Expect more stuff after the holidays!

Decklist – Scars of Mirrodin Release – Top 4 finish

Artifacts:
Contagion Engine x 1
Nim Deathmantle x 1
Trigon of Corruption x 1
Grafted Exoskeleton x 1
Myr Galvanizer x 1
Contagion Clasp x 1
Darksteel Axe x 1
Leaden Myr x 2
Vector Asp x 2
Bladed Pinions x 2
Ichorclaw Myr x 1
Strider Harness x 1
Copper Myr x 1
Corpse Cur x 1

Black:
Geth, Lord of the Vault x 1
Carnifex Demon x 1
Skinrender x 1
Painsmith x 1
Plague Stinger x 2
Tainted Strike x 1
Contagious Nim x 1
Blackcleave Goblin x 1

Green:
Tangle Angler x 1
Tel-Jilad Fallen x 2
Copperhorn Scout x 1
Wing Puncture x 1
Ezuri’s Archers x 1
Blight Mamba x 1

Land:
Forest x 10
Swamp x 10

Pretty much a G/B infect deck. Combine that with Contagion Engine and Contagion Clasp and you get a lot of poison and -1/-1 counters. My only lost came in my first match and it came to the eventual tournament winner playing a mono white deck.

The deck plays pretty straight forward, attack attack attack. If they block, they get the counters that keep increasing due to the Engine/Clasp combo. If they don’t block, the same thing happens but with poison counters. I never had an issue with mana, the thing I feared the most. I never feel comfortable with the land count while playing a Limited event but I think I nailed it with this one. I was somewhat disappointed with the performance of Geth and Carnifex. Every time I played the card (when I actually drew it) they got an Arrest cast on them. I mean every single time too. Looking back this allowed for my infect creatures to pound through but I still wanted to use my big boys.

I would strongly advice giving infect a chance if you have the right pool. A few infect creatures will not do the job and a lot of infect creatures wont do the job unless you have a way to get them through unhindered or a way to add on the poison counters with proliferate. I saw a lot of decks fail because they didn’t have the right support (which happened to me last week).

White:  I’m not seeing a ton of removal in this set, so keep an eye on Arrest.  While not removal, it sure should take care of that fattie you’re facing.  With the Abundance of equipment in this set, if you pull a couple of Auriok Edgewrights, be sure to play enough equipment in your deck to not only equip these bad boys, but allow the requirement of Metalcraft so you can do some major damage.  Any Planeswalker you pull will do some damage in a sealed tournament, and Elspeth Tirel is no exception.  Look for her to be clearing boards everywhere at pre-releases this weekend.  Glint Hawk isn’t only great for sealed, but he might find his way into some constructed decks.  I’m not entirely sure how much of an effect Indomitable Archangel is going to have on sealed, but I think it has potential to flat out end games.  A 4/4 flier for 4 is nothing to mess with in sealed and will have to be dealt with quickly regardless of whether its Metalcraft condition has been met.   As far as Kemba, Kha Regent goes, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about her.  Being that I still haven’t seen great removal, and she’s a 2/4 out of “bolt” range, I think this card could potentially be an amazing chump blocker-producer-thingamajig.  That’s my technical term for great blocker.  The fact that you could potentially spit out 2 or 3 2/2’s a turn is beyond good because on top of that you’re still casting spells.  The tough part is, I feel like you’re going to have to invest all your time on equipping this kitty instead of focusing on other threats.  Leonin Arbiter while amazing in eternal formats and quite possibly a standard near you, will probably not make much of a dent in sealed.  If you’re going tribal with the Myr, then you’d better hope you have a ton of em in your sealed pool, but if you don’t, Myrsmith can potentially fill in the gaps.  The final 3 cards in white are all potential game enders.  Sunblast Angel has one of the biggest bodies in the set as a flier, and destroys those pesky tapped creatures.  Tempered Steel is a great boost to all of the artifact creatures in this set, and could potentially give your deck that extra push you need while you’re building it.  And finally there is True Conviction.  To me this card is to sealed as Eldrazi Monument is to constructed.  Stick this card, and win the game, period.

