You can discuss the [Official] decks without a primer. Though if somebody does write a primer, I can add it to the first post (or make it the second post). We do this because the [Official] threads are known, competitive decks, so they don't NEED a primer to prove they can be competitive. Non-official threads still need a primer though.
So what do we think of Domri in the maindeck? It seemed good but after testing it is a little weak to aggro decks where you are left wishing it was the Dreadbore instead of Domri for their Reckoner.
I've decided to go DRS for now, despite my preference for removing their whole graveyard, because DRS advances our game slightly (only slightly) better.
It also gives us potential extra mana when we need it. I think vs. Junk DRS is the better option, but Rakdos Charm is better vs. Humanimator, since you want to clean out their whole graveyard, not just once card.
Here is a draft of a Primer. Feel free to use and modify if someone wants to really flesh it out more.
Jund Aggro Primer
Jund Aggro is essentially a variation of RG Aggro that takes advantage of Black to be able to play a strong mid-range game, instead of relying on blowing out the whole hand onto the field. RGB allows the deck to play some key cards, most importantly quality removal and three excellent creatures for the mid-game. I’ll name all those once we get into card analysis.
The play style remains fairly linear before siding. The goal is to do a lot of damage quickly. Turn 4/5 wins are not uncommon, though both RG Aggro and Naya Blitz probably get there more consistently. However, once you sideboard the deck can really show its flexibility in dealing with all manner of threats.
Play this deck if...
You like aggro, but...
you are smarter than the average aggro aficionado, and...
you don't want to be another one of the people on the "Oh, mid-range is so good right now" bandwagon, while...
acknowledging that Jund Midrange is a hell of a deck, but...
you are not too proud to admit that aggressive strategies are probably going to trump control strategies in standard for now or...
you just know in your heart that Reanimator is unstable and won't be king of the hill for more than a few weeks, unlike...
Jund Aggro.
Main Deck
Creatures:
CMC 1 Experiment One is a central piece. As in any green-based deck, this card can evolve quickly and not only get up to 4/4, but protect itself from destruction. This is a great turn 1 play.
Rakdos Cackler. 2/2 for R/B in a deck with an RBG mana base and it evolves Experiment One. Need we say more?
Deathrite Shaman. Gotta beat Reanimator. This is option #1. Works with the game plan, great versus Junk, kinda bad versus Humanimator.
Vexing Devil is not a bad option if you expect to face aggro a lot. This is not a turn 1 drop if you have X-1, it is a turn 2, 3 or 4 drop. Sure, it is okay to do 4 damage turn 1, but it is better to evolve X-1 and then do 4 damage or have a 4/3, which is not
only aggressive, but a good defender against most aggro decks.
CMC2 Burning-Tree Emissary aka Free Bear. By far the most important 2-drop creature in agro everywhere. This card is no small part of the reason that RGx is the aggro sweet spot. There is no feeling like playing out three of these followed by …
Flinthoof Boar aka Pig. 1G, 2/2 that if you have a Mountain out is a 3/3 and if you have three mana open, can drop as a 3/3 Haste. Wow, did I just make Experiment One evolve twice in one turn and swing for 3, with the likelihood of doing 8 or more next turn? “Well, gosh, Gomer, I guess I know now why you play RGx aggro.” “Yup, Andy, nothing like droppin’ me some Free Bears and a Pig!”
Strangleroot Geist is great if you want to go green-heavy. Personally, I think it really belongs in RG Aggro more than here, but some people use and like it. It lacks synergy with BTE, and for me that is big, but it is very nice with X-1.
Now we get into disputed territory. (EDIT: Ok, this is not totally disputed territory anymore. Mogg Flunkies is the best. 4/15/13.) Mogg Flunkies. 3/3 for 1R is good. It definitely grows Experiment One and it doesn’t die to 2 damage. That’s also good. Good enough reason to play it despite the fact that it can neither attack nor block by itself? Well… so far it has not really been replaced in the winning decks, so it does something right.
Gore-House Chainwalker. 2/1 that really is a 3/2 with Unleash, for 1R. I like it much better because it can attack by itself. Still, has not been proven yet in tournaments. Note: it is Human, which gives it synergy with one of our key finishers, a big plus for me.
Lightning Mauler. 2/1 with a minimal capacity to evolve Experiment One, but it can soulbond for haste to itself and potentially whatever it enters the board with. It is also human. This is my personal favorite if you want to emphasize the early aggressive game.
CMC 3 Dreg Mangler. One of the reasons to like Jund over RG Aggro. 3/3, haste and the Scavenge for 3GB makes a late-game Experiment One a viable finisher. Can you smell the mid-game?
Cryptborn Horror is fine if removal is sparse and you effectively churn out damage on turn 3 before playing your creature. It is not uncommon to see it enter the board as a 4/4 all the way to a 12/12, but usually 4/4-7/7 with trample. This may be a much better card post-Innistrad rotation.
CMC 4 Falkenrath Aristocrat. Oh sweet, undead mama! 4/1, flying, can make herself indestructible and she gets bigger. To play her is to love her. To play against her is to hate her. What more praise could a Magic card need? This card is the core of our mid-game.
Ghor-Clan Rampager. Sure, its a 4/4 with trample, but what it really does is Bloodrush. Oh the sweet rush of blood: +4/+4 and trample for RG. Smells like win.
Hellrider. Used less, by no means a staple of the deck, but it has seen GP greatness. Another card that just finishes games. 2RR is a bit rough on the mana base, but we do what we must. Usually in the deck at the expense of a Mogg Flunkie and a Rakdos Cackler.
CMC 5 Thundermaw Hellkite made it into the main thanks to Reanimator. 5/5, kills spirits, haste is pretty important as a finisher against that deck.
Non-Creature Spells
This is one of the places the deck shines. Unlike Naya Blitz and RG Aggro, we have a really good variety of removal.
CMC 1 Tragic Slip. The most common choice and it ignores indestructible and can frequently go nova (-13/-13) because people try to block us. Takes care of that pesky 3/3 token Thragtusk tried to leave after they blocked our Pick or Flunky or Mangler or Chainwalker or Hellrider. Also great for mana dork removal. “YOU SHALL NOT RAMP!!!!”
Pillar of Flame. Less played, but if Zombies or BW Aggro really return, well, this is the go-to choice in the aggro vs. undying aggro match.
CMC 2
Ah, the good stuff! Searing Spear. Do I really need to explain this in a deck that uses red mana?
Abrupt Decay. Uncounterable destruction of any 3cmc or less permanent without indestructible or that doesn’t get Resto-blinked. That means your stupid Centaur Healer (Bant), your whole stupid deck (Naya Blitz), most of your stupid deck (RG Aggro and mirror), your Blind Obedience (Control), and so on and so on. Delicious and only decks with GB get it.
Dreadbore. This too? Yes, just like any other Jund deck, we can also outright kill any creature or planeswalker without indestructible. <face palm>
Ultimate Price has become a staple versus Reanimator and other decks with a lot of mono-colored creatures, like Naya Blitz, Esper Control, etc.
Sideboard
Whoa, you mean we are already in the sideboard? Yes, chilluns, that’s it. It really is a simple mainboard. The sideboard is really not simple, though.
Creatures
CMC 1
Choose something from above. Most likely you will have X-1 and either an aggressive 1-drop or DRS, and then maybe the other in the board.
CMC 3 Vampire Nighthawk. I think it is greedy and slow, but 2/3 flying with deathtouch is fine when you are acting as the mid-range deck against all those little aggro decks.
CMC 4 Olivia Voldaren. Yep, straight up the path to the Queen of Hate. I’ll take one of those, and one of those, and kill those 1/1’s and keep growing. “What’s that, my sweet little blood bag? Yes, I am single-handedly draining all the blood out of you. Ah, refreshing.” Great against aggro and mid-range alike. The only problem is that getting to enough mana to take full advantage of her is not so simple.
CMC 5 Wolfir Silverheart. Yes, that’s a thing. For 3GG, make whatever else you have on the field +4/+4, and pair it with what is now an 8/8? Evolve Experiment One, so when you pair with it is a 6/6? Did I mention that this deck has a real mid-game plan?
Thundermaw Hellkite made it into the main thanks to Reanimator. 5/5, kills spirits, haste is pretty important as a finisher against that deck.
Non-Creature Spells
This is where things get wild. You have all kinds of options.
CMC 1 Duress. A fine choice. Let’s you remove something that would interfere with your next big move or let them wipe the board, regain a ton of life and fill their hand, etc.
Cremate. Viable graveyard hate instead of Rakdos Charm or Deathrite Shaman.
CMC 2 Abrupt Decay, Searing Spear, Dreadbore. Sometimes more is better. Sometimes Dreadbore will be in your sideboard, not your main deck.
Rakdos Charm. The other graveyard control option. It is a one-shot deal, but against Humanimator, that is what you want. A little less value vs. Junk reanimator.
Golgari charm. Destroy enchantments, which is high-value these days. Kill off mana dorks or half of the Naya Blitz deck. Regenerate. Just value all around.
Skullcrack. Its not the 3 damage, though that is great. It is stopping their lifegain. Having to swing for 3-6 damage around a Thragtusk is much easier than swinging around a Thragtusk for 8-11. That is so important that if they have Witchbane Orb, it is worth shooting yourself for 3 to stop them from gaining life.
CMC 3 Domri Rade. What a beast of a planeswalker for us. A little acceleration, knowing what you are drawing next, forcing fights on our terms (great with stupid chump blockers), and the ultimate is awesome, though if you needed that to win, I think you might have already died. The best Planeswalker friend an aggro deck can have right now.
