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New Standard, New Brews: A Fresh Twist on Dimir Midrange by Mogged
Bans and their impact
After the announcement that Standard would expand to a three-year rotation, the expectation was that Fable was going to get the hammer. Last week, it became official, along with Reckoner Bankbuster and Invoke Despair.
Fable of the mirror breaker
Fable was something of a powerhouse; it simply did too much for midrange, and Standard has always been the traditional midrange format. Casting Fable on the play resulted in win rates that were insane , probably around 75% in my personal experience. I think this was even apparent in the coverage of the last Pro Tour, where players who resolved Fable on turn 3 often ended up winning.
On the last Pro Tour, players who resolved Fable on turn 3 on the play often ended up winning.
Although Fable was a nice enabler for greedier strategies like Reanimator, one could tell how much better the deck performed with a Fable start than without it. I tried to build midrange decks a lot in this format, but the results of most of my attempts didn't provide enough incentive to play a midrange strategy without Fable.
In the end, most of my ideas would have been better if I had included Fable, and if I couldn't include it, I should probably have given up on the idea.
Invoke Despair
This ban is completely unreasonable.
Invoke literally checks every box for being unable to warp a meta around it, and its success is closely correlated to the fable of the mirror breaker. Invoke Despair has deck-building restrictions; not only does it require a specific kind of slow midrange deck, but also a heavily black one, as the casting cost is very restrictive (something that Fable helped a lot with). It performs poorly against disruption such as Duress and is especially terrible against blue disruption.
There are even many situations where Invoke is a very mediocre play, such as against tokens and inexpensive enchantments like Spirited Companion. Furthermore, Surge of Salvation was printed recently.
In the end, that card was very restrictive, and mono-black isn't good enough to dominate the meta. Without Fable, I am pretty sure Invoke Despair isn't dangerous enough to create health issues for the format. I am kind of sad to see it go, as I think it was very fun to cast but needed a lot of work too.
Reckoner Bankbuster
I think this is a very powerful card, with the issue being that it is colorless and will fit into any midrange strategy. I am not convinced that banning it is necessary, but it's entirely possible that it could be right. Its success isn't associated with Fable, other than both cards fitting into midrange decks.
New pathways that open up after the bans
I think at this point, we are only seeing a fraction of what is possible after the Fable ban.
We are only seeing a fraction of what is possible after the Fable ban
I don't necessarily expect Standard to bloom right away with new builds since there is no major Standard event soon. However, I do think there are plenty of opportunities for new decks.
The obvious decks are clear:
- Esper Legends
- Mono-white
- 4c Ramp
- And all kinds of aggro!
But I think all those decks have weaknesses that are very exploitable. In comparison, Fable decks were really hard to target, and there was no easy solution to stop them. For example, adding Cut Down to fight aggro is more straightforward and efficient than adding Duress to fight Fable decks, which still loses to other parts of the deck.
My idea is that midrange can still be on top, but there are many ways to approach this since you are not locked into a red-based deck. In today's guide, I will be exploring a very simple black midrange idea.
Back to brewing: UB midrange
$427/141.5 Tix
Maindeck (60)
| Creature [12] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Tenacious Underdog | $0.49 | |
| 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse | $79.99 | |
| 3 Ertai Resurrected | $0.99 | |
| 4 Faerie Mastermind | $13.99 | |
| Instant [13] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 Spell Pierce | $0.59 | |
| 1 Infernal Grasp | $2.29 | |
| 2 Make Disappear | $0.39 | |
| 4 Cut Down | $1.49 | |
| 1 Scatter Ray | $0.35 | |
| 4 Go for the Throat | $1.49 | |
| Battle [2] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Invasion of Amonkhet | $0.35 | |
| Planeswalker [8] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sorin the Mirthless | $5.99 | |
| 2 Kaito Shizuki | $4.49 | |
| 3 Liliana of the Veil | $16.99 | |
| 2 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim | $8.99 | |
| Land [25] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Darkslick Shores | $1.99 | |
| 4 Shipwreck Marsh | $7.49 | |
| 1 Otawara, Soaring City | $24.99 | |
| 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire | $12.99 | |
| 4 Underground River | $2.99 | |
| 4 Island | $0.01 | |
| 7 Swamp | $0.01 | |
| Sideboard [15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Negate | $0.35 | |
| 1 Disdainful Stroke | $0.35 | |
| 4 Duress | $0.35 | |
| 2 Parasitic Grasp | $0.35 | |
| 2 Whack | $0.35 | |
| 2 Razorlash Transmogrant | $0.49 | |
| 2 Glistening Deluge | $0.35 | |
$104.68 Tix @cardhoarder
$2.62 / Week @cardhoarder
$397.50 @tcgplayer
$493.93 @cardkingdom
Visual View
Similar Decks
Proxies
Archetype Analysis
Magic online format
Apprentice and MWS .dec
https://mtgdecks.net/Standard/dimir-midrange-decklist-by-mogged-1662344
Card Choices
Filling the Gaps
There is a gap left at 2 and 3 mana for most midrange decks after the bannings. Filling those holes with similar effects can be done in many ways. My approach is to have a game plan similar to Bankbuster draw-go with 2 mana open and disruption. I think Faerie Mastermind is serviceable for this purpose and complements Ertai.
