Doran and Junk are, collectively speaking, decks built around the usage of green, white, and black and the synergies therein. The synergy is thus: the efficient removal of white and black, the disruption of black and green (and white, a little bit), and the large creatures of green and white. Together these three colors create a deck that is extremely dense and efficient. The difference between the two terms surrounds the inclusion of Doran, the Siege Tower as both a large beater, a synergistic element, and (yes, this does happen) a disruptive element. Decks of this color combination that do not use Doran are generally known as Junk. Not all decks want Doran as an element, even moreso now that Loxodon Smiter has been released and can work just as well alongside Knight of the Reliquary while providing a number of it's own advantages.
When playing Doran or Junk, your strategy is generally to a. disrupt your opponent, and b. lay something huge to kill them with. Doran, the Siege Tower, Knight of the Reliquary, and Tarmogoyf are generally your choices for beaters because they are generally much larger than any creature with their respective mana costs should be. Doran is more or less always a 5/5, I've had Knights 7/7 and larger, and your Goyfs should reach 5/6 fairly consistently (or 6/6, if Doran is in play). Your disruption will generally be some combination of one-mana spot-discard spells like Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize, and creatures that either tax your opponent to disrupt their mana economy (Thalia, Guardian of Thraben) or creatures that attack the graveyard, which is a place that decks frequently derive advantage from (Deathrite Shaman, Dryad Militant). The idea here is to take away your opponent's methods of dealing with your monsters or slow them down from achieving their main goal.
For this primer, we will not be differentiating between the two separate versions of the archetype. When it all comes down to it they are essentially the same deck except plus or minus one specific card. I would advise against not including Doran, however, as he has natural synergies with a number of the best cards in the deck.
Noble Hierarch - It's at the top of the page for a reason, guys. Never leave home without it. It's a dork, it makes things bigger if they attack alone. You most certainly like dorks that do more than just give mana.
Deathrite Shaman - Something new from Return to Ravnica! We really do like dorks that pull double-duty and Deathrite Shaman does just that. I could spend quite a while describing all the ways this card will make you happy, but you should be able to deduce that on your own just by looking at it. A word of warning, though: it's not as reliable a mana dork as Hierarch because it needs a land to exile. Run more Hierarchs than Deathrites.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - Excellent creature. Being a Thorn of Amethyst on a 2/1 First Striking body is pretty damn good; she does much to antagonize your opponents. She'll attract removal pretty quickly, which is perfectly fine. Your opponent will probably have to spend an entire turn's mana just to do it if she comes down early. Basically, she's meant to be a nuisance.
Qasali Pridemage - Another double-duty critter. While nailing pesky artifacts and enchantments, it attacks as a 3/3 for two or boosts something else up - via Exalted. Extremely good creature.
Tidehollow Sculler - Tidehollow Sculler is a pain in the ass. Especially when it takes the one piece of removal in your hand, leaving it unanswerable. Or when it doesn't take that one piece of removal with the intent of baiting that one piece of removal, taking a card and screwing up your curve in the process. Sculler is definitely a decent creature. Especially if you're running Restoration Angel as well, because a flashed in Angel with the Sculler's trigger on the stack leads to one permanent exile and another temporary exile when it returns to the field.
Tarmogoyf- Big beater beats big. Don't leave home without these either. Should easily reach 4/5 to 5/6.
Knight of the Reliquary - One of my favorite creatures of all. With fetchlands and a little patience this pretty lady can easily reach 7/7 and higher; all for a measily three mana. Don't be afraid to hold off on attacking to fill your graveyard with lands instead. One EOT search into a fetchland may be all you need. Also, it might pay off to make sure she's big enough to go over opposing Tarmogoyfs and whatnot.
Doran, the Siege Tower - Your other massive beater. For a white, black, and green you get what's essentially a 5/5. It also makes Noble Hierarch a 1/1 and Deathrite a 2/2, and your Tarmogoyf a 5/5 or 6/6. Unfortunately makes Thalia a 1/1. Oh well. Also note that it does hilarious things to Affinity by way of making Cranial Platingcompletely useless.
Loxodon Smiter - Another newbie out of RtR. Saw a little play recently because it's uncounterable and interacts favorably with Liliana of the Veil. If you're expecting a lot of Jund (who isn't these days?) then gives this a looksee. Might be just what you need to turn the tide in that match-up.
