Right now the mana in Standard is really good. The format has reached a point where you can play pretty much whatever combination of cards you want with very little strain on your mana base. The easy mana combined with the density of absurd value engines like Den Protector, Treasure Cruise, and Painful Truths means that you can build an awesome midrange deck that maximizes your access to the best cards in the format by playing as many colors as possible. That deck has shifted from week to week between Abzan, Jeskai, and various four-color monstrosities. This week, Perkypt may have the next iteration of value-packed, midrange deck:
Four-Color Midrange ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Perkypt, 5-0 Standard League
- Creatures (12)
- 2 Den Protector
- 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
- 4 Siege Rhino
- 4 Soulfire Grand Master
- Planeswalkers (1)
- 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
- Spells (22)
- 2 Murderous Cut
- 4 Crackling Doom
- 4 Fiery Impulse
- 4 Kolaghan's Command
- 2 Duress
- 2 Roast
- 4 Painful Truths
- Lands (25)
- 1 Forest
- 1 Mountain
- 1 Plains
- 1 Swamp
- 1 Cinder Glade
- 1 Nomad Outpost
- 2 Canopy Vista
- 2 Smoldering Marsh
- 3 Windswept Heath
- 4 Bloodstained Mire
- 4 Shambling Vent
- 4 Wooded Foothills
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Duress
- 1 Roast
- 2 Dark Petition
- 2 Infinite Obliteration
- 1 Languish
- 3 Radiant Flames
- 1 Ruinous Path
- 2 Transgress the Mind
- 1 Utter End
- 1 Virulent Plague
What sets this deck apart is its disregard for the common wisdom that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is the best card in Standard. Sure, you could use Jace to rebuy removal and Painful Truths, but this deck doesn’t need to do that. Instead, you have access to the value engines of Soulfire Grand Master or Den Protector plus Kolaghan's Command, both of which can give you near infinite value so long as you have the extra mana floating around to pay for it.
Another interesting aspect of the deck is its inclusion of Crackling Doom to fight Dragonlord Ojutai as well as Pia and Kiran Nalaar as a flexible 4-drop which is powerful in both controlling and aggressive matchups. The sheer amount of flexibility these choices add to the four-color shell is the most amazing thing about this deck. Efficient removal and early creatures backed by Siege Rhino makes aggro a perfectly reasonable matchup. Meanwhile, the combination of Den Protector or Soulfire Grand Master and Kolaghan's Command to rebuy Siege Rhino makes it difficult for controlling decks to actually pull ahead on resources.
If you’re looking for powerful cards, sweet value engines, and lots of flexibility, this take on Abzan Midrange splashing for Crackling Doom and other Red removal may be a great place to be.