Jund Deck Tech -- Need your Opinions!
Modern forum
Posted on April 20, 2016, 6:35 p.m. by DrFunk27
Hello T/O!
I have a question for all of you. I've recently started to brainstorm potential cards that A. Aren't played that could potentially be good and B. Cards that can become a blowout.
I understand the card that I am going to suggest isn't played (at all, honestly) and I understand why. However, because I don't care what people choose to play and because I like to have fun with my decks, I've decided to play 1 Master of Cruelties in my Jund deck. This is obviously purely for testing purposes, but I've loved the card since it was released, and I feel that it could be a sleeper. Because it sees 0 play, I'm probably wrong, but again, don't care. lol
What are your thoughts? I'm going to play it regardless but I thought I would at least see what some of my friends and fellow users think about trying it.
I know it's 2 biggest downfalls are that it costs 
and it doesn't immediately impact the board. I'm willing to put that aside for 2 reasons. It survives the Doom Blade and Lightning Bolt test. Not only that, but it offers a First Strike / Deathtouch body that offers protection as a wall. If I decide to attack, and it's unblocked, I also have the opportunity of casting Lightning Bolt for the win after the trigger resolves.
Anyways, I'm testing it and I'll see how it goes. I think I will be fine at the FNM level, maybe larger local tournaments. I'm not looking to blow up an IQ or PPTQ with this secret deck tech but I thought I'd get a few opinions at least.
Here is the deck I'm playing.
If you can't Twin'em, Jund'em!
Modern
SCORE: 1 | 522 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER
As always, thanks for reading!
4 and 5 drops don't work well with Dark Confidant. So I would suggest removing them. You should also be playing 2-3 mainboard Scavenging Ooze. Scooze is one of the main threats in jund and can not be replaced. Graveyard hate is very important in modern, along with the life and the possible huge beater(Also good against thoptor sword and snapcaster). If you want a more impact-full threat play Huntmaster of the Fells Flip since he at least gains you life and puts out 2 creatures. Personally I play Courser of Kruphix because it's a good blocker, it gains life, and works well with confidant plus fetchlands. Since you can fetch anything you don't want on the top of your library and not lose any life. Also remove Doom Blade for a third Abrupt Decay and a third Terminate. ThoptorSword is real in modern and abrupt decay is important because jund has a very hard time beating it. Not enough creatures to warrant playing Arlinn Kord Flip. Add a 4th Liliana of the Veil instead. Or possiblly a second Maelstrom Pulse. I would also recomend playing the full 4 man lands. Either Raging Ravine or Hissing Quagmire since control seems to be making a resurgence, The extra creature helps out. Raging Ravine is a good clock, while Hissing Quagmire is good in midrange matchups. I play a 2/2 split personally.
April 20, 2016 7:39 p.m. Edited.
InfiniteParadoX says... #4
it makes bob bad. that alone makes it unplayable. the fact it makes bob bad AND doesn't do anything as well is why nobody plays it.
April 20, 2016 9:43 p.m.
Thanks for everyone's feedback. I guess I need to add to the deck description that this is an FNM level deck...but I thought I clearly spelled that out in the OP. I've been playing Jund since Modern was created. It's my favorite shard. I'm quite aware of how it's played, and why certain cards are not played, again I thought I said that in the OP, BUT anyways, still gonna play it at FNM, because its...FNM.
SadPony I took out 1 Ravine for a second GQ when Eldrazi was literally 70% of my local LGS...
For those of you who may want to know, if took this to a GP I would add +2 Scooze, +1 Abrupt Decay +1 Huntmaster of the Fells. I would -1 Doom Blade -1 PnK -1 Master of Cruelties -1 Arlinn Kord. I don't play 4 Lili because it's overkill. I could probably add the 4th Ravine in, but it's honestly not been an issue.
TL;DR I'm jamming Master because, fun FNM is fun.
April 20, 2016 10:46 p.m.
DarkMagician says... #6
Personally I love the idea of using him, he's completely out of left field and you can make him unblockable with relative ease. He's also repeatable removal (nobody will ever not block him for as long as they have a creature on the field) and one hell of a wall against just about every creature card in Modern.
April 20, 2016 11:50 p.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #7
TheAlexGnan please you and your people stop with the 'Modern decks win by T4' and others '5 cmc creatures are bad in modern'. It's lies. You just have to figure out how and when to cast them.
