There is no doubt that as the organizer of this event, Starn made the deiosicn to include Roberts on the panel. Not only did her column indicate she is a good soldier in the same army Starn is in (motto “Get the LAX 3”), she has “credentials” because she writes for the NYT (motto “All the news that fits our agenda, we print”). There’s nothing like credentials to warm the cockels of the heart of a poseur like Starn. Roberts, after all the bad gas you wrote about the LAX case, what entitles you to be held up as an authority on anything other than how to rush to judgment?

Hi JustADemoName,

You're right! There were no claims of secret tech, and there was very little coverage at all of the sideboard choices made. However, I think there is a lot of merit in examining the hivemind to come up with a baseline build upon which you can innovate further.

Cloudthresher is solid. Chameleon Colossus was okay, but a little underwhelming in my testing (as a 2-of). Deglamer has been showing up in PTQ top-8s, and I think it's a solid answer, though I like Slave of Bolas better as a Wurmcoil and fatty catch-all.

And of course, everything is better with Wurmcoil Engines.

In short, good points 🙂 Perhaps the next Jund feature will be on the sideboard!

Thanks for reading and for commenting.

Dylan

Man Chameleon Colossus is a nice one. Thanks for that 🙂

Also, the guy playing duress is clearly a budget build, note the lack of Twilight Mire's, the most expensive card in the deck. Duress is obviously worse than thoughtseize in almost every matchup, but it is considerably cheaper.

Where's the tech? how about Cloudthreasher as an answer to faeries. Chameleon Colossus? Deglamor to answer Wurmcoil, or Wurmcoil for the mirror?

The comment software is currently hiding a couple of comments. Not sure why! :/ Glad it at least got sent to you 😛 Please do let me/us know how that testing goes.

Thanks,
Dylan

I haven't tried Vengevine, personally. Bloodbraid helps there too in bringing them back, but playing Maelstrom Pulse and Blightning (and perhaps other non-Creature cards) tempers Fauna Shaman's usefulness as well as Vengevines. I think that's why you typically see a maximum of 3 in the deck rather than Naya's 4.

I would like to try a 27th land although 26 seems like it might be perfect. If I did 27 it would be another Lavaclaw Reaches, I think.

I like Jund Charm, but I prefer Volcanic Fallout whenever possible (except perhaps in a version of Jund I've been toying around with using Bitterblossom ala @Grant_Champion on Twitter).

I think Wurmcoil is better than Grave Titan in theory, but I haven't tried Titan. Wurmcoil Engine is awesome pretty much anywhere 🙂

Bituminous Blast absolutely belongs somewhere, though I'm not sure in place of what. Perhaps Maelstrom Pulse #4 and 1 Kitchen Finks as a 2-of at the top end? I'm not sure how much of that is the card being so good versus it being a pet card of mine though.

Any thoughts on Fulminator Mage out of the SB? That's my next big SB test.

thedanetrain,

Even with all the Leylines of Sanctity running around, I like Anathemancer enough to want 3 between the maindeck and sideboard. I think 4 is probably too many. What card would you say you play in place of the second maindeck Anathemancer?

Thank you so much for responding, by the way 🙂 This is exactly the type of discussion I was hoping for! 🙂

Dylan

3 Fauna Shaman
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Graven Cairns
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Shriekmaw
3 Anathemancer
1 Swamp
4 Savage Lands
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Blightning
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Twilight Mire
4 Putrid Leech
4 Raging Ravine
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Demigod of Revenge

Sideboard
2 Great Sable Stag
1 Terminate
4 Jund Charm
2 Nature's Claim
4 Thoughtseize
1 Anathemancer
1 Kitchen Finks

I'm playing 27 land because the mana requirements are so tough, but I could be convinced to go down to 26. How's your mana been so far? It's been tough against a lot of random land destruction (Fulminator and Ruinblaster of late), but I've been happy with the deck overall. Demigod is just the sickest.

Have you guys tried anything focused on Vengevines? The Fauna/Demigod package is really nice, if a little slow, and I was wondering if Vengevine would make it more resilient and a little faster. Haven't had time to try it yet.

As for the sideboard, I haven't really liked the Thoughtseizes yet, though I don't think I would cut them for anything. The Stags have been okay, but like you said, better in the mirror than anything, and I haven't tried Wurmcoils yet. Is it better than Grave Titan? Does this deck need a non-Demigod endgame? Jund Charm is me wanting something a little more versatile than Volcanic Fallout. So far the +2/+2 has been more valuable than the Pyroclasm effect, especially when cascading into it. Speaking of cascade, does Bituminous Blast belong anywhere? I've definitely lost games to that thing.

Thanks!

Hi David,

I used to assume that 4x Verdant Catacombs was an auto-include, but then when I've been using land bases with 4 (or fewer) basics it can fetch I've been dropping it to 3. Maybe that might help as well? I'll give Bosk a try in either case, I like how it's the one land you can fetch with turn 1 Verdant Catacombs that enables a turn 2 Leech with Reflecting Pool.

RE: Great Sable Stag: I think you just made the most compelling argument I've seen for cutting Stag entirely, though I'm not sure if I'm completely sold. It's alright in the mirror match, though you're absolutely right about it against Faeries. Over 9 rounds in my PTQ, I boarded it in for every non-Steel matchup, and it ended up being pretty solid for me. It's not a 4-of anymore, and it might not even be a 3-of anymore FWIW.

