Introduction
Hello. It’s Grzegorz Kowalski here.
Today I want to talk a little about the MPL (MPL), and why I decided to play Dimir Control, as the only player on the field.
MPL is a brand-new thing in our environment. It was created at the beginning of 2019, and contains 32 the best players around the whole world! Thanks to the MPL weekly play, you have an opportunity to watch the best players every weekend.
Each Saturday at Noon PT/3pm ET/7pm UTC broadcast starts on twitch.tv/magic, showing feature matches of a given week, some highlights and the best games!
There are four groups, eight players each. In each group, players fight each other using the round-robin system, which gives each of us seven matches per split (the first split started 11.05.2019 and will last five weeks).
Winner of each match receives 2 mythic points, and winner of each group receives a day-one bye for corresponding Mythic Championship Arena (which for this split is MC3). That means winners of each group will start their first match of the event right in top 16 bracket!!
The Reason Why I Chose Dimir Control is……
Here is the metagame for week one:
The lonely Dimir Control was my choice. A lot of people questioned it, as it supposed to be a worse version of Esper Control, but I actually don’t think that’s true. The biggest advantage for Dimir over Esper is the mana base. You almost don’t pain yourself with lands, almost always your lands come untapped, and you can play utility lands like 《Blast Zone》.
《Teferi, Time Raveler》 sees a lot of play and makes counterspells embarrassing, so 《Absorb》 is not as good as it used to be.
Obviously, both Teferi are still big game makers, but 《Narset, Parter of Veils》 fights them both quite well. 《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》 and 《Ugin, the Ineffable》 aren’t worse than 《Teferi, Hero of Dominaria》 in terms of making card advantage and closing the game.
Thanks to good mana base you can play four 《Enter the God-Eternals》 in 75. Trust me, this is the best anti-Aggro card in the current Standard. With everything above I’ve found Aggro and Midrange match ups being very good, while Control and Nexus pretty bad (at least game one).
So why did I pick Dimir if we have two bad match ups in the top four of the most played decks?
Well, it’s all behind the scenes. The last major event was MC London 2019, and the format was Modern. None of MPL players played Standard with War of the Spark until after MC (or at least made serious Standard testing), which was only one week before decklist submission for the MPL weekly play!
MPL players live all around the world, so they have to come back home, fight a jet lag, and make various other things. So I assumed they didn’t have much time left for testing. What do you usually do, when you don’t have enough time to break or learn format?
I guess some people might have a different solution, but for the majority of players, it’s just “let’s pick an Aggro deck” answer. While playing Aggro, you usually have one linear plan. You don’t have to learn all the match ups perfectly to win a match, just keep being proactive and hope for the best.
With this in mind, I’ve decided to give myself a shot, and try to out-metagame people. It did pay off, as you can see on the screenshot above. Out of 27 other decks, we had 17 Aggro, 6 Control, 4 Midrange, and 0 Nexus!
I played against Azorius Aggro piloted by Christian Hauck, you can see the match here.
Even though casters said that match up is good for Christian, I don’t agree with that. Why? I’ll tell you below, in the match up description.
Here is the list I’ve played:
- Grzegorz Kowalski
- – Dimir Control
- Magic Pro League
8 《Island》
7 《Swamp》
4 《Watery Grave》
4 《Drowned Catacomb》
2 《Blast Zone》
-Land (25)- 2 《Augur of Bolas》
2 《God-Eternal Kefnet》
-Creature (4)-
7 《Swamp》
4 《Watery Grave》
4 《Drowned Catacomb》
2 《Blast Zone》
-Land (25)- 2 《Augur of Bolas》
2 《God-Eternal Kefnet》
-Creature (4)-
4 《Opt》
4 《Thought Erasure》
2 《Cast Down》
2 《Negate》
2 《Tyrant’s Scorn》
2 《Cry of the Carnarium》
3 《Vraska’s Contempt》
1 《Chemister’s Insight》
3 《Enter the God-Eternals》
2 《Search for Azcanta》
3 《Narset, Parter of Veils》
2 《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》
1 《Ugin, the Ineffable》
-Spell (31)-
4 《Thought Erasure》
2 《Cast Down》
2 《Negate》
2 《Tyrant’s Scorn》
2 《Cry of the Carnarium》
3 《Vraska’s Contempt》
1 《Chemister’s Insight》
3 《Enter the God-Eternals》
2 《Search for Azcanta》
3 《Narset, Parter of Veils》
2 《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》
1 《Ugin, the Ineffable》
-Spell (31)-
4 《Thief of Sanity》
3 《Duress》
3 《Unmoored Ego》
2 《Finale of Eternity》
2 《Moment of Craving》
1 《Enter the God-Eternals》
-Sideboard (15)-
3 《Duress》
3 《Unmoored Ego》
2 《Finale of Eternity》
2 《Moment of Craving》
1 《Enter the God-Eternals》
-Sideboard (15)-
Match Ups Breakdown
Mono Red Aggro: Great
One of the best match ups for Dimir. A lot of life gain, cheap interaction, unbeatable 《God-Eternal Kefnet》, and “you win the game” spell for just five mana, give a really hard time to red mages.
The best weapon against us is 《Experimental Frenzy》, which fortunately doesn’t see that much play anymore, as people prefer the 《Chandra, Fire Artisan》. Even against this mighty enchantment we can win either by the racing opponent with 《God-Eternal Kefnet》, and army token, or destroy it with 《Blast Zone》 or 《Ugin, the Ineffable》.
vs. Mono Red Aggro
Out
In
Mono White Aggro/Azorius Aggro: Good
Both are usually the same, the only difference is 《Dovin’s Veto》 in the sideboard. They don’t have damage reach, so we can take more damage, than against Mono Red Aggro from creatures, which means we don’t have to kill every single creature right away.
Focus on important ones with premium removal, and try to kill the rest with 《Cry of the Carnarium》, or trade/block with 《Augur of Bolas》. The best draws from the Mono White Aggro side might be scary, but we should win everything that’s not nuts. Overall good match up.
vs. Mono White Aggro/Azorius Aggro
Out
In
Gruul Aggro: Good
They aren’t as fast as other Aggro deck, so we have more time to breathe. On the other hand, when they punch, they punch really hard. 《Rekindling Phoenix》, 《Chandra, Fire Artisan》 and 《Sarkhan the Masterless》 require specific answers, and sometimes we can easily run out of them.
Don’t ever use 《Vraska’s Contempt》 on a random creature. You should prioritize Planeswalkers with discard spells. Be aware of 《Lightning Strike》 and 《Shock》, so you don’t go down to low life total if you don’t have to.
vs. Gruul Aggro
Out
In
《Moment of Craving》 is better than 《Cry of the Carnarium》 because of instant speed for 《Growth-Chamber Guardian》 and 《Legion Warboss》.
Sultai Midrange: Slightly Favored
Good old Sultai. This is typical grind feast. You want as much two for ones as possible. 《Finale of Eternity》 and Planeswalkers are your MVPs. 《Hydroid Krasis》 and opponent’s Planeswalkers are their MVPs. It’s all about who gets better board state faster and snowball the game drawing more cards.
Try to aggressively kill your enemy’s mana dorks, as they let them play 《Vivien Reid》 faster. Keep 《Vraska’s Contempt》 for Planeswalkers exclusively, and try to kill creatures with weaker removal. You rarely die to damage, so don’t be afraid of taking few hits with 《Jadelight Ranger》 if necessary.
Sideboard On the Play
vs. Sultai Midrange
Out
In
Sideboard On the Draw
vs. Sultai Midrange
Out
In
On the draw, you want to keep a 《Cry of the Carnarium》 to give yourself a shot for killing 《Llanowar Elves》 and something else for 3 mana. On the play, you can go more proactive, with another expensive, but very powerful removal.
Esper Midrange: Slightly Favored
The game looks similar to Sultai, except Esper has weaker creatures, and is more vulnerable to 《Cry of the Carnarium》, also doesn’t have 《Hydroid Krasis》 to turn around the game out of nowhere.
On the other hand, they have better disruption and snowballs faster. Both 《Hero of Precinct One》 and 《Thief of Sanity》 can win the game on their own, if remain unanswered for two turns, so be careful and don’t let them do their things. If you answer everything right away, late game is simply yours.
vs. Esper Midrange
Out
In
Bant Midrange: Slightly Unfavored
《Llanowar Elves》 and 3 mana Planeswalkers are a great combo. 《God-Eternal Oketra》 is really hard to stop. Other than that, we’re fine.
Bant has a kind of draws we can never beat, which gives them some nice % of free wins, but in fair games, we have a decent shot. Bant is really mana hungry, so prioritize killing mana dorks, and don’t let them snowball with Planeswalkers. As in other Midrange match ups, 《Finale of Eternity》 and Planeswalkers are your ways to win.
vs. Bant Midrange
Out
In
Esper Control: Bad
Game one is terrible. We have so many dead cards and Esper almost doesn’t. Postboard is OK, usually you have to protect your 《Thief of Sanity》 with discard. They often rely hard on 《Teferi, Time Raveler》 in match ups like this, so I don’t want to have more counterspells in my sideboard and prefer to just play proactively with discard.
vs. Esper Control
Out
In
《Tyrant’s Scorn》 is not as bad as it looks. Protects your thief in the late game, and is an early answer for their 《Thief of Sanity》. 《Unmoored Ego》 is not a great card here, but we need them in our sideboard for Nexus, and is certainly better than other cards we’re taking out. Name 《Teferi, Hero of Dominaria》 first.
Simic Nexus: Bad
Game one is unwinnable. Our removal doesn’t do anything, we don’t have any pressure and not enough interaction. Postboard is not way better, as we still don’t have a way to attack fast, and often our interaction isn’t enough, as we give them infinite time to set up everything.
3 《Unmoored Ego》 is a key here, as games are long, and cutting them from important resources gives us an edge. Always name 《Wilderness Reclamation》 first, as it’s the core engine of Simic Nexus, and while looking through their library check how many creatures they brought in (you can adjust your sideboard for game 3), and focus on what you should name next (usually it’s 《Tamiyo, Collector of Tales》).
vs. Simic Nexus
Out
In
Sideboard here is a little tricky. We never know how many creatures they will bring in. 《Cast Down》 is better than 《Tyrant’s Scorn》 because it can kill both 《Kraul Harpooner》 and 《Biogenic Ooze》.
Conclusion
If you expect a lot of Aggro decks in your metagame and don’t see many Esper or Nexus, this deck is a great choice. I would really recommend you try it out.
I have some thoughts about moving forward. I would love to fit third 《God-Eternal Kefnet》, as he is a big player in both defense and offense, and even if you draw multiple it’s not that bad. They have to somehow deal with him anyway, and you can refuse to use the return ability if you have another one in hand, so you don’t draw a dead card again.
The worst card in the deck is definitely 《Augur of Bolas》. 1/3 is embarrassing everywhere except for Aggro match ups and those are already good. Not to mention, trigger misses a real % of the time. We can cut both 《Augur of Bolas》, add one 《God-Eternal Kefnet》, and one 《Finale of Eternity》 from the sideboard. Then fill the sideboard slot with 《Hostage Taker》. This way we make our Midrange match ups better, while not really hurting Aggro ones.
Now it’s time to watch how the metagame shifts and see if this deck will be viable or not if we see more Esper Control and Simic Nexus I would rather move toward Bant or Esper Midrange, but if not, I would be more than happy to keep playing Dimir!
Thank you for reading. Until next time,
