I'm trying to decide between the two at the moment. I haven't done any testing with Deathrite Shaman but I plan to when they arrive in the mail. Of course, Jund runs a very tight list so I wanted to see the input of fellow forum members as to which is a better choice.
Meta Info (the consistent players):
1 RDW
1 Storm
2 Naya Pod (resto + kiki)
1 UW restoration
1 Affinity
My list is a fairly generic Jund list missing 2 tarmogoyfs and 2 thoughtseize. Let me know if you want me to post it.
Grim Lavamancer does better against Affinity because killing their guys in response to Cranial Plating equips or when the equipped guys swing is always good (it's a Time Walk sometimes), while Deathrite Shaman's life gain does jack against them.
Deathrite does better in RDW because he gains life, especially if they play Hellspark Elemental or you keep taking 4 from Vexing Devil.
Deathrite is at least marginally better against UR Storm because making Pyromancer Ascension lose some of its fuel and occasionally making Past in Flames not draw any cards is decent for a 1-drop.
I think, against UW Restoration Tempo, it's a toss-up between Lavamancer and Deathrite. Lavamancer keeps them from sticking a Tiago, V. Clique, Finks, or even Spellstutter Sprite, while Deathrite turns Tiago into a joke (or at least a guy who Misses The Timing hard), Finks into a guy who only has one life, and Moorland Haunt into a subpar land.
Against Twin Pod, you'd much rather have Lavamancer because he kills Kiki-Jiki and other random buggers.
If you can only fit in 1-2 of your 1-drop, I'd recommend Lavamancer for your given meta because he only gets better the later the game goes. If you can't fit in 8+ fetchlands, I'd still stick to Lavamancer unless you're willing to let Deathrite not be a mana dork. If you can play 8+ fetchlands and fit 3-4 of your favoured 1-drop in, I'd recommend Deathrite.
From my testing, Deathrite Shaman is only a reliable enough mana dork if you play 8+ fetchlands. I'm testing a version of Jund right now with 4 Deathrites, and I still ran up the fetch count to 9 because he's the deck's only mana dork.
At least, from my experience, the worst-case scenario for Deathrite Shaman is that he's a virtual unblockable 1-cmc 2/2 with an upkeep of B and someone's used instant/sorcery and that probably taps for mana. I'm also testing Deathrite in Rakdos Deck Wins and Legacy Team America, and he's been doing fairly well in those decks precisely because he has those features. (I swear that Team America deck has been doing better against Maverick because that deck cannot keep up with Delver + Deathrite starts...)
I don't think he needs to be a 'reliable' mana dork- it's just an added bonus that sometimes gives a T3 Bloodbraid Elf etc.
Actually, he does. Turn 2 Liliana into turn 3 BBE is half the reason jund suddenly got 10 percentage points against the field. The other reason is that abrupt decay added a level of consistency against UW tempo, as well as most pod decks. Decay lets you get VERY narrow in terms of sideboard options. Slaughter games is also a welcome answer to tron, combo, and control lists.
Actually, he does. Turn 2 Liliana into turn 3 BBE is half the reason jund suddenly got 10 percentage points against the field. The other reason is that abrupt decay added a level of consistency against UW tempo, as well as most pod decks. Decay lets you get VERY narrow in terms of sideboard options. Slaughter games is also a welcome answer to tron, combo, and control lists.
Yeah, it looks like people underrated his impact on the format.
Everyone that wasn't playing Deathrite Shaman x4 maindeck and running Jund felt like they were behind.
I called his awesomeness in the rtr preview jund thread talk
On a more serious note, remember it's any graveyard. So chances of your opponents yard filling up with fetches are usually high, and while he is not goyf friendly, he does make turn 2 lilianan, and turn 3 bbe possible and scary for an opponent.
To be honest, after playing with him, I don't really see why people are running 4 of them in Jund. It's not very synergetic with goyf, and he's kind of slow. He has some great utility against certain match ups, like burn and graveyard based decks, but otherwise he's usually just a blocker. He can't even deal damage to creatures directly which can be a big issue. Being able to use both graveyards for his abilities is nice, and having the opportunity to get a turn 2 lilly out or similar is nice, but I'm not sure it's worth having 4 in the deck.
I started with 2 deathrites in main but it only took about 3 matches and I added the other two. Ive found him to be awesome in most matches. All four of his abilities are relevant (graveyard hate being the fourth). Having an obnoxious one drop also draws out some removal making it safer for bob or preparing for a larger goyf. In racing situations he also makes the math more complicated for your opponent. In a deck as suicidal as jund the life gain is nice...ive actually been trying messenger over finks since I added deathrite shaman.
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Meta Info (the consistent players):
1 RDW
1 Storm
2 Naya Pod (resto + kiki)
1 UW restoration
1 Affinity
My list is a fairly generic Jund list missing 2 tarmogoyfs and 2 thoughtseize. Let me know if you want me to post it.
Grim Lavamancer does better against Affinity because killing their guys in response to Cranial Plating equips or when the equipped guys swing is always good (it's a Time Walk sometimes), while Deathrite Shaman's life gain does jack against them.
Deathrite does better in RDW because he gains life, especially if they play Hellspark Elemental or you keep taking 4 from Vexing Devil.
Deathrite is at least marginally better against UR Storm because making Pyromancer Ascension lose some of its fuel and occasionally making Past in Flames not draw any cards is decent for a 1-drop.
I think, against UW Restoration Tempo, it's a toss-up between Lavamancer and Deathrite. Lavamancer keeps them from sticking a Tiago, V. Clique, Finks, or even Spellstutter Sprite, while Deathrite turns Tiago into a joke (or at least a guy who Misses The Timing hard), Finks into a guy who only has one life, and Moorland Haunt into a subpar land.
Against Twin Pod, you'd much rather have Lavamancer because he kills Kiki-Jiki and other random buggers.
If you can only fit in 1-2 of your 1-drop, I'd recommend Lavamancer for your given meta because he only gets better the later the game goes. If you can't fit in 8+ fetchlands, I'd still stick to Lavamancer unless you're willing to let Deathrite not be a mana dork. If you can play 8+ fetchlands and fit 3-4 of your favoured 1-drop in, I'd recommend Deathrite.
At least, from my experience, the worst-case scenario for Deathrite Shaman is that he's a virtual unblockable 1-cmc 2/2 with an upkeep of B and someone's used instant/sorcery and that probably taps for mana. I'm also testing Deathrite in Rakdos Deck Wins and Legacy Team America, and he's been doing fairly well in those decks precisely because he has those features. (I swear that Team America deck has been doing better against Maverick because that deck cannot keep up with Delver + Deathrite starts...)
Actually, he does. Turn 2 Liliana into turn 3 BBE is half the reason jund suddenly got 10 percentage points against the field. The other reason is that abrupt decay added a level of consistency against UW tempo, as well as most pod decks. Decay lets you get VERY narrow in terms of sideboard options. Slaughter games is also a welcome answer to tron, combo, and control lists.
Yeah, it looks like people underrated his impact on the format.
Everyone that wasn't playing Deathrite Shaman x4 maindeck and running Jund felt like they were behind.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
On a more serious note, remember it's any graveyard. So chances of your opponents yard filling up with fetches are usually high, and while he is not goyf friendly, he does make turn 2 lilianan, and turn 3 bbe possible and scary for an opponent.
Just my thoughts.
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