Introduction

Hey guys I’m Bernardo Santos and I’m back here extremely proud to be writing for Hareruya again. Today I’m going to talk about a version of the Standard Dimir Rogues I used to get a 9-3 record in the first ever Rivals League weekend. We had a pretty big testing team as is customary for us.

The deck performed really well as Marcio and Carlos Romão went 8-4 on their MPL weekend. Miguel Simoes is currently 7-4 waiting for a match, Frederico Bastos and Thoralf Severin went 7-5 on the Rivals side. These results may not seem incredible but when you add in the level of the competition, they’re actually really good.

The deck is really strong overall but it does require a lot of reps to play well as you have a lot of different games and decision lines. Rogues plays as a tempo deck just slowing your opponent out long enough to mill them out or kill them via damage. This is particularly the case against Rakdos Midrange, in the mirror and against Golgari adventures. In those matchups they have removal to slow you down earlier and they can keep up and play a long game against you.

Against most other decks your card advantage and ability to counter key threats makes you a control deck. Even against control you have inevitability with the milling aspect of the deck. I really like playing the deck and I think it has a lot of interesting and skill rewarding games.

Decklist and Card Choice

This is the decklist we played at the League weekend.

Companion 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den Deck 4 Thieves’ Guild Enforcer 3 Bloodchief’s Thirst 4 Soaring Thought-Thief 1 Cling to Dust 3 Agadeem’s Awakening 1 Lullmage’s Domination 2 Zagoth Triome 4 Fabled Passage 4 Clearwater Pathway 4 Temple of Deceit 2 Mystical Dispute 4 Drown in the Loch 4 Into the Story 4 Island 4 Ruin Crab 1 Call of the Death-Dweller 3 Heartless Act 1 Sea Gate Restoration 3 Swamp 4 Merfolk Windrobber Sideboard 1 Cling to Dust 1 Mystical Dispute 2 Extinction Event 2 Negate 2 Lullmage’s Domination 2 Call of the Death-Dweller 2 Eliminate 2 Thassa’s Intervention 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den

How to Use It?

　1. Copy the whole text.

　2. Open the Deck menu on MTG Arena and click “Import”.

　3. If you succeeded, your deck will be there as an “Imported Deck”.

The decklist was tuned for a specific metagame where we thought Azorius Yorion and the mirror would be popular and we got it right as they were the 2 most played decks. Going forward I think a lot of slots are up for debate since 《Mystical Dispute》 might not be as good in the maindeck if those decks aren’t as popular and you might need some more 《Cling to Dust》 to fight Rakdos midrange. As far as the maindeck goes I think there are a lot of untouchable cards and assuming you want to play the removal suite we played, there are only 5 flex slots.

Maindeck

《Call of the Death-Dweller》

1

This is one of the most powerful cards you can have in the mirror and is also really good against black removal spell decks. Although you kind of have this effect in 《Agadeem’s Awakening》, the difference in costs is really important here especially in the mirror where efficiency is so important.

《Lullmage’s Domination》

1

One of the most important cards against Rakdos midrange and also good against green decks especially as an answer for 《Garruk’s Harbinger》. This card is such a big swing and it gets better as the better your opponent’s creatures are. Stealing cards like 《Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger》 or 《Chainweb Aracnir》 for such a low cost is really strong and like 《Call of the Death-Dweller》 we play 2 more on the side for the matchups where it shines.

《Mystical Dispute》

2

This choice was made counting on the popularity of Azorius Yorion and the mirror match as it is just so efficient against blue decks while also rounding up the number of counters we play against decks like Temur Ramp. Going forward, if those decks aren’t so popular you can choose to move them to the side and replace them with whatever cards are important in the metagame.

《Cling to Dust》

1

This is of course a concession to one of the biggest weakness of your deck which is enabling your opponent’s Escape cards so easily. I think that only playing 2 is not enough for the matchups where you need them and I definitely recommend having at least 3 in the 75 moving forward especially if Rakdos midrange becomes more popular.

Sideboard

In the sideboard some of the cards are clear inclusions, but there are some decent options that we didn’t play that could make sense depending on your plan.

《Lurrus of the Dream-Den》

1

This is of course free and is used a lot in this deck. Auto-include.

《Extinction Event》

2

We chose this card as it is pretty good against the green adventure shells as they have a lot of odd creatures but this is definitely a maybe card and I haven’t been impressed with it.

《Cling to Dust》

1

Again I think we should have at least 3 in the 75. We didn’t this time as we didn’t expect a lot of Rakdos Midrange and chose to ignore it a bit, but going forward I think they’re necessary.

《Negate》

2

This card has been in Standard for years and is always a decent sideboard card. Against control and ramp decks is where this card shines.

《Lullmage’s Domination》

2

I think 4 copies in the 75 might be the number for this card as it’s such a huge swing in the matchups you want them in. 2 in the sideboard is definitely an auto-include.

