Let's Brew: GB Midrange

Do the Wilds of Eldraine two drops finally make it playable

I primarily play midrange decks and most of them are black based. However, I almost never play GB Midrange decks. That’s because whenever I try to I lose bad. Also, whenever I face GB Midrange it feels like a free win.

• RB has card quality- Bloodtithe, Fable, Kroxa

• UB has counterspells

• WB has exile removal

• GB has ??

But I’m not a monster, like every other midrange player, I love Golgari and would love to be able to play it. With Wilds of Eldraine we have two powerful new two drops and a removal spell that can help against Mono-Green (one of the key matchups holding back GB in particular).

Let’s go through the recipe for building a GB Midrange list looking at our options at each spot on the curve and a few of the key packages we can run.

One Mana

The starting point for almost all of these is going to be 4x Thoughtseize and 4x Fatal Push. If going for a high synergy build, you can consider Thoughtseize, but even then I would lean towards running it. From there we have a few package options:

Nothing besides Push and Seize

Totally reasonable option. Focus on more interactive and value based deck options similar to Rakdos Midrange.

Eight Elves

The four best cards in Pioneer are likely Llanower Elves, Elvish Mystic, Fatal Push, and Thoughtseize. Unfortunately, they push your deck in different directions, so they are a less obvious pairing here. Still, the potential of running the four best cards in the format has to be worth exploring. If you could find the right deck, I could see this being the most powerful shell.

Teething Wurmlet

One drop that gets big and provides incidental lifegain. A lot of the good cards in GB are artifacts or produce an artifact token. Definitely a strong option, but held back by Karn. Obviously, a Wurmlet deck will want to lean towards the artifacts/artifact producers in the later sections.

Cat/Oven and Goose

There is likely a potential Food subtheme along with Trail of Crumbs. Cat/Oven is already used in one of the format’s best decks so worth considering how to build with it here.

Two Mana

Two mana we have two flavors. For both flavors Abrupt Decay is the key piece of two mana interaction and one of the reasons to be GB. Tear Asunder is another interaction consideration in this slot.

Traditional Midrange:

Reckoner Bankbuster

I’ve talked a bunch about how amazing Bankbuster is in midrange lists.

Mosswood Dreadknight

One of the big new adds. Provides both early game pressure and late game value, which is the combo you want in midrange. It also crews Bankbuster!

Food:

Tough Cookie

The other big new two drop add. Likely belongs in different decks than Mosswood Dreadknight. Ones like Wurmlet or Food that can take better advantage of the token. It provides multiple useful game objects and a late game win condition. However, it may be held back by not crewing Bankbuster and doesn’t put on much pressure or block particularly well when played on curve.

Trail of Crumbs

A huge value engine, and plays the roll of Bankbuster in Food decks as card that single handedly keeps you from running out of gas. Has been a bit too slow in my experience, but now has more food support.

Deadly Dispute

Sac food, draw cards, reliably trigger revolt for Fatal Push. Deadly Dispute continues to be a great card.

Three Mana

Graveyard Trespasser

I play Graveyard Trespasser all the time and its combination of a strong Ward effect, graveyard hate, and incidental lifegain continue to make it a top Midrange choice.

Jewel Thief

Effectively two mana for 3/3 Vigilance Trample is not bad. On top of that provides a critical reliable revolt trigger for Fatal Push and helps ensure you can curve into the powerful four drops below. Also, pairs very well with Tyvar’s Stand, so consider running one if playing Jewel Thief.

Briarbridge Tracker

Good size and a two for one, sounds like a winning formula for a midrange three drop.

Tireless Tracker

In some ways more of a four drop. I generally like to only run one if any, but can really swing a game.

Wrenn and Realmbreaker

Whenever this is played against me it is great. In particular the +1 plays better than it first looks. I do not get why it does not see more play, but have never played it. Maybe I will figure out playing it in midrange.

Experimental Confectioner

Ok, I have no idea if this card is going to be any good, but GB Food needs some kind of win the game engine the way RB has Mayhem Devil. This plus Meathook seems like maybe it could get there. Though most likely I’ll look back on this and ask myself “did I see seriously talk about Confectioner as a Mayhem Devil equivalent?”

