Golgari Explore

It’s time to also develop a second deck in Arena, and I’m interested in a Golgari build. In fact, it’s going to have similarities to my Dimir deck, but instead of surveil, it’s going to explore. I can port some cards over between decks, because surveil and explore are similar in ways; Both are scry-alike mechanics that are able to dump things in the graveyard. I can imagine things will converge from there, and I might even end up with a Sultai () deck, with at least a splash of for… Muldrotha, the Gravetide, maybe?


Also the Golgari has the best logo of all Guilds.

So, why explore? Well, there are a lot of aggressive decks, and red is getting more and more traction with decks around Runaway Steam-Kin and Experimental Frenzy, so I want to run some Wildgrowth Walkers to have an escalating threat, that also gains me life. And explore allows me to dump creatures from the top of my deck into the graveyard, almost as good as Surveil does, but I have more, or better recursion available to take advantage of that.

I also like Journey to Eternity a lot. Once set up, I quickly get full access to my graveyard, especially in unison with Golgari Findbroker. And there are other cool synergies to be found:

Stitcher’s Supplier and Plaguecrafter feel like a one-two (or one-three, if you look at CMC)  punch that fills the grave with cool stuff. Plaguecrafter also makes it easier to use Journey, and set up quite a bit of a string of sacrifice effects the Atzal.

Ideally, I’m looking for something to sacrifice my creatures to, to help activating Atzal, and to keep reusing enter the battlefield effects. So far, I have seen a lot that can help with that.

Doom Whisperer is a good way to set up Explores, as well as filling the graveyard. Since I use 2 in my Dimir deck, it’s an easy include.

At it’s core, it looks like something like this:

~ Golgari Reanimator ~

Exploration Suite (12)


Merfolk Branchwalker
Seekers’ Squire
Wildgrowth Walker

Graveyard Filling (8)


Stitcher’s Supplier
Plaguecrafter

Reanimation and Recursion (8)


Find // Finality
Golgari Findbroker
Journey to Eternity

Reanimation Targets (4)


Doom Whisperer
Izoni, Thousand-Eyed

Removal (4)


Ravenous Chupacabra

Lands (24)


Forest
Golgari Guildgate
Overgrown Tomb
Swamp
Woodland Cemetery

This is only the base of the deck, and from there things can be added. Maybe some incarnation of Vraska, or Assassin’s Trophy, or maybe a Lotleth Giant as a finisher. Once the base is there, I can test different variations and single cards and tweak the numbers. I do like decks that have card selection and snowballing synergies.

Posted under Standard

Phyrexian Scriptures

Now I’m strongly concidering Phyrexian Scriptures in my Dimir deck. One of the things I have problems with is decks that go wide, or decks that have hexproof creatures. Scriptures is a good way to deal with those, I think. The downside is the delay in destroying things, giving opponents the chance to deal with scriptures. At least it’s an extra counter that can be useful for Thoughtbound Phantasm, and it makes Nightveil Predator even harder to deal with.

It also seems like a card worth getting, because it also works very nicely in Golgari decks, because it’s a recursive wrath effect with Golgari Findbroker. Another positive thing the Scriptures does is dealing with graveyards. This puts a lot of pressure on decks that use the graveyard, and with Jump-Start and Undergrowth, a lot of decks actually use the graveyard.

So, it’s worth testing. Maybe some sorcery-based Wrath is better, because I run Mission Briefing, but I can’t pinpoint the exact card I want to use. Ritual of Soot is the closest competition, but unlocking that in Arena doesn’t conflict with Scriptures, due to it being from a different set that I can draft, and being a different rarity, and it deals with a different subset of creatures.

 

Posted under Standard

Dimir Sinister Surveilance Update

The Magic Arena version of my deck is still slowly getting closer to my ideal version. Sidestepping to other cards shows what works and what doesn’t, even though some cards will work better in context once I get the right amount of cards around it. My general philosophy on deckbuilding is using 4x the cards I like when possible, because if it’s good enough to play it should be good enough to be in there 4 times; This deck is becoming a hotchpotch of 2x or 3x cards. This is because I have a lot of card selection, and the cards are different approaches to the same result, all slighty different so they work better in different situations.

