Dimir Spybug
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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Arena Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Dimir Spybug

Creature — Insect

Flying

Menace *(This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.) *

Whenever you surveil, put a +1/+1 counter on Dimir Spybug.

Caerwyn on Teacher asks for deck ideas …

3 years ago

The single most important thing to remember: All decks should be at a similar power level. If a few decks consistently win more than the others, that is going to make people less inclined to enjoy the game.

One thing to remember--with ultra budget decks, mono-colored decks have a huge advantage. By virtue of being mono colored, they do not need to run lands that enter tapped and they never have issues with being able to cast cards. To offset that problem, I would recommend you be sure to include some nonbasic lands that enter tapped.

Overall, I think you should build 15 decks--that way you hit all the 2 color pairs and all the mono-colored decks. That will help with deck diversity and ensure everyone can find a deck they want to play.

It sounds like you mostly want to build from your collection, rather than buy cards (which is what others here are suggesting). That makes sense, and, if doing so, it likewise makes sense to use 40-card draft- style decks. You might need to still buy some relatively cheep cards (nonbasic lands mostly) to ensure the decks are all at similar power levels.

You are going to want:

  • 16-17 lands - containing a 4-6 nonbasic lands that enter tapped. Decks with a lower curve are going to want fewer lands.
  • 4-6 pieces of "removal" - I'd include counterspells on the removal list. Control lists might have more spells.
  • The rest creatures, with a relatively low curve.

For the decks, I think the following should not be too hard to build given what you already have in your collection:

For mono-colored decks:

  1. Mono-blue Counterspells - fill the deck with blue draw cards, counterspells, and flash creatures (there's some solid flash flying piexies in recent sets).
  2. Mono-Red Burn - Low-cost creatures and medium cost burn spells that can either go directly to the face. Mono-red burn has been a competitive deck for an age--it might be tempting to use low cost burn spells and low-cost hasty creatures, but I would avoid that or this deck might be too powerful.
  3. Mono-white lifegain, focused on cards that cause you to gain life when creatures enter and low-cost lifelink cards. Ajani's Pridemate being a huge star.
  4. Mono-green ramp, using cards like Llanowar Elves to pump out big creatures.
  5. Mono-black control - focus on killing others' creatures through removal and deathtouch until you can drop large, fun demons.

For two-color decks:

  1. Blue-White fliers - some control elements, but mostly efficient creatures that fly.
  2. Blue-Red contorl-burn - Focused on Izzet cards from Ravnica, cast counterspells and burn-based removal until you can cast Crackling Drake or other similar cards for the victory.
  3. Blue-Green - Draw and add +1/+1 counters deck.
  4. Blue-Black - Survail deck. Survail was a fun mechanic with some interesting cards like Disinformation Campaign and Dimir Spybug. It's not really upgradable due to lack of support outside of a single set, but it should be fine at this level of play.
  5. Red-Green - Some ramp into large Red-Green creatures. Ravnica will have lots of these.
  6. Red-Black - Discard-based control, with some Spectacle thrown in for fun.
  7. Red-White - Soldier tokens.
  8. Green-Black - Graveyard shenanigans, bringing cards back to your hand/battlefield.
  9. Green-White - I'd focus on convoke, dropping some small creatures to play big ones.
  10. White-Black - Aristocrats; sacrificing creatures for additional value.

NickyBolas on Rayami Keywords

4 years ago

For cuts, i'd think about removing reach creatures as that ability is worthless once you have flying already.

So:

Then I'd cut down creatures that aren't that great in their own and are just in her for redundancy like

You might also want to as m switch stronghold assassin to Attrition and run Viscera Seer as a reliable and continual sac engine.

Also, if you're feeling spicy, you can run Killing Wave . You can use it offensively to drain opponents, it just as a "sac any number of you creatures" for a single {B}, since you can cast it for X=0 and still choose to not pay for each of your creatures.

McToters on Rayami Voltron

4 years ago

This is a tight build. Really, really solid. There's a few creatures I am unsure of their place in the deck like Dimir Spybug , Deathrite Shaman and Great Sable Stag . But maybe you have a specific reason? The only things I can think of to recommend (which you may have already thought of) are Hatred and/or Berserk which are in many cases a one hit KO in voltron decks. Curious to hear your thoughts.

Good luck! +1

lagotripha on Central Intelligence

5 years ago

I'm not a huge fan of Mark of the Vampire when compared to other modern enchantments- most of the non-boggle auras are 1 drops that replace themselves ( Rancor , Curious Obsession / Curiosity etc).

If you desperately need lifegain, specific sideboard options should be more reliable- Fountain of Renewal is decent.

