Hearthstone
What is Dredge in Hearthstone?
Hearthstone has many card effects that are common enough that they get their own keyword - a word or two that immediately tells you how the card works. Let's take a look at the Dredge keyword.
Look at the bottom 3 cards of your deck. Put one on top.
Dredge is a mechanic that looks at the bottom 3 cards of your deck and then you choose one of those cards to put at the top of your deck to draw next. This in turn gives you information on your deck order as the cards you don't pick are cards that you know you won't be drawing and when you get to the bottom of your deck, you have an idea as to what you'll draw. Dredge was added in Voyage to the Sunken City and synergizes with various effects that add cards to the bottom of your deck to give you access to them quicker that you normally would.
Keywords that Work Great with Dredge
Dredge has limited direct keyword interaction, however it does have an interesting interaction with Tradeable as you can Dredge a card and then trade away a Tradeable card to draw the card right away. This interaction is fairly situational as it will spend a lot of mana in a turn for a card you would've otherwise drawn next turn anyway, but it is something that you may keep in mind every once in a while.
Otherwise, cards with Dredge won't be available to use right away so any mechanic that helps you survive (Taunt, Lifesteal, etc.) will help you stay in the game until you draw it. Sometimes you may find yourself in a dire situation where you will need to hold out until you draw your Dredged card to turn the tide of the game around.
Beyond keywords, Dredge also has interactions with cards like Holy Wrath and Tentacled Menace as you will know what's on top of your deck in-between the turn you play the Dredge card and your next one.
Playing Against Dredge in Hearthstone
As Dredged cards aren't placed in the hand and aren't usable right away (unless your opponent also draws into the card on the same turn), you will have a turn to prepare a plan for the Dredged card. Certain Dredge cards will also clue you into what your opponent is playing and what the card in question they chose might be. If your opponent plays a Bloodscent Vilefin for instance, you may now suspect a Murloc to be on top of your opponent's deck. This (or any similar effect) may then be factored into your gameplan. If you suspect that your opponent has Dredged a significant card, this is something that you can keep in mind for your next few turns and you will have some time to plan your move out.
As a Warlock, you can use cards like Gnomeferatu, Altar of Fire, or Tickatus to burn a card your opponent Dredges if they don't draw it on that same turn. Mischief Maker can also be used to steal it.
Example Dredge Cards in Hearthstone
Tuskarrrr Trawler is a very basic Dredge card that has no set parameters or after-effects to its Dredge.
Bloodscent Vilefin is a card that can also Dredge anything, but it obviously wants you to use it in Murloc deck as it has a bonus effect if you specifically Dredge a Murloc by making it cost Health instead of Mana.
Leave a Comment
You must be signed in to leave a comment. Sign in here.
Comments
Is trading a tradeable card shuffles your deck?
Curse of Agony might actually be a playable disruption card if the Dredge mechanic turns out to be good
I pissed my pants slightly when I saw the word Dredge. And then I remember that this is not MTG. Thank fuck for that.
Its likely that dredge will only truly be playable alongside cards that actively put stuff at the bottom of your deck. The idea that we get to choose whats coming the next turn is a neat idea, but I doubt we'd be actually putting cards like these into the deck just to take advantage of the dredge effect.
Tuskarrrr Trawler for example, is a vanilla 2 drop. Is there any reason why'd I play this card over the many other 2 drops that comes with battlecries that may be more relevant than a maybe card?
But that said, there's many interesting ways team5 can run with the dredge effect, like Bloodscent Vilefin, that may make it more worth it. I think this is where dredge shows its best - Being a card that grants an additional effect along with the ability to choose what you draw next. That's where it'll probably be a more playable card.
Another possible anti-Dredge tech — anything that shuffles a card into your opponent’s deck will shuffle their deck, so the dredged card will no longer be on top.
If Dredge is done right, it will encourage players to think ahead and add layers of depth that I think is currently lacking in every game mode. If done wrong, it will increase consistency and make standard feel very uniform. I really want it to be the former.
Edit: Also the third possibility, where it is super weak and doesn't impact the game at all.
Probably a little of both. (There's no chance of option 3.)
If there's a colossal murloc in the set, we will be seeing a whole lot of it for the next two years.