Jund Dreadhorde Shadow

[kombatkiwi]

4 Death's Shadow
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dreadhorde Arcanist

4 Abundant Harvest
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Fatal Push
4 Mishra's Bauble
2 Footfall Crater
1 Flex Spot (Possibly more removal - Dismember, Decay, Trophy, Seal of Fire, etc, maybe 1 utility traverse target like Ooze or something, or a Become Immense)

[Not exactly sure on the manabase but 14 Green sources + basic Swamp + minimum 1 bloodcrypt, not sure whether to play basic mountain]
17 Lands
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Nurturing Peatland
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Blood Crypt

Companion: Lurrus

- Premise A: Lurrus is good
- Premise B: Scourge as a 2drop is maybe not ideal, because a lifegain deck is tier 1, and the best 1drop to enable it (Hexdrinker) feels awkward in a format defined by Wrenn/Dart/Ballista
- Nettles Golgari doesn't solve the problem because you still have 4 Hexdrinker and now your 2drop also has 1 toughness
- Premise C: I still own 4 DHA after they banned it in legacy but I never bought scourges or hexdrinkers
- We know from legacy that DHA has the potential to be busted
- No FoW/Daze in Modern so we need the discard instead to disrupt opp and protect DHA (black)
- Need cantrips for DHA also
- A problem is that Goyf is the best secondary threat and cantrips are blue (also in modern they kind of suck) so now in our (ideally) low-land count xerox deck we're trying to make RGUBB but also including basics for path/field etc which seems like a shambles
- Traverse already exists as a green 'cantrip', and they also just printed a green preordain? Guess we don't need islands then
- All of Harvest/Traverse/TS/Inq/Push/Bolt/Bauble/Goyf/DHA/Lurrus basically builds itself
- The deck wants an additional cheap threat to get from traverse (also wants a threat that isn't so reliant on the graveyard probably with Goyf + DHA) and Shadow is just the best one, you don't need it to be playable on turn 1 to curve out smoothly because you have a million other 1 mana plays anyway. Just like normal Lurrus Shadow there's no wraith but you still have the 3C fetch shock manabase and you can flashback TS so self-damage shouldn't be a problem. (Guldukat also played Jund Shadow for a bit without Dismember).
- A low landcount should be ok as long as there are enough turn 1 green sources because you have 4 harvest and 4 traverse.
- Footfall crater? Was tried in Traverse lists in the past but has mostly fallen out of favour. 1) Delirium otherwise probably a bit sketch without Wraith 2) The upside of adding haste much greater with 4 DHA 3) Plan A is more grindy than other traverse builds with 4 DHA therefore no TBR. Crater seems fine as modal cantrip / lava axe or as a way to shove your threats over auriok champions / narcomoeabas.

Anyway the format will probably change a lot with MH2 but when I saw Abundant Harvest I got excited to play DHA again

[Mr. Safety]

I like it, and Jund seems to be the best Shadow shell currently in Modern. I think you need a minimum of 2 Dismember though, not only to increase life loss (you aren't playing Street Wraiths) but to just have better chances at getting Arcanist/Shadow/Goyf through in combat. I also think Mutagenic Growth is a serious option for the deck, because you always want something to push damage through and a way to quasi-protect your DA from Bolts. I don't think that's a major concern, but I think in some matchups DA will be critical to fighting the late game.

Just my opinion, but I would go:

-1 Inquisition
-1 Fatal Push
(open slot)

+2 Dismember
+1 Mutagenic Growth

I agree, Abundant Harvest is very, very good. Harvest and Traverse are so much better than the blue cantrips in modern. I almost suggested Once Upon a Time (womp womp) but I remembered it was banned.

EDIT: Is Footfalls better than Temur Battle Rage? I know haste is a pretty big deal, but the double strike is basically a combo-kill with Goyf and Shadow. I can't help but think that your graveyard will be stuffed but without a decent way to take advantage of it, like Gurmag Angler. Goyf will be huge, sure, but that doesn't really take any effort. Maybe trimming something for 1x Angler could be good. *shrug* If we know one thing for sure, MH2 will shake up modern in a big way. If you're interested, I'm trying to explore an Esper Shadow build in the Grixis DS thread...I know it probably isn't as good as Jund, but I've always been partial to Esper colors.

[kombatkiwi]

-1 Inquisition
-1 Fatal Push
(open slot)

+2 Dismember
+1 Mutagenic Growth

This is totally reasonable and the idea of Mutagenic as like a miser protection spell for the DHA is pretty solid (it's still like a "mini TBR" if you are going for a kill, just to pump twice)

EDIT: Is Footfalls better than Temur Battle Rage? I know haste is a pretty big deal, but the double strike is basically a combo-kill with Goyf and Shadow. I can't help but think that your graveyard will be stuffed but without a decent way to take advantage of it, like Gurmag Angler. Goyf will be huge, sure, but that doesn't really take any effort. Maybe trimming something for 1x Angler could be good. *shrug* If we know one thing for sure, MH2 will shake up modern in a big way. If you're interested, I'm trying to explore an Esper Shadow build in the Grixis DS thread...I know it probably isn't as good as Jund, but I've always been partial to Esper colors.

Without having Street Wraith in the deck to put a free creature in the yard I think the deck wants a little bit of extra help getting 4 card types for Traverse (bigger goyf is just a side-benefit). I also want the deck to be slightly more grindy than aggro so having the flexibility of the cycling rather than always being a pump spell seems appealing to me. TBR is the more stock choice.

Can't add Angler with Lurrus

[Mr. Safety]

I missed the enchantment-in-the-graveyard detail, so that's probably a good call, not just for Traverse but bigger Goyfs. I missed the Angler/Lurrus interplay...I forget that the mana value is actually 7, not 1, on that card. It also still seems weird to not have Street Wraiths, but again the tradeoff is Lurrus.

Speaking of Lurrus...is it good enough to have even with the 3 mana 'tutor' investment? I suppose it breaks open games that go longer.

[kombatkiwi]

" the cost of playing Lurrus in your modern deck is building it correctly " ~ Tom White / McWinSauce
Even with the tax it's still one of the best things in the format for any fair deck to be doing

[Mr. Safety]

That's fair. Now I need to figure out how to build Esper around it...if I can't have Gurmag or Geist, maybe Delver?