Also Raging Ravine activation costs 4 mana, whereas Abzan's manlands costs 2 or 3 mana. It is important to have enough lands to be able to activate Ravine.
Although it seems that many are going down to 23 lands also in Jund nowadays.
So i was looking at the current jund sideboards and was wondering, do we still need kitchen finks? why not run a full set of collective brutality against the match ups we bring it in? Let me know! Also we seem to have trouble with Tron and Valakut decks, i think we can agree tron will be our hardest match up to side in for, but how is Tunnel Ingus vs RG valakut decks? especially since they seem to run fewer interactive spells these days.
I think we can accept tron is a difficult match up all while helping against GR valakut with tunnel ingus.
My proposed sb:
1x-2x Surgical Extraction
3x-4x Tunnel Ingus
2x-3x Ancient Grudge
3x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Grafdiggers Cage
2x-4x Collective Brutality
Maybe sweepers
- Grixis Death Shadow
- Eldra Tron
- Valakut
- Affinity
- Burn
- UW Control
- Mono-W Hatebears
- UR Storm
And because decks based on grave yard always avoid grave hate and arewell positionned in the high tables, I was expecting some Dredge and Living End too.
My main target was to make Day 2 in a hard meta game for Jund. If would do Day 2, I wanted to have a better record than last year at GP Lille (I finished at 9-6), to have a Pro Point.
I arrived from Paris to Birmingham in the evening, tested a little bit with my team mates before going to restaurant and go back to the hotel for more tests and some rest.
Here started the GP :
Round 1 :
Bye
1-0-0
Round 2 :
vs Grixis Control
I thought he was playing Grixis Death Shadow because he played all his shockland untapped and was at 11 life quickly in the game. I didn't see any threats and when I didn't have any more removal to deal with his 3rd Tasigur, I lost.
The second one was more intense and longer but I did less CA than him and cannot finish him. 0-2
1-1-0
Round 3 :
vs UW Taking Turns
The 1st one was a butchery, I know the deck and how to play against and the key is to kill their cards giving some draws like Howling Mine or Dictate of Kruphix.
At the 2nd one, he put a Leyline of Sanctity on the board whereas my hand was 1 Collective Brutality, 1 Inquisition of Kozilek, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Liliana of the Veil, 2 lands and 1 Dark Confidant. However, I've started to put some pression on him thanks to Lili and Bob who gave me more threats.
Huntmaster of the Fells was a house thanks he was flipping when my opponent started to take extra turn or doing nothing, waiting for my turn to play Gigadrowse, making a board full of tokens. I let him at one and finally found a Maelstrom Pulse to destroy Leyline of Sanctity, wanted to attack with Ravine, he played Cryptic Command to bounce it, I finished him with the drain life mode of Collective Brutality. 2-0
2-1-0
Round 4 :
vs UR Storm
The 1st game my opponent mull to 5 when I was on the play with 2 discards, he conceded pretty quickly.
Post-board, with my 9 discards and removals, it was really hard for him to put some pressure on me whereas my Goyf beat him to death. 2-0
3-1-0
Round 5 :
vs Grixis Death Shadow
The 1st game I was far behind during all the game and never find an ooporunity to change the situation.
The 2nd one was more interesting, I had a 5/6 Tarmogoyf cursed by +1 of Liliana, the Last Hope whereas she was at 4 counters and my opponent was at 4 life with only 3 lands on the board. My opponent at 1 life won't be able to fetch any more and if I found my Fulminator Mage to start to destroy its lands, it would be game. Unfortunatly, he found his only Godless Shrine he played tapped then 2 Lingering Souls to protect his Liliana until her ultimate. 0-2
3-2-0
Round 6 :
vs Jund Death Shadow
I won the 1st pretty quickly because my opponent was searching for disruption and did a lot of damage to himself with 3 consecutive Street Wraith, I finished him with Kolaghan's Command and Lightning Bolt when he played a Thoughtseize on me.
Game 2 was different, he had Lingering Souls and 2 Death Shadow and I didn't find any of my 2 Damnation.
The last one was really frustating, I keep a hand with : 2 lands, Dark confidant, 1 Fulminator Mage, 1 Fatal Push and 1 Inquisition of Kozilek. I start with discard and take of his only removal to play Bob the following turn, which I did, trigger of Dark Confidant, an other Dark Confidant and a Terminate, no land, he find a top decked Fulminator Mage and play it, I've got 2 Dark Confidant trigger's and a draw to find some land, no lands in three more cards ... He played Kolaghan's Command to take back his Fulminator Mage and kill a Bob, I finally founnd a land but he would destroy it with Fulminator Mage and kill Dark Confidant with a Fatal Push. The game was lost. 1-2
3-3-0
Round 7 :
vs Ad Nauseam
The 1st game was impossible to him thanks to turn 1 discard, turn 2 Tarmogoyf, turn 3 Liliana, turn 4 double discard.
