Overdriven! 54

Modern: Huge Tracts of Unexplored Land
It has been said of Modern: “The most important thing about Modern is diversity. It’s by and far the most open format right now, there are huge tracts of land no one has explored. It’s the new frontier of competitive Magic,” and, “The nice thing about Modern is that the format is very open. There’s a lot of room to explore and find decks that can work.” And just to hammer that point, here are maps from some recent explorations:

Electro Gifts/Breach - usokui3 (4-0) Modern Daily #4940362

Creatures (4) 4 Goblin Electromancer Other Spells (39) 3 Desperate Ritual 4 Gifts Ungiven 4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Grapeshot 3 Izzet Charm 4 Manamorphose 1 Noxious Revival 3 Past in Flames 3 Pyretic Ritual 4 Seething Song 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand Lands (17) 4 Island 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Mountain 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Shivan Reef 3 Steam Vents Sideboard (15) 1 Dispel 2 Empty the Warrens 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 2 Gigadrowse 2 Sudden Shock 4 Through the Breach

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When I first saw this deck, my initial thought was Gifts? In storm? Oooh… kay… Then I looked at the sideboard, and things became much clearer. I do love me some transformational sideboards! Woo hoo! Your opponent sides in Storm hate, and you turn into a Breach/Emmy sledgehammer!

Ooze Gifts, the shaftmeister (3-1) Modern Daily #4940469

Creatures (15) 4 Devoted Druid 2 Griselbrand 4 Morselhoarder 4 Necrotic Ooze 1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius Other Spells (21) 2 Abrupt Decay 3 Faithless Looting 4 Gifts Ungiven 4 Grisly Salvage 4 Izzet Charm 2 Remand 2 Unburial Rites Lands (24) 3 Blackcleave Cliffs 4 City of Brass 3 Darkslick Shores 3 Gemstone Mine 3 Grove of the Burnwillows 1 Island 2 River of Tears 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 2 Vivid Creek 2 Vivid Grove Sideboard (15) 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Back to Nature 2 Crime Punishment 2 Damnation 2 Dispel 2 Echoing Truth 2 Negate 2 Spellskite

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Gifts Ungiven seems to be the card of the week! I really like this deck. Necrotic Ooze can turn into a real house with all the goodies that can be tossed into the graveyard!

Meta Madness
Jund is dead! Long live Jund!

*sings (horribly off-key): It’s a whole new wooorld…* Modern is a “new” format again! Woo hoo! When I first read the latest Banned and Restricted announcement, I thought to myself WTF?!?!?! But after sleeping on it, and thinking about it a little bit, I do believe this latest set of bans will have the effect of increasing diversity in the Modern meta even further.

Since Jund has been “nerfed” (to what extent remains to be seen!), and since Gatecrash is entering the arena, I’m going to split the meta at this point. The post-ban/GTC meta will be starting from 0 again, with a start point for February 1. This is going to apply to the data I track from the Dailies as well as the PTQs. The Premiere Event meta will remain unchanged since it’s reasonably “small”. Since this meta does include a few Jund appearances, it will also serve to as a “marker” (of sorts) showing how the meta is evolving.

Another change that is happening with the “new” meta: I’m taking the UWR Midrange archetype out of the U/x/x Control category, and giving it its own slot. This is primarily because it’s not really a “control” deck, per se. Sure, it may run a counter or two, but this deck is more about smashing face than controlling.

Here is the new daily Modern meta in its infancy:

PTQ Round-up

Here are the last PTQ additions to the “old” PTQ meta.

1/19/2013

MTGO #4910411
1st: GBW Pod
2nd: Spirit Jund
T4: Bump, RUG Aggro
T8: Kiki Pod, Spirit Jund, Jund, GBW Pod

Northglenn, CO US
1st: GR Tron
2nd: Geist of St. Bant
T4: Jund Tron, UWR Midrange
T8: GR Tron, GBW Pod, Jund, UWR Midrange

Oslo NO
1st: Tribal Flames
2nd: UWR Midrange
T4: Aura Aggro, Splinter Twin
T8: Spirit Jund, Merfolk, Goblin Pod, Scapeshift

Goblin Pod, PTQ Osli, 7th Place

Creatures (26) 4 Goblin Arsonist 4 Goblin Bushwhacker 4 Goblin Chieftain 4 Goblin Guide 4 Goblin Wardriver 4 Mogg War Marshal 1 Krenko, Mob Boss 1 Spikeshot Elder Other Spells (14) 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Goblin Grenade 2 Krenko’s Command 2 Dangerous Wager 2 Birthing Pod Lands (20) 16 Mountain 4 Rootbound Crag Sideboard (15) 3 Blood Moon 4 Combust 3 Smelt 2 Zealous Conscripts 1 Voracious Dragon 1 Thundermaw Hellkite 1 Krenko, Mob Boss

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Mendoza AR
1st: UW Tempo
2nd: Scapeshift
T8: Jund, Tron, Tokens, Splinter Twin, GBW Pod, Kiki Pod

Costa Mesa, CA US
Pensacola, FL US
Indianapolis, IN US
Rockville, MD US
Lincoln, NE US
Providence, RI US

Burnaby, BC CA
Montréal, QC CA

Sendai JP

Florianópolis BR

Quito EC

Shanghai CN

Budapest HU

Taipei City TW
Results unavailable at this time.

