Solaran_X
04-10-2010, 01:20 AM
I'll keep the current list I'm using at the top of this thread, for ease of reference. This deck is going to be in constant evolution, and I'd like to refine it to the point where I can run it at GP: Columbus in July without scrubbing out while using it.
Lands (22)
3 Badlands
3 Bayou
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
3 Taiga
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (19)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
3 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Tarmogoyf
Spells (19)
4 Blightning
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Sylvan Library
2 Terminate
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Recently, I was inspired to attempt a Legacy port of the popular Jund deck from Standard. This was motivated by two things that have happened recently. First was the successful porting of the Bant deck from Standard, which turned into three different Bant decks in Legacy. Second is how successful Jund is in Standard.
With those in mind, I began drafting various attempts at Jund for Legacy. I was constantly adjusting deck lists and goldfishing them until I settled on the below list. In it's first appearance at a small local tournament (5 people, Round Robin), it went 4-1 in the main portion of the event, and then lost in the final round to the same deck it lost to previously in the event.
Jund
Lands (20)
3 Badlands
2 Bayou
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Taiga
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (23)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
3 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Tarmogoyf
Spells (17)
4 Blightning
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Terminate
Card Choices:
Bloodbraid Elf: 3/2 Haste for 4 isn't necessarily good in Legacy, but she has the added bonus of casting one other random spell in the deck for free when she is played regardless of whether or not she resolves. Plus, she has Haste...so she swings right away.
Dark Confidant: Beats for 2. Draws me an extra card. Seems like a no-brainer.
Grim Lavamancer: Just a generally good creature. Keeps a lot of creatures off the board, and can control Tarmogoyf sizes if needed.
Kird Ape: 2/3 for R. Seems worthwhile.
Sprouting Thrinax: Seems a bit questionable, considering how common Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are in Legacy. Ignoring those factors though, it's a 3/3 for 3 that effectively chumps Tarmogoyf 4 times.
Tarmogoyf: It's Goyf.
Blightning: Still not entirely sold on this spell myself. Would be better (obviously) if it could hit creatures also, but as it is it deals three damage and generates card advantage by forcing your opponent to discard two at the cost of one of your own.
Chain Lightning: 3 damage for 1 mana. Seems good.
Lightning Bolt: 3 damage for 1 mana. Seems good.
Maelstrom Pulse: At worst, it's a 1:1 trade. At best, it can nail multiple threats in one shot. Just a bit troublesome in the Naya Zoo match up if I'm facing down multiple copies on my opponent's side of creatures I also have in play (Kird Apes, Tarmogoyfs, Grim Lavamancers). But an excellent way to deal with what Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning can't deal with - Tarmogoyfs, Knights of the Reliquary, Baneslayer Angels, etc., etc.
Terminate: 2 mana non-damage answer to any non-Shroud creature in the format. Just like Pulse, it's good for what Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning can't hit.
There's a few other things I'd like to test in this deck.
1) Kird Ape => Putrid Leech: Kird Ape is an excellent creature, but in the Naya Zoo match up it gets eaten by Wild Nacatl. Putrid Leech seems to be Jund's answer to Wild Nacatl in Standard, and seems like it would work in Legacy. Not only does it kill Wild Nacalt, it also takes 2 burns spells typically to kill it.
2) Dark Confidant => Sylvan Library: I like Bob. A lot. But it hurts bad when he flips a Bloodbraid Elf or Blightning. I feel like Sylvan Library may be better in this slot. It's the same casting cost as Bob, and can help set up Cascade effects off of a Bloodbraid Elf if you plan ahead. And if you really need the extra draw, it's not worse than flipping a Bloodbraid Elf off of Bob.
3) Maelstrom Pulse/Terminate Ratio: Right now I'm running a 3/2 split, which is what Jund typically does in Standard. However, since Legacy is significantly faster, it feels that maybe a reversal to a 2/3 split would be good to give me more early non-damage removal.
4) Mana Balance: Right now, the deck is running on 7 red sources, 6 green sources, and 7 black sources. While this seems well balanced, sometimes I feel starved for green mana even though it only has 1 less source than red and black.
That is all I got for now. I'll update this post as I get some more solid test results. Right now, my testing has been limited to the following:
1) Enchantress: This match up seems to be very difficult. If I can kill them before they establish position and drop Solitary Confinement, it's all gravy obviously. However, Solitary Confinement is typically game over, especially with Sterling Groves protecting it. It seems like a couple Burning Wishes and some Reverent Silences in the sideboard would be nice if Enchantress is expected.
2) Naya Zoo: This pretty much comes down to whoever keeps a creature in play first. Both decks pack Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning. Naya Zoo has Lightning Helix and Swords to Plowshares (or Path to Exile). Jund Zoo has Terminate and Maelstrom Pulse.
3) Ichorid: This seems like a favorable match up so far. I can easily kill my own creatures to clear their Bridges, and after bringing in Leyline, I can actually cast it from my hand if it is bounced.
4) 43 Land: I don't feel that this match up is winnable. All I can think of is Blood Moon, which requires a heavy setup of my own basic lands before I can drop it. And by that time, they could have their single basic Island in play and ready to Chain it back to my hand.
