Intro
Heres my Jarad list currently; its my competitive deck and Ive been fine-tuning it for a few years now. It functions as a combo deck with a reanimator engine. It goldfishes around turn 4-5 win. This primer is updated weekly as the decklist goes through small changes.
History
Before we begin, I'd like to talk a little bit about myself and my history in magic, and the deck's history. I started playing Magic when I was about seven, and EDH when I was about ten. My first EDH deck was a terrible, terrible Eron the Relentless deck. It eventually evolved into a casual Heartless Hidetsugu deck which I still have and play with a more casual group. It was the best deck in my meta when we first really started wanting to compete, though we were very unevolved. After it grew boring playing the same deck over and over, I designed a Kresh the Bloodbraided fatties deck. It wasn't as good as Heartless, but it was a lot of fun. After a long time, I eventually sucked the red out of Kresh to force myself to diversify. Little did I know that I was on the way to my best deck in the format, Jarad.
Jarad started as a quirky ramp deck. It was still fatties from its Kresh days, but now used more sorceries and ramp creatures to achieve it's goal. I used Crypt Ghast, Boundless Realms, and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger to establish a large X spell, typically Exsanguinate or Genesis Wave. Jarad slowly became better than Heartless, which was still arguably the best deck in the meta, though much less so than before. Already I was familiar with graveplay, but it wasn't the main focus of the deck - combat damage was.
When Sylvan Primordial was spoiled, I knew I had to use it. I switched over from a rampy build to a classical reanimator deck - with many reanimation spells and things like Entomb, I tried to reanimate SyPri and other fatties many times over. The "big three" of the deck were Vorinclex, SyPri, and It That Betrays - none of which I play now. As I introduced my playgroup to more competitive play, I faltered as the "lead player," and now was competing with opposing Sharuum decks and Roon decks.
Ironically enough, the banning of Sylvan Primordial helped the deck out a fair bit. I was forced to explore other options outside of classical reanimator, which brought me to the combo build I use today. Of course I've tweaked it a significant amount, but the core is the same. You'll see some remnants of my past builds - things like Rune-Scarred Demon and Crypt Ghast hint of times past, though they still function well in this deck. While my meta is much more varied and diverse now, and our games are rarely identical, I like to think I'm still in the lead. My tournament reports are consistent with this.
Philosophy
Why play this deck? I've been asked this a lot. What edge does Jarad have over Mimeoplasm? The biggest difference between me and Mimeo decks is that Mimeo decks are reanimator decks with a combo finisher (or sometimes Voltron), whereas I'm a combo deck with a reanimator engine. Blue really doesn't give us a lot of cards we want to play - some exceptions being Intuition, Consecrated Sphinx, and Jin-Gitaxias. We're much faster than classial Mimeo decks, and our Commander is better at comboing. However, the most important distinction between us is that when a player sits down to a table with a Mimeoplasm as their Commander, people groan and t1 Enlightened Tutor for Rest in Peace. People know Mimeo, and how to play around it. When we sit down with Jarad, everyone expects the Wall of Blood / Hatred shenanigans that the other lists play. We use him differently, obviously. He's not the most typical G/B Commander of choice in competitive; that's usually an honor reserved for Glissa or Varolz. Why play him over Karador, then? Well, Karador only gives us a few options we don't already have. Elesh Norn fits in somewhere, Iona replaces ITB. There are a few utility options that aren't bad, but the mana base is a lot weaker, and our extra-mana-from-swamps package gets a lot worse. Again, Karador is a different deck. It relies more on smaller utility creatures. Similarly, Teneb is also different. Where Karador focuses on smaller utility creatures, Teneb is a more classic "reanimator" deck similar to Mimeoplasm.
More importantly, playing two colors allows us to focus on casting spells. We can't support three colors on 31 lands, especially with so many colorless ones. Jarad is a very greedy deck, meaning that simply playing this build is a gamble, but one that in my experience pays off nicely. We don't want to be playing the safe route most of the time, and while we have plan Bs and plan Cs, the plan A is to combo before our opponents can stabilize. Jarad is a proactive deck; the removal spells are mostly in here for things that shut down our combos like gravehate.