Wilt-Lief Liege - Another creature that can be used to counter had disruption, while also providing a boost to your green and white creatures. Can be used in conjunction with Smiter for a heavily disruption-hating strategy, which was the deck of choice for Brian Kibler at GP Chicago in 2012. If you'd prefer one of the other, Smiter is probably the better choice. Although keep in mind that when used in conjunction, Smiter is a 6/6 and Pridemage is a 4/4.
Restoration Angel - She's a little costly, but is a large flying body that helps your creatures evade removal. Haven't seen it used or used it myself but Restoration Angel is most certainly an extremely good creature. Also is a 4/4 alongside Doran.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - There are a lot of creature abilities you want to turn off, including mana dorks, Deathrite Shaman, Grim Lavamancer, and the Splinter Twin combo. She's also a decent flying body, which is relevant. Don't overload on her, though. She costs four and is legendary, which is relevant.
Baneslayer Angel - Don't call it a comeback, she never left. Baneslayer Angel is queen of the skies and I daresay the best five-drop ever. With the format heavy on Abrupt Decay and Lightning Bolt, she can be surprisingly hard to answer. Jund only has a couple of Terminate and maybe a single Maelstrom Pulse if their lucky. Other decks may have Path to Exile, but only so many. Be wary of her cost, though. Five mana is a lot in Modern so don't just throw her willy-nilly into everything and know when to board her out.
Lingering Souls - Okay, this is a sorcery. But it makes creatures, all right? Interacts with Liliana (both owned and opposing) favorably and is generally the best thing that ever made tokens ever. Does not interact favorably with Thalia. There is the possibility of a Souls + Liliana version of Junk that a few users have tossed around but I've yet to see it in action. Somebody should put that together.
Spectral Procession - One of the best token producers ever printed. Probably the most efficient token-making Sorcery or Instant currently available. Makes dudes just like Lingering Souls, so I'm putting it here. Lingering Souls is a much better spell to splash but if you'd like to run a token-centric list then you should definitely run this as well.
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Dryad Militant - Good creature for a number of match-ups. Against Storm it provides an exiling affect to curtail Past in Flames, against Delver it counters Snapcaster Mage (to an extent), and so on. Is also a cheap, aggressive body that is good in both of those match-ups.
Kitchen Finks - Need some life? How about a blocker? Here you go. Kitchen Finks is another creature that is possibly one of the best ever (noticing a trend?). Essential for match-ups against very aggressive decks such as Jund, Affinity, Delver, and et al.
Obstinate Baloth - For interacting with Liliana of the Veil and derpy discard decks. Same size as Smiter, costs one more, is mono-colored, and gains four life upon entering the battlefield. Your choice.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Very useful for things like Naya Pod and the like. Pretty much anything that needs to activate a creature effect.
Thrun, the Last Troll - Having trouble with permission? Thrun is no fun to see across the table when playing blue. Unless you're playing Teachings and just so happened to remember your Edict effects!
Aven Mindcensor - Curtails search-heavy archetypes; is especially potent against Scapeshift decks and Mystical Teachings (not that anyone plays Mystical Teachings anymore).
Inquisiton - Your workhorse. Don't leave home without it. There are more things it does hit than doesn't in this format.
Thoughtseize - Supplement your Inquisitions with Thoughtseizes. Run more of the former than the latter so that your life total doesn't take too much of a hit. Can run more of these in the sideboard if you'd like to (it's a good idea anyway).
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Duress - Alternatively to Thoughtseize, you can run Duress in your sideboard. It hits almost anything you want to hit with Thoughtseize that Inquisition does not, such as Scapeshift. Does not hit Bloodbraid Elf or Restoration Angel, however.
Extirpate - Split second means this cannot be countered or chained to. Use it alongside your discard effects to hamstring your opponent's strategy or get rid of a problem spell early.
Surgical Extraction - Same as Extirpate, except this spell can be countered in exchange for being able to be cast for zero by way of Phyrexian mana. Either is fine.
Memoricide/Cranial Extraction - Generally the same as the previous two, except you can target anything, not just what's in your opponents graveyard. Consider supplementing your one-mana Extractions with one or two of these.
Path to Exile - Play it. But don't go crazy. The land you give your opponent may come back to bite you later. However, some archetypes (Delver, Affinity, Jund, etc.) don't run as many basics as others. You still want to diversify your removal, but keep that in mind.
Abrupt Decay - Run this, too. It's a catch-all answer to just about any permanent that costs three or less and isn't a land. Having something that can answer a bunch of different nuisances is a very, very good thing.
Slaughter Pact - Consider trying this. Interacts with Thalia and tapping out favorably, and can catch your opponent off-guard. Just don't forget to pay the upkeep trigger (unlike myself).