The 2nd one he played a Leyline of Sanctity but I have Maelstrom Pulse in hand and don't really care, I started to play Raging ravine then land to play Dark Confidant. Turn 3, my opponent stayed block with only 2 lands but had 2 Pentad Prism with Sunburst 2 on it, I played my Maelstrom Pulse on it to avoid a turn 4 kill and didn't pay attention for Leyline, just played threats to put some pressure on him and finish him with Ravine.
He told me he had Ad Nauseam and Angel Grace in hand when I destroyed its Prism. 2-0
4-3-0
Round 8 :
vs Affinity
I lost the game 1 by a turn 3 kill when I was on the draw (classic Affinity).
Game 2 a Dark Confidant helped me to find my Shatterstorm to eradicate its board with 2 Etched Champion and Signal Pest on it. Then I played Olivia to close the game.
Game 3 I kept a mull6 hand only because I have Shatterstrom which I played on turn 6 (didn't find my 4th land) when I was at 5 life. Never cracked a fetch and played around Glavanic blast. 2-1
5-3-0
Round 9 :
vs Coco Allies
When I played Inquisition of Kozilek on him on turn 1 and saw Aether Vial, Expedition Envoy, Bushwacker and 4 lands, I thought it was a kind of Zoo aggro deck but didn't think it could be a deck with so many triggers (more like Human tribal). Kabira Evangel was a nightmare because he gave protection against the color of your choice when you play an ally, but with Aether Vial and Collected Company, it tricks all time long and in combat phase, your defensive creatures are useless because all its allies go though them.
For game 2, Damnation helped me to deal with an important board but a Collective Company found a Magus of the Moon. Thanks God, I had a Lightning Bolt in hand to deal with it or the game would be lost.
The last game, we played until the additional turns but a Kalitas combined with removals gave me the ultimate win of the day. 2-1
6-3-0
Day 2 !
My first wish was realized.
Now, I wanted to make a good Day 2 with regular and expected decks and no more weird decks like Taking Turns, Allies Company, etc.
Round 10 :
vs Eldra Tron
I've won the 1st one after having stabilized the board and finished him with a 6/7 Tarmogoyf and Raging Ravine.
Game 2, he played Calice at 2 on his turn 3 and I didn't find Abrutp Decay or Kolaghan's Command so I was blocked, playing some Liliana to earn time but didn't help me.
Game 3, I put a lot of pressure on him, destroying his hand thanks to discard (took his 2 Karn), my 6/7 Tarmogoyf was a good blocker for his Smasher so he didn't played it and he didn't have Tron online. I attack with my 2nd goyf to try to close the game as fast as possible, knowing he has All is Dust in hand and Smasher. I'm at 4 life, he is at 10, next turn is lethal thanks my 2 goyf, Raving and Liliana at 3, he just need his last Tron land to play All is Dust and Smasher in the same turn, even an Expedition Map wouldn't help him because he didn't have enough mana. Draw. Missing land, casted All is Dust, played Smasher and finish me ... 1-2
6-4-0
Round 11 :
vs BW tokens
Almost an unwinnable match-up for us between Intangible Vertue, Gideon and all the different kind of tokens.
Lost the 2 game in 15 minutes. 0-2
6-5-0
Round 12 :
vs UB Faeries
Game 1 my opponent mull 5 and conceded quickly after discard on his only removal and 2 Tarmogoyfs played turn 2 and 3.
Game 2 he had a slow hand and no threats whereas I played Tarmogoyf, Huntmaster of the Fells and Liliana.
I think he wasn'nt in the game because he made some missplays and was upset against his deck. 2-0
7-5-0
Round 13 :
Grixis Death Shadow
He won the 1st one with a pretty fast hand whereas mine was only removals, lands and 1 Ooze I wanted to play after a discard to be sure he would stay alive, but it wasn't enough.
Game 2 he had only 2 Death Shadow in hand when I start to play Liliana and Tarmogoyf, he had to loose some life to play them but I've got Maelstrom Pulse in hand and finish him.
The last one was a grindfest, using all our resources to deal with the board of the other one, playing Liliana of the Veil both side and trying to find some answers. He finished at 4 life and me at 7 but he finally found a Gurmag Angler then a Snapcaster on Kolaghan's Command to close the game. 1-2
7-6-0
Round 14 :
vs UB Faeries
This game was a joke, I didn't find a threat during all the game, just drew land and receiving 11 hits from a lonely Spellstutter Sprite which finished me with Mutavault and Creeping Tarpit.
