Dredge

Dredge
Keyword Ability
Type	Static
Introduced	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Last used	Modern Horizons
Reminder Text	Dredge N (If you would draw a card, instead you may mill N cards. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand.)
Storm Scale	9
Statistics	14 cards 35.7% 7.1% 35.7% 14.3% 7.1%
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keyword:"Dredge"

Dredge is the keyword attributed to the Golgari in the Ravnica block.

Description

Dredge is a recursion mechanic, where the owner of a card in a graveyard with Dredge can return the card to their hand by choosing to skip their draw and mill a number of cards. That number is written on each card with dredge. Dredge only appears on green and/or black cards with the exception of the land Dakmor Salvage from the Future Sight keyword land cycle and the card Shenanigans from Modern Horizons.

Dredge rates near Storm as an unsalvageable mechanic on the Storm Scale. The mechanic is inherently repetitive, and while the dredge value is intended to scale with power (i.e. costing more to mill the more powerful cards), it went the entirely opposite way. The low numbered ones can be constantly rebought, while the high numbered ones are never cast and are instead used to fuel self-mill decks. As a consequence, changing the mana cost of dredge spells does not do much to its playability, making it impossible to balance.

Change in reminder text

The original reminder text was If you would draw a card, instead you may put exactly N 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. With the introduction of the Mill keyword in Core Set 2021, the dredge reminder text keyword was updated to use "mill".

History

Dredge was occasionally reused in supplemental sets like Conspiracy, Modern Horizons and Modern Horizons 3.

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Dredge

A keyword ability that lets a player return a card from their graveyard to their hand. See rule 702.52, “Dredge.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 702.52. Dredge
  • 702.52a Dredge is a static ability that functions only while the card with dredge is in a player’s graveyard. “Dredge N” means “As long as you have at least N cards in your library, if you would draw a card, you may instead mill N cards and return this card from your graveyard to your hand.”
  • 702.52b A player with fewer cards in their library than the number required by a dredge ability can’t mill any of them this way.

Rulings

• Dredge lets you replace any card draw, not just the one during your draw step.
• Once you decide to replace a draw using a card's dredge ability, that card can't be removed from your graveyard "in response" (replacement effects don't use the stack).
• You can't use dredge unless you're going to draw a card and the card with dredge is already in your graveyard.

Competitive play

Dredge decks

One of the most popular uses of dredge is to use it to quickly fill your graveyard. A famous deck based on Ichorid originated from this concept. Such decks use all the high dredge values cards such as Golgari Grave-Troll and Stinkweed Imp. The Extended Friggorid deck was a common deck archetype built around this mechanic. As more graveyard payoffs and discard enablers were printed, Dredge decks become mainstays of all Eternal formats - Prized Amalgam and Creeping Chill in Modern, Bridge from Below and Breakthrough in Legacy, and Bazaar of Baghdad and Serum Powder in Vintage. While other forms of self-mill exist such as Oops! All Spells, Dredge decks have an edge that they utilize draw spells that let it find sideboard counter-hate.

Life from the Loam

The dredge card Life from the Loam has since its release found widespread tournament use fueling a wide array of decks, and is the only Dredge card that was regularly cast. Life from the Loam works as an engine producing additional targets for itself when dredging. In combination with Onslaught cycling lands it is dredgeable at instant speed and Onslaught fetch lands it gives color stability. It then was used to regrow other utility lands like Wasteland and Cephalid Coliseum. The card has been widely used to fuel cards requiring discard and specifically discard of lands such as Solitary Confinement, Seismic Assault and Retrace cards such as Raven's Crime.

Examples

Example

Greater Mossdog
Creature — Plant Hound
3/3
Dredge 3 (If you would draw a card, you may mill three cards instead. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand.)

Trivia

• Darkblast is the only instant with dredge. This let players give -2/-2 by casting Darkblast in the upkeep and recasting it after dredging it.