Zealous Persecution - A dark horse for sure. Very, very good card that was only recently rediscovered as the powerhouse it is. Does everything from nailing a bunch of x/1s to screw up your opponent's combat match after they try to trade with your guys. Strongly consider this.
Maelstrom Pulse - Possibly a better candidate for the sideboard. However, it does a lot of work. Can destroy multiple permanents for one card (nice spirit tokens, buddy) and hits a lot of things that Decay cannot.
Dismember - The flexible cost of this card gives it a lot of possibilities; but be wary of the amount of life you pay. You don't want to go too deep in the tank because a lot of decks out there can turn around and snatch the rug with out from under you. Pay attention to your life total.
Go for the Throat - There is only one reason for this: Splinter Twin. Twin decks like to protect their combo with Spellskite, and Gopher cannot be redirected to Spellskite because it cannot target artifact creatures. Keep this in mind.
Liliana of the Veil - Does a bunch of things. Things that are good. As I mentioned earlier, there is the possibility of Junk with Liliana and Lingering Souls to make her +1 less even. As it stands, though, I'm not using her. She doesn't interact favorably with Thalia and I'd much rather resolve Knight or Doran. Your choice, though. She does do a lot of work and you have the the ability to power her out quickly so she's most certainly worth a look.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant - She makes blockers and gives your big, dumb beaters a boost and some sweet evasion (which is useful because that is something our big, dumb beaters cannot do on their own). However, she's pricey (moreso with Thalia). Although that price does mean she evades Abrupt Decay.
Mumuring Bosk - Taps for all three of your colors, can be searched with Verdant Catacombs, and can be played untapped if you have Doran in hand. The point of damage is unfortunate but you should probably consider this pretty strongly.
Horizon Canopy - Another painland. This one sacrifices for a card, which is definitely nice. Also note that it provides another method of powering your Knights sky-high and taps for two of three colors.
Treetop Village - Very efficient creature. Unfortunately, it's not very big, only taps for green, and always enters play tapped. Keep that in mind if considering.
Stirring Wildwood - I personally like Stirring Wildwood more than Treetop Village. It's less efficient, but it blocks Delvers and is a 4/4 with Doran in play. I run a number of these personally and would suggest that you consider it as well.
Bojuka Bog - Very nice trick to have in the main deck. With Knight, Bog is an instant-speed Relic effect that can certainly come in handy. However it enters play tapped, only taps for black, and is such a bummer to draw early.
Gavony Township - Giving all of your guys a +1 counter can be extremely strong in a lot of Junk decks because they typically run quite a few mana dorks and/or token producers. Also, having this effect double as a land rather than taking up a spell slot makes it a very unobtrusive way to find inevitability in the late game.
Relic of Progenitus/Nihil Spellbomb - Either of these will do fine, it really doesn't matter. Note that Relic can exile one at a time and doesn't require a black mana to give you a card and Spellbomb doesn't exile your own graveyard, just your opponent's.
Rest in Peace - One of the best graveyard hate cards to come along in a long time. It's a two-mana Leyline of the Void (minus the cheaty effect) that also exiles both graveyards upon entering play. Is extremely hard to play around for a number of archetypes because it cannot be played around as easily as Relic or Spellbomb.
Creeping Corrosion - A little pricey, but is a pretty huge blow to Affinity. I wouldn't use just this, though, because you might not always need a global artifact sweep. Might occasionally need something more targeted.
Kataki, War's Wage - Can hamstring Affinity pretty bad but is can also be removed with Galvanic Blast. Is a good spell to supplement Creeping Corrosion, however.
Stony Silence - Virtually impossible for Affinity to remove and locks them out pretty hard. Even affects their Darksteel Citadels. My personal choice.
Grafdigger's Cage - A very good sideboard card for Pod because it locks them out of their library. Also good for any deck that wants to use the Gifts Ungiven-Unburial Rites combo.
Runed Halo - Protects you from whatever it names, which means it's good for things you cannot interact with directly, such as Scapeshift combo.
Ethersworn Canonist - More excellent Storm tech, as it prevents them from forming a combo at all. Can be removed with a single Grapeshot, however.
Rule of Law - Same as Canonist, except is a little harder to remove. Keep in mind, however, that regardless of your choice the Storm archetype will not leave home without Echoing Truth. You must diversify for this match-up.
Chalice of the Void - An interesting sideboard choice. Serves a number of functions, depending on what you set it to: can be played for 0 on the play or 1 on the draw against Robots, for 1 against anything heavy on cantrips, and for 1 against Infect and Nivmagus.
Trinisphere - Can be powered out with a mana dork to tax anything with a very low curve, including Delver, Infect, Nivmagus, and etc. It shouldn't affect you much because most of your real business is probably three and higher. Note that Thalia's ability is applied before Trinisphere; so a non-creature spell that costs two will cost three, not four.
Night of Souls' Betrayal - There are a lot of x/1s in this format, and Night of Souls' Betrayal shuts them down entirely. Everything from Lingering Souls, to mana dorks, to Snapcaster Mage, Blade Splicer, Aven Mindcensor, Vendilion Clique, Dark Confidant, and more are cleared off the battlefield with this bad boy in play. It's not the kind of card that you lean your entire strategy against, but there are a lot of sideboard strategies that this card can make much more secure.
Timely Reinforcements - Having trouble with Aggro? Burn? Timely Reinforcements can dig you out of a pretty big hole and put you right back in the game for the low, low price of just 2W. Timely Reinforcements helps you find the time you need to grind the game out and lay your threats in a secure board situation against decks that want to kill you as quickly and brutally as possible.
Golgari Charm - Three very relevant modes on this card. Giving each creature -1/-1 can clear out quite a few guys (as I stated above, there are a lot of x/1s around), destroying an enchantment can be anything from Detention Sphere and Oblivion Ring to hosing this bizarre new Aura aggro deck, and keep in mind that Supreme Verdict does not have the Cannot Be Regenerated clause, so Golgari Charm's last mode has uses as well. Also note that with the regeneration clause, you can turn an even 1-for-1 trade situation into an uneven all-your-guys-die-and-mine-do-not situation.
Jund
Not favorable. When it all comes down to it, these two archetypes are similar in a lot of ways. Both aim to beat the opponent with a combination of attrition and efficient creatures. However, when it all comes down to it, Jund is patently superior because of one creature: Bloodbraid Elf. With Elf, Jund generates the card advantage that Junk cannot and will usually come out on top because of it. This match-up will always be very difficult and to win it you need to play at your absolute best. Loxodon Smiter can make it easier but, unfortunately, it's just another beater than can be removed. Try to focus on eliminating Bloodbraid Elf and Liliana as factors with discard and extraction effects if you want to win.
Delver
Not favorable. Again, like Jund, this archetype is all about removal and efficient creatures. However Delver can fly, the deck has counter magic, and it often includes things that you either cannot interact with favorably (Geist of Saint Traft), generates more advantage than you can hope to overcome (Isochron Scepter), or deals way too much damage way too quickly (Steppe Lynx). Like the Jund match-up, you need to identify your problem cards and get rid of them early. Strip 'em bare, land something huge, and kill them as quickly as possible. These decks can bounce back so do not let up.
Lifegain
Favorable. Destroy all of their creatures, strip 'em bare, land something huge, and kill them. Their life total doesn't matter against an 8/8 Knight of the Reliquary. Even in the upper-40s it doesn't take long for a Knight in that range to bring them down. Don't worry about Martyr of Sands; in fact, seeing your opponent's hand can be a good thing. Zealous Persecution can be clutch in this match-up as it will sweep their board of both sisters and any Squadron Hawks they have in play. Focus on getting rid of Serra Ascendant and their deck shouldn't have anything else to worry about.
Pod
Even to favorable. You should have plenty of things to take care of this deck with, including Qasali Pridemage, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Aven Mindcensor, Maelstrom Pulse, Rest in Peace, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Grafdigger's Cage. However this deck can be hard to grind out if you can't get one of these in play and get it to stick. Pod will have a lot of counter-measures for your hate so don't let up. Disrupt them and beat them down as quickly as you can. Look out for anti-hate with your discard effects.
Tron
Not favorable to possibly even. You have cards for this, such as Aven Mindcensor and Stony Silence, but there's always the possibility that it doesn't even matter. Tron can draw its way into whatever it needs right when you don't want to. Remember: it plays four of each Tron land. It's not hard for the deck to just draw them. Moreover, they can resolve the cards they need before you can even get either of your hard cards down. However, if you do resolve either, they'll do a lot of work. Stony Silence prevents them from using any of their cantrips or Oblivion Stone and Mindcensor makes their many tutors almost useless.
