This past weekend at TJ Cafe and Games in Milford, Massachusetts, 53 Magic players participated in the two-slot Pioneer RCQ for the grand prize of winning an invite to the next Regional Championship.
After going 5-1 in the Swiss, local competitive player Sam White went on to beat UW Control in the quarterfinals and Rakdos Sacrifice in the Semifinals, solidifying his placement in the finals and guaranteeing himself an invite to RC Atlanta in December. His deck of choice for this event: Rakdos Midrange.
Sam, a seasoned Rakdos Midrange player, has several opinions about what makes his Rakdos deck stand out from the rest of the field. The first major difference is the substitution of Graveyard Trespassers for a combination of Misery’s Shadow and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. With Rakdos Sacrifice and Mono-Green Devotion being two of the most popular decks in the format, having Misery’s Shadow and Kalitas in the maindeck help to give you an edge against these unfavorable matchups.
Sam also believes very highly in the power of Castle Locthwain over Takenuma, Abandoned Mire. He believes that many Rakdos decks have sub-optimal mana bases, which has led to unwanted tempo loss.
When playing with Castle Locthwain in your deck, you need to have them consistently enter the battlefield untapped. Having a healthy curve is one of the keys to winning with Rakdos Midrange, and if your lands are entering tapped, your tempo will be off, leading to lost games.
Many Rakdos players include Takenuma for the chance to cycle it and get back a creature. However, with Castle Locthwain in your deck, this may be a trap. The chances to cycle Takenuma are so low that playing more swamps is much more worthwhile to help with consistency. A lot of what makes a deck powerful is its consistency, and having a solid mana base is the first step to making your deck consistent.
There are plenty of red mana sources in the deck, so cutting Sulfurous Springs and some Blackcleave Cliffs for extra swamps is a safe option. Sam believes that the mana base for this deck is excellent, and the important thing is to focus on your Castle Locthwains working as they should, instead of losing you the game.
Sam attests that the reason Rakdos Midrange has been such a powerhouse in Pioneer is because its base shell is very powerful while being able to adapt its flex slots to beat specific decks in the meta. Rakdos Midrange has a lot of great matchups, and it can quickly change a few cards to handle specific weaknesses.
After looking at the current meta, Sam updated his list to handle Rakdos’s four worst matchups; Mono-Green Devotion, Rakdos Sacrifice, Lotus Combo, and UW Lotus Control. It is clear from his results that his changes worked well, going 2-0 against Lotus Combo in round two of the Swiss and 2-1 against Rakdos Sacrifice in the Semifinals.
With his depth of knowledge about the deck and the current meta, it is no wonder that Sam was able to take down this crowded RCQ and get a ticket to the Regional Championship. We wish Sam White luck in his future endeavors and hope to see him at the Pro Tour soon!
RCQ Matchups:
Round 1: UW Spirits 2-0
Round 2: Lotus Combo 2-0
Round 3: Mono Blue 1-2
Round 4: GW Auras 2-0
Round 5: UW Control 2-0
Round 6: Mirror 2-0
Quarterfinals: UW Control 2-1
Semifinals: Rakdos Sacrifice 2-1
Finals: Split
You can also find Sam's winning decklist here.
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