Art by Greg Hildebrandt
I probably shouldn’t be writing this primer, since you’ll just use this knowledge to stab me in the back later, but hey, knowledge is power, and I will always. Have more. Power than you.
This is a 555 card cube (more on this number later) with cards that can be played with only the Blue and Black (aka “Dimir”, the Guild of Spies) colors. Gone are the familiar stompy creatures of Green, direct damage spells of Red, and token-amassing forces of White. Those methods are too simplistic. In their stead, we have unabashed access to countermagic, hand disruption, creature killing, reanimation, and so much more. Now you might say Dimir is “unfun” and to this, we say… hey, could I talk to you in this alleyway over here real quick?
Ahem. Sorry about that. They were a spy, and not the good kind. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes.
Table of Contents:
Archetypes:
This cube is only two colors and it wouldn’t be very fun for every deck to look like a pile of Blue/Black sludge.
Thus, it’s important to have distinct draft archetypes so players who are sharp won’t step on each other’s toes. Even the Dimir believe in temporary cooperation if it will help us amass more powerful decks. This cube is heavily tagged, which should help you find other important qualities in the cube besides these archetypes. If you have a suggestion for a new tag, feel free to let me know. I will bring it up with… the council. Here are the most pronounced archetypes to look out for in draft and some things they like to do. If you are looking for things to do outside of these archetypes, make sure to check out the "Build-Around" tag for key lynchpin cards. Keep in mind that you should prioritize cards that go great in your strategy but are good enough on their own that someone else might want to take it. Anticipating the movies of your enemies is the key to success. If you would like to see examples of cards in each archetype, follow the link in the archetype name.
Aristocrats
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Strategy: Sacrifice creatures, often drawing cards and draining your opponent.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Artifacts / Artifactocrats
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Strategy: Sacrifice artifacts for value. Create a machine destroying artifacts and bringing them back to your hand.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Discard
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Strategy: Tear apart your opponent’s hand and drain their life.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Faeries
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Strategy: Play Faeries that disrupt your opponents. Beat them down with big flyers.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Mill
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Strategy: Get your opponent to zero cards in their library. Manipulate the top card of their library to ensure they can't draw their best cards.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Ninjas / Enter the Battlefield
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Strategy: Attack with evasive creatures and put out ninjas. Replay creatures with enter-the-battlefield abilities.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Reanimator / Self-Mill
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Strategy: Put big creatures in the graveyard, either by milling yourself or discarding cards, and get them back out cheaply.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Rogues / Saboteur
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Strategy: Attack with unblockable creatures and draw cards or make your opponent discard when you hit them.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Self-Discard / Cycling
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Strategy: Discard your own cards, either to reanimate them or because of some other payoff.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Spells
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Strategy: Cast lots of cheap instants or sorceries. The payoffs are strong but the spells are usually cantrips, removal... cards everyone will want.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Zombies
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Strategy: Play creatures that buff all of your Zombies, make Zombie tokens, and replay Zombies out of the graveyard.
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Key cards:
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Cards you want that other people will take:
Cube Environment:
The fixing in this cube is intentionally minimal. We don’t have access to ramp, but we also don’t really need to splash colors often. The typical deck will be mostly relying on splitting their basics intelligently, scrying to find their colors, or might have a couple of dual lands or some mana rocks to help them out. Don’t get greedy- we’re not Green players. You could also just go mono-colored. Keep in mind that evil begets evil, and mono-black is likely to be more synergistic than mono-blue. You might have noticed that "control" is not one of the archetypes listed above. Perhaps other guilds may need to specify that control is possible in their environments but for the Dimir, control is less of an archetype we try for and more like... a character trait we are born with. Even the aggressive strategies in Dimir are slow and methodical, so everyone can relax, take their time, and scope out every situation. The archetype may not say "control", but control elements are available, lurking just beneath the surface...
Counterspells
You might go into a Dimir cube thinking it will just be a countermagic slog.
“I cast-”
“Wait, but I-“
“Could you just-“
On the other hand, interaction is important and countermagic is one of the main ways Blue can stop threats. I have tried to limit the number of counterspells in the cube and purposely chose inefficient or conditional ones. Believe me, you will thank me for the presence of countermagic when your opponent is looping Recurring Nightmare. While I am on the topic of counterspells, free counter spells are anathema to the Dimir. While of course we don't rule out any tool available to us, there is a code among thieves that says that if you want protection, you need to pay up. Thus, there are no free counterspells in this cube; control players: don’t tap out unless you are sure you can handle the risks. Now, free kill spells, on the other hand? Well, with the right accomplices, anything is possible.
Size matters
This cube has a strange number of cards. It is 555 cards because its max capacity is 12 drafters (two pods of six), which is 12 x 3 x 15 = 540. Additionally, Lore Seeker means that we would need one more pack of 15. I considered changing the size once more to accommodate Booster Tutor but there were some issues with this:
- I didn’t want to add too many extra cards, as they would dilute the concentration of key cards.
- 570 is an even weirder number than 555.
- Someone could theoretically cast Booster Tutor in all three rounds of the tournament, and they could cast it one (or more) times per game. So theoretically I would need to add 9 x 15 = 135 extra cards to the cube, plus another pack or three in case they Snapcaster Mage it, etc.
- Once we already are adding hundreds of more cards, why stop there? Why not just accommodate 16 players? It never ends.
- The more cards we add, the lower the probability the darn thing even gets drafted so why are we even bothering with this?
It becomes a mess, so I figured the best solution is to just keep the cube size where it is and have a house rule determine how Booster Tutor works (see below).
House Rules:
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The basic lands to which players have access are Snow-Covered Islands and Snow-Covered Swamps. You may not have any other basic land (especially not Forests). This includes you, Sovereign's Realm players. While you only need Blue and Black sources to play every card and activate every ability, this cube does have some cards that make non Dimir tokens or violate the familiar color identity rules of Commander. You would not be able to put every card from this cube into a Szadek, Lord of Secrets Commander deck.
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This cube has custom cards. Take ‘em or leave ‘em. The cube has enough cards that you can just cut them and, unless you have 12 drafters, you’ll be fine. I personally think they are well designed (I try not to stray far away from already-designed cards) and can enhance some strategies that are not as good.
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This cube has one or more cards with the Daybound/Nightbound mechanic. This mechanic requires that the players track the “Day” or “Night” status of the game as soon as a card with Daybound or Nightbound is played and then track it for the rest of the game. In this cube, however, there are very few cards with this mechanic and tracking it constantly would be more trouble than it’s worth. The house rule is that Day and Night do not change unless there is a permanent that cares about Day or Night on the battlefield. As an example, if your Suspicious Stowaway dies while it is Day, it will stay Day for the rest of the game unless the Suspicious Stowaway somehow reenters the battlefield (say, by reanimating it) and if someone passes their turn without casting any spells while the Stowaway is on the battlefield.
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This cube has some reasonable silver-bordered (ie, not allowed in sanctioned Magic) cards that enhance the cube experience, including conspiracies. The Dimir like to draw power from any sources available, even less conventional ones (I don’t understand the joke). Some of these cards might not work in online drafts, so if you are doing that, make sure to cut them.
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How Booster Tutor works in this cube:
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Use undrafted cards from the cube to make booster packs of whatever size was drafted.
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Put the other cards from the pack into a ‘used’ pile.
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If there are not enough unused cards left to make another booster pack, shuffle the used and unused cards together and start making packs out of those.
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If there are still no undrafted cards at all (like in a 12 person draft where Lore Seeker is drafted), you may treat your sideboard as a pack.
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A player may choose to use sealed, outside (“retail”) booster packs if they supply them, although I am sure the power level will not be nearly as high as it is in the clutches of the Dimir. However, for your cheekiness, you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast a card you put into your hand this way.
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After the game, remove any cards from your deck that did not start in your deck.
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This cube has at least one card with the Companion mechanic. Unless stated otherwise, assume that the Companion errata is not in effect and the mechanic works as printed on the card. I don’t think they are too powerful in Limited when it is harder to build around their condition. I prefer cards to work the way they read on the card, to reduce explanation for people who have not encountered it before.
Best cards in the cube:
No one wants to feel like they are a fool who let the most powerful secrets pass them by without them noticing. To help you notice true greatness when you see it, I have compiled a list of the best cards in the cube that you should not pass unless there is a very good reason.
I believe I have helped you enough. You will need to acquire your own knowledge, by drafting the cube and by looking at the cube list. The tags should help. Until we meet on a dark street corner couriering messages for enemy mob bosses, I wish you good luck.