With the banning of Cori-Steel Cutter, the title of "best Midrange deck" has been up for grabs in recent weeks. Despite Golgari holding a clear advantage in this category right now, Rakdos has put up occasional results in Challenges, and more recently, a new Mono Black variant made Top 8 with player Elenear.
This version, while adopting the same core of Unholy Annex / Mutavault / Thoughtseize, leans on a lifegain subtheme to get the most out of Tragedy Feaster and Scheming Silvertongue, two recent cards from Secrets of Strixhaven that were previously overshadowed in the pre‑ban season.
The Decklist
Elenear's list had some differences — Archfiend of the Dross split with Tragedy Feaster, maindeck Duress, and different Sideboard choices — but we aim to improve the deck's consistency and also adapt it a bit more to the expected Metagame on MTGArena, where archetypes that are very click‑intensive and repetitive, like Lotus Combo or Scapeshift, tend to be less popular, while Red Aggro, Midrange, and Greasefang, Okiba Boss are common matchups.
Maindeck
Scheming Silvertongue is our main payoff for the lifegain theme. Attacking with her and another creature with Lifelink, or gaining life from a Graveyard Trespasser trigger, is enough to set her up and have a recurring Sign in Blood source, guaranteeing extra draws each turn. On top of that, a 1/3 Flying body blocks decently against most early Aggro plays.
Deep-Cavern Bat provides another body with Lifelink that also removes a resource from the opponent's hand. Most effective against non‑interactive decks, but it can act as a pseudo‑Time Walk early on by removing a key piece.
Gifted Aetherborn triggers Sign in Blood on its own, but its main job is to hold off Aggro while also being a decent blocker against Midrange decks.
Graveyard Trespasser has a decent body, protects itself, and also deals with graveyard threats while draining life from the opponent, making it another reliable source to enable Scheming Silvertongue.
Murderous Rider is removal first and a creature second, answering any threat unconditionally. Against Red Aggro, it is often better to run it as a board presence on turn three.
Tragedy Feaster provides a new payoff for Unholy Annex, and the two feed each other: Feaster is a Demon, so it triggers the enchantment's life drain; and Annex fuels Feaster's requirement to avoid sacrificing permanents.
To increase the consistency of triggering Annex, we run Mutavault as a Demon we can activate for just one mana.
The ability to remove any card from the opponent's hand for one mana makes Thoughtseize the best card in Pioneer, helping to balance the Metagame against non‑interactive decks, though its use comes with a cost against more aggressive strategies.
Fatal Push and Go for the Throat handle individual threats early and in the mid‑game. We do not have many ways to trigger Revolt, so Push loses some of its potential in certain matchups.
Castle Locthwain adds to the card advantage sources, and to improve the consistency of having it enter untapped, we run one copy of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Hive of the Eye-Tyrant rounds out the threat package and graveyard hate, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire provides a way to recur a key piece that has been destroyed.
Sideboard
With so many lifegain effects, it is easy to turn Withering Curse into a Day of Judgment, and there are even situations where we prefer to keep it as an Infest so some of our creatures survive. Ideal against Aggro, but it is also a side‑in against Goodstuff piles, since we lack many ways to deal with a board full of Omnaths and Niv‑Mizzets.
The Meathook Massacre adds to the sweepers while also "shutting down" Cauldron Familiar interactions. It is necessary now that Sacrifice decks are making a comeback.
Duress comes in any match where we need more interaction with specific resources, such as combo, control, midrange, or Izzet Phoenix.
Invoke Despair is our tool to gain an edge in the mirror and in grindy or Control games.
Unlicensed Hearse complements Graveyard Trespasser in graveyard interaction. Essential against Greasefang, Okiba Boss, but also comes in against Izzet Phoenix and some Lessons variants.
Necromentia has Greasefang as its primary target, but it also works to remove all four Arclight Phoenix with one card or to handle a specific key piece from other combos, such as Cauldron Familiar and Ygra, Eater of All.
Damping Sphere punishes Prowess, Phoenix, and Lotus Combo decks for trying to do too many things in the same turn. In the rare case we still face a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx list, it also prevents an accumulation of colored mana.
Pithing Needle is a multimodal hate card that is excellent when played at the right time but terrible when played too late. In this list, it is a flex slot, but one I like to have for specific situations like shutting down a Planeswalker, Parhelion II, or Witch's Oven.
Sideboard Guide
Golgari Midrange
IN
OUT
Orzhov Greasefang
IN
OUT
Niv-to-Light
IN
OUT
Izzet Phoenix
IN
OUT
Selesnya Company
IN
OUT
Mono Red Aggro
IN
OUT
Azorius Control
IN
OUT
Jund Sacrifice
IN
OUT
Lotus Combo
IN
OUT
Wrapping Up
That's all for today!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Thanks for reading!
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