An example is Etrata. I’m not 100% sure about her. I want a big wall that I can use as a removal when needed, or as an attacker when the board is clear. She’s fine, but so far she doesn’t solve the problem when I play against another control deck, and that is having a persistant threat on the table. But there are other cards that fill a similar role, while being very good in a situation the rest of the deck has trouble handling. So, maybe I want to run Nightveil Predator instead. A flying deathtouch creature still works well as a “wall” and trades with most of the things that get thrown at me, all the while being resiliant against spot removal.

In fact, when playing a mirror match I see Etrata once in a while, and I simply kill her with a removal spell, but my deck roled over when faced with a Nightveil Predator, because I simply couldn’t touch it. This is partly because I didn’t have enough Dimir Spybugs, Thought Erasures or Sinister Sabotages to actually handle it, yet, but I think the Predator simply works better as a standalone threat than Etrata.

In a similar slot is Hostage Taker. She works as a removal spell, and sometimes I get some card advantage out of her, by stealing an opposing creature. There are some issues that they have a chance to get their creature back, and bouncing something I have stolen is something that comes up often enough.

The same problem happens with Thief of Sanity. I do note that I’m often happy to see one, more than I am to see Darkblade Agent, but there are risks involved.  Thief is slightly more vulnerable than Agent, but doesn’t require to be “turned on” for card advantage, and it’s more evasive. I think I’ll replace the Thieves eventually, especially once I complete my disruption package:

The cards  I’m debating in that disruption package are Thought Erasure and Sinistar Sabotage.  On one hand, Thought Erasure a cheap surveil spell, and it makes me feel a lot more safe when I know what my opponent is doing, and I get rid of a removal spell that could ruin my plans. It’s a really good card. The downside is that, while it can remove things I normally can’t deal with, it also does so without costing my opponent mana. When I counter something with Sinister Sabotage, at least it means my opponent invested in the card I’m trying to stop. Sabotage requires me to keep mana open, though, and since my mana isn’t optimised yet, keeping open is dificult. Especially if I want to use Mission Briefing to keep open to counter things. Mission Briefing is a big part in my toolbox strategy, but difficult on mana. I run 2, which somewhat counts as 2 additional copies of any particular spell. The manabase might need some rework to make it work better, I’m often lacking to do the things I want to do.

Notion Rain is a card I was reluctant to spend card slots on. I certainly don’t want to play 4 of it, because of the life cost involved. So far I was happy to see this one though. Digging 4 cards deep and gaining card advantage often helped, but against very aggressive decks it sometimes becomes a dead card, because I can’t afford the 2 life. I haven’t experienced Disinformation Campaign yet, which is a similar draw spell, plus disruption, which might be a reasonable alternative, and gains me more value over time.

The current goal is:

~ Dimir Sinister Surveilance (version 4) ~

Creatures (18)


Doom Whisperer
Dimir Spybug
Nightveil Predator
Nightveil Sprite
Thief of Sanity
Thoughtbound Phantasm

Spells (18)


Cast Down
Discovery // Dispersal
Notion Rain
Mission briefing
Price of Fame
Sinister Sabotage
Thought Erasure

Enchantments (2)


Disinformation Campaign

Lands (22)


Drowned Catacomb
Island
Memorial to Folly
Memorial to Genius
Swamp
Watery Grave

Sideboard (15)


Duress
Golden Demise
Moment of Craving
Nightveil Predator
Selective Snare
Vraska’s Contempt

Land wise I might also include Memorial to Folly and Memorial to Genius. I’m not commited to these, because they come into play tapped. My live version still includes some Dimir Guildgates, and having lands come into play tapped so far hasn’t been a huge downside, but it’s obvious something you want to avoid. Memorial to Genius seems like a poor man’s Search for Azcanta however. It remains to be seen if a tapped land basically counts as half a landdrop, or if Azcanta can be reliably flipped to count as a land drop. Azcanta helps digging for lands early on and digging for spells later on, but I want to avoid getting too little lands in my opening hand, and have a higher chance of early manascrew.

That said, the opportunity cost seems low, and Folly enhances my threat density, while Genius gives me a chance at card advantage. I’m not exactly expecting miracles here, but they might give me some incidental advantage, for example when I’m holding up counters, but nothing gets played.

And even though I usually don’t play best out of 3, it’s nice to have an idea for a sideboard for when there is an event. There are extra Nightveil Predators in there, for when I play against other control decks. Then there are mass removal effects against tokens. Moment of Craving for decks with small creatures, to give some live padding. Vraska’s Contempt also gives me some life and also deals with Planeswalkers. There are some Duresses to deal with spell heavy decks. Duress might miss more than Thought Erasure, but it can come in when there are more targets for it.


