The Modern RCQ season has come to a close so my attention is now on the Standard season. I had a great run with Dimir Midrange in Modern so I’m naturally looking to run it back in Standard. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares hasn’t let me down yet. RIW will be running Standard RCQs so be on the lookout as dates get solidified.
Today I’m going to discuss my take on Dimir Midrange in post-rotation Standard. Before we get to the decklist, let’s talk about some of the recent format changes.
The release of Edge of Eternities booted out the following sets:
Dominaria United
The Brothers’ War
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
March of the Machine
March of the Machine: The Aftermath
Standard also had a sweeping B&R update on June 30 where some of the most powerful cards in the format got the axe:
Cori-Steel Cutter
Abuelo’s Awakening
Monstrous Rage
Heartfire Hero
Up the Beanstalk
This Town Ain’t Big Enough
Hopeless Nightmare
After all of these changes the early reads of the metagame look reasonably healthy and diverse with plenty of powerful archetypes to play depending on your preferences.
Here’s the last 7 day metagame as reported by MTGGoldfish (as of 8/3/25):
The Goldfish data is still working through the B&R updates and rotation in aggregate lists, but the top decks are clear: Dimir and Izzet are the decks to beat.
There are plenty of midrange, aggro, and control options available and even a Cauldron-based synergy deck for good measure. Naturally control will need to adapt so I expect it to pick up share in the near term as the top decks solidify.
Despite one of the largest B&R announcements we’ve seen in Standard as well as a massive set rotation, the format is quite powerful.
Dimir Midrange not only fits my play style, but happens to be one of the strongest early frontrunners. The B&R update skipped Dimir Midrange, but lost some powerful cards from the rotation:
Cut Down
Go for the Throat
Anoint with Affliction
Faerie Mastermind
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Gix’s Command
Underground River
Darkslick Shores
Thankfully there are a wealth of removal options, top-end haymakers, and dual lands in the new Standard card pool.
Katio, Bane of Nightmares and Enduring Curiosity are two of the most powerful midrange threats in Standard. This was the case after the B&R update on June 30 and remains the case with the Edge of Eternities rotation. You can only be so wrong for playing Dimir Midrange with this level of relative power.
The Standard metagame has tools available to destroy planeswalkers so be aware of potential answers from each deck. Overlord of the Boilerbilges and Obliterating Bolt can deal four damage to a planeswalker so there are times it’s correct to +1 for a ninja emblem to grow Kaito out of range. White decks still have access to Get Lost.
There are cases where it’s correct to activate Kaito on the first main phase and then ninjutsu him to deploy another copy onto the battlefield. This can essentially reset loyalty and generate additional activations.
Enduring Curiosity’s primary enemy is a bargained Torch the Tower.
The flex slots of Dimir Midrange are best served as disruptive creatures with Kaito and Enduring Curiosity incentivizing evasive threats.
Faerie Mastermind provided a flash threat that helped set the pace for Dimir Midrange. It played more like a blue deck, but Deep-Cavern Bat operates at sorcery-speed. The bat is still a great two-drop as it curves nicely into Kaito while putting the opponent off balance. I’m not against boarding out a couple bats against decks packing plenty of removal or when they don’t line up well as a blocker against aggressive creatures.
Floodpits Drowner still enables Dimir to operate at instant-speed and provides a removal spell for even the largest of creatures. Drowner’s ability can combo nicely with Kaito because ninjutsu can bounce ahead of it being shuffled back into the deck. This is a five mana play, but be on the lookout. I find myself boarding out some number of Drowners in matchups where the stun ability isn’t relevant despite it being a flash threat.
The opponent is aware Dimir’s most powerful curve involves Floodpits Drowner into a Kaito ninjutsu so don’t be surprised when they don’t attack with just two blockers on the battlefield.
Cecil, Dark Knight is evasive by being unprofitable to block and pave the way for Kaito and Enduring Curiosity. Cut Down was a huge loss to interact with early threats, but Cecil can trade off early against aggressive decks. Cecil damaging both players means you need to identify your role in the game before deciding to attack.
