I'm thinking about Nissa, Vital Force or Garruk Wildspeaker. What i really love about this deck that you can play many good cards.
The only times I would have needed Abbey was against the Anger's and Kozilek's Return. I certainly wish I had drawn it at those times but I can say Westvale has been a key defense many times and I'd never consider it over Nykthos. I did use the extra Clerics in my round 2 match to continue applying pressure throughout the game 2 with the Cannonist out. Nykthos wouldn't have done squat that game.
Nissa has been a pretty solid card in matches that slow down and when you can cast it turn 3, it's fantastic. I can also see Garruk being equally great but since reaching four mana with a black source and five mana with no color restriction other than green both happen on average around turn 3, I went with the easier color restriction.
Heh, the moment you realize you know who someone is online. I know we talked about Hazoret a ton and she definitely is the four drop that lets you punish people the hardest and I think should be in the main. I'm surprised you weren't on 24 lands but preference, I guess. The good part of Hazoret and 24 lands is the flood while Hazoret is out doesn't hurt you nearly as much.
I don't think the meta page is quite right since the placing page says there were five Jund lists and I only see four on the pie. I know it got the Elf totals right (myself being one for 13th) so the chart isn't 100% correct but probably close enough to use for conversation.
Anyway, good job on 12th. Are you going to run it back on Thursday with Hazoret this time?
I may or may not make it to modern tonight at Shanes in Renton, or MBH on Thurs/Fri (got 2 new puppies I am house training at home so I'm a bit distracted during the week) but I am going to the MBH 1k this saturday and I am essentially running it back with Hazoret in the main and hopefully I can find that 4th Bob amongst my stuff.
I make no secret as to who I am, and frequently stream and post here and on Reddit under this username. It's always good to chat details on Jund with folks. Grats on getting 13th!
Isn't the 1k not this Saturday but the one after (the 16th)?
Anyway, update if you get to play with Hazoret as I love hearing success stories with her.
So I've done a ton of lurking but this is my first post in here. I had a 1k modern event this weekend that I took GB Elves to and thought I’d share my results. There were 55 entries and I finished 13th (4-2 record). Here is my list:
Titan Shift L 1-2
Game one he has Anger main deck and I run into it and he proceeds to do his ramp and is quicker than I can rebuild. Game two he doesn’t have Anger and I Shaman of the Pact him pretty quick. I mulliganed strictly for a degenerate start because I know this match boils down to whether he draws Anger or not. If I try to pace my threats then he gets enough time to do his thing and I cannot allow that. Game three he has Anger twice and I lose. He ended up finishing third in the event.
Four Color Midrange W 2-0
Game one he bolts my Elvish Mystic turn one, then goes Confidant into Knight of the Reliquary. I follow up with two more Elvish Mystic, next turn Visionary into Archdruid, then Ezuri and overrun the win. Game two he bolts my Elf turn one then has Ethersworm Cannonist but it slows him down as much as it does me. Turn two I drop a Shapers’ Sanctuary so I’ll always have a full hand between the Cannonist and the Sanctuary if he removes my one play. We grind for a bit and he ends up having a LotV in play which sacrifices my last creature. I get super lucky the next few turns and get to play an Archdruid which survives, then next turn play Dwynen’s Elite so I don’t have to worry about removal into Lili minus. He then -2 to sac his own Cannonist which loses his Lili. This allows him to cast multiple creatures into another Cannonist. Thankfully I top deck Ezuri and overrun again for the win. My opponent said the Sanctuary slowed him down quite a bit (besides the Cannonist, obviously).
UR Breach w/ As Foretold W 2-0
Game one he stumbles and I have a good start and Shaman for the easy win. Game two he actually hits his lands and plays Remand a few times but I eventually get to play stuff that all die to bolts or get countered by Logic Knot. I land a Scavenging Ooze uncontested and grow it out of bolt range the same turn. It becomes a 7 power creature over the next turn or two and kills him.
GDS L 0-2
Game one he has a DS and a Tasigur. I have a huge field and an Llanowar Elf and a Shaman in hand. I don’t remember the creatures but if I attack with my board and he blocks my two biggest creatures then he goes to a life total that kills if I play Elf/Shaman. He responds to the Shaman trigger with Terminate which puts him to one and no cards in hand. He top decks a Snap to then flashback Push on my one untapped creature and he swings for 16 which happened to be my life total. Terrible feeling but I’d play the line again in a heartbeat. Game two I draw one land for the first 6-7 turns but have a ton of mana elves. He ends up playing Kozilek’s Return and lots of other removal to kill seven mana worth of mana elves and I can’t rebuild enough with only one land. I drew a second but it was after the damage was done.
