Legacy Dredge, 3/12/10
Richard Feldman, The Dark Art of Dredge Fu, 5/2/11
Adam Barnello, Recurring Nightmares: Dredge Returns, 7/19/11
Matt Elias, Legacy’s Best Combo Deck, 4/19/12
Gerry Thompson, Demonstrating My Range, 6/5/12
Jim Leonov, Learning to Dredge, Part 1 2/7/13 and part 2
Drew Levin, How to Build Dredge,1/21/14
Kate Donnelly, Legacy Dredge 9/23/16