This past weekend, Hareruya ran the gigantic Last Sun 2015 tournament in Japan. Hall-of-Famer Shota Yasooka took the whole thing down with a standard Esper Dragons build, and there were a few run-of-the-mill lists, but Japan never fails to disappoint with at least a little bit of tech.

Enter Matsumoto Yuuki. Mardu Midrange may look familiar, but I’ve never seen a few of these card choices. The deck is already heavy at the 4-drop slot, utilizing 4 copies of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and the seldom seen 4 copies of Butcher of the Horde. But Yuuki doesn’t stop there. Ojutai Exemplars is a powerful mythic out of Dragons of Tarkir that I have never actually seen played, but there are 2 copies featured in this list.

The prowess ability to tap creatures or gain lifelink can help in any race situation, while the blinking ability can protect the Exemplars from spot removal spells.

I’m trying to come up with a great segue here, but I just can’t. 3 copies of Chandra’s Ignition! That is so much igniting!

The combination with Exemplars and Butcher’s lifelink is not to be ignored, but it’s a great way to shore up the slower curve since all of the 4-mana spells have such high power to combine go with the Ignition.

Finally, we come to 4 copies of Mardu Charm.

This can be an all-star in combat to stop smaller creatures, but more realistically will help kill midrange creatures or clear out powerful spells before unleashing your big threats. The token synergy with Butcher of the Horde and Gideon emblems is also nice, and the Charm seems well positioned.

Throw in the usual about Mardu having some great sideboard options right now in Standard and this is a pretty cool deck that could be a new way to build a popular archetype.

Mardu Midrange

By Matsumoto Yuuki