so as the title says... deathrite shaman banned, wild nacatl and bitterblossom unbanned. what now?
firstly, some rants.
why the hell did they ban deathrite shaman? this ban is very unusual as it doesnt follow the criteria for banning a card. to quote wizards themselves...
"Having a strong attrition-based deck as a large portion of the metagame makes it difficult for decks that are based on synergies between cards instead of individually powerful cards. We believe that removing Deathrite Shaman from the format will leave more room for future innovation."
it is neither about warping the format nor breaking the turn 4 rule anymore. they are banning it just for the sake of future innovation? what the fuck? then now what? are they going to ban the next most powerful card just so that it will leave more room for future innovation? this ban shatters the confidence of what people have for modern. its not like i dont know the power level of the 1 mana planeswalker, the prince of gbx. like for standard bans at least they stuck with the banning guidelines when they banned stoneforge mystic and jace the mind sculptor. perhaps at least let the format solve themselves first before banning anything. then if more people join them rather than beat them then you know you have a problem... when the solution isnt any better than the problem.
hopefully pod and snapcaster mage arent the next in line for the firing squad.
/end rants
now lets talk about what about rise up to the top tier and what will happen to the big brothers of the format, especially the biggest brother, Jund. already there are a couple of decks that will shake the pillars of modern. variants of zoo, be it small naya, big naya, gruul, big gruul, countercats etc. and variants of faeries, be it straight ub, u/x or 3color implementation
faeries
read this primer written by some of the good people over at mtgs modern section here
apparantly everybody is saying that this deck is going to be damn strong. the magical christmasland of
turn 1: inquisiton of kozilek/thoughtseize
turn 2: bitterblossom
turn 3: spellstutter sprite
turn 4: (opponent's upkeep) mistbind clique to timewalk the opponent
and there you have it the nut draw. while you might not get this kind of nut hands very often but roughly power level is there. i would say this is near to tier1 if it is really able to beat whatever flavor of UWR like what they say on the forums. basically bitterblossom is the card that makes all the difference. once you resolve a bitterblossom it'll eventually start gaining too much advantage for your opponent to overcome. sound like some other card? yes. dark confidant. just that its way harder to remove this time. once the faeries player got you to commit resources to their 1/1s they'll sweep you up with their countermagic and whatnot. dont underestimate a small 1/1 flying. the last time i played UWR it suffered to lingering souls. bitterblossom is like a angrier lingering souls
ALL faeries either have BOTH FLYING AND FLASH. so if either 1 or more of them slip through you then you are in for a good time. do read lantern's writeup on how his zoo is fighting against faerie. seems like ignoring the general plan is to go aggro rather than wait to answer the faerie deck. probably more testing will reveal...
zoo
"its so easy to play. decks like this which dont need to think one just puke your whole hand onto the table and push as much damage through as possible. but i dont like this feeling of not having cards in my hand" - qs, song of all, canto 10022014
i played domain zoo a while ago when i lent out my fetches and other cards to my good buddy cheewei. when the hand is good its good la. but when the hand is bad and your draw is lousy not even raphael levy or craig jones with his godly lightning helix topdeck would save you. i chose domain zoo because it has boros charm and the power of snapcaster mage and the number 1 ghost geist of saint traft. the idea goes like this. a fully powered might of alara on a Geist of saint traft and his angel token and boros charm double strike is just nice 20 damage.
but then this version will lose to those decks that tries to 1for1 you. jund and uwr of all flavors eat this deck alive. fast forward to the wild nacatl unban. qs played fast naya. laying down crits after crits and smashing hard. no longer 1for1 is a viable strategy. paying 2 mana to kill a 1 mana crit is tempo loss. moreover bolt/helix will not kill a ghorclan rampager-ed crit. if you hit crit A with path to exile they'll ghorclan rampager the crit B. fast and furious. i played junk that night and it was horrible. so many dead cards in my deck. dark confidant, liliana of the veil, discards are dead draw against loxodon smiter, abrupt decay on a kird ape feels... dumb. you get the idea.
