Hot on the heels of the Azorius Ascension deck discussion, I’m back with another preconstructed deck from the March 22 Beta Refresh.

This time we’re looking a U/B Control in the form of the Dimir Manipulation deck.

As always, I have some short videos for you:

The deck as given to you by WotC is listed below.

Dimir Manipulation

This is a U/B Control deck that relies on black removal and blue tempo/counter spells to survive into the late game and then destroy the opponent using powerful creatures and superior card advantage.

Before discussing individual cards, I have to say that so far this seems like the most powerful of the March 22 Refresh precons that I’ve played. Strong removal, great card draw and devastating creatures make it tough to beat. The quality of the creatures in this deck is very high compared to the other ones I’ve reviewed so far, and the changes I will suggest are based more on consistency and curving out a little more gracefully than actually chucking out bad cards.

Now that we’re done with the caveats, let’s look at the cards that really make this deck into an opponent-crushing machine.

Ravenous Chupacabra is so hungry it will accept anything as a snack. It doesn’t care how big it is, what color it is, how much it costs, what tribe it falls into. One of the top uncommons in the format, if not the top uncommon…you’re going to want at least one more of these 2-for-1 horrors.

Glyph Keeper is very difficult for an opponent to deal with. If they want to use spells, they need to use two, and if Glyph Keeper falls in combat (due to a trick or whatever), then it comes right back. In this deck (and in Azorius Ascension), I think I actually like this ability more than hexproof because it invites your opponent to throw two spells at it, and much of the time you’ll have a cheap counter for spell number two.

Tetzimoc, Primal Death is the death you see coming from far enough away that you have time to build up some stress about it before it kills you. There is very little an opponent can do to play around Tetzimoc, and as long is it isn’t straight-up countered you are going to get sweet value off of it, even if they can kill it right away.

Angler Drake, like Ravenous Chupacabra, has a power level beyond its rarity (you get to bounce their best creature AND get a sweet huge flyer!), and people on a budget would do well to snag one or two more of these for the deck.

Reaver Ambush is premium removal. It will take out most early threats that a control deck needs to worry about (forever, even if it’s an Embalm or Eternalize creature), and is an instant, so you can hold mana up for a counter and cast this if/when you end up not needed to.

Final Reward also permanently deals with threats, but without condition. The fact that it is also an instant makes this a card you will want in most black decks, and that you will probably want more than one of.

Walk the Plank is excellent against anything barring a dedicated Merfolk deck. Even before the March 22 refresh when those were much more common than they should be now that Amonkhet block is available, I played 3-4 of these in my black decks. In this meta and format, you’re going to want at least a couple.

Impale is unconditional and it’s efficient. This is an all-star common and you’re going to want at least one more of these in the deck to keep yourself alive until Tetzimoc and his buddies can trample your foes under the mud.

Evolving Wilds is going to help you have the colors of mana you want when you want it, at least until you can unlock those rare dual lands that can enter untapped.

Field of Ruin, as I discussed in the Azorius Ascension article, is a card that normally I wouldn’t care to have more than one of in my decks, but in a 2-color deck it doesn’t hurt much and it can make a huge difference if your opponent manages to get any of the rare transform lands online.

And now for cards that you might consider removing to make space for more of the all-stars listed above…

Nezahal, Primal Tide is not a bad card by any stretch, but even in a control deck like Dimir Manipulation, I think I’d rather increase my multiples of some of the lower-cost bombs rather than have the requirement to get to 7 mana.

Soul of the Rapids is, in my experience, not a creature this deck particularly wants. It doesn’t block well and it’s not overwhelming enough to close out the game on its own. I think I’d drop this for one more of just about any other creature that ships with this precon.

The other creatures in this deck are all perfectly fine. I’d feel free to swap them out for upgrades as needed, mostly keeping an eye on mana requirements when deciding what to leave in and what to replace.

Hornswoggle is another card that I’ve had some experience with, and that experience is mediocre for the most part. It’s an Essence Scatter that costs one more mana, but nets you a Treasure token…I would rather have another actual Essence Scatter almost every time, and save my 3-mana slots for more versatile spells such as Supreme Will.

Cancel is not my favorite counter. The 3-mana, double-blue cost makes it just difficult enough to leave mana up for that I don’t think I’d ever want more than one in my deck in the best-of-1 match format.

Negate is an excellent card to bring in out of the sideboard, but in the current Arena format that doesn’t support sideboarding, I think it’s best just to leave this out entirely in favor of another spell that is more likely to be useful.

Overflowing Insight as some potential as a win condition in a blue-based control deck, but its hefty mana requirements make it difficult to use. You will often have to take a turn off to use it, and against a more aggressive deck that might mean the difference between winning and losing.

Secrets of the Golden City seems like good value for the cost on its face, but the double-blue in its mana cost is a real restriction, especially when you want to be able to count on your draw spells to fix your colors.

Taking all of this into account, here is my suggestion for a budget upgrade version of the Dimir Manipulation precon:

Dimir Manipulation (Budget Upgrade)

And here’s what I would probably do, given Rare and Mythic wildcards to spend:

Dimir Manipulation (Non-Budget Upgrade)

The differences are mostly in the creatures, this time around.

Alrighty. That’s it for this time, and probably all for today. If you have any questions or comments (or even content requests), feel free to reach out to me here, on Twitter at @DailyArena or via the DailyArena page on Facebook.

Peace.

Joseph Eddy is a Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Software Developer, and Gamer. Magic is his favorite hobby, and he’s looking forward to seeing you all on Arena. He streams Magic Arena on a weekly basis (or more), but currently is unable to keep to a set schedule.