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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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!