Liliana of the Veil. Yes, she has seen play. And if Reanimator was not so hot, she would be pretty good. We generally dump our hand anyway, and we can get one of their blockers out of the way. Plus it really messes with control decks.
CMC 4 Sever the Bloodline. Has seen GP play, is a valid, if rather expensive, removal option. Exile is great. “Boros Charm this!”
Slaughter Games. IMO, this is really greedy and not what we want to be using, but it has also seen play. Sub-optimal in my opinion. Duress is the better option.
Land Kessig Wolf Run. When you go to the mid-range build, and you want to finish and have 23 land. Just know when to use it. (HINT: I just told you when to use it.)
So, the main deck is straightforward and the card choices for creatures, outside of a little tussling in one 2 cmc slot, is very straightforward. Exact numbers may vary. Removal is also straightforward. Usually, minimum removal is 5 cards. The extra two could be creatures or they could be Domri Rade.
The sideboard is where the real genius of this deck is exposed. This is not a simple aggro deck, but a complex, flexible aggro deck that can extend into the mid-game and give any deck a run for its money.
Example deck list
Jund Aggro by Evan Boritas
Format: Standard - GTC
Location: 2013 StarCity Open Standard - Las Vegas - 3/2
Finished: 2nd Place
More than anything we need a primer.. Any takers? It's hard to discuss anything without a central reference. I usually write primers but I have to admit I'm not as familiar with the popular version of the deck running all the 1 drops. Anyone who plays the tournament list should get on it.
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Current Decks: GWUKnightfall Modern UWTempo Legacy UGRBurning Wish Cobra Vintage
Interesting line from the article I linked written by the guy who got 2nd with the deck.
What do you guys think about that? Mulligan hands without a 1-drop?
I agree to a certain extent, because aggro loses its potency if you go land-go on turn 1 (especially if your on the draw). Piggy-backing off this question, I have one of my own: what is the sideboard plan as most Jund Aggro builds run 31 creatures / 7 spells, presumably resulting in creatures being boarded out more often than spells. In this instance I would use a list such as Nicholas Werner's for instance. To be more specific, what "should" come out for each match-up.
I'm thinking golgari charm needs to be more of a thing in jund aggro's SB. The Regen clause is significant and the -1/-1 is huge against all the mana dorks/lingering souls in the format right now.
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Big thanks to DarkNightCavalier from heroes of the planes studios for the sig!
Interesting line from the article I linked written by the guy who got 2nd with the deck.
What do you guys think about that? Mulligan hands without a 1-drop?
If that's your mulligan rule, you want to be running 10+ one drops (noble?). You have a 75% chance of having a one drop with 10 in your deck, but only 65% with 8 which means you're going to be shipping a lot of hands before you even start thinking about lands. Also, a good BTE hand can make up a lot for the speed you lose without a 1-drop, so I don't think this is appropriate as a general rule.
So what do we think of Domri in the maindeck? It seemed good but after testing it is a little weak to aggro decks where you are left wishing it was the Dreadbore instead of Domri for their Reckoner.
I play RUG Aggro, which has about the same creature-spell ratio as jund, (if not Jund has more creatures) and we play Domri. His fight ability is very useful.
Im thinking if building this deck, but since theres no primer, what do you guys suggest? I can throw the creatures together no problem, but what supporting spells do you guys use?
What are you guys usually boarding out/in for the midrange strategy? I understand that Olivia + Silverheart go in along with wolf runs, but what are you guys taking out? Cacklers + bte?
Look at the card. Now back to Jace. Now back to that card, now back to Jace! Sadly, it isn't Jace, but if it stopped being a junk rare and became relevant, it could act like it's Jace. Crack some Worldwake. What do you have? You have a Jace, the card you wish this card could be like. Look again. THE CARD IS NOW A $75 BILL. Anything possible when you play Magic with Jace and not junk rares. This is probably spam.
What are you guys usually boarding out/in for the midrange strategy? I understand that Olivia + Silverheart go in along with wolf runs, but what are you guys taking out? Cacklers + bte?
So what do we think of Domri in the maindeck? It seemed good but after testing it is a little weak to aggro decks where you are left wishing it was the Dreadbore instead of Domri for their Reckoner.
Actually I tried it but never really fully liked it even if somehow he blends in well.. Majority of Jund aggro game plan is to keep pressure out of the opponent while clearing out any possible threat in the board by our chosen removal spells. Domri rade contributes nothing to that. Although he may seem relevant, its actually more of Naya's needs considering their removal spells are limited and the power cards like loxodon smiter and boros reckoner greatly abuse the -2 ability. For me, he sticks in sideboard, and best card vs esper control.
I've decided to go DRS for now, despite my preference for removing their whole graveyard, because DRS advances our game slightly (only slightly) better.
It also gives us potential extra mana when we need it. I think vs. Junk DRS is the better option, but Rakdos Charm is better vs. Humanimator, since you want to clean out their whole graveyard, not just once card.
Here is a draft of a Primer. Feel free to use and modify if someone wants to really flesh it out more.
Jund Aggro Primer
Jund Aggro is essentially a variation of RG Aggro that takes advantage of Black to be able to play a strong mid-range game, instead of relying on blowing out the whole hand onto the field. RGB allows the deck to play some key cards, most importantly quality removal and three excellent creatures for the mid-game. I’ll name all those once we get into card analysis.
The play style remains fairly linear before siding. The goal is to do a lot of damage quickly. Turn 4/5 wins are not uncommon, though both RG Aggro and Naya Blitz probably get there more consistently. However, once you sideboard the deck can really show its flexibility in dealing with all manner of threats.
Play this deck if...
You like aggro, but...
you are smarter than the average aggro aficionado, and...
you don't want to be another one of the people on the "Oh, mid-range is so good right now" bandwagon, while...
acknowledging that Jund Midrange is a hell of a deck, but...
you are not too proud to admit that aggressive strategies are probably going to trump control strategies in standard for now or...
you just know in your heart that Reanimator is unstable and won't be king of the hill for more than a few weeks, unlike...
Jund Aggro.
Main Deck
Creatures:
CMC 1 Experiment One is a central piece. As in any green-based deck, this card can evolve quickly and not only get up to 4/4, but protect itself from destruction. This is a great turn 1 play.
Rakdos Cackler. 2/2 for R/B in a deck with an RBG mana base and it evolves Experiment One. Need we say more?
CMC2 Burning-Tree Emissary aka Free Bear. By far the most important 2-drop creature in agro everywhere. This card is no small part of the reason that RGx is the aggro sweet spot. There is no feeling like playing out three of these followed by …
Flinthoof Boar aka Pig. 1G, 2/2 that if you have a Mountain out is a 3/3 and if you have three mana open, can drop as a 3/3 Haste. Wow, did I just make Experiment One evolve twice in one turn and swing for 3, with the likelihood of doing 8 or more next turn? “Well, gosh, Gomer, I guess I know now why you play RGx aggro.” “Yup, Andy, nothing like droppin’ me some Free Bears and a Pig!”
Now we get into disputed territory. Mogg Flunkies. 3/3 for 1R is good. It definitely grows Experiment One and it doesn’t die to 2 damage. That’s also good. Good enough reason to play it despite the fact that it can neither attack nor block by itself? Well… so far it has not really been replaced in the winning decks, so it does something right.
Gore-House Chainwalker. 2/1 that really is a 3/2 with Unleash, for 1R. I like it much better because it can attack by itself. Still, has not been proven yet in tournaments. Note: it is Human, which gives it synergy with one of our key finishers, a big plus for me.
Lightning Mauler. 2/1 with a minimal capacity to evolve Experiment One, but it can soulbond for haste to itself and potentially whatever it enters the board with. It is also human. This is my personal favorite if you want to emphasize the early aggressive game.
CMC 3 Dreg Mangler. One of the reasons to like Jund over RG Aggro. 3/3, haste and the Scavenge for 3GB makes a late-game Experiment One a viable finisher. Can you smell the mid-game?
CMC 4 Falkenrath Aristocrat. Oh sweet, undead mama! 4/1, flying, can make herself indestructible and she gets bigger. To play her is to love her. To play against her is to hate her. What more praise could a Magic card need? This card is the core of our mid-game.
Ghor-Clan Rampager. Sure, its a 4/4 with trample, but what it really does is Bloodrush. Oh the sweet rush of blood: +4/+4 and trample for RG. Smells like win.
Hellrider. Used less, by no means a staple of the deck, but it has seen GP greatness. Another card that just finishes games. 2RR is a bit rough on the mana base, but we do what we must. Usually in the deck at the expense of a Mogg Flunkie and a Rakdos Cackler.
Non-Creature Spells
This is one of the places the deck shines. Unlike Naya Blitz and RG Aggro, we have a really good variety of removal.
CMC 1 Tragic Slip. The most common choice and it ignores indestructible and can frequently go nova (-13/-13) because people try to block us. Takes care of that pesky 3/3 token Thragtusk tried to leave after they blocked our Pick or Flunky or Mangler or Chainwalker or Hellrider. Also great for mana dork removal. “YOU SHALL NOT RAMP!!!!”
Pillar of Flame. Less played, but if Zombies or BW Aggro really return, well, this is the go-to choice in the aggro vs. undying aggro match.
CMC 2
Ah, the good stuff! Searing Spear. Do I really need to explain this in a deck that uses red mana?
Abrupt Decay. Uncounterable destruction of any 3cmc or less permanent without indestructible or that doesn’t get Resto-blinked. That means your stupid Centaur Healer (Bant), your whole stupid deck (Naya Blitz), most of your stupid deck (RG Aggro and mirror), your Blind Obedience (Control), and so on and so on. Delicious and only decks with GB get it.
Dreadbore. This too? Yes, just like any other Jund deck, we can also outright kill any creature or planeswalker without indestructible. <face palm>
Sideboard
Whoa, you mean we are already in the sideboard? Yes, chilluns, that’s it. It really is a simple mainboard. The sideboard is really not simple, though.
Creatures
CMC 1 Deathrite Shaman. Gotta beat Reanimator. This is option #1. Works with the game plan, great versus Junk, kinda bad versus Humanimator.
CMC 3 Vampire Nighthawk. I think it is greedy and slow, but 2/3 flying with deathtouch is fine when you are acting as the mid-range deck against all those little aggro decks.
CMC 4 Olivia Voldaren. Yep, straight up the path to the Queen of Hate. I’ll take one of those, and one of those, and kill those 1/1’s and keep growing. “What’s that, my sweet little blood bag? Yes, I am single-handedly draining all the blood out of you. Ah, refreshing.” Great against aggro and mid-range alike. The only problem is that getting to enough mana to take full advantage of her is not so simple.
CMC 5 Wolfir Silverheart. Yes, that’s a thing. For 3GG, make whatever else you have on the field +4/+4, and pair it with what is now an 8/8? Evolve Experiment One, so when you pair with it is a 6/6? Did I mention that this deck has a real mid-game plan?
Non-Creature Spells
This is where things get wild. You have all kinds of options.
CMC 1 Duress. A fine choice. Let’s you remove something that would interfere with your next big move or let them wipe the board, regain a ton of life and fill their hand, etc.
Cremate. Viable graveyard hate instead of Rakdos Charm or Deathrite Shaman.
CMC 2 Abrupt Decay, Searing Spear, Dreadbore. Sometimes more is better. Sometimes Dreadbore will be in your sideboard, not your main deck.
Rakdos Charm. The other graveyard control option. It is a one-shot deal, but against Humanimator, that is what you want. A little less value vs. Junk reanimator.
Golgari charm. Destroy enchantments, which is high-value these days. Kill off mana dorks or half of the Naya Blitz deck. Regenerate. Just value all around.
Skullcrack. Its not the 3 damage, though that is great. It is stopping their lifegain. Having to swing for 3-6 damage around a Thragtusk is much easier than swinging around a Thragtusk for 8-11. That is so important that if they have Witchbane Orb, it is worth shooting yourself for 3 to stop them from gaining life.
CMC 3 Domri Rade. What a beast of a planeswalker for us. A little acceleration, knowing what you are drawing next, forcing fights on our terms (great with stupid chump blockers), and the ultimate is awesome, though if you needed that to win, I think you might have already died. The best Planeswalker friend an aggro deck can have right now.
Liliana of the Veil. Yes, she has seen play. And if Reanimator was not so hot, she would be pretty good. We generally dump our hand anyway, and we can get one of their blockers out of the way. Plus it really messes with control decks.
CMC 4 Sever the Bloodline. Has seen GP play, is a valid, if rather expensive, removal option. Exile is great. “Boros Charm this!”
Slaughter Games. IMO, this is really greedy and not what we want to be using, but it has also seen play. Sub-optimal in my opinion. Duress is the better option.
Land Kessig Wolf Run. When you go to the mid-range build, and you want to finish and have 23 land. Just know when to use it. (HINT: I just told you when to use it.)
So, the main deck is straightforward and the card choices for creatures, outside of a little tussling in one 2 cmc slot, is very straightforward. Exact numbers may vary. Removal is also straightforward. Usually, minimum removal is 5 cards. The extra two could be creatures or they could be Domri Rade.
The sideboard is where the real genius of this deck is exposed. This is not a simple aggro deck, but a complex, flexible aggro deck that can extend into the mid-game and give any deck a run for its money.
Example deck list
Jund Aggro by Evan Boritas
Format: Standard - GTC
Location: 2013 StarCity Open Standard - Las Vegas - 3/2
Finished: 2nd Place
I'm also using DRS instead of Rakdos Charm.. I will give trust on Sam Black's articles (SCG premium) for this. He actually discussed that DRS is best vs Reanimator.. Simple and slowly doing GY hate, but still gives you the pace of killing the deck before its too late and roars out the big game changers like craterhoof and serenity.
Seems like you already built a primer.. I was thinking of preparing one as well but hey, you made one 1st. I can give you some inputs and additionals in the primer if you're open to that.
I'm thinking golgari charm needs to be more of a thing in jund aggro's SB. The Regen clause is significant and the -1/-1 is huge against all the mana dorks/lingering souls in the format right now.
Started removing golgari charm lately but still missing it.. still tweaking, but max of it is a 2 off only for me in SB
Interesting line from the article I linked written by the guy who got 2nd with the deck.
What do you guys think about that? Mulligan hands without a 1-drop?
If my hand has 3 lands and good 2 drops I'd never risk it. Sometimes you just dont get one. A late game Experiment one still helps, even a DRS.. Cackler, not much though.
What are you guys usually boarding out/in for the midrange strategy? I understand that Olivia + Silverheart go in along with wolf runs, but what are you guys taking out? Cacklers + bte?
Take out the most useless card you think you have vs the matchup and place the right card you believe will help you solve your proble, cards
for example, If I'm against Naya Humans and i'm going to go midrange-y, I'll be sideboarding out Flunkies and cacklers, Both are useless in defensive combat and racing out with Blitz is basically suicide.
If I am against any kind of reanimator, I'd be sideboarding out Experiment One and Ghor clans since trying to race against it is risky since they can reverse the tides instantly if youre not carefully looking at their GY.. they might also have annoying lotleth trolls thragtusks and centaurs always blocking the way so consistent damage/gain while trying to disrupt their GY magic namely Deathrite shaman works well, falkenrath/flying works well, skullcrack can also work well for them not to gain from Tusk, and tragic slips works well both as a mana dork killer or a biggie killer.
Against esper you may want to side out unnecessary removals and just use dreadbore and skullcracks and put in Domri Rade and draw your threats way to victory or fight those annoying bolases and intefering snapcasters when needed.
Against Jund midrange, race it to death. Im taking out flunkies here as well because they will just destroy and destroy any partner he might have, so instead im putting in useful removals too getting ready for huntmasters and Voldarens and those garruk tokens.
With all these lingering souls and metagame-defining thragtusks consistently growing and putting them into all sorts of decks using green, I'm thinking of getting in thundermaw hellkite once again.
What are you guys usually boarding out/in for the midrange strategy? I understand that Olivia + Silverheart go in along with wolf runs, but what are you guys taking out? Cacklers + bte?
Take out the most useless card you think you have vs the matchup and place the right card you believe will help you solve your proble, cards
for example...
... With all these lingering souls and metagame-defining thragtusks consistently growing and putting them into all sorts of decks using green, I'm thinking of getting in thundermaw hellkite once again.
This is exactly what I was asking for . Would you mind writing your SB strategy for other popular archetypes as well? I would love to hear them and they would be great material for the eventual primer. Plus this could open up some more discussion about SB choices.
Look at the card. Now back to Jace. Now back to that card, now back to Jace! Sadly, it isn't Jace, but if it stopped being a junk rare and became relevant, it could act like it's Jace. Crack some Worldwake. What do you have? You have a Jace, the card you wish this card could be like. Look again. THE CARD IS NOW A $75 BILL. Anything possible when you play Magic with Jace and not junk rares. This is probably spam.
I won another local 4 round tournament with my list. 3rd time in 4 weeks(not that the competition is super heavy). I've got that metagame dialed in that it's all Aggro, Jund, UWR. The control players sort of got chased out by the aggro and no one is playing Reanimator really locally. I had a real hard time with UWR as usual. I mean sometimes you can't help with they keep a mull to 6 that is 2 lands, 3 Boros Reckoner, Resto Angel, and draw Izzet Charm, Land, Land. I actually dealt with the first 2 Reckoners, but Resto saved the 3rd one, and while I put up quite a fight with Domri I ended up losing that game. I got to play Naya Blitz which was easier postboard than I expected given how much removal is in my board. The tournament did show me a few things. Which may or may not be relevant to you guys.
1. Gyre Sage while one of my favorite cards is only particularly good against Slow Aggro(like Mono Red, Jund Aggro, Saito Naya, GR Sage) and against Midrange(Jund, PS Bant, Naya, Reanimator). It is the mirror breaker for me. It is a great game one proactive plan that is decent across the board. It is not particularly good against fast aggro like Blitz, against Azorious Charm decks especially ones with clocks like UWR. It's passable against control. Since basically it's worst in my worst matchups being able to swap all 4 out is very beneficial to boarding. I was swapping out Burning-Trees before in some matchups which is incorrect given their bodies have multiple uses especially making Falkenrath good.
2. If you are going to use Domri as your CA engine you have to make sure to get value out of it. The removal isn't powerful enough in the format generally that seeing it on top and getting it next turn is better than just drawing something (except maybe planning for Bonfire). I was siding in too much removal even being aware of the balance. For that reason Cards like Deathrite Shaman, and Vampire Nighthawk definitely get the nod. Even if they eat a burn as long as you draw with Domri it isn't costing a card. I had supplementary card advantage before but that was wrong. You lose pretty much all the advantage any time Domri reveals an Underworld Connection or Triumph of Ferocity. This rule extends to utility cards like the charms (Golgari I'm looking at you). Domri wants no more than 10 non-creature spells (including himself). Realistically 8-9 is about ideal.
