Modern

Junding to Spain

“Every Hero’s story has a beginning. Batman’s parents were murdered. Hulk was exposed to a gamma bomb. Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider. Francis Toussaint, aspiring Pro Tour competitor, always on the outside, longingly looking in. Despite awkward beginnings, people are capable of great things…”

       -Tyler Blum

Junding to Spain

For just over 3 months now Tyler Blum, my partner in crime, and I have been working on Jund. After a combined 6 online PTQs, 25+ dailies, countless 2-mans, many late nights grinding out matches in person and countless in-depth conversations about it, we evolved our list to a point where it is distinctly different from your stock Jund. Mat Mercier managed to take our list to the top 8 of GP Lincoln, and the following weekend I managed to win a PTQ without dropping a match.

Preparation

I was put on Jund early in my Modern testing. Although I wasn’t initially drawn to it, I wasn’t able to avoid it due to local legend, Tyler Blum, continually wrecking every deck I threw against it. The Jund list he started with was Reid Duke’s list from the Magic Online Championship Series:

[Deck title=Reid Duke’s Jund]
[Creatures]
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Dark Confidant
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Tarmogoyf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Terminate
3 Blightning
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Planeswalkers]
3 Liliana of the Veil
[/Planeswalkers]
[Land]
2 Forest
1 Swamp
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
3 Marsh Flats
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
4 Treetop Village
3 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Obstinate Baloth
3 Ancient Grudge
1 Terminate
2 Duress
2 Maelstrom Pulse
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

After 3 months of effort and tinkering with Reid Duke’s initial list from MOCS, we came to the following list that I ran at the PTQ:

[Deck title=Mercier’s Jund]
[Creatures]
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Bloodbraid Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
2 Terminate
3 Jund Charm
4 Maelstrom Pulse
[/Spells]
[Planeswalkers]
3 Liliana of the Veil
[/Planeswalkers]
[Land]
4 Treetop Village
3 Raging Ravine
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Marsh Flats
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Forest
2 Swamp
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Thoughtseize
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Jund Charm
2 Night of Souls’ Betrayal
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Dead // Gone
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Most people’s initial reaction to our Jund list is that a lot of cards look out of place and most immediately attempt to ‘improve’ our list by cutting those very cards. Believe it or not, each and every slot has been heavily scrutinized to the point where it’s extremely hard for Tyler and me to make any sort of change. Even after Mercier’s all-star performance at the GP, where 3 players piloted essentially the same 75, only minor tweaks were made before the PTQ the following weekend.

A major tool that we used to improve some of Jund’s poor matchups was Google Spreadsheet to record results. Using the spreadsheet we tracked which matchups were good, and which needed help. Here is what the spreadsheet looked like by the end of the season:

These results were collected from matches played online including 2-man queues, 8-mans, dailies, and PTQs. In the interest of space, I’ve only included matchups encountered more than 2 times, which also explains why the win/loss total is off.

While a lot of the matchups look good now, it took a lot of tinkering to turn previously rough matchups such as Melira Pod, Affinity, Storm, and Cawblade, into decent matchups.

Card Explanations

No [card]Blightning[/card]

[card]Blightning[/card] was the first card to be cut. The problem with it is that against too many decks it just has no effect on the board, and in the late game a lot of the time it’s just a 3 mana [card]Lava Spike[/card]. [card]Blightning[/card] is one of those win-more cards that is great when you’re ahead and terrible when you’re behind.

No [card]Grim Lavamancer[/card]

Lavamancer was initially a great card in Jund, but once we made the move towards [card]Jund Charm[/card] and [card]Night of Souls’ Betrayal[/card], the anti-synergy between these cards was too much. You want all 3 cards in the same matchups, but too often Lavamancer would be stuck in your hand because of Night or Charm, or you would have to kill your own Lavamacer with Night or Charm. Other issues Lavamancers have from time to time is their poor interaction with Tarmogoyfs, as well as the occasional lack of ammunition.

No Thrun/[card]Obstinate Baloth[/card]

Although I never actually tried Thrun out, I never really wanted to. Not that Thrun is bad, but there are more versatile cards for that slot. Most people have Thrun mostly for the mirror, and in my experience, most times when Thrun hits play in a Jund mirror he either turns a game into a race or stalls a game out. Either way, he is still completely beatable, and a lot of the time [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] is just bigger anyhow.

[card]Obstinate Baloth[/card] made the cut in the sideboard for a long time, but once Dark Ascension became legal, Huntmaster replaced him. More on Huntmaster in a bit.

