So I was supposed to write up a tournament report this past week on my new adventures with Jund. I recently gave Plated Geopede a start out of the bullpen and I was to write about my experiences with the local FNM especially with May 22nd being Magic : Gameday with Rise of the Eldrazi. Well I set of lost notes and one cold later here I am. Instead I talk about "GeoJund" how it performed for me and compare and constrast different styles of Jund and what version might be right for you the reader.
There was sadly only 29 people that showed up which is a smaller crowd than our shop is getting used to. Six rounds of swiss is becoming more and more of a normal occurrance in Lancster, but today is only 5.
I ended the swiss rounds 3 - 1 - 1 with the draw being intentional in round 5. My top 8 match was against Sarkhan the Mad Jund. I would have had to play the matchup round 5, but since we decided to draw we just played a few games, sadly this helped me more than him as I figured out my sideboard plan (little to nothing as opposed to a lot of stuff) and promptly overwhelmed my opponent before he could get Sarkhan online both games. I do remember getting a lucky Goblin Ruinblaster topdeck in game 2 as well.
Top 4 was against the only person to beat me in swiss, (even though I almost forced a draw through a triple Vengevine draw with some insane top decks) and he ended up getting there again in a close three games. The deck was Vengevine Naya and he ended up in first after splitting the prizes and took down 26 packs.
Anyway onto my deck choice.
4 Savage Lands
4 Raging Ravine
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Evolving Wilds
3 Forest
3 Swamp
3 Mountain
4 Plated Geopede
4 Putrid Leech
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Borderland Ranger
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Bituminous Blast
4 Blightning
Sideboard
4 Sedaxris Specter
1 Vapor Snare
1 Island
2 Consuming Vapors
2 Deathmark
2 Doomblade
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Bituminous Blast
The blue sideboard plan was ok. It really only made a difference round 1. Would have like to commit less cards to accomplish the same effect.
The deck has essentially the same shell as a normal Jund deck but is fundamentally different. You sacrifice a lot of the decks reach in order to accomplish a quicker kill. Plated Geopede is a monster under certain conditions, and when I open the game with a turn 2 Geopede I feel confident that I can go the distance.
The weakness hear is quite different from a "stock jund" or something similar to it though. Jund's inherent weakness is its mana base.
Accomplishing a tri-color mana base in today's standard format is difficult and cards that attack a Jund player's mana such as Goblin Ruinblaster, Spreading Seas, Tectonic Edge, and Ajani Vengeant are incredibly effective. I have lost many a game on turn 2 when that Spreading Sea's comes down and locks me out of a color. If a Jund player can establish a stable mana base his/her threats create so many issues and can attack a player in a variety of ways. Fighting through the mana disruption is key the the survival of the Jund player.
The difference with the Plated Geopede version is quite different. The mana base is easily developed. Nine fetchlands provide the colors necessary and make the Geopede a viable threat the bust through that early Wall of Omens or to eek out those extra points of damage. The trade-off as I mentioned before is a lack of reach. Without a viable late game, decks like Vengevine Naya, Mythic Conscription, U/W control, and Super Friends, can win handily provided they can weather the initial storm. Lacking more of that inevitability with cards like Sarkhan the Mad, and Broodmate Dragon definately is a pain.
No matter what version you play you need to consider a few things.
1. How do I fight through Spreading Seas?
2. How do I establish my board presence?
3. How do I kill my opponent?
4. How will I construct my sideboard?
Jund is slowly moving away from that "stock list" and branching out to find different ways to fight through all those bad matchups. Grand Prix DC showed us very distinct versions of the deck.
Jund
A Standard Magic deck, by Owen Turtenwald
2nd place at a Grand Prix tournament in Washington, District of Columbia, United States on 2010-05-23
Maindeck:
Creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Broodmate Dragon
4 Putrid Leech
1 Siege-gang Commander
4 Sprouting Thrinax
Instants
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
Planeswalkers
2 Sarkhan The Mad
Sorceries
4 Blightning
4 Maelstrom Pulse
Basic Lands
3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
Lands
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Raging Ravine
4 Savage Lands
4 Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard:
2 Prophetic Prism
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Doom Blade
4 Duress
2 Pyroclasm
Very close to a stock list, the few changes are a 4th Maelstrom Pulse, and 2 Prophetic Prism to fight the Spreading Seas.
I especially like the Prism because not only does it help vs. Spreading Seas it cantrips, negating the card gained by Spreading Seas.
Jund
A Standard Magic deck, by Joshua Wagner
4th place at a Grand Prix tournament in Washington, District of Columbia, United States on 2010-05-23
Maindeck:
Creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Broodmate Dragon
4 Putrid Leech
2 Siege-gang Commander
4 Sprouting Thrinax
1 Thornling
Instants
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Terminate
Planeswalkers
1 Sarkhan The Mad
Sorceries
4 Blightning
4 Maelstrom Pulse
Basic Lands
3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
Lands
1 Dragonskull Summit
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Raging Ravine
1 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
4 Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard:
4 Pithing Needle
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Royal Assassin
2 Deathmark
This is more of a heavy removal build. Thornling is something I was thinking about but wasn't sure about the green investment, nice to see it work here.
The item I really like here is the Royal Assassin in the sideboard. I've seen some people talk about a Cunning Sparkmage plan for Jund I was highly opposed. Not only was it clunky at best, you had no way of finding both cards aside from drawing them. Royal Assassin however solves this problem. Resolving this against Mythic should be game over. Dauntless Escort becomes critical against you and your 12 maindeck removal spells should help you fight through that.
The last list I want to talk about is probably the most "outside of the norm"
Jund
A Standard Magic deck, by Bradley Carpenter
7th place at a Grand Prix tournament in Washington, District of Columbia, United States on 2010-05-23
Maindeck:
Creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Borderland Ranger
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Putrid Leech
2 Siege-gang Commander
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Vengevine
Planeswalkers
3 Sarkhan The Mad
Sorceries
4 Maelstrom Pulse
Basic Lands
3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
Lands
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Raging Ravine
2 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
1 Scalding Tarn
4 Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard:
3 Cunning Sparkmage
2 Terminate
4 Blightning
4 Consuming Vapors
2 Forked Bolt
Holy Vengevine Batman! This deck is either going to play multiple dudes and get a Vengevine back or kill your dudes and still get damage in. Turn 3 Siege-Gangs and Sarkhan the Mad seems pretty effective as well via Lotus Cobra.
These four lists I've shown you are pretty much the different ways to go with regards to Jund. So if you want to start cascading just ask yourself those 4 questions and figure out which list answers them best for you.
Later
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