Note on Glissa:

Glissa seems bad to me, but I face whenever opponents are playing GB midrange. Glissa is a three mana creature without evasion, without etb, without protection, without death trigger, that does not put on a particularly fast clock, and that needs to connect for value, which just does not line up well with the format in general.

Four Mana

Four Mana is where GB has an abundance of good options, which is in weird way a bit of a problem. You really can’t run many, maybe 6 max. And having a ton of options only provides marginal value in the Sheoldred slot because Sheoldred is extremely good.

Sheoldred the Apocalypse

I don’t know that I need to say much here. This card is amazing. Actually, maybe I do need to say something, I think this card is still underplayed! Like how did Rakdos Midrange land on 3. Why not run 4?

Esika’s Chariot

Another great 4 drop. Basically this and Omnath are the only two 4 drops that give you pause in a conversation of which 4 drop might be worth playing instead of Sheoldred (and the Omnath or Sheoldred convo never comes up for obvious mana reasons).

One of Chariot’s biggest advantages over Sheoldred is that it allows you to run Jegantha.

Polukranos, Unchained

I think this card is great, but kind of feel like I’m the only person on that hill. There will be at least one of these in almost all the GB Midrange decks I brew.

It let’s you get value out of your graveyard. The instant speed creature removal is huge in games that go long (like escaping this with 9 mana against Greasefang is a great feeling). And it has a lot of power even in regular cast mode so can close games fast when you are ready to turn the corner.

The End

My hope is this is a huge add for the Mono-Green match in particular. I could not see a path to winning that match in old versions of GB Midrange, but with The End it no longer seems hopeless. I think the big question is if this is a maindeck card or more of a sideboard card.

Meathook Massacre

Yes, obviously this is an X spell, but I find I cast it for X=2 a lot. Good wrath, especially if you are playing Bankbuster and bigger creatures. Potentially great in the Food decks and possibly the decks win con. Really helps the RB Sac Matchup.

Wicked Wolf

I think there was a point that this card was seen as being problematically strong. Now it never sees play. But maybe we’ve got enough food this could see play in a midrange food deck. But ultimately hard to imagine this is better than any of the above cards.

Key Sideboard Cards

• Ray of Enfeeblement- Probably 4 in most boards

• Duress

• Culling Ritual (a big plus to running a Jegantha compliant version)

• Damping Sphere

• Tear Asunder

• Witherbloom Command

I am sure I am missing several

Decklists!

Traditional Golgari Midrange

The question is why you would run this over Rakdos? I think it comes down to “how well does Abrupt Decay line up with the format”. It is one of the few on rate cards that interacts with nonland permanents. It also interacts well against ward creatures if there are any that become more prevalent.

Going for a small graveyard theme here. I like the idea of milling with Wrenn and using that to fuel a Tasigur, which you cast for one and then have as a blocker for Wrenn.

Wurmlet Midrange

Key thing here is Wurmlet provides a one mana threat as well as incidental lifegain, which allows us to run Chariot instead of Sheoldred (provides artifact synergy and the incidental lifegain of Sheoldred matters less). I am really not sure about Tough Cookie here, but seems worth testing.

I have tested a few Wurmlet GB Midrange decks before and they were promising but totally folded to Karn, so I shelved them. I am hoping the four The End in board will substantially change that matchup. If The End doesn’t move the needle in the Mono-Green matchup, this deck won’t have much of a future. But if it can get through Karn I think it could be a very promising archetype.

GB Food Midrange

Can be built a number of ways, I’m a little worried this version will be a bit caught inbetween synergy and regular midrange stuff, but that set up seems to work for Rakdos Sac so may work here. I like that Trail of Crumbs can dig for your wrath (Meathook).

I’m taking a lot of inspiration from the old (maybe still current) GB Food/Sac decks in Historic, with Wurmlet and Syr Ginger taking the role of Ravenous Squirrel. Unfortunately, these cards are no Squirrel.

GB Midrange Soup

I just threw most of the low curve ideas above into one deck. I don’t hate this, basic idea is lots of one mana ramp and two mana card advantage engines and then eventually overwhelm with a bunch of mana and Tough Cookie. Could also easily be an 0-3 drop because of the dreaded combo of no way to win and no way to relevantly interact.