Legacy: Dimir Tempo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! Whenever I write Legacy deck techs, I like to focus on all sorts of decks, from weird rogue lists to rising strategies, and, eventually, the archetypes at the very top of the meta as well.

Today, we'll explore a list that, depending on your criteria, is currently the first or second best deck in Legacy right now: Dimir Tempo.

Dimir Tempo is not one of the best lists in the format by accident: it is extremely consistent, and doesn't have any clear, unbeatable enemies.

This list inherited all the tradition behind Delver lists. It perfectly combines pressure, tempo, and disruption, and, as such, it can face any opponent. It also doesn't have any clear weaknesses you can explore, which is not the case for Combo lists, for instance.

This "technical" game style, which leads you to matches that are not automatically lost or won and forces you to use your skill to win them yourself, is very attractive to a lot of players.

Though the most common lists in this archetype are often called Dimir Tempo (like the one below, played by ReformedPaolo to top 8 at a Magic Online Challenge 32) - they're actually Grixis. They splash ever so slightly to red to play Molten Collapse in the main deck and Meltdown and Pyroblast in the sideboard.

Semantics aside, the core of this deck is black and blue:

A blue Tempo core is one of Legacy's oldest institutions - Force of Will, Brainstorm, Ponder, Daze, and Wasteland. This list, however, plays only 3 copies of Daze and Wasteland, partly to accommodate its splash to red.

Let's see our creatures: Orcish Bowmasters is once again among the most relevant creatures in Legacy, and it seems no one can build a deck with black without this threat from the Lord of the Rings. It is the perfect way to prey on other players' Brainstorms and Ponders.

Murktide Regent is simply a pile of evasive stats for 2 mana, so it's very destructive against decks that play damage-based removals. Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student is a 1-mana Planeswalker who can win the game by herself if you transform her early on. She makes this deck less aggressive, but also more resilient than traditional Delver lists, as she gives you a flow of cards that tempo decks usually don't have.

Nethergoyf is your aggressive 1-drop that can also return to the battlefield in longer matches. Finally, Brazen Borrower is your emergency lever for... well, emergencies and other unexpected situations.

Moving on from our creatures, this list plays a few other interesting cards: Kaito, Bane of Nightmares easily goes into play with his Ninjutsu, either through Tamiyo or Bowmasters. Once on the board, your opponents will struggle to remove him, and he'll create resources or control the board for you.

Stock Up has become an incredible card in Legacy, which is surprising, considering this is a 3-mana sorcery in an extremely efficient format. However, drawing the two best cards from the top five cards in your deck and ditching the rest is, apparently, a valuable investment.

This list also plays a removal kit with 4 Fatal Push - which is, perhaps, the best non-Swords to Plowshares removal in Legacy - and Molten Collapse, which is versatile and excellent against Chalice of the Void. Finally, there's also Thoughtseize which is still a mix of information and disruption that can make your life a lot easier, particularly against combo decks.

Like other tempo decks, you don't have to look for a specific opener when you mulligan, but, instead, just look for a balanced amount of mana, action, and card draw. And, because this deck is not that aggressive, you can keep hands that lean more on attrition. However, please remember this is not a traditional control list.

Hand examples:

I don't like this hand, though it can be good in some situations. Let's explore it a bit more: on one side, you can already discard a card on turn 1 to know what you're facing and also have protection against creatures, besides Force of Will as backup. But this hand doesn't do anything directly, and you'll have to rely on your next draws to find gas.

Verdict: Mulligan, unless you know you need to be defensive because you're against a creature-based combo deck, like Cephalid.

This hand is also complicated, as Brainstorm will decide its fate. You can keep it because there's a good chance this blue cantrip will find black mana, and, meanwhile, it has protection/disruption. However, if you can't draw anything viable with Brainstorm, things will get a lot harder...

Verdict: Risky keep.

The perfect hand doesn't exist... But, if it did, it would look something like this. It has everything.

Verdict: Keep, obviously.

This hand has too many lands. If you use Ponder to try to find some action, you might disable Force of Will. There's no way.

Verdict: Mulligan.

Very often, we see a great variety of different cards that all play the same roles in sideboards of decks that use Brainstorm and Ponder. The idea is to cover several scenarios at once and make your opponent confused, as they won't know exactly which answer you'll use against them.

For our list, we'll use Grafdigger's Cage, Nihil Spellbomb, and Unlicensed Hearse against graveyards. Force of Negation is another answer for combos, Meltdown and Molten Collapse deal with decks that fill the board with artifacts. Collapse, by the way, is even versatile enough to also deal with problematic creatures.

Hydroblast is still the best answer against Blood Moon, and Pyroblast is still the most efficient card against other blue decks.

Finally, Barrowgoyf dominates matches against other creatures. It is difficult to remove, creates resources, and has lifelink.

Other cards that usually appear in this sideboard, particularly when the list itself doesn't splash to red, are : Consign to Memory, Dismember, Disruptor Flute, Dress Down, Engineered Explosives, Flusterstorm, Go for the Throat, Harbinger of the Seas, Narset, Parter of Veils, Null Rod, Sheoldred’s Edict, Snuff Out, and Surgical Extraction, as well as extra copies of Brazen Borrower and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

Dimir Aggro

The mirror is typically decided by whoever gets more resources, so the best strategy is focusing on the cards that can decide the game, like Orcish Bowmasters and Murktide Regent.

Post-side, you'll still have to deal with a few issues, as your best answers are red cards, but they can expose you to Wasteland.

If possible, only get red mana with your fetch lands when you want to use these cards. Post-side, Barrowgoyf is your most important card, and Unlicensed Hearse lets you control how big and efficient Murktide Regent and Nethergoyf are.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

Dimir Tempo is a difficult opponent for them because it combines pressure, counters, and disruption, all at the same time. This means they won't have a lot of time to set their plans in motion.

Post-side, you'll be even better prepared to deal with their cards - Hydroblast deals with both Sneak Attack and Pyroblast. Kaito comes out because you want to avoid cards that force you to tap mana on your turn.

In:

Out:

Red Stompy

In this matchup, look for your basic lands with your fetch lands so Blood Moon doesn't ruin your day - this is essential. If one Chalice of the Void eventually goes through your counters, you can still use Brazen Borrower or Molten Collapse to deal with it.

They practically don't have a main deck answer for Murktide Regent, which is your best card in game 1.

In the next games, you'll give them even more trouble with Barrowgoyf. Daze is even less efficient because of Simian Spirit Guide, and Orcish Bowmasters only creates extra value against Fable of the Mirror-Breaker's second chapter.

In:

Out:

Reanimator

In this matchup, you'll be the control list and should avoid, as much as you can, exposing yourself to your opponent's reanimations. Orcs work really well against lists with blue, but are less impactful against monoblack or Rakdos versions.

Force of Negation is a great answer early on, and also deals with their graveyard.

Against Lists With Blue

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Out:

Against Lists Without Blue

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Out:

Painter

The best strategy for this matchup is removing everything they put on the board, namely, Goblins and Painter's Servant. You definitely don't want to expose your cards to Pyroblast or Red Elemental Blast.

Meltdown is a real threat against their strategies, and Molten Collapse usually handles two cards at once. You don't have to rely so much on your counters post-side, as removals immune to Pyroblast will deal with your issues more safely.

In:

Out:

As long as Legacy exists, Blue Tempo decks will exist - more or less aggressive, with two or more colors. This Grixis/Dimir Tempo version is just the most recent iteration in a long dynasty. And there's a reason it is so popular: it is both exciting and highly efficient.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!