The 2nd one, I was outclassed by all his drawing spells, Tasigur' abilities and fliers, I felt really weak against the deck whereas I just crunched the same one 1 hour before. Weird sensation ... 0-2
7-7-0
Round 15 :
vs Valakut
I won the 1st one thanks to Lightning Bolt into top deck Lighning Bolt.
The 2nd one was a classic kill turn 5.
The last one, I played a discard and see Baloth, I played a turn 3 Liliana and didn't activate her +1 then he hard casted Baloth. I'm pretty sure he top deck the 2nd one and want me to make him discard, but unfortunatly for him I've got Pulse in hand and a Tarmogoyf on the board. I played the +1 ability of Liliana, he discarded / played free Baloth, I kill both thanks to Maelstrom Pulse and start the beat down with Tarmogoyf and find a second one.
He is at 10 life, I've got 2 Tarmogoyf on the board, he had no card in hand, fell pretty confortable. First draw, Titan, kill the 1st Tarmogoyf, 2nd draw Titan, kill the 2nd Tarmogoyf, attack with the 1st one and finish me. 1-2
7-8-0
This Day 2 was a real nightmare, I've met some weird decks like BW Tokens and UB Faeries which I wasn't expecting in at this state of the tournament. I finished 455 / 1739.
Whereas I was pretty happy of my deck after the Day 1, I felt abandon by it during all the Day 2. Nothing happened correctly.
That's happen, but it's hard ... especialy when you know that your deck is not really positioned in the actual meta game and that you will need to drive it perfectly for good results with a little bit of success or luck.
Anyway, if I should play my Jund for an other wilde open event such as GP, I would change 2 card in my SB to improve my match-up against U decks, without changing everything.
Here what I would play :
Twilight Mire was more often a bad card in my opening (because I play 4 Ravine) than a good one, I think I will take it off.
The 3rd Nihil Spellbomb was for a meta game full of grave strategy's deck, 2 is a better option for a open environment.
Olivia was ok but too slow in my opinion and she juste finished the job when I was ahead.
In :
The 9th fetchland (Bloodstained Mire) to filter my deck and to trigger Revolt for Fatal Push to deals with card like TKS or Restoration Angel.
The 3rd Fulminator mage is important even if it's not a game break card, we play an attrition war and this card, which can deal damage, block creatures and destroy land, is the perfect example of the essence of Jund.
Painful Truth is really good when you are in a bad situation and when you need to find some answers, I used to play it and didn't take it for Birmingham, I think it was a huge mistake.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my report.
Next tournaments will be two PPTQ in Modern in September and be sure of one thing ... I will play Jund
Thanks for your attention.
Damnation was a good card against decks with fatties (Eldra Tron, Grixis DS) or swarms (Allies Company).
I didn't play against Elves or Merfolck but those 2 decks were present during Day 2 too so having at least 2 sweepers seemed to be right.
And 2 Damnation + 1 Shatterstorm definitively make Affinity an easier match up post-board because you can deal with Etched Champion.
I cut Kitchen Fink's a while back and it's always felt fine. Collective Brtuality feels stronger against burn and I'd rather have more specific options for the other Finks matchups. As for an answer to Valakut I think Tunnel Ingus may be too narrow.
my meta at FNM has ZERO burn so I've been thinking about cutting Finks as well. not sure what to replace it with though. Maybe Fulminator Mage but I'm really not a fan of them.
My meta consists of a lot of Grixis DS, Eldatron, Abzan Coco and some Burn, Dredge, Valakut, affinity, merfolk and Faeries.
How do we deal with Eldatron? Is it an auto GG?
For Abzan Coco, do we try to just grab their pay off cards and then beat them to death with better creatures?
I've also run into some Faeries and Merfolk, do we mulligan aggressively for sweepers? How aggressively?
x4 terminate and I believe Hazoret has a place in the 75 if you're expecting Grixis DS & Eldatron. Hazoret presents a brick wall that both decks can't really deal with outside All Is Dust & LOTV out the board.
Eldratron is NOT auto GG like OG Tron. We can win the matchup (they are still favoured but I feel like we do have a fighting chance)
x4 terminate and I believe Hazoret has a place in the 75 if you're expecting Grixis DS & Eldatron. Hazoret presents a brick wall that both decks can't really deal with outside All Is Dust & LOTV out the board.
Eldratron is NOT auto GG like OG Tron. We can win the matchup (they are still favoured but I feel like we do have a fighting chance)
I disagree with needing Hazoret for those matches. Having four Terminate is good though.
