Within this article, you’ll find an introduction to Rakdos midrange in Pioneer.
Rakdos midrange is a deck that can grind out most of the decks in the format. In Pioneer, the best decks are linear and do powerful things with low interaction. But not this deck. This deck has all “good cards.” Each with its spot in the meta to be able to answer anything it may need perfectly.
In this article, I’ll cover card choices, alternative options to play, and how Rakdos plays against other decks within the meta. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me on Twitter at DreamsOfAshiok.
Rakdos Midrange In Pioneer
The Interaction
There are two types of interaction within Rakdos midrange, and the first I’ll talk about is hand interaction. Thoughtseize is arguably the best card in Pioneer. It allows you to play with perfect information and take the card you couldn’t play around with.
Does your hand not have any removal, and you see a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse? Congrats, your discard spell was removal. Your control OP only has one counterspell? Smell you later Absorb, you get the idea. All lists will include four of these. However, depending on your expected meta, you can have some additional Duress to fight through control or more spell-based combo, IE lotus, and creativity.
Removal
Fatal Push is arguably one of the best removal spells in the early game. In the early turns, you’re able to kill Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic. Fatal Push also has the agency to kill creatures in the later game with its Revolt trigger. Having the same one mana removal spell being live in the early turns and the later turns makes fatal push a premium removal spell.
You’ll typically see various spells in the “kill bigger things” removal slot. if you’re wondering why there’s a difference of opinion, as to which is best, it’s because they are meta-dependent. Dreadbore hits the most. But it being sorcery speed makes it less favorable against cards like Greasefang, Okiba Boss.
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Go for the Throat hits everything in some of the more popular decks but vehicles. Examples are Gruul vehicles and Grease Fang. Lastly, arguably the best is Power Word Kill. Its instant speed hits many of the top creatures in the format. However, it does miss if your meta plays a lot of dragons’ or Atraxa-based decks.
Threats
Something you’ll notice with the cards I’m about to discuss is that they both do two things. For example, when escaped, Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger, is a powerful late-game threat. And can be cycled while still retaining value through blood tokens or Fable Chapter 2.
It can also trade on resources by being a card in your hand and a card in their hand. And if they discard a land, dealing three damage is relevant due to the minor pressure the deck with Sheoldred and Graveyard Trespasser.
Graveyard Trespasser does two things very well. It is difficult to remove with its Ward ability. It also can play well against graveyard base decks by exiling relevant cards like the Parhelion and opposing Kroxa’s. Trespasser can also be copied with fable and continuously pressure life totals in
Misery Shadow is another meta choice. This card does a lot against mono-green, turning off the death triggers of Cavalier of Thorns and Old-Growth Troll. It doesn’t pass the Pioneer staple Stomp check, but it can put on pressure and is a good draw at any point. And being only two mana, you can still dump your available mana into the card and push damage or provide a good blocker.
Sheoldred, Is the new hot mess in Pioneer. It’s one of the best creatures to play against any deck. It’s hard to remove at five toughness, and if it isn’t removed, it pressures for true life every card. Furthermore, if you don’t have their little small in hand and need to find the removal Sheoldred also punishes that.
She can also stabilize against aggro. Rakdos midrange doesn’t draw a lot of additional cards. However, it does have the ability to gain additional life through cycling the cards that you would have. By this, I mean using cards like blood tokens generated from Bloodtithe Harvester and the second chapter of the fable. Sometimes, you can draw cards off Reckoner Bankbuster.
A little bit of both
Bonecrusher Giant is one of the boogeymen of the format, being one of the most played cards. It is both a powerful interaction spell and an aggressively stated creature. As referenced earlier, there is the Bonecrusher Giant pass where new cards are concerned. If they get stomped, they ain’t that great of a card, so it has to have a good ability.
Bonecrusher Giant is the glue of this deck. Being able to Stomp and then play Bonecrusher Giant allows for quick pressure to win certain matchups. Against combo where the stomp ability wouldn’t be that impactful, the card deals damage when removed by a spell. So, these cards that slightly take away from the opponent’s life total become very relevant when looked at together.
Bloodtithe Harvester has allowed this deck to exist at the top of the format for so long. It’s another overstated minion that can remove opponents’ minions by sacrificing itself. While also creating a token that becomes relevant later in the game to cycle through cards that may not be that good in certain matchups.
Bloodtithe Harvester doesn’t become the best removal spell in the deck. However, having that option makes it a great place in the stack. It also improves the more you draw on it or copy it with fable. This could sack itself as a copy and kill my Atraxa for my opponent to swing for lethal. I’m no math expert but a two-drop being able to remove my seven-drop makes it super strong, in my opinion.
Other Non-land Card
This is also one of the best cards in Pioneer. You’ll commonly see it as a playset in all red-based decks. The power comes from its ability to ramp the deck with the goblin shaman, cycle through cards that aren’t that great with the second ability, and be a relevant threat on the back end copying Bonecrusher Giants and Bloodtithe Harvesters to pressure the opponent’s life total.
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker also allows you to cycle through cards in your deck. The deck hit various things, and some are complete misses. Sometimes you’ll draw lands you don’t need. Other times you may draw Thoughtseize while your opponent has no cards in hand.
Being built to handle an extensive range of things means some cards miss out on some things. But that’s completely fine when you have blood tokens and Fable to filter through your deck.
Liliana the Veil got printed into Pioneer with Dominaria United and has had a mixed review on its quality in the format. It’s good at pressuring slow deck’s hands and removing the occasional creature they can play. However, Pioneer isn’t a format where this slow card draws delay matters more than it did in other formats where it used to dominate.
If your meta is a lot of blue-white control and Lotus field combo, I suggest you run this card. On the other hand, if your meta is a lot of Grease Fang and aggro, I highly suggest not running this card.
The last main deck card I want to discuss is Reckoner Bankbuster. This is another example of playing toward your meta. With Rakdos midrange being the most represented deck in Pioneer, you need a powerful tool in the mirror. And that card is Reckoner Bankbuster. The deck needs to be able to draw more cards and attack more often by crewing the bank Buster with creatures.
The Mana Base
There isn’t much to say about these lands. You usually see around a play set of each because it gives you great mana at any time. However, Blackcleave Cliffs can be really bad at casting Sheoldred on curve so only running two minimizes the chance of being unable to cast her on turn four.
Creature lands allow you to have pressure in later turns when you’re hell-bent on attacking your opponent. These cards give you a better late game against control and more things to do with your mana. In the current Pioneer, you always need to be doing things. These threats also demand instead speed removal, which not every deck has access to.
Castle Lochwian is a utility land that most lists play. With all the non-land type duels we play, it will come into play tapped often but the card draw is worth it -Especially when you have Sheoldred in play.
The channel lands come into play untapped and can have extra value. Again the point of these flex slots in the mana base is always to be able to do something. Maybe you need to rebuy that Sheoldred or make two more attackers for lethal through a counterspell. These will get you there.
Sideboard choices
Board clears
Rakdos midrange has weaknesses, but that’s why we sideboard. For example,
Ritual of Soot has a better time dealing with lower-to-the-ground aggro decks like Mono white humans. Extinction Event becomes awkward if they have an assortment of both mana-value creatures. However, they don’t often play four drops, so Ritual of Soot becomes the better
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End the Festivities is a newer option to deal with the new “Hogaak” of the format. As I write, Twitter is a dumpster fire of everyone worrying about the RW convoke deck. If your meta is full of people playing it, pack a few of these. Or better yet, you can play Illness in the Ranks if you really want to stick it to them.
Discard
To reiterate, Duress comes in when your creature removal becomes poor. This is against decks like lotus field and UW Control. Go Blank has a wider range – It works against Yorion decks and Phoenix and can do a lot in the mirror match.
Extra removal
Each match-up revolves around different threats you need to be able to answer. When it hits the battlefield, you’ll likely need an assortment of removal spells to handle whatever your opponent puts forward.
Abrade is good at dealing with artifacts and killing creatures. For example, Greasefang decks rely on Esika’s Chariot and Greasefang, Okiba Boss himself, to outvalue you. Abrade can deal with both of those threats. It’s also good against creativity since you can target the artifact they are trying to creativity with or a pesky goblin shaman.
Kolaghan’s Command is a great value card in the mirror. Making your op discard a card while rebuying a Sheoldred or whatever value creature you have in your bin is powerful in the match-up since it’s a 2-for-1. It’s also okay against Greasefang as you can kill a Raffine’s Informant and blow up whatever vehicle they have.
Noxious Grasp is a narrow card, but instant speed means everything for it. It can kill a Greasefang while also having the ability to kill an Atraxa when your Power Word Kill could not. It also can be brought in against mono-white where the life gain isn’t irrelevant.
The Rending Volley is also narrow but cheap and good. You’ll never guess what it’s good against… unless you guessed Greasefang, then you’d be exactly right. However, this card excels in the spirits match-up since it cant be countered by the cheap interaction spirits have. Furthermore, Rending Volley gets around ward costs, so remember not to pay it when cast on a creature with ward.
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Other cards
Each of these cards is good for Rakdos midrange. They all have unique purposes but hit a lot of matchups. Like hearse, you would bring in against Greasefang, Neoform Atraxa, and Phoenix.
Pithing Needle is good against Karn, the Great Creator decks, and Lotus Field as it can buy you time in both of those match-ups. However, it isn’t a permanent solution, as both decks run Bosejui, who Endures, so you also need pressure. Against Lotus Field, you name Thespian Stage
Reckoner Bankbuster, again, is good in matchups where you need more cards to fight your opponent, so likely the mirror or any deck that reveals Yorion, Sky Nomad.
