I’ve been playing and writing about Jund for the past few weeks and it seems the two things people are most concerned with right now are (a) how M11 will impact Jund, and (b) how to sideboard with Jund. In this article I will cover both these topics, offering a fresh post-M11 Jund list along with a sideboard guide and matchup analysis for some of the major archetypes you should expect to face.
Jund in M11 Standard
Whenever a new set is introduced into a format, there is almost always a window for pioneering visionaries to take advantage of unexplored terrain and to come up with some new and exciting brew that unexpectedly takes a tournament by storm and forever thereafter changes the landscape of the format. Usually this coincides with a Pro Tour, where many of the best deck builders in the world work in earnest to break the fresh new format.
Other times, however, the same old top dog continues to rule the roost as if nothing had ever changed. While there are plenty of exciting cards in M11, my intuition is that there will not be a new Tier 1 strategy emerging from the M11 changes, but instead that Jund will remain the best deck until Shards block rotates out of Standard.
However, just because Jund will remain the best deck doesn’t mean you should be running the same 75 that you ran pre-M11. Fortunately for those yearning for deck lists and sideboard guides, I’ve done your homework for you.
Behold, Baloth Jund…
Creatures (18)
Lands (25)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
I cut down on some of the removal spells main deck along with the Abyssal Persecutors for Obstinate Baloths and Borderland Rangers. Without needing double black for the Persecutor anymore, I adjusted the manabase by adding a Rootbound Crag.
The sideboard also underwent some changes. I cut the Thought Hemorrhages and All is Dusts in favor of Manabarbs and more Goblin Ruinblasters. I have not tested the Manabarbs extensively yet, but they are in there for Turbo Land and Blue-White Control.
Versus Jund
The Jund mirror is usually an attrition battle that comes down to who has the last unanswered threat on the board. Often, one player runs away with the game by getting an early advantage from cascades and Blightnings. Other times both players have resources to set up for the long game and it comes down to something like Sarkhan the Mad, Broodmate Dragon, or a Bituminous Blast into Bloodbraid Elf into Blightning or Sprouting Thrinax. After sideboard, and sometimes main deck, the approach is to mana screw the opponent, or at least out tempo them via Goblin Ruinblaster.
The Baloth version of Jund is well-equipped to handle many of the above scenarios. If the opponent attempts to get ahead via Blightning, the Baloth comes down for free. If they attempt to get ahead on board with Putrid Leech, Sprouting Thrinax, and Bloodbraid Elf, the Baloth stands firm as a 4/4 that can block and kill anything. Furthermore if they try to race, the 4 life and the large body will make that plan very difficult for them.
Borderland Ranger is also a great card for the mirror, especially if they are running Goblin Ruinblaster. The Ranger makes sure you find your third color and are able to hit your fourth or fifth land drop on time. He also negates most of the Goblin Ruinblaster effect by replacing the land that was destroyed and trading with the attacking 2/1 creature. Sure, you still lost a man land out of the deal, but when both of you are running 4 Goblin Ruinblasters and half of theirs are negated, you are at least ahead on that front. Cascading into him is fine too since the 2/2 can trade with Bloodbraid Elf and still generate the 3-for-1 off the cascade spell.
+4 Goblin Ruinblaster, +1 Terminate, +1 Borderland Ranger, +2 Jund Charm (only if they run Siege-Gang Commander)
-4 Maelstrom Pulse (or just 2 if they run Sarkhan the Mad), -3 Lightning Bolt, –X Putrid Leeches depending on how many cards you end up bringing in
I don’t recommend sideboarding out Blightnings, even if they are running Obstinate Baloths. Blightning is so important in times when they do not have a Baloth that running that risk is probably worthwhile. The problem is similar to the Vengevine dilemma. Even if they have it, you still have Terminate, Putrid Leech, and Bituminous Blast to deal with the Baloth.
Versus UW (or UWr) Planeswalker Control
This matchup has been the bane of my testing lately. Wall of Omens and Spreading Seas make it difficult to get ahead early. Then Martial Coup and Mind Spring make it difficult to get ahead late. I have struggled with various strategies to try and beat the deck, and my latest development is Manabarbs.
Sometimes All is Dust will completely swing around a board position where you are otherwise dominated, but other times it just brings you back to par, or slightly behind. I’m not sure that is the best approach to the Blue-White matchup since the seven-mana Sorcery slows down your draws and still won’t help you much after they Mind Spring for six in the late game. Combine all this with the fact that many times they have the Negate (or now Mana Leak) waiting in the wings. The cost just seems too steep and the card isn’t doing enough to swing the matchup.