I'd look at alternative counter sources for Thoughtbound Phantasm and try to back it up with other efficient 1 and 2 drop threats. Blue actually has a few of these which are pretty decent- Cloudfin Raptor , Benthic Biomancer , Cosi's Trickster , Dimir Spybug , Nivmagus Elemental and Thrummingbird are all worth testing. Backing them up with some Tezzeret's Gambit can push through a lot of damage when backed by your current disruption.

Skippyeights on Budget Pirate Aggro

5 years ago

Tonight I played in my first FNM since returning to the game. I have assembled some decks of my own and played a few casual games, but for my first constructed competition, I wanted something that I felt would not lead to abject failure. I ran a clone of your deck. Wow.

There were only six people so we played a causal structure with just three matches. Your beautiful deck went 2 and 1.

I was totally clueless to the meta, so I used the original build that included the Fiery Cannonade . Unfortunately, I would have been better off with the Duress package.

The first opponent was a very experienced player (it was his card shop) using a Dimir control/midrange that relied heavily on surveil for card advantage and to fuel some 2nd and 3rd turn Dimir Spybug s in the first game. Unfortunately I had to mulligan having drawn only one land. The next hand had two but I failed to draw another until the fifth turn. By then, one of the bugs was 4/4, the other was 3/3, and we had traded blows with the smaller pirates I had been able cast. Luckily, my third land let me launch a Fiery Cannonade that took out the smaller bug (alas, the heroic Rigging Runner it had blocked didn't make it) as well as the two Nightveil Sprite s that had pumped the bugs. Next turn I was able to cast a Kitesail Freebooter and when I sent a full charge the next turn, he blocked with his big (now 6/6) bug only to find a flash-cast Dire Fleet Poisoner helping out the Freebooter. Hurrah. I was able to drop in a Dire Fleet Neckbreaker and the game was quickly over. For the second game, I sideboarded in the Duress package as well as the Cast Down s and Price of Fame s. I used two of the Duress to great effect snagging countermagic both times, and the Cast Down s were useful against a wide variety of Dimir nasties like Dream Eater , Nightveil Predator , and Thief of Sanity . It took a bit of time, but I finally defeated my opponent after dropping two Neckbreakers for a big charge.

My second opponent was another recent returnee to Magic--we both tend to play with out land in front on the battlefield as was illustrated in the original MTG instruction pamphlet. He was playing an unmodified Ral Planeswalker deck. The speed of the pirate deck made short work of him in about ten minutes. For the remaining time, we swapped decks and played again. He wasn't familiar with the cards or mechanics so it was drawn out, but he was winning when the other matches ended. He also sends you compliments on the pirates...Arg.

Third match was against the winner from the other bracket. The player is the local judge, and she lives and breathes the game. She was playing a Teferi control deck. The deck was four colors (no green) and the manabase cost enough to feed a small goblin tribe for a decade--there were no basic lands. The first game I was able to get a decent start and was able to do significant damage before she cleared the board with a Deafening Clarion . She then dropped a Lyra which I was unable to answer and that game was soon over.

I almost swapped in the entire sideboard, leaving out only one of the March of the Drowned . I had a decent draw, but unfortunately, the three lands--two swamps and an Unclaimed Territory were the only land cards I drew for at least six turns. I was able to cast some pirates and did draw both Sorcerous Spyglass s and used them both against Teferi (the first was destroyed). Unfortunately, she cast a Rekindling Phoenix and without any regular red mana sources, the only way I could get rid of it was to use two Cast Down s, first during her turn, then during mine. The next turn, she cast another. After finally dropping a mountain, I was able to Lava Coil the buzzard and got in a few decent hits before the bitch Lyra hit the board again. Luckily, I drew into a Price of Fame and got rid of it, only to have her cast another. I did try to use a Dire Fleet Daredevil to borrow one of her creature kills, but she counterspelled him. My demise was as quick as it was inevitable.

Overall, the deck did well. I don't know enough about the Teferi deck to figure out what else I could have done against it, but the second round would have been much closer if I had not been mana hosed.

Having successfully used the deck, I have two questions. First, when you sideboard, what cards do you tend to pull to make room? I figure it is rather situational based on what the opponent's deck looked like in the first game, but what are the most likely cards you pull. Against the Teferi, I stripped out the Rigging Runner s and the Fiery Cannonade s. I also dropped two Ruin Raider (which may have been a mistake because she quickly burned the one I was able to cast in game 2) and all four of the Dire Fleet Poisoner s--the Deathtouch would be worthless against Lyra and I don't think she would have fallen for the same attacking Freebooter trick I pulled against my first opponent to get rid of the phoenix.