1/20/2013

Vestal, NY US
1st: GW Infect
2nd: Robots
T4: Jund, UWR Midrange
T8: Twin, UWR Midrange, Robots, Boros

Poggibonsi IT
1st: Splinter Twin
2nd: Jund
T4: Robots, Scapeshift
T8: Storm, UW Control, Infect, UWR Midrange

Lecco IT
1st: Hate Bears
2nd: Jund
T4: Jund x2
T8: 2nd Breakfast, Tron, Pod, Boom/Bust

Amiens FR
1st: Scapeshift
2nd: Jund
T8: Robots, Melira Combo? (“podless pod”), Jund x3, UWR Midrange

Milton Keynes UK
1st: GR Tron
2nd: Spirit Jund
T8: Robots, Bump, Tribal Flames? (5CC Goodstuff?), GR Tron x2, Jund

Okayama JP
Tsuchiura JP
Results unavailable at this time.

1/27/2013

MTGO #4940259:
1st: Blackshift
2nd: 4c Gifts
T4: Spirit Jund x2
T8: UWR Midrange, 2nd Breakfast, Jund x2

1/28/2013

Canberra AU
Results unavailable at this time.

Since all of the meta information collected for the PTQ season to date is now effectively moot, I see no real reason to present a detailed breakdown. Jund was on top, and Jund (as we know it) is no more. Or is it…?

The New Jund

If ever there had been an iconic card that defined an archetype, it would have been Bloodbraid Elf. While Jund does run cards that could be argued to be more powerful, Bloodbraid Elf has been a mainstay, and premiere player, in the Jund archetype since its debut with Shards of Alara Standard.

For those of you who weren’t around for Alara Standard, Jund was a BRG midrange deck that burst onto the scene in the wake of Faeries. While Jund was in many respects an aggro deck, it also had serious control elements. As a midrange deck, Jund focused on gaining card advantage as well as tempo, mainly through Bloodbraid Elf and the cascade mechanic.

This combination proved to be so powerful that the Jund archetype continued on well past Alara’s rotation. It continued to dominate in ye olde Extended, and then in the new Extended. This domination has carried it forward through the years. Jund grew ever-more powerful with each format it entered into, and with each new release, culminating in the brick house we all know and love/hate today.

But for Modern, no more. The times, they are a’changin’. Now that Bloodbraid Elf is being consoled in Banland, where will Jund go from here?

The easiest answer, in my eyes, is simply to slip another powerful 4-drop creature that generates advantage into that slot. I’m looking at you, Huntmaster of the Fells! This card is run in many Jund lists already, and should make the transition from back-up to starter with no problems whatsoever. Voila! Done! Your Jund deck is ready to go, and only very slightly slower for it. I expect this to be the most common “New Jund” build at first.

Olivia Voldaren comes to mind, as well. Another 4-drop that might find a place is Hellrider. However, Jund isn’t really aggro enough for this card.

There are plenty of 5-drops that could work in Jund, such as Thundermaw Hellkite and Thragtusk. And X-spells, such as Rakdos’s Return or Bonfire of the Damned, might now find a home in Jund.

Bloodbraid Elf‘s main virtue was that she had an effect on the board right away. Perhaps lowering the curve might be better than simply subbing in another 4-drop. Decks can now run a full 4 of Kitchen Finks. What about Dreg Mangler? Maybe the “Black Jund” route, topping out the curve at 3 with Geralf’s Messenger. One could also up the hand disruption and run Nyxathid.

Of course, the GB/x shell of Deathrite Shaman / Dark Confidant / Tarmogoyf / Liliana of the Veil / Abrupt Decay also leads to many other avenues to explore. A Death Cloud build is certainly an option. As is Assault Loam, and a plethora of others.

Perhaps another color could be used instead of R? BUG and GBW are both valid choices, and various BUG & GBW archetypes do have proven results. However, once you wander out of the BRG shard that is the namesake of the deck, is it still Jund?

Overdrive! #80 Champion: LarryJ / Boros
Overdrive! #81 Champion: marcio costa / RDW Burn
Eurodrive! #61 Champion: The_Raging_Flump / GR Tron
Eurodrive! #62 Champion: Frenzy277 / MBC
Decks from all Overdrive! events can be found here.
Decks from all Eurodrive! events can be found here.

Where Angels Fear To Tread #41
Players: 13
4-0: BlippyTheSlug ~ 3-1: andres_1995, pk23, slug360, SBena
Where Angels Fear To Tread #42
Players: 22
4-0: pk23, nav_pilot ~ 3-1: ellmaris, RobSon, _Kumagoro_
Decks from all WAFTT events can be found here.

Friday Night Standard #9
Players: 18
4-0: Lickitung, garltik ~ 3-1: Canarith, cweaver, lorrsatan, SekKuar Deathkeeper
Friday Night Standard #10
Players: 17
4-0: garltik ~ 3-1: Frenzy277, lorrsatan, nav_pilot, SekKuar Deathkeeper, azahrarn
Decks from all Friday Night Standard events can be found here.

Dark Wars: A Legacy Of Evil
Season 1 Championship
January 30, 2013
Players, tables, and results can be found here.
Congratulations to Super_Secret_Tech!
The next season of Dark Wars is To Be Announced.

Interesting Tidbits

Gatecrash is legal in all formats now, but won’t be available online until the prerelease events on February 8. Gatecrash cards are legal, and playable, in my events as of right now. If you have the cards, you can play ‘em.

Speaking of events, Friday Night Standard – EU is in the planning stages. This will be the exact same limited seating event as Friday Night Standard, but set at a “Euro friendly” time slot. I’m looking at perhaps Fridays at 1800 GMT. Since this falls in the middle of my work day, I am also looking for a host. Let me know if you’re interested. More news on that as it develops.

Modern is being shaken to its foundations with the new bans and release of GTC. I’m thinking the Modern: Huge Tracts of Unexplored Land section of this series is going to be pretty fat for a while!

Modern attendance dropped off significantly with the end of the “Race for the FoW“, but then took a strong upswing as people wanting to get their last ya-yas with Bloodbraid Elf took her out to dance.