Thragtusk, Gideon Jura, Thundermaw Hellkite and the freshly printed Archangel Avacyn Flip / Goblin Dark-Dwellers are all viable cards in modern. And powerful ones too.
I just wanted to get it off my chest cuz i'm tired of people thinking the only good decks in the format are burn / affinity / infect. That ain't true, ask my jeskai control which wins T10+ ;)
April 21, 2016 2:54 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #8
Sorry for being 'salty', it comes from the fact I have the feeling every modern player is conditioned to think the same way and I see that as a bad thing for the format and the game in general :)
For the experience that I had with Cryptic Command so far, it's just been great. I've never had it as a dead card in my hand. The versatility it offers is just too OP. But again, just my experience!
April 21, 2016 4:01 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #9
Indeed, Master of Cruelties isn't designed to do well in modern. It'd require to build the whole deck around him. Grixis could be a solution though. Add Robe of Mirrors and things like Artful Dodge / Distortion Strike / Slip Through Space to make sure he won't be blocked. Then run burn spells for the finish (Gut Shot and bolt being the best IMO). Back him up with counterspells and you might have a shot. But that's a lot of effort for a clunky 'combo' ;)
Best interaction is in EDH : Kaalia of the Vast -> attack -> triggers -> lay down Master of Cruelties -> his trigger goes first if unblocked -> opponent goes down to 1 -> Kaalia deals 2 flying damages -> GG. :)
April 21, 2016 4:41 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #10
@frusciante7 Or just add a Whispersilk Cloak or two to the June shell. Even if you don't find MoC for it it still gets the Goyfs past any blockers which could end a game quickly.
April 21, 2016 9:46 a.m.
WizardOfTheNorthernCoast says... #11
I'm not a huge fan of this one. Especially with the incoming artifact hate for the relentless affinity decks and mostly for the Thopter / Foundry. It costs 5 in total to play and equip it. A bit too much to me ;)
April 21, 2016 10:02 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #12
I agree but the hate usually comes in round two and this is just an fnm build, I've played fnm's where a lot of people don't even have sideboards.
April 21, 2016 10:15 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #13
Johnny screams yes!!!... Timmy screams yes!!!... Spike groans and mutters about what a blooming idiot you'd have to be to run your deck...
April 21, 2016 10:20 a.m.
I mean the reality of the matter is that Jund is a hybrid aggro/control deck, and master of cruelties adds little to either plan. Your mixture of cheap threats and removal is designed to allow the deck to be flexible - sometimes winning T5, sometimes grinding the game out. By adding many 4 and 5 drops to the deck you reduce the flexibility because you're forced to grind the game out to the point when you can cast them. In doing so you have worse matchups against decks that have a better lategame (think Tron, Scapeshift).
This is pretty much why Jund doesn't go huge on 4 and 5 drops. You might see 3 4-drops and a single 5. Or 4 4-drops and no 5's.
You can run 5-drops with Dark Confidant. So ignore that as a factor. It's just thinking about whether they're worth it. Some of the dragons are worth it because you play them and then literally win. Thragtusk is worth it because its hard to remove cleanly, it attacks well, and it gains life. Master of Cruelties is not worth it simply because it's a defensive all-star that you play at the time of the game when you want to be winning, not controlling.
You also have to consider that Jund aims to topdeck amazingly. And topdecking a 5 mana creature on turn 4 or 5 when you really just need anything else will hurt a lot when you consider it could be something more generic like a Terminate to unquestionably kill stuff or a Tarmogoyf that's happy to fill either an aggro or defensive role.
Think about the niches each card fills and what the deck actually wants to achieve.
April 27, 2016 2:31 a.m.
ChiefBell Thanks ChiefBell. I ran it at FNM last week -- was definitely not as awesome as I was hoping. I guess I'll admit I was wrong. lol Dark Dwellers tho, that won me several games. Awesome card. 10/10 will play again.
bijschjdbcd says... #2
Goes against Junds game plan in my opinion.
You aim to grind your opponent out through efficient removal and equally efficient creatures.
At 5 mana it simply doesn't impact the board enough to warrant the 5 CMC.
Whilst the bolt proof is an upside, The doom blade test isnt at all applicable to a modern context.
Terminate, Path and Dismember are all played a lot more then actual Doom Blade.
If you want to play a 5 mana card as a wincon I would strongly suggest Olivia Voldaren or Thundermaw Hellkite. Even Stormbreath is spicy.
Sorry, Im going to shave my neckbeard now ;)
April 20, 2016 7:39 p.m.