The Standard RCQ season is ramping up; today I’m going to share a sideboard guide for my favorite deck- Dimir Midrange. I’m going to focus on the big four decks: Cauldron, Dimir, Mono Red, and Azorius.
I gravitate toward Dimir decks because they are difficult for the opponent to navigate. Once I’m familiar with the deck it also gives plenty of room to spend my brain capacity to play the opponent.
Let’s begin with the MTGGoldfish last 7 day metagame to get a feel for what to expect:
Despite Vivi Cauldron being the S-tier deck, there are plenty of strategies you may face due to the hefty price tag on the key cards. It’s nearly twice the price as most decks without Vivi; I would think twice about “investing” in this deck as it won’t escape 2025. It’s unacceptably dominant.
Mono Red won Spotlight: Planetary Rotation as it’s the best deck to take down Izzet Cauldron and isn’t too expensive.
I’m preparing specifically for RCQs where the paper metagames tend to be more varied compared to the weekend events with coverage and high cash prizes. There’s a blend of tournament grinders that travel to each store and local players.
Dimir Midrange has been tried and true in Standard despite not being in the same tier as Vivi Cauldron. While the matchup against Vivi is tricky, it shines against the rest of the field.
Let’s start out with the seventy-five I plan to play at upcoming RCQs:
The deck is largely stock, but there’s room to customize with the flex slots.
Here are the cards that most lists play:
4 Spyglass Siren
2 Cecil, Dark Knight
4 Floodpits Drowner
4 Deep-Cavern Bat
3 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
4 Enduring Curiosity
1 Bitter Triumph
2 Shoot the Sheriff
2 Tragic Trajectory
2 Phantom Interference
2 Preacher of the Schism
These thirty cards give us room to play an additional five alongside twenty-five lands.
1 Strategic Betrayal: I’m presideboarding against Vivi Cauldron as there aren’t many tokens in the format so it will hit a relevant threat at sorcery speed.
The second Bitter Triumph: I’ve liked this more than the third Shoot the Sheriff because the two most popular decks, Vivi Cauldron and Dimir Midrange, play an outlaw on the first turn and at least two Soulstone Sanctuary. Azure Beastbinder is becoming more popular in the Dimir Rats archetype, too (Rogue). There’s also a flavor of Mono Red playing Taurean Mauler and white decks with Elspeth.
1 Sunset Sabateur: This is the ninth two-drop alongside Bat and Floodpits Drowner. Hands without early pressure make your Kaito and Enduring Curiosity awkward so I would prefer the flex slot be another evasive creature. There isn’t much of a drawback with this creature as the +1+1 will often go to a threat I plan to remove.
The third and fourth Preacher of the Schism: Many lists opt for maindeck Tishana’s Tidebinder, but I prefer the flash threat in post board games. It’s difficult to play a tricky game plan without having access to your targeted interaction in the sideboard so I want the standalone threat.
I like Preacher in the first game, but it’s also strong in post-board games as you need to dance around removal making your other top-end creatures weaker. It can suss out Obliterating Bolt that would otherwise hit Kaito and Enduring Curiosity.
A recurring theme of Dimir Midrange is that game one is less favorable than post-board. Dimir’s sideboard has the capacity to beat anything, but not all at once. I’ve tailored this sideboard to fight against the big four: Cauldron, Dimir, Azorius Control, and Mono Red.
Such a powerful sideboard does mean the deck can play out fundamentally differently so be sure to get practice with post board configurations.
Stab is more efficient than Tragic Trajectory, but less versatile. I like the third -2-2 effect in the mirror and Mono Red as well as a handful of lesser played creature strategies.
The End is difficult to cast in game one, but is helpful in post board games that tend to play out slower. I want to exile Enduring Curiosity and Kaito in the mirror while stopping Vivi and Quantum Riddler against Izzet.
Tishana’s Tidebinder is solid against white control decks, Dimir Midrange, and Vivi Cauldron. It’s not as good as it sounds against Cauldron as many triggers come with a body to trade off. Make sure to play around Tidebinder in the mirror as it’s effectively a double-bounce if it stops ninjutsu.
I excluded Faebloom Trick because it’s strong in the mirror, but not much else. Tidebinder and Preacher are also strong in the mirror so I don’t want to spend too much energy marginally upgrading the three-drops. It’s also a lackluster threat without pairing with Kaito or Enduring Curiosity; Dimir is strong enough with those threats on the battlefield and I prefer standalone alternatives.
Spell Pierce is strong against decks with Stock Up. I don’t play too many two-mana counters because they’re competing with Phantom Interference. In slower matchups where Tragic Trajectory isn’t good I want to swap it with another one-drop.
Duress is another good early play against decks where you want to board out Tragic Trajectory. I don’t want too much hand disruption as you should think about it like a fifth Deep-Cavern Bat.
Annul counters Fear of Missing Out, Profit’s Eidetic Memory, and Agatha’s Soul Cauldron for cheap. I don’t want three Annul despite it being the flagship card against Cauldron because they will lean harder on the Riddler post board. There are also plenty of fringe decks with artifacts and enchantments you may encounter.
A single Ghost Vacuum is attacking the graveyard against Vivi Cauldron as well as a handful of fringe archetypes. It can be hit by Abrade, but the opponent is trading down on mana. A good draw against Cauldron after sideboard involves a way to stop their primary plan without losing too much card advantage against the fair backup threats.
