When I think of Jund, I think of a deck type that personifies everything it means to grind out a win: ramp to get ahead, board control and other disruption to slow things down, and then recursion to ensure you're always ahead at the end.
The main cog in such a plan would be card advantage. Now, Adun Oakenshield can do that exceptionally well, being a Gravedigger every turn. Personally, I'd rather draw cards every turn (most likely because of my Draw-Go Control background in Modern), which is why I love Xira Arien.
Firstly, she draws me a card. Every turn. Yes, it costs three mana a pop, but it's still an extra card to work with every turn. Also, she's relatively unheard of. People are going to do a double and triple-take when I play her, so she'll most likely fly under the radar. Finally, she's the first partially-red general that I've actually enjoyed playing.
The plan for the deck is simple: spend the first few turns ramping, play Xira, and start drawing extra cards while using your superior mana to play out threats and control the board. The heavy ramp focus means that you don't mind about the commander tax as much; having such a cheap general helps with this too. You'll eventually win by grinding everyone else out of resources while keeping your grip full and threats always at the ready.
Now, it's totally possible that going Golgari would be the best way to go here. It would definitely be more consistent. However, there are a couple problems with this. First, there isn't a Golgari general that speaks to me like Xira does. Second, and probably even more selfishly, having a Jund deck would mean I finally have all five colors represented across three EDH decks.
In regards to things I'd like advice on, first and foremost is there a way to make the red presence in the deck more than just a light splash without disrupting the theme or delving too deeply into the "rude" cards of red? My meta is very...fickle. On one hand, there's the odd player or two that will aggressively Stifle fetches, put us under Contamination, and then proceed to waste people's time by winning in the slowest way possible even though no one can do anything anymore. But on the other hand, the majority of the meta doesn't like that kind of play, as in really despises it. They even frown upon infinite combos, which is why I'm half-heartedly looking for a replacement for Zealous Conscripts to avoid Kiki-Jiki shenanigans. It's a fine line I'm trying to walk, being griefer enough that I can hang with the more cutthroat players but still be able to bring the deck out at a more relaxed table and not have everyone hating me by the end of the night.
Second, are there any cards I may have missed in my quest to embody my vision of Jund here? There are some things missing, such as the obligatory Genesis Wave and Cabal Coffers, but a) this deck didn't feel like a Genesis Wave deck (probably a huge mistake, but who knows), and b) I'm too poor to afford Coffers.
TLDR: here's my Xira Arien deck, help me improve it! Thanks in advance!
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
Xira Arien is definitely cool, and I've considered building a deck for her a number of times in the past.
The deck doesn't necessarily seem awful, but you've definitely got some weird card choices in there, and some that are just straight up bad.
Mostly the deck just looks unfocused. I think you could improve it a lot by trying to refine it.
Here are a few more specific things I'd probably recommend changing:
39 lands is very many lands.
Puppeteer Clique relies entirely too much on your opponents playing good creatures.
39 lands is a lot, yes. However, this is a deck that wants to hit its land drops consistently, and has a heavy top-end. I typically still manage to use most if not all of my mana every turn. I could see shaving down to 38, maybe 37, but 39 has always been the right number for me.
Puppeteer Clique does rely on your opponents playing good creatures, this is true. There are plenty of those running around EDH. Even if it's just recurring some random utility dork, I don't mind. At the very least it's going to hate something out of a graveyard. I do concede though it is very narrow without some way of constantly recurring it, so I could probably cut that for something else.
I really don't understand the hate for Burnished Hart. In a green deck it is a weird choice, sure, especially with the plethora of options available. Typically it is seen in a a non-green list as an Explosive Vegetation effect, usually to recur with Sun Titan later. Here, it's a second Explosive that can be easily recurred to continue getting me ahead. Could you perhaps give your impression on the card, maybe there's something I've missed?
Finally, yes the list is unfocused; it is difficult to narrow down such a broad concept like "ramp/board control/recursion." How would you recommend narrowing it down?
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EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
I love my own Xira deck, but it is so different from yours, so I will comment more on what this deck type can do.
