Topic: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

So as I'm sure many of you are also thinking about DGM gameday this upcoming weekend, I've hit something of a conundrum with regard to which of two decks I should give a go at my LGS.  The gameday tourney is a $10 entry to win a box of DGM, so I'm looking for something that's highly competitive (within reason).

With no further ado, I've come to these two Jund builds but I'm currently torn regarding which one would be more likely to perform well.

Option 1: Going Trolling - aka Jund Aggro (can be seen here http://deckbox.org/sets/359171)

The idea here is quite simple, lots of attacking, going as fast as possible.  T4 wins are quite common given the build, the evolving of Experiment One and the wealth of 3/3 creatures that hit the board quickly.  I realize the norm is to put in 4x Falkenrath Aristocrat or Hellrider at the four-drop; however, as I have only one Hellrider, I've gotten a bit more creative.  Varolz, the Scar-Striped is my bomb here in many regards, as he lets me keep the pressure on quickly and easily by putting counters galore on any creatures if I run into any board wipes and the like.  Vexing Devil becomes a 4 damage burn spell AND Blessings of Nature for all of RR thanks to Varolz.  Similarly, I can happily use Ghor-Clan Rampager as a bloodrush trick and then later turn it into counters.

The problem:  I have some removal here and I'm quite thankful for Putrefy, but I fear running into lots of Tusks and other stalling creatures until I eventually hit something that's just too big for me to deal with reliably (I'm thinking Angel of Serenity).

Option 2: Oh the Insanity - aka Jund Midrange (can be seen here http://deckbox.org/sets/377478)

The idea here is drastically different from the trolling deck in that I'm aiming to simply drop bigger threats than the opponent all game.  Ideally a T3 Desecration Demon thanks to either Farseek or Arbor Elf offers a commanding board presence.  But, consider this, for four mana, I can sack said demon to gain 6-7 life and draw 6-7 cards thanks to Disciple of Bolas... similar things happen with Thragtusk in play.  Can you say card advantage?  If I cannot overpower the foe with DDs or Tusks, then I'll happily drop Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and/or Sire of Insanity.  The pair of those together on the field would essentially translate into an automatic win.

The problem: Consistency here scares me.  Sure, I can really light someone up if the cards go right, but a T3 DD isn't guaranteed by any means and I fear that my mana base is simply too shaky for the double black cost (keep in mind that I'm not looking to pick up more shocks between now and next weekend).  Additionally, I fear that this build would play to the strengths of other mid-range decks that might just be more powerful than me - again, Angel of Serenity poses quite the problem.

So I ask all of you, as I haven't tossed out any deck ideas in a while, what are your thoughts?  Any tweaks you would suggest to either build?  And, ultimately, which build looks more competitive?

Re: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

I saw a version of bg aggro-ish stuff on the pro tour coverage this weekend.  I really liked the interactions between varolz, lotleth and scrivener.  I don't know how competative it is but the cards scream synergy

Re: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

elpablo wrote:

I saw a version of bg aggro-ish stuff on the pro tour coverage this weekend.  I really liked the interactions between varolz, lotleth and scrivener.  I don't know how competative it is but the cards scream synergy

If I were to shift gears to be completely R/B aggro, I'd be looking for quite a different setup.  Spike Jester, Rakdos Shred-Freak, Ash Zealot, etc would likely be appropriate there. 

I like the synergy here with Experiment One and pretty much EVERY creature in the deck.  T1 Exp One, T2 Burning-Tree into either Flinthoof or Mogg translates into a 3/3 Exp, a 2/2 Emissary, and a 3/3 Boar/Goblin... that's 3 damage on T2 with another 8 without me doing anything else on T3.  Land that (or even part of it) in two turns and a single bloodrushed Ghor-Clan or Searing Spear can end the game.  But again, the question becomes, what can I do if I don't get that synergistic of a draw?  As soon as Tusks start hitting the field, I have a problem... and Tusks + Resto Angels will easily push the opponent out of range.  Sure, I can deal with a few minor threats, but I just don't know whether I trust an all-in aggro strategy as much in this meta... perhaps I'm just off on that.

Re: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

I saw someone running posibility storm as well to beat things like sphinxs... because if they hit another one it casts for zero

If you're going for aggro it probably needs to be all in to get under the sweepers and thargs, other than that you'd need a more resilient creature base

Re: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

One thing on the jund midrange.  I see the synergy between disciple and the other creatures, but consider this.

If you're able to play disciple for value she's amazing for 4 mana, but the cheese does not stand alone in this case.  As a card by herself she doesn't provide the same value that the standard jund 4 drops do.  If you really wanted to draw cards consistently in jund consider deadbridge chant instead.  I run one in my current jund and it's a fantastic card.  getting a creature back for free potentially is amazing.  I'm considering taking out the garruks for additional chants.  it is a bit expensive at 6 but there's still not a whole lot of enchantment removal out there.

