Jund Sacrifice is Back

(Editor’s Note: this article was written before the statement was announced.)

Introduction

Guess who’s back, back again.

Jund’s back, tell a friend.

Hello fellow Magicians around the world. Are you bored with the current state of Standard? Are you tired of seeing 《Yorion, Sky Nomad》 everywhere? 《Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast》 frustrated you so many times that you even considered playing it? 《Obosh, the Preypiercer》 doesn’t really fit your playstyle? Well, I am happy to bring you today a deck that I think is very well positioned in the current metagame while also being powerful and fun =)

Jund! Yes, it’s back. It’s been a while since it was dominating the format, and now might be a perfect moment for it to shine again. First of all, credit where credit’s due, Yuuki Ichikawa (@serra2020) was the one that brought it back. He crushed day 1 of the Red Bull Untapped tournament playing the deck and lost in a very close semifinals of that tournament. After watching some of his games I was ready to try his list.

Decklist

Enough talk. Here is the decklist he registered:

Yuuki Ichikawa
– Jund Citadel

Red Bull Untapped International Qualifier I
(Top 4)

3 《Forest》
3 《Swamp》
1 《Mountain》
4 《Blood Crypt》
4 《Overgrown Tomb》
4 《Stomping Ground》
4 《Fabled Passage》
1 《Castle Locthwain》
-Land (24)- 4 《Cauldron Familiar》
4 《Gilded Goose》
4 《Priest of Forgotten Gods》
4 《Mayhem Devil》
4 《Woe Strider》
-Creature (20)-

4 《Claim the Firstborn》
1 《Migration Path》
4 《Trail of Crumbs》
4 《Witch’s Oven》
3 《Bolas’s Citadel》
-Spell (16)-

4 《Duress》
3 《Scorching Dragonfire》
2 《Embereth Shieldbreaker》
2 《Massacre Girl》
2 《Cindervines》
2 《Soul-Guide Lantern》
-Sideboard (15)-

Text for MTG Arena（Click to Expand）

Download Magic Online Text

The week prior to this tournament, I was also playing a very different Jund build, finding some success on ladder, but despite the good results I kinda felt that something was missing, deck was lacking consistency. I didn’t have time to put into the deck so I abandoned that ship.

Here is what I was playing:

Matias Leveratto
– Jund Sacrifice with Obosh

(Standard)

2 《Forest》
2 《Swamp》
1 《Mountain》
4 《Blood Crypt》
4 《Overgrown Tomb》
4 《Stomping Ground》
4 《Fabled Passage》
2 《Castle Locthwain》
1 《Temple of Malady》
1 《Temple of Malice》
-Land (25)- 4 《Cauldron Familiar》
4 《Gilded Goose》
4 《Whisper Squad》
4 《Mayhem Devil》
4 《Woe Strider》
1 《Klothys, God of Destiny》
2 《Korvold, Fae-Cursed King》
-Creature (23)-

4 《Claim the Firstborn》
4 《Drill Bit》
4 《Witch’s Oven》
-Spell (12)-

4 《Duress》
3 《Rotting Regisaur》
3 《Thrashing Brontodon》
2 《Bonecrusher Giant》
2 《Act of Treason》
1 《Obosh, the Preypiercer》
-Sideboard (15)-

Text for MTG Arena（Click to Expand）

Download Magic Online Text

I like Yuuki’s version a lot more. He managed to combine the solid grindy parts of the old Jund with some metagame adjustment and powerful finishers. The deck has some particular choices that make more sense once you play with them and discover all the little synergies.

New Additions to Old Jund Builds

《Priest of Forgotten Gods》

This is a card that was not used in Jund decks in the past, and makes a lot of sense now. She works very well with 《Claim the Firstborn》, has a great buddy in 《Woe Strider》 and the most powerful thing she can do: letting you ramp to a turn 4 《Bolas’s Citadel》!

《Claim the Firstborn》

Having 3 sacrifice outlets in the shape of 《Priest of Forgotten Gods》, 《Woe Strider》 and 《Witch’s Oven》 is key for this card to be playable in the deck. Killing a creature for just 1 mana while attacking and also getting a food token, or a scry, or a Priest activation is very powerful. Even though, it’s true that it doesn’t shine in every matchup, more often than not you will be glad to have it in hand.

《Woe Strider》

A great role player. It works well with almost every card in the deck.

(a) + 《Mayhem Devil》: very easy to control the board when both in play.
(b) + 《Cauldron Familiar》: when having extra food, you can sacrifice the cat with him, scry, bring cat back, and repeat.
(c) + 《Claim the Firstborn》: already stated. Steal a creature and kill it.
(d) + 《Priest of Forgotten Gods》: by himself? He can guarantee an activation.
(e) + 《Bolas’s Citadel》: let you go as deep as your life can resist. It’s very easy to win having both in play.

《Bolas’s Citadel》

When I first saw the list, I was a little bit skeptical of this one, but everything changed when I played it. It’s amazing. It can win you games on the spot that you wouldn’t have won any other way.

What you are trying to do is assemble a board with 10 nonland permanents including 《Mayhem Devil》 to deal 20 damage (10 from Citadel – 10 from Devil’s ability). It’s easier than it looks like, I promise. Keep in mind that once you have Citadel in play, you have cards like 《Woe Strider》, 《Fabled Passage》 and 《Trail of Crumbs》 to help you not stumble finding multiple lands on the top of your deck.

Tips and Tricks

This deck might not be the easiest to play, but it only demands some testing and knowing very well the interaction between your cards. I will give you some tips that might come in handy if it’s your first time playing the deck:

It’s not always a good play to bring back cat from the graveyard at the end of the opponent’s turn, even though having the possibility. You have to take a lot of things into account before making that decision:

(a) – If they are playing removal and your Oven is tapped, maybe it’s a good idea to wait so you can protect your combo.
(b) – If you have 《Trail of Crumbs》 in play but no untapped mana, you might not want to do it until your next turn.
(c) – If you are not planning an attack with the cat next turn, don’t bring it back, since you can draw 《Mayhem Devil》 or 《Trail of Crumbs》 for extra value.
You could find yourself in a spot in which you have some amount of food in play, a 《Cauldron Familiar》 in the graveyard, and a 《Mayhem Devil》 or 《Trail of Crumbs》 in play, but no sacrifice outlet to let you crack all those foods. So what you can do is, sacrifice one food to bring the cat back, but before letting that ability resolve, you can sacrifice another food to bring the very same cat that is still in the graveyard back. You can do this as many times as you want but you have to be careful to respond to your own activations.
Sometimes you will want to use 《Claim the Firstborn》 to give haste to one of your creatures either to attack or to use their ability (Priest).
Most of the times it is very important to use 《Trail of Crumbs》 ability in your turn so you don’t miss a landdrop.

Sideboard Guide

As always, I want to say that I’m not a big fan of sideboard guides. I think that they should be used only as a first approach but are not set in stone. The most important thing is to learn which’s your role in each matchup and then adjust it as you feel comfortable.