Primer: Mardu Midrange

[Bananasack]

[deck]
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Seeker of the Way
1 Wingmate Roc

4 Lightning Strike
4 Crackling Doom
4 Hordeling Outburst
3 Chained to the Rocks
2 Magma Jet
1 Murderous Cut

2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

4 Nomad Outpost
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Temple of Triumph
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Temple of Silence
6 Mountain
1 Swamp

3 Anger of the Gods
3 Read the Bones
2 Utter End
2 End Hostilities
2 Chandra Pyromaster
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Erase
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
[/deck]

This is the final for sure list I'm playing this weekend. The changes I made were

- 1 Seeker
- 1 Glare

+ 1 Wingmate Roc
+ 1 Erase

I'm staying over at my teammates place and were going to do some testing tonight before the open. I'll let you guys know how I do.

[Lightning_Dolt]

[deck]
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Seeker of the Way
1 Wingmate Roc

4 Lightning Strike
4 Crackling Doom
4 Hordeling Outburst
3 Chained to the Rocks
2 Magma Jet
1 Murderous Cut

2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

4 Nomad Outpost
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Temple of Triumph
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Temple of Silence
6 Mountain
1 Swamp

3 Anger of the Gods
3 Read the Bones
2 Utter End
2 End Hostilities
2 Chandra Pyromaster
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Erase
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
[/deck]

This is the final for sure list I'm playing this weekend. The changes I made were

- 1 Seeker
- 1 Glare

+ 1 Wingmate Roc
+ 1 Erase

I'm staying over at my teammates place and were going to do some testing tonight before the open. I'll let you guys know how I do.

Updates from the open would be sweet. Good luck.

[sirzevo]

This is what I'm taking to SCG Portland tomorrow. Been testing it a lot and it's been working pretty well. We'll see how it goes. I'll do my best to take notes for a post event report.

[deck]
Creatures (15)
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Seeker of the Way
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Enchantments (3)
3 Chained to the Rocks

Instants (10)
4 Crackling Doom
4 Lightning Strike
2 Stoke the Flames

Sorcery (4)
4 Hordeling Outburst

Planeswalkers (3)
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Artifacts (1)
1 Whip of Erebos

Lands (24)
3 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Caves of Koilos
5 Mountain
3 Nomad Outpost
2 Swamp
1 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Erase
2 Hero's Downfall
2 Magma Spray
2 Utter End
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Sign in Blood
2 Thoughtseize
[/deck]

[Lightning_Dolt]

Send us updates from the open too

[Lightning_Dolt]

Third place at Saturday Tournament. Bored of standard.

[Christen]

Back to basic list for this local PPTQ. Will report later.

[deck]
Creatures
3 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Butcher of the Horde
1 Wingmate Roc

Spells
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Crackling Doom
1 Murderous Cut

Planeswalkers
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Lands
4 Nomad Outpost
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Temple of Silence
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Temple of Triumph
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Swamp
6 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Erase
3 Thoughtseize
2 Read the Bones
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Harness by Force
2 Chanda, Pyromaster
1 Utter End
1 End Hostilities
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
[/deck]

[Christen]

Update: scrubbed out, hard. 1-3 losing all 3 games to Abzan Whip decks. Only win is an Esper control deck (which for some reason, I stomped hard). Meta earlier is ridiculous running around 60%+ Abzan Whip decks. I was badly positioned.

1. Hushwing Gryff is attractive. I might even consider using it maindeck.
2. Being on the draw is a huge disadvantage (my wins were all second games on the play and post board).
3. Never even got to try Harness by Force so I have no data.
4. Chandra is still a good card.
5. Chained to the Rocks might actually be badly positioned against it because of Banishing Light/Utter End. Two of my losses were my CttR, holding a Siege Rhino, being exiled by one of the aforementioned spells.

My only concern is adjusting the deck to beat the whip decks but it might terribly affect the matchup for the other decks. The other popular choices in the meta is Temur and Jeskai control. The one that eventually won was Temur.

