Dredge

Modern Aggro BRG (Jund) Dredge

mhackett324

Land (19)

• 2x Blood Crypt
• 3x Bloodstained Mire
• 2x Copperline Gorge
• 2x Dakmor Salvage
• 2x Gemstone Mine
• 3x Mana Confluence
• 2x Mountain
• 2x Stomping Ground
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Creature (24)

• 4x Bloodghast
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 2x Golgari Thug
• 4x Insolent Neonate
• 1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 4x Narcomoeba
• 4x Prized Amalgam
• 4x Stinkweed Imp

Sorcery (16)

• 4x Cathartic Reunion
• 3x Conflagrate
• 4x Faithless Looting
• 3x Life from the Loam
• 2x Unburial Rites

Instant (1)

• 1x Darkblast

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Sideboard

Instant (5)

• 2x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Gnaw to the Bone
• 2x Nature's Claim

Artifact (2)

• 2x Engineered Explosives

Creature (1)

• 1x Vengeful Pharaoh

Enchantment (4)

• 4x Leyline of the Void

Sorcery (2)

• 2x Thoughtseize

Land (1)

• 1x Ghost Quarter

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This deck is my build of Modern Dredge. To read up on the evolution of this deck and the decklists that inspired this one, please visit the primer here.

What is Dredge?

Dredge is a deck that utilizes the dredge mechanic. When you draw a card and a dredge card is in the graveyard, you may return that card to your hand instead of drawing and put x number of cards into your graveyard (where x is equal to the number next to the keyword). It's a hyper-value aggro deck that gets more damage per mana you invest. It uses cards like Faithless Looting to put dredgers into the graveyard and return creatures from the grave for cheap.

Additionally, the combo Conflagrate + Life from the Loam is the hallmark of this build vs the Gargodon/Bridge dredge build and the Dredgevine build.

Why Dredge?

Dredge is a deck that wins by outvaluing your opponents. This deck rarely casts spells, making classic blue control decks helpless to the endless horde of undead it churns out. Aggro decks often run out of gas or depend on their topdecks too often to finish their opponents. Our creatures keep coming back from removal while we can wipe their field with Conflagrate while hitting them in the face.

Card Choices

Dredge Engine

These cards are the heart of the deck. You begin by casting one of the loot spells to either dig for more dredgers, dredge existing dredgers, or dump dredgers from your hand. When starting your first turn, it's more beneficial to start with a Faithless Looting to start the engine then follow up with either Cathartic Reunion or Insolent Neonate to keep going.

Golgari Grave-Troll: The keystone of the deck. It's the biggest dredger. Hardcasting it may be one option to start finishing your opponent.

Stinkweed Imp: MVP when dealing with creatures and flyers. This creature has 'pseudodeathtouch', allowing you to kill a creature it dealt combat damage to. Second best dredger in the deck, so don't feel bad for not seeing a Grave-Troll.

Faithless Looting: Allows you to a) dig for cards, b) dredge two times for 1 mana, c) dump dredgers into the grave, and d) provide excellent late game dredges with flashback.

Insolent Neonate: Considered an instant-speed mini Tormenting Voice. For 1 mana, you get a 1/1 with menace that can provide early damage that can equal to a Lightning Bolt and then can be sacrificed to discard a dredger or payoff card and start dredging. Another use for this creature is as an early chump blocker that can block for you then activate, absorbing all that damage in the process.

Tormenting Voice / Cathartic Reunion: Tormenting Voice used to look like a backwards Faithless Looting that, if countered, still got dredgers in the grave on turn 2. However, Kaladesh provided us with some much needed love in the form of Cathartic Reunion, which allows us (still for ) to dump 2 cards (mainly dredgers) to dredge 3 times by turn 2. If we assume you chain 3 Grave-Trolls, that's 18 cards. If you count one Grave-Troll at Draw Phase, that's 24 cards, allowing you to see more than 1/2 of your entire library by turn 2, which probably goes over anything can do on the same clock.