3. Wolfir Silverheart is a bit better than I gave it credit for with all the haste we run. But sometimes being biggest on board is important. I still generally think Hellkite is better, but Wolfir Silverheart might be better than Hellkite 3 or 4. It stops aggro without Aristocrat/Hellkite dead. And it can bruteforce right through Reckoner. Although at 5 mana only so many creatures like this you can play. Still if you ever get it down then follow up with a Hellkite or Aristocrat it's just huge (this sometimes happens in the Flash matchup if the Azorius Charm the first attacker). However, Olivia I don't get. I tried her again and it always felt living on a prayer. x/4's are still vulnerable so even playing her at 6 is risky. The matchups I see her being good in maybe there are better options or they are already good matchups. Reanimator is the only one that I think maybe you want the role reversal of stealing threats. But if you can burn out the dorks, and come in big in the air maybe it isnt needed.
4. Maybe the dynamics are a bit difference in the deck with one drops but Kessig Wolf Run hasn't done nearly as much for me as consistently hitting my colors and being able to play double black spells. I guess others agree in cutting the extra Kessig out of their board looking at the recent placing lists, but I think having the extra land in the board and the go big plan might still be worth it. The other land should just be a Dragonskull Summit likely. Extra black for Mangler/Aristocrat/Removal (the deck only plays 12). I've lost games where I didn't have that one black. And the red of course to make sure Hellkite is castable if that is the sideboard plan going forward like expect it to be.
Anyway, take what you will from all that. My game 1 is significantly different than most of yours but our post board games are much closer in many matchups (since I game 1 the go big plan).
Deathrite Shaman as mana ramp is additionally good in the UWR matchup since you can get double utility to bring in your go big plan faster. I found if they spend their early turns burning stuff you still can curve into 5's and what you want in that matchup is threat density. You can't always assume your 2/2's and 3/3's will get there. They have hands that will trump that. That tcg player tournament report had him bringing in Silverheart, but he only ran Cremate, being able to T4 Silverheart (or Thundermaw) might even be that much more impacting.
Anyway what matchups are you guys finding the hardest? I have a suspicion they are a bit different than me even if we share about 60 of the 75 (or they are direct subs dreadbore/victim, Experiment/Sage), so perhaps we can jointly figure out how to shore up our gaps. I suspect I have a better Midrange Jund and Reanimator matchup and possibly Esper Control, but I don't hear you guys complain very much about UWR. Oh and can someone please explain Olivia in the sideboard? Where has it been good for you were something like Hellkite/Silverheart wouldn't be?
@Hunter44
I'll take any feedback that is constructive. This was a first draft. I was hoping someone might be interested in it. Heck, feel free to use what you think is kelpful and re-write the rest.
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This is exactly what I was asking for . Would you mind writing your SB strategy for other popular archetypes as well? I would love to hear them and they would be great material for the eventual primer. Plus this could open up some more discussion about SB choices.
May I kindly ask which archetype would you like hearing opinion for? But to answer you for now, skullcrack is an SB staple for me, basically vs anything lifegain mainly thragtusk. Domri rade Vs Esper Control, Volcanic Str Vs Red based aggro and now I am thinking DRS will be a staple for me right now, until reanimator gains less popularity
I won another local 4 round tournament with my list. 3rd time in 4 weeks(not that the competition is super heavy). I've got that metagame dialed in that it's all Aggro, Jund, UWR. The control players sort of got chased out by the aggro and no one is playing Reanimator really locally. I had a real hard time with UWR as usual. I mean sometimes you can't help with they keep a mull to 6 that is 2 lands, 3 Boros Reckoner, Resto Angel, and draw Izzet Charm, Land, Land. I actually dealt with the first 2 Reckoners, but Resto saved the 3rd one, and while I put up quite a fight with Domri I ended up losing that game. I got to play Naya Blitz which was easier postboard than I expected given how much removal is in my board. The tournament did show me a few things. Which may or may not be relevant to you guys.
1. Gyre Sage while one of my favorite cards is only particularly good against Slow Aggro(like Mono Red, Jund Aggro, Saito Naya, GR Sage) and against Midrange(Jund, PS Bant, Naya, Reanimator). It is the mirror breaker for me. It is a great game one proactive plan that is decent across the board. It is not particularly good against fast aggro like Blitz, against Azorious Charm decks especially ones with clocks like UWR. It's passable against control. Since basically it's worst in my worst matchups being able to swap all 4 out is very beneficial to boarding. I was swapping out Burning-Trees before in some matchups which is incorrect given their bodies have multiple uses especially making Falkenrath good.
2. If you are going to use Domri as your CA engine you have to make sure to get value out of it. The removal isn't powerful enough in the format generally that seeing it on top and getting it next turn is better than just drawing something (except maybe planning for Bonfire). I was siding in too much removal even being aware of the balance. For that reason Cards like Deathrite Shaman, and Vampire Nighthawk definitely get the nod. Even if they eat a burn as long as you draw with Domri it isn't costing a card. I had supplementary card advantage before but that was wrong. You lose pretty much all the advantage any time Domri reveals an Underworld Connection or Triumph of Ferocity. This rule extends to utility cards like the charms (Golgari I'm looking at you). Domri wants no more than 10 non-creature spells (including himself). Realistically 8-9 is about ideal.
3. Wolfir Silverheart is a bit better than I gave it credit for with all the haste we run. But sometimes being biggest on board is important. I still generally think Hellkite is better, but Wolfir Silverheart might be better than Hellkite 3 or 4. It stops aggro without Aristocrat/Hellkite dead. And it can bruteforce right through Reckoner. Although at 5 mana only so many creatures like this you can play. Still if you ever get it down then follow up with a Hellkite or Aristocrat it's just huge (this sometimes happens in the Flash matchup if the Azorius Charm the first attacker). However, Olivia I don't get. I tried her again and it always felt living on a prayer. x/4's are still vulnerable so even playing her at 6 is risky. The matchups I see her being good in maybe there are better options or they are already good matchups. Reanimator is the only one that I think maybe you want the role reversal of stealing threats. But if you can burn out the dorks, and come in big in the air maybe it isnt needed.
4. Maybe the dynamics are a bit difference in the deck with one drops but Kessig Wolf Run hasn't done nearly as much for me as consistently hitting my colors and being able to play double black spells. I guess others agree in cutting the extra Kessig out of their board looking at the recent placing lists, but I think having the extra land in the board and the go big plan might still be worth it. The other land should just be a Dragonskull Summit likely. Extra black for Mangler/Aristocrat/Removal (the deck only plays 12). I've lost games where I didn't have that one black. And the red of course to make sure Hellkite is castable if that is the sideboard plan going forward like expect it to be.
Anyway, take what you will from all that. My game 1 is significantly different than most of yours but our post board games are much closer in many matchups (since I game 1 the go big plan).
Deathrite Shaman as mana ramp is additionally good in the UWR matchup since you can get double utility to bring in your go big plan faster. I found if they spend their early turns burning stuff you still can curve into 5's and what you want in that matchup is threat density. You can't always assume your 2/2's and 3/3's will get there. They have hands that will trump that. That tcg player tournament report had him bringing in Silverheart, but he only ran Cremate, being able to T4 Silverheart (or Thundermaw) might even be that much more impacting.
Anyway what matchups are you guys finding the hardest? I have a suspicion they are a bit different than me even if we share about 60 of the 75 (or they are direct subs dreadbore/victim, Experiment/Sage), so perhaps we can jointly figure out how to shore up our gaps. I suspect I have a better Midrange Jund and Reanimator matchup and possibly Esper Control, but I don't hear you guys complain very much about UWR. Oh and can someone please explain Olivia in the sideboard? Where has it been good for you were something like Hellkite/Silverheart wouldn't be?
When I saw your deck its like the Efro/Saito Naya converted to Jund. You have demanding board presence here. Why not remove Wolfir Silverheart here and just put another hellkite or desecration Demon? Not bad, I would love to try Domri Rade rolling out Desecration Demon for a great fight before declare attackers step lol.
Olivia Voldaren? Well, its good against aggro and other midrange decks as well. And I tell you right now that thragtusk is dominating the standard meta we would love to see more flying creatures dealing hellacious offense such as hellkites, voldarens and falkenraths evading ground threats not to mention Reckoner and early Smiters that stop our boars and manglers from progressing. Its not all the time we have removal every turn. Olivia is also good vs the aristocrats . If you're going to play Olivia in board just think twice if she really helps during game 2 or not. Olivia is useless in Esper Control and UWR mostly when I tested.
When I saw your deck its like the Efro/Saito Naya converted to Jund. You have demanding board presence here. Why not remove Wolfir Silverheart here and just put another hellkite or desecration Demon? Not bad, I would love to try Domri Rade rolling out Desecration Demon for a great fight before declare attackers step lol.
Olivia Voldaren? Well, its good against aggro and other midrange decks as well. And I tell you right now that thragtusk is dominating the standard meta we would love to see more flying creatures dealing hellacious offense such as hellkites, voldarens and falkenraths evading ground threats not to mention Reckoner and early Smiters that stop our boars and manglers from progressing. Its not all the time we have removal every turn. Olivia is also good vs the aristocrats . If you're going to play Olivia in board just think twice if she really helps during game 2 or not. Olivia is useless in Esper Control and UWR mostly when I tested.
Yeah so basically Olivia is good against other Falkenrath decks, that likely have removal that can deal with her (being in black/red). I found timing wise landing a Hellkite usually just busted through that. I saw some good use of her on coverage but the player using olivia was generally already really behind (being midrange jund) I don't know if we have the same problem with all our early bodies.
As for Silverheart it was the 4th Hellkite til recently. I realized it was better than I thought and I get why people board it. Hellkite is pretty useless against Blitz because usually you can't attack the turn it comes down and you don't want to be jammed with 5's. Silverheart straight up wins in that you can block and they can't survive the swing back if they attack full out. It also was better against UWR than I expected as long as you aren't swinging with it thoughtlessly. With all haste creatures this isn't as much of a problem. The size for fighting is nice too. It's possible that I should just stick with 4 Hellkites for consistency but the defensive benefit of Silverheart on the turn it comes down probably worth the inclusion.