Game Plan
0) Before the game begins, sit down and look at the opponents. This is the most important step, and the most difficult. Figure out which deck is most worrisome. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but hopefully the table looks like Maelstrom Wanderer, Sharuum, and Kaalia. Why? These decks are all very consistent, but they don't play much counterspells or other disruption. Generally assume Jarad is the fastest and most resilient deck here - while it's not always true, we have to play as if it is or we lose a war of attrition. Mulligan aggressively; if your playgroup doesn't allow Partial Paris mulligans like SCG pods, play more lands than I do. Mulling this deck is fairly straightforward after some practice, but over time the strategy becomes evident. The general rule of thumb is to mulligan anything that isn't ramp, cheap card draw, tutors, or sometimes reanimation spells.
1) Resource conversion - Most games can skip this step, but it's necessary if we're a bit slower this game. Reanimate a creature within the first two or three turns. We go for Baleful Force, unless your group plays very little removal or the spell we're using forces us to lose life (like Reanimate or Life / Death). Otherwise, we probably want Rune-Scarred Demon, depending on our hand. Do this either with Entomb or, in a pinch, by drawing over 7 and discarding, never with Buried Alive (explained later on). After a couple turns of generating card advantage, hate starts coming in in the form of opponents removal and counterspells. Follow this up with more resource conversion - we turn cards into mana. We tutor up a Mana Crypt or Hermit Druid. The preparations for the next step are beginning.
2) We're ahead now. After a few tutors, we find our first combo. About sixty percent of the games we win, we win in this step. Usually the game ends now. If there's a Rest in Peace or whatever, instead tutor up Krosan Grip or an appropriate removal spell. If we get disrupted or don't have enough tutors to win now, that's fine; proceed to the next step.
3) Don't mess this part up. In sharp contrast to the very linear early game, this is where the deck's diversity and toolboxing thrive. We can play the long game as well as any other deck. This deck has a powerful early and late-game, but it's mid-game is weak - just try to get by and shut any opposing shenanigans down. We're probably behind if we even reach this step, but that's ok. Playing conservatively, we tutor up removal spells if needed. If playing against decks like Arcum Dagsson or Azami, we play around counterspells.
4) Win with a large spell. Entwine a Tooth and Nail, or Victimize your recycled combo pieces. This deck has a weird resilience and plays better than many other decks when the game goes into topdeck mode. Sometimes we can get there just with a Rune-Scarred Demon and a few combat steps. Sometimes we draw into our own combo late-game. Another way to win here is just to fling a lot of fat creatures to Jarad, notably Lord of Extinction, then bring them back, then do it again until people die. That's fine. Good game.
We have a few gameplan-defining synergies. Obviously we have many gameplan-defining combos, but I talk more about that below. Usually, we will be tutoring for combos, as while synergies put us very ahead, combos simply end the game. That being said, occasionally we want to be more conservative, so I've included a few interactions that can define our plays for a couple of turns.
Perhaps most notable is the Greater Good line. This card alone warps the game. Not only does it generate a great deal of card advantage with Jarad and other value plays, it's part of a slowroll setup to a combo. A common line of play is to sacrifice Rune-Scarred Demon, draw six and discard three, and cast a reanimation spell on demon. Demon will go and tutor up another reanimation spell, and we can repeat this to fill our yard with creatures. End the loop by tutoring up Living Death or a similar card. Alternatively, we can fill our yard, then flashback Dread Return and combo out. Lord of Extinction really shines here.
Another gameplan synergy is the LD plan. Crucible recurs Strip Mine, and starts blowing up Player B's lands. Generally this is only good late-game as it only hurts one opponent, so we just start denying the biggest player. This interaction can tie up a game with an Oracle of Mul-Daya in play. LD doubles with the mana-denial that will render our opponents useless. In this line of play, we utilize Woodfall Primus to blow up enemies' mana sources. Sacrificing them, usually to Jarad, and reanimating them, and re-reanimating them, will pull us ahead, at least against one opponent. Use Quillspike in conjunction with Woodfall Primus for maximum effect.
