Domri Rade, King of the Monsters (M15)
Standard*
SCORE: 29 | 46 COMMENTS | 8113 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS
New Creature Configuration —March 24, 2014
I've loved...loved Reaper of the Wilds, but after a lot of playing, testing, and reading, I'm starting to get the feel that she's a bit too slow. Brian Kibler put out a recent SCG Video on Jund Monsters where he comments basically the same thing, and that solidified it in my mind. So I went -3 Reaper of the Wilds, +1 each of Ghor-Clan Rampager, Scavenging Ooze, and Courser of Kruphix.
I'm not sure on the Courser, it might become something else, reason being that it's pretty low impact against other midrange decks. But I'll keep it for now.
In terms of the sideboard, I removed Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and a Xenagos, the Reveler. Both are great in the Control matchup, but I've already got 2 Xenagos in the main, and it's getting less and less likely that Control will let you resolve a Ruric Thar. A 6-mana spell is tough when you want to be beating them down. And I might go back to some number of Mistcutter Hydra. The results from the last two big Standard events show that UWx Control is now the deck to beat. And for Monsters to beat them, it might just have to go all in with stuff they can't deal with.
I have Mizzium Mortars in the sideboard for the matches where I need them. I find Abrupt Decay to be the more relevant card in most Game 1's. The one exception might be Mono-Black and Mono-Black-esque decks. In which case I'm happy to sideboard them in the next games. I don't find Blood Baron of Vizkopa to be that dangerous of a threat. Rampager, Polukranos, and Stormbreath are all great roadblocks and trumps.
Courser of Kruphix is great...but the 2nd copy is pretty redundant unless you're playing vs. Aggro. Xenagos, The Reveler is your second/third best threat against Control after Stormbreath Dragon and tied with Reaper of the Wilds ...except it doesn't die to Verdict.
March 11, 2014 3:58 p.m.
Quadsimotto says... #3
shoot the rampager did its job against me in a match. Just enough for the win. plus one and i dread facing this deck style at FNM because i refuse to fall in line and play monsters like the rest of the guys where i play. Either MBD or Monsters. damn that. But this is a fine build. If i were to style a monsters deck i would want it to look like this.
March 11, 2014 6:58 p.m.
I was curious about your sideboard. Your in/outs don't really match what you have listed, or am i just missing something. Also I was wondering what lead you to cut Mistctter hydra completely. Definitely agree with Whip, it has bailed me out of so many matches. Im suprised to see its not used more in this type if build. Without hydra I would love to see your sb plan for uwx. Seems like that's the only one you didn't list. I too have been toying around with the correct amounts of courser, polukranos, rampager and reaper. Your split seems pretty balanced. Thanks, GREAT Article!!
March 20, 2014 9:55 a.m.
@ Schennj: my tournament report was from two(ish) weeks ago, and my main/side has changed (albeit marginally) since then. However, I'd played the same list at FNM the night before, and was up against UWx a few times. Here's my sideboard summary:
In: 2x Rakdos's Return ; 2x Golgari Charm ; 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed ; 1x Sire Of Insanity ; 1x Xenagos, The Reveler
Out: 2x Scavenging Ooze ; 1x Polukranos, World Eater ; 1x Domri Rade ; 3x Courser of Kruphix
=
I've since changed my sideboard, and the way I go about sideboarding for the UWx matchup. It's currently as follows:
In: 2x Rakdos's Return ; 2x Golgari Charm ; 2x Abrupt Decay ; 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed ; 1x Chandra, Pyromaster ; 1x Xenagos, The Reveler
Out: 2x Scavenging Ooze ; 2x Mizzium Mortars ; 1x Putrefy ; 2-3x Polukranos, World Eater ; 1x Domri Rade , 1x ???
I don't think Mistcutter Hydra is where this deck wants to be. You have to treat your creatures almost as burn spells against Control, knowing that they can be removed/swept/sphered either right after you play them or next turn. Many UWx decks are now bringing in Blind Obedience and splashing black for cards like Doom Blade . Plus, Elspeth can block the Mistcutter all day. What I've essentially done is substitute one X spell (hydra) for another: Rakdos's Return , which is backbreaking in more than just the control matchup. It's devastating in the mirror.
The Monsters mirror is devastating if you force your opponent into topdeck mode when you aren't. Especially if you're running the higher-removal version of Jund.
Regarding my creature #s. It's something I'm still struggling with. Polukranos was a 4-of in GR because it was one of the only ways to interact with Master of Waves . But with cards like Ultimate Price , Golgari Charm , and Putrefy , Jund doesn't have that problem. It's still a solid 5/5 for 4 in other matches, but having 3 doesn't seem bad, especially because it's Legendary.
Courser was more difficult to determine. 1 is awesome. 2 is less-so. Especially because that makes it so tempting to D-Sphere. All the same, against Aggro I'd love to be gaining 2 life per land drop or just playing the equivalent of ABUR duals and taking no damage. 3 is my concession to that.
As for Reaper of the Wilds . God, she's been SO good. Having that extra 2 mana when you cast her is the stone cold nuts. But that also makes her a 6-mana spell. People are intensely aware of how good she is, so if you play her without protection mana, you can expect them to remove her. She's similar to Olivia Voldaren from last-season's Jund lists in that way. Though she doesn't get as big or take over so quickly. The fact that she's generally a 6-mana play led me to cut her to a 3-of.
All of those 3-of cuts, in turn, gave me room to play all 4 Domri, 3 Xenagos in the 75, 5 solid removal spells maindeck, and (what I feel is) a very powerful sideboard.
My match with MonoBlue at the GPT proved that, since I was run-over in G1, but handily dominated Games 2 & 3.
Mn3m0n1c says... #1
Hey, Lovin Jund monsters. And I like your playstyle of it.I have a few minor recommendations for you.
1)Id swap one of your Dreadbore s out for a Mizzium Mortars . I wanted 2 Mizzium Mortars myself, but I wanted 2 Dreadbore too.. so I just ran 2 of each!And honestly, with 4 Elvish Mystic and 4 Sylvan Caryatid How hard is it for us to overload this thing.. could potentially do it on turn four. aka same turn as Master of Waves
I understand your frustration with the card, and I agree completely. But in terms of Master of Waves . You could Overload it and board wipe, which is one of the more devastating things to happen to a MUD player. After that, his topdecks are nothing but junk devotion creatures that need board presence to do anything. With a Desecration Demon deck, chances are the rest of the deck runs <4 toughness creatures.. so its not a dead card in the slightest bit. and with 2 other Dreadbore s for removal, its not so bad. I'll also present you with a situation I ran into the other day and wished I had my mortars. I faced a UW control player, game 2 I sideboarded out my dead Mizzium Mortars , he sided in his Blood Baron of Vizkopa s... I was excited when he tapped out on turn 5.... I think you can understand the frustration in what actually happened. I did not have a Stormbreath Dragon in sight to help my cause and lost hard to that BBoV.
2)you need a fourth Courser of Kruphix . I found that in all my match ups against UW control, the games I won.. I had card advantage either from Domri Rade or Courser of Kruphix . The games I didnt, I lost to the amount of answers he had.
I'd suggest dropping Xenagos, The Reveler to sideboard or out completely, I dont feel as though he matches monsters playstyle at all and belongs in the devotion style of GR. This would make room for your 4th Courser of Kruphix .
Please check out, rate and critique my variation of Jund Monsters!Jund Monsters [4-0 BNG Game Day]
March 11, 2014 3:22 p.m.