Dragon Toys for Gary

So, Dragons of Tarkir is under prerelease which means next week we will have access to the new cards. The set looks great, specially for a third set in a block (maybe it received extra care since it is the last third set and it will survive the next two Standard rotations). If you don't know the new cards yet, here is a list of set reviews made specially for Standard Pauper:

• Standard Pauper Review of Dragons of Tarkir by gwyned Part One - Part Two
• Dragons of Tarkir Standard Pauper Set Video Review by DrChrisBakerDC
• Cabel's Critique of a New Release: Dragons of Tarkir for Standard Pauper White - Blue - Black - Red - Green
• The MagicGatheringStrat Show Episode 4

The most impressive cards, in general, are the Exploit ones. Enters the battlefield effects are always great, specially in Standard Pauper where the power level of the cards is almost always very low. Add some cards with drying triggers (there were some of them already in the format and DTK brings us new ones) and you have a ton of value coming from one Exploit trigger.

It happens that the Exploit is the Dimir mechanic of this set and it happens that Dimir (sometimes with a third color) Devotion is my pet deck in the format so you can color me happy.

There are also some sweet non Exploit cards coming in these colors, some of them which fit perfectly in the archetype:

Anticipate is probably the best card in the whole set for Standard Pauper. It is the closest we get to a Ponder/Preordain/Brainstorm effect and it is an instant, which makes a huge difference for an effect like that. 

Dimir Devotion usually struggles in the early game, when other decks are pressuring us and we need to slow them down and secure our land drops. In that case, we can keep our mana untapped in turns two or three so we can cast Voyage's End or Pharika's Cure if we need, and Anticipate in the end of the opponent's turn to fetch the best of the next three cards in our deck. Later in the game, it will accelerate our search for Gary, Treasure Cruise or anything else we need to win.

This deck was designed to beat Boros Heroic and it was good at it by that time. But Boros evolved with Temur Battle Rage making them much faster. Also, Azorius Heroic is now a top deck and our discard effects are not enough to keep them off balance, because they play Treasure Cruise and can refill their hand very easily. The main problem of Dimir, however, is the terrible matchup against Izzet Control. Anticipate will make devotion stronger against all these opponents, but even more important is the next card:

Duress is being reprinted and it comes with a nice timing. Last time it was on the format it was relegated to sideboard card against control, now I see it being a main deck card which will only be sided out in a few matches (mainly against RDW). Duress  hurts control decks, like Izzet, when it deprives them from the answer to your next move or the card they plan to use to take over the game. Against Heroic, it can take away a protection spell, or force the opponent to cast it before you targeted their creature, making your removal or bounce spell easier to land.

This is how I think the current Dimir Devotion deck will look like in the next season.

This is a simple update on the current deck, but you can also go all in Exploit. In this case, the plan is to maximize the value out of Exploit triggers while also navigating the game to the point where you can also maximize the value of Gray Merchant of Asphodel. You will do this by bouncing it, getting it back from the graveyard or simply building devotion with other cards before casting it.

Let's take a closer look in some of the new cards:

Palace Familiar is a sacrifice target, one of the best you can get since it you draw you a card. It is also a cheap air blocker that you won't mind losing very much, which makes it perfect. Because of being able to block in the air it is better than Jeskai Sage for this deck.

Dutiful Attendant is another target for Exploit. Much alike the Familiar, it will give you a card when it dies, the difference is that you get to chose the card (a creature from your graveyard). Since your creatures will be dying a lot, it shouldn't be hard to have a good target for this ability.

Sidisi's Faithful is our first Exploit creature and I think it can be the little engine that makes the deck work. It costs only one mana and it can be used in multiple ways. You can bounce opponent's creatures if you need to deal with them or you can bounce your own creatures for extra life swings with Gary or extra Exploiting with Gurmag Drowner and Vulturous Aven. Pay attention to the triggers order. For instance, if your opponent have no cards in hand, you can Exploit a Black Cat, make the exploit trigger first and bounce an opponent creature, then the black cat will trigger and make the opponent discard the creature you just bounced.

Gurmag Drowner is the next and if you check the set reviews made for Standard Pauper you will notice that most players are not very excited about it. I trully think they are all wrong. This card is a powerhouse and I can see some decks running a whole playset of it. You get to choose from one of the next four cards in your deck and the others will all fuel your Delve cards. If you ever played with Sea Gate Oracle or Court Hussar you know how strong this effect will be. I'm using only one copy here because the deck needs more black permanents to the devotion count and because Vulturous Aven serves us better in the 4 mana slot. But this card can really save your day finding that one card you need exactly in the moment you cast it. And of course you can setup the triggers in a way that if you exploit a Dutiful Attendant, you can chose two of those next four cards, if there is a creature you want between day. It's all value! (edit: you can't really do that because you need to target a card in the graveyard when you are putting the triggers on the stack).

The last exploit creature is Vulturous Aven. This is the one which let most players excited. A 2/3 flyer for 4 mana in black is already playable. If it comes with Sign In Blood attached, it is a beast! If you can any extra value from the creature you are exploiting, it is gross. This card is so good that you can run it even in black decks not designed to be "exploit decks". 

Gravepurge: this is another reprint and it is a card which will face harsh competition in that recursion slot. Font of Return is just more powerful while Unmake the Graves is arguably more powerful and conditionally cheaper. I chose Gravepurge because it can be used earlier, because it is an instant and because this deck can accelerate the card drawing to compensate for the fact that you are putting cards back on the top of your graveyard, but I'm not sure it will work as well as I expect.

That's all, folks! These lists are here to get you started and they probably need a lot of tuning before they can be played in tournaments. UB and Exploit are far from being everything Dragons of Tarkir have to offer and I'm sure all decks are receiving at least some updates. We will find out soon.

I see you at MPDC and SPDC Worlds! Until then, prepare yourself with Cabel the Pauper Standard Pauper Metagame Report for March.

Have a good one!
rremedio