Modern Post-Origins Jund Loam Pox - Budget Edition.
Primer on the archetype, by thatjunkmage: Life from the Loam - Modern Primer.
Based on my less-budget Loam build: shock-on-a-stick-new-loam-brew. With some ideas taken from Tomazinhal's budget Loam and cracking-loam by oucho2pierce.
Thoughts on Card Choices:
Crack the Earth - This is the major difference between this and a non-budget or less-budget Loam build, for me. It can be a very useful spell, but is weak against a couple major archetypes, mainly Tron (because of cheap, expendable artifacts) and Affinity (same). In any case, it's sort of Smallpox lite, so it's easier to cast on any given turn, but far less powerful. The key, I think, is to use it aggressively in the early game regardless of your own board state. In other words, always trade land-for-land if possible, and probably trade creature-for-land and trust your deck to find Loam to help you re-establish a mana base.
Boom/Bust
- This card is slightly less efficient than Crack the Earth, but nice because it specifically targets land. The Bust side is only likely to be useful in a very long, grindy game (because you'll also be sacrificing lands, it's hard to cast) - but it is a probable game-winner in that late-game situation.
Molten Vortex
and
Flame Jab
- Because this is a budget deck, with less-than-optimal mana-fixing plus a bunch of land-sacrificing, it's harder to maximize the value of
Molten Vortex
, so it's only a 2-of. And because we're only running 2, it is highly likely to be removed whenever possible, so we augment it with
Flame Jab
. In any case, both cards are good at killing small creatures, or teaming up with Lightning Bolt for larger ones, while giving you the opportunity to chip away at the opponent's life total.
Zombie Infestation - This is very much standard Loam stuff, but I'd like to mention why I like it here more than in other builds. Again, because we're somewhat focused on land destruction and permanent sacrificing, being able to produce 2/2's for zero mana is awesome. It helps us through the mid-game, given our lack of creature removal, and is our main win-con, along with Worm Harvest.
Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse - Hardly the best mana-fixing around, but okay in a long-game strategy, and re-usable in a Loam build.
