The recent decklist I have come up with was patterned on the Jund Walkers deck during the time of Innistrad and Return to Ravnica in Standard. Each of the relevant components has an equivalent in the current setup, for instance, Thragtusk is represented now by Regisaur Alpha. Here below is the first version of the deck, Jund Midrange. Comments and suggestions are very much welcome.

1 Deathgorge Scavenger
3 Glorybringer
4 Regisaur Alpha
4 Burning Sun’s Avatar
4 Servant of the Conduit

3 Abrade
4 Attune with Aether
1 Cut/Ribbons
1 Doomfall
3 Fatal Push
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Vraska’s Contempt

2 Vraska, Relic Seeker
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Liliana, Death’s Majesty

4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Canyon Slough
3 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp

With the imminent rotation in Standard in the next month, we must prepare ourselves especially our card pool of the possible decks once Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged goes out. We lose the clans and the fetchlands to help our mana fixing issues and will eventually rely on the current duals and painlands as a substitute. I personally liked Abzan to leave the format so we could give way for new decks to emerge and get a few underperforming cards into use.

The deck brewing spark has got me again and the first deck that I have thought of was Jund Midrange. To recall, I have been a fan of Jund since its Shards of Alara days and it even got me one notable Top 4 finish in the WMCQ last 2013. The deck’s compo that time was Thragtusk, Huntmaster of the Fells and Olivia Voldaren. My last pilot of that archetype was a Jund Monsters version for Theros and RTR Standard.

This time and just recently, the deck has been getting good results in Magic Online dailies and even in PTTQ and Champ qualifiers. I have decided to check on some possible card components and here are some of the notables.

Goblin Dark-Dwellers – it is a solid five-drop in itself with the Menace bonus but with its ‘flashback’ ETB effect that makes its card advantage very notable. It can re-cast most of the decent spot removals in the format like Ruinous Path and Kolaghan’s Command.

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet – Rally might be out of Standard but this guy still works well with all your removals in the deck. His bonus Lifelink is relevant against Mono Red matchup which will surely plague the format right after the rotation.

Sylvan Advocate – this Elf is a good early beater and defense in itself and can still be relevant in the late game once you hit your sixth land. He can also bonus pump your manlands (Hissing Quagmire) in the process.

Chandra, Flamecaller – Your late game relies on this fiery planeswalker as she does multi-function in certain scenarios. For instance like wiping the board or drawing your cards. She is like the Red version of Elspeth, Sun’s Champion.

Let us cut the list for now as we wait for card previews from Shadows over Innistrad. Here is version one of the creature lineup for Jund Midrange in SOI.

2 Den Protector
2 Dragonlord Atarka
4 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Sylvan Advocate

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this deck discussion. Thanks for reading and until next time.

You’ve read it right guys, Jund is back! That is in the recently concluded SCG Standard Open in Providence. While the metagame is still infested with Mono Blue and related Devotion decks, the Jund deck which was piloted by Matt Costa, fought its way in the preliminary rounds and into the top 8.

First, it jinxed the first place in the bracket, R/W Aggro, and then defeated Mono Blue in the semis. In the finals saw the deck faced against the recently popular Boros Aggro deck. The epic 3rd game was almost a win for the Boros player, Chris Barone but he didn’t get to finish the remaining life of Costa while Jund stabilized with a Scavenging Ooze and Stormbreath Dragons which later on flew in for the win.

Congratulations to Matt Costa, your Providence Standard Open champion! Here is the Jund Midrange deck that he played:

Maindeck
3 Reaper of the Wilds
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Polukranos, World Eater

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Hero’s Downfall
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Rakdos’s Return
3 Read the Bones
3 Thoughtseize

3 Forest
1 Mountain
5 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon

Sideboard
2 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Sire of Insanity
2 Underworld Connections
2 Doom Blade
2 Golgari Charm
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Duress
1 Rakdos’s Return
1 Thoughtseize

The pros once again did not disappoint. The recent weekend in the Magic calendar held the Grand Prix in Miami. The format was Standard, and the event was joined by over one thousand two hundred participants. After the two days of creature and spell battle, the dust settled down and Reid Duke emerged victorious.

He piloted Jund Midrange, which also is my personal deck of choice and went undefeated Day one. He didn’t stopped whatsoever, continuing the rampage on the second day and got among the remaining top eight players. His top 8 matches were American Midrange on the Quarters, Brad Nelson’s Junk Aristocrats in the semis and finally Junk Reanimator played by John err Josh McClain.

Reid was at the brink of defeat on the second game wherein he mulliganed to five cards after losing his game one against Josh. Good thing Olivia provided support as he pulled out the game and went into the decider. Olivia Voldaren once again proved her value in the third game flying over Josh’s creatures and got him the title of Grand Prix champion.

Here is Reid Duke’s winning decklist for Grand Prix Miami.

Main Deck
1 Cavern of Souls
3 Dragonskull Summit
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
4 Woodland Cemetery

4 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Vampire Nighthawk

1 Abrupt Decay
4 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Farseek
2 Ground Seal
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Putrefy
1 Rakdos Keyrune
2 Rakdos’s Return
2 Tragic Slip
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Sideboard
1 Curse of Death’s Hold
2 Duress
2 Ground Seal
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Pillar of Flame
1 Rakdos’s Return
2 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
2 Tragic Slip
1 Underworld Connections

Again congratulations to Reid Duke for winning Grand Prix Miami.