I'm posting the official BW Midrange primer to the established section. As part of having a cohesive primer, we should have a unified name. The mods have requested that the name "BW Midrange" be kept in the title as the deck is new, and BW Mid is a simple and accurate description of the deck. The community can (and I believe it is our duty) to come up with a fun name for the deck. I've listed the 4 I've seen the most on the current thread. The final name of the deck will appear as - BW Midrange/"The name you vote on here"
If you have another suggestion, please post it. I'll update the poll (I believe that's possible).
If you have a reason why we should choose a particular name, please post it. Don't just complain about the other names.
There are a multitude of stories surrounding the name "deadguy ale". THE "deadguy ale" deck is a BW Stoneforge deck in legacy. Often when people see a BW deck in a more eternal format, they just say, "oh, it's deadguy ale". Kinda how there's death and taxes, and modern death and taxes. A few MTG commentators are calling Modern BW Midrange "Modern Deadguy Ale" already, so it's on the list.
As for how the legacy deck got the name, the deck was created by team "Deadguy", and the beer is often sited as being their brew of choice while brewing the deck (pun intended). So the name "Deadguy Ale" stuck.
I personally support either Tom and Jerry or The Rat Pack. Both make slick references to BW Mid's primary win con - pack rat. I like the originality over stealing a name from legacy.
I voted for Deadguy Ale because that's how I originally labelled the deck, but BW Midrange is a close second place for me. I want the name to be keep-able in case the deck moves away from Pack Rat.
The best names are hands down the ones that inherently describe the deck. If there is some theme or synergy within the deck, or it's hinged on a card or a set of cards, the name should reflect that. That's when you have your [COLOR] [CONCEPT], like GW Hatebears or UB Faeries or GR Tron or UR Delver. Sometimes the color part is given by the name, and that's even better: Kiki Pod, Melira Pod, Merfolk, Affinity. Those are good names because you know immediately what the deck is about. If the deck is a pile of good cards within a color scheme and an archetype, there's really no need for a proper name. [COLOR] [ARCHETYPE] is good. UWR Control works, so does Jund Midrange. I'm not terribly familiar with BW Midrange, so I might be wrong, but my impression is that it's a rather general midrange strategy in the colors.
That way you won't have to go this whole thing:
-"What are you playing?"
-"Tom & Jerry"
-"Huh? What's the ¤%&@ is that?"
-"It's a black and white midrange deck".
I play Death & Taxes, and boy do I hate the name. It's really not that tax oriented, and you could apply the death part to any deck. In the primer thread we have to tell newcomers over and over and over again that it's a meta hate deck with a mandatory flicker package, because it's not in the name. People see the name and they want to play stax with creatures. But no, some guy had to have this bright idea that he should incorporate some clever quote in the name because it had a good sound to it, and because of that, I have to go through a variation of the conversation quoted above. On top of that, you get -"Isn't that a legacy deck" -"Yeah, but some guy tried to port it to modern, and since then it has evolved to a completely different deck bla bla bla"... ugh. Just call it what it is, you're not trying to sell a product.
Edit: I have no idea why this is shown as a quote, the tags aren't there.
In the primer, I'm calling it BW Midrange no matter what for the exact reasons Havrekjex listed (I also have had trouble explaining "rock" decks to new players). The purpose of this poll is to decisively stop the monthly conversation of: "Can we quit calling this deck deadguy ale? That's a legacy deck."
Hilariously, Deadguy Ale is winning. I had guessed that the regular complaints meant it wasn't a favored name, haha.
You have a unique opportunity to actually NAME a deck. We already have descriptions. (BW Midrange, UWR control). NAMING a deck isn't just describing whats in it. It is giving us something unique to go on. Otherwise we'd all be named 'nerdy white guy' or what not.
I guess I'm just hoping you don't pick BW midrange as the name for BW midrange decks.
There are a multitude of stories surrounding the name "deadguy ale". THE "deadguy ale" deck is a BW Stoneforge deck in legacy. Often when people see a BW deck in a more eternal format, they just say, "oh, it's deadguy ale". Kinda how there's death and taxes, and modern death and taxes. A few MTG commentators are calling Modern BW Midrange "Modern Deadguy Ale" already, so it's on the list.
As for how the legacy deck got the name, the deck was created by team "Deadguy", and the beer is often sited as being their brew of choice while brewing the deck (pun intended). So the name "Deadguy Ale" stuck.
I personally support either Tom and Jerry or The Rat Pack. Both make slick references to BW Mid's primary win con - pack rat. I like the originality over stealing a name from legacy.
wasn't deadguy ale a deck before Stoneforge was a card?
Deadguy Ale wasn't really a Stoneforge deck so much as just a B/W value deck running discard, Bob, etc. Sure, Stoneforge got added when it came out, but I remember playing Deadguy before Stoneforge was a thing. You'd just run Bitterblossom and the like instead. There's actually a discrete B/W Stoneblade which has some subtle differences from Deadguy Ale, though they only really matter to pedants like me and you can get away with using Deadguy to refer to B/W Stoneblade.
At any rate, it's a name with a fair bit of history to it, and the Modern version plays closely enough to the classic archetype that the name really should stick.
That's a little too in-joke-y, especially since the name relies on cards that don't really form the core of the deck (I've seen lists without Brimaz, for instance).
Like, really, it's between a name that long-time players are going to recognize and a name nobody recognizes, that isn't always accurate with what it refers to, and that the deck may evolve out of in the future. It's a no-brainer to me.
That's a little too in-joke-y, especially since the name relies on cards that don't really form the core of the deck (I've seen lists without Brimaz, for instance).
