New Standard: Spicy Simic Tempo!

Discover the exciting new Simic Tempo deck in Standard Magic: The Gathering. Explore innovative strategies and powerful synergies for competitive play.

Welcome Magic lovers!

 

As Standard continues to evolve with an ever-increasing number of high-profile events being run each week, the innovations to existing decks and even the formation of brand-new archetypes are happening at a breakneck speed. Take this past weekend, for example, where the top 8 included a couple of previously unseen lists, Azorius Aggro, a low-to-the-ground deck built around cheap white and blue creatures plus removal, and the list we'll be talking about today, Simic Tempo.

 

Total Cards:

 

Some may call it Simic Control, but with a paltry seventeen lands, this is a deck that wants to out-tempo the opponent by casting multiple, cheap spells each turn and never playing anything that costs three or more mana.

 

The Plan

The deck is built as a lean, mean velocity machine, enabling the pilot to cast as many cheap cantrips and self-mill spells as possible in the early turns in order to rapidly fill the graveyard with fuel. Starting with the one-mana spells, Bushwhack, Seed of Hope and Analyze the Pollen are what allow the deck to be so spell-dense, as they effectively act as additional land drops, typically pulling basics out of the deck early in order to keep the mana level rising. Cache Grab is here to not only fill the graveyard quickly, but also helps with making land drops or finding the deck's payoff creatures. It's worth noting that between the two life gained from Seed of Hope, and the food token produced by Cache Grab, the deck can passively gain enough life to help give it a small buffer against the red-based aggressive decks, which always helps.

Magic the Gathering Card - Sleight of Hand - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Into the Flood Maw - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Unsummon - MTG Circle

Sleight of Hand is a cheap cantrip to help dig to whatever the pilot requires in the moment, while Into the Flood Maw and Unsummon help to manage the opposing board, in order to give the deck the breathing room it needs to set up.

Magic the Gathering Card - Tolarian Terror - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Eddymurk Crab - MTG Circle

Speaking of which, spell-slinger staple Tolarian Terror, along with new pal Eddymurk Crab, are the only two creatures in the main deck, and while their casting costs may seem steep initially, within a matter of a few turns they often cost one and two mana respectively, due to the speed with which the deck is capable of filling its graveyard with spells.

Magic the Gathering Card - Up the Beanstalk - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Stormchaser's Talent - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - This Town Ain't Big Enough - MTG Circle

Tying it all together is the trio of cards which make up the card advantage engine, Up the Beanstalk, Stormchaser's Talent and This Town Ain't Big Enough. The deck typically begins setting up this combo by dropping an early Stormchaser's Talent. The otter token it produces may not seem like much, but considering all the cheap spells the deck plays, its often capable of tangling with three and four toughness creatures very early. Up the Beanstalk usually comes down next, immediately replacing itself and patiently waiting to be triggered again. It's easy to trigger with a one-mana Tolarian Terror or two-mana Eddymurk Crab, but it's the instant spell, This Town Ain't Big Enough, which is the real star synergy piece, as it conveniently triggers not only the Up the Beanstalk, but also never costs the full five mana, as it's a simple matter to bounce one's own Stormchaser's Talent or Beanstalk, along with an opponent's non-land permanent, in order to cast it for just two. Once This Town Ain't Big Enough finds its way to the graveyard, either through being cast or milled, it's a simple matter to pull it out again with level two of Stormchaser's Talent. Once the deck can loop the Talent and This Town Ain't Big Enough in this manner, one can draw the rest of the deck rather quickly due to the Up the Beanstalk triggers.

Wins with the deck often come by filling the graveyard quickly in the early turns, using the bounce spells to help fend off the opponent, in order to set up a quick Tolarian Terror. If backed up a turn or two later by an end step Eddymurk Crab to clear any blockers, that's usually enough to end things. However, if the opponent has removal or runs sweepers in order to deal with the early Terror, its also easy to turn the Unsummon or This Town Ain't Big Enough into a life-saving spell, allowing the pilot to simply cast the creature they save again next turn. One can also use Unsummon or This Town Ain't Big Enough to pull a spent Eddumurk Crab back into hand in order to clear the way for a victory the following turn.

Plan B is to ride Stormchaser's Talent to victory by leveling it up to three in the late game. Burying the opponent under a horde of otters is simple when one is playing this many cheap spells, making a fully-powered Talent a fearsome thing to behold.

The Sideboard

Magic the Gathering Card - Ghost Vacuum - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Unable to Scream - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Monstrous Emergence - MTG Circle

The sideboard has some very interesting choice. First, a pair of Ghost Vacuum to keep the opposing graveyard-based decks, like Azorius Oculus or the mirror, under control. Next, some ways to deal with larger creatures which pose a serious threat, namely Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, in the form of Unable to Scream and Monstrous Emergence, revealing a Tolarian Terror or Eddymurk Crab from hand.

