Pauper: BG Dredge - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

In my last article about Pauper, I brought an Azoriuz Familiars deck guide, and I discussed how recursion is one of this format's pillars. In this article, I'll explore a deck that focuses heavily on recursion, and has surprised players, bringing important results and gaining space bit by bit.

Even though it only has one card with the ability that names it, Stinkweed Imp, Dredge is a self-mill deck with which you'll fill the graveyard as fast as possible so you can then use Dread Return and bring Lotleth Giant from the graveyard to the battlefield - this will deal an absurd amount of damage to the opponent, and, many times, it will be lethal.

Lotleth Giant and Dread Return are the main pieces in this strategy, and both were downgraded in Commander Legends. They've also come to this format at the same time, but only now, in this list, they started getting the attention they deserve.

Lotleth Giant has an ETB ability that deals damage to the opponent equal to the number of creatures in your graveyard. Dread Return, on the other side, is a four mana Reanimate with a flashback cost that forces you to sacrifice three creatures instead of using mana, which really matches cards like Acorn Harvest and Scrapwork Mutt.

To speed up your game plan even more, and bring consistency to this strategy, this deck uses a few other self-mill pieces which are creatures.

Blanchwood Prowler feeds the graveyard and allows you to recover a land that was placed there by it; if you don't, you'll place a +1/+1 counter on it and have a 2/2 creature in play. Satyr Wayfinder works similarly, considering it recovers a land for you, but doesn't get the counters, and Mire Triton, besides milling, is excellent as a blocker, and also gives you a few life points.

Troll of Khazad-dûm and Generous Ent fit this list like a glove, considering they fix our mana base. They also allow us to keep hands with only one land with more confidence, and serve as an alternative game plan with Exhume in this list.

Considering this deck's strategy, you'll prefer hands that allow you to develop your game plan well, and that have enough land drops to do it.

Having 2-drops in your initial hand is important, particularly Blanchwood Prowler and Satyr Wayfinder, which will guarantee us future land drops.

Avoid hands that have Dread Return and/or Lotleth Giant straight away, considering you'll prefer these cards in your graveyard. Scrapwork Mutt discarding Stinkweed Imp on turn 2 is also a powerful opening.

As this deck heavily depends on your graveyard, you must be prepared to deal with the heavy graveyard hate that surrounds this format - and this is where our sideboard comes in.

As I mentioned before, it is critical to deal with hate cards, so our sideboard was built to allow you to deal with the greatest threat against this deck's strategy.

Ancient Grudge, besides breaking Relic of Progenitus, can serve as an LD in some situations, or even as a removal against artifact creatures.

Rotten Reunion slows down Terror decks' game plan, and breaks an Ephemerate or Ghostly Flicker loop, besides creating a token that will help you with Dread Return's flashback.

We have an extra copy of Gnaw to the Bone, which is an excellent card against aggro decks in general, and three copies of Flaring Pain and Ray of Revelation to deal with damage prevention and remove enchantments like All That Glitters.

Vs. Kuldotha Red

I consider this match to be 50% favorable and 50% unfavorable. It will basically be a race, and you'll always have to be ahead of your opponent.

Gnaw to the Bone is the card that will win you the game, completely locking down Red if it sticks to the board. To accomplish this, you'll need a fast hand that allows you to fill the graveyard quickly with creatures, besides guaranteeing you mana.

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Vs. Golgari Initiative

Your opponent will be forced to have a more aggressive game plan, considering their arsenal of removals won't be enough to stop Dredge. Be careful with graveyard hate and try to be fast.

Use your black creatures well, considering they're harder to kill and will help you steal the Initiative or the Monarch. The Exhume on turn 2 game plan is worse in this match because of the strong presence of Tithing Blade in Golgari lists.

In

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Vs. Ux Faeries

This game is a bit more complicated. Spellstutter Sprite and Counterspell are incredibly strong, and your opponent will be able to lean on their Ninjas and the Monarch to get more resources.

In UB's case, your opponent will have 4 dead cards in their deck, and this will be incredibly advantageous to us, considering Snuff Out is inefficient against Dredge and Stinkweed Imp is an excellent creature in this match.

Exhume on turn 2 is still the strongest game plan in this matchup, considering this Troll puts pressure on the opponent, and the Ent can lock down Faeries.

In

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Vs. Caw-Gates

I consider this match to be very favorable, but you'll have to handle Prismatic Strands, which is annoying to deal with. For this reason, our list has 3 copies of Flaring Pain.

Choose a hand that guarantees you speed, and don't forget to play around your opponent's counters.

In

Out

Some Caw-Gates lists use Relic of Progenitus in their sideboard - if you're facing that, swap Ray of Revelation for Ancient Grudge.

Vs. Affinity Glitters

This match can be slightly favorable to Affinity, depending on the version you're facing. Galvanic Blast makes somewhat of a difference, considering it removes their most effective blockers. Our game plan will be the same as the one we used against Mono-Red, and Gnaw to the Bone will once again be critical, but will share space with other important pieces in our sideboard.

In

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Dredge is surprisingly strong and fun. Despite its weaknesses, it can adapt to the current metagame well, and hits the main decks in this format head on. If well piloted, it can be a machine that will mow down your opponents, and it is also accessible when compared to the other competitive lists in this format.

If you like different strategies and combos that enable several lines of play, this is the deck for you.

Leave your questions and suggestions in the comment section, and I'll try to answer all. See you next time!