Combos and Win-Cons
- Our first win-con is very easy to assemble. All we need is Survival of the Fittest, or a Buried Alive and any reanimation spell. Buried Alive grabs Necrotic Ooze, Phyrexian Devourer, and Triskelion. Making sure the Ooze is the top card of our graveyard so that Corpse Dance will grab it, we reanimate the Ooze. If it gets countered, we start digging for another reanimation spell. Once Ooze is in play, we activate the zero ability on Devourer and get some counters, then remove them with Triskelion. Repeat until your opponents' life totals are 0. This is a good chunk of our wins, and our most consistent win-condition. If our opponents try to kill Ooze with, say, a Putrefy, we can kill them in response to the Putrefy. If it's super late-game or an opponent has a lot of life, we might not be able to flip kill them with our library. If that's true, we can hold the Ooze in play and kill people who try to remove it or clone it or whatever in response. Eventually we can kill the table. Save Buried Alive for this. It wins games in one turn if we need to later on.
- The next-easiest is also a one-card combo: Phyrexian Devourer (+ Jarad). We usually do this when there's a RiP or similar graveyard hate in play, as it's one of the only combos that doesn't involve cards our GY. We exile the top card of our library until Devourer is large. With the Sacrifice trigger on the stack, we repeatedly use its first ability to add to its power, then sacrifice to Jarad. If for whatever reason we cant activate Jarad (Hinder, Pithing Needle, not enough mana) we can instead sacrifice Devourer to an Altar of Dementia and kill one player, or to Greater Good to draw any other combo. This combo can also respond to creature kill by just... keep going. The exception is Krosan Grip. However, it's weak to Stifle effects - nobody wants to have half their library in exile and not win.
- Find Mikeaus. Find Triskelion. This is a pretty common combo, but for those who have never seen it, we use Triskelion to ping itself until it dies, and then undies, pointing extra counters at our opponents. Do that for a while. We can play around Krosan Grip by maintaining priority and removing all the counters at once, or we can play around Deglamer / Unravel the Aether by holding an extra counter to respond to it, but we can't play around both. This combo is disrupted by instant speed GY exile or by creature removal, and is easily tutored by Buried Alive + Victimize or Tooth and Nail. Another way to land this combo is to sacrifice a Lord of Extinction to Greater Good or Altar of Dementia (in the late game) and draw essentially your deck, pitching Mike, Trike, and Phyrexian Delver. Reanimate the Delver, then grab Mike with it. Sac the Delver to the Greater Good and grab Mike. Sac it again, and when it undies, grab Trike. (This can also be done with the Woodfall combo below.)
- Fling Lord of Extinction with a bunch of cards in graveyards.
- With Mikeaus and Woodfall Primus, we can sacrifice Woodfall repeatedly to any sacrifice outlet and destroy all noncreature permanents we dont control. As this includes lands, this is usually met by concession from the rest of the table. If our sacrifice outlet is Altar of Dementia, we can mill the table out. If its Phyrexian Altar, we can generate infinite mana, cast Jarad, and burn the table to death. If its Greater Good, a 1-sided mass land-destruction usually ends the game itself when paired with the massive card advantage, or usually I can find a way to combo out that turn (often by casting Life, or by flashbacking a Dread Return). This combo is disrupted by instant speed GY exile, creature removal, or artifact/enchantment removal.
- With an Eternal Witness and a bunch creatures on field or in the yard and a Phyrexian Altar in play, Living Death allows me to recur them and generate more mana than it costs to cast the reanimation spell itself. E Wit will grab back the Living Death and we can repeat this process indefinitely for infinite mana. Then, we can cast Jarad and use his sacrifice ability repeatedly to burn the table. If Jarad is tucked, many other creatures with an Enter the Battlefield abilities like Rune-Scarred Demon or Woodfall Primus can also make this combo practically lethal as we get those abilities repeatedly. It's easier to perform this combo with creatures in play / graveyards that allow additional mana, like Mikeaus or Woodfall Primus. Generally, this combo is set up by Greater Good to fill your 'yard.
