Junkdecks

[Einherjer]

Everytime i come across the term "junk" im not sure what decks are meant with this?
Deadguy? DnT?
Thanks for help

[Whippoorwill]

Typically, they're BGW decks with a decent amount of disruption.

[majikal]

"Junk" refers to a deck that forgoes synergy for raw power, or is solely comprised of "good stuff". Historically these decks have been GWx.

[makochman]

A Junk deck is a pile of a format's powerful cards tied together by an aggro-control or midrange strategy. BGW Rock is most often called Junk. Decks such as Bant Aggro and BW Deadguy also technically qualify. As does Jund from yesteryear's Standard.

[SpikeyMikey]

Modern Legacy Rock qualifies as a Junk deck and would be the first thing most people would think about when you said Junk. The term Junk came into heavy use to describe BGW counterless control decks (I hesitate to use the term midrange as they usually had a similar clock to blue control and played a similiar strategy, albeit with incremental advantage instead of true draw). These decks were an amalgam of good cards with no coherent progression. Typically these decks ran Pernicious Deed and Vindcate, the two best removal spells in the game at the time.

Ironically enough, Legacy Rock does not qualify as a Rock deck, as it's strategy departed with the Rock's long ago. Even the namesake card of the deck (Deranged Hermit) has been long since abandoned. But people are loose as hell with naming conventions which is why we have a deck called "Sligh", despite the fact that it's a derivative of Dave Price's Deadguy Red and bears no strategies in common with Jay Schneider's Geeba deck (made famous by Paul Sligh, the source of the deck's popular name).

[Obfuscate Freely]

Brad Nelson - Top 8 Grand Prix: Columbus 2010

Maindeck
2 Bayou
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
4 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
1 Plains
3 Scrubland
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Dark Confidant
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Gerrards Verdict
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Mox Diamond
1 Pernicious Deed
3 Senseis Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
4 Vindicate

Sideboard
3 Diabolic Edict
3 Duress
4 Engineered Plague
3 Extirpate
2 Pernicious Deed

This is modern Legacy Junk. It's a deck designed by Brian Kowal, and it clearly has roots in his own Top 8 deck from GP: Chicago. While decks have been called "Junk" for years, and in almost every format, this decklist has been the base for the BGW midrange decks that have become popular in the past year.

At this point, there are several variations of Junk to be found, from those that incorporate Green Sun's Zenith, to those that are hybridized with Death and Taxes, but they can all be identified by recognizing the structural similarities they share with Nelson's deck.

[Parcher]

Ironically enough, Legacy Rock does not qualify as a Rock deck, as it's strategy departed with the Rock's long ago. Even the namesake card of the deck (Deranged Hermit) has been long since abandoned. But people are loose as hell with naming conventions which is why we have a deck called "Sligh", despite the fact that it's a derivative of Dave Price's Deadguy Red and bears no strategies in common with Jay Schneider's Geeba deck (made famous by Paul Sligh, the source of the deck's popular name).

The namesake card of "The Rock and His Millions" was Phyrexian Plaguelord. The "Millions" part came from Deranged Hermit. Which as a deck was far closer to Survival than today's Junk decks.

And "Junk" was originally "Bant" colors, and is mostly derivative of Ben Rubin and Walamies' "Dump Truck" decks. Which were basically goodstuff decks that were designed around the highest value cards available in the format(Meddling Mage, Call of the Herd, etc.). As Black became a higher value card color than Blue, especially in Legacy, the deck evolved to it's current configuration.

[xifre]

Thank you for this thread! I'm now enlightened with what junk really stands for in legacy.. I was at least aware of the history of "the rock" and his millions of fans... :p

[sdematt]

If you go into Established Decks, and look up the Rock thread, it has everything you need to know :)

-Matt

[Koby]

And "Junk" was originally "Bant" colors, and is mostly derivative of Ben Rubin and Walamies' "Dump Truck" decks. Which were basically goodstuff decks that were designed around the highest value cards available in the format(Meddling Mage, Call of the Herd, etc.). As Black became a higher value card color than Blue, especially in Legacy, the deck evolved to it's current configuration.

PT Junk existed in old Extended (circa 2000), which was indeed BWG and featured Hymn to Tourach, StP, River Boa, etc. Dump Truck is a similar idea, but in Esper colors using hate beats - Meddling Mage, Dark Confidant, Trinket Mage, Exalted Angel. This was also an Extended deck at the time.

[majikal]

PT Junk existed in old Extended (circa 2000), which was indeed BWG and featured Hymn to Tourach, StP, River Boa, etc. Dump Truck is a similar idea, but in Esper colors using hate beats - Meddling Mage, Dark Confidant, Trinket Mage, Exalted Angel. This was also an Extended deck at the time.

PT Junk existed in Type 2 way before then and was UWG.

[SpikeyMikey]

PT Junk existed in Type 2 way before then and was UWG.

You're going to have to give me a time frame and a tournament on that one. I'm not aware of Junk ever running blue.

[majikal]

You're going to have to give me a time frame and a tournament on that one. I'm not aware of Junk ever running blue.

One season during MM/INV, but before Apocalypse came out, they were splashing blue for Sunscape Battlemage and Meddling Mage (I played the deck extensively during that time as well). And then again when Odyssey came out, there were two versions: one with Black that played Spectral Lynx and Deed to battle all of the Call of the Herd decks, and one with Meddling Mage and Battlemages.

And then WAAAAAY before that, during Mirage/Tempest, there was a UWG deck called "Junk" or "Jank" that was just a bunch of the best creatures and spells in the format.

[Grollub]

Junk was a GWB deck designed to beat Necro-Trix, I think it's original design was by Sullivan - not entirely sure on that.

Jank was WW+Burn (occasionally with other splashes) designed to fight Necro and Sligh decks.

[SpikeyMikey]

One season during MM/INV, but before Apocalypse came out, they were splashing blue for Sunscape Battlemage and Meddling Mage (I played the deck extensively during that time as well). And then again when Odyssey came out, there were two versions: one with Black that played Spectral Lynx and Deed to battle all of the Call of the Herd decks, and one with Meddling Mage and Battlemages.

And then WAAAAAY before that, during Mirage/Tempest, there was a UWG deck called "Junk" or "Jank" that was just a bunch of the best creatures and spells in the format.

I remember T2 Junk during Invasions as a base GW deck (River Boa and Noble Panther FTW!), but I don't remember the blue splash. I remember it picking up Lynx and Deed and Vindicate with Apoc, but shortly thereafter being replaced with Schvartzman's "Noir".