If you’ve been following Standard in recent weeks, you know how prevalent the Esper Pixie deck has become. Getting to put pressure on the opponent while simultaneously generating value from bouncing and replaying your enchantments is very strong.
Interestingly, though, as strong of a showing as Esper Pixie had on day one of the 1,453 player Spotlight Series main event in Atlanta, the deck failed to put any pilots into top eight. Instead, we saw a unique Dimir midrange/enchantments hybrid archetype dominate the tournament, making it to the finals of the event!
This deck doesn’t quite have the same potential for “nut draws” as Esper Pixie but makes up for that with its consistency and more robust late game. Let’s see what this deck’s all about.
Enchantments Package
- Mana Value: 4U
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Instant
- MTG Sets: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
- Card Text: This spell costs 3 less to cast if it targets a permanent you control. Return up to two target nonland permanents to their owner’s hands.
Just like the Esper Pixie deck, this archetype focuses some of its attention on enchantment synergies. By playing enchantments with potent enters-the-battlefield effects, you’re able to maximize cards like This Town Ain’t Big Enough.
This Town Ain’t Big Enough is so much better than it looks, so long as you put the right support around it. Both Hopeless Nightmare and Stormchaser’s Talent are decent turn one plays on their own that then ensure This Town Ain’t Big Enough costs two mana. From there, you can use it as a massive tempo swing, letting you generate additional value and bounce a problematic threat from the opponent.
In addition to This Town Ain’t Big Enough, Fear of Isolation fills a similar role. You won’t always want to play this card on turn two, since sometimes you’ll want to bounce Nowhere to Run or Floodpits Drowner to keep the opponent off balance.
Of course, any game where you can curve Stormchaser’s Talent into Fear of Isolation is tough for the opponent to contend with, since you’re putting so much pressure on the board early. That being said, what sets this deck apart is its ability to contend in the mid to late game.
Dimir Tempo Elements
- Mana Value: 2UU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 4/3
- Card Type: Enchantment Creature- Cat Glimmer
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Flash. Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. When Enduring Curiosity dies, if it was a creature, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control. It’s an enchantment. (It’s not a creature.)
Just like your typical Standard Dimir tempo shell, this archetype features a multitude of ways to create card advantage. This deck isn’t as all-in on the Ninjutsu theme, as there are no copies of Moon-Circuit Hacker, but there are still a few copies of Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.
Kaito works well in conjunction with Fear of Isolation, as Fear is an efficient, evasive threat that dodges some common cheap removal like Burst Lightning. Plus, you can then recast Fear, bouncing one of your value-based enchantments all over again.
To help further facilitate Kaito as a win condition, Floodpits Drowner as well as Spyglass Siren make an appearance. Spyglass Siren has evasion built it, and Floodpits Drowner taps an opposing blocker making it more likely you’ll connect.
As you might expect in a Kaito shell, you’ll also find Enduring Curiosity as a way to completely take over games. Enduring Curiosity is a card advantage machine and is one of the absolute best cards in the format.
Enduring Curiosity having Flash only adds to its greatness. Against many of Standard’s best exile effects, such as Obliterating Bolt or Lay Down Arms, you can cast Enduring Curiosity on the opponent’s end step and still get a big hit in and draw some cards before your opponent can answer it.
On top of that, the presence of This Town Ain’t Big Enough makes sorcery speed answers even more dubious. If your opponent tries to clear away Enduring Curiosity precombat, you have the luxury of bouncing Enduring Curiosity back to your hand and bouncing a potential attacker back to your opponent’s hand in a huge swing.
Benefits of Staying Dimir
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Land
- MTG Sets: Foundations
- Card Text: Tap: Add colorless. 4: This land becomes a 3/3 creature with vigilance and all creature types. It’s still a land.
The Dimir tempo and enchantment themes mesh surprisingly well together. The question really is whether it’s worth giving up on the white cards. Do Enduring Curiosity and Kaito pull their weight enough to make it worth straying away from Nurturing Pixie and Sheltered by Ghosts?
While the answer isn’t clear cut, there are some major benefits to crafting your deck this way. First and foremost, you have access to a much better manabase. The Esper Pixie deck wants to reliably come out of the gate quickly, and has one-drops in blue, white, and black. With such demanding color and curve requirements, Esper Pixie is forced to play upwards of 10 “pain lands” (like Underground River).
The pain lands come at a cost against the red aggro decks. The need to have your lands enter untapped also eliminates the use of potent creature lands like Restless Reef.
Even still, it’s not uncommon for Esper pilots to have to mulligan more aggressively or stumble out of the gates because they’re missing a color of mana in their opening hands. Dimir, by contrast, is more consistent, and makes great use of Restless Reef and Soulstone Sanctuary.
These lands, coupled with Enduring Curiosity and Kaito, give Dimir enchantments an edge against some matchups like mono-white tokens, too. Sunfall in particular is less problematic the way this deck is constructed.
Making it to the finals of an event with 1,453 players is an incredibly impressive feat. Doing it with a unique blend of strategies like this, though, is all the more incredible. Standard continues to be a fertile environment for innovation.
