Mono Blue Dredge Deck Guide

Introduction

In Magic: The Gathering, the term dredge refers to the act of putting cards in to your own graveyard, derived from the name of the mechanic (which is not in MTG Arena yet). In Throne of Eldraine, one of the themes they introduced to the blue black archetype is exactly that and there are some nice additions from the set, such as Merfolk Secretkeeper.

Here is a fun decklist that which was first brought to our attention by Magic Pro League player Andrea Mengucci, so we decided to give it a whirl to give us a break from the current Standard metagame. Another bonus is that it is strong against the slow decks that are prevalent at the moment!

Decklist

4 Merfolk Secretkeeper (ELD) 53
4 Opt (ELD) 59
4 Watery Grave (GRN) 259
4 Unsummon (M20) 78
4 Wall of Lost Thoughts (RNA) 59
4 Drowned Secrets (GRN) 39
2 Mission Briefing (GRN) 44
2 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries (WAR) 54
4 Radical Idea (GRN) 52
4 Arclight Phoenix (GRN) 91
4 Discovery // Dispersal (GRN) 223
16 Island (ANA) 62
4 Creeping Chill (GRN) 66

3 Disdainful Stroke (GRN) 37
3 Mystical Dispute (ELD) 58
3 Aether Gust (M20) 42
3 Ashiok, Dream Render (WAR) 228
3 Narset, Parter of Veils (WAR) 61 

Deck updated: October 10, 2019

All Mono Blue Dredge Decklists

Deck Strategy

In general, mill decks try to mill the opponent. With this deck, it is the opposite – one of the primary goals is to try and mill yourself as quickly as possible, hence the deckname – dredge. As you run through the motions, ideally you are putting all your Creeping Chill and Arclight Phoenix into your graveyard. Eventually, you will be able to eventually cast the three spells required to bring back the phoenixes and kill your opponent, ideally in one attack as the Creeping Chill would have dealt some damage already.

If all else fails, you still have Jace, Wielder of Mysteries as another win condition should you be able to mill your deck entirely. If your opponent’s deck is more controlling or super slow (ahem, Golos), then you can even try to mill them instead!

Card Choices

• Watery Grave: Allows us to cast Creeping Chill (and Dispersal) if necessary.
• Merfolk Secretkeeper: It acts as both a spell and a wall to hinder your opponents.
• Wall of Lost Thoughts: The worst card in the deck as it is neither an instant or a sorcery but it is useful against aggro decks.
• Unsummon: The only way in the deck to interact with your opponent’s creatures mainboard – you can use it to slow down your opponent and keep yourself alive. When you are ahead and comfortable, you can bounce your creatures such as Merfolk Secretkeeper and use that to mill again.
• Radical Idea: Used to discard Arclight Phoenix.
• Drowned Secrets: This is your strongest milling engine, so try to find at least one early in the game!
• Jace, Wielder of Mysteries: Alternate win condition should Arclight Phoenix and Creeping Chill cannot finish the job. Take these out if you are facing a lot of aggro decks and put Narcomoeba instead.
• Narcomoeba: Another possible addition in the deck as a 1/1 flyer that can chip away at the opponent or act as a chump blocker against aggro decks. Can swap this around for Jace.

Matchup and Sideboard Guide

Versus Aggro

Stick to your gameplan and mill yourself aggressively, but try to look for your wall creatures as you will desperately need them for blocking. The only way to really interact with your opponent is via Unsummon as mentioned above, and they will be free to build up their board presence. Creeping Chill buys us some time by gaining us life. This is where the deck suffers the most and will be difficult to win. Your goal is to survive at least 5-6 turns. If you find yourself a really slow hand, consider a mulligan to look for early plays.

Versus Golos

Against the Golos decks, I found milling them rather than yourself, to be more effective and reliable. They have a lot of incidental lifegain, and things like Arboreal Grazer and Hydroid Krasis do a good job at blocking your Arclight Phoenix in a pinch.

Milling them also means you have a chance to mill their Field of the Dead so they cannot search for it, and makes them killing you slower. Sideboard in the Ashiok, Dream Render and Disdainful Stroke as they are most relevant for this matchup. You can take out the Wall of Lost Thoughts and Unsummon as they do not do too much. Overall, the matchup feels favored as you can mill them more quickly than they can kill you.

Versus Simic Flash

Simic Flash is a rough matchup as they can both threaten your life total with creatures and leaving up counterspells for your key spells, leaving you empty handed. The best thing you can do is resolve a Drowned Secrets. Mystical Dispute is probably your best card to sideboard here and hope for the best.

Closing

Give this deck a shot if you feel like playing something different. If you decided to try it out, be sure to let us know how you went in the comments below!

Changelog

• October 11, 2019: Update deck name and thanks to Kanister using this deck in Fandom Legends this deck may be part of the meta (probably temporarily).
• October 10, 2019: Deck guide added.