I'm currently conflicted between a Duress or third Thoughtseize in the sideboard (4 IoK /2 Thoughtseize split main). On one hand, Duress helps against Burn, and in a good amount of matchups does the same thing Thoughtseize would for no life penalty. However, now that 4 Fulminators seems to be the norm and very strong with BBE, I'm tempted to use the 3rd Thoughtseize to have even more game against Tron (Wurmcoil Engine/Eldrazi) and Titan which are two weaker matchups. Also, it helps against decks with meaty threats like Eldrazi and Delve Creatures.
I'd love to hear any thoughts anyone has on either.
What are the current thoughts on Rabblemaster? I ran him before BBE's unban and found him fairly effective especially while Grixis DS was the boogieman. But now with 4 BBE I feel like he may be a bit too clunky or situational, and I'd usually prefer to cascade into a Lili/Maelstrom Pulse/Fulminator instead of him. I tried a list with 4 BBE and 3 Rabble but I'm not sure if it was any more effective than just cutting him for more removal.
Hey folks. I'm going to my first big modern event in a long, long time this coming weekend, and I put together a list based on a combination of what I've seen works. I just want to make sure it's solid, and am currently nitpicking card choices here and there. My current conundrum is the Grafdigger's Cage in the sideboard. I was really hyped up about using Nihil's Spellbomb, but from what I've seen thanks to Bloodbraid Elf most matches that we'd use Spellbomb we're actually favored now. I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thanks
Why don't more lists run Concealed Courtyard? Jund runs 4 Blackcleave Cliffs and usually only a couple Blooming Marshes. The mana needs of the decks seem identical if you equate red to white.
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.
Thoughts on Grim Flayer? I'm tempted to try a 3 Confidant 2 Flayer split with an aggressive mainboard and see how it ends up. I feel the only advantage Jund has over Abzan right now is how much more oppressive its starts can be with Bolt, Kolaghan's and Lavamancer.
Came home from Prague yesterday, I played the trial on Friday and the main event on Saturday. I really enjoyed both days, had some amazing games, and thought you guys might enjoy one more tournament report.
Here is the decklist I played with on both days:
I used the trials to test the flex slots and whether I needed to make any changes regarging the sideboard for the following day.
In seven rounds, I played against Burn, Affinity, Titanshift, Abzan Hardened Scales, Bant Spirits, Grixis DS and Burn again, going 5-2. The two losses happened against Titanshift and Abzan Hardened Scales. I loved the second Huntmaster in the mainboard, as he did a tremendous job in a variety of matches and gives me a good matchup against burn. Grim Lavamancer was a beast against Affinity and Spirits, but there were also matches where he was useless. Nevertheless, I liked him as a 1-off in the mainboard.
MKM-Series Prague, Main Event:
Round 1: Eldrazi and Taxes (2-0)
Game 1 he is able to path most of my threats, in the lategame he uses a Wasteland Strangler to kill my Grim Lavamancer. I am on 2 life, have 5 lands in play (1 of them is a Ravine), 1 Grim Lavamancer and 1 Bob. He has two creatures on board, one of them is a tapped Thalia. He is on 4 life, so I decided to kill his Strangler with Grim Lavamancer before his ability resolves. I reveal Bolt on my upkeep, survive with 1 life and finish him with Ravine. Game 2 he was not able to handle Huntmaster of the Fells.
Round 2: Eldrazi Tron (0-2)
Not a deck I am excited to play against, in game 1 he handles my two Goyfs with double Relic of Progenitus before he finishes me with Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. Round 2 he mulligans to 5, has natural Tron on turn 3 and finishes me with double Smasher. I didn`t see Damnation, but there is not a lot you can do against a nut draw.
Round 3: Through the Breach Scapeshift (0-2)
My opponent made several misplays during both games, but this matchup is just abysmal. Liliana and Goyf were not enough to finish him in game 1, as he plays 3 Valacuts, topdecks Through the Breach and kills me. Game 2 was the classic Scapeshift kill. Fulminator Mage was not really helpful either.
Round 4: Bring to Light Scapeshift (2-0)
Very unexperienced, but very friendly opponent. He missed his seventh land drop with Scapeshift in hand, and I am able to kill him the next turn.
Game two his deck tried to control the board, he wiped my creatures twice, countered Liliana but I managed to drop a Huntmaster and finished him.
