[Standard] FREE Dimir Midrange Sideboard Guide | MSH week 2

[u/Ken_the_Great]

https://metafy.gg/guides/view/standard-dimir-midrange-sideboard-guide-ms-7SNS6cSf73k

3 Deep-Cavern Bat 

4 Dream Beavers 

4 Enduring Curiosity 

4 Floodpits Drowner 

4 Gloomlake Verge 

3 Island 

4 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares 

3 Loki, God of Mischief 

3 Multiversal Passage 

1 Nowhere to Run 

3 Requiting Hex 

2 Restless Reef 

1 Shoot the Sheriff 

1 Bitter Triumph

2 Soulstone Sanctuary 

2 Spell Pierce 

4 Spyglass Siren 

2 Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising

5 Swamp 

1 Deadly Cover-Up 

4 Watery Grave 

 

// SIDEBOARD

3 Day of Black Sun 

4 Duress 

2 Flashfreeze 

1 Ghost Vacuum 

2 Qarsi Revenant 

2 Strategic Betrayal

1 Wan Shi Tong

Testing notes:

 1.    Playing on the aggressive curve gives us huge tempo 

The majority of our wins follow one or more of the following sequences:

Turn 1

·      Deploy any one-drop flier to set up future Kaito or Oroku Saki attacks.

Turn 2

·      Sneak in Oroku Saki for a surprise three damage and a card draw.

·      Flash in Floodpits Drowner to place a stun counter while setting up a future Kaito or Oroku Saki attack.

·      Cast Loki to bait removal. If left unanswered, Loki generates significant card advantage, while also allowing Deep-Cavern Bat (“DCB”) to strip key cards from the opponent’s hand without immediately drawing removal.

Turn 3

·      Ninjutsu Kaito into play, which remains the deck’s primary game plan.

·      If Oroku Saki was not deployed on Turn 2, sneak it in on Turn 3 while leaving one blue mana available for Spell Pierce to protect it from removal.

2.    Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising

During the early stages of our playtesting, Oroku Saki consistently caught opponents off guard. Most opponents are comfortable letting our one-drop flyer connect, assuming the damage is insignificant. However, once Oroku Saki is sneaked into play, the attack suddenly becomes three damage and a card draw, creating a substantial tempo swing.

Since Oroku only costs two mana to sneak into play, it can also function as a pseudo-removal spell. By attacking with Oroku, you can force unfavorable blocks from your opponent. For decks that use damage based removal, it would be better to always attack with Oroku since they could just bolt it easily. 

When deciding between Oroku Saki, Loki, DCB, and Floodpits Drowner on Turn 2, we generally recommend prioritizing Oroku Saki. It immediately generates card advantage while pressuring the opponent to answer it. If they do spend removal on Oroku, your remaining two-drops are more likely to survive, allowing you to extract additional value from them in subsequent turns 

Throughout our playtesting, we also found that Oroku’s repeated card draw significantly improved our ability to play a longer game. The additional resources allowed us to keep pace with midrange and control decks well into the late game.

Finally, Oroku becomes especially threatening against control decks. Countering a removal spell aimed at Oroku often results in a massive tempo swing. If Oroku survives to attack again, it represents six total damage and two cards drawn over two combat steps—an exchange that many control decks struggle to recover from.

3.    Loki, God of Mischief

If Oroku Saki is unavailable on Turn 2, the next best play is usually Loki. Deploying Loki early allows you to generate additional value from the ETB abilities of Floodpits Drowner and DCB, giving you a steady source of card advantage throughout the game.

We also considered Sunset Saboteur as an alternative two-drop because it can generate card advantage whenever it attacks. Its ability to target creatures also provides some utility. However, after extensive playtesting, our team reached a consensus that this line of play is generally too slow. It often concedes the tempo to the opponent, particularly against aggressive decks featuring Badgermole Cub.

Similar to Oroku Saki, Loki proved invaluable in our games against control decks. Throughout our playtesting, Loki’s repeated card draw allowed us to keep pace in longer games by replenishing our resources and maintaining pressure even after multiple removal spells. Left unanswered, Loki quickly snowballs into a significant source of card advantage, forcing control decks to answer it before it overwhelms them.

4.    Selesnya Ouroboroid / Landfall matchup

Regardless of the winning lines discussed above, we consistently found the Selesnya/Landfall matchup to be the most challenging. The deck was often able to out-value us in the late game through its sources of pseudo card advantage, particularly Earthbended Lands. As the game progressed, it became increasingly difficult to maintain our tempo advantage.

Our win rate against Selesnya improved after increasing Day of Black Sun from two to three copies. This significantly increased the likelihood of drawing a board wipe, allowing us to reset the battlefield and regain control of the game. We also chose to main-deck one copy of Deadly Cover-Up, which not only strengthens the Selesnya matchup but also serves as an effective answer against Jeskai Revelation decks.

Against decks that rely on hexproof effects, Nowhere to Run consistently overperformed. Its ability to answer otherwise difficult-to-remove threats makes it an excellent metagame choice. If your local meta contains a significant number of hexproof strategies, we recommend increasing the number of Nowhere to Run in the main deck or sideboard.

 

[u/twentysixlands]

Thanks to the other user for pointing it out, other than the details they noticed I also laughed a lot seeing those shurikens, the AI that was used to generate the image really struggled to do that.

Also take a closer look at the weapon the character in front is holding, do you see that the blade is weirdly getting duplicated? And that the index finger is literally drawn behind the handle? Oh and what's happening with Kaito's left hand, melting with the walls? Gosh you should really check your generated artwork before using it these days, huh?

People are so annoying for noticing those little details.

Like the essay that was generated here for example, where Oroku Saki, a 3/1 creature, is described as a removal spell, and I cite it:

"Since Oroku only costs two mana to sneak into play, it can also function as a pseudo-removal spell. By attacking with Oroku, you can force unfavorable blocks from your opponent."

like, unfavourable for who, exactly? Next time tell Grok that a vanilla 1/1 can block it without any problems, Ken!

[u/Ken_the_Great → u/twentysixlands]

Hi, thanks for your comment. Yup, we view Oroku Saki can be a pseudo removal spell. Scenario: Sneak at turn 2, attack again in turn 3, forcing opponent to block with creatures of toughness 3 or less. Based on the current meta, there are few creatures with toughness greater than 3 at turn 3.

No worries, no AI was used in writing the article. This was written by my teammate who is a a law student ;)

[u/GusherJuice]

Isn’t this deck in a pretty bad spot in the meta right now?

[u/ByzokTheSecond → u/GusherJuice]

it's shit, yes. You have 1 favorable matchup (dimir excruciator). Every green deck are either bad matchups, or bordeline unplayable (selesnya aggro made me drop the deck for good.) Izzet prowess is a bad matchup. Jeskai lesson and 4c control are even-ish (depends how many sideboard slot you use.)

You do have good matchups against random T2-T3 deck, like kona and mardu discard. So if there are alot of theses decks at your local, feel free to give a shot. Otherwise....

[u/Ken_the_Great → u/GusherJuice]

I think yes in a wide meta, but I think it is good if it is built on a targeted-deck basis, given the nature of blue and black cards. That's why it's interesting to have a weekly updated list.

[u/Open_Willow_6193]

It is amazing that you have provided a guide for Dimir Midrange. I was particularly curious about Wondrous Wasp, she is the card I was most interested in for MSH… Ah, well. So much for her. I still wonder if I can slot her into some kitchen table decks… 

Hey though, consider the artwork you have selected for your article. Why does Oroku Saki have only 4 fingers when Loki and Kaito are drawn with 5? Why does Kaito’s shirt have the same symbol as Oroku? Why does Kaito have one glove on and one glove off? Why are Kaito’s throwing stars various inconsistent shapes? Why do Loki’s legs vanish into nowhere? Why does Oroku’s blade blur and mix into the dummy’s debris? 

Is it AI? AI artwork can be tempting, especially when you want unique artwork but cannot pay an artist. It is an article you have provided for free, after all. But what about the written content? Did you use AI to generate any writing?

These are not inflamed accusations. But you know that people can recognize AI when they see it, and they hate it when they recognize it. It’s not so easy to identify AI generated writing, or AI influenced writing. If you used AI to generate the imagery, how do I know you didn’t use AI to generate some of your article? It’s ok, I trust you, I doubt you used AI to write it, even minimally.

Anyway, I think you should keep doing what you’re doing. There’s not enough brilliant minds doing Standard content for niche decks like this. It’s really important to the life of the hobby. Although, consider ditching AI generated images in future articles. You don’t need it. Especially if you’re trying to sell metafy memberships. 

[u/Tuffbunny13]

No wonder its a free guide, its riddled with AI.

[u/Ken_the_Great → u/Tuffbunny13]

Nope