- With a Quillspike and a Devoted Druid in play, Quillspike becomes infinitely big, then can be flung to Jarad. With them in the graveyard and a Necrotic Ooze in play, Ooze becomes infinitely big and produces infinite green mana, and then does the same thing.
There are several other semi-hidden combos, some of which I detail in my card-by-card.
Card by card
Lands:
Bayou, Command Tower, Mana Confluence, City of Brass, Overgrown Tomb, Woodland Cemetery, Twilight Mire, Llanowar Wastes - Whatever. Duals are duals.
Cabal Coffers - Pretty good late-game, but early game it's a spot mulligan without Urborg.
Dryad Arbor - Really only in the deck because we can t1 Green Sun's Zenith into it, which is pretty common. Earns its slot well.
Phyrexian Tower - Sac outlets are great. Tower can tap for a bunch. Pretty good.
Strip Mine - Shit wins games, yo. Usually we play it to kill Arcum's or Maelstrom's land and slow them back a turn. Sometimes our opponent keeps a low-land hand in hopes to draw into more, because they have just enough for their early-game draw engine (Temple Bell, Phyrexian Arena, whatever). This thing takes them out pretty early. It's also great with Crucible, obviously.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Goes really well with Crypt Ghast and Cabal Coffers. Still pretty good outside of that.
Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, Bloodstained Mire, Misty Rainforest, Wooded Foothills, Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath - All solid. Shuffles away stuff for Scroll Rack, Sylvan Library, Oracle of Mul Daya, et cetera. Recurs to Crucible.
Bojuka Bog - I figured with Tempt with Discovery in the deck, it's indecent not to play at least one utility land.
Temple of Malady - Pretty feel-good I guess.
Reliquary Tower - Worth it since the inclusion of Necropotence.
Ancient Tomb - Don't think I need to explain this. Pretty strong card. The damage can be rough.
3x Forest, 4x Swamp - I think the right choice might be 4 Forest, 3 Swamp. Still testing. The low number of basics is to make Hermit Druid better. It'll soon be less when I get more fetches.
Ramp / Mana:
Mana Crypt - It's insane. The only thing I'd say is that we ought not to cast it until the turn we use it, to minimize damage.Sol Ring - No explanation needed.
Deathrite Shaman - It's ramp with fetchlands, and it's also grave hate. I'd probably replace it with Birds of Paradise if you can't afford the fetchlands or nobody else in your playgroup plays them.
Nature's Lore - Great card. Note that it can find Bayou / Dryad Arbor.Hermit Druid - We don't play a bunch of basics. Trying to lower my count. Fills grave fast and hits land drops. Unless we have a super early combo, Green Sun's at 2 or turn one Worldly Tutor usually hits this, otherwise it's Steve. It's not the combo piece used in a lot of other decks though.
Golgari Signet - Has the advantage that it can be played t1 off of Sol Ring, and is ramp that puts me on green if we don't have any. Fine accel.
Phyrexian Altar - "Fast" sac outlets, meaning there's no other cost to sacrifice, are always useful here. Part of a combo I was speaking about earlier.Oracle of Mul Daya - Does a lot of work. Synergy with a Crucible / Strip Mine plan.
Crypt Ghast - Good without Urborg. Great with it.
Skyshroud Claim - Note that Skyshroud gets them untapped. Can also find Dryad Arbor / shockland / Bayou. Very solid ramp.
Tempt with Discovery - It's a very complicated card, really. If we're ahead, typically it only will find one land. If we're behind, it'll usually get two or three. If we'll only get one use out of it, Ancient Tomb is typically the correct target. Going for Urborg and Coffers is a possibility.
Gilded Lotus - 5 for 3 is solid, especially when it comes in untapped. Gets around Armageddon effects I guess.
Fatties:
Lord of Extinction - A newer inclusion, but a typical one in a Jarad build. Superb with Greater Good, it's Devourer 2.0. Also great with Hermit Druid.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - Also a combo piece, but is fine for stuff like Phyrexian Delver or whatever. Nothing to joke about. The +1/+1 can be relevant, but the Undying makes the card.