Second, what plans do you have to include cards from Allegiance? The creature cards don't fit the pirate theme, but with the possibly diminishing payoff of the Fiery Cannonade (which may change if the is a resurgence of aggro from Rakdos or Orzhov via the Allegiance cards) would it be worth it to include some non pirate creatures?

Aside from creatures, I think both Light Up the Stage and Theater of Horrors could be viable ways to get additional card advantage. With Spectacle, Light Up the Stage is a cheap way to access two more cards and you have until the end of your next turn to use them.. I saw the card used to great effect in the prerelease.

Theater of Horrors ? Don't know..your opponents see all cards as they build up, but that could be to your advantage if they focus on the potentials of the exiled cards and may not anticipate cards in hand. Plus basically drawing two card every turn without worrying about hand size? Only fear is removal that kills your enchantment andthus permanently exiling everything.

Anyway, thanks again for your deck. I am more confident about trying my decks, but I may still the sirens call to go sailing some Friday night with those scurvy seadogs. :)

CONNORPATT91 on Dimir Flight Control

5 years ago

If you're focused on fliers I'd consider Dimir Spybug

Darth_Savage on First Edited 60 Card Deck

5 years ago

As a new player, with a lot of singleton cards you might want to consider playing Brawl. If you want to build a deck, even for casual use then you need a lot more consistany. Play 4x of the cards which matter the most and probably focus on either a two colour deck our a mono one. A deck should have a main plan and if possible a backup plan, for example if you wanted to build a deck around Vraska, Regal Gorgon, then because that card costs 7 mana, you would look for ramp, fortunately green is the colour best at this, cards like Fertile Ground and Arbor Elf being good examples. To utilese those cards you would need to buy singles rather than packs though.

What your deck shouldn't have is vanilla creatures, cards like Douser of Lights and Wild Ceratok are limited filler, there are better options for the same casting cost. The same is also true for a card like Bartizan Bats there are better options, cards like Dimir Spybug released in the same set or even Bone Picker if part of your plan is to keep your graveyard filled. Generally you also don't want an escalating mana curve, it's normally better to have 10 cards which cost 1 than 10 which cost 4, unless you are cheating the cards into play in some way.

What are your 4 favourite cards in this deck? (run 4x of them) Does using all 4 of them let you run a two colour deck? (if you cut 1 do you have 2 colours? If so do that and pick another) What is the goal of your deck, what is it you ideally want it to do?

Hope this is of some help, welcome to MTG.

alexjustdoit on Dimir Guildkit Upgrade

5 years ago

I think I'd get rid of one or both of the Dimir Guildmages depending on how much you like the card (the ability is a bit expensive for what you get in my opinion). If you like the dual utility of Dimir Guildmage you could also consider swapping it for House Guildmage which I think is a tad better unless you're really hurting for draw abilities. Same with Dinrova Horror, while flavorful 6 cmc for a 4/4 with bounce seems a bit much when you have a good number of counters, removal, or things like Unexplained Disappearance. Of surveil cards, Nightveil Sprite can give you some great mileage out of just one card. As far as Dimir Spybug and Thoughtbound Phantasm, you'll have to make the call if you think its worth it for just one copy of each. From experience playing a Dimir deck I drafted with lots of surveil but only one of each those creatures, they're amazing when you draw them, but also often I had games where I didn't draw them. Or they got immediately removed. Surveil helps filter your deck to get to them faster, so 2 of each would probably make it much better. Up to you.

You could probably replace Dimir Charm with one of the cards I mentioned that you like, since I think the best ability on the charm is usually going to be the counter, followed by the removal, and you have a fair number of counters and some removal already.

Unmoored Ego is cool but if your friends/playgroup are also playing "guild kit" style with few duplicates, then it probably wouldn't make much sense in the deck, unless you have that one pesky friend that's always rocking 3-4x of a particularly annoying card that you need to nip at the bud.

Whispering Snitch and Enhanced Surveillance are also fun if you feel like you're surveiling enough to make it worth it. Though one could also say, if you're surveilling a lot then Enhanced Surveillance is a bit unnecessary overkill.

Also keep in mind, I don't think Whispering Madness would be nearly as useful without something like Notion Thief, outside of a scenario where you only have a couple cards and your opponent/s have a full hand. If the scenario is reversed, you'll only be helping them out. However, with Notion Thief it basically becomes a reusable "opponent discards hand, you discard and redraw a full hand" or some such.

Kinda hard for me to answer specifically "replace A B C with X Y Z" since a deck with few duplicates is generally less consistent in the direction it's trying to go. Some fun cards here though for you to consider.

Oh by the way, I didn't realize this at first so I'll throw this in here in case you didn't already know, but you can bounce Etrata back to your hand after damage to get her whole "hit counter exile" wincon thing and avoid reshuffling her ;)

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