[Lightning_Dolt]

3x Glare to bring in over Chained?

[Lightning_Dolt]

My modern PPTQ today is actually standard lol.

Will report later.

[Bananasack]

I scrubbed out of the open. I probably lost more due to lack of sleep than anything else. I think my 75 was fine though. I'm probably going to use it again next week at the PTQ and any PPTQ's that are coming up.

[Lightning_Dolt]

Going to try this (had the same problem, time to level them)

[deck]
Sideboard (15)
1 Utter End
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Anger of the Gods
2 End Hostilities
2 Read the Bones
2 Erase
3 Glare of Heresy
[/deck]

[Lightning_Dolt]

Lost the first round VS Gruul Beats in three.

Game 1, I mulled, he won the roll, he had Mystic > Fanatic > Fanatic and my hand was way too slow.

Game 2, he stumbled on 2 mana and I smashed.

Game 3, I kept a 4 land hand with seeker, outburst and chained. I drew 5 lands in a row. He grinds me out with Chandra and Xenagos. I fail to draw a creature or planeswalker for the rest of the game. Just drew the wrong half of my deck.

[Lightning_Dolt]

He also had scouring sands for my goblins.

[Lightning_Dolt]

Unfortunately, that means I am more or less out of contention. I think even if I win out I could miss Top 8. Not the start I was looking for.

[Lightning_Dolt]

Lost the second round 1-2 vs Abzan.

Game 1, mull'd to 6, then drew 11 lands.

Game 2, mulled to six, played a decent game oh magic, got there.

Game 3, kept 7, decent game, but I drew lands while my opponent drew gas.

Dropped.

Trading Chain for Glare worked well.

[Lightning_Dolt]

A few small updates to the primer + video from GP: San Antonio added today.

[sirzevo]

Well, I'm going to start by saying that I had a lot of fun at the SCG Open and look forward to attending the next one that comes through Portland. I met Andrew Shrout(sp?), Brad Nelson, and CVM (even played a quick game with him). They were all very friendly even after a long-ass flight. Glad to have met them.

So, I went 3-4 and dropped. There was a part of me that was sad I didn't do better, but there was another part of me that was glad to be done because I was so exhausted. All of my buds that were there were drained as well.

I won my first 3 matches and proceeded to lose 4 matches in a row. Ouch. Here's the breakdown (check my last post for my deck-list):

Match 1 vs Sidisi Whip 2-1. This was a surprise victory for me because, usually, this match-up is tough. One of the rounds I drew all 4 of my Rabblemasters and my opponent just could not deal with all of them. The other matches were grindy and there many bee and zombie tokens, but I got there in the end. Sided out 4 Rabblemasters and 4 Outbursts because of Doomwake Giants and sided in 1 [card]Tormod's Crypt[/card], 1 Chandra, 2 Thoughtseizes, 2 Erases, and 2 Utter Ends.

Match 2 vs mono-white aggro 2-1. First round was rough for me with some Heroic triggers off of things like Defiant Strike and Launch the Fleet. Second and third rounds I took a more controlling role. Round 3 I got a Stormbreath out and wrecked face. Literally couldn't do anything about it. Sided out 1 Sarkhan, 2 Phoenixes, 2 Stokes and sided in 1 Chandra, 2 Utter Ends, and 2 Magma Sprays.

Match 3 vs G/R monsters 2-0. Another match that is usually pretty tough and swept him. Round 1 I drew triple Chained getting a Courser, Polukranos, and something else. My opponent couldn't come back from it. Round 2 I remember making a huge sequencing error. Opponent had 2 Caryatids, a Courser and a Polukranos out. I had enough mana to cast a Crackling Doom and an [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card] (more on flooding later...). Stupidly, I cast the Doom first, then threw down [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card]. I should have reversed the order, which would have given me a board state more in my favor and not have given my opponent potential card draw. Oh well, live and learn. My opponent also made a big mistake by trying to use a Setessan Tactics on his Courser that he'd played on his turn (so, it still had summoning sickness). I only knew about it because my friend lost his match trying to do the same thing. Sided out 4 Strikes and 1 Stoke. Sided in 2 [card]Hero's Downfall[/card]s, 2 Utter Ends, and 1 [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card].