Affinity
Favorable. You have plenty of removal, big creatures outside of Galvanic Blast range, and Doran makes Cranial Plating obsolete. Zealous Persecution can also do a ton of damage as most of the deck are x/1s. Watch out for Etched Champion, however. With Metalcraft active there is nothing you can do about this creature if you do not have Liliana of the Veil or Creeping Corrosion. Slow the game down and grind them out with removal and combat. Your creatures are mostly better than theirs so you should be able to win through attrition pretty easily.
Restoration
Unfavorable to even. They have a Geist of Saint Traft, Restoration Angel, counter magic, and card advantage in Snapcaster Mage. You can counter these with discard and extraction. Path to Exile can also be a problem, especially with Snapcaster. Manlands can be very good in this match-up; try to find them as quickly as you can with your Knights. Deathrite Shaman can also be very good here because it can get rid of anything a Snapcaster might target as well as any Kitchen Finks this deck may side in. You should be all right so long as you don't let Geist resolve and pay attention to your opponent's graveyard.
Infect
Favorable. You have way too much removal for this deck to play around, plus Zealous Persecution and Maelstrom Pulse to x-for-1, and plenty of things that destroy Wild Defiance. Use targeted discard to strip Apostle's Blessing and Vines of Vastwood. Remember that Blessing and unkicked Vines can't protect against Zealous Persecution, so that should be a pretty clutch card for you. Also be aware of Mutagenic Growtch and don't go all-in just because they tapped out.
Twin
Favorable. Go for the Throat and Abrupt Decay are very good here, because the former cannot be redirected to Spellskite and the latter cannot be countered.. If you use your extraction effects, target the creatures instead of Twin and Kiki-Jiki. Even if you get rid of their combo they can still tap all of your attackers and then beat you down with Exarch and Pestermite. Watch out for Blood Moon. Remember that you can float mana through it's revolution so that you can Decay it and Pridemage's activate cost is colorless.
Merfolk
Toss up. If you can get rid of Aether Vial, you're good. Focus on nailing Lords and conserve your life total. If you manage to resolve a Knight, use it to sacrifice any land that Merfolk tries to target with Spreading Seas if you can. Coralhelm Commander is a high priority target because it can give your opponent's folk evasion. Despite all of this, Merfolk can still very easily overwhelm just about anything. Play tight, don't panic, and have a strategy. This one can go either way.
Valakut
Likely unfavorable. You have the tools to deal with this (Aven Mindcensor, Runed Halo) but Valakut has readily available things to handle them. Moreover, they can slow you down to a crawl by chump blocking with Sakura-Tribe Elder and Augur of Bolas. It's also not a slow deck, so even slowing you down a single turn can mean doom. Once again your best weapon is discard and extraction. If you can't nail anything that slows their combo down try to nab things that might be used to counter your hate, such as Echoing Truth or enchantment removal. If you can extract Scapeshift you'll be all right. Watch out for Primeval Titan, though.
R(x)DW
Favorable. You have a lot of ways to deal with this and your creatures are way out of burn range. Runed Halo can be very good in this match-up and Kitchen Finks will do a lot of work. Deathrite Shaman can work out but will probably attract a burn spell pretty quickly. The key here is to not drop a Knight within Lightning Bolt range, keep an eye on your life total, and don't worry about Goblin Guide.
Death and Taxes
Favorable. This deck is full of x/1s, so both Doran and Zealous Persecution will do a ton of work for you. Don't let them lock you out of any of your colors with Arbiter and Ghost Quarter. Leonin Arbiter is a high profile target in this match-up; don't let it stay in play or you're gonna have a bad time. Abrupt Decay and Qasali Pridemage will also be quite good as they nail Aether Vial. Death and Taxes doesn't run a lot of removal so your threat density and the size of your beaters will be a great asset. It just can't handle decks like Doran, Zoo, and so on.
Storm
Favorable. You have Dryad Militant, Deathrite Shaman, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Canonist effects, graveyard hate, discard, extraction, and so on. Storm has little chance at forming their combo against you. Stick some hate, play aggressively. Lay it on as thick as possible. Don't give this deck any chance to breathe. Echoing Truth will probably be one of their go-to cards for removing your hate so make sure to diversify as much as possible.
Tokens
Favorable. Abrupt Decay the anthems, Maelstrom Pulse the tokens. Zealous Persecution can do some work but note that tokens often has Persecutions of their own can can use them to counter. This deck can overwhelm you much like Merfolk, though, so don't write it off immediately. Thalia is very good in this match-up because tokens is about 99% non-creature spells. You can also exile Lingering Souls with Deathrite Shaman. Focus your discard on theirs to protect your hate.