Maindeck [card]Jund Charm[/card]

[card]Jund Charm[/card] in the main is probably the most seemingly suspect part of our list, but it happens to be one of the best cards. [card]Jund Charm[/card] found its way in to our sideboard early in our preparation. However, as time went on we realized that we brought in [card]Jund Charm[/card] in a ton of matchups, so much so that Charm got moved to the maindeck.

[card]Jund Charm[/card] is great against Affinity, Melira, Storm, Cawblade, Fae, and Tokens to name a few decks. It’s especially effective game 1 when your opponent isn’t expecting it. The great thing about Charm is that a lot of the time it’s a blowout, but it always at least does something. In fact, [card]Jund Charm[/card]’s +2/+2 counter mode played a big part in winning a game in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals of the PTQ I won.

7 Manlands (4 [card]Treetop Village[/card], 3 [card]Raging Ravine[/card] )

While having a lot of come into play tapped lands may be frustrating in the early game, always having a manland to beat down with is so important that it’s worth it. Especially in matchups that are a grind. Manlands are excellent because they provide extra threats. Even in matchups that aren’t a grind, manlands are really great at racing. For a while we considered going up to 26 lands and having the full set of 8 manlands, but 25 has always felt like the perfect number and I wouldn’t want to cut an existing land for the 8th manland.

4 [card]Inquisition of Kozilek[/card]/4 [card]Thoughtseize[/card]

Most Jund lists run a maximum of 6 1-drop hand disruption spells, but we opted for the full 8. Lots of other Jund lists go with specific hate cards such as [card]Thorn of Amethyst[/card] for Storm, or [card]Torpor Orb[/card] for Splintertwin. However, Inquisition and [card]Thoughtseize[/card] are super versatile cards that are solid against Splintertwin and Storm, but are also excellent against Tron, Melira Pod, and Teachings decks, to name a few.

[card]Dead // Gone[/card]

This slot used to belong to [card]Magma Spray[/card] as [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]s 5-6 against the aggressive decks. That was until we came across [card]Dead // Gone[/card], which is strictly better. We never looked back.

Sure, occasionally [card]Dark Confidant[/card] will hit you for 4 on a revealed [card]Dead // Gone[/card], and sometimes it’s important that [card]Magma Spray[/card] can take down all of a [card]Kitchen Finks[/card] in one go, but [card]Dead // Gone[/card]’s other applications completely make up for it. For example, as far as I know, [card]Dead // Gone[/card] is your only reasonable answer to an on board Iona on black. Also, against a Splinter Twin opponent with [card]Blood Moon[/card] on board [card]Dead // Gone[/card] is the only card that beats [card]Deceiver Exarch[/card] if you only have red available because you can Dead Kiki-Jiki, or Gone Deceiver in response to a [card]Splinter Twin[/card] (which happened in the finals of the PTQ in game 2 when I was down a game). Dead // Gone is also excellent against Delver decks because they lean so heavily on turn 1 Delver, and Dead-ing it is backbreaking. Also, Delver decks tend to play [card]Vedalkin Shackles[/card] and [card]Threads of Disloyalty[/card], and Gone can be devastating in a scenario where your opponent uses Threads on your Goyf.

[card]Huntmaster of the Fells[/card]

Huntmaster didn’t make the 75 until the night before GP Lincoln when my roommates and I were brainstorming tech for the Cawblade matchup. After lots of brainstorming someone suggested Huntmaster and he immediately replaced [card]Obstinate Baloth[/card].

I like to think of Huntmaster as [card]Kitchen Finks[/card] 5-6, which is exactly what you want in a lot of matchups. Huntmaster is great because he is always at least a 2 for one that gains you life, but he also has a tendency of completely taking over games when he isn’t immediately dealt with.

[card]Night of Souls’ Betrayal[/card]

When I initially started analyzing Modern I realized that Night completely wrecks so many decks, yet no one plays it. Initially, I tried figuring out which decks I could jam Night into and even tried to build a deck around it, but nothing worked. That was until Tyler suggested we put it in Jund, which I never seriously considered, but after some thought we realized it fit perfectly.