Match 4 vs G/B constellation 0-2. Definitely a very, very tough match-up. However, Whip of Erebos is definitely a thing and definitely made this match very hard for my opponent. For someone playing constellation, your opponents gaining life is no picnic for them either. In any event, there's not much to report here. Lots of Doomwake Giants and Hornet Queens make Mardu a dull deck. Again sided out 4 Rabblemasters and 4 Outbursts and sided in 1 [card]Tormod's Crypt[/card], 1 Chandra, 2 Thoughtseizes, 2 Erases, and 2 [card]Hero's Downfall[/card]s.

Match 5 vs MIRROR MATCH 0-2. First round I had to mull to 6 and my opponent was on the play and drew a very good hand, so I lost. Second round I got stuck on 3 lands (one Mountain and 2 Battlefield Forge) with a Doom and Butcher in hand. Lame... I think my sideboarding choices were very poor on this one: took out 4 Outbursts and 2 Stokes and sided in 1 Chandra, 1 [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card], 2 Erases, and 2 [card]Hero's Downfall[/card]s.

Match 6 vs Abzan Midrange 1-2. Rhinos for days... Won the first round but couldn't get there the next 2. I believe I also got stuck on only 1 black mana source in one of last rounds and it was too little too late. Oh, and again... dat Whip tho. Sideboarding was poor for my here, too: sided out 4 Strikes and 4 Rabblemasters (should have kept him in, especially when I was on the play) and sided in 1 Chandra, 1 [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card], 2 [card]Hero's Downfall[/card]s, 2 Thoughtseizes, 2 Utter Ends.

Match 7 vs Abzan Midrange (w/ lots of walkers) 1-2. Round 1 my opponent flooded out pretty bad while I kept drawing gas. Good amount of walkers came down and ruined the day. Having Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, Sorin, and [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card] all on the table at once is a sad day. Sided out 4 Strikes and 1 Phoenix and sided in 1 [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card], 2 [card]Hero's Downfall[/card]s, 2 Thoughtseizes.

Thoughts:

• This deck is in serious need of either card draw or more scrying.
• Ashcloud Phoenix. It was definitely very "meh". I'm definitely taking it out. Don't know what I'm replacing it with, but I have a few ideas. Magma Jets might be coming back since the scrying would help immensely.
• Sarkhan is definitely being shown the door. He did absolutely nothing that Stormbreath couldn't have done and more.
• With all of the "when x enters the battlefield" effects going on, I'm actually considering putting Hushwing Gryffs in the main. I'm tired of seeing triple Rhinos and/or Queens coming in and ruining my day. Don't even get me started if they get whipped back.
• Glare of Heresy needs to be in my sideboard.
• I had a couple matches where I really needed more black mana and not just because of the whip. I'm thinking of swapping 1 Temple of Triumph for a Temple of Malice. Could also replace one Swamp with an Urborg. Maybe both... we'll see.

Oh, and did I mention that Whip is definitely a thing?

[eldub]

sirzevo & LD, thanks for the comprehensive updates, they are appreciated as always.

I've been unable to play anything competitive for two weeks, but I did spend the weekend testing and experimenting with Yuuya's Jeskai Tokens list from Worlds for my play partner. This deck is definitely the real deal and game 1 against all our 1:1 removal is super brutal. I believe if this deck continues to pick up steam we need to react with some main deck changes. My thoughts on the format with Tokens popular and tier one are:

- Chained becomes a lot worse since everyone will be playing multiple Erase and Glare.
- Tons of 1:1 removal and no sweeper makes game 1 really unfavored.
- Thoughtseize gains a ton of value as a great way to snipe ascendancy before they can cast it. The deck can be pretty anemic without Ascendancy in play.
- Stoke the Flames is very potent and you must expect for them to have at least one.
- Non-Elspeth Planeswalkers are quite vulnerable when your opponent can go wide and take them out.

I believe we'll have a lot better picture of how good this deck is after next weekend, but here is my initial list against a meta of Tokens and Whip of Erebos decks.

[DECK= Mardu No Chained update 12/16]
Land (25)
3x Battlefield Forge
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Caves of Koilos
3x Mountain
4x Nomad Outpost
1x Swamp
1x Temple of Malice
2x Temple of Silence
4x Temple of Triumph
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Planeswalker (3)
1x Chandra, Pyromaster
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Instant (9)
4x Crackling Doom
3x Lightning Strike
1x Murderous Cut
1x Utter End
Creature (13)
2x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4x Butcher of the Horde
4x Goblin Rabblemaster
3x Stormbreath Dragon
Sorcery (10)
2x Anger of the Gods
4x Hordeling Outburst
4x Thoughtseize
Sideboard
2x Anger of the Gods
1x Chandra, Pyromaster
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x End Hostilities
2x Erase
1x Glare of Heresy
3x Hushwing Gryff
2x Read the Bones
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Stain the Mind
[/DECK]
edit 12/13 - Adjusted mana base to squeeze in the 19th red source. 4th Thoughtseize came into the main as it's the best hedge I have outside of major changes like putting hushwing main. Without Seeker there's not much to do turn 2 and I've been really happy with Thoughtseize as pure disruption early. I've having a lot more wins with Rabblemaster by clearing out their relevant removal.

The deck clearly takes a different turn with Anger main, but it gives you a real chance against both Tokens and is amazing against Sidisi Whip. Having Utter End and Thoughtseize has also given me very broad answers similar to Abzan. We've also tried to overload their Stoke the Flames by presenting 9 targets with 4 toughness. I know Brimaz has traditionally not been stellar in Mardu but this deck is a bit of a different beast. The mana base feels like a step up without needing so many mountains and allowing you to increase your scry land count to improve your filtering ability.

I'd love some feedback from anyone else who's worked on the Tokens and Whip match ups.

[Zooligan]

I've been liking a couple black cards lately:

Bitter Revelation functions a little more like Dig than RTB (but costs 1 more) - still testing, but seems really good post-board when digging for SB answers
Dictate of Erebos seems good with a token-heavy build, especially when sac'ing to Butcher and/or against heroic decks and big green monsters

[eldub]

I tried Dicate but it was often too cute. I always just want another Dragon or Elspeth to jam in that slot. Dictate looks pretty bad when you play it on an empty board getting smashed by Rhinos.

Costing 4 is a big problem for Bitter Revelation. In matches were RtB comes in, Rabblemaster or Anger is often coming out and it slots in nicely. Be cognizant not to overload your curve with 4-5 cmc cards post-board.

[Bananasack]

I won my monday night win-a-box with the same 75 I took to the open. I played against Mono Green (2-0) Abzan Constellation (2-1) U/W Control (2-1) and U/G Monsters (2-1). I'm pretty satisfied with my performance and the list I've been playing.

[poppa_f]

I'm thinking about going the other way and playing Craig Wescoe's 2-colour RW tokens deck. I've started testing on MTGO and deck is really fun to play. Am happy to do a primer if folks are interested.

Heck yeah. More is better with decklists and primers.

Finally got round to doing this: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3089

[Christen]

Agent of Erebos seems like a good answer to whip decks.

[Zooligan]

I've been liking a couple black cards lately:

Bitter Revelation functions a little more like Dig than RTB (but costs 1 more) - still testing, but seems really good post-board when digging for SB answers
Dictate of Erebos seems good with a token-heavy build, especially when sac'ing to Butcher and/or against heroic decks and big green monsters

Tested both of these out and Dictate was good in some instances, but others just not.