Payoff Cards

Below are the cards that are the reason you dredge. These cards will kill your opponent and keep coming back after waves of sweeps and removal.

Narcomoeba: The little illusion that could. Narcomoeba is a 1/1 for with flying. When it enters the graveyard from your library, you may return it from the grave to the battlefield. This one pairs well with Prized Amalgam since it earns you a free reward just for dredging. It gets you 1 extra damage per turn and makes a great blocker in the sky. When all your jellyfish are dead, they contribute to Golgari Grave-Troll's counter number. I've won many a game simply by laying down some Narcomoeba beats!

Bloodghast:This creature is pretty much the bread and butter of this deck, allowing you to simply use Landfall to return a few Savannah Lions from the grave. If your opponent is down to 10 or lower life totals, it gets haste. The only downside is that they can't block, but blockers are plenty in this deck, so it's forgivable. Be careful with triggers though. I suggest playing a fetchland after ensuring you have enough fetchables in your library and not all in the grave. You can choose not to trigger landfall when the fetchland comes down. However, when your opponent passes priority at the end of their Postcombat Main Phase, you can fetch a land from your deck, triggering landfall, returning any Bloodghasts and lurking Prized Amalgams before your turn. Then untap and swing for victory.

Prized Amalgam: Best friends with Bloodghast, you get a tapped 3/3 at the beginning of the next end phase if you returned a creature from the grave that turn. The only thing that will kill it is hard removal or a Lightning Bolt, but it always comes back one way or another.

Support

Conflagrate: Empties our hand while burning away our opponent and their creatures. Get it in the grave by casting it for x=0. Get around Spellskite by targeting it with 1 damage. Can't redirect, but don't let your opponent know before they activate it. It might earn you 2 more points of damage.

Life from the Loam: Puts lands back into your hand. Dredge 3 allows you to stick to the plan while storing up for retrace cards, Conflagrate or to ramp into Golgari Grave-Troll.

Flame Jab / Raven's Crime / Darkblast:This is a slot that can be tweaked to taste. Two of one should be run in the MB and two of another in sideboard. Currently, I run Jab since it can kill bigger creatures than Darkblast and can be used on your opponent for extra damage. I run two Raven's Crime in the SB for control and combo decks that like to keep ideal hands.

Haunted Dead: Value creature that can return at instant speed with a 1/1 flyer that can block immediately. Triggers Amalgams similarly to Bloodghast. Doubles as an enabler by discarding 2 cards.

Sideboard

Nature's Claim:This card hits just about every dredge hate card in the meta: Leyline of the Void + Relic of Progenitus + Rest in Peace and others. Pack as many as possible.

Abrupt Decay: Hits every piece of dredge hate other than Leyline. For , you can destroy any nonland permanent with CMC 3 or less and it can't be countered. Benefit of this is that if your opponent doesn't draw into hate, you can still use it on creatures and other permanents you want gone. In fact, Abrupt Decay can kill most creatures played in the format.

Duress: Poor man's Thoughtseize, this card benefits by not hitting you for life when you cast it. While Thoughtseize hits any nonland, Dredge is most worried about non-land hate cards. Conflagrate + Flame Jab can take care of creatures easily.

Bojuka Bog: I used to run four Leyline of the Void but quickly realized that I was running these cards that only do something if I start with one in hand. The rest are dead cards. Bojuka Bog can come back after I dredge it via Life from the Loam. If I'm playing the mirror, there's not much that my opponent can do about a land. Same goes for decks that run Snapcaster Mage or cards with flashback. While not a permanent fix, it delays our opponent enough for us to deliver the final blow.

Raven's Crime

Vengeful Pharaoh

Date added	8 years
Last updated	7 years
Splash colors	U
Key combos	Conflagrate + Life from the Loam Leyline of the Void + Relic of Progenitus + Rest in Peace Conflagrate + Flame Jab
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 2 Mythic Rares 21 - 9 Rares 16 - 1 Uncommons 16 - 3 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.34
Folders	Modern Testing Pool, Reanimate, Modern Ideas