Like, really, it's between a name that long-time players are going to recognize and a name nobody recognizes, that isn't always accurate with what it refers to, and that the deck may evolve out of in the future. It's a no-brainer to me.
"The Rock" is short for "The Rock and His Millions", which is very much an in joke referring to Phyrexian Plaguelord (the Rock) and Deranged Hermit (his squirrel millions). Neither of which are played in the deck anymore.
That's actually a good argument for why a non-indicative name shouldn't attempt to refer to specific parts of that deck, because Deadguy Ale is just a cool-sounding name that isn't ever going to become deprecated.
That's actually a good argument for why a non-indicative name shouldn't attempt to refer to specific parts of that deck, because Deadguy Ale is just a cool-sounding name that isn't ever going to become deprecated.
I'm a big fan of naming decks something that is instantly recognizable. It's like saying that "the deck with lots of artifacts and metalcraft and *****" is called "Affinity", even if there isn't a single card in that deck with Affinity. Deadguy Ale is a widely recognized BW Midrange archetype name, and it's good press to follow that convention. It's not even that misleading in this case.
I am going with Tom and Jerry. Let's face it, BW Midrange is about as boring of a name that you can get. It just doesn't seem fun or interesting. I personally like Tom and Jerry more than Deadguy Ale simply because Deadguy Ale has an arbitrarily decided name created simply because a group of people named their deck after their favorite beer a decade ago. Tom and Jerry is at least somewhat related to the deck.
I think Deadguy Ale is winning because we've heard it used before and it has familiarity associated with it. If I were to have heard anyone say any of the other names before today I would not have known what they were talking about. (Although I could have made an educated guess on BW Midrange/attrition)
Oh, I agree, Deadguy Ale would be a silly name to attach to the deck if it was a new thing. But this is just the latest Deadguy deck to spring up, so the name carries a lot of history that outweighs how odd it might seem in a vacuum.
It's like how you still see Sligh pop up in deck names to this day (recently Boss Sligh in pre-rotation Standard, for example), despite that the original deck Sligh himself made bears only general thematic similarities to the modern decks bearing the name and sounds a little odd if you hear the name without knowing where it comes from.
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I'm posting the official BW Midrange primer to the established section. As part of having a cohesive primer, we should have a unified name. The mods have requested that the name "BW Midrange" be kept in the title as the deck is new, and BW Mid is a simple and accurate description of the deck. The community can (and I believe it is our duty) to come up with a fun name for the deck. I've listed the 4 I've seen the most on the current thread. The final name of the deck will appear as - BW Midrange/"The name you vote on here"
If you have another suggestion, please post it. I'll update the poll (I believe that's possible).
If you have a reason why we should choose a particular name, please post it. Don't just complain about the other names.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/355/
As for how the legacy deck got the name, the deck was created by team "Deadguy", and the beer is often sited as being their brew of choice while brewing the deck (pun intended). So the name "Deadguy Ale" stuck.
I personally support either Tom and Jerry or The Rat Pack. Both make slick references to BW Mid's primary win con - pack rat. I like the originality over stealing a name from legacy.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
It's a generic mothership name. I should add it to the options. I guess "no unique name" is a name in itself.
That way you won't have to go this whole thing:
-"What are you playing?"
-"Tom & Jerry"
-"Huh? What's the ¤%&@ is that?"
-"It's a black and white midrange deck".
I play Death & Taxes, and boy do I hate the name. It's really not that tax oriented, and you could apply the death part to any deck. In the primer thread we have to tell newcomers over and over and over again that it's a meta hate deck with a mandatory flicker package, because it's not in the name. People see the name and they want to play stax with creatures. But no, some guy had to have this bright idea that he should incorporate some clever quote in the name because it had a good sound to it, and because of that, I have to go through a variation of the conversation quoted above. On top of that, you get -"Isn't that a legacy deck" -"Yeah, but some guy tried to port it to modern, and since then it has evolved to a completely different deck bla bla bla"... ugh. Just call it what it is, you're not trying to sell a product.
Edit: I have no idea why this is shown as a quote, the tags aren't there.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Hilariously, Deadguy Ale is winning. I had guessed that the regular complaints meant it wasn't a favored name, haha.
I guess I'm just hoping you don't pick BW midrange as the name for BW midrange decks.
Good luck.
wasn't deadguy ale a deck before Stoneforge was a card?
At any rate, it's a name with a fair bit of history to it, and the Modern version plays closely enough to the classic archetype that the name really should stick.
tom and jerry? WTF
Like, really, it's between a name that long-time players are going to recognize and a name nobody recognizes, that isn't always accurate with what it refers to, and that the deck may evolve out of in the future. It's a no-brainer to me.
"The Rock" is short for "The Rock and His Millions", which is very much an in joke referring to Phyrexian Plaguelord (the Rock) and Deranged Hermit (his squirrel millions). Neither of which are played in the deck anymore.
I'm a big fan of naming decks something that is instantly recognizable. It's like saying that "the deck with lots of artifacts and metalcraft and *****" is called "Affinity", even if there isn't a single card in that deck with Affinity. Deadguy Ale is a widely recognized BW Midrange archetype name, and it's good press to follow that convention. It's not even that misleading in this case.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Definitely Yin Yang. It's very fitting for the unity of these two opposite colors in the Magic color pie/universe.
What's the story there? Is it a reference to the player?
GB Midrange HomebrewBG
Modern
Affinity X
EDH
Jarad, Golgari Lich LordBG
It's like how you still see Sligh pop up in deck names to this day (recently Boss Sligh in pre-rotation Standard, for example), despite that the original deck Sligh himself made bears only general thematic similarities to the modern decks bearing the name and sounds a little odd if you hear the name without knowing where it comes from.