Standard: Dimir Excruciator - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

During the Duskmourn season, one archetype stood out in Standard's Swiss rounds by using the then-newly released Doomsday Excruciator alongside Jace, the Perfected Mind to execute a "combo-kill."

Known as a variant of Dimir Demons, this strategy remained present throughout the season until Jace rotated out, and no viable replacement appeared in subsequent sets to spark interest in testing Doomsday Excruciator again.

With additions like Superior Spider-Man and Deceit, the combo returns to Standard—complete with a Pro Tour trophy!

These are the exact 75 cards Christoffer Larsen used at the Pro Tour. I'm certain the coming weeks will force the archetype to adapt to answers and other as the format evolves and paves the way for TMNT, but Larsen's list seems like an excellent starting point.

Maindeck

Dimir Excruciator is, in essence, a "Combo-Control" deck, or a Combo-Midrange depending on how you define Midrange. The archetype strongly resembles a deck banned in Pioneer back in 2020, Dimir Inverter, which used Inverter of Truth to exile its own library and then cast Thassa's Oracle to win the game.

It takes a different approach than Inverter, despite the similarities. Its strategy involves a mix of cheap disruption through removal and Deceit, combined with the interaction between Doomsday Excruciator and Restless Reef—Excruciator exiles cards from both players' libraries, leaving each with only six cards, and Restless Reef mills four cards from the opponent's deck when it attacks, leaving them only two turns to close out the game: one after Excruciator resolves and another after Reef attacks.

Although the combo takes center stage in these lists, Deceit and the "combo" with Superior Spider-Man were what propelled this strategy from "off the radar" to "Pro Tour winner as the only archetype with two copies in the Top 8."

Deceit is both a Distress and a half-Into the Roil in a single card. As a bonus, it provides a late-game body with a relevant clock alongside ETB hand and board disruption. Thanks to its mana costs, copying it with Superior Spider-Man by paying is pretty easy, giving you bounce and discard on ETB plus a 4/4 body for four mana.

Another important approach involves copying Excruciator with Superior Spider-Man. To facilitate this strategy and even execute the "combo-kill" two turns earlier, Winternight Stories and Bitter Triumph serve as reliable discard sources to put Doomsday Excruciator into the graveyard during the early turns.

To enable the combo, Stock Up comes dangerously close to Dig Through Time by digging deep into the deck for whatever you need: next turn's land drop, removal, a sideboard piece, or half of the combo. Keep in mind you can also memorize the cards it puts on the bottom, since they will be the cards you will draw after an Excruciator.

Insatiable Avarice finds a piece you need while drawing cards. Another important mode involves forcing the opponent to draw cards after resolving Doomsday Excruciator, speeding up victory just like we do with Restless Reef.

You can't expect the combo to work on its own without interaction or a faster clock.

Requiting Hex was one of the best cards Lorwyn Eclipsed brought to Standard and contributes significantly to handling the Aggro decks that would otherwise trouble a slower strategy like Dimir Excruciator, while also dealing with potential mana explosions from Badgermole Cub.

We complement Hex with Archenemy's Charm as a more flexible modal removal spell we can easily use due to the heavy black mana requirement for Doomsday Excruciator, alongside Intimidation Tactics to deal with problems before they hit the board.

Harvester of Misery and Deadly Cover-Up form the sweeper package. Harvester can also be copied by Superior Spider-Man against Aggro after killing a small creature on turn two, while Deadly Cover-Up is never a dead card since it also works as a Surgical Extraction against Control and combo decks—matchups where a sweeper tends to lose relevance.

Despite the large number of blue cards, this deck's mana base demands that every land be able to produce black mana in some way. Watery Grave and Gloomlake Verge are Standard's best untapped duals, complemented by Undercity Sewers and Multiversal Passage for added flexibility.

Sideboard

Proactive interaction is essential for Combo-Control archetypes to extract maximum information without falling too far behind.

Cruelclaw's Heist adds to the discard package and serves as a fifth Distress in attrition games, with the bonus of "stealing" a key piece in the mirror or against other strategies running high-value cards like Jeskai Control or Elementals.

One copy of Negate provides stack interaction for longer games and/or matchups where we aren't as aggressive with the combo or Deceit early on.

ETB effects are everywhere: from Formidable Speaker / Craterhoof Behemoth to the new Elementals, there's no shortage of targets we need to shut down to prevent the value or instant wins they provide, making Torpor Orb one of the most important sideboard hate pieces in the current Metagame.

Soul-Guide Lantern has also grown in the format alongside Elementals interacting with Superior Spider-Man, but it was already an important Standard piece against Reanimator and for shutting down value generated by Lessons decks.

Shoot the Sheriff rounds out the removal package in matchups where opponents rely on specific creatures staying on board, like Ouroboroid or Mightform Harmonizer, or when the opponent's clock is too fast for us to safely execute the combo.

Quantum Riddler adds to the threat package in various matchups, coming in for different reasons: it provides two extra draws in attrition games, an efficient five-mana body against Midrange, an extra clock in Control matchups, a threat that's hard to answer with damage-based removal, and it can even hold off other Riddlers in combat.

Dimir Excruciator

IN

OUT

Temur Harmonizer

IN

OUT

Izzet Lessons

IN

OUT

Mono Red Aggro

IN

OUT

Four-Color Rhythm

IN

OUT

Jeskai Control

IN

OUT

Bant Airbending

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!