Nobody wants to see this all up in their face!
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After deciding Junk was better then BUG in a soon to be rotating format, I made this 'mostly' theros version. It still has a lot of the power of junk, but will lose very little when RtR rotates. Most things that are going to rotate are easily replaced. A lot of my RtR cards were only played for their raw power and something else can go in their spot, and were not there for synergy. (Though that's kind of the point of Junk, but still.)
1. Concept
The concept is pretty simple of this deck. Have mad value early, take over the game with good effects and Elspeth late.
Basically we have a classic midrange style of having creatures with mad value and versatile cards. Unlike many 2-3 drops, ours are always useful.
We use Mana confluence and strong dual lands to pay for our really greedy mana base to always have a threat on the board, with strong, versatile removal to back it up.
If we get to 6 lands, we drop Elspeth and laugh. Elspeth is super strong in junk because if we have a different threat on the board as well, they have to choose which to deal with, and there is almost never a right choice.
2. PROS AND CONS.
Pros:
Lots of strong, hard to deal with threats.
Low drop creatures that can be good defenders or strong aggressive attackers.
Versatile threats with a nice toolbox of effects requiring your opponent to keep on their toes.
Lots of removal
Deck can switch from offensive or defensive plans very easily.
Strong and flexible win conditions
Cons:
VERY greedy mana base. This makes keeping iffy hands hard for the deck.
Slow start. For a midrange deck, this deck sometimes doesn't get turned on quickly with very temple heavy hands.
Advanced playstyle.
3. Using these pros to your advantage.
So most of the time you're going to be playing a temple on your first turn. Your only 1 drops are thoughtseize, and that's on purpose. You need dual lands to make good plays early, and scrying helps you not get shut down by your mana base. We don't want to be playing things on the first turn. We want to set up for strong turns 3-4.
You want to be dropping Caryatid on turn 2, or Courser on turn 3 if you don't have a Caryatid to protect yourself while you get your fatties on the field. This means you keep your basic lands for that turn, and prepare to drop your first threat. No deck likes a turn 3 Polukranos or Advent of the Wurm. It forces them to tap out early and use their removal for it, which means less removal later.
The deck is extremely adaptable. All the cards can work well offensively or defensively. If your have two coursers. That's totally cool. All your threats are equally good late game as they are early game. If you're playing defensive, don't play Reaper without 2 mana for hexproof. It's worth the wait, especially when you have an Elspeth and a Courser or 2 keeping you healthy and out of harms way, or the supreme verdict is a possible play. It's a huge strength that our creatures are so flexible and annoying, use this.
4. Minimize your Cons by playing well, and knowing when to mulligan.
We have powerful threats, so we can afford to go to 6 if our greedy mana base is kicking our ass. Obviously you don't want to keep a hand with two brimaz, a temple of malady, and a forest. There's just no way you can make that happen, so don't even try. A greedy mana base also means you have to be careful what colors you tap so you can leave things open. Always tap basics first, this keeps you flexible in keeping removal open.
This deck is definitely an expert level deck, and has a learning curve of piloting well, but the rewards are great.
You do well against both control and aggro, and that's worth having a hard deck to play with greedy mana. Other midrange matchups are the hardest matchups because sometimes your removal package isn't good enough in a drawn out game, and their threats are just as big as yours.
5. Have fun!
This deck is really fun. It's expensive, if you don't already have a lot of the cards, but most of the deck is theros and that means it's one of the few SAFE AND COMPETETIVE decks out there right now that won't just rotate out and leave you with nothing.
6. Controversial choices
3x Polukranos
Originally I ran two D. Demons. However I decided that Palukranos was way easier to cast and had less of a downside. I don't need it to fly. Getting this bad boy on turn 3 is ridiculous, and it threatens to win the game quick if not taken care of.
Whether it forces a burn player to 2 for 1 while you're tapped out, or forces a control player to verdict earlier with less board state, nobody is happy to see this hit the field once, and when running 3 you're likely to see it alongside a reaper, which is always fantastic.
3x Elspeth
This could probably go down to 2, but in unfavorable matchups, it is a good target to side 1 or 2 out without having to mess up your deck too much, and still having 2 in the deck is really good.
Elspeth is the best card in Theros block for a reason. If she's out for more then one turn, you'll usually win the game, and if you're not going to win the game, you're going to be in such a lead that you're going to win in the long run.
The best part about her is that she's a planeswalker. You can't get rid of her and her tokens at the same time, unless you have a big creature that didn't get removed.
NO Scavenging Ooze and Archangel Combo.
It's really good against other midrange decks, however there aren't a lot of other good midrange players in my LGS meta. It's mostly aggro or control. Scooze and Archangel thrive against other midrange because they help you get bigger then the other midrange player. However all the midrange I come up against are usually budget new player decks and I don't need it against them. I play against a good enemy midrange deck like once a month.
This is a personal choice. It's not a bad include, it's just a meta call.
7. Conclusion.
I feel like this deck is very well tested now, and I'm really liking how it's playing. It'll definitely serve me at until Khans of Tarkir is out for awhile and everyone is adjusting to the new block. It's really hard to say what the future of the deck, since as of writing this, we still don't even know what M15 holds.
Have a good one!
The future of this deck is probably not going to be in M15 though, unless there's a ridiculously good green fatty or a planeswalker you can't say no to.
Thanks for reading, guys!