but BUT... 2for1s and sweeps are becoming good again! removals in response to a rancor or a ghorclan rampager feels so value :) even killing a goblin guide after revealing a land feels so value :) clearing 3 creatures for the 1x 3cmc card feels so value :) you just have to hold them until you can fight back. remember there are no card advantage machine in zoo other than snapcaster mage, ghorclan rampager and ranger of eos. fortunately they cost a bit more to play and one of the most basic characteristics of zoo is that it seldom have more than 3 lands in play so if they play one of those then feel free to remand them if you are still hellbent on playing remand after reading this post. just dont get 2for1-ed by zoo and side in some life gain and you'll be fine.
post ban, this modern season is going to be very interesting and we shall continue to see which deck will be on top of the metagame.
lastly to end this... bitterblossom is 49.99usd out of stock, noble hierarch is 59.99usd out of stock, vendillion clique is 49.99usd out of stock for morningtide and MM dark confidant is 99.99usd while RAV dark confidant is 79.99usd. all prices are from starcitygames.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
jund jund jund part 2
its been a busy and sad week for me. we lost another one of our favorite elf. i really dont have time to vet through this gem of a article. many of us know what is inside a jund deck but do not know why they are there. lets read... with mournful tears.
Jund, the King of Midrange. Part 2 of 3
Hi everyone, I am back with Part 2 of my analysis of what I think is the best deck of the Modern format, Jund. I will be sharing my deck list as well as an analysis of the individual cards. Without further ado, here is the 75 I have been playing,
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Marsh Flats
3 Treetop Village
2 Raging Ravine
2 Blood Crypt
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
24 Lands
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
16 Creatures
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Inquistion of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Terminate
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Forked Bolt
20 Spells
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Wrench Mind
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Shatterstorm
1 Go for the Throat
15 Sideboard cards
There you have it. This is a pretty stock list modelled after the highly successful Jund list piloted by Reid Duke with minor overall changes. I have taken the liberty to cut 1 Pyromaster and 1 Blightning in favour of 2 Huntmaster of the Fells as well as substituted Pillar of Flame with Forked Bolt. As to why I made the changes will be explained later. The recent Jund list suggests that players have eschewed Chandra in favour of the legendary vampire Olivia in mainboard. Going forward, I might see myself trying that out.
Individual card analysis
I will be doing the breakdown according to the mana cost of the cards with the intention of showing how Jund is powerful early in the game and remains so all the way through mid to late game.
The lands
Fetch lands: An integral component of modern mana bases. No explanation needed. Why the 1 copy of Misty and not all 4 copies of Marsh Flats? The deck requires access to green mana more often than not and misty allows the Jund player to fetch stomping ground, overgrown tomb and forest. No green means no early beats with tarmogoyf or treetop, helping ooze scavenge, cast huntmaster, etc.
Shocklands: 2 Blood Crypt, 1 Overgrown Tomb and 1 stomping ground. The 2 Blood Crypts are there to ensure third turns Liliana and fourth turns Chandra.
SOM fast lands: I love Blackcleave Cliffs. Period. Turn 1 into DRS or IOK, painless and absolutely devastating.
Manlands: They are one of the reasons that makes Jund so powerful. Wrath of God? No problem. Heavy creature removal? No problem. Treetop Village is especially good against lingering souls with the trample. Ravine can grow monstrously huge without paying any ridiculous monstrosity cost. One thing to note is that the Jund player needs to know when to play this land so that you will not deprive yourself of mana when you need it. The feeling is terrible when you want to cast huntmaster and you are stuck with ravine in hand, wishing that you had laid that instead of the shockland.
Basics: 2 Swamp 1 Forests. Increase chances of turn 1 DRS, IOK, Seize etc. No Mountain because of Blood Moon.
The creatures
Dark Confidant: Greatness, at any cost, can sometimes mean card advantage, at no/minimal cost. A must kill creatures for your opponents, a game changer for the Jund player. It draws, attacks, blocks when it has outlived its usefulness. If you are able to land one after both players have exhausted their cards, this card will win the game for you. Absolute all star.
Tarmogoyf: 2 mana creature that can grow to 4/5 with ease. Tarmogoyf into Tarmogoyf can be back-breaking for your opponents. As a rule of thumb, always try to cast it as a ¾ so it does not die to a stray bolt. This creature defines what a beatstick should be. While some players raised the concern of this creature dying to removal, for example Path to Exile, my advice to them is just play Bogles.