Demon is one of the weaker creatures in my list (although it does a lot of good work and can win games almost single handedly). I can't picture playing more than a couple. The key for it is it costs 4 where everything else like that costs 5. I'd play more Silverhearts/Thundermaws if I could over it they are just too expensive and this sort of frees me from playing more removal outside of Domri.
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Small ca$h tournament today, 8 people, but half of them are quality players. Went 2-0, draw into top 4, 1-0 into top 2 and split. As always, the deck was pretty awesome. I could go through the rounds, but they were mostly not interesting. I'll note the things that were.
Vs Naya Midrange 2-1
Deck did what it is supposed to do. I did finish a game with Cryptborn Horror. I wondered if this card was going to be gimmicky or win-more as opposed to Hellrider, but against the mid-range decks it really allows you to seal game 1 if you get anywhere from 6-10 damage in turn 3, and then drop CH means I could care less about your Thragtusk. Against Naya Blitz, it gave me a turn 3 creature that ate Champions of the Parish for lunch and forced them onto the defensive (side game testing vs. a Naya Blitz.)
May I kindly ask which archetype would you like hearing opinion for? But to answer you for now, skullcrack is an SB staple for me, basically vs anything lifegain mainly thragtusk. Domri rade Vs Esper Control, Volcanic Str Vs Red based aggro and now I am thinking DRS will be a staple for me right now, until reanimator gains less popularity
Well your last post hit pretty much all of the main strategies I had questions about. Bant, Aristocrats, and RDW are the only other decks that come to mind atm.
I'm more interested in what cards are best to remove in these match ups than I am in what goes in. For example, taking out cacklers for Duress because t1 Duress is better than t1 cacklers and Duress after t4 is still relevant, or taking out Dreg manglers for the Nighthawks because lifelink + deathtouch are more important than a 3/3 hastey.
Look at the card. Now back to Jace. Now back to that card, now back to Jace! Sadly, it isn't Jace, but if it stopped being a junk rare and became relevant, it could act like it's Jace. Crack some Worldwake. What do you have? You have a Jace, the card you wish this card could be like. Look again. THE CARD IS NOW A $75 BILL. Anything possible when you play Magic with Jace and not junk rares. This is probably spam.
Demon is one of the weaker creatures in my list (although it does a lot of good work and can win games almost single handedly). I can't picture playing more than a couple. The key for it is it costs 4 where everything else like that costs 5. I'd play more Silverhearts/Thundermaws if I could over it they are just too expensive and this sort of frees me from playing more removal outside of Domri.
He makes it heavier due to the BB though, youd be running max Crypts and summits here I presume. I'm just worried you might have a problem with BBs, RRs and GGs on your curve sometimes.
Small ca$h tournament today, 8 people, but half of them are quality players. Went 2-0, draw into top 4, 1-0 into top 2 and split. As always, the deck was pretty awesome. I could go through the rounds, but they were mostly not interesting. I'll note the things that were.
Vs Naya Midrange 2-1
Deck did what it is supposed to do. I did finish a game with Cryptborn Horror. I wondered if this card was going to be gimmicky or win-more as opposed to Hellrider, but against the mid-range decks it really allows you to seal game 1 if you get anywhere from 6-10 damage in turn 3, and then drop CH means I could care less about your Thragtusk. Against Naya Blitz, it gave me a turn 3 creature that ate Champions of the Parish for lunch and forced them onto the defensive (side game testing vs. a Naya Blitz.)
Well your last post hit pretty much all of the main strategies I had questions about. Bant, Aristocrats, and RDW are the only other decks that come to mind atm.
I'm more interested in what cards are best to remove in these match ups than I am in what goes in. For example, taking out cacklers for Duress because t1 Duress is better than t1 cacklers and Duress after t4 is still relevant, or taking out Dreg manglers for the Nighthawks because lifelink + deathtouch are more important than a 3/3 hastey.
Please observe your meta what are the most dominating decks though so you can create your good SB. Not all answers I suggested can be squeezed to a 15-card board so kindly bear in mind I am just giving out answers for you =)
Bant Wolf Run or Prime Speaker Bant? Or Auras? Well anyway maybe you are talking about wolf run in general. In these matchups immediately remove creatures with 2 power like cacklers, BTEs and other (except geist, they're tricky and can work and will be happy if azorious charmed) since Augur of Bolas and Centaur healer mostly blocks the way. For me Im removing searing spears and replace them with Skullcrack, Golgari Charm(for supreme verdict and detention spheres), and Slaughter Games(targeting Sphinx's revelation) . You may want to have 2 dreadbores as well since most probably they will side in some planeswalkers like Garruk and a biggie like Gisela/Aurelia. Dont remove Abrupt decays. Dont be afraid of thragtusk,instead save your mana for upcoming Restoration Angels and focus on using skullcrack well. Focus your removals on Restoration Angels and let your falkenraths/flyers finish the game.
Aristocrats - Basically, we are faster than Aristocrats but they can block and attack on different angles which makes them powerful. Which is why Volcanic strength shines not only on RDW but also on this deck. If you managed to successfully equip this to a creature like mangler or boar, it may become a huge threat automatically unless they wish to take 5 damage from Orzhov charm or force them sacrifice another creature for them to trigger tragic slip. Aristocrats seldom put heavy removal trust me. Olivia is also good and pings alot of tokens, infamys and small parishes,steals falkenrath easier, and a threat flier. Hellkite is also good. We have abrupt decay main so reckoner isnt much a threat not to mention it kills Paladin and Skirsdag, even the 5/5 tokens. Basically more removal will help you win together with volcanic str and olivia just remember to include both dreadbore and tragic slip to that since they usually have Sorin and Obzedat in their sideboard. Side out ghor-clan rampager, since the unbeatable blocks of Falkenrath, skirsdag token, cartel and the killer reckoner will simply weaken Ghor clan's potential. You can also side out a mangler or 2.
RDW - Trust me, racing them is suicide. They will, and always will be, faster. Again, Volcanic strength equipped to a 3/3. Mortars, searing spear will be unusable removal spells after this hits your jackpot. Just put in removals and nighthawks if you have. If your meta is heavy on RDW you can put flames of the firebrand.
Anyway on other news, heads up guys, Reanimator (the behemoth version, not the human) is gaining lot of popularity.
Top players and writers from SCG premium are already calling reanimator the best deck in Standard right now. Here's some inputs from the Innovator, Patrick Chapin:, if youre from Kansas or DC lucky you..
Standard Metagame: March 24, 2013 - see attachment
Standard Metagame: Magic Online - see attachment
* Misc = Wolf Run Bant, Human Reanimator, Mono-Red Aggro, Boros, 4CC, Delver
Tons of stuff to glean here. To start with, just look at the decks that have fallen off the grid in the last two weeks. Wolf Run Bant, Human Reanimator, Mono-Red Aggro, Boros, 4CC, and Delver? Not a one of those decks put someone into the Top 16 of SCG Washington, DC or SCG Kansas City.
Of course, as alluded to earlier, Reanimator has completely dominated over the past two weeks, winning both SCG Opens and giving nine players Top 16 finishes. Once, we get past it, we come to a relatively even tier featuring U/W/R, Esper, Jund, and Naya. While this tier is relatively even averaged out, it is certainly far from stable. Three weeks ago, Jund and U/W/R were the format's top dogs. The following week, they were both completely blanked and Esper and Naya tripled their combined metagame presence. This past weekend, U/W/R rebounded, but Jund not so much, with Esper and Naya still putting up results.
This new breed of Reanimator deck plays a passable aggressive midrange game and is chock full of threats small, medium, and large. While it can apply early pressure, it really just wants to hang out until it builds a game-winning advantage in its graveyard.
Strengths:
Proactive
More powerful than most midrange
Solid B game if graveyards are shut down
Weaknesses:
Lack of interaction - Beyond attacking and blocking, there isn't a lot Reanimator can do to troublesome permanents. There are a few answers in the sideboard, but they get stretched pretty thin.
Graveyard hate - While these Reanimator decks are not slave to the graveyard, graveyard hate still turns them into very mediocre midrange G/W/B decks. Vulnerable to racing - The last time this style of Reanimator was popular, it struggled with fast G/W Human decks. Could those decks possibly make a comeback? What other fast decks can race it? Thundermaw Hellkite is definitely annoying.
So there you have it. Other than that, analysts are saying that Jund, Esper, Naya, And UWR Flash(without reckoner) will be the top seeing lists during the upcoming weeks aside from the top performing reanimator (NOT THE HUMAN VERSION)
My proactive game plan is basically race to finish game 1, and depending on the matchup I will use my sideboard cards which fits for the usual popular decks. Can't wait to play a Standard daily this week
Nice list Hunter. I am currently testing something similar after losing to Reanimator twice this past weekend in IQs. I decided to move away from BTE, I get that its awesome but it can cause really awkward hands and forces really bad mulligans.
Instead of 4 Hellrider I am running 2, and added 2 Ghor-Clans. I like having these in hand for mid game when I need to get damage through and keep some board presence.
As for lands since you are at 24 I was thinking: 4 Overgrown Tomb, 4 Stomping Ground, 4 Blood Crypt, 4 Woodland Cemetary, 3 Rootbound Crag, 3 Dragonskull and 1 KWR. This should hopefully give enough GG for t2 geist.
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BGStandard Green AggroGB
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BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
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I've decided to go DRS for now, despite my preference for removing their whole graveyard, because DRS advances our game slightly (only slightly) better.
It also gives us potential extra mana when we need it. I think vs. Junk DRS is the better option, but Rakdos Charm is better vs. Humanimator, since you want to clean out their whole graveyard, not just once card.