The only creature of yours that Night straight up kills is [card]Dark Confidant[/card], but very often by the time the late game rolls around, you actually want your own Confidant dead. Night is excellent against Cawblade, Splinter Twin, Affinity, Tokens, Boros, and Fae. It isn’t immediately obvious why Night is so good against Splinter Twin, but with it on board they can’t combo you. Against ‘Artifact Aggro’ (Affinity), Night kills every creature they have except for Ravager if it was there before Night fell, and [card]Etched Champion[/card] which survives as a lowly 1/1. Most games against Affinity if you can stave off death in the early game with a healthy life total, Night will almost entirely lock them out.

The PTQ

As for the PTQ, I was without a doubt more prepared than I’d been for any previous PTQ, and I felt really confidant. Although I had a lot of extremely close matches, I managed to escape the event undefeated.

Over the course of the PTQ, in order, here is what I played against:

Splinter Twin 2-1
W Tokens 2-1
Zoo 2-0
RB Burn 2-1
Melira Pod 2-1
DRAW
DRAW

Jund 2-1
Melira Pod 2-1
Splinter Twin 2-1

The finals were without a doubt one of the tensest matches I’ve ever played. I played Dean McLaren, an excellent competitor, who was also undefeated. I punted game 1 because I incorrectly went for a Liliana ultimate thinking it would prevent him from comboing for a turn because it would put him to 3 lands, and 3 cards in hand. Next turn I had lethal on board. Unfortunately, his 3 cards in hand were [card]Pestermite[/card], [card]Splinter Twin[/card], and a land. Had I played more conservatively with my Liliana he would have had a much tougher time winning. Game 2 he landed an early [card]Blood Moon[/card] crippling me for mana, but I was able to barely pull out a win.

Jund Charm’s +2/+2 counter mode, and the Gone half of Dead // Gone, were major factors. Game 3 I had it all. I drew early hand disruption, the fetch lands to get my basics, removal, Liliana, and [card]Night of Souls’ Betrayal[/card] to seal the deal.

Here are 2 scenarios I came across during the PTQ in puzzle form for your enjoyment:

1) My Zoo opponent is completely tapped out. He has, tapped and attacking, a 2/3 [card]Kird Ape[/card] and a 5/5 [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card], and has a [card]Path to Exile[/card] on the stack targeting my [card]Dark Confidant[/card]. He is at 5 life.

I have a 5 lands, including a [card]Raging Ravine[/card] with a +1/+1 counter on it, and only have 1 land, a red source, untapped at the moment. I have a tapped [card]Kitchen Finks[/card] (3/2), and an untapped [card]Dark Confidant[/card]. I have a [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] in hand. I’m at 1 life.

How do you survive? (Solution at the bottom*)

2) My Mono W Tokens opponent is completely tapped out. And has an untapped [card]Cloudgoat Ranger[/card] (don’t laugh, it almost killed me), 3 untapped Kithkin tokens and 2 [card]Honor of the Pure[/card]. My opponent is at 7 life.

I have 4 lands, including a [card]Treetop Village[/card], and have the colored mana to play any card in hand, as well as use my manland. I also have a [card]Dark Confidant[/card] and 2 [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s (4/5: creature, instant, land, sorcery). My hand contains [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card], [card]Maelstrom Pulse[/card], [card]Jund Charm[/card], and [card]Inquisition of Kozilek[/card]. My opponent has lethal next turn.

Can you kill your opponent this turn? If so, how? (Solution at the bottom**)

Well, that’s it for this week – a ton of work has been put in to this deck, and out of respect for Tyler, and other friends piloting this list, I’m not posting a sideboarding list.

I’ve said this before on Facebook, and I’ll say it again, huge thanks to Tyler Blum, Paul Vanderberg, Mike Bower, Jessy Seida, Sean Gifford, Sean Hetherington, and everyone else who helped me get to Spain! Without you guys lending me cards, testing with me, and giving moral support, I doubt I would have got there.

Thanks for reading!

Francis Aralia Toussaint

______Franstar______ on Modo

*In this scenario Dark Confidant immediately gets Pathed. To survive the turn I had to Lightning Bolt my own Kitchen Finks. Finks then returned as a 2/1 and I gained 2 life, going up to 3. I was then able to chump block the Knight of the Reliquary and take 2 from the Kird Ape going back to 1. Fortunately, I was then able to attack for lethal the next turn with my Raging Ravine that previously had a +1/+1 counter.

**To kill my opponent that turn I Maelstrom Pulse’d his Kithkin Tokens, used Inquisition of Kozilek targeting myself and discarding Liliana of the Veil, and then swung for lethal with my Dark Confidant and 2 now 5/6 (creature, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery) Tarmogoyfs.

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