Izzet Spellementals relies on key synergies: Hearth Elemental's cost reduction from graveyard instants/sorceries, Eddymurk Crab's enter-the-battlefield tap effect, and Colorstorm Stallion's Opus trigger that grows it and can spawn copies. Torpor Orb is excellent here, shutting off Eddymurk Crab's tap ability. Authority of the Consuls makes their creatures enter tapped, further blunting their tempo plan. Ghost Vacuum picks off their graveyard to slow Hearth Elemental's cost reduction. Trim situational artifacts and reactive removal-adjacent pieces that are too slow against their cantrip-fueled speed.

This matchup is a race against landfall value engines like Earthbender Ascension and Mightform Harmonizer, so Pinnacle Starcage stays in to strip Llanowar Elves and cheap threats. Authority of the Consuls slows down their creature deployment by making their creatures enter tapped, buying crucial tempo. The extra Tezzeret, Cruel Captain adds another proactive threat to grind through their go-wide plan, while Ghost Vacuum offers incidental graveyard disruption against Mole Man, Moloid Master's land recursion. Cut narrow or slow artifacts like Spring-Loaded Sawblades and card selection pieces that don't affect the board quickly enough.

Dimir Midrange is grindy with countermagic like Spell Pierce and Spell Snare plus removal like Bitter Triumph and Requiting Hex, so we want resilient, mana-efficient threats. Page, Loose Leaf gives us cheap artifact bodies that provide long-game card advantage via Grandeur, though watch for Requiting Hex. The extra Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is a strong grindy planeswalker against their removal-heavy shell. Ghost Vacuum lets us exile cards from graveyards and potentially reanimate opposing creatures later. Cut narrow anti-aggro tools like Lodestone Needle and Dusk Rose Reliquary that are weaker against a deck without cheap creature swarms.