《Call of the Death-Dweller》

2

I think the number here is just about right. The best card in the mirror match but it’s the type of card you don’t want to draw too many of. Also, an auto-include.

《Eliminate》

2

Another good removal for the aggro decks but in the current meta I’m unsure if they’re necessary. If you need more removal this is a solid option and if Gruul gets more popular then you probably need them.

《Thassa’s Intervention》

2

I think this was a good find for the control matchups as the versatility of this card makes it really good. All you ever want in those matchups is card advantage and ways to stop your opponent’s threats and this card does both. I think it’s really solid.

《Mystical Dispute》

1

Even if I think 2 in the maindeck are too much, I still think they’re very important and 3 in the 75 is what I think is the right number.

Decklist Moving Forward

This is the list I would play going forward.

Companion 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den Deck 4 Thieves’ Guild Enforcer 3 Bloodchief’s Thirst 4 Soaring Thought-Thief 2 Cling to Dust 3 Agadeem’s Awakening 2 Lullmage’s Domination 2 Zagoth Triome 4 Fabled Passage 4 Clearwater Pathway 4 Temple of Deceit 4 Drown in the Loch 4 Into the Story 4 Island 4 Ruin Crab 1 Call of the Death-Dweller 3 Heartless Act 1 Sea Gate Restoration 3 Swamp 4 Merfolk Windrobber Sideboard 1 Cling to Dust 3 Mystical Dispute 2 Negate 2 Lullmage’s Domination 2 Call of the Death-Dweller 2 Eliminate 2 Thassa’s Intervention 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den

How to Use It?

　1. Copy the whole text.

　2. Open the Deck menu on MTG Arena and click “Import”.

　3. If you succeeded, your deck will be there as an “Imported Deck”.

I think that with the poor results from Yorion in the weekend, the deck will be less played and it’s better to have your maindeck focused more towards beating the creature decks and get your counterspells post board.

Sideboard Guide

Gruul

Against Gruul

Out

In

《Merfolk Windrobber》 is weak early due to 《Chainweb Aracnir》 and their main removal is 《Scorching Dragonfire》 which makes 《Call of the Death-Dweller》 really weak. You want to max out on removal as their better cards are the mythic artifacts which depend on creatures on the battlefield. I don’t like having too many 《Cling to Dust》s, and your main plan for the Escape cards is the 《Lullmage’s Domination》 anyway.

Rakdos Midrange

Against Rakdos Midrange

Out

In

Your first intuition maybe to cut on the 《Ruin Crab》s as they have so many Escape powerhouses but the only plan we found that actually works is actually just going full mill and stealing or countering their Escape creatures along the way. This is a hard matchup but I think our best plan is to maintain our gameplan and try to withstand their Escapes long enough to win the game. 《Call of the Death-Dweller》 is along the same lines as they will kill your creatures and you need those 2 for 1s.

Azorius Yorion

Against Azorius Yorion

Out

In

This is a good matchup as they are just so much less efficient than you, that you control the pace at which the game is played. Most of the times it’s correct to not deploy your threats until turn 3 or 4 to strand their mana they would spend on 《Skyclave Apparition》 or 《Glass Casket》.

Once they tap out to deal with your pressure you resolve 《Into the Story》 and with all your resiliency, it’s just too hard for them to control you. Their best chance is to stick one of their haymakers on turn 6 like 《Shark Typhoon》 as an enchantment or 《Dream Trawler》, but you can also pretty easily stop that. Most of their removal is exile so you don’t need the 《Call of the Death-Dweller》s and you still have 《Lurrus of the Dream-Den》 and 《Agadeem’s Awakening》s to answer 《Shatter the Sky》.

Mirror

Against Mirror

Out

In

I believe the mirror is all tempo based and I don’t feel the control plans work at all so I dislike 《Cling to Dust》 even though it can exile your own graveyard to slow their 《Into the Story》. I just think those situations are rare and the most common scenario on the mirror is somebody snowballing an advantage so you want your most efficient cards.

《Lullmage’s Domination》 is powerful and I actually like it a little more on the draw as the player on the play is the most likely one to play 《Lurrus of the Dream-Den》 early. You can go up to 2 《Lullmage’s Domination》s on the draw and cut a 《Heartless Act》 as it’s a little worse because of 《Call of the Death-Dweller》.

Temur Ramp

Against Temur Ramp

Out

In

This is also a favorable matchup as you can just counter the key threats that they ramp into while also pressuring them pretty well. This is a pretty simple to play matchup. You only need to be mindful of their 《Mystical Dispute》s when you can play around them, remember that they’re going to have 《Chainweb Aracnir》s, and you don’t want to keep in the 《Lullmage’s Domination》 so leave in an couple of 《Cling to Dust》s for that.

Conclusion

That’s all I have for you today guys, hope you would enjoy this article about Rogues and try the deck out, It’s really good. Until Next time.

Bernardo Santos (Twitter / Twitch)