Rune-Scarred Demon - Tutor on a stick. Superb.
Baleful Force - Pretty Strong. Note that it triggers each upkeep, not just mine. The life loss is pretty pertinent though.
Woodfall Primus - Combos with Mikeaus and blows shit up fine. Powerful with Greater Good or other sac outlets.
Utility
Altar of Dementia - Another fast sac outlet. Great for self-milling. Kills one player with Phyrexian Devourer.
Restore- Generally p versatile, enough so that we want to play another effect like this (in addition to Eternal Witness).
Riftsweeper - Still in testing, but it seems really nice. Being able to get back something I've pitched to Necro, or a Dread Return I flashbacked, really helps if I'm taking a longer combo turn, usually with Greater Good or Altar of Dementia.
Eternal Witness - Restore on a stick, it's great.
Crucible of Worlds - After turns of Hermit Druid, Altar of Dementia, or other similar effects, it guarantees hitting land. Great with Strip Mine, Fetchlands.
Removal
Slaughter Pact - Comes as a surprise often. Careful not to cast it into Armageddon, Blood Moon, etc..
Deglamer - Powers through the typical Darksteel Forge + Nev Disk lock and hits gods. Also shuffles away a Sharuum or any other artifact / enchantment commander. Often used early game on mana rocks. Solid.
Sudden Death - I personally play this because it kills Prophet of Kruphix, which is very common in my meta, and is uncounterable. Pretty great outside of that too.
Beast Within - Versatile as hell, only costs 2G. The 3/3 hardly matters.
Krosan Grip - Uncounterable, best against Sharuum or Arcum but often used against others. Noteworthy that it kills Nev Disk or O-Stone without a crack in response, and also Tormond's Crypt and friends.
Putrefy - Versatile removal; typically hits powerful early game threat like Zur or whatever.
Toxic Deluge - Cheap removal.
Reclamation Sage - I figured I wanted some Naturalize effect on a creature, because it can be recurred and more easily tutored. Replaced T-Don.
Damnation - The black WoG. In testing but seems fine.
Snuff Out - Hard to play around, but it's painful that it only hits nonblack creatures. Still, quite potent.
Murderous Cut - Usually one mana. Exiling from your graveyard is a little counterintuitive in this deck, but one-mana unconditional creature removal is too good to pass up. It also has a cute interaction with Riftsweeper if I need something back in my deck in a hurry.
Decree of Pain - Either a late-game sweeper that draws a bunch, or a mid-game sweeper for utility bears that draws one, is instant speed, and uncounterable. Not a bad card at all.
C-c-c-combo pieces
Necrotic Ooze - I go into detail above. Inherits Hermit Druid, which is sometimes useful. Also inherits Sakura-Tribe Elder, which are less useful. Note that it can be a Phyrexian Devourer either for the Triskelion combo or the Jarad combo. It also gets stuff from opponents' graveyards. Also, with Devoted Druid and Quillspike in the yard, it becomes infinitely big, then proceeds to produce infinite green mana. With BBB, I can cast Jarad and fling it, or I can just do stuff.
Phyrexian Devourer - Great with the aformentioned combos.
Triskelion - Also part of two combos. Sometimes used as utility removal, either on stuff like Gaddock Teeg or that Illusion clone everyone's playing nowadays.
Quillspike - Goes infinite with Devoted Druid, then either combat, Greater Good, or fling to Jarad. Also super strong with Woodfall Primus and any fast-sac outlet, and actually infinite (but not always win-the-game infinite) if that sac outlet is Phyrexian Altar.
Devoted Druid - Not only is it a combo piece, it's just a fine cast. It combos with Mikeaus and any sac outlet, similar to Woodfall Primus. (Note that for Altar of Dementia / Greater Good, its power is actually 1 thanks to Mikeaus buffing it.)
Tutors
Green Sun's Zenith - T1 into Dryad Arbor is a strong play. Pretty much only finds utility creatures until the late-game.
Vampiric Tutor - It's pretty good I guess. Not much to say.Entomb - T1 into Baleful Force, T2 Reanimate. Really pulls the deck together.
