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Standard Jund Midrange Primer & Sideboard Guide
About me
Hello!
I’m Daniel “Gul_Dukat” Goetschel a Magic Online grinder who enjoys playing MTGO Challenges on the weekend. My best results are a Legacy Grand Prix Win, 2nd Place at a MOCS and splitting a EW Painting, and a few PTQ Wins on Magic Online.
In this article, I will discuss the deck I used to split the finals of the Standard Challenge last weekend: Jund.
Main deck card choices
I will break down the 75 I played, then afterwards discuss changes I am considering moving forward.
The version I played during the Challenge was the following:
$674/515.55 Tix
Maindeck (60)
| Creature [16] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Bloodtithe Harvester | $0.35 | |
| 4 Briarbridge Tracker | $0.49 | |
| 4 Workshop Warchief | $0.49 | |
| 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker | $21.99 | |
| Artifact [2] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Reckoner Bankbuster | $2.29 | |
| Instant [14] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 Cut Down | $1.29 | |
| 2 Flame-Blessed Bolt | $0.35 | |
| 2 Infernal Grasp | $2.29 | |
| 4 Riveteers Charm | $0.35 | |
| 4 Unleash the Inferno | $0.49 | |
| Enchantment [2] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 The Meathook Massacre | $37.99 | |
| Land [26] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 Boseiju, Who Endures | $49.99 | |
| 4 Deathcap Glade | $20.99 | |
| 3 Haunted Ridge | $8.99 | |
| 4 Karplusan Forest | $5.49 | |
| 1 Mountain | $0.01 | |
| 1 Rockfall Vale | $2.49 | |
| 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance | $6.49 | |
| 4 Sulfurous Springs | $1.79 | |
| 2 Swamp | $0.01 | |
| 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire | $12.99 | |
| 4 Ziatora's Proving Ground | $11.99 | |
| Sideboard [15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 Cut Down | $1.29 | |
| 1 Flame-Blessed Bolt | $0.35 | |
| 2 Reckoner Bankbuster | $2.29 | |
| 2 The Meathook Massacre | $37.99 | |
| 4 Duress | $0.35 | |
| 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse | $79.99 | |
| 2 Unlicensed Hearse | $0.79 | |
$134.70 Tix @cardhoarder
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Visual View
Similar Decks
Proxies
Archetype Analysis
Magic online format
Apprentice and MWS .dec
The one mana removal :
Flame-Blessed Bolt :
Clean answer to Tenacious Underdog is the main draw to this. As the deck doesn’t have very many clean answers to Underdog that is more meaningful than it may seem.
Cut Down
The ability to kill x/3s and x/4s like Dennick/Raffine got me to play a couple, especially relevant as Fable of the Mirror Breaker cannot attack into them.
Voltage Surge
The third option, if the advantages of the other removal spells don’t seem appealing this is the third option.
The two drops
Bloodtithe Harvester and Infernal Grasp
- No explanation needed.
Reckoner Bankbuster
A tricky card to wrap one’s head around, I think it’s very good.
- Let’s you get on the board without extending into both players Meathook Massacres
- Great to draw a card when opponent passes with mana up as can brick their ability to use the counter or removal spell they left up.
- The 4/4 Body helps block the many 2/2s and 3/2s in the format (Fable/Harvester/Corpse Appraiser/Underdog).
The three drops
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
- As you know this card needs no explanation; is has become the red staple in Standard
Briarbridge Tracker
- 4/3 Body attacks/blocks into fable well, attacks/blocks into Esper well and plays well around the Wanderer, Crews bankbuster
Riveteers Charm
- Removal Spell that acts as a mana sink in the lategame, can also help you hit your land drops. Particularly nice as let’s you have access to more removal spells to Sheoldred, but won’t rot in hand if the opponent tries to win by outgriding you.
The four drops
Unleash the Inferno
- Helps you deal with Fable of the Mirror Breaker without going down a card.
- Gives you ways to interact with tricky permanents Reckless Bankbuster/Meathook Massacre/Wedding Announcement
- Grixis is very popular and they have a tough time removing enchantments, brewers might then turn to enchantments which is a boon for jund.
- More answers to Sheoldred that are versatile.
The five drops
Workshop Warchief
- The death trigger helps ensure you always get a good deal casting this spell unlike Evelyn which can be blown out by removal. Particularly nice into Invoke Despair/Meathook.
- Option to blitz if you suspect they have exile removal or just want to guarantee the two for one (Wanderer/Soul Transfer)
- Helps catch you back up on board if you spent time durdling with Bankbuster, Riveteers Charm, Fable
- Premium creature to copy with Fable which is relevant
The Sideboard
Before diving into the details for each machup, I'd like to analyze some of the key cards in the sideboard.
Duress
- Helps you deal with Fable of the Mirror Breaker, especially on the draw
- Can help you play around or through Make Disappear
- Can be good vs fringe decks like Control
Cut Down/Flame Blessed Bolt
As I wrote earlier, they are good for different situations, having one of each sideboard let’s you tune your removal for the matchup, or just have access to more overall if you are against an aggressive deck
Reckoner Bankbuster
- For the grindy matchups
Meathook Massacre
- Arguably 2nd best card in standard, I like access to 4.
Unlicensed Hearse
- Awesome against those decks that Interact with the graveyard
Sheoldred
- Can be useful vs aggressive decks, or fringe decks with a lot of cantrips, or if it seems particularly good vs the way your opp sideboarded.