Here is a draft of a Primer. Feel free to use and modify if someone wants to really flesh it out more.
Jund Aggro Primer
The play style remains fairly linear before siding. The goal is to do a lot of damage quickly. Turn 4/5 wins are not uncommon, though both RG Aggro and Naya Blitz probably get there more consistently. However, once you sideboard the deck can really show its flexibility in dealing with all manner of threats.
Play this deck if...
You like aggro, but...
you are smarter than the average aggro aficionado, and...
you don't want to be another one of the people on the "Oh, mid-range is so good right now" bandwagon, while...
acknowledging that Jund Midrange is a hell of a deck, but...
you are not too proud to admit that aggressive strategies are probably going to trump control strategies in standard for now or...
you just know in your heart that Reanimator is unstable and won't be king of the hill for more than a few weeks, unlike...
Jund Aggro.
Main Deck
Creatures:
CMC 1
Experiment One is a central piece. As in any green-based deck, this card can evolve quickly and not only get up to 4/4, but protect itself from destruction. This is a great turn 1 play.
Rakdos Cackler. 2/2 for R/B in a deck with an RBG mana base and it evolves Experiment One. Need we say more?
Deathrite Shaman. Gotta beat Reanimator. This is option #1. Works with the game plan, great versus Junk, kinda bad versus Humanimator.
Vexing Devil is not a bad option if you expect to face aggro a lot. This is not a turn 1 drop if you have X-1, it is a turn 2, 3 or 4 drop. Sure, it is okay to do 4 damage turn 1, but it is better to evolve X-1 and then do 4 damage or have a 4/3, which is not
only aggressive, but a good defender against most aggro decks.
CMC2
Burning-Tree Emissary aka Free Bear. By far the most important 2-drop creature in agro everywhere. This card is no small part of the reason that RGx is the aggro sweet spot. There is no feeling like playing out three of these followed by …
Flinthoof Boar aka Pig. 1G, 2/2 that if you have a Mountain out is a 3/3 and if you have three mana open, can drop as a 3/3 Haste. Wow, did I just make Experiment One evolve twice in one turn and swing for 3, with the likelihood of doing 8 or more next turn? “Well, gosh, Gomer, I guess I know now why you play RGx aggro.” “Yup, Andy, nothing like droppin’ me some Free Bears and a Pig!”
Strangleroot Geist is great if you want to go green-heavy. Personally, I think it really belongs in RG Aggro more than here, but some people use and like it. It lacks synergy with BTE, and for me that is big, but it is very nice with X-1.
Now we get into disputed territory. (EDIT: Ok, this is not totally disputed territory anymore. Mogg Flunkies is the best. 4/15/13.)
Mogg Flunkies. 3/3 for 1R is good. It definitely grows Experiment One and it doesn’t die to 2 damage. That’s also good. Good enough reason to play it despite the fact that it can neither attack nor block by itself? Well… so far it has not really been replaced in the winning decks, so it does something right.
Gore-House Chainwalker. 2/1 that really is a 3/2 with Unleash, for 1R. I like it much better because it can attack by itself. Still, has not been proven yet in tournaments. Note: it is Human, which gives it synergy with one of our key finishers, a big plus for me.
Lightning Mauler. 2/1 with a minimal capacity to evolve Experiment One, but it can soulbond for haste to itself and potentially whatever it enters the board with. It is also human. This is my personal favorite if you want to emphasize the early aggressive game.
CMC 3
Dreg Mangler. One of the reasons to like Jund over RG Aggro. 3/3, haste and the Scavenge for 3GB makes a late-game Experiment One a viable finisher. Can you smell the mid-game?
Cryptborn Horror is fine if removal is sparse and you effectively churn out damage on turn 3 before playing your creature. It is not uncommon to see it enter the board as a 4/4 all the way to a 12/12, but usually 4/4-7/7 with trample. This may be a much better card post-Innistrad rotation.
CMC 4
Falkenrath Aristocrat. Oh sweet, undead mama! 4/1, flying, can make herself indestructible and she gets bigger. To play her is to love her. To play against her is to hate her. What more praise could a Magic card need? This card is the core of our mid-game.
Ghor-Clan Rampager. Sure, its a 4/4 with trample, but what it really does is Bloodrush. Oh the sweet rush of blood: +4/+4 and trample for RG. Smells like win.
Hellrider. Used less, by no means a staple of the deck, but it has seen GP greatness. Another card that just finishes games. 2RR is a bit rough on the mana base, but we do what we must. Usually in the deck at the expense of a Mogg Flunkie and a Rakdos Cackler.
CMC 5
Thundermaw Hellkite made it into the main thanks to Reanimator. 5/5, kills spirits, haste is pretty important as a finisher against that deck.
Non-Creature Spells
This is one of the places the deck shines. Unlike Naya Blitz and RG Aggro, we have a really good variety of removal.
CMC 1
Tragic Slip. The most common choice and it ignores indestructible and can frequently go nova (-13/-13) because people try to block us. Takes care of that pesky 3/3 token Thragtusk tried to leave after they blocked our Pick or Flunky or Mangler or Chainwalker or Hellrider. Also great for mana dork removal. “YOU SHALL NOT RAMP!!!!”
Pillar of Flame. Less played, but if Zombies or BW Aggro really return, well, this is the go-to choice in the aggro vs. undying aggro match.
CMC 2
Ah, the good stuff!
Searing Spear. Do I really need to explain this in a deck that uses red mana?
Abrupt Decay. Uncounterable destruction of any 3cmc or less permanent without indestructible or that doesn’t get Resto-blinked. That means your stupid Centaur Healer (Bant), your whole stupid deck (Naya Blitz), most of your stupid deck (RG Aggro and mirror), your Blind Obedience (Control), and so on and so on. Delicious and only decks with GB get it.
Dreadbore. This too? Yes, just like any other Jund deck, we can also outright kill any creature or planeswalker without indestructible. <face palm>
Ultimate Price has become a staple versus Reanimator and other decks with a lot of mono-colored creatures, like Naya Blitz, Esper Control, etc.
Sideboard
Whoa, you mean we are already in the sideboard? Yes, chilluns, that’s it. It really is a simple mainboard. The sideboard is really not simple, though.
Creatures
CMC 1
Choose something from above. Most likely you will have X-1 and either an aggressive 1-drop or DRS, and then maybe the other in the board.
CMC 3
Vampire Nighthawk. I think it is greedy and slow, but 2/3 flying with deathtouch is fine when you are acting as the mid-range deck against all those little aggro decks.
CMC 4
Olivia Voldaren. Yep, straight up the path to the Queen of Hate. I’ll take one of those, and one of those, and kill those 1/1’s and keep growing. “What’s that, my sweet little blood bag? Yes, I am single-handedly draining all the blood out of you. Ah, refreshing.” Great against aggro and mid-range alike. The only problem is that getting to enough mana to take full advantage of her is not so simple.
CMC 5
Wolfir Silverheart. Yes, that’s a thing. For 3GG, make whatever else you have on the field +4/+4, and pair it with what is now an 8/8? Evolve Experiment One, so when you pair with it is a 6/6? Did I mention that this deck has a real mid-game plan?
Thundermaw Hellkite made it into the main thanks to Reanimator. 5/5, kills spirits, haste is pretty important as a finisher against that deck.
Non-Creature Spells
This is where things get wild. You have all kinds of options.
CMC 1
Duress. A fine choice. Let’s you remove something that would interfere with your next big move or let them wipe the board, regain a ton of life and fill their hand, etc.
Tragic Slip and Pillar of Flame.
Cremate. Viable graveyard hate instead of Rakdos Charm or Deathrite Shaman.
CMC 2
Abrupt Decay, Searing Spear, Dreadbore. Sometimes more is better. Sometimes Dreadbore will be in your sideboard, not your main deck.
Rakdos Charm. The other graveyard control option. It is a one-shot deal, but against Humanimator, that is what you want. A little less value vs. Junk reanimator.
Golgari charm. Destroy enchantments, which is high-value these days. Kill off mana dorks or half of the Naya Blitz deck. Regenerate. Just value all around.
Skullcrack. Its not the 3 damage, though that is great. It is stopping their lifegain. Having to swing for 3-6 damage around a Thragtusk is much easier than swinging around a Thragtusk for 8-11. That is so important that if they have Witchbane Orb, it is worth shooting yourself for 3 to stop them from gaining life.
CMC 3
Domri Rade. What a beast of a planeswalker for us. A little acceleration, knowing what you are drawing next, forcing fights on our terms (great with stupid chump blockers), and the ultimate is awesome, though if you needed that to win, I think you might have already died. The best Planeswalker friend an aggro deck can have right now.
Liliana of the Veil. Yes, she has seen play. And if Reanimator was not so hot, she would be pretty good. We generally dump our hand anyway, and we can get one of their blockers out of the way. Plus it really messes with control decks.
CMC 4
Sever the Bloodline. Has seen GP play, is a valid, if rather expensive, removal option. Exile is great. “Boros Charm this!”
Slaughter Games. IMO, this is really greedy and not what we want to be using, but it has also seen play. Sub-optimal in my opinion. Duress is the better option.
Land
Kessig Wolf Run. When you go to the mid-range build, and you want to finish and have 23 land. Just know when to use it. (HINT: I just told you when to use it.)
So, the main deck is straightforward and the card choices for creatures, outside of a little tussling in one 2 cmc slot, is very straightforward. Exact numbers may vary. Removal is also straightforward. Usually, minimum removal is 5 cards. The extra two could be creatures or they could be Domri Rade.
The sideboard is where the real genius of this deck is exposed. This is not a simple aggro deck, but a complex, flexible aggro deck that can extend into the mid-game and give any deck a run for its money.