Deathrite Shaman: The 1 mana Planeswalker! This is the utility creature of Jund which requires the player to activate his abilities at the right time to disrupt any graveyard based strategy. Ramping into a turn 3 Liliana through him is one of the most disgusting play you can make. It is simply powerful as a turn 1 play or a late game play where you drain your opponent bit by bit. Long live DRS and hope he never gets banned.
Scavenging Ooze: Can outgrow a goyf if left unchecked. Ensures that there are no scraps left in all graveyards. Its main weakness is its mana dependent ability. Without sufficient green sources, ooze will often fall prey to bolt. 2 is a good number to run.
Huntmaster of the Fells: I call him the roti prata creature because of his transform ability. Huntmaster represents value. It is at its best when both players are in the top deck mode, making it easy for Huntmaster to flip. I have had good results using him in the main board and would pick him as my first choice 4 drop over Olivia, Thrun and Baloth.
The spells
Liliana of the Veil: Modern’s greatest planeswalker. Liliana applies so much pressure on her opponents and it’s not just because of her sultry looks. Her first ability pressures her opponents to cast cards to risk them being discarded. If you are forced to cast a creature, then it will be “edicted” by her second ability. Her ultimate is not an instant win but it certainly helps speed up the inevitable. 3 mana 3 loyalty points make her simply irresistible.
Lightning Bolt: Best removal for creatures, burn to the face, and whatever that you want to do, all at instant speed for 1 mana.
Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize: 6 copies is a comfortable number to run. Jund wants to strip opponent of their key cards as soon as possible and running 3 copies of each pinpoint discard increases your chances. Depending on what you are up against, decide whether to go with IOK or Seize first to avoid a whiff. The way I see it, Jund is essentially trading 1 mana for your opponent’s best card. Wicked!
Terminate: The premier in removal spells. BR, destroy target creature, no regeneration. No conditions, no drawback. Jund needs 2 to deal with the myriad fatties that are in format. Works extremely well against manlands too, which cards like Smother, Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse cant hit.
Maelstrom Pulse: While this is no Vindicate, Pulse has strengths of its own. It can hit multiple tokens or when you are lucky, catch 2 creatures of the same name. More importantly, it increases our chances against an early Karn. Planeswalkers are hard to deal with, especially if their loyalty points are out of bolt range. Pulse is our catch all answer to that and more.
Chandra, Pyromaster: She can certainly take over games with her card advantage engine. Her first ability is useful in pinging off the many X/1s in the format, win goyf wars, render a blocker useless to push through the final damage etc etc. 4 mana 4 loyalty means she will survive a colonnade strike. Running 2 is not advisable as you might “draw” into the second copy when using her card advantage ability. When the board is liliana and Chandra, you know your opponent is in for trouble.
Forked Bolt: This is a concession to Affinity and opposing turn 1 DRS. I want to ensure that Jund has a more than decent rate of survival against Affinity game 1 and thus Forked Bolt. I also want to
have more ways to kill Turn 1 DRS against BGx decks. I have once used Forked Bolt to off opposing confidant and a 1 loyalty liliana. Shiok!
Sideboard
Kind of tired typing this lengthy review so I will just cut to the chase on sideboard.
4 Fulminator Mage: Could be a 2/2 split with Sowing Salt but I prefer Mage because it is a turn faster. This is a concession to Tron, which is one of our worst matchups. If you are able to recur this with Sword of Light and Shadow, you are in good shape.
2 Wrench Mind: Modern’s Hymn to Tourach. Devastating against UWR decks without Leyline, combo, artefact light control decks. This is usually a 2 for 1. I have no plans of replacing it so far.
2 Anger of Gods: Against pod, tokens, soul sisters or the resurgent u/r delver decks. Exiling creatures is a nice touch, though that means your ooze will have to go hungry.