Elves 2-0
He’s on the play and is on three color. He does Nettle Sentinel/Heritage druid shenanigans but only has one Shaman to put me to 10 or so. I have the same Nettle/Heritage draw but get to respond to my first Shaman trigger with a CoCo that nets me another Shaman so 22 damage later via Shaman and I steal game one. Game two I get to double Shaman again over two casts and steal two games on the draw.
Sultai Midrange 2-0
Game one he has little interaction and I easily overrun with Ezuri/Archdruid. Game two I had a sweet play to put the game away. I have three lands, an Archdruid, a Chameleon Colossus, and another Elvish Mystic in play while he has a Grim Flayer and 5 mana. My hand is double Dwynen’s Elite and Nissa, Vital Force. I cast both Elite’s and get the tokens. I tap Archdruid for seven mana, spend five on Nissa then -3 her to get the Heritage Druid in my graveyard. I cast it and tap it and my two tokens for three mana and using the one float pump my Colossus to a 10/10 and swing. He has no non-black interaction for it so it puts him to a total to where he can’t get rid of the Colossus but if he did I’d have a Nissa to swing a lethal land.
As I said I got 13th place out of 55 (full results: http://geekfortress.wpengine.com/modern-1k-winter-edition-final-results/) so I’m pleased with the result but I really wanted top 8. The deck felt wonderful and I wouldn’t change anything main deck. The side also felt good and there wasn’t ever a card I thought was awful. I didn’t face any Eldrazi matchups for Glissa and didn’t draw it against GDS in case people were wondering about that one.
Heh, the moment you realize you know who someone is online. I know we talked about Hazoret a ton and she definitely is the four drop that lets you punish people the hardest and I think should be in the main. I'm surprised you weren't on 24 lands but preference, I guess. The good part of Hazoret and 24 lands is the flood while Hazoret is out doesn't hurt you nearly as much.
I don't think the meta page is quite right since the placing page says there were five Jund lists and I only see four on the pie. I know it got the Elf totals right (myself being one for 13th) so the chart isn't 100% correct but probably close enough to use for conversation.
Anyway, good job on 12th. Are you going to run it back on Thursday with Hazoret this time?
@Saige what are your good and bad matchups with that build? i wanna try it. What do you board against them? I'm still bad with sideboarding choices (what to board out
I had a long reply typed up as a response but hit back on accident, whoops. Basically the deck functions like an Abzan/Jund midrange deck so a lot of the same sideboarding rules and good/bad matchups apply. Tron game one is awful but you get to bring in a lot and more importantly take out a lot of awful cards. Collected Company decks are good matchups as hand disruption for noncreature spells and kill spells for creatures is exactly what you are built to do and what ends up happening a lot of the times I play the deck. I have a sideboarding guide on the tappedout page that's up to date (minus one or two changes) and it has been good for me so far. In general the sideboard plan boils down to what cards are awful against what you're playing (ex. Liliana vs Lingering Souls decks) and what cards can be upgraded (ex. Damnation/Crackling Doom over Bolt against Eldrazi).
If you do give it a try, I'd love to hear how it goes for you. Also where I play streams our weeklies so if I end up getting on stream with the deck I can provide a link to the gameplay.
Considering sleeving this deck up. Was looking for something a little different than the Nahiri, the Harbinger / Emrakul, the Aeons Torn style. Please critique and provide your thoughts!
Note: There are minor budget concerns here, hence the 1 Liliana of the Veil. I'm trying to trade into 1 or 2 more.
I am more on the midrange plan like yourself and I have been for months so I'd love to comment on this list. This is my current list, heavily tweaked after months of playing.
I used to have Abbot but a one time card advantage card that isn't a huge threat later wasn't cutting it for me. Also once Death's Shadow became a thing, Lightning Helix became an awful card. I used to have 3 but holding two Helix against a Death's Shadow and a Tasigur was just awful.
Other instants/sorceries and their count in your deck are how you feel against what you play locally so I can respond to any questions on differences between our lists. I have been down on Collective Brutality personally as I've found it very underwhelming lately.
I can say that the cycling cards from Amonkhet have been great and I would recommend at least trying them. I had issues with flooding so having the cycle land was a nice touch and having an additional fetch target has been nice. Also of note Sweltering Suns has given me outs I didn't have before which includes game ones against Storm who have Empty the Warrens.
Hazoret is best clock I've found for this deck as it's been great so far and is a stellar topdeck. Don' be afraid to cast her without her being a creature as most opponents who see that won't be scared of it so you get free shocks with bad draws you may have later. Other intricacies include Chandra+SFGM makes it super easy to buyback spells.
