Cage is really just for CoCo. It’s incidental graveyard hate. Definitely cut it if you’re not expecting Company. Relic/Scourge package handles most midrange decks IME so you don’t need to go deep into weirder stuff like Treasure Map for those so long as you max out on the engine cards. Remember that grave hate is more than just grave hate in an Eternal Scourge deck—it’s a grinding plan. Relic/Scourge also lets you ignore countermagic which is why I always favor Mutavault over Cavern (Vault invaluable for racing Scapeshift too). I guess without Powder you find Scourge less frequently though so it’s not as reliable.

Prefer Contortion over Needle unless you expect lots of UW. Wail doesn’t stop TTB and we can beat Scapeshift fine without Wail if they don’t get us with the instant. TTB the card is indeed awful for us (only Mimic into TKS with a Temple beats it) but fortunately it’s almost nowhere right now (most current Scape lists omit it because Denial’s so prevalent).

Finally I have found that without Powder this deck becomes too inconsistent and you might as well play Tron lands, but I won’t try to sell you on that one!

No problem for the long post. Good luck at GPOKC and stop by this Friday for some juicy content 😉

Here’s my list for reference:

//Lands
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Scavenger Grounds
2 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Wastes

//Artifacts
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Treasure Map
1 Smuggler’s Copter

//Instants
4 Dismember

//Creatures
4 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Endless One
4 Eternal Scourge
2 Matter Reshaper
4 Reality Smasher
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Thought-Knot Seer

//Sideboard
SB: 1 All Is Dust
SB: 1 Gut Shot
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Spatial Contortion
SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Warping Wail
SB: 1 Grafdigger’s Cage

Hot take time! Treasure Map is bonkers. It was suggested by a friend as a spicy addition, and has over-performed. The filtering, ramp and card draw have made some of our toughest mid-range matchups a little bit better. The only other real deviation from your build is that I’ve shaved the two Mutavaults in favor of another Cavern of Souls. While I miss the Vaults, not having a pivotal Seer/Smasher countered has more than made up for it. To make up for the loss of the manlands, I’ve jammed a full playset of Endless One, and have been extremely happy. They fill gaps in the curve, wall off little critters, smash hard and power up Mimics really well. I’m open to critiques and suggestions, but I’m actually pretty content with the current list. With that said, my biggest issue is the sideboard, and I was hoping to get your opinion on a couple of choices I have to make. I really am not a huge fan of running so much graveyard hate, as 2x Scavenger Grounds + 3x Relics + 1x Surgical + 1x Cage seems like overkill. My debate right now is cutting Cage for something else. I don’t run into as many Company decks as I thought I would (though they’re still out there), and Cage often feels unnecessary with as much gy hate as we pack. Would you rather have a second Needle or a third Contortion? Lastly, what is your take on Warping Wail in the board? My issue is that Scapeshift/anything with Through the Breach is a nightmare and they hedge against it a little bit, but not having the playset makes them less than ideal. Since I can’t recall them in any of your lists, so I’m assuming you’re fine with their exclusion, but I thought I’d ask. Since you’re as close to an expert on Colorless Stompy as it comes, I would greatly appreciate your input. Thanks for your continued exploration of this archetype and your well written content.

Sorry for the overlong post!

Check out the SCG articles on this deck from around GP Van. The core is very good and those writers go far deeper into its configuration than I will here (not too interested in producing duplicate content!).

Ok, you convinced me. About the Disruption-Removal mix: Why 8 Discard spells? Seems to me a little bit too much, while i’m thinking (as traditional Rock Midrange player) about cutting 2 Inquisitions for 1 more Push, and 3rd Terminate. With that configuration, a 3rd Liliana of The Veil could be good?

Its 8 cantrips cost 0 and not 1, every threat can be cast unconditionally, and it runs a tutor over a card selection spell.

I have found it to be fine when Shadow draws its hate cards (Grudge, Return) and otherwise shaky, at best. No Serum Visions complicates getting to those hate cards, too; among them, only Staticaster is searchable, and he comes down too slow to make an impact half the time.

Starting a game behind is particularly rough. Part of the reason I like TBR is that it allows you to cheese some G1’s against Affinity specifically.

I’m firmly in the not-believing-in-one-size-fits-all-sideboard-plans camp. But as a rule of thumb, I tend to reserve permission for matchups with a card I absolutely need to stop that I can’t trade for with removal (i.e. Through the Breach; Collected Company). If removal spells trade for the cards I care about (i.e. Kitchen Finks; Siege Rhino), I take out all the permission for removal. And when there’s nothing to remove, the removal spells become permission.

Dynamic midrange matchups generally require attuning to your own playstyle.