Now that Guilds of Ravnica draft is life, I have something to grind towards. The plan is to draft for missing pieces, and do more and more testing. Even though I’m not having the version I want of the deck, yet, the performance seems good enough that it wins more than it loses. I expect that problem matchups will become more prominent. That is, fast, aggressive red decks and decks that create lots of tokens, but that the final version also becomes more resiliant to those decks.

Posted under Commander / EDH

This is the current version of the deck I’m trying to collect. There are 18 cards that surveil, and 12 that trigger of surveil. I think that triggering surveil is the most important part of the deck, and 18 is the minimum so I can do it somewhat reliably ervery turn. The Nightveil Sprites and Doom Whispererers offer repeated surveilance, which help consistancy.

I removed the Syncopates and brought in the Etratas. Both are not surveil related and different approaches to control.

The deck is still somewhat weak to flyers and mass tokens. (I see a lot of vampire tokens and Sylesnia is gaining traction.) I mentioned Mephetic Vapors as a possible solution for go-wide strategies, but I think that Golden Demise is a better choice, as it hits more things, while possibly leaving my side of the board uneffected. I do consider these things sideboard solutions, and in Arena I generally don’t play best out of three, so inclusion will be a metagame choice.

~ Dimir Sinister Surveilance (version 3) ~

Creatures (18)


Darkblade Agent
Doom Whisperer
Dimir Spybug
Etrata, the Silencer
Nightveil Sprite
Thief of Sanity
Thoughtbound Phantasm

Spells (18)


Cast Down
Discovery // Dispersal
Notion Rain
Mission briefing
Price of Fame
Sinister Sabotage
Thought Erasure

Enchantments (2)


Disinformation Campaign

Lands (22)


Drowned Catacomb
Watery Grave
Island
Swamp

The 2 Nightveil Sprites could still be House Guildmages, the latter being more mana-intensive, but they can lock down a creature and don’t have to attack to surveil. Testing should indicate which one I like better.

I think I’ll skip on Search for Azcanta, for now. It’s nice to dig for answers, but I’m somewhat out of space for it. I also went down on Sinister Sabotage, because I wanted to include Mission Briefings, which is a more flexible spell, and it still keeps a bit of the control elements. I’d like to have more counterspells to protect my stuff, but for now this is how I see the numbers. Maybe I go down one Dimir Spybug for a Sinister Sabotage, and up the surveil count a little.

Posted under Commander / EDH

Dimir Sinister Surveilance, part 3

I’m slowly grinding towards my favoured build of Sinister Surveilance in Arena. I’m still missing some key pieces, but at least I have two Doom Whisperers in the deck, and I’ve substituted some cards with things I have available. This allows me to experiment a little, to see what cards I like in practice.

So, I put in a single Hostage Taker, since I unlocked one. This counts as a removal spell that potentially turns into multiple blockers. So far I liked it for this deck, even if it doesn’t do anything with surveil. But often it’s a source of card advantage.

This does lead me into thinking about a card that is in some ways similar: Etrata, the Silencer. It’s easy to look at Etrata and think “Hey 3 hits wins me the game!” but in practice, she will function as a 3/5 wall that discourages opponents from casting their bombs, and that I sometimes can cash in as a removal spell, for instance against flyers that she can’t block. Sure, it’s a Dimir control deck, with lots of surveil, and it’s not impossible to win with hit counters, but I don’t see that happen very often while I only include one or two of her.

So, I’ll be testing her for her ability to make me not lose that game, not for her ability to win me the game (It’s a nice bonus if she can manage that though.) If I like her wel enough that she’ll become a 3 or 4 of, and shift the focus towards her, it’s a different story. Then I can conceivably win with her more often.

Another plus of Etrata is that she can help deal with some random planeswalkers I encounter. The unblockable damage can keep them manageable, and she doesn’t shuffle herself when she hits one, so she’ll keep on the pressure on those things.

I’m looking forward to try her out. Once my deck develops and I have more Thought Erasures to see what opponents are up to and to disable any removal or tricks they have, having utility creatures like this is probably going to work better. Etrata should make people more nervous too.

Having a big “wall” to stem the bleeding is one thing. I encounter a lot of token decks, and making it costly to attack into me is one thing, but my focus on dealing with threats one for one sometimes causes me to be overrun. For that reason I may want to include some mass removal. Mephitic Vapors is one option, but -1/-1 isn’t enough in general. Ritual of Soot is a little better, but it also deals with my Thoughtbound Phantasms.

Other cards concidered are River’s Rebuke and Find // Finality, but at 6 mana they might be too expensive to deal with the problem of quick decks. Find // Finality also forces me to splash if I want to use it as a boardwipe.

I think Selective Snare might be the best choice here. Heroic Reinforcements often kills me, and the combination of the sudden boost and haste makes a sorcery speed solution less of an ideal pick, but I have Sinister Sabotage for that. For other mass soldier, saproling or vampire token decks, it seems like a good solution, that is flexible enough to work as an early tempo play. I would have loved it as an instant, but what can you do. As long as the many tokens are a big part of the metagame, it certainly is a card to try out.

The deck is still very much a work in progress, and it’s all about tweaking the numbers. I want to have enough surveil cards to keep my draws smooth and enable the synergies. Doom Whisperer and Notion Rain are good sources of surveil, but they really dig into my life total. I’m not yet quite prepared to spend some slots on Creeping Chill or Whispering Snitch, though the latter can become a split 2 and 2 with Dimir Spybug, for a slightly more defensive stance and more long term value.

 

Posted under Commander / EDH

Erratic Inversion

One of the cards from Guilds of Ravnica I want to brew around is Erratic Cyclops. I always liked Nivix Cyclops, and I want to use the bigger version of this Big Daddy.

I want to see how crazy I can make this as an attacker, having a deck that throws huge haymakers at my opponents. One of the tricks to use is Invert // Invent. This alone turns the cyclops into a 8/1 attacker. Another trick I thought of is using Dive Down, as it is a cheap trick that allows me to protect the cyclops, as well as adding +3/+1 when I get to Invert it afterwards. Then there is Sure Strike, which adds +5/+0 and first strike. This all makes a nice core to expand upon.

Another card I’d like to try is Runaway Steam-Kin. It seems these can grow fast enough to pose a threat, and there is always the option to cash in the counters for so I can get another spell off.

The list is a bit all-in, but it seems fun to try:

~ Erratic Inversion ~

Creatures (12)


Erratic Cyclops
Goblin Electromancer
Runaway Steam-Kin

Instants (25)


Dive Down
Expansion // Explosion
Inescapable Blaze
Invert // Invent
Lightning Strike
Risk Factor
Run Amok
Sure Strike

Sorcery (1)


Banefire

Lands (22)


Island
12 Mountain
Steam Vents
Sulfur Falls

Choosing spell, I went for as much red spells as possible, so that when I can “storm off” I can get the most out of Runaway Steam-Kin.

I wanted Inescapable Blaze as a finisher spell at the top-end. However, since I also run 4x Invert // Invent, I decided to add one Banefire instead of the second Blaze so I can find both with Invent, and set up big uncounterable damage on the turns following, as an extra avenue to victory. Testing will show if the sorcery speed and 1 less damage for CMC is worth it.

So, that’s the plan. Get in for some chip damage, then finish off with a huge strike. To be fair, it doesn’t look entirely practical, but I feel there is potential here.

One of the important things I’m missing here is double strike. It would have been nice to have a Temur Battle Rage or Uncaged Fury in standard, but unfortunately, the only available card gives double strike to pirates. So, maybe we’ll see that once Rakdos enters the fray, but for now we’ll have to use regular pump spells, so I’ll use Run Amok as backup Sure Strikes. Depending on how this’ll work out, they may get replaced by Trumpet Blasts for a team-wide boost. Given I only run 12 creatures, that doesn’t seem likely though.

 

Posted under Commander / EDH

Dimir Sinister Surveilance – continued

I had a draft yesterday, and I was the only Dimir player at the table. Sadly, there weren’t many payoff cards to surveil, mainly just Darkblade Agents and a Dimir Spybug. No Thoughtbound Phantasms or Disinformation Campaigns in sight. Still, the deck was strong due to the insane amount of card selection. It was like having a virtual Search for Azcanta in play the whole time. Maybe Search for Azcanta is a good card in a Surveil deck, too, because it has surveil in all but it’s name (and that means it doesn’t trigger the Phantasms and Bugs.) Azcanta is ultimately a good source of card advantage though, especially since you can set up your deck with surveil.



I think it’s worth testing. The initial deck has 19 instants and sorceries, and 3 Disinformation Campaigns that can be found, so the chance of hitting something is high enough. It has potential late game, since my build is a bit controlling.

But I but I digress. In the draft I had a Thought Erasure, and that card did so much work, even without having too many good surveil triggers. Just getting all the information, disrupting my opponents hand ánd fixing my draws is so much for just . I basically want more of these. I’m also looking at what other surveil decks are doing.



Some versions are less of a control deck, and more of a combo deck. The working theory is that if you control multiples of Dimir Spybug and Thoughtbound Phantasm, Doom Whisperer becomes a Hatred effect. This is helped by Creeping Chill, for additional drain and life gain.

I don’t know about Creeping Chill.  With enough surveil you can reduce the chance to actually have to cast it, and it gives a free 6 life swing. When it does go to your hand, it’s a bad card though.

~ Dimir Sinister Surveilance (version 2) ~

Creatures (16)


Darkblade Agent
Doom Whisperer
Dimir Spybug
Nightveil Sprite
Thief of Sanity
Thoughtbound Phantasm

Spells (19)


Cast Down
Discovery // Dispersal
Notion Rain
Price of Fame
Sinister Sabotage
Syncopate
Thought Erasure

Enchantments (3)


Disinformation Campaign
Search for Azcanta

Lands (22)


Drowned Catacomb
Watery Grave
Island
Swamp

The changes:

  • -2 Dimir Informant: The Informants are excellent blockers, but ultimately the weakest cards in the deck. Probably.
  • -1 Discovery // Dispersal: It’s flexible, but I want to try 1 Azcanta in this slot.
  • -1 Notion Rain: It digs deep and draw a lot of cards. It’s also sorcery speed, which I want to avoid. This card is also on the bubble because of Mission Briefing, which may or may not be the better “draw” and card selection spell.
  • -1 Disinformation Campaign: I don’t think it’s good in multiples, so one gets cut for now.
  • +2 Doom Whisperer: Doom Whisperer is actually a good finisher once you know it’s safe to cast it.
  • +2 Thougt Erasure: So far I’ve been always happy when I cast this. Knowing what your opponent is holding and being able to do something about it, and planning your plays around it is very valuable.
  • +1 Search for Azcanta: I hope it gives me an edge in the very long game, by giving me instant card selection and draw. It might turn back into a Notion Rain, where I get the card selection and draw now, instead of over time.
Posted under Commander / EDH

Magic Arena: Dimir Sinister Surveilance

Since the open beta of Magic Arena started, I jumped on the bandwagon and started playing it. It’s a bit frustrating so far, because I have a limited card pool. Grinding is in order. Since my physical games are usually either draft or commander, this is a way for me to get into standard constructed.


For a guild based on secrecy, the Dimir love to splash their logo on things.

The deck I’ll aim to collect is a Dimir Surveil deck. I like the amount of card selection and draw, and the more grindy control elements. The idea is to win with Thoughtbound Phantasm or the very evasive Dimir Spybug. These can grow quickly while you surveil and increase your card quality. This is suplemented by Disinformation Campaign for extra draw and disruption.

~ Dimir Sinister Surveilance ~

Creatures (16)


Darkblade Agent
Dimir Informant
Dimir Spybug
Nightveil Sprite
Thief of Sanity
Thoughtbound Phantasm

Spells (19)


Cast Down
Discovery // Dispersal
Notion Rain
Price of Fame
Sinister Sabotage
Syncopate
Thought Erasure

Enchantments (3)


Disinformation Campaign

Lands (22)


Drowned Catacomb
Watery Grave
Island
Swamp

So let’s go over the cards:

Darkblade Agent – With all the Surveil, it should have deathtouch most of the time, or at least representing it. The agent also draws extra cards, when he is not trading up with other creatures.

Dimir Informant – The informant surveils and is a reasonable blocker, invalidating most of the smaller ground creatures.

Dimir Spybug – This is one of the centerpieces of the deck: A creature with double evasion (flying and menace) that quickly grows into a significant threat. With some removal on the side to deal with a second flyer and it is basically an unblockable creature that gets big, fast.

Nightveil Sprite – A flyer that is a constant source of surveil. I might take House Guildmage in concideration here, but the sprite surveils for free.

Thief of Sanity – This competes with Darkblade Agent for the card advantage engine, but the Thief is always “on” when it comes to card advantage. So far, when I played this in Arena, I was pleased with it. Not only does it turn the weapons of your opponent against them, it gives information in what they are doing and mills them. It also helps against other Surveil cards by disrupting the top of their decks after they set these up.

Thoughtbound Phantasm – Like the Spybug, this is a creature that keeps growing. As a 2/2 for it comes down early, and it’s cheaper than most removal aimed at it, so tempo wise it’s great. As a 2/2 that soon gets bigger, it often invalidates anything attacking on the ground. Once it’s big enough to be able to attack it should sweep the floor with most things, especially with some removal as backup, and force opponents on the defensive.

Cast Down – Some cheap removal to deal with troublesome creatures.

Discovery // Dispersal – Either a cantripping surveil card, or an extra removal card when the opponent is hellbent. It can potentially deal with non-creatures in the right situation.


You take the “” pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

Notion Rain – Card selection and card draw. It’s good, but I’m on the fence if Mission Briefing might be better, because that’s an instant and it can help recast my removal and counters, and has a lower CMC. I think Briefing is overhyped a little when it was spoiled, and I love it for my Shu Yun deck, but it’s still a good card. Either is worth testing. Cutting Notion rain would mean missing out on some sweet art, though.

Price of Fame – Another removal spell. Mostly a reverse Cast Down, but it surveils and can hit (almost) anything.

Sinister Sabotage – Once I have someone hellbent and unable to handle the board, this stops them getting out of a bad situation, while advancing my plans. It’s a counterspell that sets up my draws and grows my creatures.

Syncopate – I wanted to run more counters, and my pick has been two Syncopates. It does have some competition and it may change to suit whatever problematic things I’ll encounter. This may be too much of a dead card later on in the game. Does Unwind fit the bill better?


If we’re using Syncopate, we might as well choose the Dimir art!

Thought Erasure – Getting information is key, and this shows me what my opponent is up to and also mess with their plans.

Disinformation Campaign – My main source of card advantage and hand destruction. It’s arguably bad in multiples, but since I’m surveiling a lot, I can send duplicates to the ‘yard.


There are still some cards I’m concidering:

Etrata, the Silencer is repeated removal and an alternate wincondition. With all the deck manipulation going on, it’s not inconcievable I get her back a couple of times.

Lazav, the Multifarious could give me some graveyard synergies I’m lacking right now. It’s fun to think about how he can turn into a Dimir Spybug, grow a little, then turn into a Thief of Sanity when he bypassed blockers. It’s also very cute, and probably not practical.

Whispering Snitch – This one feels mostly like a sideboard card against very aggresive decks, helping to stabilize against an early onslaught. The life drain is fine, and may keep me out of range of red decks, but I don’t think this card is generally good enough.

Mephitic Vapors – I’m also in the market for some mass removal, And while the Vapors is technically that, it seems too low impact to actually have an effect. I see a lot of rushing 1/1’s, but generally it’s too unreliable. I do like what Find // Finality has to offer but that means splashing somehow.

Drowned Secrets – This is a heavy deck, and on the controling side, so games tend to go long. I can repeatedly play Disinformation Campaign. The Thiefs of Sanity also mill. Drowned Secrets might be a good sideboard option against other surveil decks. I don’t think the appeal is good enough to mainboard it though. Also, there are some cards that get played when milled (Narcomoeba, Creeping Chill) that adds some risk to mill strategies.

Enhanced Surveillance – I don’t think this is what I want out of a surveil matters card. Sure, it’s nice to have extra card selection, but it doesn’t do much else. I can see this in a Devious Cover-Up deck, with the additional reshuffeling and ultimately milling opponents out. While we use a similar control strategy, I think we need more substance.

Talking about Creeping Chill, it’s a concideration for a free spell to help stabilize and regain some life, mostly for free. It doesn’t actually impact the board, but with all the surveil going on it’s likely to be a free effect that doesn’t even cost a card.

The land count is somewhat low, but the big amount of card selection should make up for that. I can add Dimir Locket, since the lockets work better than expected, and it’s more card advantage. Going shields down for a turn seems problematic, though. And Disinformation Campaign is more than enough card draw all by itself.


While the deck is mostly uncommons, I’m not nearly there on Arena. I have a vaguely similar Dimir deck that I want to tweak towards this model, and it’s already very fun to play. Especially Thief of Sanity has been a lot of fun.

Posted under Magic Duels,Standard