Example deck list
Jund Aggro by Evan Boritas
Format: Standard - GTC
Location: 2013 StarCity Open Standard - Las Vegas - 3/2
Finished: 2nd Place
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Dreg Mangler
4 Experiment One
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
3 Rakdos Cackler
2 Hellrider
Lands 22
2 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Searing Spear
3 Dreadbore
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Domri Rade
2 Duress
2 Golgari Charm
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Olivia Voldaren
2 Rakdos Charm
1 Searing Spear
2 Sever the Bloodline
Jund Aggro by Artur Villela
Format: Standard - GTC
Location: 2013 Grand Prix Rio de Janeiro - 3/9
Finished: 2nd Place
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Dreg Mangler
4 Experiment One
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Rakdos Cackler
Lands 22
2 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Searing Spear
3 Dreadbore
1 Abrupt Decay
3 Cremate
2 Domri Rade
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Olivia Voldaren
1 Searing Spear
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Wolfir Silverheart
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
What do you guys think about that? Mulligan hands without a 1-drop?
I agree to a certain extent, because aggro loses its potency if you go land-go on turn 1 (especially if your on the draw). Piggy-backing off this question, I have one of my own: what is the sideboard plan as most Jund Aggro builds run 31 creatures / 7 spells, presumably resulting in creatures being boarded out more often than spells. In this instance I would use a list such as Nicholas Werner's for instance. To be more specific, what "should" come out for each match-up.
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Dreg Mangler
4 Experiment One
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Dreadbore
2 Searing Spear
1 Ultimate Price
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
2 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Appetite for Brains
3 Cremate
2 Domri Rade
2 Golgari Charm
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Olivia Voldaren
1 Ultimate Price
2 Wolfir Silverheart
Modern:
Twinning End
Commander:
Mayael the Anema
If that's your mulligan rule, you want to be running 10+ one drops (noble?). You have a 75% chance of having a one drop with 10 in your deck, but only 65% with 8 which means you're going to be shipping a lot of hands before you even start thinking about lands. Also, a good BTE hand can make up a lot for the speed you lose without a 1-drop, so I don't think this is appropriate as a general rule.
I play RUG Aggro, which has about the same creature-spell ratio as jund, (if not Jund has more creatures) and we play Domri. His fight ability is very useful.
Im thinking if building this deck, but since theres no primer, what do you guys suggest? I can throw the creatures together no problem, but what supporting spells do you guys use?
My deviantART; if you're interested in alters, PM me!
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This. Plus, what comes out for other matchups?
Actually I tried it but never really fully liked it even if somehow he blends in well.. Majority of Jund aggro game plan is to keep pressure out of the opponent while clearing out any possible threat in the board by our chosen removal spells. Domri rade contributes nothing to that. Although he may seem relevant, its actually more of Naya's needs considering their removal spells are limited and the power cards like loxodon smiter and boros reckoner greatly abuse the -2 ability. For me, he sticks in sideboard, and best card vs esper control.
I'm also using DRS instead of Rakdos Charm.. I will give trust on Sam Black's articles (SCG premium) for this. He actually discussed that DRS is best vs Reanimator.. Simple and slowly doing GY hate, but still gives you the pace of killing the deck before its too late and roars out the big game changers like craterhoof and serenity.
Seems like you already built a primer.. I was thinking of preparing one as well but hey, you made one 1st. I can give you some inputs and additionals in the primer if you're open to that.
Started removing golgari charm lately but still missing it.. still tweaking, but max of it is a 2 off only for me in SB
If my hand has 3 lands and good 2 drops I'd never risk it. Sometimes you just dont get one. A late game Experiment one still helps, even a DRS.. Cackler, not much though.
Take out the most useless card you think you have vs the matchup and place the right card you believe will help you solve your proble, cards
for example, If I'm against Naya Humans and i'm going to go midrange-y, I'll be sideboarding out Flunkies and cacklers, Both are useless in defensive combat and racing out with Blitz is basically suicide.
If I am against any kind of reanimator, I'd be sideboarding out Experiment One and Ghor clans since trying to race against it is risky since they can reverse the tides instantly if youre not carefully looking at their GY.. they might also have annoying lotleth trolls thragtusks and centaurs always blocking the way so consistent damage/gain while trying to disrupt their GY magic namely Deathrite shaman works well, falkenrath/flying works well, skullcrack can also work well for them not to gain from Tusk, and tragic slips works well both as a mana dork killer or a biggie killer.
Against esper you may want to side out unnecessary removals and just use dreadbore and skullcracks and put in Domri Rade and draw your threats way to victory or fight those annoying bolases and intefering snapcasters when needed.
Against Jund midrange, race it to death. Im taking out flunkies here as well because they will just destroy and destroy any partner he might have, so instead im putting in useful removals too getting ready for huntmasters and Voldarens and those garruk tokens.
With all these lingering souls and metagame-defining thragtusks consistently growing and putting them into all sorts of decks using green, I'm thinking of getting in thundermaw hellkite once again.
Monogreen 2007 | Jund Aggro MTGO 2013
This is exactly what I was asking for . Would you mind writing your SB strategy for other popular archetypes as well? I would love to hear them and they would be great material for the eventual primer. Plus this could open up some more discussion about SB choices.
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1. Gyre Sage while one of my favorite cards is only particularly good against Slow Aggro(like Mono Red, Jund Aggro, Saito Naya, GR Sage) and against Midrange(Jund, PS Bant, Naya, Reanimator). It is the mirror breaker for me. It is a great game one proactive plan that is decent across the board. It is not particularly good against fast aggro like Blitz, against Azorious Charm decks especially ones with clocks like UWR. It's passable against control. Since basically it's worst in my worst matchups being able to swap all 4 out is very beneficial to boarding. I was swapping out Burning-Trees before in some matchups which is incorrect given their bodies have multiple uses especially making Falkenrath good.
2. If you are going to use Domri as your CA engine you have to make sure to get value out of it. The removal isn't powerful enough in the format generally that seeing it on top and getting it next turn is better than just drawing something (except maybe planning for Bonfire). I was siding in too much removal even being aware of the balance. For that reason Cards like Deathrite Shaman, and Vampire Nighthawk definitely get the nod. Even if they eat a burn as long as you draw with Domri it isn't costing a card. I had supplementary card advantage before but that was wrong. You lose pretty much all the advantage any time Domri reveals an Underworld Connection or Triumph of Ferocity. This rule extends to utility cards like the charms (Golgari I'm looking at you). Domri wants no more than 10 non-creature spells (including himself). Realistically 8-9 is about ideal.
3. Wolfir Silverheart is a bit better than I gave it credit for with all the haste we run. But sometimes being biggest on board is important. I still generally think Hellkite is better, but Wolfir Silverheart might be better than Hellkite 3 or 4. It stops aggro without Aristocrat/Hellkite dead. And it can bruteforce right through Reckoner. Although at 5 mana only so many creatures like this you can play. Still if you ever get it down then follow up with a Hellkite or Aristocrat it's just huge (this sometimes happens in the Flash matchup if the Azorius Charm the first attacker). However, Olivia I don't get. I tried her again and it always felt living on a prayer. x/4's are still vulnerable so even playing her at 6 is risky. The matchups I see her being good in maybe there are better options or they are already good matchups. Reanimator is the only one that I think maybe you want the role reversal of stealing threats. But if you can burn out the dorks, and come in big in the air maybe it isnt needed.
4. Maybe the dynamics are a bit difference in the deck with one drops but Kessig Wolf Run hasn't done nearly as much for me as consistently hitting my colors and being able to play double black spells. I guess others agree in cutting the extra Kessig out of their board looking at the recent placing lists, but I think having the extra land in the board and the go big plan might still be worth it. The other land should just be a Dragonskull Summit likely. Extra black for Mangler/Aristocrat/Removal (the deck only plays 12). I've lost games where I didn't have that one black. And the red of course to make sure Hellkite is castable if that is the sideboard plan going forward like expect it to be.
Anyway, take what you will from all that. My game 1 is significantly different than most of yours but our post board games are much closer in many matchups (since I game 1 the go big plan).
Current list:
4 Stomping Ground
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
3 Rootbound Crag
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Woodland Cemetary
2 Mountain
Creatures(28):
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Gyre Sage
4 Flinthoof Boar
3 Dreg Mangler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Desecration Demon
4 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Tragic Slip
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Mizzium Mortars
3 Domri Rade
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Victim of Night
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Rackdos' Return
2 Slaughter Games
2 Garruk Relentless
Deathrite Shaman as mana ramp is additionally good in the UWR matchup since you can get double utility to bring in your go big plan faster. I found if they spend their early turns burning stuff you still can curve into 5's and what you want in that matchup is threat density. You can't always assume your 2/2's and 3/3's will get there. They have hands that will trump that. That tcg player tournament report had him bringing in Silverheart, but he only ran Cremate, being able to T4 Silverheart (or Thundermaw) might even be that much more impacting.
Anyway what matchups are you guys finding the hardest? I have a suspicion they are a bit different than me even if we share about 60 of the 75 (or they are direct subs dreadbore/victim, Experiment/Sage), so perhaps we can jointly figure out how to shore up our gaps. I suspect I have a better Midrange Jund and Reanimator matchup and possibly Esper Control, but I don't hear you guys complain very much about UWR. Oh and can someone please explain Olivia in the sideboard? Where has it been good for you were something like Hellkite/Silverheart wouldn't be?