Sideboarding against combo has led me to two Surgical and two Lost Legacy. The speed which Lost Legacy can be played far outweights any downside the card is supposed to have. Using Lost Legacy on a Living End is totally worth any card draw they'd get. Same with Ad Nauseam, etc. I almost want three now. Note that my manabase can be Blood Moon proof so I am able to run it in the side which is also great against combo, among other things. I did read the Kabal suggestion and I am interested in trying that out. Also I can vouch that Rakdos Charm is nuts against a lot of decks and of course is incredibly versatile. I've stopped Living End/Storm/other Graveyard combos with it at instant speed and I've even killed opponents with the last mode, notably against RW Prison and an Elspeth who kept ticking up until they had nine tokens and I killed them.
The only times I would have needed Abbey was against the Anger's and Kozilek's Return. I certainly wish I had drawn it at those times but I can say Westvale has been a key defense many times and I'd never consider it over Nykthos. I did use the extra Clerics in my round 2 match to continue applying pressure throughout the game 2 with the Cannonist out. Nykthos wouldn't have done squat that game.
Nissa has been a pretty solid card in matches that slow down and when you can cast it turn 3, it's fantastic. I can also see Garruk being equally great but since reaching four mana with a black source and five mana with no color restriction other than green both happen on average around turn 3, I went with the easier color restriction.
Isn't the 1k not this Saturday but the one after (the 16th)?
Anyway, update if you get to play with Hazoret as I love hearing success stories with her.
4x Elvish Archdruid
4x Elvish Mystic
3x Elvish Visionary
2x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1x Gnarlroot Trapper
4x Heritage Druid
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Shaman of the Pack
3x Lead the Stampede
1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
4x Blooming Marsh
4x Cavern of Souls
5x Forest
4x Gilt-Leaf Palace
1x Westvale Abbey
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Elvish Champion
1x Glissa, the Traitor
1x Nissa, Vital Force
2x Reclamation Sage
1x Scavenging Ooze
3x Shapers' Sanctuary
3x Thoughtseize
Titan Shift L 1-2
Game one he has Anger main deck and I run into it and he proceeds to do his ramp and is quicker than I can rebuild. Game two he doesn’t have Anger and I Shaman of the Pact him pretty quick. I mulliganed strictly for a degenerate start because I know this match boils down to whether he draws Anger or not. If I try to pace my threats then he gets enough time to do his thing and I cannot allow that. Game three he has Anger twice and I lose. He ended up finishing third in the event.
Four Color Midrange W 2-0
Game one he bolts my Elvish Mystic turn one, then goes Confidant into Knight of the Reliquary. I follow up with two more Elvish Mystic, next turn Visionary into Archdruid, then Ezuri and overrun the win. Game two he bolts my Elf turn one then has Ethersworm Cannonist but it slows him down as much as it does me. Turn two I drop a Shapers’ Sanctuary so I’ll always have a full hand between the Cannonist and the Sanctuary if he removes my one play. We grind for a bit and he ends up having a LotV in play which sacrifices my last creature. I get super lucky the next few turns and get to play an Archdruid which survives, then next turn play Dwynen’s Elite so I don’t have to worry about removal into Lili minus. He then -2 to sac his own Cannonist which loses his Lili. This allows him to cast multiple creatures into another Cannonist. Thankfully I top deck Ezuri and overrun again for the win. My opponent said the Sanctuary slowed him down quite a bit (besides the Cannonist, obviously).
UR Breach w/ As Foretold W 2-0
Game one he stumbles and I have a good start and Shaman for the easy win. Game two he actually hits his lands and plays Remand a few times but I eventually get to play stuff that all die to bolts or get countered by Logic Knot. I land a Scavenging Ooze uncontested and grow it out of bolt range the same turn. It becomes a 7 power creature over the next turn or two and kills him.
GDS L 0-2
Game one he has a DS and a Tasigur. I have a huge field and an Llanowar Elf and a Shaman in hand. I don’t remember the creatures but if I attack with my board and he blocks my two biggest creatures then he goes to a life total that kills if I play Elf/Shaman. He responds to the Shaman trigger with Terminate which puts him to one and no cards in hand. He top decks a Snap to then flashback Push on my one untapped creature and he swings for 16 which happened to be my life total. Terrible feeling but I’d play the line again in a heartbeat. Game two I draw one land for the first 6-7 turns but have a ton of mana elves. He ends up playing Kozilek’s Return and lots of other removal to kill seven mana worth of mana elves and I can’t rebuild enough with only one land. I drew a second but it was after the damage was done.
Elves 2-0
He’s on the play and is on three color. He does Nettle Sentinel/Heritage druid shenanigans but only has one Shaman to put me to 10 or so. I have the same Nettle/Heritage draw but get to respond to my first Shaman trigger with a CoCo that nets me another Shaman so 22 damage later via Shaman and I steal game one. Game two I get to double Shaman again over two casts and steal two games on the draw.
Sultai Midrange 2-0
Game one he has little interaction and I easily overrun with Ezuri/Archdruid. Game two I had a sweet play to put the game away. I have three lands, an Archdruid, a Chameleon Colossus, and another Elvish Mystic in play while he has a Grim Flayer and 5 mana. My hand is double Dwynen’s Elite and Nissa, Vital Force. I cast both Elite’s and get the tokens. I tap Archdruid for seven mana, spend five on Nissa then -3 her to get the Heritage Druid in my graveyard. I cast it and tap it and my two tokens for three mana and using the one float pump my Colossus to a 10/10 and swing. He has no non-black interaction for it so it puts him to a total to where he can’t get rid of the Colossus but if he did I’d have a Nissa to swing a lethal land.
As I said I got 13th place out of 55 (full results: http://geekfortress.wpengine.com/modern-1k-winter-edition-final-results/) so I’m pleased with the result but I really wanted top 8. The deck felt wonderful and I wouldn’t change anything main deck. The side also felt good and there wasn’t ever a card I thought was awful. I didn’t face any Eldrazi matchups for Glissa and didn’t draw it against GDS in case people were wondering about that one.
I don't think the meta page is quite right since the placing page says there were five Jund lists and I only see four on the pie. I know it got the Elf totals right (myself being one for 13th) so the chart isn't 100% correct but probably close enough to use for conversation.
Anyway, good job on 12th. Are you going to run it back on Thursday with Hazoret this time?
I had a long reply typed up as a response but hit back on accident, whoops. Basically the deck functions like an Abzan/Jund midrange deck so a lot of the same sideboarding rules and good/bad matchups apply. Tron game one is awful but you get to bring in a lot and more importantly take out a lot of awful cards. Collected Company decks are good matchups as hand disruption for noncreature spells and kill spells for creatures is exactly what you are built to do and what ends up happening a lot of the times I play the deck. I have a sideboarding guide on the tappedout page that's up to date (minus one or two changes) and it has been good for me so far. In general the sideboard plan boils down to what cards are awful against what you're playing (ex. Liliana vs Lingering Souls decks) and what cards can be upgraded (ex. Damnation/Crackling Doom over Bolt against Eldrazi).
If you do give it a try, I'd love to hear how it goes for you. Also where I play streams our weeklies so if I end up getting on stream with the deck I can provide a link to the gameplay.
I am more on the midrange plan like yourself and I have been for months so I'd love to comment on this list. This is my current list, heavily tweaked after months of playing.
4 Dark Confidant
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Hazoret the Fervent
2 Soulfire Grand Master
Instant
2 Fatal Push
1 Kolaghan's Command
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Terminate
Sorcery
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
1 Sweltering Suns
2 Thoughtseize
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Liliana of the Veil
Lands
2 Arid Mesa
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Canyon Slough
1 Godless Shrine
2 Marsh Flats
1 Needle Spires
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Shambling Vent
2 Swamp
1 Anguished Unmaking
2 Blood Moon
1 Crackling Doom
2 Damnation
2 Lost Legacy
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Rakdos Charm
2 Stony Silence
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Wear // Tear
I used to have Abbot but a one time card advantage card that isn't a huge threat later wasn't cutting it for me. Also once Death's Shadow became a thing, Lightning Helix became an awful card. I used to have 3 but holding two Helix against a Death's Shadow and a Tasigur was just awful.
Other instants/sorceries and their count in your deck are how you feel against what you play locally so I can respond to any questions on differences between our lists. I have been down on Collective Brutality personally as I've found it very underwhelming lately.
I can say that the cycling cards from Amonkhet have been great and I would recommend at least trying them. I had issues with flooding so having the cycle land was a nice touch and having an additional fetch target has been nice. Also of note Sweltering Suns has given me outs I didn't have before which includes game ones against Storm who have Empty the Warrens.
Hazoret is best clock I've found for this deck as it's been great so far and is a stellar topdeck. Don' be afraid to cast her without her being a creature as most opponents who see that won't be scared of it so you get free shocks with bad draws you may have later. Other intricacies include Chandra+SFGM makes it super easy to buyback spells.
Sideboarding against combo has led me to two Surgical and two Lost Legacy. The speed which Lost Legacy can be played far outweights any downside the card is supposed to have. Using Lost Legacy on a Living End is totally worth any card draw they'd get. Same with Ad Nauseam, etc. I almost want three now. Note that my manabase can be Blood Moon proof so I am able to run it in the side which is also great against combo, among other things. I did read the Kabal suggestion and I am interested in trying that out. Also I can vouch that Rakdos Charm is nuts against a lot of decks and of course is incredibly versatile. I've stopped Living End/Storm/other Graveyard combos with it at instant speed and I've even killed opponents with the last mode, notably against RW Prison and an Elspeth who kept ticking up until they had nine tokens and I killed them.
I've kept a small changelog of my changes over time here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/02-03-16-gal-mardu/
Cards are always in flux for me so don't think I'm not equally open to suggestions.
PS Rabblemaster is awesome, never cutting it.