Deck manipulation has been - and likely always will be - one of the strongest effects in Hearthstone. Card draw, Discovery - the lot. These mechanics are top-tier, and they often come at a premium. Heck, Warlocks have to exchange HP for their Card draw - and it’s still considered an absolute steal.
Hearthstone is not against adding new mechanics to its core, and Dredge is one of the latest. It also just so happens to be one of the most interesting mechanics in the game since it interacts with your deck in a truly unique fashion. Let’s dive in and dredge up some tips on how to use this awesome new mechanic.
What Is Dredge?
Dredge is incredibly simple in theory - you simply look at the bottom three cards of your deck, and place one of them on top of your deck. That’s it. Mechanically, there is nothing more to it than that. In practice, however, Dredge has a lot more going for it if you dig a little deeper.
The Best Way To Use Dredge
Firstly, putting a card from the bottom of your deck to the top of your deck is great. This lets you guarantee your next draw - whether that be from a Draw mechanic, or simply when you start your next turn. This lets you play future turns with more certainty than usual, and this power is not to be underestimated.
Not only that, but Dredge doesn’t force a shuffle once used. The cards at the bottom of your deck will stay there. What does this mean? Well, it means you know what the last two cards in your deck are going to be 100 percent of the time. This knowledge is also very powerful because you can more easily predict what cards are going to come up at any given time. The information is very useful if you are paying attention.
Finally, Dredge has a few cards that interact with it indirectly. For example, the Hunter card, Azsharan Saber, on death, sends a ghost of itself to the bottom of your deck. You can then use Dredge to pull that card to the top of your deck and access its powerful stats and abilities far sooner than if you just skipped on the mechanic altogether.
Downsides Of Dredge
Dredge is a very powerful effect that has a couple of notable drawbacks. Firstly, it's very slow. Most Dredge cards do not have built-in Draw, which means you are playing a card to gain an effect on your next turn (potentially). This Mana expenditure without any immediate gains can put you back on tempo, which is never a good thing.
Not only that, but Dredge could actually make your turns worse. Dredging pushes all of your draws back by one Draw/Turn. The card you Dredged could be worse than the card you were going to draw naturally. The information gleaned is often worth more than the potentially missed Draw opportunity, but it is something worth considering - especially when the information gained is less valuable the more you use Dredge.