I used to have a blast playing the old jund Death's shadow lists prior to the rise of the grixis variant. So this is an attempt to recapture how that deck felt.
With that in mind, I feel like I have put together a list that does that pretty well. It executes its plan ridiculously fast, while having a bit of resiliency with some new tech.
The plan is to tear apart the opponents hand with Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek, all the while sifting through our own deck with Street Wraith, Faithless Looting and Mishra's Bauble. In addition to these cantrips I'm trying out a two of Dissenter's Deliverance as a main deck way to deal with problematic artifacts and as another cheap cantrip, it also has a pretty good gotchya value.
All these cantrips are trying to find either Death's Shadow or Tarmogoyf, these are still two of the most efficient beaters in modern (plus I have tarmogoyfs and want to play with them!).
In order to turn on shadow the deck runs the normal death's shadow mana base lots of fetches and shocks. The basic forest and swamp are just a concession to both Path to Exile and Blood Moon. To turn on goyf the deck has all the previous mentioned cantrips which are all either free or only a single mana, the fetchlands, the discard package which not only puts a sorcery in the graveyard but fills the opponents, and the old shadow classic Tarfire meaning that a T2 goyf in this deck can potentially be a 5/6! And that is only counting our own graveyard. In a world of Gurmag Anglers that 6th toughness is king.
Given that the deck only runs eight actual threats, finding them is paramount. To facilitate this the deck is running four Traverse the Ulvenwald, and with how easily the deck makes a 4 or 5 power tarmogoyf, delirium is a piece of cake. Given that there is so few threats, and the abundance of removal in the format. The deck is running a two of Claim // Fame (new tech) as a way to rebuy either a shadow or goyf, and potentially give it haste and a slight increase in power.
The final cards in the deck are Rancor and Temur Battle Rage, battle rage has pretty much been a staple in death's shadow decks since they burst on the scene. It's what facilitates the wins out of nowhere and allows shadow decks to compete in the new age of broken magic. Rancor is a way to supplement battle rage, sometimes the one shot kill isn't enough but swinging in with a trample tarmogoyf or death's shadow for a couple turns can do the trick. The return to hand clause eases blowout potential if the creature is killed, something that is a real concern when using battle rage.
That sums up the deck, if you made it to the end of that exhausting deck description you have my endless gratitude! Feel free to leave any feedback all is welcome both positive and negative.
Thanks again Valuebear.
