Hi everyone, and welcome to this week’s Matchup Analysis! Like I explained last week, in this column yours truly and his trusty testing partner Marco Hoonderd will take the top decks of the moment and smash them against each other. With ‘top decks’ we could mean the decks that just made the finals of the latest Grand Prix, Pro Tour or SCG open, or the decks that have been consistently performing up until that point.
For the second edition of this column, Marco and I tested the UWR deck that just won GP Bilbao, (the same deck that just won both recent Modern PTQs online in the hands of Larry Swasey and Brandon Large) versus the biggest deck in Modern: Jund.
Jund finished second in GP Bilbao, and we will use that exact list to test the matchup.
The Decks
[Deck title=”Jund by Lukas Jaklovsky”]
[Creatures]
*4 Deathrite Shaman
*4 Dark Confidant
*4 Tarmogoyf
*2 Kitchen Finks
*4 Bloodbraid Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*3 Inquisition of Kozilek
*4 Lightning Bolt
*4 Thoughtseize
*2 Abrupt Decay
*4 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Land]
*4 Blackcleave Cliffs
*1 Blood Crypt
*1 Forest
*4 Marsh Flats
*1 Overgrown Tomb
*3 Raging Ravine
*1 Stomping Ground
*2 Swamp
*2 Treetop Village
*2 Twilight Mire
*4 Verdant Catacombs
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
*1 Grafdigger’s Cage
*2 Grim Lavamancer
*2 Ancient Grudge
*1 Deglamer
*1 Torpor Orb
*2 Maelstrom Pulse
*2 Olivia Voldaren
*2 Slaughter Games
*2 Batterskull
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
A “traditional” Jund build, the full four Liliana’s, a conservative manabase with five man-lands, and seven discard spells make sure this deck is ready for the new metagame. The maindeck is skewed to deal with an influx in combo and the new Hexproof deck, whereas the sideboard tries to shore up the creature matchups.
This deck will be played by Marco.
[Deck title=”UWR by Mitchell Manders”]
[Creatures]
*4 Snapcaster Mage
*2 Aven Mindcensor
*4 Geist of Saint Traft
*3 Vendilion Clique
*1 Thundermaw Hellkite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*4 Lightning Bolt
*3 Path to Exile
*4 Lightning Helix
*2 Izzet Charm
*2 Mana Leak
*3 Remand
*3 Electrolyze
[/Spells]
[Land]
*4 Arid Mesa
*4 Celestial Colonnade
*1 Eiganjo Castle
*2 Hallowed Fountain
*2 Island
*1 Mountain
*1 Plains
*1 Sacred Foundry
*4 Scalding Tarn
*2 Steam Vents
*1 Sulfur Falls
*2 Tectonic Edge
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
*1 Disenchant
*2 Pyroclasm
*1 Spellskite
*2 Counterflux
*2 Rule of Law
*1 Tempest of Light
*2 Threads of Disloyalty
*1 Baneslayer Angel
*1 Batterskull
*2 Engineered Explosives
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
A relative newcomer to the format, UWR resembles the earlier “American/Russian/Dutch/15-more-countries-with-red-white-and-blue Delver” that saw some success early on in the format. Cutting the Delvers for more spells and creatures somewhat higher up the curve, this deck became more of a midrange “Counterburn” deck, carried by the power of [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] and [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card].
This deck will be played by me, Jay.
The Games
Like last time, we will play ten games: four pre-board and six post-board. We play more post-board, because logically speaking those are more important (2 out of 3 games will be with a sideboard, as long as you go to three games). We will simply alternate play/draw.
Preboard
G1 with UWR on the play.
A combination of a turn three [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] and some removal spells puts Marco away quickly when he doesn’t draw a Liliana.
1-0 in favor of UWR
G2 with Jund on the play
UWR is stuck on two lands while two early Goyfs kill Jay in short order.
1-1
G3 with UWR on the play
Marco gets stuck on lands this time. A Geist stares at a Goyf for a while, but when Jay finds a [card]Path to Exile[/card] Geist and his Angel buddy dispatch Marco.
2-1 in favor of UWR
G4 with Jund on the play
While the first Liliana gets countered, a second Liliana takes care of the Geist that Jay put on the table. With the easy win eliminated, we end up in a topdeck war. Jay draws more Snapcasters than Marco draws Bloodbraid Elves, and in the end a Colonnade finishes Marco.
