Hey everyone!

I'm setting Phoenix aside for the moment to explore other Pioneer decks. Rakdos Midrange has been putting up stellar results as it plays some of the most powerful Red and Black cards in the format.

Let's get to the decklist!

Rakdos Midrange | Pioneer | Kyle Boggemes

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Hazoret the Fervent
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 2 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

• Instants (14)
• 1 Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit
• 4 Fatal Push
• 1 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
• 1 Strangle
• 3 Dreadbore
• 4 Thoughtseize

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki

• Lands (24)
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Castle Locthwain
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 2 Den of the Bugbear
• 2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 4 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Haunted Ridge

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Duress
• 3 Go Blank
• 1 Rending Volley
• 2 Lava Coil
• 2 Invoke Despair
• 1 Unlicensed Hearse
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1 Extinction Event
• 1 Hidetsugu Consumes All
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless

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The goal of Rakdos is simple: interact with your opponent while applying pressure using efficient threats. Filtering effects can be used to discard unneeded lands and mana sinks justify trading one-for-one repeatedly.

If you plan to play Rakdos Midrange in paper be sure to have a good amount of the tokens ready. Most permanents in the deck create some sort of extra material and it can be confusing to manage.

The Core

Rakdos Midrange has plenty of customization, but there are some cards I would not cut:

• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
• 4 Fatal Push
• 4 Thoughtseize

There are six spells with four copies in nearly every list; the rest is up for debate.

Rakdos gets plenty of flack on Twitter because it's full of 3-drops. Fable, Trespasser, and Bonecrusher Giant are some of the strongest cards in the color pair. I need a good reason to add more 3-drops to the deck.

Bloodtithe Harvester looks like a mopey threat, but has plenty of synergies. It's a Zombie to sacrifice to Kalitas. Reflection of Kiki-Jiki is always happy to copy a Harvester as it can be a removal spell each turn and get a blood token for your trouble.

Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton is an efficient threat. It's able to pick out Arclight Phoenix and Kroxa from the opponent's graveyard. The drain effect helps with the aggressive Red matchup. Remember to track night and day for the rest of the game if you're playing in paper. Ward triggers for both spells and abilities. I typically board out Trespasser when the matchup is about destroying creatures.

Stomp is another 2-drop to cast against creature decks. It's sometimes correct to hold a Fatal Push and instead play Stomp if there are fewer small creatures to target in the matchup. Bonecrusher is great in the mirror as Stomp can kill creatures from Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or trade off with Graveyard Trespasser and not trigger ward. I typically board out Bonecrusher Giant against decks where I can replace it with Go Blank.

Fatal Push is a very efficient removal spell. There are plenty of tricks to get revolt:

• Attack with the goblin token from Fable and sacrifice the treasure to cast Fatal Push.
• Wait for Fable to transform into Reflection of Kiki-Jiki.
• Sacrifice a blood token.
• Cast Kroxa without escape.
• Attack with a creature that will likely force a trade.
• Sacrifice a Zombie or Vampire to Kalitas.

The nice thing about midrange decks is the sideboarding is much more straightforward. It's clear when Fatal Push gets the axe. I follow the MisplacedGinger philosophy and leave in Push for the mirror and cut Thoughtseize instead.

Thoughtseize is the other efficient interaction that makes Rakdos Midrange a powerful deck. Like Fatal Push, there are matchups where it doesn't shine. In the first game I can hold Thoughtseize to rummage with a blood token.

The Rest of the Spells

Three Dreadbore - I've seen versions of Rakdos with two Dreadbore, but I have liked having more unconditional removal. I rarely sideboard them out as there are more polarizing spells such as Thoughtseize and Fatal Push. Ideally, I'm able to get a card out of Chandra when she enters the battlefield in the mirror because of a potential Dreadbore.

One Strangle - The fifth one-mana removal spell alongside Fatal Push. On the draw it's helpful to have another cheap removal spell that isn't dead against Azorius Control. The difference between one and two is big in the midgame as you can double-spell easier with the mountain of 3-drops.

Two Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Rakdos wants to play four or five haymakers. Chandra isn't amazing against Aggro or Control, but splits the difference. The mana ability shines in Rakdos as it allows you to double-spell with 3-drops more often. She can be sideboarded out against nimble creature decks.

One Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - Another 4-drop; Kalitas shines against creature decks and is lackluster against the rest of the field.

One Hazoret, the Fervent - The final haymaker that shines when Kalitas does not. I would rather hedge my bets because both Kalitas and Hazoret are legendary and I can have both on the battlefield even when they're mediocre in a matchup. Hazoret can still act as an indestructible blocker against aggro decks.

Two Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger - Excellent discard fodder for blood tokens and chapter two of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. I've found Kroxa to be a great incentive to interact with the opponent down to topdecking. The lack of fetch lands means there are fewer cards that go to the graveyard making it difficult to escape twice. I can cast Thoughtseize on myself if needed to add cards to the graveyard. Kroxa gets better after board as you have more targeted interaction to fill the graveyard faster.

One Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass - Most Rakdos Midrange decks play a single Smashing alongside twenty-four lands. I rarely cast Shatterskull Smashing for more than three as I can filter my extra lands with blood tokens and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. The saving grace of Smashing is the land can enter the battlefield untapped.

One Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit - There aren't too many basic lands in the format making this a Murder double-faced card. I want access to more lands as hitting my first three land drops are crucial. My curve will be disrupted if I need to sacrifice a blood token on the third turn to find more mana.

The Hagra Mauling slot is typically occupied by Tenacious Underdog, but I was extremely unimpressed with the creature. The 3/2 gets hit by Stomp with little left behind in the mirror and then is an easy exile for opposing Graveyard Trespassers. It's also an easy target for Portable Hole against Azorius Control. A 3/2 as a blocker is not an ideal play against many of the creature decks either. I would much rather increase the amount of mana in my deck with this last slot.

The Mana Base

The mana base is very stock. There are numerous mana sinks which reduces the need for my spells to scale as well in the late game.

One Urbog, Tomb of Yawgmoth - There are times against Black decks where you can slowroll Urborg to avoid fixing the opponent's mana. It's more of a consideration post board in the mirror when your opponent likely has Invoke Despair.

Two Den of the Bugbear - This creature land can be activated multiple times to get additional attacking goblins. Five lands enables you to attack with creature lands and the sixth makes it easier to double-spell.

One Sokenzen, Crucible of Defiance - The creature tokens are colorless which can be relevant against Boros Heroic as Gods Willing can make a big threat unblockable.

One Takenuma, Abandoned Mire - I like to exile creatures with Graveyard Trespasser to drain the opponent, but leave Chandra, Torch of Defiance as it can be recurred with Takenuma. The channel lands are cheaper with legendary creatures on the battlefield; even a Kroxa about to be sacrificed.

One Castle Locthwain - Yet another mana sink. Earlier versions of Rakdos Midrange played two copies, but it can enter the battlefield tapped in a lot of hands. Each card advantage engine has diminishing returns. Both Castle and Hazoret encourage you to keep your hand small; a tension is created with blood tokens and Fable.

The Sideboard

Two Duress - I've seen Alpine Moon or Damping Sphere in this slot, but I don't think it's worth playing a targeted hate card for Lotus Field. They have plenty of ways to interact with artifacts and enchantments as Sylvan Scrying can tutor for Boseiju.

Rakdos Midrange has many cards to board out every matchup so I need my sideboard cards to be versatile.

Three Go Blank - An all-star against Phoenix and Azorius Control. It's frequently swapped for Bonecrusher Giant as Go Blank is yet another 3-drop.

One Unlicensed Hearse - The final piece of graveyard hate that doesn't cost 3 mana. Hearse shines against Phoenix, Rakdos Sacrifice, and Greasefang as the rest of the graveyard hate is sorcery-speed.

One Sorin the Mirthless - The haymaker to swap for Kalitas against midrange and control. The bat tokens have lifelink making it a fairly versatile threat against Mono-Red. It's reasonable to play Sorin in the maindeck over the second Chandra.

One Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - Another lifelink threat that can exile creatures against Rakdos Sacrifice. Typically swapped for Hazoret or Chandra, Torch of Defiance for curve considerations.

Two Lava Coil - Mono-Green deserves respect and Coil can exile Old-Growth Troll. I don't like playing a removal spell as narrow as Epic Downfall as the Pioneer metagame is quite diverse. There are about ten decks I can reasonably expect to face and I only like Epic Downfall against Mono-Green.

One Extinction Event - A sweeper that acts as a more versatile Epic Downfall. It's able to exile all of Mono-Green's odd creatures, notably Cavalier of Thorns.

One Hidetsugu, Consumes All - Another sweeper that is effective against Rakdos Sacrifice, a tough matchup, as well as Boros Heroic. Outside of Rakdos Sacrifice, I don't want to overload on this effect making the second copy much narrower than the first.

One Rending Volley - I have plenty of two-mana removal spells making the Volley more valuable. It's good against Boros Heroic, Spirits, and Humans.

Two Invoke Despair - It's for the grindy matchups. Invoke shines against both Azorius Control and Rakdos Midrange. Once you have Invoke Despair in your deck make sure to prioritize your Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathways to make black mana. Urborg also becomes more valuable on either side of the battlefield as there are plenty of Mono-Red mana sources in the deck. Many of the other "grindy matchup" options shine against either Azorius or Rakdos, but not both. I want to have an answer to a resolved Shark Typhoon or Dream Trawler versus Azorius.

Wrapping Up

That's all I have for today. Rakdos Midrange is a deck with a surprising amount of play and has game against every strategy. I would recommend watching MisplacedGinger on Twitch and follow him on Twitter for more Rakdos Midrange content if you aren't already.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle