Guidelines for making a Midrange deck in Modern
Modern forum
Posted on Aug. 9, 2015, 5:18 p.m. by electromancer
So for each archetype in modern and standard there tend to be some general guidelines for making a successful deck.
Vague general tips for each deck type as I understand them:
-Tempo: Delver, cantrips and disruption
-Control: Card advantage is king
-Aggro: try to win by turn 3
-Burn: Go straight for their life total at all costs.
-Combo: Assemble combo by turn 4 (preferably with protection)
Sorry if any of these guidelines are off, but my question is "What about midrange?"
Modern is a turn 4 format but I really don't see midrange decks winning by that turn, so what kind of general guidelines help make a successful midrange deck in modern?
Some stuff to think about:
-Are 4 drops without an immediate effect on turn 4, like Olivia Voldaren, playable? And why not others?
-How many control elements should be included and what type are most successful? (counterspells, removal, Thoughtseize)
-Mana curve? Mana dorks? Anthems (like Bad Moon)?
Anyway just to recap there's lots advise and general guidelines for other archetypes but for midrange it feels like most people tend to just play "good stuff" with the only criteria being "does this die to Lightning Bolt"
Are there better guidelines than this or is that it?
lemmingllama says... #3
Midrange just grinds out the game. You shut them down by running about 6-8 discard spells like Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek, and lots of kill spells like Abrupt Decay, Terminate, Go for the Throat, etc. Your endgame is normally much better than theirs.
Modern may be a turn 4 format, but that just means that decks shouldn't be able to consistently kill on turns 1-3. Besides, midrange has lots of answers that can stop those turn 2-4 kills to ensure it can get to the endgame.
August 9, 2015 6:10 p.m.
electromancer says... #4
Thanks for the response. That actually that makes a lot of sense. As for Olivia Volderan I've heard that about her before and I know she's definitely playable but I feel like it begs the question of why we don't see a greater variety of 4-6 drops like Sigarda, Host of Herons, Thornling, or Uril, the Miststalker. I think most people would respond that they're "too slow for modern."
August 9, 2015 6:18 p.m.
electromancer says... #5
How do you feel about bant running counterspells like in bant? In fact I'm not even sure if bant is considered midrange or tempo so maybe that's a stupid question.
August 9, 2015 6:26 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #6
To my knowledge ChiefBell sideboards Sigarda, Host of Herons in his abzan deck for the mirror match. She's obviously good against sac abilities, but not every deck runs them so she won't see mb play in this meta
Thornling? I'd rather play Tarmogoyf. Both are strong beaters but one has a lower cmc and can be bigger
Uril, the Miststalker costs a lot, has no immediate impact and can give us card disadvantage (enchanting him and having him be removed) so he doesn't have a place in attrition deck, but he probably has his own brews
August 9, 2015 6:52 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #7
It depends on how you build it, but some Bant lists are fairly potent and counterspells allow them to push through. Probably the best Bant midrangey strategy is Eternal Command, you use lots of resilient creatures with ETB effects and counterspells/Path to Exile to get to the late game. Also using Restoration Angel on a Mystic Snake is super hilarious
August 9, 2015 7 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #8
The two basic tenants i go by in midrange tends to be
Versatility: useful in multiple situations
Investment>mana: not only should your spells impact the game in a big way, you shouldn't be paying more than the investment is worth to do it. Ie : goyf vs thornling
August 9, 2015 7:09 p.m.
Very simply, midrange is about beating your opponent over long games with superior resources. Most successful midrange decks look like control decks in many ways but instead of focusing on expensive, hard to kill threats they go for cheaper creatures that are arguably easier to kill. This is actually fairly sensible because it goes with their plan of superior resources. What I mean by that is the ability to do more in a turn - to hit harder, to remove more, to draw more etc. You are literally looking to do as much as possible for as little mana as possible.
As for the specific questions:
Yes they're playable but not preferred. We want value. Huntmaster's tokens and life are value. Siege rhinos helix is value. Olivia is not value without further investment. She wrecks some matchups but not enough to see her as any more than a 1 or 2 of.
Roughly 1/3 of your deck (20 cards) should be control. 6-7 discard. 7-10 removal. 4 liliana.
You want to be doing more than your opponent at most points. The majority of your deck should be 1 and 2 drops. You will most likely have 26 one or two mana cards. Then 4 liliana and 3-5 four or five mana cards. Dorks aren't common but noble hierarch is seen occasionally. No anthems.
Midrange is both simultaneously easy and hard to understand. You play control against aggro decks and aggro against control decks. Your creatures like goyf or scooze benefit from long games and full graveyards. Super value. Abrupt decay costs 2 mana, kills almost everything and can't be countered. Super value. Same for lightning bolt or path to exile. (Spot a pattern?). As soon as you get to turn 3 or 4 you start being able to play both control AND aggro at the same time. You answer everything and beat down. It's a deck that theoretically has no weaknesses in this respect. And a skilled player can have good matchups against almost all the decks in modern with the right sideboard. Though certain ones like tron and scapeshift are a problem.
Regarding the question about high drops. You need to remember that if you control the game you can play whatever you want. I play Sorin, Lord of Innistrad in casual games because he's just impossible to remove and pumps out endless tokens. Backed up with removal spells it's fine. I've seen thragtusk used as well.
August 9, 2015 9:24 p.m.
electromancer says... #10
Thanks ChiefBell,
I'd been looking all over the internet for an explanation but all I found were guides to specific decks. I've played various slower-than-aggro decks in standard but this should help me pick a route for getting into midrange in modern.
August 9, 2015 11:49 p.m.
electromancer says... #11
@lemmingllama, playing draw-go style with flash creature does sound like a very attractive option + I love those gimmicky synergies.
@VampireArmy Yeah, I get what you're saying. I mean, I get the whole "good stuff" with lots of value for lots of situations approach but supposing I wanted to make the best midrange deck ever, I couldn't just throw together 40 of the most sought out magic cards and expect to win anything. So I was looking a for an explanation of what kind of unique edge midrange was trying to gain over other decks.
August 10, 2015 12:09 a.m.
VampireArmy says... #12
electromancer that's not it at all. It doesn't have to be strictly goodstuff. The thing I was getting at is pretty much summed up by my dude Chief. We're the middle of the road deck. I don't know how to explain it any better but then again, i'm not very good with words
August 10, 2015 12:23 a.m.
electromancer says... #13
lol my bad. It probably had less to do with your words than my understanding.
So, I guess if I were to try to sum up midrange in a couple of words I would say:
It beats the opponent by attrition generating virtual card advantage. (Did I use enough buzzwords?)
August 10, 2015 12:47 a.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #14
@ChiefBell You talk about playing a control plan vs. an aggro opponent, and the aggro plan vs. a control opponent, but how do you play against another midrange opponent?
August 10, 2015 5:05 p.m.
Depends on how your opponent opens. If they open with creatures you want to just control until you can land a safe win condition. If they open with no aggression of their own you can try to get some board presence. The mirror is tricky though because there are lots of options to choose from.
It is worth noting that the creature plan is the easiest one to sustain because eventually your opponent will run out of removal and you can ship away at them. I've usually found that if you can be in a position where you're forcing your opponent to answer successive threats or lose you're in a good position unless they land a Dark Confidant. As soon as they miss a removal spell that's 4 damage. Coupled with a harsh manabase it makes for quick wins.
August 10, 2015 5:11 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #16
The recipe, simply, is efficient and versatile removal paired with threats that remain powerful regardless of when you play them (ideally they get better as the game wears on). Midrange gets its strength from its versatility, and maintaining that is vital.
Your main plan should be either resource denial or outvaluing. Denial happens to be good in Modern, but in Legacy the latter is currently better because of how good Stoneforge Mystic is.
TheAnnihilator The plan for the midrange mirror is trumps. Thragtusk, Outpost Siege... and friends. EDIT: And Sigarda and stuff. There are lots of cool things to try.
August 10, 2015 7:22 p.m. Edited.
Thrun can be a good one. Punishing manabase with film mage is decent. Planeswalkers are cute.
August 10, 2015 7:27 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #18
I'm not a fan of Thrun for the mirror because he's pretty small.
August 10, 2015 7:28 p.m.
I think he used to be better than he is now. What with rhino and taz. He's not overly efficient. Ran sigarda for a bit. Was ok, not great. Outpost siege is a great call. Often manland can do it.
SpartanCEL says... #2
I look foreword to chiefs response
Basically your goal is to out attrition them. Your resources are so much better than theirs. A lot of games are long and grindy (that's why I play it) and there are usually multiple lines of play.
Anything that's a 2 for 1 is a possibility. Anything that's above the curve is a possibility.
For example (I'm going to use banned cards because it's easy and other people will most likely use current cards)
Punishing Fire and Grove of the Burnwillows. Yes it works and yes it's banned (just fire, grove is legal)
Bloodbraid Elf. Not only an immediate board impact (haste), it offers an immediate 2 for 1.
Deathrite Shaman. Nicknamed the 1 drop planeswalker, he has impact at every stage of the game. A Grim Lavamancer with more options
About Olivia Voldaren. She's won me games. Don't look at her as a 4 drop. She's more like a 6 drop (to buff herself and dodge bolt.) She can just keep pinging creatures over and over again until she's massive (multiple activations on a creature gives multiple counters.) Even use her on your own creatures to buff her. Don't kill your own creatures, but it's a possibility that's also won me the game.
She flies and can steal stuff as well
August 9, 2015 5:50 p.m.