Borderland Ranger, however, is really good against Spreading Seas. You have to conserve your Maelstrom Pulses in this matchup since that is by far your best card. Borderland Ranger helps in this regard by allowing you to recover from Spreading Seas without wasting a Pulse or getting behind on card advantage. Ranger is basically just an upgrade to Prophetic Prism in this matchup, and he doubles as a great way to combat opposing Ruinblasters in the Jund matchup. If you couldn’t already tell, I’m a big fan of the Borderland Ranger in the current metagame.
While there is a lot of downside in the matchup, there are some upsides. Putrid Leech and Obstinate Baloth can each crash through Wall of Omens. Blightning can 3-for-1 when killing a Planeswalker. Manabarbs can randomly lock them out of a game since they are usually exhausting their Celestial Purges on your early threats while holding Path to Exile for your later threats. Goblin Ruinblaster can keep them low on mana so that Martial Coup and Mind Spring never impact the game in a significant way. Finally, sometimes you just cast early creatures backed by removal spells and get there the old fashioned way.
The matchup is certainly not unwinnable, but it’s still the matchup I would least prefer to play against. I’d even prefer Mono Red!
+2 Manabarbs, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster, +1 Borderland Ranger, +1 Doom Blade
-4 Sprouting Thrinax, -1 Bituminous Blast, -3 Lightning Bolt
Sprouting Thrinax comes out mainly because of Spreading Seas. He is much too clunky and usually runs into a Wall. Goblin Ruinblasters are far better since they kill Celestial Colonnades and keep the opponent off 5-7 mana for their big spells. Doom Blade is for Kor Firewalker, Gideon Jura, Baneslayer Angel, and Celestial Colonnade. Manabarbs is a game-winning card as long as you are not already behind. In this matchup it is almost like Standstill in Legacy, where it’s fine to run it out there on an even board since your deck is so much better equipped to win with it on the board than your opponent’s deck may be.
I’m not 100% sure that Bituminous Blast is better than Lightning Bolt after sideboard. It kills Celestial Colonnade and Wall of Omens, but it is another slow card. Lightning Bolt combos much better with Manabarbs, but in general is a pretty miserable card against anything except Jace, the Mind Sculptor. If you suspect they are leaving in Jace, I’d go with Bolts over Blasts. Otherwise I think Blasts are slightly better.
Versus Mythic Conscription
Some people have told me the Mythic matchup is close, and others have told me it is slightly favorable for Mythic. My experience has been that Mythic has almost no chance against me. Either I kill everything they play and then Blightning away their hand, or I blow them out in epic fashion with cascades and/or Jund Charm.
I think Mythic is one of those decks that you can easily beat if you are willing to be the attrition deck (as Baloth Jund certainly is). If you start skimping too much on removal spells in favor of cards like Eldrazi Monument, Sarkhan the Mad, or mana acceleration, there will be more times where you run out of removal and get pwned by Sovereigns of Lost Alara. The deck has waned somewhat in popularity lately, but I think it is still a big enough threat that you should pack sufficient hate for it.
+2 Jund Charm, +1 Terminate, +1 Lightning Bolt, +1 Doom Blade, +2 Goblin Ruinblaster
-4 Sprouting Thrinax, -1 Bituminous Blast, -2 Blightning
All the removal spells definitely come in, but all four Ruinblasters are not necessary. They are good at killing Celestial Colonnade and keeping the opponent off of six mana, but I would rather have 2 Borderland Ranger, 2 Blightning, and 2 Bituminous Blast than the third and fourth Goblins. On the play I might side out the remaining Blightnings for the full set of Ruinblasters.
Also I like to be a little greedy with Jund Charm by trying to get at least a 3 for 1 out of it. As a warning, though, don’t get too greedy by allowing it to get countered by Mana Leak or Negate.
Versus Red Deck Wins
Most Jund players I’ve talked to agree that Mono Red is Jund’s worst matchup, specifically the version with Unearth creatures (Hell’s Thunder and Hellspark Elemental). I agree that game one is difficult, but I think after sideboard the matchup becomes favorable. The key is to leave mana open early for instant speed removal and trading your creatures for theirs just to soak up damage.
It’s not uncommon to trade Putrid Leech for Goblin Guide without pumping or Sprouting Thrinax for Hellspark Elemental, or even Obstinate Baloth and 2 life for a Ball Lightning. The key is just staying alive and out of burn range. Obstinate Baloth is one of your best cards, as are all your instant speed removal spells. I almost never cast Bloodbraid Elf until I have instant speed removal backup (i.e. Lightning Bolt or Terminate).
+3 Dragon’s Claw, +1 Terminate, +1 Lightning Bolt, +1 Doom Blade, +2 Jund Charm
-4 Maelstrom Pulse, -3 Bituminous Blast, -1 Bloodbraid Elf (sacrilege!)
You rarely want to tap out for a creature in this matchup. Usually it’s better to wait and keep mana open for instant speed removal spells. As a result, Bloodbraid Elf won’t get cast until turn 5-6 a lot of the time. Baloth is the better four-drop in this matchup and you just don’t want too many four-drops clogging up your hand.
I’d consider bringing in the third Borderland Ranger and cutting another Bloodbraid Elf, but you don’t want to neuter the power level of the deck too much, especially when you are allowing yourself to get 2-for-1’d so often off their Unearth creatures, Earthquakes, and Searing Blazes.
With more creatures in the deck now, it’s possible that some number of Basilisk Collars is better than Dragon’s Claws, but I’m not certain on that point yet.
Versus Turbo Land
This is the final matchup that I think you should expect to face. The ‘skill deck’ of the format that all the top players were playing was Next Level Bant for a while, and now that torch has been passed to Turbo Land. The current ‘skill deck’ may be in a transitional process where a lot of players are switching back to Blue-White or Jund, but for now, you should at least be prepared to face last month’s ‘skill deck.’
The neat thing about this matchups is that both decks are just fish bowling for the first 4-5 turns of the game. Turbo Land is drawing cards and ramping its mana while Jund is playing out creatures and setting up for mid-game fireworks.
The two engines that you want to keep offline are Oracle of Mul Daya and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Without these engines active, Turbo Land has a very difficult time operating. With them, they can swing a completely dominated board around into a victory without ever giving you another turn, even while at 1-2 life. So don’t get a false sense of security against this deck. Make sure you disrupt them as much as possible while applying maximum pressure.
Other things being equal, there usually comes a pivotal turn where the Turbo Land player does something like casts Avenger of Zendikar and the Jund player then Terminates the Avenger and Maelstrom Pulses the tokens. The turn thereafter often decides who is going to win the game. If the Jund player is able to attack the opponent into burn range and then Blightning him out, the Jund player will win. If he is not able to do this and the Turbo Land player is able to find and cast another Avenger of Zendikar, the Turbo Land player will win.
After sideboard, Turbo Land brings in Sphinx of Jwar Isle, which is admittedly a problem. They also sometimes bring in Pelakka Wurm, which is marginally annoying but usually irrelevant.
Some have suggested Blood Seeker for this matchup, but I found the card to be too narrow and sometimes does not even win you the game against Turbo Land. A timely Jace, the Mind Sculptor in the mid-to-late game can bounce the Vampire and allow Avenger to come down and win the game.
Manabarbs seems a lot more consistent and much more back-breaking since there is literally nothing they can do about it outside of enchant removal and bounce, of which most lists run none. Maybe if the new instant speed Tranquility begins to see play, Manabarbs won’t be the answer, but given that the ‘barbs is the only enchantment in our deck, I’d be surprised if they bring in removal for it unless they have already dropped a game to it.
+2 Manabarbs, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster, +2 Jund Charm, +1 Lightning Bolt, +1 Borderland Ranger, +1 Doom Blade
-4 Obstinate Baloth, -3 Bituminous Blast, -4 Sprouting Thrinax
I am hesitant to take out all the Sprouting Thrinax, but I think adding the extra removal spell is worth it. I can see cutting a Terminate instead of a Thrinax though, just to increase your threat density. Ruinblaster is better than Baloth since it basically Time Walks the opponent. Baloth is just slow and its abilities are largely irrelevant. Jund Charm is much better than Bituminous Blast since it kills their Cobras, Oracles, and Plant Tokens all in one swing.
Conclusions
Jund is still going to be the best deck in post-M11 Standard. Baloth Jund gives you an edge over other Jund decks in a few particularly important areas. Baloth is very good in the mirror and against Red decks, each of which comprise a substantial portion of the metagame. Moreover Borderland Ranger is great against U/W and in the mirror.
If you expect the same five decks I expect, you would be wise to run Baloth Jund in your next upcoming Standard tournament. It’s a fresh new list with fresh new cards that is well-situated in the current metagame. Now you even have matchup analyses and sideboarding advice to help you along the way. Just print out the article and consult it between games, and you can even go into the tournament blind and probably win it.