Junk Tokens
With Lingering Souls and Spectral Procession in place of Doran and Knight, you have yourself a powerful token strategy. Windbrisk Heights will help you close games quick by cheating in bombs such as Zealous Persecution, Ajani Goldmane, or Overrun. You might even want to include a few copies of Intangible Virtue, which makes your board very hard to interact with during the combat phase. There isn't much room for hate in this deck, however, as both Thalia and Gaddock Teeg are nonbos with your sorceries.
Birthing Pod
Can generate mad advantage with Kitchen Finks and Eternal Witness to let you make the pod much less fair than it really is. Tutors are just about always extremely powerful, especially if said tutor puts the tutee directly in play. Birthing Pod allows you to run a small selection of silver bullets that give the deck a distinct power. Also be aware that you can form an 'angel chain' of sorts by podding a Finks into a Restoration Angel, which blinks the Finks, allowing you to pod it into another angel. This process gains you a ton of life and gives you a massive wall of blockers.
Little Kid/Hate Bears Devised by Brian Kibler and debuted at GP Chicago, Little Kid (or Hate Bears, if you prefer) isn't really a Junk strategy at all, but it can be. The original only had black for flashing back Lingering Souls but there isn't much reason why you can't include more of it (although I think his suggestion of Birds of Paradise over Deathrite Shaman should be continued). It's a pretty simple strategy: Loxodon Smiter, Wilt-Lief Liege, and Lingering Souls counter hand disruption. Also makes use of "Hate creatures" such as Teeg and Linvala. If you're expecting a Jund-heavy metagame, this thing will probably crush.
Okay, quick run down. Urborg and Bojuka are my go to lands to be fetched. Mire Boa is a weird choice, but its unblockable with Urborg, and it can regenerate which makes it a great blocker. The swords are for the Boa and in general slapping on things that need the boost in swingyness. I chose Deathrite over Hierarch because it has a large potential for damage as well as possibly saving me from being Bobbed to death.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
Manabase is due for some tweaking. Might toss on a bosk as well as a paint of horizon canopy.
Still missing Maelstrom Pulse for the set up.
I'll explain a bit more for the thread when I'm not on my phone to do it. It's been done in my own thread but I'll probably move my discussions here henceforth.
From my testing of Deathrite Shaman and Knight of the Reliquary in Melira Pod and Zoo, I've found that the deck needs 11+ fetchlands to support both at the same time. Otherwise, KotR consistently came out as a 2/2 early-game and up to a 3/3 late-game. Since I could only fit in 8 fetches in Melira Pod and 4 Deathrites were better there, I booted the lone KotR with tears in my eyes.
I'm not even sure 11+ fetchlands will save KotR if the opponent has a Deathrite. I got KotR out as a 4/4 (in fetch-happy Zoo) against Jund once and she shrank to a 2/2 over the course of the game solely because my opponent's Deathrite kept shrinking her and I was swinging with KotR initially.
I use deathrite only as a mana dork when needed, his main function is to be grim lavamancer or a counterweight to bobs constant drain.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
Yes again (zoo master speaks, all must listen) I've cut her from my lists completely. Shes not any good with all this main deck grave hate (everyone and their mom is using deathrite, for good reason though) Shes been replaced with smiter, who i like less, but does the same job and helps the jund match up.
For a while I was even testing goyfless versions of rock and zoo. Watchwolf was surprisingly good for a while... Better for zoo, worse for rock. As far as that testing went... still the same. goyf will always be better than goyf replacements, even when there is a ton and a half of grave hate, he's just that good. Though I have been boarding him out against some matches to I can board in RIP. Which I do against rock decks running 2 or more of these cards:
Deathrite Shaman
Knight of the Reliquary
Tarmogoyf
Lingering Souls
finks/messenger (Si, RIP kills em good.)
Something to maybe mention or not is the reason why one should play Doran over a deck like Jund. I've been searching for an answer myself but Bolts and BBE are just too good imo.
Its not much of a reason, but Doran plays similar to Jund, and has a slightly better Dredgevine M/U than Jund's absolutely terrible one. Or because people like 5/5's for three? Slightly strong creatures compensate for weaker spells? We don't bend over backwards to include souls?
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
Crazy Idea,Y Not Give Doran a 4th color, Jund did it to get Lingering Souls.Our mana Base wouldnt Suffer Much Cuz of Bosk
U
Traft!
works with noble
could play Augur of Bolas a 3/3 that draws u a Card
Different Alt for Loxodon in Rhox War Monk
Snapcaster is a 1/1 with Doran ;n;
with all the Charms that 4th color will give us alot of Utility
it be better than us trying to be a verison of Jund
Something to maybe mention or not is the reason why one should play Doran over a deck like Jund. I've been searching for an answer myself but Bolts and BBE are just too good imo.
