Hi mates,
I'm an italian player and after the ban of my favourite legacy deck, Miracles, I decided to choose Jund in Modern and Legacy.
I've never played Jund, but with some local tournaments I made nice results with this list:
I play 61 cards because "I NEED MORE POWER" !! Kolaghan's Command is one of my favourite cards and, in addition, I consider Bloodbraid less powerful now.
I don't play Fatal Push because I don't want to cast it with the Cascade ability of BBElf.
Instead of the 3th BBElf, maybe I'll test Garruk Relentless or Chandra, Torch of Defiance. What do u think about them? So, and BBElf now?
About removal spells, I've found a fantastic equilibrium. I don't think to change any removals in my deck.
About the sideboard, my metagame is full of blue-decks, Grixis delver/control, bug levold/delver, team america, some reanimator, death&taxes, ant.
Thank you so much for your reply and sorry for my bad english!
Your main deck seems fine, but I don't think you have enough game against combo in your sideboard. I'd consider adding more discard or other things in place of things like 3 REB/Pyro, Faerie Macs, and Diabolic Edict.
The REB/Pyros are usually not that great. You already have a ton of removal for Delver decks and I find sitting on them against Show and Tell isn't a great idea since I'd rather be proactive and destroy their hand instead of waiting on them to cast Show anD tell.
Definitely run at least 3 pieces of GY hate, but I've never been a big fan of Faerie. I like Grafdigger's Cage and Surgical more because they work in a lot of other match-ups too.
Since top has gotten banned, there has been a lot of talk about a DRS ban, how would this affect our deck?
I wouldn't worry about this now. I would be more worried that our best match-up is now gone and combo will start to come back. The meta was relatively even in terms of diversity, but now combo will not be as scared, which is bad for Jund. I for one am considering rebuilding either Storm or Sneak and Show.
My parents live in Seattle so I've visited a number of times and been lucky enough to go to a few prereleases too.
With that said, I've been to Mox Boarding House, Uncle Games (Redmond), and Games and Gizmos and don't have anything negative to say about any of them. I'd say Uncle Games and Games and Gizmos felt a bit more casual, but that's because Mox Boarding House is really Card Kingdom and has a relatively healthy following and great Legacy/Modern events that they stream. However, I have never done a prerelease there. Just Legacy Thursdays, which weren't like super competitive either.
Long story short, you can't lose with any of those three options although I did open two Planeswalkers (one foil) in my sealed pool at Games and Gizmos :P. Good luck!
Pretty sure you want a critical amount of turn 1 answers to deathrite shamans right now, there are A LOT of em. "losing" the drs war in midrange mirrors is real rough. Push does that while also answering bigger threats. I'm not sure what my ratio of bolts/push will be but I'm gonna start out with 4 total mb.
I don't think it's worth 4 in the MB. In fact, I was only going to try two in the SB. I think it's nice because it hits up to Thought-Knot Seer.
Yeah sure, its applications are very limited, but say you have a very heavy eldrazi infested meta. TKS catching Damnation certainly is a problem though, thats true.
This is not the nicest answer, but if your meta is filled with Eldrazi, you shouldn't be playing Jund. I've learned to accept my bad match-ups like Eldrazi and Burn. Doesn't mean we shouldn't have something in the SB, but if your meta is filled with a bad match-up where you are very likely to face it multiple times and your goal is to win then you should switch decks that are favored against said match-up instead. It's more efficient and probably less frustrating.
If the room is filled with Fair Blue, then Jund (and Shardless BUG) is the right choice.
Tribute to hunger is cheaper and instant speed, but I wonder if it's worth waiting for one more mana to get two sacs and two life gains?
At the same time, I wish we could splash for Crackling Doom since it would get their Reality Smashers without targeting and it costs three mana. It's not out yet, but I wonder if Fatal Push will make its way in since it can kill TKS?
Still, your best bet will be Blood Moon, how unsynergistic that might be in combination with our manabase.
Huh. I hadn't thought of Big Game Hunter or Shriekmaw. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but does targeting Reality Smasher with Shriekmaw's ability count as a "spell" in that we have to discard? I think the answer is yes, but it would be nice if the answer were no.
Tribute to hunger is cheaper and instant speed, but I wonder if it's worth waiting for one more mana to get two sacs and two life gains?
At the same time, I wish we could splash for Crackling Doom since it would get their Reality Smashers without targeting and it costs three mana. It's not out yet, but I wonder if Fatal Push will make its way in since it can kill TKS?