Domri seems out of place in the midrange.  You're less than 1rd creatures which means he's going to miss at least 2 out of 3 times on average. 

A couple more sweepers would probably help too.  I like gaze of granite.  It's worked pretty well.  And against the naya blitz decks casting it for 4 is almost like using a supreme verdict.  Though arbor elf does not synergy with it.  YOu'd have to go to keyrunes probably.

Re: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

elpablo wrote:

One thing on the jund midrange.  I see the synergy between disciple and the other creatures, but consider this.

If you're able to play disciple for value she's amazing for 4 mana, but the cheese does not stand alone in this case.  As a card by herself she doesn't provide the same value that the standard jund 4 drops do.  If you really wanted to draw cards consistently in jund consider deadbridge chant instead.  I run one in my current jund and it's a fantastic card.  getting a creature back for free potentially is amazing.  I'm considering taking out the garruks for additional chants.  it is a bit expensive at 6 but there's still not a whole lot of enchantment removal out there.

Domri seems out of place in the midrange.  You're less than 1rd creatures which means he's going to miss at least 2 out of 3 times on average. 

A couple more sweepers would probably help too.  I like gaze of granite.  It's worked pretty well.  And against the naya blitz decks casting it for 4 is almost like using a supreme verdict.  Though arbor elf does not synergy with it.  YOu'd have to go to keyrunes probably.


While you're spot on that having the Disciple out on its own doesn't provide the value of a Desecration Demon, what it does provide is SERIOUS card advantage and life gain.  The most typical creature I intend to sack to it is Thragtusk, which, let's be honest, if you could pay 9 mana to gain 10 life, draw five cards, and put a 2/1 and 3/3 creature into the field, you would do it every time, right?  That pairing is essentially like going six-to-nine cards-for-one in terms of card advantage.  It could easily shut out an aggro strategy quickly, nevermind drawing additional tusks and/or DDs.  The biggest problem with DD is that it can get locked out of combat by a clever opponent that is able to play one "chump" creature a turn - think, Lingering Souls can keep said demon occupied for four full turns... but if I can quickly turn that pointless demon into a 2/1 creature (not as big of a deal, but still a threat), 7-10 life, AND an entirely new hand... that's huge - especially if I'm digging for that 6th mana to cast Ruric Thar or Sire of Insanity.

As for Domri Rade, he's useful here in a number of ways.  First off, his +1 won't always net me a creature card, you're spot on about that.  But it DOES provide me the ability to see what my next card is and to plan accordingly.  If I know that I have another DD coming or a Tusk, perhaps I'll let more attackers through, but a land gives me incentive to block more aggressively.  A lot of people downplay this ability if you're not always drawing creatures off of it, but sometimes just knowing what is coming next can be a huge advantage.  Second, his -2 is really where I'm at here.  If they're feeding one creature per turn to my DD, his -2 gives me the option of taking out their sacrificial lamb prior to the start of combat as there really aren't many creatures out there that will consistently beat a 6/6 in a fight, much less after it's been pumped a few times by their sacrifices.  Third, Domri offers a nice diversion against aggro decks as a possible T2 play or T3 hard cast, he can do some work and draw an attacker away from me - which is often quite important when you're trying to survive until you get your bigger stuff out.  Lastly, Domri's ultimate comes into play against control decks.  It seems unlikely, but the first time I played an FNM with him in a deck, he went absolutely bonkers and I was able to ultimate him in back-to-back games against a control deck, easily sealing the victory for me as that haste, double-strike bit really does a number on someone.  I can see where you're coming from, but if I were to identify a weak link in the build, he's certainly not it.

To some degree I'm considering Gaze of Granite as a SB card as I'd happily drop an Arbor Elf or two if it meant derailing an aggro deck.  My biggest concern is that said Gaze would require you to cast it for five or six before it really does that much work for you.  Again, I'm heavily considering it, as it can be technically cost for zero to wipe out tokens, but beyond that it'd have to be much later in the game to really make an impact.

I appreciate the feedback, even just thinking about the separate pieces a second time can be really useful.

Re: [Standard] Two Jund-tastic Choices

In my matches with gaze of granite i've never been unhappy casting it.  It'd consider at least one maindeck, I don't know if I'd want it in my starting hand, but, drawing it against things like assemble the legion, detention sphere can be pretty good too.  You're going for late game anyway so casting it with 10 mana on the board isn't completely out of question. 

I'd also be worried about removal while casting bolas.  If they nuke the DD or thrag with a putrefy or something before she resolves that would hurt. Just a thought.

Domri isn't bad, his abilities are just situational.  Knowledge or what's coming next turn is useful, but not as useful, ,imo, as just drawing the card would be.  I've honestly not tried him in a midrange deck I usually played him in a more creature heavy deck.  He seemed good there at times other times not so much.  mileages may very i suppose. smile