[Primer] - Jund Midrange

Modern Chasmolinker

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Modern Standard Draft —Feb. 28, 2018

I was all fired up to go play my Modern Jund deck for the first time since the Unbanning of Bloodbraid Elf. I had my Engineered Explosives SB and everything was ready. I got to my LGS after not having been there for a little more than a month only to find out that they moved Modern from Wednesday to Tuesday to lessen the competition between Draft and Modern. They had a sign-up for Standard which..... screw it why not, I have a budget Boros Vehicles Deck that I can upgrade to Mardu Vehicles with my collection of cards in my bag. No problem. Except I can't play my beloved Jund Deck.

Cut to 15 minutes later after I had scavenged my Concealed Courtyards and Fatal Pushes along with some other fun stuff like Gonti, Lord of Luxury one of the employees comes in and says, "Standard won't be firing tonight. Does anyone who signed up for standard want to Draft instead?"
........
I said to myself, "I haven't drafted since Amonkhet...."
I was there, I REALLY just wanted to play paper Magic at this point. I payed the difference and off went Draft. A Pack one Hadana's Climb  Flip led me to UG Merfolk. The deck was at the low end 1/1 unblockables with Emergent Growth and 3x Jade Bearer to pump them through. I didn't have a good curve and had no removal. I drafted half of what I needed for a strong build and got stomped by Dinosaurs, eaten alive by Vampires, and then said BYE to round 3. Hopefully I can make it Friday to play FNM so we'll see how things go until then.

grumbledore says... #1

running 4 bbe ups the overall curve of the deck a lot making bob a hell of a lot more suicidal. a lot of people are trimming down on thoughtseize because of that. reid duke mainboarded 4 iok and 0 thoughtseize, but then had 2 in the side. seems extreme... im trying a 3/2 split in favor of iok.

February 22, 2018 12:02 a.m.

Crazy thought: why not cut bob? In what matchup is he fantastic? I'm probably thinking too much like a control player, especially bob is good for a proactive plan, however he's really soft to removal, which interactive decks have a lot of, and hurts your life, which non-interactive decks love. BBE is better card advantage anyway. I fully expect to be wrong, but I can't help but throw it out there.

February 22, 2018 1:10 a.m.

xTCBxNightmare says... #3

ToolmasterOfBrainerd Jund is meant to have a 50/50 split against control, so the argument for 4 Thoughtseize and less Inquisition of Kozilek is counter-intuitive. I currently have a 3/3 split, but may be moving to 4IoK/2TS.

Also Confidant let's you use your life total as a resource, drawing you cards. Been a staple in Jund, and it's hard to cut. I run Flayer over it in my list

As far as sideboard goes, I think you have to many fulninator mages. The extra percentage points against tron isn't worth it for the match up.

What is a Pia and Kiran Nalaar for?

One of those slots needs to be for Thrun to help fight control post board.

Also another K-command in the side would be awesome.

I've put Kozilek's Return in the side for affinity, and other agro match ups. While 1 less damage then Anger of the Gods, it is an instant, and kills Etched Champion because it's a devoid spell.

February 22, 2018 1:25 a.m.

grumbledore says... #4

kozileks return also hits Master of Waves and the pro red white weenies

February 22, 2018 2:01 a.m.

LeMonado says... #5

I do like Flayer more for the impending Jace meta. He can kill Jaces fairly efficiently.

February 22, 2018 2:06 a.m.

Chasmolinker says... #6

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback:
ToolmasterOfBrainerd, Bob is a must in Jund. (Or Grim Flayer if you prefer). I prefer Bob though because he gives consistent card advantage and helps feed LotV's +1. Bob is excellent in any match-up he sticks around in. The card advantage outweighs the life loss and is part of the reason I am still not sure of my discard split. Collective Brutality, Kitchen Finks, and Scooze help gain back life lost from Bob. I really want to run 3 Scooze and just might cut Finks to make room.

xTCBxNightmare, Jund generally has 6-7 discard spells in the MB. With BBE now in the mix, those numbers are lower as cascading into discard is just not where you want to be. Thoughtseize increases the chance of being able to grab something when this does happen. And it lets you snag Jace. I'm back down to 3/2 favoring Thoughtseize and a 4th Thoughtseize may turn up in the SB. I think I prefer Collective Brutality over a 4th Thoughtseize for now.

