Guilds of Ravnica Standard Deck Tech - Dimir Surveil

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This week I’m doing a Standard Deck Tech for each of the five guilds from Guilds of Ravnica. Today is Friday, which means we’ve reached our last guild of the week, Dimir!

In playing Limited so far, I’ve loved the gameplay that Dimir cards have brought to Guilds of Ravnica. I wanted to see if this could translate into the Standard format. Surveil is an awesome new mechanic and I wanted to use the cards in the set plus some existing Standard cards that take advantage of it.

I first want to start off with a list of cards from Guilds of Ravnica that I believe could be a good fit in the deck. These could include main deck cards and cards that would eventually end up in the sideboard.

Potential Guilds of Ravnica Cards for the deck

Dimir-DiscoveryDispersalDimir-NightveilPredatorDimir-Connive

Dimir-HouseGuildmageDimir-EtrataDimir-Lazav

Dimir-DeadWeightDimir-PlagueccrafterDimir-CreepingChill

imir-NarcomoebaDimir-GruesomeMenagerieDimir-WhisperAgent

Dimir-UnexplainedDIsappearnaceDimir-NotionRainDImir-DimirInformant

Dimir-WhisperingSnitchDimir-THoughtErasureDimir-ThoughtboundPhantasm

DImir-SinisterSabotageDimir-NightveilSpriteDImir-Disinformation

Dimir-DimirSpybugDimir-THiefofSanityDimir-BloodOperative

Dimir-DreamEaterDimir-DoomWhisperer

Now that I’ve pulled out the best from Guilds of Ravnica, I want to turn my attention to the card pool from the rest of Standard. There are plenty of cards to choose from, so let’s see what list I’ve come up with of potential cards to put in the deck.

Potential Existing Cards from Standard

Dimir-IsarethDimir-HostageTakerDimir-BoneDragon

Dimir-TheEldestREbornDimir-SearchForDimir-PhyrexianScriptures

Dimir-GoldenDemiseDimir-VraskasContemptDimir-Syncopate

Dimir-NegateDimir-Murder

Dimir-EssenceScatterDimir-CastDown

Now that I have a list of cards to choose from to make the deck, it’s now time to decide what goes and what stays. What I like to do first is break them down by their casting cost with creatures and noncreature spells separated. Let’s see how that breakdown looks below.

Dimir-ByCastingCost

1-Casting Cost Spells

I’m not planning on having any counterspells in the main deck, so Syncopate is a no. Thoughtbound Phantasm looks like a great creature for this deck. It can be an early blocker against aggro decks and can end up being a 5/5 threat later in the game. Dead Weight could be good against aggro decks, so I’m going to play that out of the sideboard.

2-Casting Cost Spells

When it comes to 2-drop creatures there are two that are must haves for me. Lazav, the Multifarious is a key card in the deck, allowing you to Surveil and copy some of your creature threats that have been put in the graveyard. Nightveil Sprite is a way to get in some damage in the air, while having a consistent way to Surveil each turn. The other two-drop creatures didn’t make the cut. The spells I wanted to have main deck are a couple copies of Thought Erasure to deal with anything my opponent might have in their hand and Cast Down for some cheap removal. I want to bring Search for Azcanta out of the sideboard in longer matchups.

3-Casting Cost Spells

When it comes to 3-drop creatures I wanted to have a variety of ones to choose from. Plaguecrafter can act as a removal spell for creatures and planeswalkers. Thief of Sanity can gain you card advantage and is a great target for Lazav, the Multifarious’s ability. Blood Operative works well with all our Surveil cards and can help us gain some life when needed.

When it came to spells for the main deck I wanted to have Sinister Sabotage as a hard counter, with more copies in the sideboard if needed. When it came to card draw I wanted Notion Rain which has great synergies with a lot of the cards in the deck. Disinformation Campaign is in the sideboard for games you feel will go longer than the average game. Against token decks I have a couple of copies of Golden Demise.

4-Casting Cost Spells

I feel that all the creatures in this mana slot will have an impact on the game. Hostage Taker acts a removal card while both Nightveil Predator and Etrata, the Silencer are great targets for Lazav, the Multifarious. When it came to spells I wanted to make sure I had the full 4 copies of Creeping Chill for some potentially a free 6-point life swing. I also threw in a couple copies of Vraska’s Contempt for some premium removal. Out of the sideboard I went with two copies of Phyrexian Scriptures to have mass removal for creatures and cards in my opponents’ graveyard.

5-Casting Cost Spells

Doom Whisperer is a great choice for the deck as a threat on the battlefield and the ability to Surveil repeatedly to try and find multiple Creeping Chill for a sweet victory. The Eldest Reborn is a great way to remove a threat and get back your own.

There aren’t many lands to choose from, but here are the ones you could use for this deck.

Island
Swamp
Drowned Catacomb
Watery Grave
Dimir Guildgate

Pretty easy split down the middle for these 2 colours. 24 lands should do well with a top of the curve being set at 5 mana.

Now that we’ve figured out what cards to use, its now time to build the deck! Here is what I came up with for quantities for the final deck list.

Dimir brings us the last Standard deck of the week. Dimir has a lot of powerful multicolour cards and creatures that makes this one of the most evenly spread guild decks I’ll be talking about this week when it comes to number of cards in each colour of mana.

Thanks again for reading this Standard Deck Tech on Guilds of Ravnica deck tech week. Join me again tomorrow for a new guild and a new Standard deck.

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