You can only dredge the exact amount of cards that the card has you dredge. To phrase this another way, instead of having to “lose” cards from the top of your deck, you get to use those as additional resources.ħ02.52b A player with fewer cards in their library than the number required by a dredge ability can’t mill any of them this way. Dredge is so powerful because it takes that cost and turns it into an incentive. Initially an instance of “dredge X” was designed as a cost. This keyword leads to a very powerful and tough-to-deal-with strategy. Prized Amalgam and Creeping Chill are just two other cards that help a modern dredge deck. In the same respect, there are many other cards that benefit from dredge in formats like modern and legacy. While you do get to get the card back with dredge, you essentially get a 1/1 flyer for free. This situation generates card advantage, which helps you win the game. When you dredge “X”, and Narcomoeba is one of the cards put into the graveyard, it may be put onto the battlefield. Narcomoeba benefits from cards with dredge. An example of this, is a very popular card in legacy dredge, Narcomoeba. In fact, dredge decks are usually better with cards that interact with the graveyard. A dredge deck doesn’t solely have to have cards with dredge in it. Once you realize that this is all dredge means, it really isn’t too complicated.Ī dredge deck is a deck that is focused on the graveyard. If you do, you put Dakmor Salvage back into your hand. That means that if you were to draw a card for any reason, you could mill 2 instead. To help clarify this definition let’s use the example of Dakmor Salvage. “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.” Magic: The Gathering rule 702.52a Let’s take a look at the official definition from Wizards.ħ02.52a Dredge is a static ability that functions only while the card with dredge is in a player’s graveyard. This keyword, dredge, isn’t on many cards and as a result, can be a little confusing. In more recent sets though there was a red card that dredge was printed on, Shenanigans. Dredge has only been printed on 14 total cards, which is incredibly small and primarily on green/black cards. This mechanic was given to the Golgari guild as one of their main keywords. Dredge is a mechanic that was introduced in 2005 with Ravnica: City of Guilds.

Mtg dredge