Junding Them w/ BBE

Modern BRG (Jund) Midrange

lemons452922

Land (24)

• 4x Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 3x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Forest
• 1x Mountain
• 2x Overgrown Tomb
• 2x Raging Ravine
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 2x Swamp
• 3x Treetop Village
• 4x Verdant Catacombs

Instant (9)

• 2x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Fatal Push
• 2x Kolaghan's Command
• 3x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Terminate

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Collective Brutality
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Maelstrom Pulse
• 4x Thoughtseize

Creature (15)

• 3x Bloodbraid Elf
• 4x Dark Confidant
• 2x Fulminator Mage
• 2x Scavenging Ooze
• 4x Tarmogoyf

Planeswalker (5)

• 4x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope

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Sideboard

Sorcery (5)

• 2x Collective Brutality
• 2x Damnation
• 1x Duress

Instant (3)

• 3x Ancient Grudge

Artifact (3)

• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 2x Nihil Spellbomb

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope

Creature (3)

• 1x Fulminator Mage
• 2x Kitchen Finks

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So yea... Bloodbraid Elf was unbanned... and BBE + insert value card here seems nice... Plus, I want to try and make it work, which shouldn't be too hard. With that said, here is what I came up with.

Why Jund?

I think this is a little, well, simple of a question... Playing modern Jund Midrange is generally all about value, and what is better than being able to cast any of your spells for free? But why not Naya, Temur, or 4 color? Check it out below.

4 Color

So basically Jund splashing white. I will admit, I did try this out at first. I mean, cascading into a Lingering Souls seems kinda good, right? Plus, you have the ability to play some other really good white cards, like Path to Exile, Shambling Vent, and Stony Silence. However, the mana base is really not friendly. If you want to play Vents (which would be spectacular for the life gain), you are restricting the green and red lands that you would have in play, and I found that when it came down to it, I really just wanted to be able to consistently get to redundant BBE mana. And with the prevalence of Field of Ruin in modern, that isn't going to be easy on 4-color.

Naya

I feel that the loss of black in a midrange deck really cripples it. You loose by far the best planeswalker of the format (more on that in the Temur section), as well as other great cards, notably Bob, K-Command, Discard, Push..... you loose A LOT. It would change the feel of the deck completely, and go from a "Jundy, Value Town" deck to more of a "Hatebear" deck, like Nayabraid elf. While that can be nice, it isn't the style I would want to be playing right now.

Temur

Much like the Naya explanation, you loose your black, so all of those "Value Town" cards are still gone. And, as noted before, you lose the best planeswalker in the format. Now you may be saying "Wait, Jace, the Mind Sculptor was just unbanned. How is he not the best?" Well, here's my answer. Are you ever going to just slam him on Turn 4, and have him completely impact the board? Of course not! You are going to wait until you have a stable board, and then use him to gain value. And at that point, you should already be winning. I am not saying he isn't going to make an impact, but it doesn't help you get ahead, just stay ahead. Plus, you can't cascade into him!!! While we are on the subject of cascading, how much would it suck to cascade into a permissions? Like, really bad. I just feel that the control you gain from blue offsets the value that you really want to get from BBE.

So now that we have settled on Jund as our base to make BBE a thing, let's talk about the build.

Main Board

Now, when I'm going through this, you will hear me say quite often "This card is good to cascade into... this is bad... etc"... and you may be thingking "Oh you're doing a lot of cascading for a deck with only 3 cascade cards", but I have to consider all of the options. I get that I will not always cascade into bad cards, but I have to also think "what if", so keeping that in mind....

The Core Midrange

• 3x Bloodbraid Elf

  While I do think BBE is absolutely bonkers, I wouldn't want to run 4, as it is quite mana intensive for modern. Especially with basically 5x Lillies, we want double black as well. However, I definitely feel that Iwant 3 and not 2, as, like I said, this card is bonkers. Being able to cascade into literally any other spell in the deck feels quite nice.

• 4x Liliana of the Veil

  Well... if you haven't played with her, do it at least once... and if you have, you know why this card is in here as a 4-of.

• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope

  More and more I am seeing a 4-1 split of Lillies popping up, so I consider this a core addition. It is another great planeswalker hit that helps in those grindy match-ups, plus being able to bring back a dead Bloodbraid Elf is nice.

• 4x Tarmogoyf

  How much more value town can you get than a possible 8/9 for 2? (Artifact, Creature, Enchantment, Instant, Land, Planeswalker, Sorcery, Tribal... yea... 8/9)

• 4x Thoughtseize

  Wait, only 4 discard? why not 6 like normal? Well, I kinda have 5, but we'll get to that later. While I do enjoy getting people on Turn 1, and the information gathered cannot be ignored, I feel that the introduction of cascade into the deck turned me way off of it. Hitting one of these discard spells late in the game when the opponent should be top-decking just feels bad. Apparently, so does Ried Duke, as his list is only running 4.

