Xira Arien Jundying

Commander / EDH BRG (Jund) Control Reanimator

Walshee

Creature (31)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Conquering Manticore
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Dimir House Guard
• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Greater Gargadon
• 1x Greenwarden of Murasa
• 1x Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Molten Primordial
• 1x Ogre Battledriver
• 1x Pelakka Wurm
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Savra, Queen of the Golgari
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Sepulchral Primordial
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Thragtusk
• 1x Ulrich of the Krallenhorde  ^Flip
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Insurrection
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Twilight's Call
• 1x Vandalblast

Land (38)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Blooming Marsh
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Copperline Gorge
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 5x Forest
• 1x High Market
• 1x Jund Panorama
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Savage Lands
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Peak
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Winding Canyons
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Commander (1)

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Necrogenesis
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Vicious Shadows

Artifact (8)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Vedalken Orrery

Instant (7)

• 1x Act of Aggression
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

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It's a merry-go-round of death!

This is my Xira Arien Jundying list, which has evolved over a period of five years to the state that it is in today. Starting as a Karador, Ghost Chieftain value list, the deck's core has remained the same since jumping ship to Jund. In this description, I will go over said core and Jundying's usual path to victory, my choice of Xira Arien as the commander, pet cards, and then finally the changelog.

History Show

In its current iteration, Jundying is a toolbox/goodstuff deck that's tuned to have game against most casual/"noncompetitive" metas. The core of the deck is simply to play 187 creatures that Threaten, and then sacrifice the borrowed creature for value after attacking (e.g. Goblin Bombardment + Zealous Conscripts ). While we're on the theme of threatens, Insurrection has always been included for its flexibility of being a pseudo-wrath and a win condition on its own. The Threaten-creatures synergize very well with symmetrical reanimate effects, so Living Death and Twilight's Call have always been key role-players/finishers. Eternal Witness and Greenwarden of Murasa can recur your reanimate effects, leading to a soft-lock. Finally, in order to maximize your mass-ressurection potential as well as counter other reanimation strategies, several graveyard-hate creatures and effects are added to ensure we get the better (living) end of the deal.

So where does Xira Arien fit into the picture? There are several commanders that synergize with a sacrifice/reanimate theme much more than a dinky 1/2 flying Jayemdae Tome, namely: Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper; Prossh, Skyraider of Kher; and Adun Oakenshield. Heck, I used Kresh the Bloodbraided as my commander in the first Jund versions of the deck. However, I found that when I was winning, I was doing so without ever casting him. By switching to Xira Arien, I was able to have a commander that supported the deck, and not visa-versa. If she lets you hit that extra land drop, chump blocks a beefy flyer, or is sacrificed to one of your effects, she has done her job. This isn't to say that there aren't any powerful synergies with her.

Make Xira great (again?) Show

As the deck has evolved, I have strived to include as many instant-speed effects as possible to capitalize on Xira's drawing ability. You typically want to do this in "general" (pun intended), because in Commander it will only be your turn one fourth or fifth of the time. The mana-sink ability allows you to sit back and use your mana productively if you do not need to react to anything your opponents are doing at the time. Urabrask the Hidden or Ogre Battledriver not only turn your Living Deaths/Twilight's Calls into lethal swings, but also allow you to start drawing immediately. The most powerful synergy is Seedborn Muse + Xira Arien , which turns Xira into a pseudo-Consecrated Sphinx (and is bat-s#$% insane with Vedalken Orrery or Winding Canyons). Another card that I recently windmill-slammed into the deck is Kessig Wolf Run. On top of the potentially cute interaction with Greater Good, the wolf run also gives our deck inevitability by being able to punch them really hard in the face with our evasive Xira Arien. Finally, Vicious Shadows is disgustingly good on its own, but is even better when you force an opponent to draw prior to a board wipe.

Ruminations on Pet Cards Show

Dualcaster Mage- This little guy pulls his weight when you consider how many ways you have to return him to your hand. Don't be afraid to simply copy a Cultivate for value- you will use him more than once in a game.