So I think this has been asked before, but I can't seem to find the answer.
I'm getting ready for GP Louisville and feel there are three decks you will likely see a lot of and those are Miracles, DnT, and Eldrazi. I think I'm fine against the first two (especially against DnT after adding a Kolaghan's Command MD to give me 2 answers for Prelate on 2 in the main deck and 2 answers in the side), but Eldrazi has always been a bad match-up.
I am willing to dedicate 3 pieces in my SB to help against Eldrazi, but don't have a lot of answers. So far I've thought about Meekstone (which doesn't work well with our creatures) and Consuming Vapors since it doesn't target, sacs multiple creatures, and gains us life. The problem is it's 4 mana, but I'm leaning towards it right now since it also doubles against fatty creature decks although things like Sneak Attack and EoT Marit Lage still dodge.
What do you think about the infect MU? I've seen infect being present in my meta, so I'd like to know
I feel we are pretty favored against Infect. They have only 12 creatures we care about (4 Glistener Elf, 4 Blighted Agent, and 4 Inkmoth Nexus) and Punishing Fire and Abrupt Decay kill all of those. Wastelands you should save for Inkmoth Nexus. Basically recurrable removal is ridiculous against them. I've noticed some are now running 2 Spellskite in the SB to counter us a bit, but even then you can kill it pretty easily and go back to killing their dudes. Again, they have very few threats. Also be sure to kill during your turn so they have to waste protection spells rather than use then during their combat where they get the bonus pumps.
I am actually inspired by your list, which I found on MTGgoldfish, it seems straightforward and I like 2 copies of Sylvan Library. I think I want to start by playing only 3 Wastelands at the beginning, because I don't know how much Blood Moon I am going to face.
That seems fine. I've been playing that main deck for over 5 years now. I think *maybe* I added the 2nd Sylvan somewhere between then and now, but that's it. The rest has been stable for years now and I've been very happy with it. I know I could run Bolts, but I'd rather run 4 Abrupt Decay, 4 Punishing Fire, and more Hymn to Tourach. Those are usually what get lowered for bolts. I might start running 2 bolts if DnT starts becoming a problem with its Prelates on 2, but right now the Toxic Deluges in the SB seem to be enough.
I want to start with a diverse and basic sideboard, so that means some -1/-1, some GY hate, some Enchantment and Artifact destruction, some extra discard and choke against blue stuff, Pithing needle as a versatile slot, but I am not sure about the ooze, isn't it too slow in legacy?
What would you put in the extra 2 slots in the SB, extra GY hate, Null Rod?
The Scavenging Ooze is for GY-based decks, but also decks that will side in RIP against us. Goyf becomes a 0/1, but Ooze will always be at least a 2/2 (i.e. a slow clock). Basically Ooze is dual purpose since it helps with GY decks, but also against Miracles, which will side in RIP. It also destroys Elves after you kill all their dudes and provide a little life gain against Burn (which we are unfavored against).
Is it ok to play 4 basics, or is it too much? I can surely go up to 4 wastelands any time, just thought I start by dodging Blood Moon/Wasteland a bit more, don't know how present Blood Moon in legacy is though.
That's fine too. I know folks run 3 with 2 swamps and no Mountain, but that basic Mountain has gotten me out of trouble a ton of times. Without it you can get wasted out of Red sources. Groves are a priority for them to remove (any good player saves their Wastelands for our Groves) and once they see how little Red you have, they will attack your Badlands too. With a basic Mountain you're protected against all that.
You should own Miracles and D&T. Storm has the advantage in game 1 but you can hit them hard with your sideboard in games 2 and 3. I personally believe Elves is a tough match even after sideboard because they usually being relevant anti-hate.
I agree with most of this other than Elves. I find post-board we're in pretty good shape since we usually bring in 2 - 4 -X/-X effects and if used properly, it can win the game. Game one you should keep hands with the Punishing Fire and recursion because you can keep them from developing a board and they will eventually run out of gas.
In short, we're heavily favored against Miracles, Delver decks, and Shardless BUG and since Miracles is the most popular and most powerful deck, that's in itself a decent reason to play Jund. We're slightly favored against DnT and I'd say Elves is a 50/50, and lastly most combo decks and Eldrazi we're unfavored. I used to say we're pretty favored against DnT, but Prelate has changed that.