  I decided to go with Thoughtseize over Inquisition of Kozilek because I feel there will be lot more relevant 4 drops walking around that I really just want to get rid of (Supreme Verdict, Collected Company, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Witchbane Orb, Gifts Ungiven, Cryptic Command, other BBEs), and I'd rather have the consistency and pay for it than miss something important. Depending on the meta, though, this could easily be swapped around.

• 4x Dark Confidant

  Card advantage on a stick in a deck that wants to be in a top-deck war is great. The only down side I have to this card is that now with the build moving more twards 2-3 drops instead of 1-2 drops, this is feeling a little rough. Flipping into a Lilly or a BBE is rough, so maybe bring in some more life-gain value cards?

• 2x Scavenging Ooze

  This is still quite a staple in Jund Midrange. The life-gain, and the growth, and the graveyard hate, all for 1 green and the ability to do it multiple times per turn makes this card a must.

Removal

This is a tricky area with Bloodbraid Elf. Generally, you don't want to be playing it onto an empty board, as you may not have targets for your removal that you cascade into, but atlast, it is something that could happen.

• 2x Abrupt Decay

  A great removal card in the current meta, as it not only hits creatures, but other permanents as well. I cut this down to 2 from my usual 3 for the same reason I took Thoughtseize over Inquisition of Kozilek. I just feel that there are better options than restricting my focus to 3 CMC or less.

• 1x Fatal Push

  Whoh whoh whoh... This card has dominated modern since it's creation, and I'm moving from 4 to 1??? Yes. This is because, similarly to Abrupt Decay, I don't want to be limiting myself. Although still wickedly good, cascading into it feels wickedly bad. So for the moment, I'm settling on 1. The possibility to go 2x Push, 1x Decay is viable, however, I feel the need of a non-counterable destroy permanent is more of a priority than a possible 4-cmc creature requiring a Revolt trigger first.

• 1x Maelstrom Pulse

  This card is just great. It hits everything (yea yea... hexproof... blah), and at times, multiple things, which raises this card's value. The down side is the cost. 3 CMC is a big investment in modern. Unless you cascade into it... For this reason, there is a possibility where this could go to a 2-of.

• 1x Terminate and 1x Dreadbore???

  2x kill any creature is really where I want to settle at with this deck. But why the Dreadbore? It really just gives more relevant targets if it is cascaded into. Plus, being able to get rid of a Lilly or a Jace or a Guideon with a 2 CMC spell seems alright (granted, they will probably have counter up, but then it allows you to play other spells!). Also, I feel that I have already made up my mind on terminating during my opponents combat on my turn any ways, so it doesn't feel that bad to have a sorcery vs instant speed spell.

• 3x Lightning Bolt

  With the dawn of cascade making a comeback, Bolt just seems to be the place to be. Not only is it a good removal early game, but if you cascade into it, it never whiffs! The worst that happens is you go 3 to the face and proceed with the beats.

The Value

• 2x Kolaghan's Command

  This card combined with Bloodbraid Elf is quite crazy. In the article I'll post a link to below, Jadine Klomparens explains it best by stating

  "Yes, it's great that Kolaghan's Command can rebuy your Bloodbraid Elf. It's better that it is a powerful spell that you can cascade into that will never be dead at any point in the game.

  In terms of your cascade hits, Kolaghan's Command is the safest include in the world. What's the worst that can happen, that they have no cards in hand or artifacts on the battlefield while having never killed one of your creatures? To be honest, that sounds like a game you are pretty ahead in."

• 1x Collective Brutality

  So remember when I said I kinda have 5 discard spells? Well, here is the 5th. And I may try adding another one depending on how I feel it works (which is really freaking good). Being able to choose the mode of this card is spectacular, and it can swing some matchups, but what is really fun is cascading into it, and then escalating it. Oh yea. You want unconditional? How about a card that can be discard, removal or at its "worst", a gain/drain.

• 2x Fulminator Mage Main Board?????

  It is some spice I have been grinding as of late. Chasmolinker initially brought it to my attention, and now I cannot un-think this. In the current state of Modern, there is generally always going to be a good hit with this. Death's Shadow, Burn -> Any dual land; Humans -> Cavern, Zig, etc; Affinity, B/G/X Midrange -> Man-Lands; Any Tron -> Urza Lands; U/W/X Control -> Colonnade; I'm sure you can always find a way to make it work. Plus, with K-Command, it is another great target to get back and set your opponent even further behind. Don't forget that it is a great blocker too! Block Batterskull, Sacrifice, destroy land, no life-gain, no damage taken!