Thragtusk- a throwback to a grindy/value standard season that made Siege Rhinos look silly, the repeated 5 life and extra body to sacrifice isn't as strong as in regular constructed, but absolutely necessary with the amount of life you can pay for most of your effects. I also love it's 5/3 body, as it attacks very well after an Insurrection or Living End.

Act of Aggression- originally Grab the Reins, I switched to Act of Aggression because it keeps in line with Xira's activated ability cost. Besides, hardly anyone will play around you stealing their guy at instant speed with only 3 mana up.

Molten Primordial- Insurrection on a stick- I have yet to play this guy and not have it completely change the tempo of the game (if not ending someone else's right then and there). Easily the best creature in the deck.

Puppeteer Clique- One of the best (and most fun) graveyard hate cards in the game...just remember to not get sacrifice-happy and kill the creature you reanimate with it (unless you're politicking hard).

Huntmaster of the Fells  - A friend recently mentioned in passing that Huntmaster of the Fells   would shine in a draw-go style of deck, and I was immediately excited to try it in the list. A mini Grave Titan with a twist, Huntmaster is one of those cards that feels underwhelming to play at first, but once it's in the pool of recurring creatures it will pay for itself ten times over with the repeated tokens and lifegain. It's not uncommon for you to just play a land and pass with this list anyways; why not force action from one of your opponents or dome a utility creature or mana dork in the process (or even better, convince another player to not play a spell to kill a third person's creature)? He also has the added benefit of often being "too bad to kill," so it will likely stick on the table until the inevitable board wipe.

Ulrich of the Krallenhorde  - Speaking of "too bad to kill," most players will laugh off Ulrich as a gimmick or joke card. However, if your opponents were scared of a Huntmaster Shocking a creature, imagine how they'll feel when you flash this bad boy in and start threatening to eat anything 6 toughness or less! The Monstrous Growth alone can be quite impactful at instant speed or when you add Urabrask the Hidden/Ogre Battledriver into the mix. And let's not talk about Greater Good- you'll be UlRICH!

Conclusion Show

This concludes the "primer section" of Jundying's description. Below is a running changelog for those that are interested. Regardless, you've made it this far, so I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this description. Jundying is the apotheosis of my efforts within Commander (and MtG as a whole). I love this list, and continue to refine and tweak it to this day. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments below!

Change Log Show

28 Feb 2017- The most significant change I made to the deck was trading away the "high roller" cards- namely the original duals, Mana Crypt, and Diamond Valley. Given that they only added maybe half to one percent of the deck's total effectiveness, I have yet to notice any real difference. This also led me to switching Skyshroud Claim for Tempt with Discovery (note: this change potentially leads to blowouts with opponents' Bojuka Bog- be careful!). I also took the time to revamp the ramp package- adding more signets to ramp while also being able to draw with our commander. Deathrite Shaman was included as a pseudo mana dork that also controls opponents' graveyards. My last change to the mana package was switching out the random utility lands with those that probably should have been in the deck all along- Kessig Wolf Run and Winding Canyons.

Outside of the mana base, I included more card draw with Sylvan Library, removed Erebos, God of the Dead for Phyrexian Reclamation and Moment's Peace for Spore Frog (much more effective in this list being that it's a creature), threw in the werewolf package, and added Heroic Intervention, Vandalblast, and Vicious Shadows.

Lastly, I put in Vampiric Tutor and Dimir House Guardto increase the deck's consistency. Because this is a "goodstuff" deck with no real commander-centric goals, I've found that I need to be able to find the core pieces of the list (Living Death/Twilight's Call, and to a lesser extent Greater Good and Birthing Pod). I'm all for not tutoring up combo pieces ad nauseum, however given that I'm only able to play Commander 2-4 times a month, I don't have time to draw 20-30 cards of my deck and not do anything meaningful in a game. I may add more "soft" tutors if I'm still experiencing issues- more to come.

Top Ranked	Achieved #26 position overall 7 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	7 years
Exclude colors	WU
Key combos	Goblin Bombardment + Zealous Conscripts Seedborn Muse + Xira Arien
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.97
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Wolf 2/2 G, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Decks of Interest - EDH, Other EDH Decks