Craterhoof Behemoth and Avenger are the best of friends. Have you considered the card? It would help give you a win button, where as right now your threats need a little time to turn on. Assembling a scary army and then giving your opponents a turn to deal with it is less than ideal. I can see Anger trying to mitigate this problem, but you have very few ways of getting him in the graveyard profitably. Outside of Victimize or your own wrath spells, you pretty much need to either hope someone attacks into it, someone blocks it, or (God forbid) you hit it with Ugin. Urabrask the Hidden is a card I love for decks that just need to punch through, because he just needs to be played. The card also lets you annoy your opponent by tapping their guys. Akroma's Memorial is another strong creature enabler, giving haste and a slew of other goodies.
Other generic strong cards your deck could benefit from include Demonic Tutor and Tooth and Nail. People play them for a reason.
Something like Comet Storm or Banefire could also be useful. Sometimes you just need to set your opponent on fire.
Don't listen to the haters, Burnished Hart is fine. There is nothing wrong with recurring Burnished Hart with Phyrexian Reclamation every turn. There may be "better" options for one time ramp in green, but being a creature is a big deal.
I love my own Xira deck, but it is so different from yours, so I will comment more on what this deck type can do.
Craterhoof Behemoth and Avenger are the best of friends. Have you considered the card? It would help give you a win button, where as right now your threats need a little time to turn on. Assembling a scary army and then giving your opponents a turn to deal with it is less than ideal. I can see Anger trying to mitigate this problem, but you have very few ways of getting him in the graveyard profitably. Outside of Victimize or your own wrath spells, you pretty much need to either hope someone attacks into it, someone blocks it, or (God forbid) you hit it with Ugin. Urabrask the Hidden is a card I love for decks that just need to punch through, because he just needs to be played. The card also lets you annoy your opponent by tapping their guys. Akroma's Memorial is another strong creature enabler, giving haste and a slew of other goodies.
Other generic strong cards your deck could benefit from include Demonic Tutor and Tooth and Nail. People play them for a reason.
Something like Comet Storm or Banefire could also be useful. Sometimes you just need to set your opponent on fire.
Don't listen to the haters, Burnished Hart is fine. There is nothing wrong with recurring Burnished Hart with Phyrexian Reclamation every turn. There may be "better" options for one time ramp in green, but being a creature is a big deal.
I have thought about going the old Avengerhoof Tooth and Nail combo. There's really only one thing stopping me from adding it in: it's just so boring to me. This is a personal hang-up I need to work through, but I've been Craterhoofed enough times to have a healthy dislike for that particular win con. Also, I much prefer games that I win where I can just grind damage through without needed to just hit a panic button. Sure this gives my opponents a chance to respond, but if the goal of this deck is just to be able to grind through opponents and just recur, recur, recur, one or two wraths won't matter to me, I'll just be able to rebuild again.
That being said, having ways to end the game quicker would probably be something to consider. There are opponents out there that cannot be allowed an extra turn.
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
I can definitely understand not wanting to run Craterhoof with Avenger. I have a buddy that runs them and the two cards together are very annoying. However, different things are fun to different people. Again, not judging, but I do not know if I would rather get Craterhoofed or get all my lands blown up while my opponent has Crucible; different people like different things.
Another cute card is Kessig Wolf Run. If you do not mind the colorless land it turns Xira into a big threat.
How counter and/or wrath heavy is your meta right now? You mentioned one or two wraths not stopping you, but sometimes there are a lot more.
I can definitely understand not wanting to run Craterhoof with Avenger. I have a buddy that runs them and the two cards together are very annoying. However, different things are fun to different people. Again, not judging, but I do not know if I would rather get Craterhoofed or get all my lands blown up while my opponent has Crucible; different people like different things.
Another cute card is Kessig Wolf Run. If you do not mind the colorless land it turns Xira into a big threat.
How counter and/or wrath heavy is your meta right now? You mentioned one or two wraths not stopping you, but sometimes there are a lot more.
My meta only has a few blue decks in it; a Geist of Saint Traft Voltron/Control list, Animar combo, and Sedris Reanimator. From what I've seen from them, there's not many counters between them. Geist has the most of course, but not oppressively so. Animar has access to things like Force of Will to protect the combo. Sedris I have no idea what it contains, because the only time I saw it played there were two Rest in Peace and my Necrogenesis on the board and it couldn't do anything. There's also a Maelstrom Wanderer list, but that one is more "ramp out into huge, huge threats" than an actual blue list, so it doesn't count.
The non-blue lists in the meta which make up the majority are fairly wrath-heavy. There are some decks where, like this one, their identity is ramp and wrath. But other than that, people only run what they need.