Worldly Tutor - Read the card. Not much detail, except that the fact that it goes to the top is pretty good if we need it in our GY an we have a Hermit Druid, Altar of Dementia, whatever.
Survival of the Fittest - Ridiculous. Note that it can fill a graveyard as well as Buried Alive if we have the green. A common play is tutor up fatty, discard fatty and tutor up Phyrexian Delver, Phyrexian Delver targeting fatty. It's also Buried Alive number two. Probably the best single card in our deck.
Demonic Tutor - Usually find Buried Alive early game but obviously tutor for anything. Our best tutor.
Buried Alive - Combo piece and general enabler. 10/10.
Tooth and Nail - Finds combo pieces, wins the game. We basically always entwine it.
Reanimation
Reanimate - Really really good. Note that it hits opponents' graves.
Animate Dead - Straightforward card. As a certified judge, the Oracle text is my wet dream. Note that it hits opponents' graves.
Life/Death - Noteworthy that with a Mikeaus and a fast sac outlet out, we can cast it as Life and have them undie as untapped noncreature lands. Bonus point if our outlet is a Phyrexian Altar.
Exhume - Pretty good early game. Pretty bad late game.
Dance of the Dead - It's basically an Animate Dead in this deck, but it sucks on Hermit Druid. Note that it hits opponents' graves.
Corpse Dance - Weird lil' card. Requires extensive testing in an individual deck, as it's an oddball. Important note: if we recur the creature, and it goes to our GY or hand or whatever before the end of turn, it isn't exiled.
Necromancy - Pretty important card. The Flash thing is good. Sometimes I'll target a Woodfall Primus with flash and get two triggers. There's also a bit of Synergy with Mikeaus. Note that it hits opponents' graves.
Victimize - Another powerful oddball. Sometimes we recur a utility creature and a fatty. Sometimes two utility creatures. Occasionally two fatties. Pretty good.
Dread Return - Great card on the combo turn when mana is tight.
Phyrexian Delver - As mentioned above, good with Survival of the Fittest. Also gets hit by Tooth and Nail, Worldy Tutor, et cetera.
Living Death - Also kind of a sweeper. Complicated card. Whatever.
Card draw
Sensei's Divining Top - Great with Oracle and shuffle effects.
Sylvan Library, Scroll Rack - Redic. We can usually shuffle or mill away the useless top cards.
Necropotence - Either wins the game or does very little. BBB is rough. One fun play is when we have a significant amount of mana - Necro for our life total minus one. Go to end step, get cards. Cast removal on Necropotence. Discard step. In the next upkeep, combo out from our graveyard.
Phyrexian Arena - One of the slower draw engines, but it doesn't require additional input, which is good. Really only gets there in a slower grindier game.
Greater Good - As the name suggests, it's greater than good. A true engine.
Graveborn Muse - We use this as a second Phyrexian Arena. Notably, Jarad along with Mike and Delver are Zombies.
Bitter Revelation - The joke goes that his revelation includes the line "I can't believe it's not butter," hence the pun Butter Revelation. Bad puns aside, the card is in testing.
Notes
We can fight through Tormond's Crypt effects (1-time exile) but not Rest in Peace effects. Broadcast plays as little as possible, meaning that if the correct play is a turn two Buried Alive with a Sol Ring, the correct play is to play the Ring on turn two also. Knowing the opponent's decks is especially helpful with such a quick deck because we need to know when to race and when to play around disruption. Remember that even though sometimes there's no Unravel the Aether to stop the Sharuum Combo in one turn, the other player might have a counterspell if he doesn't waste it on Animate Dead.
Cards I'd like to test or use include Gamekeeper, a utility bear. Currently Riftsweeper is in that slot, which I think will stay. I may need to find another slot. I've often wondered if Seedborn Muse has a place in this deck - maybe if I change the deck to be more instant-based. I'm also considering replacing Corpse Dance with Makeshift Mannequin.
And that's all, folks! Thanks for reading.
Notice a spelling error? Are there too many cards? Does my primer not match the decklist? PM /u/razzliox and alert me to the mistake!