Moving forward: what would I change for the next tournament
My curve was a bit wonky, I will try to balance it better by adding more 2 drops such as a 3rd Infernal Grasp and 2 Tenacious Underdog, Llanowar Loamspeaker or Bloodthirsty Adversary (more of a 5 drop but technically 2 drop)
To make room for this I will trim a Briarbridge Tracker, a Riveteers Charm and a Unleash the Inferno, having multiple of these cards isn’t that useful in hand, I mostly wanted to draw 1.
In accordance with my plan to make the curve more functional I will add two 4 drops. Either Sheoldred, Sorin or Atsushi, the Blazing Sky/Jaya if you are feeling spicy.
I personally dislike Sheoldred because she can put you in a bad position if your opponent has a removal. Sorin isn’t great either but has some built in resilience to removal at least.
You can also trim a Workshop Warchief or two, and a 1 mana removal spell or two.
Other cards to consider : Soul Transfer + Tear Asunder
Both help you deal with creatures with death triggers. Soul Transfer gives you more ways to grind to which is useful in this format.
With all the above considered I will try something like this next
- Might want more 1 mana removal but I am comfortable trying this for now
- Llanowar Loamspeaker might be bad, but I think it is worth trying
Sideboard Guide
Quick tips
Before going into the details for each matchup I’d like to share some quick tips after playing through the Challenge with the deck.
I was cutting Bloodtithe Harvester a lot in the midrange mirrors last weekend.
- Can cause you to extend into Meathooks.
- Doesn’t line up that well vs Wedding Announcement/Wanderer vs Esper.
- Doesn’t line up that well vs Voltage Surge/Corpse Appraiser from Grixis
That being said
- Helps you get on board on turn 2 which is relevant
- Blood Token is super nice in grindy games
- Helps you enable Soul Transfer
Also worth noting it’s value changes on the play/draw, though it isn’t clear where it’s better (Putting more pressure on the play, or helping you catch up on the draw)
I also like to side in the 3rd Meathook often in the midrange mirrors on the draw.
VS Grixis midrange/Vampires
NOTE: I use x to denote cards that will commonly be trimmed and values will change heavily based on your overarching gameplan (which will change a lot on the play/draw)
OUT:
- -4 Harvester
- -2 Flame-Blessed Bolt
- -x Infernal Grasp
- -x Llanowar Loamspeaker
IN:
- +1 Bankbuster
- +1 Briarbridge Tracker
- +3 Soul Transfer
- +x Duress
- +x Meathook
Additional options (fringe)
- -x Meathook (can be worth considering trimming on the play but probably suspect)
- +x Flame-Blessed Bolt/Sheoldred
VS Esper Midrange
Same as Grixis except Cut Down is good and Workshop Warchief is a bit worse.
VS Mono Black
OUT:
- -2 Llanowar Loamspeaker
- -x Bloodtithe Harvester (nice to block Graveyard Trespasser and to give you a versatile early play, but doesn’t line up super well into Lliana/Evoke/Bankbuster/Meathook)
IN:
- +1 Tracker
- +1 Bankbuster
- +1 Flame-Blessed Bolt
- +X Duress (worth considering to help you deal with some of their stickier threats like Invoke Despair, Planeswalkers, Bankbuster)
- +X Soul Transfer (worth considering for the grind)
- +X Meathook (can help enable Soul Transfer and buy you time to use Bankbuster, better on the draw)
VS Orzhov Midrange
OUT:
- -2 Llanowar Loamspeaker
- -x Bloodtithe Harvester (similar logic as in other places, doesn’t line up super well into Meathook/Wedding Announcement/Wanderer)
IN:
- +1 Tracker
- +1 Bankbuster
- +X Flame-Blessed Bolt (if you are concerned about Tenacious Underdog)
- +X Soul Transfer (Definitely want a couple for Edgar Charmed Groom/Ao The Dawn Sky)
- +X Meathook (Always gets bonus utility vs Wedding Announcement, and more ways to enable Soul Transfer)
VS Aggro decks
OUT:
- -X Llanowar Loamspeaker
- -X Reckless Bankbuster
- -X Riveteers Charm (a removal spell but pretty slow, I have trimmed it vs decks like Gruul because it seemed to not line up that well vs a bevy of 1 drops, might be wrong)
- -X Unleash Inferno (Gruul has a surprising amount of Artifacts/Enchantments, just depends how many the aggro deck has to hit)
Could even trim Sorins if it seems to slow.
IN:
- +1 Sheoldred
- +1 Briarbridge Tracker
+2 Meathook - +X Cut Down
- +X Flame-Blessed Bolt
- +X Reckless Bankbuster
You can also consider the following:
- +X Soul Transfer
- +X Duress potentially vs spell blue based aggro decks
Vs Blue Based Aggro can trim a Warchief as it’s not great vs Fliers/Counterspells.
And that's all folks! I hope you all enjoyed the article and see you next time around!
If you liked this article maybe you will also find interesting on of the following ones Pioneer Monowhite Humans deck guide, Legacy Reanimator Primer by the Arcanis Super Legacy Finalist, Winning the MTGO Vintage Challenge: UB Lurrus Control Guide By Mogged, Top 4 @ MTGO Challenge with Rakdos Midrange: Analysis & Sideboard Guide
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MTGO Grinder
Daniel “Gul_Dukat” Goetschel is a magic online grinder who enjoys playing challenges on the weekend, his best results are a Legacy Grand Prix Win, 2nd Place at a MOCS and splitting a EW Painting and a few PTQ Wins on Magic Online.
