Blue is a powerhouse in Standard, appearing in plenty of meta lists from Dimir midrange to Azorius Control and Esper Pixie. This Town Ain't Big Enough and Stormchaser's Talent create a value engine that disrupts your opponent while creating an aggressive board state that's difficult to deal with, so it's not surprising it finds its way into a variety of decks. The one thing that's not overly popular at the moment is blue by itself, however. I set out to see if the powerful blue cards in Standard could create a viable deck without dipping into any other color, and after a few hours of tweaking and a lot of feedback from my Twitch chat, I'm pleasantly surprised by the results.
The Core Engine
If you're not familiar with the This Town and Stormchaser's Talent combo, the idea is pretty simple. You use This Town Ain't Big Enough on your Stormchaser's Talent and another permanent (often your opponent's best threat), then recast Stormchaser to get a fresh otter and the ability to buy back This Town using Stormchaser's second chapter and repeat. It's a mana-intensive loop, but it gives you unlimited interaction and otters with only two cards and a little time. With counterspell backup and clever timing of the This Towns, this can create an inevitable loop most opponents will struggle to keep up with.
But Why Not Dimir?
Black has a ton of removal that can be bounced to great effect, like Nowhere to Run and Momentum Breaker. Dimir midrange decks leveraging Fear of Isolation, This Town Ain't Big Enough, and these removal enchantments have been running around the ladder for some time now, so why not use this tried and true method?
This started as an exercise to simply see if it could be done, but this deck not requiring dual lands is a surprisingly helpful detail that makes it very consistent. Honestly, between Floodpits Drowner and our counterspell package, it doesn't feel like we're lacking for interaction.
Flash Speed
You'll notice the majority of our cards operate at instant speed, either by being instants or by having flash. Cards like Brineborn Cutthroat, Faerie Mastermind, and Faebloom Trick all add power to the board while operating on the opponent's turn. This isn't an accident. Keeping counterspell mana open without sacrificing progression of our gameplan is incredibly powerful and can do wonders for us. You'll notice other cards like Horned Loch-Whale and Tishana's Tidebinder in the sideboard specifically to give our deck more opportunities to interact once we know what we're interacting with.
Honestly, the flash package in Standard is so deep, you can probably think of other cards not included here that could do work for us. One non-negotiable include, though, is Enduring Curiosity. The number of extra cards this thing can draw us in a turn, especially if Faebloom Trick or other threats have had an opportunity to set up, is potentially game-winning, but it also represents four power that's dropping to the field on the opponent's end step. Aside from the core Stormchaser's Talent loop, this is the strongest card in our deck, make no mistake.
An Overperforming Surprise
Kaito, Bane of Nightmares gets a lot of press for being a busted card, and rightfully so. It gives you card advantage, power on board, and tempo advantage with its stun ability. The less-appreciated but, I would argue, equally as strong planeswalker is Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator. It's far less assuming than his Dimir counterpart, but mono-blue Kaito has a truly game-shattering ultimate and the ability to speed to it by having a wide board of attackers.
While the ultimate is a fun idea, more often, Kaito is a token machine that generates ninja turn over turn. If you’re applying pressure through combat, Kaito’s loyalty will be growing every turn and his -2 should be easy enough to loop. If your board looks good and you don’t want to overextend into a sweeper, the +1 lets your biggest creature connect effortlessly and help craft your perfect hand.
When I first added him to the list, it was as a one-of, but after only a few games, it was clear the card played better than it read and I bumped him up to a two-of. Given that he’s a three-mana sorcery-speed spell, I want to avoid drawing multiples of him, which is why I’d be hesitant to go above two copies.
Tips for Piloting
Like with most mono-blue decks out there, the key to this deck is getting out ahead of the opponent and trying to kill them quickly before they can set up what their deck is trying to do. This kind of tempo gameplay can often lead to victories being quick and decisive, while defeats can be long and drawn out. It’s possible to spend more time in a play session losing while actually having a positive win rate. Just be aware of that going in.
If you're going to be successful with this deck, the key is to optimize the timing of every spell. Interaction like Phantom Interference or Floodpits Drowner need to be mobilized early, but also need to hit meaningful targets in order to be worthwhile. Floodpits Drowner is an interesting one because in some matchups, its stun trigger won't be relevant since your opponent might have very few creatures. Don't let that prevent you from playing it out and attacking.
Yes, I'm writing about This Town Ain't Big Enough again because, frankly, it's a nuts card that offers a ton of creativity of play. Given that this card can be bought back easily with Stormchaser's Talent, don't be afraid to use it as a protection spell for your creatures or to disrupt your opponent early even if you have to bounce a suboptimal target on your board for the cost reduction. The potential on this card is a lot more than just the inevitable loop we described, so get creative as you play.
Conclusion
I find this deck very promising, and I will, no doubt, be playing a lot more of it in the coming weeks. Honestly, the powerful cards and synergies in Standard are well-known, but there are endless possibilities of brewing fun decks around them. I look forward to sharing more of those with you as we continue, so be sure to check back here regularly.
Thanks for reading, and happy brewing!