I have finally made it back to Roanoke! After three long weeks of traveling, there is no better feeling than getting to sleep in my own bed, use my own
desktop, and write about a Magic tournament that I did well in. Life really doesn’t get better than this!
Last weekend was Grand Prix L.A. I made the top 8 and people thought the deck I ended up playing was really innovative. A deck where I mastered the
numbers, knew exactly what I was doing, and understood the metagame completely.
This couldn’t be further from the truth!
“That card beat us a bunch of times so we should just play three of them,” was something I said thirty minutes before registering. “Should we play WIngmate
Roc or Stormbreath Dragon?” was twenty minutes before registering. “We are going to play a Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker since Patrick thinks it’s good,” was
right before submitting the decklist.
I honestly don’t think WOTC intended for us to play with the cards in the way we have. It seems like every deck has mass removal spells alongside creatures
that can die to them. It shouldn’t be defendable to play Anger of the Gods and Mantis Rider in the same deck. This all seems so wrong!
Now this is just a theory so don’t go scrolling down to start any argument just yet, but I personally believe that we haven’t yet figured out the best ways
to utilize tempo. The most popular decks so far have been those that are gaining a tempo advantage the easiest. Mantis Rider and Siege Rhino both create a
subtle tempo advantage by just casting them, which made them rise to the top of the food chain since the beginning of the format. It’s easiest to start
there, but it becomes much more difficult for the decks that need to work for it.
My Mardu Midrange decklist was not good. I even called it bad all weekend and proclaimed that I was only winning because I knew how to sequence my spells
and understood that my opponent’s decks were misbuilt. I also looked for tempo boosts at every possible juncture.
Mardu Midrange was capable of some very powerful tempo swings. For starters, the deck ran this thing!
Butcher of the Horde proved to be the best/worst card in my deck. When I was slightly ahead, this freak closed out the game quicker than BBD could make a
pun, but it was just another card that traded down for my opponents when we were playing draw-go on an empty board. Luckily I had more opportunities to
gain a tempo advantage thanks to Hordeling Outburst and Chained to the Rocks. Both of these cards did a great job at making sure I would never fell too far
behind in any game. They allowed me to set up turns that no other deck could compete with.
I’m not going to say that tempo is the key to unlocking Standard, but I can promise you that this format feels like it is too grindy to be what WOTC
intended for us to play. They might make the cards, but it’s our job to find the decks worth building. I encourage everyone that is building decks to try
to start looking for better ways to create tempo boosts inside games. Every deck that learns how to adapt to the metagame with tempo will have a
significant edge for that weekend. I promise you that I will be constantly looking for ways to gain a tempo advantage from now until we solve this format,
and I’m pretty confident that my records will show that it is the correct way to go. Until then, I guess I can show off an updated version of Mardu
Midrange!
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (18)
I have heard that others tried to make Mardu Midrange decks work for the Pro Tour, but that they eventually gave up on the deck. My gut tells me the reason
for this was that they were playing with Mardu Charm. That card isn’t bad, but I don’t think it is very powerful. Of all the charms, I feel that it feels
the most like casting a card that should cost less than three every time. Taking a card out of an opponent’s hand is great, but paying three mana is too
much in my book. The same goes for killing a creature with four toughness or making two soldiers. The three effects just don’t win a game. Instead of
playing the versatile three drop, I went in the direction of having more powerful spells that do a specific thing.
This deck should be considered a midrange deck just like Abzan, but played slightly more aggressive. The deck has a small amount of burn that is backed up
with Butcher of the Horde and Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker to be able to deal high amounts of damage in short bursts. This is where the tempo advantages come
in. Sometimes these aggressive lines win the game, but mostly they put you in a position to make another aggressive play in three-five turns.
Wingmate Roc ended up underperforming. It was nice to have sometimes, but it never won me a game I wasn’t already winning. It did become a very lackluster
spell in some games that I almost always lost. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker overperformed, however, making it the five drop this deck wants.
The biggest concern you should have with picking up Mardu Midrange is understanding the role you should take in each matchup, making that the most
important thing for me to talk about.
One important note before moving forward is that you should only use my sideboarding advice as a rough guide. Don’t blindly do exactly what I say you
should, because this format is currently all about leveling each other in sideboarding. There are many levels to be on and talented players may put you on
doing exactly what I told you to do. Use this only as a starting point. Ask yourself questions. Think about the interactions and execute a gameplan. The
only advice I give you is to never hedge. If you want to try to control your opponent, do exactly that. Don’t play some guys and some removal. Your draws
will become too schizophrenic.
VS Abzan Aggro
The best course of action in game 1 is to keep the board clear. It is almost always correct to kill a creature in play before presenting your own threat.