I also concur with the outlook on EldraziTron. When it's humming, it's not good for us, but hand disruption and Liliana of the Veil hurt them badly otherwise. I really don't understand that deck's popularity. There have been several times where an EldraziTron opponent's deck just didn't come together. That's what happened to one of the two I beat at a PPTQ and it's not the first time I have seen this happen.
The deck hums fine and consistently, it mainly folds to go wide decks that get bigger, or non gy combo decks.
You probably don't get the deck because you've never played the deck nor understand it, it's incredibly good if you dodge Affinity and Titanshift.
Only bad E-Tron players try to desperately assemble the Urza lands, you go for the temples and let the Urza lands assemble naturally, unless you have the 2 of 3 lands. It aims to do something broken every game, although game 1 it's not always clear if that broken thing is the right thing against the opponent. You keep chalices on the play for your turn 2, it's usually a snap keep if the rest of the hand isn't garbage, or a turn 3 Seer, etc.
The meta has shifted with Titanshift and Affinity, but you saying you don't understand the deck's popularity from observing bad games probably means you're a little ignorant of the deck.
Goyf into LOTV is definitely the clear victory to beating the deck, not a slow hand with a fulminator.
Luckily, this is way more winnable than regular Tron.
The deck hums fine and consistently, it mainly folds to go wide decks that get bigger, or non gy combo decks.
You probably don't get the deck because you've never played the deck nor understand it, it's incredibly good if you dodge Affinity and Titanshift.
Only bad E-Tron players try to desperately assemble the Urza lands, you go for the temples and let the Urza lands assemble naturally, unless you have the 2 of 3 lands. It aims to do something broken every game, although game 1 it's not always clear if that broken thing is the right thing against the opponent. You keep chalices on the play for your turn 2, or a turn 3 Seer, etc.
Goyf into LOTV is definitely the clear victory to beating the deck, not a slow hand with a fulminator.
I have played the deck, but thanks for your opinion. I've beaten it several times with Jund.
Lilly, maelstrom pulse,Thoughtseize, monster goyfs are great against them.
They also have a difficult time killing Bob unless they draw a balista
I've been super interested in trying out Hatto's GB Rock deck--could you explain how the deck is beating E-Tron, it looks scary having to only rely on LOTV, 1 Go for the throat, and 2x Pulses for their threats.
i forgot about Bob, they pretty much have to play their ballista and kill him.
What is better 2 nihil spellbombs in sideboard or 2 grafdigers cage? Thanks
Clearly depends on your meta. Considering the meta online, like from mtggoldfish, then Grafdigger's Cage is my choice if I had to choose one of them. Personally, I like Spellbombs way more, as they are always applicable.
My meta consists of a lot of Grixis DS, Eldatron, Abzan Coco and some Burn, Dredge, Valakut, affinity, merfolk and Faeries.
How do we deal with Eldatron? Is it an auto GG?
For Abzan Coco, do we try to just grab their pay off cards and then beat them to death with better creatures?
I've also run into some Faeries and Merfolk, do we mulligan aggressively for sweepers? How aggressively?
E-Tron is still up in the air for me, don't have the best way to deal with it yet. If you want to beat it, then run 4 Damnations in the SB (this is ofc not meant seriously).
For Abzan CoCo its all about removal and grinding. Always hold up that removal in case of an surprise combo over deploying a threat. You need board control, that most imoportant. Snapping CoCo and payoff cards is surely nice, but ultimaltey not the way you win. I usually cut IOK and leave in TS due to that. I want grindy and sticky creatures like Finks in that matchup and in addition sweepers and removal. Always kill their manadorks on first sight.
Faeries is a deck that is weak early in the game, but when the games goes on, it can take over through many different ways. Don't know if I like Sweepers against the deck. If they don't find Blossom then its probably more or less useless. I like LtLH in that MU, as well as discard and a fast clock. If they get to resolve multiple AVs and Crpytics you are in a bad spot.
Merfolk is not that hard of a matchup. Its not about tempo here, don't treat it like an aggro deck. The deck will side out Vials against you and try to go foir an grindy game. CA is very important here, for which reason you need to discard their CA cards like Adept and SS. You should also play around SS if you can, crack fetchlands only if you need to. Sweepers help ofc, but I think you don't need them in order to win.
I've been super interested in trying out Hatto's GB Rock deck--could you explain how the deck is beating E-Tron, it looks scary having to only rely on LOTV, 1 Go for the throat, and 2x Pulses for their threats.
There's also typically 3x Hissing Quagmire in BG builds now too. Most people forget it has DT, similar to forgetting reach on Stirring Wildwood.
Yeah, I guess I really was forgetting about that helping out, no one wants to swing into a death touch. Already ordered the 2nd Tracker and 2nd Witness that I'm missing for the deck.