Why aren't you running Surgical Extraction? Seems to me to be much better against that deck, as you can play around chancellor with it if you're on the play and it's still an answer if they're on the play sans protection.
I like Grafdiggers because it also hits Elves and completely shuts down manaless Dredge. Then again, the latter isn't that popular. I could add Surgical and take out Rakdos Charm, but I like the modal spells that give me options.
Played in a Star City Games Legacy Qualifier and got 3rd/4th. Went 3-1-1 in Swiss rounds, made Top 8, won my quarterfinals match, and then lost in the semis. It's annoying, but TCG won't let me update my list, which didn't run Arlinn Kord. I played a pretty traditional list that I'd been playing for 5+ years now.
Round 1 I drew to Goblins, which was surprising, but I just couldn't end the third game fast enough. I had to prioritize killing his Goblins with the Punishing Fire engine and by the time I had it stabilized, we were in turns and I had no clock (spent all my mana on removal). Think with 5 or so more turns I could have had it, but if I didn't do the removal, I'd have lost to Piledrivers and other things a lot earlier. 0-0-1
Round 2 I beat Lands, which surprised me since I feel this is a bad match-up. I got lucky Game 1 with a lot Wastelands to stop his Depths combo twice and Game 2 I Rakdos Charmed his entire GY and Maelstrom Pulsed his two Mox Diamonds. After a Wasteland, he scooped. 1-0-1
Round 3 I beat Death and Taxes, which is considerably harder with Prelate in the main deck now. They name 2 and it's hard to kill things since Punishing Fire and Decay are both on 2. I won Game 1 and then won Game 2 after I finally drew my Toxic Deluge to kill the Prelate with Batterskull equipped. He was at like 32 life by the time I killed it, but it worked out. 2-0-1
Round 4 I lost to Burn, which is expected. However, I had the game won and guessed wrong. I had an untapped Wasteland (to kill my non-basics if he tries to Price me) and could have played a fetchland to fetch a Badlands to Punishing Fire the last two damage on him, but I thought he had a Price and would kill me in response since I'd be tapped out with a ton of non-basics. I guessed wrong and he had Fireblast and topdecked a bolt after I passed. I should have just gone for the lethal since he didn't have Price. Oh well. 2-1-1
Round 5 I beat Aluren Combo. I had to play since I was on the bubble and it worked out. Game 1 I had a decent clock and Game 2 I Slaughter Games his Aluren. 3-1-1
Top 8 Quarter Finals I beat Eldrazi, which is surprising. He steamrolls me Game 1 with a T4 kill. Game 2 I was at 2 life, but stabilize after killing all his creatures and come back. A Deathrite got me back up to 9 or so life and I close it out from there. Game 3 he keeps a hand of sideboard cards, but only one creature. That would be a mistake because he wouldn't draw many more and I win with the Punishing Fire engine (he killed most of my creatures). Again, this one is very surprising since Eldrazi is a bad match-up.
Top 4 Semi Finals I lost to OmniTell, which is expected. I surprisingly take Game 1 when he can't find his combo pieces after a ton of cantrips. I felt pretty good at this point since I have two games to take one, but he went off pretty fast so I couldn't cast my Slaughter Games before he Show and Tells Omniscience or Emrakul. Oh well. We lose to combo.
Anyway, all in all I was pleased with the results. Surprisingly didn't play any fair Blue decks, which is why I play the deck, but it somehow worked out. I actually thought going in that it would go poorly so it was a nice result.
I often wonder about going up a badlands or swapping a swamp for a mountain...i play againt dnt a lot and they know to go after the red source...i actually have a mountain SB just for wastland decks
I play nearly the same lands except I have 1 Mountain instead of 2 Swamps (i.e. 1 and 1). I've never had an issue with it and have had that manabase for over five years now. Like you said, there are times you really need that Mountain because any good player knows to take out our Grove of the Burnwillows. I oftentimes will play my Bayou or Badlands just to get their Wasteland before I play my Groves. The basic Mountain helps a little here since we can't be locked out of Red.
Your main deck seems fine, but I don't think you have enough game against combo in your sideboard. I'd consider adding more discard or other things in place of things like 3 REB/Pyro, Faerie Macs, and Diabolic Edict.
The REB/Pyros are usually not that great. You already have a ton of removal for Delver decks and I find sitting on them against Show and Tell isn't a great idea since I'd rather be proactive and destroy their hand instead of waiting on them to cast Show anD tell.
Definitely run at least 3 pieces of GY hate, but I've never been a big fan of Faerie. I like Grafdigger's Cage and Surgical more because they work in a lot of other match-ups too.
I wouldn't worry about this now. I would be more worried that our best match-up is now gone and combo will start to come back. The meta was relatively even in terms of diversity, but now combo will not be as scared, which is bad for Jund. I for one am considering rebuilding either Storm or Sneak and Show.
I have not. Good luck though. Seattle has a great Magic community.
With that said, I've been to Mox Boarding House, Uncle Games (Redmond), and Games and Gizmos and don't have anything negative to say about any of them. I'd say Uncle Games and Games and Gizmos felt a bit more casual, but that's because Mox Boarding House is really Card Kingdom and has a relatively healthy following and great Legacy/Modern events that they stream. However, I have never done a prerelease there. Just Legacy Thursdays, which weren't like super competitive either.
Long story short, you can't lose with any of those three options although I did open two Planeswalkers (one foil) in my sealed pool at Games and Gizmos :P. Good luck!
I don't think it's worth 4 in the MB. In fact, I was only going to try two in the SB. I think it's nice because it hits up to Thought-Knot Seer.
This is not the nicest answer, but if your meta is filled with Eldrazi, you shouldn't be playing Jund. I've learned to accept my bad match-ups like Eldrazi and Burn. Doesn't mean we shouldn't have something in the SB, but if your meta is filled with a bad match-up where you are very likely to face it multiple times and your goal is to win then you should switch decks that are favored against said match-up instead. It's more efficient and probably less frustrating.
If the room is filled with Fair Blue, then Jund (and Shardless BUG) is the right choice.
Huh. I hadn't thought of Big Game Hunter or Shriekmaw. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but does targeting Reality Smasher with Shriekmaw's ability count as a "spell" in that we have to discard? I think the answer is yes, but it would be nice if the answer were no.
Tribute to hunger is cheaper and instant speed, but I wonder if it's worth waiting for one more mana to get two sacs and two life gains?
At the same time, I wish we could splash for Crackling Doom since it would get their Reality Smashers without targeting and it costs three mana. It's not out yet, but I wonder if Fatal Push will make its way in since it can kill TKS?
I'm getting ready for GP Louisville and feel there are three decks you will likely see a lot of and those are Miracles, DnT, and Eldrazi. I think I'm fine against the first two (especially against DnT after adding a Kolaghan's Command MD to give me 2 answers for Prelate on 2 in the main deck and 2 answers in the side), but Eldrazi has always been a bad match-up.
I am willing to dedicate 3 pieces in my SB to help against Eldrazi, but don't have a lot of answers. So far I've thought about Meekstone (which doesn't work well with our creatures) and Consuming Vapors since it doesn't target, sacs multiple creatures, and gains us life. The problem is it's 4 mana, but I'm leaning towards it right now since it also doubles against fatty creature decks although things like Sneak Attack and EoT Marit Lage still dodge.
Any other options I should consider?
I feel we are pretty favored against Infect. They have only 12 creatures we care about (4 Glistener Elf, 4 Blighted Agent, and 4 Inkmoth Nexus) and Punishing Fire and Abrupt Decay kill all of those. Wastelands you should save for Inkmoth Nexus. Basically recurrable removal is ridiculous against them. I've noticed some are now running 2 Spellskite in the SB to counter us a bit, but even then you can kill it pretty easily and go back to killing their dudes. Again, they have very few threats. Also be sure to kill during your turn so they have to waste protection spells rather than use then during their combat where they get the bonus pumps.
That seems fine. I've been playing that main deck for over 5 years now. I think *maybe* I added the 2nd Sylvan somewhere between then and now, but that's it. The rest has been stable for years now and I've been very happy with it. I know I could run Bolts, but I'd rather run 4 Abrupt Decay, 4 Punishing Fire, and more Hymn to Tourach. Those are usually what get lowered for bolts. I might start running 2 bolts if DnT starts becoming a problem with its Prelates on 2, but right now the Toxic Deluges in the SB seem to be enough.
The Scavenging Ooze is for GY-based decks, but also decks that will side in RIP against us. Goyf becomes a 0/1, but Ooze will always be at least a 2/2 (i.e. a slow clock). Basically Ooze is dual purpose since it helps with GY decks, but also against Miracles, which will side in RIP. It also destroys Elves after you kill all their dudes and provide a little life gain against Burn (which we are unfavored against).
That's fine too. I know folks run 3 with 2 swamps and no Mountain, but that basic Mountain has gotten me out of trouble a ton of times. Without it you can get wasted out of Red sources. Groves are a priority for them to remove (any good player saves their Wastelands for our Groves) and once they see how little Red you have, they will attack your Badlands too. With a basic Mountain you're protected against all that.
I agree with most of this other than Elves. I find post-board we're in pretty good shape since we usually bring in 2 - 4 -X/-X effects and if used properly, it can win the game. Game one you should keep hands with the Punishing Fire and recursion because you can keep them from developing a board and they will eventually run out of gas.
In short, we're heavily favored against Miracles, Delver decks, and Shardless BUG and since Miracles is the most popular and most powerful deck, that's in itself a decent reason to play Jund. We're slightly favored against DnT and I'd say Elves is a 50/50, and lastly most combo decks and Eldrazi we're unfavored. I used to say we're pretty favored against DnT, but Prelate has changed that.
I like Grafdiggers because it also hits Elves and completely shuts down manaless Dredge. Then again, the latter isn't that popular. I could add Surgical and take out Rakdos Charm, but I like the modal spells that give me options.
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=110255
I may go to 2 Grafdigger's Cage in the future with the emergence of that new RB Reanimator deck.
Round 1 I drew to Goblins, which was surprising, but I just couldn't end the third game fast enough. I had to prioritize killing his Goblins with the Punishing Fire engine and by the time I had it stabilized, we were in turns and I had no clock (spent all my mana on removal). Think with 5 or so more turns I could have had it, but if I didn't do the removal, I'd have lost to Piledrivers and other things a lot earlier. 0-0-1
Round 2 I beat Lands, which surprised me since I feel this is a bad match-up. I got lucky Game 1 with a lot Wastelands to stop his Depths combo twice and Game 2 I Rakdos Charmed his entire GY and Maelstrom Pulsed his two Mox Diamonds. After a Wasteland, he scooped. 1-0-1
Round 3 I beat Death and Taxes, which is considerably harder with Prelate in the main deck now. They name 2 and it's hard to kill things since Punishing Fire and Decay are both on 2. I won Game 1 and then won Game 2 after I finally drew my Toxic Deluge to kill the Prelate with Batterskull equipped. He was at like 32 life by the time I killed it, but it worked out. 2-0-1
Round 4 I lost to Burn, which is expected. However, I had the game won and guessed wrong. I had an untapped Wasteland (to kill my non-basics if he tries to Price me) and could have played a fetchland to fetch a Badlands to Punishing Fire the last two damage on him, but I thought he had a Price and would kill me in response since I'd be tapped out with a ton of non-basics. I guessed wrong and he had Fireblast and topdecked a bolt after I passed. I should have just gone for the lethal since he didn't have Price. Oh well. 2-1-1
Round 5 I beat Aluren Combo. I had to play since I was on the bubble and it worked out. Game 1 I had a decent clock and Game 2 I Slaughter Games his Aluren. 3-1-1
Top 8 Quarter Finals I beat Eldrazi, which is surprising. He steamrolls me Game 1 with a T4 kill. Game 2 I was at 2 life, but stabilize after killing all his creatures and come back. A Deathrite got me back up to 9 or so life and I close it out from there. Game 3 he keeps a hand of sideboard cards, but only one creature. That would be a mistake because he wouldn't draw many more and I win with the Punishing Fire engine (he killed most of my creatures). Again, this one is very surprising since Eldrazi is a bad match-up.
Top 4 Semi Finals I lost to OmniTell, which is expected. I surprisingly take Game 1 when he can't find his combo pieces after a ton of cantrips. I felt pretty good at this point since I have two games to take one, but he went off pretty fast so I couldn't cast my Slaughter Games before he Show and Tells Omniscience or Emrakul. Oh well. We lose to combo.
Anyway, all in all I was pleased with the results. Surprisingly didn't play any fair Blue decks, which is why I play the deck, but it somehow worked out. I actually thought going in that it would go poorly so it was a nice result.
I play nearly the same lands except I have 1 Mountain instead of 2 Swamps (i.e. 1 and 1). I've never had an issue with it and have had that manabase for over five years now. Like you said, there are times you really need that Mountain because any good player knows to take out our Grove of the Burnwillows. I oftentimes will play my Bayou or Badlands just to get their Wasteland before I play my Groves. The basic Mountain helps a little here since we can't be locked out of Red.