Lightning Strike is great at killing early creatures, but it being instant speed could be a downside against Abzan Charm. Make sure to deal damage to
creatures when they are tapped out so you don’t have to play around that card in the future.
The reason you want to keep the board clear before presenting threats is that using a Sarkhan to kill a creature almost always swings the game in your
favor. This is the tempo play you are looking for. They will have to spend the next turn casting Hero’s Downfall if they have it, or let you untap with a
planeswalker. They might have Abzan Charm, but that is easy to sniff out, so don’t be afraid to play around Abzan Charm in this position and just not +1
your Sarkhan. This also applies to when they have open mana and let your Goblin Rabblemaster go to combat. Just attack with the tokens!
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
Your job on the draw is to contain the board. It is very difficult to obtain a decent board position without them gaining an even stronger one so killing
creatures becomes your main priority. Anger of the Gods has the potential of being a strong card in the matchup, but sideboarding is a guessing game so
consider Read the Bones over those if you don’t think they will play into it.
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
Being on the play is crucial. You now get to become more aggressive and try to stick a threat before they do anything relevant. You also don’t need to risk
an Elspeth getting stuck in your hand. Be aggressive and try to one-for-one them as many times as possible while reloading with Read the Bones.
VS Abzan Midrange
This matchup is slightly worse game 1, but it gets much easier after sideboard. Abzan Aggro has the ability to get ahead in the early game and relentlessly
beat you down, but you can try to control the game much easier after sideboard if you know they can’t go beat down. The plan for game 1 is rather simple.
Swarm the board and pick off creatures when they present themselves. Don’t allow a Butcher of the Horde to die to removal unless it already ate a
planeswalker – a crucial reason to keep tokens around to threaten haste at anytime.
Out (on the play if they have Fleecemane Lion):
In (on the play if they have Fleecemane Lion):
Out (on the draw if they don’t have Fleecemane Lion):
In (on the draw if they don’t have Fleecemane Lion):
The reason that Fleecemane Lion is so relevant is that you cannot try to make End Hostilities part of your gameplan if they can threaten to make it
monstrous. Crackling Doom is in the deck as a way out of this situation, but it’s impossible to guarantee that it will be in our hand when we need it. In
theory it shouldn’t matter, but I have almost always been burned when having End Hostilities in my deck against someone who has Fleecemane Lion in their
Abzan Midrange deck.
The matchup is all about weathering the storm. The strategy I have found most successful is ignoring the option of having a curve in the attempt to have
the best cards possible in the mid to lategame, as this keeps their Thoughtseizes in check. Just keep the board clear and try to drown them in card
advantage.
VS Jeskai Aggro
Preserve your life total! Do not let them deal you damage with creatures if it is avoidable. This mostly applies to turn 2 when you’re on the draw and
facing down two open mana. It is important to not play Seeker of the Way on this turn for many reasons, but mostly it is so you can hold up Lightning
Strike for their Mantis Rider or Goblin Rabblemaster. On the play you should always slam the Seeker of the Way.
Hordeling Outburst is your best card in the matchup. If it resolves, the game turns into them trying to kill you before the tokens kill them. That rarely
works, but it does allow openings to crush them with your heavy hitters.
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
The sideboarding is so drastic due to how much better Crackling Doom is on the play compared to the draw and how much their deck will transform when they
are on the draw. I have even had experiences where I brought in a few copies of Read the Bones when I know they’re going to sideboard into a pure control
deck. Sideboarding in this matchup is all about what cards they have access to and how they will use them. Do not be afraid trying to do exactly what you
think they won’t think you will do.
VS Mono-Green Devotion
The gameplan is simple: kill them before they get out of control. Use tokens to give Butcher of the Horde haste as fast as you can and try to race them in
the air. They will take over the game given enough time. No amount of removal will stop them.
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
You have to take the control approach on the draw. Even though they know that is your plan, you’re counting on card advantage and planeswalkers to help you
out. The nature of their deck will not allow them to play around too much mass removal so use that to your advantage. Just don’t let them start drawing
cards or resolving giant Genesis Hydras early in the game using Nykthos.
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
The play is a different story. You need to have access to End Hostilities if things go badly, but they’re not part of your Plan A. Your goal is to get
under them with creatures and kill anything relevant. It is very possible to get under them if they don’t expect it. If they do, then being more
controlling is probably the best call. Good thing we have a sideboard for that!
VS Mono-Red Aggro
Survive! That’s all you can say about this matchup. Just make sure you live and try to gain life when you can.
Out:
In:
I hope you guys enjoy this deck. I will be putting more work into it eventually, but I want to explore everything else this format has to offer. Standard
is shaping up to be a brewer’s ballgame, and I can’t wait to get working on all of the other potential archetypes. Don’t you worry, because I will
undoubtedly be keeping you guys in the loop!