What is Olivia Voldaren for? Is she more a way to deal with tokens or a way to go over the top of the eldrazi deck and steal their stuff?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
I have been going back and forth between BG rock and BG with a white splash for stony silence and lingering souls in SB
Thoughtseize, Lilly is often enough disruption to throw them off their game plan. If they manage to get an Eldrazi down push, pulse, go for the throat take care of them. At the same time if I draw into ghost quarter it slows down tron if they are building towards it even though they replace it with a wastes. I often find them time walking themselves with an expedition map rushing to get tron or a temple while they leave my Bob on board with a dismember or balista in hand.
While doing all of this goyf gets bigger than their creatures and our threats + disruption takes game 1
Game 2 Most Etron players over side board and bring in relics and chalice. I always side out my inquisitions and depending on the build I will take out some fatal pushes and actually leave in 1-3 abrupt decays depending on my build. This allows me to ignore the chalice but also destroy it if I need to and also destroy a relic. This really takes them off their game and the Etron deck turns into a clunky mid range deck and they end up stuck with fatties in their hand.
At first I was very surprised that I was dominating but week in and week out of consistently 2-0 them.
Cards that have been most impressive in the matchups are a mix of the following
Goyf-gets huge
Sqooze-gets huge
Bob-often they leave unanswered
Lilly of the Veil-bomb against them
Kalitas-very good against matter reshapers and hangerbacks that they bring in post board
Ghost quarter-its not a bomb but it makes them stumble
Fulminator mage-not a bomb but makes them stumble
Lingering souls-chumps matter reshaper so don't have to kill it and let them gain a card
Stony silence-even if you don't get it early it shuts down balista which is worth it. Also shuts off relic
I know this is a Jund board but the BG cards can be added to Jund to help those matchups
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Although it seems that many are going down to 23 lands also in Jund nowadays.
I think we can accept tron is a difficult match up all while helping against GR valakut with tunnel ingus.
My proposed sb:
1x-2x Surgical Extraction
3x-4x Tunnel Ingus
2x-3x Ancient Grudge
3x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Grafdiggers Cage
2x-4x Collective Brutality
Maybe sweepers
Maybe convince me on other additions?
I'm back from GP Birmingham with Jund and, as promised, is here my report.
So I took the following Jund for GP Birmingham :
2 Swamp
1 Forest
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
1 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Liliana of the Veil
Instants
3 Fatal Push
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Terminate
1 Kolaghan's Command
Sorceries
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Collective Brutality
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Damnation
1 Shatterstorm
I was expecting this kind of meta game :
- Grixis Death Shadow
- Eldra Tron
- Valakut
- Affinity
- Burn
- UW Control
- Mono-W Hatebears
- UR Storm
And because decks based on grave yard always avoid grave hate and arewell positionned in the high tables, I was expecting some Dredge and Living End too.
My main target was to make Day 2 in a hard meta game for Jund. If would do Day 2, I wanted to have a better record than last year at GP Lille (I finished at 9-6), to have a Pro Point.
I arrived from Paris to Birmingham in the evening, tested a little bit with my team mates before going to restaurant and go back to the hotel for more tests and some rest.
Here started the GP :
Round 1 :
Bye
1-0-0
Round 2 :
vs Grixis Control
I thought he was playing Grixis Death Shadow because he played all his shockland untapped and was at 11 life quickly in the game. I didn't see any threats and when I didn't have any more removal to deal with his 3rd Tasigur, I lost.
The second one was more intense and longer but I did less CA than him and cannot finish him.
0-2
1-1-0
Round 3 :
vs UW Taking Turns
The 1st one was a butchery, I know the deck and how to play against and the key is to kill their cards giving some draws like Howling Mine or Dictate of Kruphix.
At the 2nd one, he put a Leyline of Sanctity on the board whereas my hand was 1 Collective Brutality, 1 Inquisition of Kozilek, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Liliana of the Veil, 2 lands and 1 Dark Confidant. However, I've started to put some pression on him thanks to Lili and Bob who gave me more threats.
Huntmaster of the Fells was a house thanks he was flipping when my opponent started to take extra turn or doing nothing, waiting for my turn to play Gigadrowse, making a board full of tokens. I let him at one and finally found a Maelstrom Pulse to destroy Leyline of Sanctity, wanted to attack with Ravine, he played Cryptic Command to bounce it, I finished him with the drain life mode of Collective Brutality.
2-0
2-1-0
Round 4 :
vs UR Storm
The 1st game my opponent mull to 5 when I was on the play with 2 discards, he conceded pretty quickly.
Post-board, with my 9 discards and removals, it was really hard for him to put some pressure on me whereas my Goyf beat him to death.