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
I'll take any feedback that is constructive. This was a first draft. I was hoping someone might be interested in it. Heck, feel free to use what you think is kelpful and re-write the rest.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
May I kindly ask which archetype would you like hearing opinion for? But to answer you for now, skullcrack is an SB staple for me, basically vs anything lifegain mainly thragtusk. Domri rade Vs Esper Control, Volcanic Str Vs Red based aggro and now I am thinking DRS will be a staple for me right now, until reanimator gains less popularity
When I saw your deck its like the Efro/Saito Naya converted to Jund. You have demanding board presence here. Why not remove Wolfir Silverheart here and just put another hellkite or desecration Demon? Not bad, I would love to try Domri Rade rolling out Desecration Demon for a great fight before declare attackers step lol.
Olivia Voldaren? Well, its good against aggro and other midrange decks as well. And I tell you right now that thragtusk is dominating the standard meta we would love to see more flying creatures dealing hellacious offense such as hellkites, voldarens and falkenraths evading ground threats not to mention Reckoner and early Smiters that stop our boars and manglers from progressing. Its not all the time we have removal every turn. Olivia is also good vs the aristocrats . If you're going to play Olivia in board just think twice if she really helps during game 2 or not. Olivia is useless in Esper Control and UWR mostly when I tested.
Monogreen 2007 | Jund Aggro MTGO 2013
Yeah so basically Olivia is good against other Falkenrath decks, that likely have removal that can deal with her (being in black/red). I found timing wise landing a Hellkite usually just busted through that. I saw some good use of her on coverage but the player using olivia was generally already really behind (being midrange jund) I don't know if we have the same problem with all our early bodies.
As for Silverheart it was the 4th Hellkite til recently. I realized it was better than I thought and I get why people board it. Hellkite is pretty useless against Blitz because usually you can't attack the turn it comes down and you don't want to be jammed with 5's. Silverheart straight up wins in that you can block and they can't survive the swing back if they attack full out. It also was better against UWR than I expected as long as you aren't swinging with it thoughtlessly. With all haste creatures this isn't as much of a problem. The size for fighting is nice too. It's possible that I should just stick with 4 Hellkites for consistency but the defensive benefit of Silverheart on the turn it comes down probably worth the inclusion.
Demon is one of the weaker creatures in my list (although it does a lot of good work and can win games almost single handedly). I can't picture playing more than a couple. The key for it is it costs 4 where everything else like that costs 5. I'd play more Silverhearts/Thundermaws if I could over it they are just too expensive and this sort of frees me from playing more removal outside of Domri.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
Vs Naya Midrange 2-1
Deck did what it is supposed to do. I did finish a game with Cryptborn Horror. I wondered if this card was going to be gimmicky or win-more as opposed to Hellrider, but against the mid-range decks it really allows you to seal game 1 if you get anywhere from 6-10 damage in turn 3, and then drop CH means I could care less about your Thragtusk. Against Naya Blitz, it gave me a turn 3 creature that ate Champions of the Parish for lunch and forced them onto the defensive (side game testing vs. a Naya Blitz.)
vs. Jund Midrange 2-0
So quick. Sided in 2 Olivia Voldaren, 1 Kessig Wolf Run, 2 Wolfir Silverheart, 1 Dreadbore, sided out 3 Rakdos Cackler, 2 Cryptborn Horror (do NOT want their Olivia stealing that), 1 Searing Spear. Worked like a dream.
vs. BW Undead Aggro 2-0
Game 2, 2 Golgari Charm (to deal with small Vamps and Zombies), 3 Deathrite Shaman, took out 2 Dreadbore, 3 Rakdos Cackler. DRS was very good.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Well your last post hit pretty much all of the main strategies I had questions about. Bant, Aristocrats, and RDW are the only other decks that come to mind atm.
I'm more interested in what cards are best to remove in these match ups than I am in what goes in. For example, taking out cacklers for Duress because t1 Duress is better than t1 cacklers and Duress after t4 is still relevant, or taking out Dreg manglers for the Nighthawks because lifelink + deathtouch are more important than a 3/3 hastey.
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He makes it heavier due to the BB though, youd be running max Crypts and summits here I presume. I'm just worried you might have a problem with BBs, RRs and GGs on your curve sometimes.
Great matches. Good thing you havent got into any reanimator which I will discuss in the bottom of this post.
Please observe your meta what are the most dominating decks though so you can create your good SB. Not all answers I suggested can be squeezed to a 15-card board so kindly bear in mind I am just giving out answers for you =)
Bant Wolf Run or Prime Speaker Bant? Or Auras? Well anyway maybe you are talking about wolf run in general. In these matchups immediately remove creatures with 2 power like cacklers, BTEs and other (except geist, they're tricky and can work and will be happy if azorious charmed) since Augur of Bolas and Centaur healer mostly blocks the way. For me Im removing searing spears and replace them with Skullcrack, Golgari Charm(for supreme verdict and detention spheres), and Slaughter Games(targeting Sphinx's revelation) . You may want to have 2 dreadbores as well since most probably they will side in some planeswalkers like Garruk and a biggie like Gisela/Aurelia. Dont remove Abrupt decays. Dont be afraid of thragtusk,instead save your mana for upcoming Restoration Angels and focus on using skullcrack well. Focus your removals on Restoration Angels and let your falkenraths/flyers finish the game.
Aristocrats - Basically, we are faster than Aristocrats but they can block and attack on different angles which makes them powerful. Which is why Volcanic strength shines not only on RDW but also on this deck. If you managed to successfully equip this to a creature like mangler or boar, it may become a huge threat automatically unless they wish to take 5 damage from Orzhov charm or force them sacrifice another creature for them to trigger tragic slip. Aristocrats seldom put heavy removal trust me. Olivia is also good and pings alot of tokens, infamys and small parishes,steals falkenrath easier, and a threat flier. Hellkite is also good. We have abrupt decay main so reckoner isnt much a threat not to mention it kills Paladin and Skirsdag, even the 5/5 tokens. Basically more removal will help you win together with volcanic str and olivia just remember to include both dreadbore and tragic slip to that since they usually have Sorin and Obzedat in their sideboard. Side out ghor-clan rampager, since the unbeatable blocks of Falkenrath, skirsdag token, cartel and the killer reckoner will simply weaken Ghor clan's potential. You can also side out a mangler or 2.
RDW - Trust me, racing them is suicide. They will, and always will be, faster. Again, Volcanic strength equipped to a 3/3. Mortars, searing spear will be unusable removal spells after this hits your jackpot. Just put in removals and nighthawks if you have. If your meta is heavy on RDW you can put flames of the firebrand.
Anyway on other news, heads up guys, Reanimator (the behemoth version, not the human) is gaining lot of popularity.
Top players and writers from SCG premium are already calling reanimator the best deck in Standard right now. Here's some inputs from the Innovator, Patrick Chapin:, if youre from Kansas or DC lucky you..
Standard Metagame: March 24, 2013 - see attachment
Standard Metagame: Magic Online - see attachment
* Misc = Wolf Run Bant, Human Reanimator, Mono-Red Aggro, Boros, 4CC, Delver
Tons of stuff to glean here. To start with, just look at the decks that have fallen off the grid in the last two weeks. Wolf Run Bant, Human Reanimator, Mono-Red Aggro, Boros, 4CC, and Delver? Not a one of those decks put someone into the Top 16 of SCG Washington, DC or SCG Kansas City.
Of course, as alluded to earlier, Reanimator has completely dominated over the past two weeks, winning both SCG Opens and giving nine players Top 16 finishes. Once, we get past it, we come to a relatively even tier featuring U/W/R, Esper, Jund, and Naya. While this tier is relatively even averaged out, it is certainly far from stable. Three weeks ago, Jund and U/W/R were the format's top dogs. The following week, they were both completely blanked and Esper and Naya tripled their combined metagame presence. This past weekend, U/W/R rebounded, but Jund not so much, with Esper and Naya still putting up results.
This new breed of Reanimator deck plays a passable aggressive midrange game and is chock full of threats small, medium, and large. While it can apply early pressure, it really just wants to hang out until it builds a game-winning advantage in its graveyard.
Strengths:
Proactive
More powerful than most midrange
Solid B game if graveyards are shut down
Weaknesses:
Lack of interaction - Beyond attacking and blocking, there isn't a lot Reanimator can do to troublesome permanents. There are a few answers in the sideboard, but they get stretched pretty thin.
Graveyard hate - While these Reanimator decks are not slave to the graveyard, graveyard hate still turns them into very mediocre midrange G/W/B decks.
Vulnerable to racing - The last time this style of Reanimator was popular, it struggled with fast G/W Human decks. Could those decks possibly make a comeback? What other fast decks can race it? Thundermaw Hellkite is definitely annoying.
So there you have it. Other than that, analysts are saying that Jund, Esper, Naya, And UWR Flash(without reckoner) will be the top seeing lists during the upcoming weeks aside from the top performing reanimator (NOT THE HUMAN VERSION)
In line with this, I create my decklist
2 Deathrite Shaman
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Dreg Mangler
4 Hellrider
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Tragic Slip
24 landbase (still for testing)
3 Skullcrack
1 Deathrite Shaman
3 Domri Rade
2 Olivia Voldaren
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Dreadbore
2 Volcanic Strength
1 Golgari Charm
My proactive game plan is basically race to finish game 1, and depending on the matchup I will use my sideboard cards which fits for the usual popular decks. Can't wait to play a Standard daily this week
Monogreen 2007 | Jund Aggro MTGO 2013
Instead of 4 Hellrider I am running 2, and added 2 Ghor-Clans. I like having these in hand for mid game when I need to get damage through and keep some board presence.
As for lands since you are at 24 I was thinking: 4 Overgrown Tomb, 4 Stomping Ground, 4 Blood Crypt, 4 Woodland Cemetary, 3 Rootbound Crag, 3 Dragonskull and 1 KWR. This should hopefully give enough GG for t2 geist.