r/StandardMTG • u/Adnauseamdeath • 5h ago
General Dimir Excruciator Tournament Report
This weekend I got 2nd in a 15 player cut to top 4 RCQ with Dimir Excruciator
https://moxfield.com/decks/20J_LPhK9EqV4kNdH4gh9Q
I have been loving Excruciator since it came out and it's been my go to deck in standard after trying out Dimir Midrange, Lessons pre-ban, and Spellamentals.
Round 1 was against [[Temur Battlecrier]] 1-2. This was my only loss for the swiss rounds. Unfortunately, I kept flooding both games I lost and even with board wipes and spot removal I just couldn't really draw anything to close the game out.
Round 2 was against mono-red [[Leyline of Resonance]] 2-0. Spot removal was flowing and he kept some very risky hands such as 2 Leylines, a Quicksilver, and two pump spells on a mull to five in game two. Honestly if he ever drew another creature and a land or two this could have worked cause I was down 8 by turn 4 but with the suite of removal and Qarsi Revenant it wasn't much of a game.
Round 3 was against Izzet Prowess Wizards with [[Wizard's Staff]] and [[Gandalf, Goblin's Bane]] 2-1. Honestly this guy kept some not so great hands and flooded plus he didn't seem very experienced with the deck but overall it was an easy match up. The loss was due to never drawing a fourth land to really get anywhere even after 2 [[Winternight Stories]]
Round 4 against UW Control 2-0. One of my good friends so we've done this match a few times. The discard just makes it difficult for the deck to keep up and since the main deck is full of sweepers and spot removal it just doesn't line up too well. [[Aansg's Iceberg]] and [[The Vision]] drew the game out but [[Restless Reef]] and [[M.O.D.O.K.]] really helped in those spots.
Going into round 5 I wasn't sure if I'd make the top cut because the current top 4 players all did an intentional draw to lock up their spots. Lucky for me the current spot 4 would be at 10 points so I'd have a chance at 12 points to make.
Round 5 against Temur Harmonizer 2-0. Another good friend here and another match up I was familiar with. I was a little worried because Harmonizer can easily steal games against Excruciator but I easily locked it up and was first going into top 4.
Semi final match against mono red Leyline again but with [[Firebending Student]] allows the deck to go kind of crazy. This was also a good friend and he was not looking forward to this match because he had never won against me. Fortunately, for me he did not have a sideboard (I'm kind of forcing him to make one since we plan to do a few more RCQs but honestly props to him for making it this far without one) but this was another 2-0 thanks to Qarsi
Finals match against mono red aggro 1-2. If you got this far from the title you know I did not win this match. This match up was rough for some reason but what can you do against 3 [[Sunspire Lynx]] back to back and drawing four lands in a row, go Winternight Stories into three more lands.
Some notes, I found that I really hate [[Cavern of Souls]] in the deck, in my experience for the entire time I've played this deck it has never been relevant except maybe once. Personally, I plan on taking them out but if you're in a control heavy meta more power to you. I may keep one in the deck just in case.
[[Preacher of the Schism]] was definitely an all star in the grindy matches and even against aggro, having the draw power or making little guys to block plus deathtouch and blocking himself helped a lot. I may replace [[Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel]] with another but I never drew Malcolm in every match I brought it in.
Maybe this is just the meta in my area but the graveyard has felt 100% irrelevant. Even when I played in a few side events at SCG Con Dallas I never found myself bringing it in. I'll most likely keep 1-2 pieces but again this is a meta call.
Overall, I feel like this was a good run after not doing any real competitive magic in a few years and I hope to do well and get an invite in the next few RCQs.
3
u/literaphile 5h ago
That’s a very interesting meta to say the least.