2-0
3-1-0
Round 5 :
vs Grixis Death Shadow
The 1st game I was far behind during all the game and never find an ooporunity to change the situation.
The 2nd one was more interesting, I had a 5/6 Tarmogoyf cursed by +1 of Liliana, the Last Hope whereas she was at 4 counters and my opponent was at 4 life with only 3 lands on the board. My opponent at 1 life won't be able to fetch any more and if I found my Fulminator Mage to start to destroy its lands, it would be game. Unfortunatly, he found his only Godless Shrine he played tapped then 2 Lingering Souls to protect his Liliana until her ultimate.
0-2
3-2-0
Round 6 :
vs Jund Death Shadow
I won the 1st pretty quickly because my opponent was searching for disruption and did a lot of damage to himself with 3 consecutive Street Wraith, I finished him with Kolaghan's Command and Lightning Bolt when he played a Thoughtseize on me.
Game 2 was different, he had Lingering Souls and 2 Death Shadow and I didn't find any of my 2 Damnation.
The last one was really frustating, I keep a hand with : 2 lands, Dark confidant, 1 Fulminator Mage, 1 Fatal Push and 1 Inquisition of Kozilek. I start with discard and take of his only removal to play Bob the following turn, which I did, trigger of Dark Confidant, an other Dark Confidant and a Terminate, no land, he find a top decked Fulminator Mage and play it, I've got 2 Dark Confidant trigger's and a draw to find some land, no lands in three more cards ... He played Kolaghan's Command to take back his Fulminator Mage and kill a Bob, I finally founnd a land but he would destroy it with Fulminator Mage and kill Dark Confidant with a Fatal Push. The game was lost.
1-2
3-3-0
Round 7 :
vs Ad Nauseam
The 1st game was impossible to him thanks to turn 1 discard, turn 2 Tarmogoyf, turn 3 Liliana, turn 4 double discard.
The 2nd one he played a Leyline of Sanctity but I have Maelstrom Pulse in hand and don't really care, I started to play Raging ravine then land to play Dark Confidant. Turn 3, my opponent stayed block with only 2 lands but had 2 Pentad Prism with Sunburst 2 on it, I played my Maelstrom Pulse on it to avoid a turn 4 kill and didn't pay attention for Leyline, just played threats to put some pressure on him and finish him with Ravine.
He told me he had Ad Nauseam and Angel Grace in hand when I destroyed its Prism.
2-0
4-3-0
Round 8 :
vs Affinity
I lost the game 1 by a turn 3 kill when I was on the draw (classic Affinity).
Game 2 a Dark Confidant helped me to find my Shatterstorm to eradicate its board with 2 Etched Champion and Signal Pest on it. Then I played Olivia to close the game.
Game 3 I kept a mull6 hand only because I have Shatterstrom which I played on turn 6 (didn't find my 4th land) when I was at 5 life. Never cracked a fetch and played around Glavanic blast.
2-1
5-3-0
Round 9 :
vs Coco Allies
When I played Inquisition of Kozilek on him on turn 1 and saw Aether Vial, Expedition Envoy, Bushwacker and 4 lands, I thought it was a kind of Zoo aggro deck but didn't think it could be a deck with so many triggers (more like Human tribal). Kabira Evangel was a nightmare because he gave protection against the color of your choice when you play an ally, but with Aether Vial and Collected Company, it tricks all time long and in combat phase, your defensive creatures are useless because all its allies go though them.
For game 2, Damnation helped me to deal with an important board but a Collective Company found a Magus of the Moon. Thanks God, I had a Lightning Bolt in hand to deal with it or the game would be lost.
The last game, we played until the additional turns but a Kalitas combined with removals gave me the ultimate win of the day.
2-1
6-3-0
Day 2 !
My first wish was realized.
Now, I wanted to make a good Day 2 with regular and expected decks and no more weird decks like Taking Turns, Allies Company, etc.
Round 10 :
vs Eldra Tron
I've won the 1st one after having stabilized the board and finished him with a 6/7 Tarmogoyf and Raging Ravine.
Game 2, he played Calice at 2 on his turn 3 and I didn't find Abrutp Decay or Kolaghan's Command so I was blocked, playing some Liliana to earn time but didn't help me.
Game 3, I put a lot of pressure on him, destroying his hand thanks to discard (took his 2 Karn), my 6/7 Tarmogoyf was a good blocker for his Smasher so he didn't played it and he didn't have Tron online. I attack with my 2nd goyf to try to close the game as fast as possible, knowing he has All is Dust in hand and Smasher. I'm at 4 life, he is at 10, next turn is lethal thanks my 2 goyf, Raving and Liliana at 3, he just need his last Tron land to play All is Dust and Smasher in the same turn, even an Expedition Map wouldn't help him because he didn't have enough mana. Draw. Missing land, casted All is Dust, played Smasher and finish me ...
1-2
6-4-0
Round 11 :
vs BW tokens
Almost an unwinnable match-up for us between Intangible Vertue, Gideon and all the different kind of tokens.
Lost the 2 game in 15 minutes.
0-2
6-5-0
Round 12 :
vs UB Faeries
Game 1 my opponent mull 5 and conceded quickly after discard on his only removal and 2 Tarmogoyfs played turn 2 and 3.
Game 2 he had a slow hand and no threats whereas I played Tarmogoyf, Huntmaster of the Fells and Liliana.
I think he wasn'nt in the game because he made some missplays and was upset against his deck.
2-0
7-5-0
Round 13 :
Grixis Death Shadow
He won the 1st one with a pretty fast hand whereas mine was only removals, lands and 1 Ooze I wanted to play after a discard to be sure he would stay alive, but it wasn't enough.
Game 2 he had only 2 Death Shadow in hand when I start to play Liliana and Tarmogoyf, he had to loose some life to play them but I've got Maelstrom Pulse in hand and finish him.
The last one was a grindfest, using all our resources to deal with the board of the other one, playing Liliana of the Veil both side and trying to find some answers. He finished at 4 life and me at 7 but he finally found a Gurmag Angler then a Snapcaster on Kolaghan's Command to close the game.
1-2
7-6-0
Round 14 :
vs UB Faeries
This game was a joke, I didn't find a threat during all the game, just drew land and receiving 11 hits from a lonely Spellstutter Sprite which finished me with Mutavault and Creeping Tarpit.
The 2nd one, I was outclassed by all his drawing spells, Tasigur' abilities and fliers, I felt really weak against the deck whereas I just crunched the same one 1 hour before. Weird sensation ...
0-2
7-7-0
Round 15 :
vs Valakut
I won the 1st one thanks to Lightning Bolt into top deck Lighning Bolt.
The 2nd one was a classic kill turn 5.
The last one, I played a discard and see Baloth, I played a turn 3 Liliana and didn't activate her +1 then he hard casted Baloth. I'm pretty sure he top deck the 2nd one and want me to make him discard, but unfortunatly for him I've got Pulse in hand and a Tarmogoyf on the board. I played the +1 ability of Liliana, he discarded / played free Baloth, I kill both thanks to Maelstrom Pulse and start the beat down with Tarmogoyf and find a second one.
He is at 10 life, I've got 2 Tarmogoyf on the board, he had no card in hand, fell pretty confortable. First draw, Titan, kill the 1st Tarmogoyf, 2nd draw Titan, kill the 2nd Tarmogoyf, attack with the 1st one and finish me.
1-2
7-8-0
This Day 2 was a real nightmare, I've met some weird decks like BW Tokens and UB Faeries which I wasn't expecting in at this state of the tournament. I finished 455 / 1739.
Whereas I was pretty happy of my deck after the Day 1, I felt abandon by it during all the Day 2. Nothing happened correctly.
That's happen, but it's hard ... especialy when you know that your deck is not really positioned in the actual meta game and that you will need to drive it perfectly for good results with a little bit of success or luck.
Anyway, if I should play my Jund for an other wilde open event such as GP, I would change 2 card in my SB to improve my match-up against U decks, without changing everything.
Here what I would play :
2 Swamp
1 Forest
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Liliana of the Veil
Instants
3 Fatal Push
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Terminate
1 Kolaghan's Command
Sorceries
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Collective Brutality
1 Painful Truths
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Damnation
1 Shatterstorm
Out :
In :
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my report.
Next tournaments will be two PPTQ in Modern in September and be sure of one thing ... I will play Jund
Thanks for your attention.
Gus
I didn't play against Elves or Merfolck but those 2 decks were present during Day 2 too so having at least 2 sweepers seemed to be right.
And 2 Damnation + 1 Shatterstorm definitively make Affinity an easier match up post-board because you can deal with Etched Champion.
Gus
I plan to be running: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/09-02-16-jund/
My meta consists of a lot of Grixis DS, Eldatron, Abzan Coco and some Burn, Dredge, Valakut, affinity, merfolk and Faeries.
How do we deal with Eldatron? Is it an auto GG?
For Abzan Coco, do we try to just grab their pay off cards and then beat them to death with better creatures?
I've also run into some Faeries and Merfolk, do we mulligan aggressively for sweepers? How aggressively?
Eldratron is NOT auto GG like OG Tron. We can win the matchup (they are still favoured but I feel like we do have a fighting chance)
I disagree with needing Hazoret for those matches. Having four Terminate is good though.