For 3 cmc, I am looking for a value generator/snowball effect. The best choice is probably Wedding Announcement over Liliana of the Veil, but I think black has a better disruptive core than white does.
Corpse Appraiser probably isn't worth the splash on its own.
This deck is very similar to the previous Grixis Midrange. I would say this deck is better at presenting a clock and more consistent in being able to cast its cards than Grixis, but it loses card selection and some inevitability in the late game .
This means sometimes you will flood or not be able to find your fourth land, and some late games will slip away from you. The objective with UB is to gain some tempo and then surpass your opponent with a planeswalker cast on a somewhat empty board. To achieve that, you need a lot of disruption and must prevent the enemy's plan from happening.
Disruption
1) Counters
Notably scatter ray/essence scatter should be a great tool now, it’s big disadvantage was not being able to counter fable but now more creatures show up on turn 3, the whole package can be bluffed and interchanged with faerie mastermind or removal when you present 2 mana up
2) Removals
These first days of Standard there are a lot of creatures and not necessarily expensive ones, so cut down and go for the throat probably answer most stuff at net positive mana, Liliana is also somewhat of a removal
3) Hand disruption
Duress is a sideboard option only aimed to fight slower decks
4) Swiss Army Knife
Yes, we're talking about Ertai, which can be used as a counter or as removal.
Win conditions
1) Sheoldred
If your opponent doesn’t have a removal , this is a very simple plan but it is very hard to succeed as most decks pack removal and you are not presenting many other juicy targets, usually casting sheoldred with the hope of winning is better as a last resource play and quite useful if you are already losing the game as you are gambling on sheoldred surviving
2) Planeswalkers
If your opponent's board isn't overwhelming, this is probably the most common win condition for the deck: clear the board, then play a planeswalker. If it survives, your chance of winning drastically increases.
This strategy can punish opponents with removal or conservative play. Flipping Invasion of Amonkhet is somewhat similar, as it requires some time to set it up and attack, but the reward can be extraordinary in some cases, as it can copy Sheoldred, Atraxa, or Angels.
3) Faerie mastermind with Ertai backup
This is a great interaction, as the opponent is likely facing a difficult choice between confronting Ertai or simply passing and falling behind due to Mastermind's activated ability. If Ertai uses its triggered ability on the opponent's turn, Faerie Mastermind's ability is triggered, which is probably my favorite interaction in the deck.
Sideboard guide
In this section since this is a renewed format I will only be mentioning the decks that strike out as well as providing a “make your own sideboard plan” solution to use when facing least popular or new decks
Esper legends
On the play
On the draw
Monored
Soldiers
4 color ramp
Monowhite
Monoblue
Everything else
This is a new format, and not many decks survived the bannings. Since you have to face new decks, I will give my approximate ratings for how good cards are versus specific archetypes.
You shouldn't take this chart to heart because it is only approximately correct (for example, Spell Pierce is good against Mono-red but bad against Soldiers, even though they are both aggro). However, it should help you sideboard when you are unprepared by giving you an idea of how often I am considering cutting or adding those cards.
A means a card is great versus the archetype
B means the card is average, but could be cut or should be added versus the archetype
C means that you should probably sideboard the card out or keep it in the sideboard
Final words
This format seems very promising to me; even though there's an undesired 3-year rotation, we're no longer trapped in the Fable prison, and there are numerous thrilling opportunities to break it, whether in Arena , MTGO, or your upcoming major tournament!
If you liked this article maybe you will also find interesting on of the following ones Getting ready for the Vintage Qualifier: Doomsday Cheatsheet & Sideboad Guide
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MTGO Grinder
Mogged is one of the MTGO grinders behind many of the top winning decks across formats. He has the most Challenge top8s and wins in 2021, and is currently leading in Challenge wins in 2022. His articles show a deep understanding of the MTG theory and are great for those looking to improve their gameplay, better understanding the game, and learning how the metagame evolves over time.