The 1 ofs
These are customisable and depends on what I feel like adding to prepare for a tourney. The lavamancer is good against creature based strategies, the swords against lingering souls and uwr decks, grudge and shatterstorm is my respect for affinity decks, go for the throat as extra removal. Olivia and Baloth are there to shore up any midrange mirrors.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my breakdown of my favourite deck Jund. I am pleased to say that sticking to this deck for months in a row has really improved my skills piloting Jund. I can now make key decisions quicker and play this deck with more confidence. Yes there are bad matchups which I do not like to face but overall I feel confident playing Jund against an unknown field, knowing that my IOK and Seize will light the way ahead. Once the plan is revealed, the Jund player can then plot his way to victory.
My trusty Jund deck will take a break while I try out other decks. When the time comes though, I will not hesitate to join a tourney with this deck though.
Best regards,
Qs
Jund, the King of Midrange. Part 2 of 3
Hi everyone, I am back with Part 2 of my analysis of what I think is the best deck of the Modern format, Jund. I will be sharing my deck list as well as an analysis of the individual cards. Without further ado, here is the 75 I have been playing,
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Marsh Flats
3 Treetop Village
2 Raging Ravine
2 Blood Crypt
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
24 Lands
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
16 Creatures
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Inquistion of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Terminate
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Forked Bolt
20 Spells
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Wrench Mind
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Shatterstorm
1 Go for the Throat
15 Sideboard cards
There you have it. This is a pretty stock list modelled after the highly successful Jund list piloted by Reid Duke with minor overall changes. I have taken the liberty to cut 1 Pyromaster and 1 Blightning in favour of 2 Huntmaster of the Fells as well as substituted Pillar of Flame with Forked Bolt. As to why I made the changes will be explained later. The recent Jund list suggests that players have eschewed Chandra in favour of the legendary vampire Olivia in mainboard. Going forward, I might see myself trying that out.
Individual card analysis
I will be doing the breakdown according to the mana cost of the cards with the intention of showing how Jund is powerful early in the game and remains so all the way through mid to late game.
The lands
Fetch lands: An integral component of modern mana bases. No explanation needed. Why the 1 copy of Misty and not all 4 copies of Marsh Flats? The deck requires access to green mana more often than not and misty allows the Jund player to fetch stomping ground, overgrown tomb and forest. No green means no early beats with tarmogoyf or treetop, helping ooze scavenge, cast huntmaster, etc.
Shocklands: 2 Blood Crypt, 1 Overgrown Tomb and 1 stomping ground. The 2 Blood Crypts are there to ensure third turns Liliana and fourth turns Chandra.
SOM fast lands: I love Blackcleave Cliffs. Period. Turn 1 into DRS or IOK, painless and absolutely devastating.
Manlands: They are one of the reasons that makes Jund so powerful. Wrath of God? No problem. Heavy creature removal? No problem. Treetop Village is especially good against lingering souls with the trample. Ravine can grow monstrously huge without paying any ridiculous monstrosity cost. One thing to note is that the Jund player needs to know when to play this land so that you will not deprive yourself of mana when you need it. The feeling is terrible when you want to cast huntmaster and you are stuck with ravine in hand, wishing that you had laid that instead of the shockland.
Basics: 2 Swamp 1 Forests. Increase chances of turn 1 DRS, IOK, Seize etc. No Mountain because of Blood Moon.
The creatures
Dark Confidant: Greatness, at any cost, can sometimes mean card advantage, at no/minimal cost. A must kill creatures for your opponents, a game changer for the Jund player. It draws, attacks, blocks when it has outlived its usefulness. If you are able to land one after both players have exhausted their cards, this card will win the game for you. Absolute all star.
Tarmogoyf: 2 mana creature that can grow to 4/5 with ease. Tarmogoyf into Tarmogoyf can be back-breaking for your opponents. As a rule of thumb, always try to cast it as a ¾ so it does not die to a stray bolt. This creature defines what a beatstick should be. While some players raised the concern of this creature dying to removal, for example Path to Exile, my advice to them is just play Bogles.
Deathrite Shaman: The 1 mana Planeswalker! This is the utility creature of Jund which requires the player to activate his abilities at the right time to disrupt any graveyard based strategy. Ramping into a turn 3 Liliana through him is one of the most disgusting play you can make. It is simply powerful as a turn 1 play or a late game play where you drain your opponent bit by bit. Long live DRS and hope he never gets banned.
