About Bob: I love me some
Dark Confidant
! Robert has always been a Jund staple because he is a two drop that, unanswered, can simply take over the game. The Jund curve is T1 disruption, T2 serious threat, T3 Lili or double-spell. In this time-tested role, the card is really just crazy good. Yes he dies to removal. Yes, I die to him sometimes. But in the end he's still a turn two must-answer threat that's also an easy side-out.
About W6: However good Bob is, there's no doubt that
Wrenn and Six
is really the card that put Jund back on the map, single-handedly fueling the deck's post-MH1 resurgence. Like Bob and Goyf, it's a two-drop that is capable of running away with games.
About Kroxa: (Insert meme of guy creeping on
Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
while Dark Confidant looks on in shock and anger). Kroxa is all the new hotness, and is objectively a great spell, but I am still withholding judgment. Escaping it on T4 seems great, and it's probably generically a better cascade hit than Bob is. It doesn't ding the life total like Bob... but on the other hand, BBRR on turn four demands painful changes to the mana base. Kroxa makes Jund even more vulnerable to grave hate, while ironically also being a nonbo with W6 and Goyf (as well as Scooze, KCommand, Lili Last Hope, etc.) It doesn't help us dig for the right half of our deck when we're not already staring at the cards we need in hand. Lastly, it doesn't fill that key two-drop threat role, because it's not a permanent until later on (if ever). I'm keeping an eye on it, but I won't be that surprised if it turns out to be just another card to add to the larger Jund card pool, instead of a new staple.
About Rider:
Murderous Rider
is good on its face, and I'm surprised other Jund players haven't caught on yet. Its downsides are more than offset by being a single card that acts as both broad answer and relevant threat, which is exactly what this deck wants to do. Either side can be chosen as a cascade target, so it's always a live hit off BBE, and unlike many of our other cards, it's not weak to grave hate. You even get the card back in the deck if Rider dies! To me it's pure value and a total no-brainer.
About the lands: 23 lands with five basics works very well, with both Bob and W6 helping make drops.
Blood Moon
is usually pretty bad for my opponents, not that most of them figure that out in time. And now that fetching and re-fetching with W6 is the norm, lots of basics really help protect the life total.
Jund is super fun to play, I always feel that my decisions matter, and that I have to evaluate and plan correctly. It incentivizes and rewards interaction on several different levels of the game. I've been having a hard time putting it down lately. When in doubt...