I've dropped Pia and Kiran Nalaar for Thrun, the Last Troll. Good catch.
I don't want to dump that much money into Kolaghan's Command right now. Until I see a deficiency in gameplay, I'm fine with 2 copies.

xTCBxNightmare and scrotality, Kozilek's Return was an oversight. Made the switch from Anger and cut one Fulminator Mage for 2 copies of Kozilek's Return.

DarkStarStorm, I prefer Bob over Flayer. BBE and Bolt are good enough at handling Jace for me.

February 22, 2018 9:11 a.m.

Burrskin says... #7

Upvote! Our List are fairly similar I run 24 lands, 1 Godless Shrine and 1 Marsh Flats instead of foothills for Lingering Souls in the SB. I'm new to jund, once I saw the unbans I sold out of grixis control. I was gonna do a 3/2 Bob and Grim split, but I didn't wanna dedicate slots in the main for artifacts so I did Courser of Kruphix. I like it like this because it helps with land drops, lifegain, combats other BBEs, helps set up my BBE and bob triggers. I also only run 3 LotV and 1 Last hope

February 22, 2018 11:52 a.m.

Chasmolinker says... #8

Burrskin; Do you have a list I could take a look at? I'd like to see how Lingering Souls fairs in the deck. Which match-ups do you bring it in against?

I never got on the Grim Flayer train. I bought into Dark Confidant before I started running Jund and couldn't build a deck without him. Now that I have all of the pieces for Jund, the fun of tuning the list has been keeping me busy for quite some time. The deck is ever changing, and Bloodbraid Elf is just another piece of the puzzle.

February 22, 2018 12:04 p.m.

grumbledore says... #9

i think splitting anger and return 1/1 is a good idea, as anger exiles and return is instant speed. theyre both sweepers but i think have different strengths for different match ups. just my .02 ;)

February 22, 2018 12:08 p.m.

Good sideboard calls. Although jace s as unbanned, I'd expect the meta to try and speed up to beat him (more human/burn/affinity).

Also a third scooze helps lock out Snapcaster targets and dredge. I'm putting two finks in SB personally

DarkStarStorm take a look at my list then Jund Good? (Weekly competition updates)

February 22, 2018 12:17 p.m. Edited.

Chasmolinker says... #11

Just ordered Engineered Explosives for the SB over Blood Moon. Thoughts? I can go back down to 1 Forest and 1 Treetop Village.

I kind of like the idea of leaving creatures in the graveyards so I can eat them up with Scooze. I will try it out with 2 Kozilek's Return and if the exile becomes necessary I will make the split. Plus having one of each and Damnation makes it difficult to decide which one comes in. Streamlining my SB makes that a little easier.

February 22, 2018 12:25 p.m.

EE is often argued to be one of the best removal spells in modern. It's vital for Humans as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben isn't able to tax it.

Bloodmoon is good against most Multi colored and control decks, and you can ignore it pretty easily. Dropping your double black spells in your sideboard will allow you to worry about bloodmoon less as well.

The cards Are good for different matchups. It depends upon your matter honestly what you should run.

February 22, 2018 2:42 p.m.

Chasmolinker says... #13

Would cutting Abrupt Decay from the SB for Blood Moon be good or bad? I think 1 Abrupt Decay in the 75 is enough.

February 22, 2018 2:56 p.m.

Abrupt Decay is useful for destroying Bitterblossom Search for Azcanta  Flip Gideon of the Trials Detention Sphere Against certain control matchups, and thats why i keep 2 in the 75. It can be brought in from SB to "upgrade" your removal package to more fit the opponent you're playing against. while i think Gideon of the trials will be played less now in U/W since Jace is around, Its still a consideration.

Blood Moon is amazing against tron as well, so Id even say -1 Fulminator Mage and + another Blood Moon

February 22, 2018 9:27 p.m.

Chasmolinker says... #15

I dont think I can bring myself to cut another Fulminator Mage. Id rather ditch the Thoughtseize for Abrupt Decay or a second Blood Moon.

February 22, 2018 9:40 p.m.