Blue:  Patrick Chapin covered Argent Sphinx here: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/20130_Exclusive_Preview_Argent_Sphinx.html

I agree with everything he says about this card, but I’d like to add that in a Metalcraft deck in sealed, this is going to be beyond a nightmare to deal with.   Disperse can be nice to buy you a turn near the end of the game or bounce a nasty infect creature about to hit you with lethal poison counters.  Darkslick Drake and any flier is great in sealed, keep an eye on these guys, you will face them, and they will be a nuisance.  I’m not sure how I feel about Dissipation Field in sealed.  I feel like by the time it’s doing anything for you, it’s probably too late—the same goes for this card in constructed, I feel like it is a wasted slot in most decks.  Grand Architect is just great all around.  For sealed you might have to try and focus your deck more around blue creatures in order to really make him work, but none the less, he will be effective for powering out some of the more expensive artifacts.  Quicksilver Gargantuan looks to be the second biggest body of the set so far, so keep that in mind when you’re looking for a bomb to play—this guy is it!   Any card drawing is great in sealed, so if you’re going to run blue, consider Riddlesmith, much like Crystal Ball in M11, it can help you dig for answers quicker than the traditional draw-go.  Shape Anew is probably terrible unless you’re running only powerful artifacts in your sealed deck.  With that being said, I want to see it work in constructed.  Steady Progress might be asking a bit much to just draw a card, but add Proliferate in a deck that has tons of counters, and now we’re talking.  Stoic Rebuttal while probably really nice in constructed Metalcraft decks, might not be amazing in a sealed deck—I’d sideboard this when necessary.  Thrummingbird is my favorite blue card in this set and I feel like it will give people fits in sealed and constructed.  There aren’t a TON of fliers in this set that come out turn 2 and really start getting to work.  Trinket Mage will be pretty good in this set if you need to Snag a low costed artifact for a combo, say like Chimeric Mass or any of the Spellbombs, but in general you’re going to be paying 3 for a 2/2.  Vedalken Certarch will annoy many people this Saturday and through many sealed and draft tournaments.  This is fantastic control against an artifact heavy deck while protecting your heavy artifact deck.  Good investment, probably, at worst he’s a 1/1 for 1 and an early drop to help out Grand Architect.  Finally in blue we get Volition Reins.  Cool, I can take over your Planeswalker!  I think this card will be seen more though taking over people’s Platinum Emperions and locking their life totals.

Black:  Normally I’d say “meh” at Carnifex Demon, but this guy is the biggest flier in the set so far.  6/6 that can really take out a lot of the board is just bomb-licious in sealed.  Exsanguinate in anything other than multiplayer is not going to be very good.  Geth, Lord of the Vault on the other hand will likely win you the game if you can stick him and untap with him in sealed.  Yes, he’s that good.  Grip of Darkness might be our best removal against the */4 bodies in the set and everything smaller.  If you can get multiple copies of this and are running black, you should be in great shape.  Remember, removal is very important in Limited formats.  Hand of the Praetors…now this is a card I can get behind.  I think Infect decks could be viable for constructed, but sealed I’m kind of in the air on.  I think if you pull a slew of creatures and abilities with Infect and pull this dude, you’re going to be in great shape, if not, don’t force him into your sealed because he’s the rare.   Ichor Rats look pretty good, but again, don’t force infect if it’s not viable.   At the very least, they take a blocker down by -2/-2 if they get blocked and killed.  I think a lot of people are going to forget the Wither ability that is built into Infect and may underestimate it.  Memoricide won’t be good in sealed main deck, and in fact, it may not be good in a side board either, in all honesty, it may only be good for removing planeswalkers before they’re cast, that’s it.  Moriok Reaver is a vanilla 3/2 for 3, good, moving on!  Necrogen Scudder is a 3/3 flier with a slight drawback.  I would have rather had him give you poison counters rather than ping you for 3 life, but it is what it is, a third turn 3/3 flier can be pretty damaging.   Necrotic Ooze is a tough one to predict because in the right sealed deck, it can be a total powerhouse, otherwise you’re looking at a 4/3 for 4—which still isn’t terrible, but I’d rather not hit that as one of my rares when I bust open packs.  (Now that I’ve said this, I’m going to crake a Necrotic Ooze on Saturday).  I feel like Painful Quandry will win games in sealed, and might find its way into some control decks that splash black.  Painsmith would be nice if it wasn’t artifact spells that triggered its ability, but that wouldn’t really make sense now would it?  Plague Stinger is probably my favorite black card right now.  Much like Thrummingbird, you’re going to have to deal with it fast or you could potentially be in trouble.  My second favorite black card follows it in the spoiler as Skinrender.  This card should be given a look due to the fact that it acts as nasty removal/nerfing of your opponent’s creatures.  This card can potentially 2-for-1 every time it is cast.  Any card that can act like that is a good one in my book.  Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon might be hard to play in constructed where you will be inclined splash other colors.  I mean let’s face it, this card really costs 3{B}{B}{B}.  In sealed, this card won’t necessarily need to be hasted, it just has to live one turn and you have a nasty 4/4 flier that Regenerates to deal with.  Oh yeah, did I mention it’s got Infect too?  Wow.

Red:  Barrage Ogre is a “meh” card to me, even if you can bring back artifacts from the graveyard a lot, this card is still going to be underwhelming.  At 3{R}{R} it’s going to be hard to justify sacking artifacts to its ability when you have a 3/3 body on the battlefield instead.  Bloodshot Trainee however can potentially lock down your board position if you can manage to equip it and protect it.  This will destroy creatures till you play your finisher and then its good game.  Like Painsmith, I feel like Embersmith will kind of fall flat compared to Myrsmith and Riddlesmith.  Galvanic Blast will be fantastic in a Metalcraft deck.  It’s 4 damage people, not 3.  That’s a kicked Burst Lightning for {R} if you control 3 or more artifacts!  Goblin Gaveleer could potentially be as dangerous as Auriok Edgewright, but I’m seeing the Edgewright winning that battle.  Koth!  Koth will be great at powering out big critters in sealed and giving people fits.  Pretty sure he alone will win games.  Kuldotha Phoenix will be great if you can discard it and use its Metalcraft ability, otherwise triple red is going to give you problems in a sealed pool.   Molten Psyche just spoiled today will be fun and could potentially put the game away at the end of a match.  Will I maindeck it if I run red and pull it…probably.  Oxidda Scrapmelter will be a must have if you’re playing red.  This card is another 2-for-1 that will help you in your early game tempo.  Scoria Elemental is a Lightning Elemental on steroids, but not speed.  6/1 is nothing to sneeze at, but I feel like 1 toughness is just a little too fragile for this Limited format.  Shatter in an artifact heavy set, need I say more?  Spikeshot elder can ping Scoria Elemental all day with its ability, he is one of the reasons why I feel that 1 toughness won’t cut it, in fact I’d try to avoid a ton of those critters if possible.  Tunnel Ignus if said wrong sounds like a sexual act.  The only act you’ll see this card doing in sealed is sitting on the bench.  This is another rare I don’t want to crack open.

Green:  There are a good amount of cards in green that I like for sealed, but I’ll start at the top and work my way down.  Asceticism is a card that I’m 50/50 on part of me feels like this could end games with its Regenerate effect for all of your creatures, but the other part says this kinda sucks.  With so many cards with Infect, Regenerate tends to lose its luster.  Speaking of Infect, let’s start with green’s Blight Mamba.  Unless this guy gets -1/-1, he is going to give people fits.  Once again, the built in Wither is going to be hard to deal with on a regenerator.  Carapace Forger and Ezuri’s Brigade are going to be tough to deal with when Metalcraft conditions are met.  I think Metalcraft is going to be really good in sealed, and possibly on the same level if not better than Landfall was in Zendikar.  Cystbearer is a good addition to a B/G Infect deck at the 3 slot.  Look for this archetype in your store during sealed and during constructed because I think both are highly viable.  Engulfing Slagwurm is the epitome of a finisher.  Block with it and you destroy what it blocks and gain life.  They block it; you destroy the blocker and gain life.  They don’t block it, you just took 7 to the face.  Damn. Ezuri’s Archers are the card that Thrummingbird and Plague Stinger don’t want to see.  It’s a pretty awesome creature with Reach and it can lock down the skies of attackers with 4 toughness or less.  Ezuri, Renegade Leader while good on his own, will absolutely own in constructed elf decks.  I don’t think we’re going see his Regenerate ability used as much as the Overrun.  In sealed I don’t see this guy making a ton of an impact being that there aren’t a ton of elves out there.  Genesis Wave makes me go “huh?”  I feel like in order for this to be good you need to probably spend somewhere around 10 mana.  In which case, shouldn’t you already be winning if you have 10 mana available?  This is a win more card, the end.  Liege of the Tangle makes me scratch my head.  It’s good, and I think for sure it will win you the game the turn you can attack with it in sealed, but in constructed; this card could be a major disaster.  I think you have to play smart with this card.  Don’t animate all of your lands, remember, they become 8/8’s as well.  Animate 1 and you’re swinging for 16 damage next turn.  I can see why this guy is mythic.  Putrefax is a card my teammates and I have gone back and forth on.  After some pondering, this card in my Humble opinion is good.  I think it’s great in sealed and quite possibly great in a B/G Infect deck in constructed as a finisher.  Let’s not forget, you’re dealing with 5 Infect damage here.  Better have that bolt ready. Slice in Twain is asking a bit much to destroy an artifact or enchantment in constructed, even though it draws you a card, but in sealed, it can be a huge turnaround for you.  I’d likely maindeck this puppy.  Tangle Angler can be another nuisance by Withering down blockers that can’t kill it.  I want multiples of this guy in sealed.  Finally in green there is Withstand Death.  Sorry, I think even in sealed I’m not wasting a slot on this card.

Venser gets his own slot here, it doesn’t look like there will be any other multicolored cards in this set other than him.  This guy is great, he also can potentially win you games in sealed, but I don’t see things being slow to the point where you’ll get to use his ultimate.  I see this guy dropping, using his -1 and ending the game.  If the colors were in the color pie with Infect, this guy would be beyond good for sealed.

Artifacts:  There are around 55 artifacts spoiled at the time of writing this article, so I’m only going to touch on 10 or so because by now you might be bored to death by me stating the obvious about cards in this set already, so here we go!  Argentum Armor, play it in sealed, it’ll end the game.  Chimeric Mass will be great, calling it now.  Contagion Clasp and Engine are very interesting.  I’d like to see them work, I think they can in sealed and really do damage, but I’m not entirely sure how well they’ll do in constructed play.  Obviously the Myrs could be good depending on how many you draw.  I do want to touch on Myr Battlesphere.  God I love this card!  I see it potentially filling a hole in U/W control decks, but in sealed, this card could also potentially end games.  The Darksteel stuff can be pretty good—I’m looking at you Darksteel Juggernaut!  But…with all the Infect around, these can go bye bye fast.  I think Etched Champion can be a beast to deal with in sealed, but can also just as easily be shut down with other artifacts like Ichorclaw Myr.  Golem’s Heart will be a useful charm, and I’m considering running it maindeck if I pull one or two.  Memnites are going to be incredibly useful, but at uncommon, we may not see as many of these as we really want in a sealed pool.  Mindslaver is one that you will want to be on the lookout for at your pre-release.  I think this card can potentially finish your opponent off pretty quickly—on the other hand, they could have a card in their hand and you could totally whiff on your activation of your Mindslaver, be careful with this one.  I almost feel like this is going to be a card I maindeck and end up playing 4 matches before I realize it’s just not good for sealed.  Molten-Tail Masticore will be a factor and it will win you games despite what anybody says, this card is the real deal.  We’ll be seeing plenty of this card in the next year or so.  Mox Opal I think in sealed is going to be incredibly underwhelming and will waste a card slot where you could be playing a creature or bomb.  Hang onto it for constructed, I’m just saying don’t waste a slot in your sealed deck with it.  Now we get to some of the more interesting cards like Platinum Emperion.  If you’re not facing Infect, you will win the game by playing this card.  Precursor Golem can be fun in sealed, at worst you got 3 3/3’s for 5.  At best, you pump all 3 with a combat trick.  Don’t forget to read the card, sorcery or instants get copied, you can’t enchant all three of em with one spell.  I’m not worried about this card having a hard time in sealed unless it gets hit with Grip of Darkness.  I think that Prototype Portal can be nasty in this format as well, but I’m wondering if you’re going to have to spend too many resources on getting it to work.  Tapping X each turn to copy a mediocre artifact just doesn’t seem that great, and tapping a ton to copy a great artifact just seems like a major waste of resources.  I’d avoid this one if possible.  Now we get onto Ratchet Bomb.  Yes please.  I will play this in sealed. I will play this in constructed.  This is way too useful to not include.   Oh look, we got an artifact Craw Wurm in the form of Razorfield Thresher that costs 1 more.  At least the flavor text is good.  Rusted Relic will be good in Metalcraft decks, a 5/5 in this format will be tough to beat.  Semblance Anvil is also a good pick for me.  Yes, I’ll exile a Memnite and get my Artifact and Creature cards  get reduced by 2—love it!  Steel Hellkite is going to be tough to deal with, look out for this guy as a finisher in a lot of decks.  Better know what you need to save your removal for, cause this guy warrants a Shatter!  Hard to say no to a flying Engineered Explosives.  Oh and now we get to the Sword of Body and Mind.  Its good ok, people have talked about this for months since it’s been spoiled, its great in sealed, and can be good in constructed, just wait.  I think the Trigon cycle will be useful in sealed as well, anything that sits there and does stuff for only 2 mana can be dangerous, especially the Trigon of Infestation.  Chump blockers with Infect?  Sure!  And finally, the big daddy, the pre-release card:  Wurmcoil Engine.  What can I say that hasn’t already been said?  Look for this to Wreak Havoc at pre-releases and standard soon.  This can potentially replace quite a few of the Titans.

So there you have it, almost 3500 words later, you have my preview on what has been spoiled.  I hope this hasn’t been just me stating the obvious about cards and has given you some Insight into things to go after in your sealed pool, and things to avoid.  I am very excited about the pre-release and release of this set; I’m hoping to take home a 1^st place finish this Saturday.  I won’t be playing FNM so in place of my FNM Report, I’ll post my sealed pool and how I did.

The first and most important thing for you to know is your meta.  Please do not bring a net deck to your FNM because it won X Tournament; this means nothing! I have casually brought decks to friends’ houses and was ceremoniously beaten down so badly I questioned how the deck even managed to Top 8 let alone win.  I’ve said it before, but with Net Decking, you must know your meta!  Study not only your matches each week but other players as well.  Did you sweep your first match in a matter of minutes?  Go observe the other matches.  Pay attention to other decks that are sweeping the tournament scene.  Read up on things at places like www.starcitygames.com and www.tcgplayer.com. Know the people you play against. Know their tendencies.  Do they bring the same deck week in and week out? Do they switch things up?  Are they a perpetual home brew dude (that’s not necessarily a bad thing either folks)?  Are they likely to be swayed to play the latest tournament winning deck?  Every single one of these factors needs to be taken into account each week whether you choose to play a net deck or a home brew deck.  I’m going to keep harping on this because I am a firm believer that knowing your meta is 75% of the battle on topping your FNM.

Ok, you know your meta, great, what next?  Next comes the research.  Take a long look at the decks that you think you want to play.  Now pick two or three of them.  Refer to “Time Stretching” and base this decision on how much testing you can get in during the week.  Now the other half of this is having a keen memory.  Do your best to create the decks that you saw last week at FNM.  I use Magic Workstation to create and test decks.  It is a fantastic tool albeit simple.  It can be found here:  http://www.magicworkstation.com/downloads.php.  Testing a net deck is just as important as testing a home brew.  How will you know how the deck will perform in your meta if you don’t test things out?  By test out I mean give it a good 5-10 games against the competitive decks at your store.  Don’t play a best out of three and decide “ZOMG THIS DECK IS AWSOME!!!11one.”  Really run it through the gauntlet.  Learn its weakness at your store.  The other half of this is to look at the net deck and ask yourself, “Do I need this deck to look exactly like this?”  Are there cards that you can add or take away that fit better with your meta?  For example:  For a while I was running UW control at our store.  Our store was swing with big critters that would punch through cards like Wall of Omens with ease.  I decided to step things up and go with Wall of Denial in place of some other cards.  With an 0/8 Flying Shrouded wall, I was able to even stop RDW flat in its tracks.  Was that in the original net deck, no. But for our meta, Shroud and 0/8 was nearly unstoppable while I set up with Sphinx of Jwar Isle—which is what I subbed in for Baneslayer Angel.  Some things just work and testing is a huge part of that. Don’t be a Clone. Try new things in net decks. Not a single one of them is perfect and I don’t think any pros claim them to be.

With most net decks I take their sideboards with a grain of salt.  A sideboard is specific to what they expect to see.  A good sideboard plan is important as well.  DO NOT copy the sideboard of a net deck unless you know for sure it is THE sideboard for your meta.  I almost always ignore net deck sideboards based on the fact that they have to plan for a gigantic tournament crowd.  Most shops only have turnouts in the 20’s, unless it’s a super shop.  You know what you’re going to face, you know the people you play against and therefore should know what to sideboard.

Ok, you have your deck picked out for the week.  You have it sleeved up and ready to play.  You have your perfect sideboard picked out.  You are ready to go right? Wrong!  How comfortable are you with playing this deck?  Do you know what hands to keep?  How comfortable are you with straying from your normal game plan?  Does the deck have a single weakness that you have to protect?  How tight of a player are you?  Not everybody is the best player out there (myself included).  Having the cards only gets you half of the way there.

**Begin Mini Rant**

If you read my “Losing Sucks” article, you’ll note that I ran a Mythic Conscription deck…miserably.  That deck pooped on me because I didn’t do any of the stuff I just suggested early in this post.  I didn’t test, I didn’t learn how to play the deck properly and I didn’t know what a good opening hand was.  I tapped poorly and did EVERYTHING wrong.  For this I was handed a 1-3 night at FNM and walked away miserable.  I don’t want you to walk away miserable and I haven’t either since I changed my ways.  I learned the hard way that just by playing a net deck you aren’t guaranteed a victory.

** End Mini Rant**

So, this Friday when you sleeve up your deck, think about what you’re doing. I mean really sit back and think about what you’re doing.  Just as much love needs to go into a net deck as it does a home brew.  After playing UGR Titan Force last Friday, I learned a couple of things about the deck even post testing.  It was the tournament that really taught me what I can change in this deck.  I plan on changing things up for this week in hopes of making it even better.  Don’t get discouraged if your deck doesn’t work for you just like any other deck. Sit back and re-evaluate.  Remember that Mythic Conscription deck that pooped on me?  I fixed it, learned it and piloted it to a 4-0 night.  I’ll say it again, constantly evaluate your meta,   I can’t stress this enough!  You too can net deck. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s cheating or cheap or an unfair advantage.  If they want to bitch at you, tell them to make something to beat it.  Otherwise they don’t have any ground to stand on. Better yet, YOU come up with something to beat it!  That way you’ll have a step up on everybody else.  The trick here is being a step ahead of everybody at your shop.  I’m likely going to play the same net deck I ran last week with some minor tweaks to make up for the weaknesses I discovered, but will I run it again next week, and the week after that?  Not likely. People are smart. They will find a way around it. So, as you test your net decks, find some you like, learn your meta and know when to switch things up.

When people say that net decking is a cop out, I ask them why?  When they throw the typical “There’s no innovation in it,” or “It’s not fair,” I tell them that there is much more to playing these decks than simply slapping them into sleeves and tapping cards.  There is just as much preparation in these decks as there is a good home brew.  Let them whine at you, but you now know that you’re on the winning end—not because you net decked, but because you prepared.

Cultivate: There have been many Jund builds that featured cards like Rampant Growth and I fully expect to see them make the switch to Cultivate. It may cost one more but you get another land for that extra colorless. Combine that with cards like Lotus Cobra (which I run in a Jund build) you will have some serious mana production.

Fling: This is a card that I feel will fly under the radar until someone wins a Pro Tour with it. It has many uses outside of Jund but I can see someone using Fling to get chump blockers out of Sprouting Thrinax or using it in combination with Abyssal Persecutor. Attack with the Persecutor and other creatures, Fling the Persecutor for 6. Yeah, I can see that happening.

Garruk’s Companion: Better than Putrid Leech? Maybe in the right setting. Being a 3/2 trampler is huge against Elspeth and her chump blockers. It can’t be pumped out of Bolt range, but facing any deck that doesn’t have a quick answer, it can run over most creatures in its mana range.

Grave Titan: While harder to cast than Broodmate Dragon, this sucker is much better. Getting 10 points of damage out of 6 mana is nuts with any card, but throw in deathtouch and the fact you keep getting 2/2 zombies everytime he attacks, yeah I would take that over Broodmate Dragon any day. I can see some sort of ramp with Cultivate to get him out fast.

Mitotic Slime: Some people will replace Sprouting Thrinax with this but I don’t see the reason. One of the things that is so attractive about Sprouting Thrinax is having a 3/3 out turn 3 that turns into chump blockers. Granted the Slime is out of Bolt range, I just don’t see it being fast enough for much use.

Nantuko Shade: Another possible replacement for Putrid Leech. I think it is too black dependant to make any noise, but I won’t be surprised if someone tries it.

Obstinate Baloth: The Great Sable Stag of M11, this card is a Jund hoser and a great Jund sideboard option in the mirror. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it main decked in certain meta’s where Jund is heavy.

Plummet: Another good sideboard option to take out those pesky Baneslayer Angel‘s flying around.

Primeval Titan: This is a great card but I really don’t see the use for it in Jund. By the time I have 6 mana the only other land I would want is manlands. Compared to Grave Titan, I really don’t see a place for it.

Sylvan Ranger: Replaces Borderland Ranger, but I never saw a reason to run it.

I am sure there will be other cards included in the various Jund builds, but I feel the ones I listed will lead the pack. I am looking forward to seeing what the next Jund evolution will bring and hopefully I will be one of the innovators!

More and more I am seeing comments like “People who play Jund are not good players” or “Playing Jund requires no thinking, just playing and flipping cards.” Now, the majority of people who say that tend to fall into the “get beat by Jund a lot” category and refuse to say Jund is a good Tier 1 deck. Well folks this just is not true. While Jund is easier to play when compared to U/W control (or any control deck for that matter) it is far from easy to play. Countless times I have seen people come to FNM with a standard Jund build and fail to win a game while someone with the same exact build places top 4. This is due to the player, not the deck.

I first started piloting Jund back when Zendikar rotated in. My first builds included Madrush Cyclops, Sedraxis Specters and a few other odd cards. My first time out I placed top 4 and introduced that store to the boogeyman. No one was playing Jund before that and no one was prepared. After that I started looking at what the pro’s were playing and started changing my deck. Almost every week I would come in with a different version then I had the week before. After a while the store I played at started getting flooded with Jund builds. They all had the same core cards (Sprouting Thrinax, Bloodbraid Elf, Blightning, Lightning Bolt, etc) with a few odd builds, mine included. Now if the theory “anyone can play Jund” was true, you would expect to see a variety of people placing top 4 with Jund, correct? Well, this wasn’t true. Every week the same Jund decks would be near the top (mine included) and the others would have poor records. I had a few bad weeks myself, mostly when I played with some crazy idea’s that never worked, but when I stuck to the core set of cards that I felt worked, I won. I also noticed I would have a bad week if something was bothering me or if something was going on with my life. Back when my last relationship fell apart, I had a string of poor finishes. Was this due to my deck? No, it was due to the player.

You may ask yourself “Why do you play Jund every week? Don’t you know how to play anything else?” That is a pretty good question and one I get asked every week. I play Jund every week because I feel it has the tools to compete with every deck in the format. I have played many other decks using Magic Workstation and other testing means and I always find myself coming back to Jund. The meta where I play is also Jund friendly, so it makes more sense to run a deck that will do well. There was a time where all the non-Jund decks were stacked with Jund hate and that is when I started changing things up. The standard Jund builds would fall while the innovators would rise.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Shards/M10 rotates out. I am willing to wager you will see the same players who top 4 with Jund top 4′ing with whatever deck they choose to play.