Land (20)
Creature (20)
Enchantment (2)
Sorcery (10)
Instant (8)
Sideboard
Instant (12)
Sorcery (3)
Maybeboard
Kids: “Mom, can we have Jund?”
Mom: “We have Jund at home.”
Jund at home:
The specific types/counts for the various lands were a bit trickier than usual to lock down. Playtesting against a nonexistent opponent yielded the ratio you see here, skewed in descending order toward //. I’ll be adjusting this as necessary once I get some decent real world data together.
Utility Lands
•Evolving Wilds and Ash Barrens each have distinct advantages and drawbacks, so two copies apiece will cover the spread. Use these to fish out the basic land you anticipate needing the following turn.
•Thriving Grove is a viable choice since every dual land in the format enters tapped anyway, and we aren’t really losing anything (other than a bonus life point perhaps). What we gain is more latitude in determining which dual land we bring this into play as.
•If you’re expecting Unearth or Exhume, then Bojuka Bog interferes nicely with either.
Bread ‘n’ Butter
These will be our basic lands of course, and . As a connoisseur of chartaceous artwork I naturally selected the finest depictions of these biomes from Magic’s back catalogue. John Avon’s Mountain is still one of my favorite printings, and Tony Roberts’ Forests are beautiful to this day, particularly when all 4 variants are laid side by side and you can see the full panorama.
A healthy assortment of Discard, Removal, and straight up Burn spells will pave the way in the early game setting us up to drop some powerful creature threats. Pauper has a plethora of options for us to choose from, and at the perfect mana values to help us remain on curve.
•Duress is strongest right at the outset, but loses very little in the way of value as the game progresses. Sun Tzu recommends you get to know the player sitting across from you, and thus anticipate potential combo pieces to target with this choice discard spell.
•I wanted to try out Spore Frog in lieu of plain old Fog to see how it fared. The idea is that unless it’s outright countered, any attempt to remove it can be preceded by sacrificing it for its ability, and if it sticks then we gain a 1/1 Fog Frog. It remains to be seen whether it has staying power or not, but whatever the case the ability to nullify combat damage can be handy when we’re light on removal spells or facing down quicker, more aggro oriented decks.
•Lightning Bolt shouldn’t require much of an explanation; just remember to reign in your emotions and choose wisely when selecting a target. The cold and calculated removal of a 1/1 with a nasty ability outweighs 3-to-the-face 99% of the time.
•Cast Down is king in the format; all the Legendary creatures in Pauper are either laughably bad or incredibly niche. lets us nuke practically anything, and is a worthy staple for inclusion.
•Faithless Looting is essentially all upsides here. Drawing two cards for two mana almost can’t be beat (see below), and we get to choose what to keep and what to discard after the draws which is preferred. Lastly, dumping 2 in our graveyard suits our fishy friend just fine!
•Bequeathal is very productive in the deck. The ability to draw 2 cards right away or at a later time is undoubtedly advantageous. When cast on an opponent’s creature, capitalize on our many creature removal options. Certain creatures of our own make logical targets too.
•Blightning is just…wonderful. Chipping away at the opponent’s life bar while eroding their hand is highly effective and can quickly put an overeager opponent on the defensive.
Utility spells may bolster what we’re capable of, but the real damage will be inflicted through traditional creature damage.
I wanted to differentiate this build from the usual stuff in the archetype, so some of these creature selections may feel quite odd (and some are probably just…bad). Nonetheless I am firmly committed to not simply copy&pasting the same deck(s) or variations thereof that have been floating around for years, and there is indeed a bit of synergy among the following creatures.
•Kird Ape is a fine 1 drop that’s practically guaranteed to hulk out from a 1/1 to a 2/3.
•Spore Frog was detailed above and is far better suited to utility than combat, but hey—the scenario exists wherein the opponent may be sitting at 1 life and you just so happen to have this fearsome amphibian ready and waiting. Also, Reinforce/Scavenge is a thing.
•Putrid Leech occupies our 2 drop slot and offers a sweet bonus. Once per turn, we may temporarily boost its stats by an additional +2/+2, if we pay 2 life points for the privilege. Better to bide your time and wait until you’re sure damage will go through rather than run in guns blazing. Pauper Jund is a midrange affair, and it’s making the correct decisions in the heat of battle that will determine the outcome.
•As a 4/4 Trampler Bannerhide Krushok brings a decent battlefield presence to the deck, and while its Scavenge ability is less likely to be useful, Reinforce could easily see play once or twice.
•Gurmag Angler is our big boy, and with plentiful discard outlets it’ll most certainly see play.
•Play increasingly effective creatures on curve, leaning into their various strengths. Inflict successive amounts of combat damage while waiting for the graveyard to fill up.
•Cast Gurmag Angler when ready and Reinforce/Scavenge if able, dealing battle damage for the win.
This is a hastily cobbled together toolbox for the format, aiming to cover most of the usual suspects we might encounter.
•Pulse of Murasa recovers lost life and will return a creature (or land, such as an Ash Barrens) from the graveyard to your hand for reuse. This is currently relegated to the sideboard as I’m not quite sure it’s mandatory fare for the maindeck. We should be ok as far as life loss goes, Putrid Leech is our only way to self-ping and we’ll likely be in a good enough position to close out a close game. It’s always here if we need to readjust things.
•Natural State removes problematic artifacts and enchantments, both plentiful in Pauper, all for a low low price.
•Chainer's Edict sidesteps evasive tactics and forces a sacrifice, and it’s reusable owing to Flashback which is quite handy.
•Pyroblast is a lifesaver against control decks, as we all know there’s no shortage of counter magic and bounce spells in Pauper.
•Active Volcano is inexpensive, legal in the format, and surprisingly effective. The ability to bounce a land in Jund is interesting, and the added versatility it brings makes it a nifty sideboard addition.
”They will all be left for the birds of prey of the mountains And for the beasts of the earth.”
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93% Casual
Competitive
Revision 1 See all
(2 years ago)
| +2 | Active Volcano | side |
| -1 | Bequeathal | main |
| +1 | Blightning | main |
| +3 | Chainer's Edict | side |
| +3 | Natural State | side |
| +3 | Pulse of Murasa | side |
| +4 | Putrid Leech | main |
| +4 | Pyroblast | side |
| -4 | Wild Mongrel | main |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 2 years |
| Last updated | 3 weeks |
| Legality | This deck is Pauper legal. |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.25 |
| Folders | Pauper, Do You Play Pauper?, Pauper Decks, Cool Pauper Decks, .Pauper, Workshop, Interesting Decks |
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