I'm not a fan of MLD myself, which is why the Ruination plan fell to the wayside rather quickly. Life From The Loam though still intrigues me as a second engine. The downside would be the fact that I would be trimming the basics count even more, and it might make my ramp dead more often. Kessig is cute, I like it. It'll probably work it's way in. I have to overhaul the mana base anyways because I found more duals that I apparently forgot about. How I can forget Command Tower I'll never know.
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
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The main cog in such a plan would be card advantage. Now, Adun Oakenshield can do that exceptionally well, being a Gravedigger every turn. Personally, I'd rather draw cards every turn (most likely because of my Draw-Go Control background in Modern), which is why I love Xira Arien.
Firstly, she draws me a card. Every turn. Yes, it costs three mana a pop, but it's still an extra card to work with every turn. Also, she's relatively unheard of. People are going to do a double and triple-take when I play her, so she'll most likely fly under the radar. Finally, she's the first partially-red general that I've actually enjoyed playing.
The decklist:
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Raging Ravine
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Kher Keep
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Malice
10 Forest
8 Swamp
6 Mountain
Creatures: 29
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Veteran Explorer
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Burnished Hart
1 Dualcaster Mage
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fertilid
1 Agent of Erebos
1 Anger
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Dragon Broodmother
1 Grave Titan
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Terastodon
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Whip of Erebos
Enchantments: 4
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Necrogenesis
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Stranglehold
Planeswalkers: 3
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Karn Liberated
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Instants: 3
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Beast Within
1 Chaos Warp
Sorceries: 16
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Regrowth
1 Cultivate
1 Gaze of Granite
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Victimize
1 Damnation
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 All Suns' Dawn
1 Increasing Ambition
1 All Is Dust
1 Boundless Realms
1 Decree of Pain
1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Blasphemous Act
The plan for the deck is simple: spend the first few turns ramping, play Xira, and start drawing extra cards while using your superior mana to play out threats and control the board. The heavy ramp focus means that you don't mind about the commander tax as much; having such a cheap general helps with this too. You'll eventually win by grinding everyone else out of resources while keeping your grip full and threats always at the ready.
Now, it's totally possible that going Golgari would be the best way to go here. It would definitely be more consistent. However, there are a couple problems with this. First, there isn't a Golgari general that speaks to me like Xira does. Second, and probably even more selfishly, having a Jund deck would mean I finally have all five colors represented across three EDH decks.
In regards to things I'd like advice on, first and foremost is there a way to make the red presence in the deck more than just a light splash without disrupting the theme or delving too deeply into the "rude" cards of red? My meta is very...fickle. On one hand, there's the odd player or two that will aggressively Stifle fetches, put us under Contamination, and then proceed to waste people's time by winning in the slowest way possible even though no one can do anything anymore. But on the other hand, the majority of the meta doesn't like that kind of play, as in really despises it. They even frown upon infinite combos, which is why I'm half-heartedly looking for a replacement for Zealous Conscripts to avoid Kiki-Jiki shenanigans. It's a fine line I'm trying to walk, being griefer enough that I can hang with the more cutthroat players but still be able to bring the deck out at a more relaxed table and not have everyone hating me by the end of the night.
Second, are there any cards I may have missed in my quest to embody my vision of Jund here? There are some things missing, such as the obligatory Genesis Wave and Cabal Coffers, but a) this deck didn't feel like a Genesis Wave deck (probably a huge mistake, but who knows), and b) I'm too poor to afford Coffers.
TLDR: here's my Xira Arien deck, help me improve it! Thanks in advance!
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
The deck doesn't necessarily seem awful, but you've definitely got some weird card choices in there, and some that are just straight up bad.
Mostly the deck just looks unfocused. I think you could improve it a lot by trying to refine it.
Here are a few more specific things I'd probably recommend changing:
---
Current Commanders: Derevi, Empyrial Tactician (coming soon) | [Primer] Sedris, the Traitor King | Maelstrom Wanderer | Najeela, the Blade Blossom | Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
---
Retired Commanders: [Primer] Jenara, Asura of War | [Primer] Ghave, Guru of Spores | Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury | Saskia the Unyielding | Sydri, Galvanic Genius
39 lands is a lot, yes. However, this is a deck that wants to hit its land drops consistently, and has a heavy top-end. I typically still manage to use most if not all of my mana every turn. I could see shaving down to 38, maybe 37, but 39 has always been the right number for me.