Spyglass Siren is the staple one-drop that enables your top end card advantage threats. Note this is a pirate and cannot be hit by Shoot the Sheriff. The map token can enable Tragic Trajectory’s void ability to give the creature -10-10.
I prefer Tragic Trajectory in the maindeck over Stab despite it being sorcery-speed. The void ability works when nonland permanents leave play on either side of the battlefield unlike revolt on Fatal Push. There aren’t enough creatures that die to Stab to warrant a maindeck inclusion and I do find myself wanting to kill larger creatures such as Vivi often enough to demand the flexibility.
Bitter Triumph has high diminishing returns, but crucially answers Kaito, Ral, and Elspeth, Storm Slayer.
Nowhere to Run is another flexible removal spell to consider. Shutting off hexproof is valuable against opposing Kaitos and the Mono Green Landfall deck with Snakeskin Veil and Royal Treatment.
Preacher of the Schism is a generically powerful threat that can be cast on the third turn if the coast isn’t clear for a Kaito ninjutsu. Every opponent in a competitive event will know Dimir’s early turns are spent developing an offense to maximize Kaito and Enduring Curiosity, but simply deploying a Preacher puts them in a bind as it’s difficult to defend against and even the 1/1 lifelink vampires play well.
Preacher is worded strangely in that the 1/1 vampire ability only triggers when attacking a player while the card-drawing ability also triggers when attacking a planeswalker. You can also pay life with Watery Grave and Starting Town to get different Preacher abilities.
Phantom Interference is a reasonable counter. I don’t want to have too many two-mana counters in my sideboard where it starts looking appealing to board out an Interference. This counter is more effective on the draw as it’s more likely to snag a three-drop.
Each color pair has a different split of lands; Dimir’s manabase has some strong options. Starting Town is much worse than Darkslick Shores, but each color pair has pros and cons.
Watery Grave is back! The shock land enables both colors of the verge cycle and casts all of the one-drops.
Restless Reef entering tapped is a hindrance, but provides access to both colors. The creature land aspect competes with Soulstone Sanctuary; both have their merits, but I do prefer to activate the 3/3 ninja. Remember the 3/3 receives a buff from Kaito’s emblem.
Esper Midrange is a possibility but comes at the expense of fewer creature lands. Soulstone Sanctuary is the preferred creature land and extra shock lands add up, too.
I have nine basics with more Swamps because Gloomlake Verge begins by adding blue mana for Spyglass Siren.
Anti-aggro measures include Stab, Nowhere to Run, and Scavenger Regent. There aren’t too many cards I want to cut against aggressive decks because the set of Preachers are already maindecked.
Aclazotz is strong against other black midrange decks and can also serve as a stabilizer against aggro. I don’t want too many haymakers in the sideboard because Kaito and Enduring Curiosity are already in the maindeck. The second copy is helpful against aggro decks because it’s good to trim on Kaitos near the top of the curve.
Spell Pierce being a single mana comes in handy as opposed to Negate. Playing a threat and countering Stock up in the same turn cycle is big game. It’s a way to keep up with Izzet’s card velocity.
Disdainful Stroke is powerful against Overlords as they can even be countered for their impending cost. Yuna is also a big threat in Standard, but beware of Cavern of Souls.
Tishana’s Tidebinder comes in handy in similar matchups as Disdainful Stroke. I can trim on Preachers to make room for the better threat against combo and control decks.
The End helps against Elspeth, Kaito, and Enduring Curiosity. I imagine facing many Dimir mirrors and want to be ready.
Ghost Vacuum plays better in paper tournaments where I expect to face more Orzhov Aristocrats, Reanimator, and Cauldron.
I was at first disappointed that the Modern RCQ season has come to a close, but the new Standard format is fun so far. The card pool is deep enough where we have options to customize the decklists week by week to adjust for a changing metagame.