All that being said, I wouldn't fault you for skipping out on it, and I think I chose my words a little poorly 🙂

Thanks for reading, and your comments have been fantastic. I've taken Jund up as my Extended project this season, so I'm glad to see that it's been doing so well 🙂

For Bosk, it is occasionally awkward, but only once in a blue moon. The only time its awkward is when I have already gotten the other three basics and need a land to come in untapped or if I draw it when I want a land to come in untapped. In that sense, its almost like a Savage lands I can fetch, just it can't produce R. I had numerous games where I led with a verdant catacombs and cracked it to get the bosk, essentially having the typical turn one tapped land into next two turns untapped lands. With this manabase, that was how it typically played out. Play a turn one tap land, then two and three play untapped to go putrid leech/shaman followed by blightning/finks/etc. I only had mana issues if I kept a hand without one of my colors in mana and didn't draw into the color I needed in two/three turns. Sometimes you can take that risk, but often, unless I have three lands and cards I can play with said lands, I'll ship it back if I'm missing a color. the singleton Pool has worked out well, working most of the time as an untapped Savage lands. With the one copy, you don't have a ton of dead draws like you do if you play more than that number. 1 seems about right to me.

Oh, and something I caught when I was reading your article:

"Great Sable Stag is a must"

When I was playing this weekend, I never ONCE wanted the card, and having put some money into the card in the hope it gains, I don't say this lightly. Right now, the card is terrible. Pro Blue/Black doesn't do anything for you. Normal Fae is playing wall of tanglecord and wurmcoil to block it, and, having played against it, Esper Fae is a real contender and potentially stronger than UB Fae. Wall of Omens, Path to Exile and Esper Charm give the deck the card draw it lost with Ancestral Visions, Path kills stag dead and Wall of Omens will block it all day. Control is playing Bolt to kill stag, so anyone currently playing this in their side needs to seriously rethink it. The best place for Stag right now is the mirror, and I will hold the banner up for Wall of Tanglecord as significantly better all day.

Hi David,

I like your list! I think you're right about Anathemancer. In the MTGO PTQ I played all 4 maindeck, and it led to some awkward spots on turn 3 especially. 2 seems like the right number with a 3rd in the sideboard.

I also think the 3/2 split of Pulse/Terminate is quite reasonable.

Wurmcoil Engine is awesome and goes in either every maindeck or sideboard that I've been making lately 😛

How has that mana base been working out for you? Especially the singleton Reflecting Pool and the Murmering Bosk. Does Bosk ETBT have much of an impact in your experience?

Dylan

I went to the Indy PTQ this weekend with a group, and 3 of us took Jund, each playing about 70 cards similar in our builds. My two teamates scrubbed out at 0-2 drop. I went 6 and 2. Aside from the fact I played Jund for a year and a half while it was in standard, the other big help for me was I was the only one playing Terminates.

I know That Pulse looks better on paper, but Not having Instant speed can really hurt sometimes. I played 2 Terminate and 3 Pulse, and was really happy with it. For Reference, here was the list I took.

Creatures:

3x Fauna Shaman
4x Putrid Leech
3x Anathamancer
3x Kitchen Finks
4x Bloodbraid Elf
4x Demigod of Revenge

Spells
4x Blightning
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Maelstrom Pulse
2x Terminate

4x Verdant Catacomb
4x Raging Ravine
4x Twilight Mire
3x Copperline Gorge
3x Blackcleave Cliffs
2x Swamp
2x Savage Lands
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Forest
1x Murmuring Bosk
1x Graven Cairns

Side
4x Thoughtseize
3x Volcanic Fallout
3x Natures Claim
3x Wall of Tanglecord
2x Wurmcoil Engine

After playing the tournament, I would definitely go down to Anathamancer. It can be good, but too often it just never felt like the optimal time to play it. That could be the fourth pulse or Fourth Kitchen finks, though I would probably say the Finks is more necessary. You will hardly ever get a chance to attack a Prismatic Omen with a Pulse unless your opponents drop it without protection (which they shouldn't), and its the target you are worried about most, followed by Tempered Steel. My two game losses came to the mirror and 4cc. I was drawing poorly in both games, and My opp topdecked his seventh land in the 4cc matchup before I put the game away to cast back to back Cruels.

The weird cards in the side are Wurmcoil Engine and Wall of Tanglecord. I know it looks weeird at first, but in the mirror, Jund has no answers but to draw one of its 4 pulses since most lists aren't playing Terminate. Wall of Tanglecord will block Demigod like a champ and Wurmcoil just wrecks their gameplan. I think here after having played the deck, I would drop one of the Wurmcoil's for a Slave of Bolas for opposing Wurmcoils, but I really liked the cards as they were.

So that's my take on the deck. Jund is a playstyle near and dear to my heart, so I look forward to how this discussion goes.

I'm a sucker for a tutorable effect like that, so it could just be my deckbuilding bias coming through. I could definitely see it as being a third Anathemancer, or even a card like Terminate or Thoughtseize as needed.

Thanks 🙂