5) Merfolk: This is the match up where Grim Lavamancer really shines. If he comes down turn 1, as long as I keep a steady flow of cards into my yard (using burn, using fetchlands, getting spells countered), he does a good job of keeping the Merfolk in check.
Lands (22)
3 Badlands
3 Bayou
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
3 Taiga
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (19)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
3 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Tarmogoyf
Spells (19)
4 Blightning
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Sylvan Library
2 Terminate
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Recently, I was inspired to attempt a Legacy port of the popular Jund deck from Standard. This was motivated by two things that have happened recently. First was the successful porting of the Bant deck from Standard, which turned into three different Bant decks in Legacy. Second is how successful Jund is in Standard.
With those in mind, I began drafting various attempts at Jund for Legacy. I was constantly adjusting deck lists and goldfishing them until I settled on the below list. In it's first appearance at a small local tournament (5 people, Round Robin), it went 4-1 in the main portion of the event, and then lost in the final round to the same deck it lost to previously in the event.
Jund
Lands (20)
3 Badlands
2 Bayou
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Taiga
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (23)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Dark Confidant
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
3 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Tarmogoyf
Spells (17)
4 Blightning
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Terminate
Card Choices:
Bloodbraid Elf: 3/2 Haste for 4 isn't necessarily good in Legacy, but she has the added bonus of casting one other random spell in the deck for free when she is played regardless of whether or not she resolves. Plus, she has Haste...so she swings right away.
Dark Confidant: Beats for 2. Draws me an extra card. Seems like a no-brainer.
Grim Lavamancer: Just a generally good creature. Keeps a lot of creatures off the board, and can control Tarmogoyf sizes if needed.
Kird Ape: 2/3 for R. Seems worthwhile.
Sprouting Thrinax: Seems a bit questionable, considering how common Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are in Legacy. Ignoring those factors though, it's a 3/3 for 3 that effectively chumps Tarmogoyf 4 times.
Tarmogoyf: It's Goyf.
Blightning: Still not entirely sold on this spell myself. Would be better (obviously) if it could hit creatures also, but as it is it deals three damage and generates card advantage by forcing your opponent to discard two at the cost of one of your own.
Chain Lightning: 3 damage for 1 mana. Seems good.
Lightning Bolt: 3 damage for 1 mana. Seems good.
Maelstrom Pulse: At worst, it's a 1:1 trade. At best, it can nail multiple threats in one shot. Just a bit troublesome in the Naya Zoo match up if I'm facing down multiple copies on my opponent's side of creatures I also have in play (Kird Apes, Tarmogoyfs, Grim Lavamancers). But an excellent way to deal with what Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning can't deal with - Tarmogoyfs, Knights of the Reliquary, Baneslayer Angels, etc., etc.
Terminate: 2 mana non-damage answer to any non-Shroud creature in the format. Just like Pulse, it's good for what Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning can't hit.
There's a few other things I'd like to test in this deck.
1) Kird Ape => Putrid Leech: Kird Ape is an excellent creature, but in the Naya Zoo match up it gets eaten by Wild Nacatl. Putrid Leech seems to be Jund's answer to Wild Nacatl in Standard, and seems like it would work in Legacy. Not only does it kill Wild Nacalt, it also takes 2 burns spells typically to kill it.
2) Dark Confidant => Sylvan Library: I like Bob. A lot. But it hurts bad when he flips a Bloodbraid Elf or Blightning. I feel like Sylvan Library may be better in this slot. It's the same casting cost as Bob, and can help set up Cascade effects off of a Bloodbraid Elf if you plan ahead. And if you really need the extra draw, it's not worse than flipping a Bloodbraid Elf off of Bob.
3) Maelstrom Pulse/Terminate Ratio: Right now I'm running a 3/2 split, which is what Jund typically does in Standard. However, since Legacy is significantly faster, it feels that maybe a reversal to a 2/3 split would be good to give me more early non-damage removal.
4) Mana Balance: Right now, the deck is running on 7 red sources, 6 green sources, and 7 black sources. While this seems well balanced, sometimes I feel starved for green mana even though it only has 1 less source than red and black.
That is all I got for now. I'll update this post as I get some more solid test results. Right now, my testing has been limited to the following:
1) Enchantress: This match up seems to be very difficult. If I can kill them before they establish position and drop Solitary Confinement, it's all gravy obviously. However, Solitary Confinement is typically game over, especially with Sterling Groves protecting it. It seems like a couple Burning Wishes and some Reverent Silences in the sideboard would be nice if Enchantress is expected.
2) Naya Zoo: This pretty much comes down to whoever keeps a creature in play first. Both decks pack Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning. Naya Zoo has Lightning Helix and Swords to Plowshares (or Path to Exile). Jund Zoo has Terminate and Maelstrom Pulse.
3) Ichorid: This seems like a favorable match up so far. I can easily kill my own creatures to clear their Bridges, and after bringing in Leyline, I can actually cast it from my hand if it is bounced.
4) 43 Land: I don't feel that this match up is winnable. All I can think of is Blood Moon, which requires a heavy setup of my own basic lands before I can drop it. And by that time, they could have their single basic Island in play and ready to Chain it back to my hand.
5) Merfolk: This is the match up where Grim Lavamancer really shines. If he comes down turn 1, as long as I keep a steady flow of cards into my yard (using burn, using fetchlands, getting spells countered), he does a good job of keeping the Merfolk in check.