Magic the Gathering Card - Pawpatch Formation - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Pick Your Poison - MTG Circle

When facing Domain Overlords and Caretaker's Talent decks, Pawpatch Formation and Pick Your Poison are excellent at hitting their engine pieces, while Negate is a nice, straightforward way to answer their various sweepers, such as Sunfall and Split Up.

Magic the Gathering Card - Herbology Instructor - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Malady Invoker - MTG CircleMagic the Gathering Card - Minor Misstep - MTG Circle

Against aggro decks, the removal comes in, alongside Herbology Instructor, a rarely seen creature which gains precious life when it enters the battlefield, in addition to being a decent blocker in the early game. In the late game, one can even flip it in order to kill a small creature. Minor Misstep is a nice, cheap way to deal with a powerful one-mana creature, such as Heartfire Hero or Monastery Swiftspear.

Verdict

Altogether, it’s a tight, little tempo package that plays very consistently, but can be tricky to pilot optimally. There are always a ton of different options on any given turn as everything in the deck is so cheap. Navigating the lines of play when one has so many combinations of cheap spells to play each turn requires experience with the deck, and patience in order to know when to finally drop one of the deck’s only eight threats. Get your reps in with this one and it will reward you handsomely!

Rate this article
Hi, I'm Damien! I'm a Canadian television and voice actor turned streamer! I've been playing Magic: the Gathering since the early 1990's when the game first released, and was heavily involved in competitive Magic for many years.

Check out more content by DamienF16

Discover why Dimir Midrange dominates the Standard format in Magic: The Gathering. Explore its adaptability and top-tier strategies for competitive play.
Why Dimir is the Best Deck in Standard
Welcome Magic lovers!   The story of the Standard format is told in numbers, and the numbers don't lie.
Explore the rise of Mono Black Control in MTG Standard with a focus on competitive strategies and powerful cards. Uncover its potential in the current meta.
Is Mono-black Control Finally Viable in Standard?
Welcome Magic lovers!   As the strongest decks in Standard cement their places at the top of the various tournament leaderboards, it's hard to justify not playing one of the existing tier 1 archetypes. Dimir Midrange is the overall best deck, as its flexibility, backed by powerfully efficient spells, makes it very difficult to defeat, even when other pilots are gunning for it. Golgari Midrange, while not as adaptable as Dimir, also plays such individually powerful cards at every spot along the curve that it's very tough to go toe-to-toe with the deck in a fair game of Magic.
Discover the power of Esper Reanimator in Standard MTG! Explore top decks, strategies, and insights to dominate Best of 3 competitive play.
Standard Esper Reanimator!
Welcome Magic lovers!   With the first week of post-Foundations, Standard Regional Championship Qualifier tournaments in the books, it's now time to peruse the plethora of lists to see which tried-and-true decks are succeeding and perhaps which promising new archetypes may merit further exploration.
Explore top "Foundations" Standard decks for Magic: The Gathering. Discover innovative strategies and powerful synergies for the competitive Best of 3 format.
The Best Foundations Standard Brews!
Welcome Magic lovers! With the release of the massive Foundations set this week, the Standard format is abuzz with new ideas, new lists, and potential new archetypes to tweak, test, and tune in preparation for the upcoming Regional Championship Qualifier season that's set to begin on November 16th. Today, let's take a look at a couple of new, potentially powerful, deck ideas that may inject new life into the Standard format.
Discover the top 10 impactful MTG Foundations cards for Magic: The Gathering's Standard format. Enhance your competitive edge with these new additions!
Top
The Top 10 Foundations Cards for Standard!
Welcome Magic lovers!   With the full Foundations set spoiled ahead of its release next week on November15th, it's time to sift through its near-three-hundred cards  in the search for anything that may tip the scales in the Standard format and help shape the metagame to come.
Discover the sweeping changes in Magic: The Gathering, including six sets a year and Universes Beyond integration, and their impact on the competitive scene.
Major Changes Coming to Magic and What They Mean for You
Welcome Magic lovers! A new era of Magic: the Gathering is dawning, as some absolutely planes-shattering bombshells were dropped by Wizards of the Coast during the Magic World Championships that just concluded in Las Vegas last week. It's currently all the Magic community is talking about, so today let's cover exactly which changes are coming down the pipe and how they will affect the competitive landscape going forward. Six Standard-legal Sets a Year
Discover why Dimir Midrange dominates the Standard format in Magic: The Gathering. Explore its adaptability and top-tier strategies for competitive play.
Why Dimir is the Best Deck in Standard
Welcome Magic lovers!   The story of the Standard format is told in numbers, and the numbers don't lie.
logo

By joining our community, you can immerse yourself in MTG Arena gameplay. Watch matches, engage with content, comment, share thoughts, and rate videos for an interactive experience.

Follow Us

LATEST VIDEOS