Round 5: Storm (2-1)
Game 1 I manage to kill Baral and Electromancer, but he casts Empty the Warrens with Storm counter 5 and I coudn't find Maelstrom Pulse. Game 2 was one of the weirdest games from the whole tournament: On turn 3 he casted Blood moon after I exiled his gy with Spellbomb and tore his hand apart with Inquisition and Thoughtseize. I had one Swamp and two fastlands in play, was tapped out and had Decay, Pulse and two Goyfs in Hand. I never drew my single Forest, but managed to kill Baral and Electromancer several times with Bolt and Push and attacked him 9 turns with Bob. Game 3 I had gravehate, hand disruption and an early Goyf, which was enough to win me the game.
Round 6: Jund Death's Shadow (2-0)
Probably the two easiest games on the whole day. I was surprised to even see the deck, as I don't see any advantages the deck has over the Grixis variant. Both games my removal kills Goyfs, Flayers and Shadows, Liliana controls his hand and I can kill him with Raging Ravine as he was already on low life. Wasn`t prepared for two Bitterblossoms in game 2 but Decay and Pulse are natural answers against it once they resolve. It was the first game I saw my Goyf being on 8/9.
Round 7: Titanshift (0-2)
After seeing Cinder Glade on turn 1 I was really pissed, as this was the 4th time I played against Scapeshift in two days. Somehow, none of my friends even played a single game against the Titan in two days, but hey, what can you do? Sakura Tribe Elder is basically a time walk in this matchup before he kills me with Scapeshift on turn 6. Not even close in both games, it just felt hopeless.
Round 8: Jund (2-1)
I always love playing the mirror. Round 1 I have problems removing his Tasigur, which generates an incredible lot of value in the mirror but I finally found a Terminate and killed him with a transformed Huntmaster. Round 2 he played Liliana, the Last Hope on turn 3, had answers against all my creatures and I scooped after he got the emblem on 16 life. The last game he is not able to find an answer on my second Bob, which draws me several cards an wins me the game.
Round 9: Bloomless Titan (2-0)
I was afraid of the matchup since I remembered how Reid got destroyed by the deck at SCG Charlotte. However, I found enough disruption to kill Azusa and Titan in game 1, and killed him with Goyf. Game two Fulminator Mage was MVP as he destroyed two Gruul Turfs, which slowed him down tremendously and Huntmaster killed him eventually.
Overall I went 6-3 on day 2, after finishing 5-2 in the trials the day before. I won all the games I needed to win, but Scapeshift prevented me to finish off better. I was very happy with my mainboard and never missed Kalitas or Olivia instead of the second Huntmaster. He is just a beast in so many matchups.
About Fulminator Mage: He only helped me against Bloomless Titan, but he was basically a dead card against all the Scapeshift decks. I realized that hand disruption prevented them to kill me before turn 5, so maybe Crumble to Dust could have been quite useful, but I am not sure about it.
However, I loved to play with Jund and didn't regret my decision to play with the deck for a single moment.
You said you were on the fence about Fulminator. Are you considering cutting him? Or is he still a worthwhile flex card for when you have nothing else to fill slots in certain matchups?
Also how well did Kitchen Finks serve you? I recently cut mine because I found them underwhelming.
What's our best sideboard cards against GDS? I keep losing this matchup. I feel like Nihil is useful but doesn't clench the matchup, and I already have Damnation, Last Hope and a 2nd Maelstrom Pulse in my board.
What are some of the most punishing sideboard cards we can play? I'm looking to really hurt or downright stop some decks, but hate cards seem more whites thing. I'm talking things like Surgical Extraction for combo, Collective Brutality for Burn, and Thrun the Last Troll for Blue based control decks.
Also I made some edits for my local meta. I made a pretty educated meta guess, and my local results were near exactly the same to what I expected. As such I've tightened up my sideboard:
The current meta for my area is Affinity, GDS, Burn, Coco, U/W/x control, Eldrazi Tron, and Mirror, in that order of popularity. I'm currently testing the Rabblemaster in the main, but so far think I could be onto a good aggressive 3-drop, especially since Bolt is seeing less play. I also dropped Kitchen Finks because they always felt mediocre against everything except Burn, and even then I feel that matchup is more about hitting a couple good top decks than anything.
I really want at least 6 one-mana instant kill spells in the main to deal with mana dorks and high speed decks like Affinity. If they play a turn 1 Arcbound or Overseer, it's a really tough time if you don't answer it immidiately.