From my testing of Deathrite Shaman and Knight of the Reliquary in Melira Pod and Zoo, I've found that the deck needs 11+ fetchlands to support both at the same time. Otherwise, KotR consistently came out as a 2/2 early-game and up to a 3/3 late-game. Since I could only fit in 8 fetches in Melira Pod and 4 Deathrites were better there, I booted the lone KotR with tears in my eyes.
I'm not even sure 11+ fetchlands will save KotR if the opponent has a Deathrite. I got KotR out as a 4/4 (in fetch-happy Zoo) against Jund once and she shrank to a 2/2 over the course of the game solely because my opponent's Deathrite kept shrinking her and I was swinging with KotR initially.
The trick is to spend a turn or two filling your graveyard with land before you attack. When I land a Knight, I usually spend a couple of turns filtering Horizon Canopies and finding my manlands before I start attacking. It makes later draws better, fills my hand, gives me a 3/4 Reach to fall back on, and makes my Knight big enough to close games quickly when I get the chance to do so.
honestly I would strive not to be like jund. Jund will do Jund better. Red gives it bolt, terminate, and dat elf, not to mention raging ravine, currently the best of the man lands.
Instead I would try to do something different. I suggest taking the same apporch I do with zoo. I play white over black, thats the major difference for me. White allows me for better value creatures, in trade for worse spells. It gives me:
Totes. I built my deck from his after studying his 'Doran in Modern' series on SCG (which seems to have been deleted since they redesigned the site unfortunately).
Junk should ALWAYS be a an aggressive Midrange strategy that wants to dominate a board quickly and without mercy. It has the best beaters, the best disruption, and the best sideboard in the format. Your Junk deck wants to be a very, very dense build with a ton of playables.
Lant is on the money: Junk has more to do with Zoo than Jund. You don't even need things Bob, because you're not concerned with card advantage. You want to pick your opponent's playables, lay something huge, and kill them as quickly as possible with that massive threat that they can't handle.
Also, you might want to consider where you want to be if Jund gets WotC's attention. I'm just Saiyan, fellas. If Jund takes a hit in February this deck is going to get an incredible boost in relevance.
As I noted before on the modern banlist discussion page, if the rumors are true and BBE is given the banhammer, than junk will suddenly do jund's thing better than jund does. Spirit Jund is a testament to that.
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-H. P. Lovecraft
I dunno about any rumors, but it seems like a possibility that's getting closer and closer. Jund is the PS3 of Modern: It only does everything.
I'm aware that this isn't the Banned List thread. But at the same time Junk has a vested interest in Jund's fate because Jund is one of its most impossibly difficult match-ups (along with Delver).
Try Mire Boa for your snakes with a blade styled doran. Its worked for me.
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-H. P. Lovecraft
I'm testing out a version with swords, lotus cobra and baneslayer angel and seems to work fine by now. i'll post the decklist later
Hmm... Lotus. nice.
I ran a version with 23 lands, 3 heirach and 4 shaman. I was able to get out baneslayer and sigarta every game. The list was not refind at all, but sigarta was better than baneslayer each time. and they were basicly unkillable.
though once I did have a god hand of turn 1 inquestion of manaleak.
Doran / Junk
"Wield your heart, and the world will tremble."
Mod Edit: Previous Junk discussion found here and here. -Tom
I'll be sure to update the OP with any lists posted in this thread.
I'm pretty sure that's why this deck got moved to established.
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpchi12/welcome#9
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
3 Treetop Village
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Murmuring Bosk
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Horizon Canopy
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Doran, the Siege Tower
1 Restoration Angel
1 Noble Hierarch
Spells
4 Path to Exile
3 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Stony Silence
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Lingering Souls
1 Thoughtseize
1 Baneslayer Angel
Pretty saucy list, I must say. Not surprised that it got as far as it did. Seems really optimized for the Jund match-up.
Thalia has terrible synergy with Doran.
Anyways, been fiddling around with this.
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
CREATURES
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Mire Boa
4 Tarmagoyf
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Dismember
3 Path to Exile
SORCERY
3 Inquisation of Kozilek
LAND(Not my specialty but w/e)
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
4 Murmering Bosk
3 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Temple Garden
1 Urborg, Tomb to Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
Okay, quick run down. Urborg and Bojuka are my go to lands to be fetched. Mire Boa is a weird choice, but its unblockable with Urborg, and it can regenerate which makes it a great blocker. The swords are for the Boa and in general slapping on things that need the boost in swingyness. I chose Deathrite over Hierarch because it has a large potential for damage as well as possibly saving me from being Bobbed to death.
