Midrange Goals:

aggressive against control with non-linear attack patterns (jihad, charge, flying etc)
chunkier than fury road adjacent aggro
powerful haymakers to turn the game (big draw spells, infernal legion, sir pellinore, etc to close out once we get to top deck mode)
common sense access to important answers depending on matchup because of best of 1 style tournaments

Druid gives us built in aggro protection with the flip as well as tawny as an attacker, synergy piece, etc

drums lets our small creatures trade up in the late game
pact with the devil and dream quest are powerful cards other decks cannot leverage
dodge maddening bells by spreading out tawny and having it do the casting
tawny provides safe access to close range spells like disenchant and minor explosion
tawny can also be used to trade up on bigger minions (tawny + redcap to take down a unicorn in a pinch) or break a lance

want 22-24 creatures that we will curve out with to average 3-4 seen over a 7 spell game (basically until top deck mode)

makes jihad live if nearly all are fire, hippogriffs are the only exception currently
Do not count high threshold cards that I don't expect to play on curve: princess, morgana, boudicca. or finishers like courtesan Thais or grandmaster wizard.
currently 24 creatures I would put in this category, 22 are fire.
goal is to see 2-3 cards in the 2-4 mana slot, and 1 big 5 or 6 cost creature.
this should put the control decks on the back foot and demand answers consistently such that they can't develop their gameplan easily

Specific card reasoning:

pheonix: destroys fire based creature decks, dodges poison nova, flies
sand worm: common sense searchable answer to root spider, serviceable big creature in other matchups
minor explosion: common sense searchable DD finisher, removal that can hit multiple units or get through stealth (morgana), distance restriction not an issue due to tawny
grandmaster wizard: want 4-6 draw spells as good top end after trading resources early. Pact and morgana are easy includes. wizard is consistent but expensive. also trying king's counsel and unlikely alliance for cheaper options. But decided that those cards had low enough floors and relied on board presence. whereas grandmaster wizard is always on.

[TOP CUT LOCKED IN] Aggro midrange by Numbers