Lavamancer comes in when bolt is already good, meaning I'll still retain the 6 1-mana answers and also have access to Lavamancer post board.
Plus in heavy killspell matchups such as the mirror, I'd much rather have Bolt for reach instead of Lavamancer who usually is just killed instantly.
Hey guys, made a couple small changes to my list and am looking for feedback. Going to a large event soon and I suspect a lot of Affinity, GDS, Burn, Eldrazi Tron, and the mirror:
4+ drops choices - Huntmaster always gets a nod from me because he's literally never a bad top deck. He's great when you're behind, and great when you're ahead. Olivia helps against Lingering Souls (which I both expect to see a good number of and is hard for Jund to fight) and feels really strong right now due to big, flightless creatures being the norm of the meta. Thundermaw also helps against Lingering Souls, flies over the majority of the meta and is fantastic in the mirror. He's also closed out a significant number of games in testing.
3/3 Discard Split - Thoughtseize is much better against GDS and Eldrazi. Also hits Titan Shift better, which seems to be coming up in popularity.
Cutting a Bolt for Dismember - I feel I'm on to something worthwhile here. Dismember kills every relevant creature in the meta outside of Ullamog and Prime Titan. Bolt is the worst it's ever been, and while I'd never want to play 0, cutting one for this spell seems natural, especially since it keeps my 1-mana removal count the same without dipping lower on Fatal Push.
Quick Sideboard Rundown - Spellbomb and Cage help against Dredge, but I'm preferring Spellbomb due to it's added utility against DS and the mirror. Fulminator, Finks, Grudge and Brutality are core. Lavamancer comes in against any match where Bolt is actually good. Lili adds additional token protection, and helps fight the mirror. Kolaghan's #2 is because I wanted a card that hit both Affinity and Burn. Thrun is slightly a pet card because I really, really, really hate permissive control decks.
Currently my only debate is whether to keep Thundermaw main or swap it around with the 2nd Kolaghan's. The former helps close pre-board games when the opponent isn't expecting it, but the latter gives me better non-specific coverage.
Sure, though I obsessively change my list slightly just about every time I play. I'll try to recreate last night's as best I can. I'll add notes below.
3 Bobs because right now that's all I have. I'll be changing that pretty quickly; I'm just lazy, 3 has worked, and I don't have a lot of time or money to put toward MTG right now (and I'm really bad at hoarding cards instead of trading for stuff). I've also thought about trying out a Grim Flayer in that slot because I find the card interesting and haven't done any testing with him.
I'll probably switch the push/bolt spread. I have an unreasonable attachment to lightning bolt and don't like the amount of things Push doesn't kill when bolt could at least force a trade or dome someone. I might go up to 9 fetches if I do. My locals have an inordinately high number of target-lite control lists, too.
3/3 discard split because IoK misses enough things I care about nowadays that I prefer the extra security in being able to nab the problem cards vs. the life.
3 LotV because I never picked up the 4th back when I was building the deck for some reason, and LtLH is waaaay cheaper and very interesting. I've yet to really do anything cool with her, though, as she's a pretty recent acquisition. I thought about Chandra, Torch of Defiance but I'm already running a fairly high curve for Jund and the reviews I've seen here and other places have been fairly underwhelming. I may decide to go full 4 LotV at some point, though.
Brutality switches from main to side but lately I've been draining myself so much between mana fixing, bob, and thoughtseize that I felt like squeezing a bit more MB lifegain.
2 Scoozes instead of 3 because... I don't know. I'm never super jazzed with Scooze, honestly. I have like a million of them though so maybe I'll jam another in there. Seems like it'd help alleviate my threat issues and painful mana some.
The sideboard is in constant flux. I've tried Crumble to Dust, Blood Moon because I love that card, Shatterstorm, another huntmaster, Duress... I mean, the list goes on. I've even jammed a Stormbreath Dragon in there because yay dragons and FU path to exile. I've run a Languish here before and that felt REALLY good when I kept a goyf or dragon, but I'm scared enough by what it doesn't kill that I don't think I'd take it over an actual wrath effect. Still, beats weird indestructible tech I guess?
The thundermaw is a pet card, but even in non-Souls matchups it pulls its weight. I doubt I'll cut him anytime soon.
Edit: I tried a single Mountain in place of the 2nd Forest, and to be honest, I actually really liked it. I might switch back; didn't run into Blood Moon this week (but LAST WEEK omg everywhere), and being able to tutor my 2nd red off a path or shockless fetch for a hellkite felt pretty good. Spreading Seas is very common at my LGS, too.
