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Dandan <3

Casual Mono-Blue

Sorin_Markov_1947

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Instant (34)

Land (32)

Creature (10)

Enchantment (2)

Sorcery (2)

Sideboard

Instant (12)

Sorcery (6)

Land (4)

This is a Dandan deck. If you're not familiar with Dandan, it's a 1v1 format where two players share an 80-card library and a graveyard. The only source of damage in the deck is Dandan and it's overall a mono-blue control list where deck manipulation is emphasized. It creates a really cool and unique experience where even tiny advantages matter! It's a really good thing to play to develop your control skills since timing of spells, card advantage, knowledge of the top of the deck, and even mana advantage are things you need to be always considering. I've had a blast with it with my friends so far (I think I've won all 7 games) and this is the list we decided to use.

Now we begin what I call the "what is (X card) doing here?" section.

Brainstorm, Predict, Thought Scour, Vision Charm, Forbidden Alchemy, Halimar Depths, Temple of Deceit all manipulate the top of the library to control what you and your opponent draw. You might play a Halimar Depths for turn and then cast Predict because you know what's on top! But if your opponent uses Thought Scour in response, you no longer have information.

Why Memory Lapse? Because Dandan is all about tempo and subjective decisions. Pure counterspell would be too easy, we have to make you think about who's going to draw that fancy spell you just countered!

Crystal Spray? Vision Charm? Well as mentioned before, Vision Charm is also a card manipulator, but the basic land type function of both cards is actually removal! Remember, the only creature is Dandan, which is sacrificed if its controller has no islands! If you turn your opponent's islands into forests, or replace "island" with "plains" in the text of Dandan, it dies! There are also niche scenarios where your opponent hasn't played an island yet and you need to attack with your army of Dandans, so you turn all lands into islands.

Diminishing Returns is a very important card to have in the deck because it makes decking out less of an inevitability (these games do go through a lot of cards!) and it's also a way to reset the card advantage. You never want to be the one to actually cast Diminishing Returns since your opponent will use the card advantage first, giving them a big tempo advantage, but if you're ahead on board (even just with land count) but behind on cards in hand, it may be worth it.

Dimir Aqueduct is actually card advantage if you don't use it too early. It's also one of two lands (Temple of Deceit being the other) that you can use to flashback Forbidden Alchemy. You can swap these two lands out for their izzet counterparts in the sideboard if you prefer Mystic Retrieval and Telling Time to Forbidden Alchemy and Founding the Third Path. We're currently experimenting with both versions as well as other things in the sideboard.

Mystic Sanctuary creates opportunities for outplays by putting something good on top and then drawing it (but risking your opponent sniping it!) or putting something junky on top and letting your opponent take it.

Svyelunite Temple introduces more decisions by giving you the chance to get a temporary boost for long-term harm. Again, Dandan is all about tempo and small advantages!

The two cycle lands are very important as deck manipulators. If your opponent puts something important on top with Mystic Sanctuary, Metamorphose, Brainstorm, Halimar Depths, Temple of Deceit, etc., you can snipe it at instant speed!

I already mentioned the Izzet lands, Telling Time, and Mystic Retrieval, but I haven't explained why the others are being considered. Insidious Will would replace two Memory Lapses as more powerful but more expensive counterspells. Dance of the Skywise is either evasion or protection, but it has to replace Piracy Charm since if both are in the deck, there's a potential for Dandan to deal 6 damage (also Piracy Charm is already in the same niche of evasion). It's protection because it removes the text on Dandan that makes you sacrifice it if you control no islands, so Vision Charm and Crystal Spray don't work. Force of Will is a bit out there, but it fits the spirit of Dandan in that it makes you choose between keeping card advantage or two-for-oneing yourself to get rid of that spell your opponent is casting.

The last thing I'll mention is that a lot of lists run Mystical Tutor, but I'm very against this card. I think it's against the spirit of the deck, which makes you use whatever you have at your disposal. It also essentially lets you see your opponent's hand, since the decklist is known and you have all other information, you can deduce exactly which cards your opponent is holding if you take the 5 minutes to find out. This cheats the work of guessing what's in your opponent's hand and also isn't a good play pattern, so I've vetoed it from our group's Dandan list.

There are a lot of Dandan lists out there, so if you're looking to make your own, find a list that works for you or take ideas from several and make your own!

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Revision 2 See all

(1 year ago)

+2 Contingency Plan side
+2 Miscalculation side
+2 Remand side
+2 Research the Deep side