The Rock is the father of Midrange decks as we know them. The strategy was born in the hands of Sol Malka when he built a deck leveraging the interaction between Phyrexian Plaguelord and Deranged Hermit—dubbing it "The Rock and His Millions," inspired by then-WWE wrestler and now-actor Dwayne Johnson.
The archetype gained more notoriety in the following years as new cards like Spiritmonger, Phyrexian Arena, and Pernicious Deed were released. It became a pillar of Extended due to its mix of discard, removal, and efficient threats throughout the format's entire existence, and it paved the way for other historically known decks like Jund in Modern.
In Premodern, The Rock leans on Pernicious Deed and the package of discard and efficient removal to be one of the top contenders in the Metagame, with different variants: some more aggressive with Tempting Wurm, others more focused on traditional Midrange, running Phyrexian Arena and Ravenous Baloth alongside the Recurring Nightmare and Deranged Hermit engines.
More recently, in the hands of player mysteryman21, a more control-oriented variant emerged, using Gigapede as a win condition.
The Decklist
Maindeck
Our strategy requires taking the game to the late game. So we swapped active disruption like Ravenous Rats for the extra draw and more resilient body of Wall of Blossoms, which is ideal for holding off early Aggro turns.
We also need speed to clear the board against more explosive decks. Wall of Roots and Yavimaya Elder provide the extra mana needed to activate Pernicious Deed early.
Gigapede is our main win condition, but it requires a clear board: the 6/1 body is excellent for establishing a clock, but it trades with any opposing blocker. Shroud means immunity to Swords to Plowshares and other spot removal, and the recursion ability ensures it never stays off the board for long.
Treetop Village complements the win conditions and offers a more resilient line in trades with a 3/3 body.
Duress and Cabal Therapy provide early disruption. They're needed in almost every non-Aggro matchup, and Therapy has good synergy with Yavimaya Elder for mana acceleration.
In the removal package, we split between Smother and Chainer's Edict to deal with small threats, answer Phyrexian Dreadnought, and have an out to a reanimated Akroma, Angel of Wrath.
Speaking of Reanimate, Phyrexian Furnace provides cheap graveyard hate that also doubles as extra draw and fuel for Skeletal Scrying, our main card draw engine. We could run Phyrexian Arena, but we tend to pop Pernicious Deed more often in this list.
Dust Bowl deals with manlands and other troublesome lands in the format. Its activation cost is quite heavy, but Yavimaya Elder helps offset it, especially considering it's used in longer games.
Sideboard
Engineered Plague handles most go-wide Aggro: Elves, Goblins, and White Weenie, where we name Humans. There are circumstances where naming Soldier to "lock" Decree of Justice is an option, but we already have Pernicious Deed as a sweeper for tokens.
Ravenous Baloth comes in against Aggro/Burn and against Combo. It might seem strange, but we need more proactivity in those matches, and Baloth works as a complementary threat.
Naturalize deals with troublesome artifacts and enchantments. Side in against Mono Black Midrange, Stiflenought, Enchantress, Replenish, and the mirror.
Tranquil Domain clears the board of enchantments in matches where they are the opponent's main win condition. Ideal against Replenish and Enchantress.
Gaea's Blessing protects us from Brain Freeze against Storm—an archetype that occasionally shows up in Leagues—and also punishes Reanimator by shuffling the targeted creature back into the deck before Reanimate or a similar spell resolves. Unlike Phyrexian Furnace, it's more effective against Exhume.
Tormod's Crypt rounds out the graveyard hate and can wipe a graveyard with no additional cost.
Sideboard Guide
Sligh
IN
OUT
Goblins
IN
OUT
Stiflenought
IN
OUT
Mono Black Midrange
IN
OUT
Elves
IN
OUT
Selesnya Enchantress
IN
OUT
Replenish
IN
OUT
Mono Blue Storm
IN
OUT
Azorius Landstill
IN
OUT
Reanimator
IN
OUT
White Weenie / Azorius Weenie
IN
OUT
The Rock
IN
OUT
Wrapping Up
That's all for today!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
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