Puppeteer Clique does rely on your opponents playing good creatures, this is true. There are plenty of those running around EDH. Even if it's just recurring some random utility dork, I don't mind. At the very least it's going to hate something out of a graveyard. I do concede though it is very narrow without some way of constantly recurring it, so I could probably cut that for something else.
I really don't understand the hate for Burnished Hart. In a green deck it is a weird choice, sure, especially with the plethora of options available. Typically it is seen in a a non-green list as an Explosive Vegetation effect, usually to recur with Sun Titan later. Here, it's a second Explosive that can be easily recurred to continue getting me ahead. Could you perhaps give your impression on the card, maybe there's something I've missed?
Finally, yes the list is unfocused; it is difficult to narrow down such a broad concept like "ramp/board control/recursion." How would you recommend narrowing it down?
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
Craterhoof Behemoth and Avenger are the best of friends. Have you considered the card? It would help give you a win button, where as right now your threats need a little time to turn on. Assembling a scary army and then giving your opponents a turn to deal with it is less than ideal. I can see Anger trying to mitigate this problem, but you have very few ways of getting him in the graveyard profitably. Outside of Victimize or your own wrath spells, you pretty much need to either hope someone attacks into it, someone blocks it, or (God forbid) you hit it with Ugin. Urabrask the Hidden is a card I love for decks that just need to punch through, because he just needs to be played. The card also lets you annoy your opponent by tapping their guys. Akroma's Memorial is another strong creature enabler, giving haste and a slew of other goodies.
Other generic strong cards your deck could benefit from include Demonic Tutor and Tooth and Nail. People play them for a reason.
Something like Comet Storm or Banefire could also be useful. Sometimes you just need to set your opponent on fire.
Don't listen to the haters, Burnished Hart is fine. There is nothing wrong with recurring Burnished Hart with Phyrexian Reclamation every turn. There may be "better" options for one time ramp in green, but being a creature is a big deal.
I have thought about going the old Avengerhoof Tooth and Nail combo. There's really only one thing stopping me from adding it in: it's just so boring to me. This is a personal hang-up I need to work through, but I've been Craterhoofed enough times to have a healthy dislike for that particular win con. Also, I much prefer games that I win where I can just grind damage through without needed to just hit a panic button. Sure this gives my opponents a chance to respond, but if the goal of this deck is just to be able to grind through opponents and just recur, recur, recur, one or two wraths won't matter to me, I'll just be able to rebuild again.
That being said, having ways to end the game quicker would probably be something to consider. There are opponents out there that cannot be allowed an extra turn.
I wish I still had my Demonic Tutor, but unfortunately I don't. I did have Rune-Scarred Demon and Sidisi, Undead Vizier in the deck at one point as tutors, but I took them out; not sure why. Should probably make room for those instead. Other things I have considered in the early stages of development were a Life From The Loam/Ruination/Crucible of Worlds meat grinder plan, as well some other cute things like Genesis Wave and Lifeblood Hydra.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
Another cute card is Kessig Wolf Run. If you do not mind the colorless land it turns Xira into a big threat.
How counter and/or wrath heavy is your meta right now? You mentioned one or two wraths not stopping you, but sometimes there are a lot more.
My meta only has a few blue decks in it; a Geist of Saint Traft Voltron/Control list, Animar combo, and Sedris Reanimator. From what I've seen from them, there's not many counters between them. Geist has the most of course, but not oppressively so. Animar has access to things like Force of Will to protect the combo. Sedris I have no idea what it contains, because the only time I saw it played there were two Rest in Peace and my Necrogenesis on the board and it couldn't do anything. There's also a Maelstrom Wanderer list, but that one is more "ramp out into huge, huge threats" than an actual blue list, so it doesn't count.
The non-blue lists in the meta which make up the majority are fairly wrath-heavy. There are some decks where, like this one, their identity is ramp and wrath. But other than that, people only run what they need.
I'm not a fan of MLD myself, which is why the Ruination plan fell to the wayside rather quickly. Life From The Loam though still intrigues me as a second engine. The downside would be the fact that I would be trimming the basics count even more, and it might make my ramp dead more often. Kessig is cute, I like it. It'll probably work it's way in. I have to overhaul the mana base anyways because I found more duals that I apparently forgot about. How I can forget Command Tower I'll never know.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG