The past few days have been a seriously mixed bag for Magic: The Gathering. On one hand, we got the debut of Spider-Man, and all the sweet-looking cards that came along with that. On the other hand, the Magic Spotlight: Planetary Rotation and the Standard events orbiting it, threw the sorry state of the format into sharp relief. Vivi Cauldron was just as dominant as ever, and only a few spicy brews really shook things up. One of these decks was a Dimir Mill list, coming out of nowhere to secure a top-eight finish in Saturday’s MTG Standard ReCQ.
It’s rare to see Mill decks anywhere in Standard, never mind in the upper ranks of a major event. It really speaks to how stagnant the current format is that players are resorting to decks as out-there as this to try and break through. Whether Dimir Mill will be able to deliver results consistently remains to be seen. For now, though, it’s an oasis of innovation in a desert of stock Vivi lists.
Dimir Mill In MTG Standard
Dimir Mill is a fairly simple MTG deck, even for Standard. The idea is to draw the game out until you can pull off a combo kill with Singularity Rupture and Riverchurn Monument. The former puts half of your opponent’s deck into the graveyard, then the latter finishes the job via its Exhaust ability. Since Rupture rounds down, this isn’t a guaranteed kill on the spot, but you’re most likely splitting these effects over multiple turns, so the extra draw will even things out.
Straightforward enough, but there are two major issues here. First of all, you need to assemble both pieces of the combo. EvilGhola, who took the deck to its top eight finish over the weekend, solves this by running a ton of card draw and selection. Stock Up is an easy include in pretty much any blue deck, but it’s particularly effective in combo lists like this. It’s backed up here by a full playset of Consult the Star Charts, which fills a similar role at instant speed.
Once you have both cards, the other big problem is using them. The full combo here is pretty mana-intensive, demanding 12 total mana to use from hand. You can spread this out, of course, since Monument costs just two to cast initially. You’ll likely need to spend one turn casting Rupture and another using Monument’s effect, which gives the deck an estimated win window of around turn seven. Even in Standard, this isn’t particularly speedy.
That said, Rupture does help a bit in this regard. Since it also clears the board, you get a bit of breathing room to make it more likely that you’ll survive to complete the combo. This also gives the card utility outside the combo.
Stayin’ Alive
Of course, a six-mana board wipe alone isn’t going to get Dimir Mill through a game of MTG Standard. This holds doubly true since the deck actually plays no creatures whatsoever. Without the usual blockers to hold the board, the rest of the deck is dedicated to disruption and survival tools.
For starters, there’s plenty of removal here. Feed the Cycle, Into the Flood Maw, and Long Goodbye can all get problem threats off the board. They’re all instant speed, too, which makes them great to hold up alongside Consult. For wider boards, Deadly Cover-Up gives you another board wipe option, at a better rate than Rupture. The Surgical Extraction effect tacked on here can also be massive against Vivi Cauldron. Hit either piece, and you greatly reduce the deck’s overall threat level.
Alongside this removal suite, The Darkness Crystal makes a surprising, but fitting, appearance. This rewards you with life for destroying opposing creatures, which can help keep you alive. It also makes it easier to cast your removal, and can therefore accelerate you into the combo a turn early.
EvilGhola rounds things out with a solid suite of countermagic. Divert Disaster and Three Steps Ahead both give you ways to deal with an Agatha’s Soul Cauldron in advance, or any aggressive threat. Three Steps Ahead is particularly good because of the flexibility it offers. The looting effect helps you find your combo pieces, and the copying can get you another Monument. This can let you fill your own ‘yard more quickly, in order to fuel Deadly Cover-Up.
Overall, while it’s been labelled as a Combo deck on most sites so far, EvilGhola’s deck plays mostly like a Control list. You make good use of your resources early to survive, then deploy the combo once you’ve solidified your position.
A Glimmer Of Hope?
It’s tempting to write off EvilGhola’s success with Dimir Mill this weekend as just a freak event. The deck hasn’t been seen at all, really, up until now, and it pursues such an unusual game plan that it seems unlikely to do well in the format going forward. That said, it is fairly well-positioned in the current Vivi Cauldron meta.
Cauldron itself is a rough matchup, as it is for pretty much every deck in Standard right now. While Deadly Cover-Up and Ancient Vendetta can deal with the big two, the rest of the deck is a perfectly serviceable Izzet Aggro deck regardless. It’s likely the deck will run you over just by playing early creatures long before the mill combo lands.
The decks just below Cauldron, however, are much better propositions. Both Dimir Midrange and Azorius Control are slower strategies, which leave more room for you to find your combo. They also play a lot of removal, which you totally blank by running no creatures. The main thing you need to worry about against these decks is countermagic on your combo pieces. You can easily play around it by holding up your own, however, or by using Mistrise Village to force pieces through.
This puts the deck in a strange position. It’s good against the supporting decks in the meta, but bad against the big menace of the format. If Cauldron catches a ban, as most expect it will at this point, Dimir Mill could well become a viable option in MTG Standard. For now, however, it’s a fringe brew like every other non-Vivi deck in the format.
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