Hopefully last edit: I've been kinda toying with a mana sink card like Rakdos's Return or something just to break up the awful draw-go topdeck wars I get into with all the local control players. Anyone tried something dumb like this?
Just kidding, more edits: The Pulse of Murasa in the sideboard is a new(ish) idea I wanted to try anticipating Burn, which I didn't pair up against. I didn't draw it all night but it still seems to have fringe applications against other stuff where recursion, life, or even mana fixing matters. Speaking of pulses, I'm probably gonna add another Maelstrom Pulse because I've been seeing a lot of problematic 'walkers around my shops lately. Anyone played with multiples regularly?
Some things I'm interested in trying:
Kalitas. Never tested him. Lifelink is dope tho.
Rhonas. I tried a wolf-run once but let's just say colored mana is pretty important to the deck...
Tireless Tracker.
Painful Truths.
Hell, maybe a Thragtusk in the board.
I mean the best and worst thing about Jund is how flexible it can be. It's great to try things and tune to a meta, it's awful having a brewer's mentality and always wanting to try new things, never being satisfied with your list. I just love the deck too much to stop, I guess.
Questions? Comments? Criticisms? Happy to discuss!
Thanks, I mainly wanted to see how you handled you 4+ drops because I've been having a small crisis with them myself. I currently just 1 of of Huntmaster, Olivia and T-Maw in the main with Thrun in the side. I've been testing T-Maw main and so far I love it, having such a vicious top end feels amazing a lot of the time, and with a good number of Souls decks running around he sometimes gets added utility. There's also generally low amounts of flying creatures around, so sometimes he wins the game on his own
I'd love to hear any thoughts anyone has on either.
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Bloodbraid Elf
Flashbangers
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Fatal Push
1 Terminate
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Kolaghan's Command
No No's
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Dreadbore
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Enablers
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Raging Ravine
1 Treetop Village
1 Twilight Mire
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Collective Brutality
1 Thoughtseize
Really glad to see Rabblemaster get top 32. I've been pulling for this card for a while now and this only makes me like it even more.
He's felt good in nearly every matchup except Eldrazi Tron, but then again we hate Tron to begin with.
You said you were on the fence about Fulminator. Are you considering cutting him? Or is he still a worthwhile flex card for when you have nothing else to fill slots in certain matchups?
Also how well did Kitchen Finks serve you? I recently cut mine because I found them underwhelming.
Also I made some edits for my local meta. I made a pretty educated meta guess, and my local results were near exactly the same to what I expected. As such I've tightened up my sideboard:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
Flash
4 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Terminate
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Kolaghan's Command
Crash
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Liliana of the Veil
Cash
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blooming Marsh
3 Raging Ravine
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Kolaghan's Command
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Anger of the Gods
The current meta for my area is Affinity, GDS, Burn, Coco, U/W/x control, Eldrazi Tron, and Mirror, in that order of popularity. I'm currently testing the Rabblemaster in the main, but so far think I could be onto a good aggressive 3-drop, especially since Bolt is seeing less play. I also dropped Kitchen Finks because they always felt mediocre against everything except Burn, and even then I feel that matchup is more about hitting a couple good top decks than anything.
Lavamancer comes in when bolt is already good, meaning I'll still retain the 6 1-mana answers and also have access to Lavamancer post board.
Plus in heavy killspell matchups such as the mirror, I'd much rather have Bolt for reach instead of Lavamancer who usually is just killed instantly.
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
The Skipper too
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
The Millionaire and his Wife
4 Fatal Push
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Dismember
3 Terminate
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Kolaghan's Command
4 Liliana of the Veil
The Professor
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blooming Marsh
3 Raging Ravine
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Grim Lavamancer
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Collective Brutality
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Notes on card choices:
Currently my only debate is whether to keep Thundermaw main or swap it around with the 2nd Kolaghan's. The former helps close pre-board games when the opponent isn't expecting it, but the latter gives me better non-specific coverage.
Thanks, I mainly wanted to see how you handled you 4+ drops because I've been having a small crisis with them myself. I currently just 1 of of Huntmaster, Olivia and T-Maw in the main with Thrun in the side. I've been testing T-Maw main and so far I love it, having such a vicious top end feels amazing a lot of the time, and with a good number of Souls decks running around he sometimes gets added utility. There's also generally low amounts of flying creatures around, so sometimes he wins the game on his own