3-1 in favor of UWR
Sideboarding
Jund:
In:
+2 [card]Olivia Voldaren[/card]
+2 [card]Batterskull[/card]
+1 [card]Maelstrom Pulse[/card]
Out:
-2 [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]
-1 [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]
-1 [card]Thoughtseize[/card]
-1 [card]Dark Confidant[/card]
When the game doesn’t end quickly because of Geist, it ends up in a topdeck war, just the way Jund likes it. With Olivia’s and [card]Batterskull[/card]s, Jund has even more great topdecks. The [card]Maelstrom Pulse[/card] also comes in, because it is likely UWR brings in their [card]Batterskull[/card] and a [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card]. Like Jaklovsky, we shave the [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]s, a [card]Lightning Bolt[/card], a [card]Thoughtseize[/card] and a Confidant, as Bolt and [card]Thoughtseize[/card] aren’t the greatest topdecks, and the life loss of Confidant actually hurts, especially when boarding in some extra four and five drops. [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] doesn’t kill anything that [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] doesn’t (except for the Angel token).
UWR:
In:
+2 [card]Threads of Disloyalty[/card]
+1 [card]Batterskull[/card]
+1 [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card]
+2 [card]Counterflux[/card]
Out:
-3 [card]Remand[/card]
-1 [card]Electrolyze[/card]
-1 [card]Mana Leak[/card]
-1 [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card]
Whereas the camera lingered over Jaklosky’s sideboard choices, Mitchell’s adds and cut where harder to spot. He definitely added the two [card]Threads of Disloyalty[/card], the Baneslayer and the [card]Batterskull[/card] (improving his topdecks too). I also decided to add the [card]Counterflux[/card]es, as while counterspells aren’t the greatest against Jund, [card]Counterflux[/card] actually counters a [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card] and the spell they cascade into, and it’s a hard counter against [card]Batterskull[/card]s and other big spells Jund might board in.
I took out 3 [card]Remand[/card]s (we need real answers against Jund, not tempo plays), an [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card], an [card]Electrolyze[/card] and a [card]Mana Leak[/card]. [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card] is a creature that can threaten a surprise assault on Liliana, but that’s about what it does. [card]Electrolyze[/card] can often also kill a Liliana, but draws a card too. It’s not very good at killing relevant creatures, though – you’re often spending more mana than your opponent invested. I like keeping in a single [card]Mana Leak[/card]: it makes your opponent play around it when they see it, and it’s another possible answer to [card]Batterskull[/card].
Postboard
G5 Jund mulls to 5, UWR on the play
Jay keeps a 2 land hand, but misses on his third land drop for 3 turns in a row. Double BBE puts it away for Marco.
0-1 in favor of Jund (3-2 in favor of UWR overall)
G6 with Jund on the play
A turn one discard spell into a third turn Liliana puts us both low on action pretty fast. A BBE that cascades into a [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card] gets countered, and the Deathrite is stolen by a [card]Threads of Disloyalty[/card]. Another Liliana kills the Shaman and then attempts to clear us both of whatever is left of our hands. Jay resolves a [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card] in response to the last activation though, to kill the planeswalker on Jay’s turn. From there, we both draw mostly lands, but Jay has a Colonnade and a timely [card]Path to Exile[/card] for Marco’s [card]Raging Ravine[/card].
1-1 (4-2 overall)
G7 with UWR on the play.
Jay gets stuck on two lands again, which lets Marco catch up after a mull to five. A Liliana shreds both player’s hands, after which Marco draws two [card]Batterskull[/card]s, while Jay draws air. Sweet, sweet air – no good at blocking, though.
1-2 in favor of Jund (4-3 overall)
G8 with Jund on the play
Jay keeps four lands, [card]Vendilion Clique[/card] and [card]Mana Leak[/card] on six and ends up a bit threat light. However, it seems hard to go to five in this grindy matchup. In this game, Marco has a Liliana and a lot of action, while Jay keeps drawing [card]Celestial Colonnade[/card]s. Jay can keep trading for a while, but in the end a [card]Batterskull[/card] and a [card]Dark Confidant[/card] take him out.
1-3 in favor of Jund (4-4 overall)
After losing to [card]Batterskull[/card] twice, Jay sideboards in [card]Disenchant[/card] in the place of the last Mindcensor.
G9 with UWR on the play.
Jay mulls to five and is [card]Thoughtseize[/card]d, leaving only a [card]Batterskull[/card] and lands in his hand. Marco plays a turn 3, turn 4 and a turn 5 [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card]. You can probably guess the rest.
1-4 in favor of Jund (4-5 in favor of Jund overall)
G10 with Jund on the play.
A typical game where we both trade resources, Marco has two Bloodbraid Elves, of which one trades with an overloaded [card]Counterflux[/card], and one trades with a [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] that flashes back a [card]Lightning Helix[/card]. We both end up with an empty hand, Marco with a Liliana on 2, Jay with a [card]Batterskull[/card] (no Germ), with Jay at 5. Jay draws another [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], which takes out Liliana with a [card]Lightning Helix[/card]. He equips the Snapcaster with the [card]Batterskull[/card] to get himself out of burn range, while Marco (now with a [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card] in play) is fervently knocking his deck for a [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card] or a Pulse. He draws a land, and Jay draws a [card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card]. Marco can’t possibly race a [card]Batterskull[/card] or a Thundermaw, let alone the combination of the two. He concedes after drawing his next card.