I also concur with the outlook on EldraziTron. When it's humming, it's not good for us, but hand disruption and Liliana of the Veil hurt them badly otherwise. I really don't understand that deck's popularity. There have been several times where an EldraziTron opponent's deck just didn't come together. That's what happened to one of the two I beat at a PPTQ and it's not the first time I have seen this happen.
You probably don't get the deck because you've never played the deck nor understand it, it's incredibly good if you dodge Affinity and Titanshift.
Only bad E-Tron players try to desperately assemble the Urza lands, you go for the temples and let the Urza lands assemble naturally, unless you have the 2 of 3 lands. It aims to do something broken every game, although game 1 it's not always clear if that broken thing is the right thing against the opponent. You keep chalices on the play for your turn 2, it's usually a snap keep if the rest of the hand isn't garbage, or a turn 3 Seer, etc.
The meta has shifted with Titanshift and Affinity, but you saying you don't understand the deck's popularity from observing bad games probably means you're a little ignorant of the deck.
Goyf into LOTV is definitely the clear victory to beating the deck, not a slow hand with a fulminator.
Luckily, this is way more winnable than regular Tron.
Lilly, maelstrom pulse,Thoughtseize, monster goyfs are great against them.
They also have a difficult time killing Bob unless they draw a balista
I have played the deck, but thanks for your opinion. I've beaten it several times with Jund.
I've been super interested in trying out Hatto's GB Rock deck--could you explain how the deck is beating E-Tron, it looks scary having to only rely on LOTV, 1 Go for the throat, and 2x Pulses for their threats.
i forgot about Bob, they pretty much have to play their ballista and kill him.
Clearly depends on your meta. Considering the meta online, like from mtggoldfish, then Grafdigger's Cage is my choice if I had to choose one of them. Personally, I like Spellbombs way more, as they are always applicable.
E-Tron is still up in the air for me, don't have the best way to deal with it yet. If you want to beat it, then run 4 Damnations in the SB (this is ofc not meant seriously).
For Abzan CoCo its all about removal and grinding. Always hold up that removal in case of an surprise combo over deploying a threat. You need board control, that most imoportant. Snapping CoCo and payoff cards is surely nice, but ultimaltey not the way you win. I usually cut IOK and leave in TS due to that. I want grindy and sticky creatures like Finks in that matchup and in addition sweepers and removal. Always kill their manadorks on first sight.
Faeries is a deck that is weak early in the game, but when the games goes on, it can take over through many different ways. Don't know if I like Sweepers against the deck. If they don't find Blossom then its probably more or less useless. I like LtLH in that MU, as well as discard and a fast clock. If they get to resolve multiple AVs and Crpytics you are in a bad spot.
Merfolk is not that hard of a matchup. Its not about tempo here, don't treat it like an aggro deck. The deck will side out Vials against you and try to go foir an grindy game. CA is very important here, for which reason you need to discard their CA cards like Adept and SS. You should also play around SS if you can, crack fetchlands only if you need to. Sweepers help ofc, but I think you don't need them in order to win.
There's also typically 3x Hissing Quagmire in BG builds now too. Most people forget it has DT, similar to forgetting reach on Stirring Wildwood.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
Thoughtseize, Lilly is often enough disruption to throw them off their game plan. If they manage to get an Eldrazi down push, pulse, go for the throat take care of them. At the same time if I draw into ghost quarter it slows down tron if they are building towards it even though they replace it with a wastes. I often find them time walking themselves with an expedition map rushing to get tron or a temple while they leave my Bob on board with a dismember or balista in hand.
While doing all of this goyf gets bigger than their creatures and our threats + disruption takes game 1
Game 2 Most Etron players over side board and bring in relics and chalice. I always side out my inquisitions and depending on the build I will take out some fatal pushes and actually leave in 1-3 abrupt decays depending on my build. This allows me to ignore the chalice but also destroy it if I need to and also destroy a relic. This really takes them off their game and the Etron deck turns into a clunky mid range deck and they end up stuck with fatties in their hand.
At first I was very surprised that I was dominating but week in and week out of consistently 2-0 them.
Cards that have been most impressive in the matchups are a mix of the following
Goyf-gets huge
Sqooze-gets huge
Bob-often they leave unanswered
Lilly of the Veil-bomb against them
Kalitas-very good against matter reshapers and hangerbacks that they bring in post board
Ghost quarter-its not a bomb but it makes them stumble
Fulminator mage-not a bomb but makes them stumble
Lingering souls-chumps matter reshaper so don't have to kill it and let them gain a card
Stony silence-even if you don't get it early it shuts down balista which is worth it. Also shuts off relic
I know this is a Jund board but the BG cards can be added to Jund to help those matchups