Scavenging Ooze: Can outgrow a goyf if left unchecked. Ensures that there are no scraps left in all graveyards. Its main weakness is its mana dependent ability. Without sufficient green sources, ooze will often fall prey to bolt. 2 is a good number to run.
Huntmaster of the Fells: I call him the roti prata creature because of his transform ability. Huntmaster represents value. It is at its best when both players are in the top deck mode, making it easy for Huntmaster to flip. I have had good results using him in the main board and would pick him as my first choice 4 drop over Olivia, Thrun and Baloth.
The spells
Liliana of the Veil: Modern’s greatest planeswalker. Liliana applies so much pressure on her opponents and it’s not just because of her sultry looks. Her first ability pressures her opponents to cast cards to risk them being discarded. If you are forced to cast a creature, then it will be “edicted” by her second ability. Her ultimate is not an instant win but it certainly helps speed up the inevitable. 3 mana 3 loyalty points make her simply irresistible.
Lightning Bolt: Best removal for creatures, burn to the face, and whatever that you want to do, all at instant speed for 1 mana.
Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize: 6 copies is a comfortable number to run. Jund wants to strip opponent of their key cards as soon as possible and running 3 copies of each pinpoint discard increases your chances. Depending on what you are up against, decide whether to go with IOK or Seize first to avoid a whiff. The way I see it, Jund is essentially trading 1 mana for your opponent’s best card. Wicked!
Terminate: The premier in removal spells. BR, destroy target creature, no regeneration. No conditions, no drawback. Jund needs 2 to deal with the myriad fatties that are in format. Works extremely well against manlands too, which cards like Smother, Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse cant hit.
Maelstrom Pulse: While this is no Vindicate, Pulse has strengths of its own. It can hit multiple tokens or when you are lucky, catch 2 creatures of the same name. More importantly, it increases our chances against an early Karn. Planeswalkers are hard to deal with, especially if their loyalty points are out of bolt range. Pulse is our catch all answer to that and more.
Chandra, Pyromaster: She can certainly take over games with her card advantage engine. Her first ability is useful in pinging off the many X/1s in the format, win goyf wars, render a blocker useless to push through the final damage etc etc. 4 mana 4 loyalty means she will survive a colonnade strike. Running 2 is not advisable as you might “draw” into the second copy when using her card advantage ability. When the board is liliana and Chandra, you know your opponent is in for trouble.
Forked Bolt: This is a concession to Affinity and opposing turn 1 DRS. I want to ensure that Jund has a more than decent rate of survival against Affinity game 1 and thus Forked Bolt. I also want to
have more ways to kill Turn 1 DRS against BGx decks. I have once used Forked Bolt to off opposing confidant and a 1 loyalty liliana. Shiok!
Sideboard
Kind of tired typing this lengthy review so I will just cut to the chase on sideboard.
4 Fulminator Mage: Could be a 2/2 split with Sowing Salt but I prefer Mage because it is a turn faster. This is a concession to Tron, which is one of our worst matchups. If you are able to recur this with Sword of Light and Shadow, you are in good shape.
2 Wrench Mind: Modern’s Hymn to Tourach. Devastating against UWR decks without Leyline, combo, artefact light control decks. This is usually a 2 for 1. I have no plans of replacing it so far.
2 Anger of Gods: Against pod, tokens, soul sisters or the resurgent u/r delver decks. Exiling creatures is a nice touch, though that means your ooze will have to go hungry.
The 1 ofs
These are customisable and depends on what I feel like adding to prepare for a tourney. The lavamancer is good against creature based strategies, the swords against lingering souls and uwr decks, grudge and shatterstorm is my respect for affinity decks, go for the throat as extra removal. Olivia and Baloth are there to shore up any midrange mirrors.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my breakdown of my favourite deck Jund. I am pleased to say that sticking to this deck for months in a row has really improved my skills piloting Jund. I can now make key decisions quicker and play this deck with more confidence. Yes there are bad matchups which I do not like to face but overall I feel confident playing Jund against an unknown field, knowing that my IOK and Seize will light the way ahead. Once the plan is revealed, the Jund player can then plot his way to victory.
My trusty Jund deck will take a break while I try out other decks. When the time comes though, I will not hesitate to join a tourney with this deck though.
Best regards,
Qs
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