2-4 in favor of Jund (5-5 overall)
Overall Impression
Not all of the games we played felt representative of how the games go on average. While Marco mulled to five twice, I lost both those games while keeping a full seven because I didn’t draw a third land for multiple turns. The games where I mulled Marco easily put me away, but this is also a strength of Jund and it’s discard spells: if the opponent is light on action, the discard spells make it really hard to keep up. In the end, we both had five game wins, but felt like UWR was a slight favorite in the matchup overall.
The games we played are ultimately very grindy, where both players trade removal spells for creatures, and discard spells. These are the games that end up with both players in topdeck mode, and Jund is normally favored there, because of their man-lands, [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card] and [card]Dark Confidant[/card] basically drawing extra cards, and some of the best removal in the format.
However, UWR can keep up quite well in this kind of game. They have [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]s to match the cascading Elf, removal spells that draw you a card, giant man-lands (a 4/4 flyer is near impossible to kill for Jaklovsky’s list) and more efficient removal than even Jund has – and if you ever draw the one Dragon, it probably outmatches anything on the field.
UWR also has a way to prevent the game from getting to topdeck mode: [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]. Especially in the preboard games, if you can keep a Liliana off the field with your counters, Geist can take over the game all by itself. Often a three turn clock, a quick Geist backed by some disruption easily goes all the way.
Key cards pre-board:
Jund:
[card]Liliana of the Veil[/card]
Discard spells
[card]Tarmogoyf[/card]
[card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card]
Man-landsUWR:
[card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]
[card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card]
[card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]
[card]Celestial Colonnade[/card]
Preboard, the game first resolves around the Geist – Liliana subgame. This is where some of the more interesting decisions in this matchup are made. Do you just run out Geist on turn three? Do you wait until you have another creature? Until you have counter back up? It depends on what you think your opponent has. For Jund, it has similar issues: Do you expose Liliana to burn spells and flash creatures, or do you wait for a Geist to show up? What if they don’t have Geist? Then a Liliana might run away with the game.
If Jund doesn’t have Liliana, then a large [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] can hold a Geist at bay, and Jund can always use discard spells to get rid of Geist, if you catch it in their hands in the first two turns.
If UWR doesn’t have a Geist, Thundermaw can do a reasonable impression. It’s bigger than anything but a fully powered [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], and flies over anything Jund has.
When you get past those shenanigans, and you get to topdeck mode, then the question becomes who draws more [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]s/Bloodbraid Elves, or who has unanswered manlands. This is the part where you start having less and less decisions, which makes the games feel somewhat luck-based.
Key cards post-board:
Jund:
[card]Liliana of the Veil[/card]
Discard spells
[card]Batterskull[/card]
[card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card]
[card]Olivia Voldaren[/card]
Man-landsUWR:
[card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]
[card]Baneslayer Angel[/card]
[card]Batterskull[/card]
[card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card]
[card]Snapcaster Mage[/card]
[card]Celestial Colonnade[/card]
Post board, we have to add some haymakers to the equation. [card]Batterskull[/card] is a reusable threat with lifelink, and generally dominates the late game. Being able to return it to your hand or equip it to any drawn creature makes it very good in a game of exhaustion, as it makes creature removal way less useful. Olivia is a way to deal with Baneslayer and Thundermaw, but is slightly vulnerable to [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] and [card]Lightning Helix[/card].
After playing some games, I added a [card]Disenchant[/card] over the second Mindcensor, as I wanted to have an answer to a resolved [card]Batterskull[/card]. Even though it is completely dead otherwise, you can pitch it to an [card]Izzet Charm[/card] or Liliana activation in a pinch, and still have access to it through [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card].
After the sideboarded games, Marco mentioned he would’ve liked the second [card]Maelstrom Pulse[/card] as well, probably over a Bolt, for a similar reason to my reasoning in regards to adding a [card]Disenchant[/card]: he wanted more answers to [card]Batterskull[/card]/Baneslayer/Thundermaw.
Conclusion
Like I mentioned earlier, Marco and I both felt that UWR is the favorite in this matchup, mostly because of [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]. While Jund has answers to Geist, UWR has ways to play around those answers, and Jund does not have a trump of the same power level. However, because a lot of games end up in topdeck wars, the matchup sometimes feels like a coinflip.
If you like this installment, or have suggestions for which decks to test, what you’d like to see more or less of, etc., feel free to leave a comment, or tweet at me here.
Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you next week!
Jay Lansdaal
iLansdaal on Twitter and MTGO