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
For what it's worth, here's what I'm currently running:
4x Deathrite Shaman
3x Tidehollow Sculler
4x Dark Confidant
2x Stonecloaker
2x Kitchen Finks
2x Loxodon Smiter
2x Eternal Witness
2x Thrun, The Last Troll
Kill Spells:
2x Path To Exile
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Dismember
2x Damnation
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
Lands:
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Marsh Flats
3x Overgrown Tomb
2x Vault of the Archangel
1x Temple Garden
8x Swamp
2x Plains
1x Forest
2x Loxodon Hierarch
2x Kitchen Finks
2x Abrupt Decay
3x Sudden Death
1x Damnation
2x Oblivion Stone
Manabase is due for some tweaking. Might toss on a bosk as well as a paint of horizon canopy.
Still missing Maelstrom Pulse for the set up.
I'll explain a bit more for the thread when I'm not on my phone to do it. It's been done in my own thread but I'll probably move my discussions here henceforth.
I'm not even sure 11+ fetchlands will save KotR if the opponent has a Deathrite. I got KotR out as a 4/4 (in fetch-happy Zoo) against Jund once and she shrank to a 2/2 over the course of the game solely because my opponent's Deathrite kept shrinking her and I was swinging with KotR initially.
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
For a while I was even testing goyfless versions of rock and zoo. Watchwolf was surprisingly good for a while... Better for zoo, worse for rock. As far as that testing went... still the same. goyf will always be better than goyf replacements, even when there is a ton and a half of grave hate, he's just that good. Though I have been boarding him out against some matches to I can board in RIP. Which I do against rock decks running 2 or more of these cards:
Deathrite Shaman
Knight of the Reliquary
Tarmogoyf
Lingering Souls
finks/messenger (Si, RIP kills em good.)
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
U
Traft!
works with noble
could play Augur of Bolas a 3/3 that draws u a Card
Different Alt for Loxodon in Rhox War Monk
Snapcaster is a 1/1 with Doran ;n;
with all the Charms that 4th color will give us alot of Utility
it be better than us trying to be a verison of Jund
Because you want to.
The trick is to spend a turn or two filling your graveyard with land before you attack. When I land a Knight, I usually spend a couple of turns filtering Horizon Canopies and finding my manlands before I start attacking. It makes later draws better, fills my hand, gives me a 3/4 Reach to fall back on, and makes my Knight big enough to close games quickly when I get the chance to do so.
Instead I would try to do something different. I suggest taking the same apporch I do with zoo. I play white over black, thats the major difference for me. White allows me for better value creatures, in trade for worse spells. It gives me:
Some of those dont apply here, but for you guys you can get:
VindicateSo what your getting out of the deal with being white is worse removal, better discard, better combat tricks, more value creatures. So in a nut shell:
White: Value creatures from early-midgame, combat tricks, sideboard hate against combo.
Green: Strong Creatures, mana ramp.
Black: discard, removal, "power at a cost spells".
Use what cha got, dont use a color to make up for not being another color. Thats why I really like kiblars deck, it aims to be different than jund.
Junk should ALWAYS be a an aggressive Midrange strategy that wants to dominate a board quickly and without mercy. It has the best beaters, the best disruption, and the best sideboard in the format. Your Junk deck wants to be a very, very dense build with a ton of playables.
Lant is on the money: Junk has more to do with Zoo than Jund. You don't even need things Bob, because you're not concerned with card advantage. You want to pick your opponent's playables, lay something huge, and kill them as quickly as possible with that massive threat that they can't handle.
Also, you might want to consider where you want to be if Jund gets WotC's attention. I'm just Saiyan, fellas. If Jund takes a hit in February this deck is going to get an incredible boost in relevance.
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
I'm aware that this isn't the Banned List thread. But at the same time Junk has a vested interest in Jund's fate because Jund is one of its most impossibly difficult match-ups (along with Delver).
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
Hmm... Lotus. nice.
I ran a version with 23 lands, 3 heirach and 4 shaman. I was able to get out baneslayer and sigarta every game. The list was not refind at all, but sigarta was better than baneslayer each time. and they were basicly unkillable.
though once I did have a god hand of turn 1 inquestion of manaleak.
turn 2 shaman/heirch
turn 3 Baneslayer.