• 0x Kitchen Finks

  The life gain on top of the persist makes this a great choice. Being able to mitigate the hurt from Bob is always a good place to be. I am currently flexing it out to test out Fulminators, but if I feel inclined, this could make it's way back in.

• 0x Grim Flayer

  I am either seeing 4x Bob and 0-2x Flayer or 4x Flayer and 0x Dark Confidant. The ability to set up not only your next draws but also your cascades is absolutely ridiculous. It even allows you to, at times, cascade into an empty board (which you generally don't want to do with this deck). The down-side is that if you don't slam this on T2, you generally will probably need to hit Delirium to make the ability trigger. Because of this, you would want to be running some other-card-type cards like Spellbomb or maybe Blood Moon (2018 Bloody JUND), and I felt that the direction that was going was not really what BBE wanted to be doing. There is a way that I may want to just add it in as a 2-of instead of Fulminators, but we'll see where playtesting goes.

The Land Base

• 4x Verdant Catacombs, 3x Bloodstained Mire

  Pretty standard Jund Fetch Land Set. With the introduction of more red and green cards, I went from a 4-4-1 split (1 being Wooded Foothills) to the 4-3 to allow for fast lands to help with the "Shock Value" of playing 3 color (pun intended).

• 2x Overgrown Tomb, 1x Blood Crypt, 1x Stomping Ground

  Pretty standard Jund Shock Land set. I decided to only go with 1 Blood Crypt to help make room for the man-lands.

• 4x Blackcleave Cliffs

  With the introduction of Lightning Bolt, this makes a lot more sense than Blooming Marsh, and I feel I would rather have fast lands over fetches. The only non-bo is that it doesn't really help with Treetop Village

• 3x Treetop Village, 2x Raging Ravine

  Well, that's a lot of man-lands. But that is to help with the "well what do I do when my opponents board is cleared" state. You generally don't want to cast Bloodbraid Elf there, and if you don't have other instant interaction, here you go! Get in that damage!

• 2x Swamp, 1x Forest, 1x Mountain

  There are these cards in modern that make basics still relevant. Blood Moon, Path to Exile, Ghost Quarter, and now Field of Ruin make it hard to run a 0-Basic list. I almost want to add another Forest as field of ruin is running wild in my meta, but for those that don't have that, this is generally what I go for.

The Sideboard

This section is really just theoretical, as I don't have my main board fully committed to yet. Jund historically has had a hard time when it came to Tron, Lantern, Afinity, and Burn. So some of these are staples. However there are some slots (I will denote with a * ) that are flexable to the meta you feel will be there. As always, at your local game store, you may have a limited meta, where tron, lantern, or burn will not be present. if this is the case, feel free to change up those slots.

• 3x Ancient Grudge

  Great for Afinity, Lantern Control, and tron. Basically a silver bullet, but it is greatly needed.

• 2x Collective Brutality

  A hilarious card against burn/red deck wins. I generally feel good about escalating both times just to 4 for 3 them in a relevant way (I consider the gain/drain a "2" value in this match up). The card is also pretty good against control, as you basically get a counter spell out of their hands (much like other discard).

• 2x Damnation

  Some sort of board wipes are pretty necessary when 1-for-1 is not going to be able to get there. Other options are Engineered Explosives of Anger of the Gods.

• 1x Fulminator Mage

  An extra to bring in against some much needed matchups, like Tron.

• 2x Kitchen Finks *

  In the board as I flex in Fulminators

• 1x Nihil Spellbomb, 1x Grafdigger's Cage

  The graveyard is important in modern. From pure graveyard strategies (Dredge), to not letting Snapcaster Mages do their thing (Control) to disrupting combos (Storm), you need some graveyard hate. this is just my combination that I am currently running. Other options are Surgical Extraction or Leyline of the Void

• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope *

  The first of my personal choices. This is a great cascade target and is just another great way to try and control some aggressive or grindy decks.

• 1x Duress *

  With the cutting of discard, I feel like there are still some matches where more discard could be good, but generally not creature based decks. Because of this, Duress is a better Inquisition of Kozilek, but If I decide to main Inquisition of Kozilek, this could possibly go to Thoughtsieze

• 0x Tireless Tracker *

  A great hit for BBE and can rally help in some grindy matchups. I just feel it is currently out-classed by some other 3-drops.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it. The breakdown of what this deck is doing and the decisions I decided to make. I would like to say, if you want to read some more on the play of Jund with Bloodbraid Elf, look at this article by Jadine Klomparens, and if you want to know how the master of Jund himself, Ried Duke, would build it with some explanations, take a look at this article.

Hope you enjoy!

As always, any questions/comments/concerns are appreciated!

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Exclude colors	W
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 1 Mythic Rares 28 - 6 Rares 10 - 5 Uncommons 1 - 3 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.22
Tokens	Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Zombie 2/2 B