Not only does Ghost Vacuum stop Cauldron from exiling Vivi, but also hits your own creatures to prevent +1+1 counters. A downside of Vacuum is the Cauldron will still exile Enduring Curiosity when it dies. There are a handful of other graveyard-based cards in Cauldron so it’s fine that they lean away from the primary combo after sideboard. The ultimate on Vacuum also looms in drawn out games.
Strategic Betrayal is weak against fodder creatures, but Vivi Cauldron is packing standalone threats. I can deal with their graveyard without losing card advantage and kill Quantum Riddlers. It can exile Enduring Curiosity in the mirror, but is too weak against the cheap, evasive creatures. The End is the best way to exile Curiosity post board.
Azorius Control is one of the decks that can hang with Vivi Cauldron so I need to play a couple hard counters; I’m currently favoring Disdainful Stroke over Negate because of Overlord of the Mistmoors. I’m toying with an Essence Scatter to counter Quantum Riddler, Tishana’s Tidebinder, and Nova Hellkite.
+1 Ghost Vacuum +2 Tishana’s Tidebinder +2 The End +2 Strategic Betrayal +2 Annul
-4 Floodpits Drowner -2 Tragic Trajectory -1 Sunset Saboteur -1 Enduring Curiosity -1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
Dimir takes the tempo role in game one because there aren’t enough tools available to want to take the game late. Cauldron is able to generate a burst of mana to catch up so be mindful of this in the mid game.
After sideboard there are enough targeted tools available to slow down the game and Cauldron will also move away from their combo.
Fire Magic can be a blowout which is why I place a small emphasis on getting through with a horde of fragile creatures. The Map token can help boost a creature out of cheap Fire Magic range.
Once Kaito enters the battlefield be mindful of Obliterating Bolt; make an emblem up to five loyalty.
I want to prioritize keeping the opponent’s battlefield clear of creatures and mind the threats that have +1+1 counters for remaining Cauldrons.
Floodpits Drowner is weak because it’s vulnerable to Fire Magic and tapped creatures can make mana with the Vivi Cauldron combo.
Tragic Trajectory doesn’t kill too many creatures without Void being active so I swap it out for the more powerful Strategic Betrayal.
I trim on Kaito and Enduring Curiosity because Fire Magic changes the way the game is played. This also offsets the higher curve of boarding in The End and Tishana’s Tidebinder. Fewer haymakers means I am more likely to close the game with creature lands after sideboard.
Phantom Interference is deceptively powerful after board because the opponent loots away excess lands and is more likely to hard cast Quantum Riddler.
Annul is a powerful tempo element in the early game, but the opponent is aware it’s coming. Don’t be surprised if they play around it by simply warping a Riddler against an open blue mana.
+2 Tishana’s Tidebinder +2 The End +1 Stab
-3 Deep-Cavern Bat -1 Strategic Betrayal -1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
The mirror is tricky and focuses around Kaito and Enduring Curiosity.
A potential Floodpits Drowner into Kaito makes me want to take fewer risks at chip shots in the early game when I only have one remaining blocker. Experienced pilots will take this line so don’t assume they will get too aggressive.
You may be able to bait out a removal spell by making it look like you have a Kaito when the real plan is to land Preacher of the Schism. In paper you can use body language to telegraph anticipation for ninjutsu. Plenty of fake bread crumbs to drop.
Enduring Curiosity is a great creature to trade as the enchantment is likely going to stay on the battlefield, but beware of Tishana’s Tidebinder preventing the return trigger. Tidebinder can also shut off Enduring Curiosity’s abilities with a draw trigger on the stack, but beware multiple creatures hitting create multiple effects. Preacher also creates two triggers when both players are at the same life total.
+1 Stab +2 Tishana’s Tidebinder +1 The End +2 Strategic Betrayal
-4 Deep-Cavern Bat -2 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
The name of the game is to play around Nova Hellkite when possible. This creature will often kill one of your threats and has the ability to attack down a Kaito. Tidebinder is strong against Hellkite as it can counter the ping trigger causing it to lose haste, but still return to exile if warped.
The End can exile Nova Hellkite and the cost reduction clause becomes relevant particularly against Mono Red.
+1 Duress +2 Spell Pierce +2 Disdainful Stroke +2 Tishana’s Tidebinder +1 Annul
-4 Floodpits Drowner -2 Tragic Trajectory -1 Shoot the Sheriff -1 Strategic Betrayal
Dimir takes an aggressive stance in game one and hopes to not draw too many removal spells. Once a few counters are added Dimir is able to take a more of a tempo approach.
Since there are plenty of counters to represent against control decks you can bluff with map tokens by choosing not to activate. Nothing is fishier than an uncracked map on a valid target.
Consult the Star Charts is the typical play at the end of the fourth turn so it may make sense to walk into Three Steps Ahead a turn late in order to bottleneck their mana.
There aren’t many creatures in game one, but Azorius can board into a fish deck with Voice of Victory, Tishana’s Tidebinder, Beza, and Overlord of the Mistmoors. I don’t love Annul to stop Overlord of the Mistmoors because it can’t be played without dealing with Voice of Victory first. A single copy is reasonable here.
The transformational sideboard out of Azorius Control is the reason I prefer Disdainful Stroke to Negate.
Preacher of the Schism as a 2/4 can be blocked down by Beza or two insect tokens making a map activation up to a ⅗ valuable. Not only can you map with Spyglass Siren, but they will also be hanging around from Get Lost.
Vivi Cauldron is the best deck to play if you’re looking to win at all costs, but the RCQ metagame will be more varied. Dimir has enough game against Vivi as well as the rest of the format to make it a good choice.
