Hello everyone, today we are back with another standard deck: Sultai Midrange, a deck that performed really well during the last MTGO Challenge held on the 24th of October.
Standard is experiencing one of the most interesting moments of recent years thanks to the rotation that has just occurred and the various midrange decks continue to be very present in the format.
In today's article we will talk about a midrange deck that is not currently among the most popular but which can certainly aim to gain more and more popularity in the coming months.
Golgari and Orzhov are the most popular midrange colors at the moment, followed by Dimir. The base of today's deck is Dimir, with a little splash of green for Glarb, Calamity's Augur and to have access to other green cards in the sideboard.
As we know, Midrange strategies tend to play both aggressive and value-oriented elements and this deck is a perfect example of the coexistence of this dichotomy.
The Quality of Cards
In recent years the main strength of Midrange decks has come from the high quality of the cards within them. Currently the standard offers several (high quality) options regarding 2 and 3 mana cost creatures. Turn 3 has become of fundamental importance for the standard in recent years: to open the dances was Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki that marked a real change that remains present in the standard even after its ban.
Cheap Creatures
Regarding the 2 mana drop we find an interesting new one: Lazav, Wearer of Faces and two old acquaintances such as Deep-Cavern Bat and Caustic Bronco.
Deep-Cavern Bat and Caustic Bronco have become very important cards since they first set foot in the standard. Their functions are very different:
- the first one gives us important information about our opponent's hand and in most cases it will exile removal spells from the opponent's hand allowing us to play our 3-drop without having to worry about opposing interactions; it is still useful whenever there aren't any removal spells in the opponent's hand because the versatility of the card will allow us to slow down our opponent's curve or to exile, possibly, pieces of a combo;
- the second is a value engine that needs to attack to activate; if left unchallenged it will produce enough value to win the game in the later stages of the game.
Lazav, Wearer of Faces is a card that has not seen much play so far despite the good body and good effects. I remain a little skeptical about the use of this card: it can become, as in the case of Caustic Bronco, a very important value engine but with much higher costs. The body is better than that of Caustic Bronco (making it easier to attack) but the need to pay additional mana (the one needed to sacrifice clues), albeit in the future, to have access to other cards is a very relevant cost. We are talking about a drop to 2 and so we can't expect too much of course. It is also not to be underestimated the chance of copying an exiled creature thanks to its effect. Overall the card is definitely good but personally I'm not completely convinced that it's the best option if you want to stay in the Dimir colors.
Newcomers
Glarb, Calamity's Augur is the only reason for the green splash and therefore it is very important for the whole deck. The body and static ability are the same as in Preacher of the Schism but the slot taken by this card is probably the one that would have been of Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor or Tishana's Tidebinder (both highly played in Dimir Midrange). The creature is a great blocker against Aggro strategies and at the same time it can generate value through its abilities. Having the ability to surveil 2 at instant speed is very useful for a defensive card like this. Also the chance to play 36 cards (25 lands and 11 spells from cost in mana 4 or higher) out of 60 from the top of the deck can be very relevant especially in the late stages of a game. In fact this card can limit both mana flood and mana screw due to the combination of its abilities. Is it worth conditioning (even if slightly) the manabase to play this 3 mana drop considering the high quality of the other alternatives? For now the deck has reached a second place in the MTGO Challenge but I think it is still difficult to say in absolute terms.
Vren, the Relentless, differently from Glarb, Calamity's Augur, doesn't have a good body in relation to the mana cost but it is difficult to remove thanks to Ward 2. This card obviously needs a removal spell compartment of excellent quality to shine. The deck has up to 12 removal (if we also include Liliana of the Veil) that should be enough to create a colony of rats needed to finish the game. It is also not to be underestimated the fact that our opponent's creatures are exiled: this effect counters the many different reanimator strategies currently available in standard.
Conclusions
The deck is not far from the countless versions of Dimir Midrange but opens up to several alternatives in the sideboard (which should not be underestimated). Surely the second place obtained is not a coincidence as the deck is very solid. There is still the question about the splash: will it be profitable in the long run or will the (too fragile) base mana affect the winrate of the deck? I think that if you wanted to splash the green you could have dared a little more already in the maindeck with cards like Mosswood Dreadknight maybe instead of Lazav, Wearer of Faces. It's true that the base mana would become even more problematic but we would have at least gained in power level of the deck.
