Dimir Hand-Attack Tempo

A lean Dimir tempo deck that strips the opponent's hand with cheap disruptive creatures, answers every real threat with efficient black removal, and closes with a swarm of evasive fliers backed by Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and Preacher of the Schism.

Deep-Cavern Bat and Duress take the opponent's best card on turn one or two, so every removal spell you hold later actually hits something that matters. Spyglass Siren, Thought-Stalker Warlock, and Daring Waverider give you a critical mass of evasive attackers that chip in while you hold up Fell, Shoot the Sheriff, and Long Goodbye. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares turns that evasive board into pressure and value, and Preacher of the Schism converts unblocked attackers into extra cards. Deduce refuels you at instant speed so you never run out of interaction, and the cheap curve means you can double-spell from turn four onward.

Keep hands with 2-4 lands, at least one cheap disruptive creature (Spyglass Siren, Deep-Cavern Bat, Thought-Stalker Warlock), and at least one piece of removal. Snap-keep Duress into a two-drop. Mulligan hands with zero early plays, one-land hands, and hands that cannot cast anything before turn three. Going to six is fine — the cheap interaction lets you rebuild quickly.

Early (turns 1-3): lead with Duress or Deep-Cavern Bat to strip their best card, then deploy fliers like Spyglass Siren, Thought-Stalker Warlock, and Daring Waverider while holding up Fell or Shoot the Sheriff. You want to trade resource-for-resource because you win those exchanges. Mid (turns 4-6): resolve Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Preacher of the Schism to pull ahead on cards, keep attacking with fliers, and use Long Goodbye on anything that sticks, including planeswalkers. Cast Deduce on the opponent's end step to refuel. Late (turn 7+): you should have a full hand and a board of evasive attackers. Attack every turn, keep one removal spell up for their topdecked threat, and finish with fliers. Do not overcommit into a sweeper.

Mass removal (Sunfall, Temporary Lockdown) punishes overextension, so keep a threat in reserve. The deck lacks a true top-end bomb, so decks that go over the top (Domain, big ramp) can stabilize if you do not pressure their life total early. Eight of your twenty lands enter tapped, so a slow draw can cost you tempo. Graveyard hate and hand-attack hosers blunt your disruption, and you have no clean answer to a resolved non-creature enchantment outside of Duress. Finally, the deck only plays two copies of each finisher (Preacher and Kaito), so protect them and don't throw them away into open mana.