I ran across something else tho - Stain the Mind. It has convoke, so it's casting cost could be as little as B after a T3 Outburst following a T2 Seeker or T2 Raise the Alarm. It makes all those Rhinos or Hornet Queens (or Doomwake Giants or Pearl Lake Ancients or whatever) go away in one fell swoop, even from the graveyard so they can't be Whip-ed back. Plus you get to look at their whole freakin' library and expose any unexpected surprises.

Thoughts?

[Christen]

Played with this last night:

[deck]
Creatures
3 Seeker of the Way
3 Hushwing Gryff
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Butcher of the Horde
1 Wingmate Roc

Spells
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Lightning Strike
4 Crackling Doom
4 Hordeling Outburst

Planeswalkers
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Lands
25 Same old

Sideboard
3 Glare of Heresy
2 Chandra Pyromaster
2 Thoughtseize
2 Erase
3 Anger of the Gods
2 End Hostilities
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
[/deck]

Went 3-1 and placed 2nd on my FNM winning against Abzan Whip, Cruise Red, and Sidisi Whip. My only loss is another Abzan Whip deck. Maindeck Gryff in this meta is sick. I'm sure I wouldn't have won those two whip matchups without it. My sideboard might have 1 too much Glare of Heresy, but I'm still not sure.

[Lightning_Dolt]

That deck looks very tight, and really good.

[Lightning_Dolt]

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12252

[Christen]

After a bit of playtesting my list, I cut 1 Goblin Rabblemaster and Wingmate Roc for 2 Stormbreath Dragons since you'll find yourself in awkward situations where you're holding the Roc while beating in the air with Gryffs. I still need to check though if Hordeling Outburst is the better cut than Rabblemaster since the goblin can win games on his own.

[Valdarith]

Anyone playing RW instead of Mardu? I'm going to start testing Sam Pardee's list for a PTQ one month away. Right now the big wins for running black are Butcher and Crackling Doom, but I feel like RW can take care of most matchups without either, especially postboard.

[Aodh]

I've been playing Mardu. Crackling Doom is very good; so are Sorin, Murderous Cut, and Butcher. Usually you take out a color to make the deck more consistent, but the Mardu manabase is phenomenal, so I'm not sure it's advantageous to move into RW alone. What's his argument?

[Purp]

You should be playing jeskai tokens until it's banned.

[Valdarith]

Less painful mana and more consistent. You can run Brimaz in your list (though I do have a Mardu list that can run Brimaz and Chained to the Rocks while touching black for Butcher and Crackling Doom). You also have a little more speed by virtue of running fewer CIPT lands. Instead of Sorin you just run a third Chandra which works very well with Brimaz.

As for Jeskai, I like the deck a lot. When it works, it's beautiful, but many of the cards on their own lack the power that Mardu offers. Jeskai is also very easy to hate out.

[LP, of the Fires]

Current mardu needs to be rebuilt as the current iteration is a dog to tokens and whip decks.

[Lightning_Dolt]

You should be playing jeskai tokens until it's banned.

Thanks for contributing

[Valdarith]

A heavier black slant for Bile Blight would be a nice way to deal with token decks. Arc Lightning in the 60 seems good too.

[Mcdonalds]

You should be playing jeskai tokens until it's banned.

Thanks for contributing

He's not wrong

[Valdarith]

He's not right either.

[Jedi]

A heavier black slant for Bile Blight would be a nice way to deal with token decks. Arc Lightning in the 60 seems good too.

Scouring Sands?

[Valdarith]

I play Scouring Sands in my RW sideboard. It is very good and criminally underplayed. I was commenting more on maindeck worthy inclusions.

[Christen]

If there was a heavy shift to tokens in my local meta, I wouldn't hesitate to use Scouring Sands or Arc Lightning.

Going heavy black in Mardu means we're not playing Hordeling Outburst.